Free Republic

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley and Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith this year secured more than $28 million to build a highway interchange leading to a road serving a commercial property owned by one of their largest campaign donors. Mr. O'Malley and Mr. Smith, close political allies, committed the money a few months ago to build the interchange from Interstate 795 to a road running past the $79 million business development owned by Edward St. John. Mr. St. John was recently fined $55,000 by the state prosecutors office for donating more than $25,000 through his company's vice presidents to Mr. O'Malley...

In the community of Shady Grove Woods, trees are becoming more and more scarce. Residents and other anti-Intercounty Connector activists marched through the neighborhood on Saturday, pointing out the trees that were cut down to make way for the six-lane highway. ‘‘It’s just that we didn’t have a say in it in so many ways and we’re not talking about a two-lane road, we’re talking about a major highway running through here,” resident Sam Chim said of the ICC. ‘‘We have a lot of nice, private woods back here and now we’re going to have a highway running through instead....

ANNAPOLIS — Gov. Martin O'Malley acknowledges that the 2008 General Assembly session has been difficult, though mostly a success, as state lawmakers prepare to finish work today. Mr. O'Malley, a Democrat, recently called his first 14 months as governor worthwhile but the "most unpleasant" of his political career. "We've done a lot of hard work, we've cast a lot of tough votes, and our state is better off for it," he said after a bill-signing ceremony Thursday. Members of the Democrat-controlled General Assembly on Saturday approved a $31.2 billion budget that funds most of Mr. O'Malley's initiatives. They also have...

ANNAPOLIS (AP) — Gov. Martin O'Malley urged lawmakers to require DNA samples from people who are arrested for violent crimes and burglary, a significant expansion of current state law. Lawmakers questioned whether the proposal was too broad. Mr. O'Malley described the measure as a badly needed crime-fighting tool for Maryland. He asked lawmakers yesterday to "move to the next generation of what I like to refer to as the modern-day, next-generation fingerprint." "We are the fourth-most violent state in the union, and there's really no good reason for it," Mr. O'Malley testified. "We all need to fight back against violent...

Gov. Martin O'Malley is holding a press conference today at 2 p.m. with state schools Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick. No word yet on what they will say, but there's a strong possibilty she will resign. O'Malley has made it clear he wants to oust Grasmick, whom he inherited in his first year as governor, despite a recent study showing Maryland has the fifth-best public school system in the country. The governor's dissatisfaction with Grasmick is perceived by some people as personal, considering she tried to take over Baltimore's troubled school system when O'Malley was mayor. O'Malley and Senate President Thomas...

ne of a variety of tax increases taking effect in Maryland on New Year's Day could help some smokers keep their resolutions to kick the habit this year--a doubling of the cigarette tax from $1 to $2 a pack. The vehicle titling tax also is going up from 5 to 6 percent, and the corporate income tax will rise from 7 percent to 8.25 percent. Other taxes, including a jump in the sales tax from 5 to 6 percent also are going up this week.

ANNAPOLIS — The legislation that Gov. Martin O'Malley recently signed to provide medical insurance to 120,000 Maryland residents puts the state at the forefront of national health care reform, say members of the Democrat-controlled General Assembly. However, the plan by Mr. O'Malley, a Democrat, will cost taxpayers at least $283 million a year. House Speaker Michael E. Busch, Anne Arundel Democrat, said he is not sure how the state will raise the money if voters reject legalized slot-machine gambling, but "if the [slots] referendum fails, we'll get an alternative source of funding." Mr. Busch said the initiative still keeps Maryland...

ANNAPOLIS — House lawmakers passed a $1.4 billion tax plan early yesterday morning after long weekend debates in which leaders of the Democrat-controlled General Assembly scrambled to find support for the plan. The House version of Gov. Martin O'Malley's tax plan includes an increase in the sales tax, corporate income tax and restructuring of the personal income tax and a plan to spend more than $450 million on transportation projects. Mr. O'Malley, a Democrat, called state lawmakers back to Annapolis last month for a special Assembly session to pass his plan of tax increases and legalizing slot machines to generate...

ANNAPOLIS (AP) — The Maryland Senate discussed significant changes to Gov. Martin O'Malley's budget-shortfall plan yesterday, a day after a Senate committee made his income-tax plan less progressive and reworked a broadening of the sales tax. Senators spent the day asking questions and trying to understand the full ramifications of the complicated legislation that came before them. Among the changes by the committee were reductions in new tax brackets Mr. O'Malley proposed for Maryland's wealthiest residents. Despite the change, Mr. O'Malley said he still thinks his proposals were "moving in the right direction." The Senate committee balked at some of...

A health club is not the place you would expect to discuss tax policy. But at Sport Fit gym in Bowie, exercisers are being asked to write their state lawmakers to oppose a proposal by Gov. Martin O'Malley, a Democrat, to expand the state sales tax to include health clubs. As the General Assembly convenes in Annapolis this week for a special session to consider Mr. O'Malley's budget plan, his proposal to expand the sales tax to services that currently aren't taxed is getting a lot of attention in certain quarters. "It's ridiculous," said Joe Bottner, who works the front...

ANNAPOLIS — Public support for Gov. Martin O'Malley has dropped sharply since he took office in January, according to a statewide poll released yesterday. Mr. O'Malley's approval rating dropped six points, to 46 percent, and his disapproval rating increased 10 points, to 31 percent, since the last statewide poll conducted in March by Gonzales Research and Marketing. The poll results were released on the same day Mr. O'Malley outlined his "doomsday budget" proposal, which includes $1.7 billion in cuts to education, health care and other state programs. Mr. O'Malley said he would be forced to introduce the budget, which he...

Maryland State Highway Administrator (MdSHA) has given contractors the OK to start construction work on the first part of the 30km (18.8mi) long $2.4b InterCounty Connector (ICC) tollroad. The ICC is an east-west connector mainly located in Montgomery County about 10km (6 miles) north of the Beltway (I-495) and about 23km (14 miles) north of the White House. It goes from I-370 at present a short spur off I-270 near Gaithersburg at the western end in direction a bit south of east across upper Montgomery County to I-95 and US1 near Laurel in Prince Georges County. The route is already...

ANNAPOLIS — Gov. Martin O"Malley has struggled to find a consistent position on homosexual "marriage" in the weeks since Maryland"s highest court upheld a ban on the unions and left further action on the issue to the General Assembly. Mr. O"Malley, a Democrat, seemed to support civil unions last week, although his stance has shifted depending on who he is talking to. "I believe civil unions is an idea around which we can forge a consensus," Mr. O"Malley said during a Thursday appearance on the "Kojo Nnamdi Show" on WAMU-FM (88.5 FM). Mr. O"Malley went on to acknowledge that some...

BALTIMORE - Gov. Martin O’Malley and Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine called on Congress Wednesday to pass legislation to control greenhouse gas emissions, arguing the health of the Chesapeake Bay is at stake. “We now know with certainty that human activities — including coastal development, the burning of fossil fuels and increasing greenhouse gas emissions — are contributing to both the causes and consequences of climate change,” O’Malley told the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. But his testimony did not go over well with critics of the Intercounty Connector — an 18-mile toll road that would connect Montgomery and...

Governor favors linking rate to cost of road work Maryland's gasoline tax would go up in 18 months -- and possibly sooner -- if Gov. Martin O'Malley's plan to add $400 million a year in transportation funding is approved by the General Assembly. Although an immediate increase in the gas tax is not part of the $2 billion revenue plan the Democratic governor has been rolling out over the past week, he said Monday that he will push to tie future increases to the rising cost of road and bridge construction materials. At present rates of inflation, that would average...

ANNAPOLIS — Gov. Martin O'Malley told legislative leaders yesterday he plans to raise almost $2 billion in new revenues through a mix of taxes, including sales taxes, and "gaming initiatives" to close the state's $1.5 billion budget shortfall. Mr. O'Malley met separately with House Speaker Michael E. Busch and Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., both Democrats, to discuss the details of his plan. He is set to meet with General Assembly budget leaders this morning at the governor's mansion. Mr. Busch confirmed the meeting and said the governor's plan also includes an increase in corporate income tax. "It's...

In another apparent effort to prepare Marylanders for looming tax increases, Gov. Martin O'Malley released a recorded statement to radio stations suggesting corporations and higher-income earners will be among those asked to pay more. "When given a choice between decline and progress, the people of Maryland always choose to make progress," O'Malley (D) says in the message, which runs more than two minutes and was sent to more than 50 radio stations, an aide said. "Together we can overcome the deficit in our path, and we can get our fiscal house in order in a way that improves our state...

BALTIMORE (AP) — Gov. Martin O'Malley is asking the Public Service Commission to hold expedited hearings on a breakup of Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. and corporate parent Constellation Energy Group. In a letter to commission Chairman Steven B. Larsen obtained by the Baltimore Sun, Mr. O'Malley said he is concerned that roles some executives play at both companies led BGE to pay more for electricity than it should have. Mr. O'Malley, a Democrat, also said he wants the commission to consider whether the utility's 1.1 million customers should receive rebates. "We need to know whether the relationship between BGE...

ANNAPOLIS -- From the soap used to wash dishes to the cars driven to work, Marylanders will feel large and small effects from the recent legislative session some have called the most environmental in years. Democrats this year celebrated their stronger grip on state government and their return to the governor's mansion with a spate of earth-friendly bills that became the dominant theme of the session. Lawmakers tightened emissions standards on new cars. They slashed the amount of water-polluting phosphorus allowed in dishwashing detergent. They ended the commercial harvest of diamondback terrapins and set new goals for solar energy. Oysters...

ANNAPOLIS -- Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown yesterday said it's "probably certain" that Gov. Martin O'Malley will convene a special session of the Democratic-controlled legislature to address the likely closure of two Prince George's County hospitals. "It's probably certain that in order to complete this, the governor would have to call us back into special session, which is unfortunate because there's literally a daily cost" of running a special session, said Mr. Brown, a Democrat. The nonprofit agency that manages the hospital system was expected to vote Monday whether to shut down the hospital system, which includes Prince George's Hospital...

<p>Inaccurate sample ballots describing Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. and Senate candidate Michael S. Steele as Democrats were handed out to voters in at least four polling sites in Prince George's County this morning.The ballots were handed out by people who said they arrived by buses this morning from Pennsylvania and Delaware.</p>

There are now just four days until Election Day and a brand new poll shows the top races in Maryland are closer than ever. Our SurveyUSA poll, conducted exclusively for 9NEWS NOW, shows Democrat Martin O'Malley leading Republican Bob Ehrlich in the Race for Governor, but only by one point. That’s within the survey's 3.8 percent margin of sampling error, meaning the contest is a tie. Men are rallying to Ehrlich. Ehrlich trailed among men by 3 on 9/20, led by 6 on 10/18 and leads by 18 today. O'Malley leads by 18 among women. That’s up from 17 points...

MITCHELLVILLE -- Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley today formally announced state Del. Anthony Brown as his running mate in the governor's race, saying the veteran is someone who understands leadership. The men appeared with their families before about 50 sign-waving supporters in Brown's home county of Prince George's. They then left for a series of joint appearances in Baltimore, Frederick and Hagerstown.

Lee Britt settled into a restaurant table here on a recent Saturday night, looking up to see a barrel-chested, bald man approaching. "Ed Norris!" he said, standing up to extend his hand. "I enjoy your show." "Keep listening," said the city's former police commissioner and ex-state police superintendent, flashing a smile and continuing into the Owl Bar, a century-old haunt in central Baltimore. Britt, 29, a third-year law student and aspiring prosecutor, turned to his tablemates and reviewed pieces of the Norris story. It's a compelling one: Crime-busting police chief rolls in from New York City in 2000. . ....

In yesterday’s (Saturday) Washington Post is a brief article in its Metro section, responding to well-attended press conference the previous day in front of the newspaper’s offices. The press conference accused the Post of violating the privacy rights of certain individuals on the website FreeRepublic.com This exchange, printed by the Post, explains the charge, and the newspaper’s response to it, so far: "How in good faith could The Washington Post access a private Internet account without the express permission of the account holder?" Kristinn Taylor, a spokesman for the conservative FreeRepublic.com, asked in a morning news conference in front of...

Court Hears Internet Anonymity Case ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The publisher of a financial newsletter told Maryland's second highest court Wednesday that he should not be forced to disclose his subscriber list and other information sought by an Arizona company seeking those it says made defamatory online comments. The publisher, Timothy M. Mulligan, told the judges "almost everything we publish could potentially be subpoenaed," putting him in the position of constantly appearing for depositions if his request to quash a subpoena by the Arizona drug company, Matrixx Initiatives, is denied. The judges, however, appeared to side with Matrixx, repeatedly asking why...

Free Republic is a longtime hangout for me and sometimes things get pretty interesting. The current big story has all the complexity and treachery of a Russian novel.In October of 2004, a Freeper who goes by the handle of MD4BUSH began making posts on Free Republic urging Republicans to "play dirty" in the 2004 election. MD4BUSH represented himself as a staunch Republican. He lured another poster named NCPAC into his confidence and then posted alleged private "freep-mails" between the two. MD4BUSH baited  NCPAC into discussing sexual rumors about Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley. When MD4BUSH brought the exchanges to the attention of the...

Thanks to the efforts of investigative reporters for WBAL in Baltimore, which has just broken the story, the former third-ranked official for the Democrat Party in Maryland has been outed as the original source for sexual slanders against Baltimore’s Democrat Mayor, Martin O’Malley, who is currently running for Governor. The original stories in February in the Washington Post blamed the kerfuffel on Joseph Stefan, then an aide to Republican Governor Robert Ehrlich, Jr. The aide was terminated from his position as a result of his name (but not the Democrat’s name) coming out at the time. Source: www.wbal.com/shows/Smith/ Transcript should...

BALTIMORE - When Mayor Martin O'Malley announced he was running for governor, the Democrat kicked off his campaign in a park overlooking the city's famed renovated harbor, a school band playing pep songs behind him as he talked up his experience in running Maryland's biggest city. But as other big-city mayors can attest, a high-profile urban post can be a political liability as well as an asset. Just look to California, where a mayor of Los Angeles has never been elected governor. Or to New York, where Ed Koch failed to win the governor's office in 1982 despite being a...

The state prosecutor is investigating how Gilbert Sapperstein, who was sentenced to 18 months in prison for his role in a scheme to steal $3.3 million from the city schools, managed to have nine months shaved off his sentence while serving the remainder on home detention in the suburban comforts of his Green Spring Valley home. snip Sapperstein, who owns All-State Boiler Service Inc., pleaded guilty in May to conspiracy, bribery and theft in connection with a scheme to defraud the city school system. He admitted to paying bribes to a city schools employee in exchange for fraudulent work orders...

Gilbert Sapperstein apologized yesterday for his role in a scheme to steal more than $3.3 million from the city school system - but the grandfather and businessman received little sympathy as he was sentenced to 18 months in jail. "I made a mistake, and I embarrassed my family," said Sapperstein, who pleaded guilty in May to conspiracy, bribery and theft. In a plea deal with the state prosecutor's office, Sapperstein, 72, a Green Spring Valley resident and owner of All State Boiler Service Inc., also agreed to pay back the stolen money. Baltimore Circuit Judge John M. Glynn snapped back...

Want to know what Maryland Gov. Bob Ehrlich is thinking? Just listen: The difference between Virginia's budget situation and Maryland's? "They have a huge surplus because they passed taxes when they didn't need to," Ehrlich said last month. The controversy over an Ehrlich fundraiser held at a Baltimore golf club that has no black members? "All a bunch of nothing," he declared on July 5. His feelings about stem cell research? "I support stem cell research, including embryonic stem cell research," he stated in April as the General Assembly was considering whether to allow state funding of it. Ehrlich didn't...

Fred Friendly Seminars Presents IN THE BALANCE, a Provocative Look at the Social, Political, Economic, Legal and Health and Safety Implications of Terrorist Threats - Wednesday August 3, 12:42 pm ET Programs To Air During National Preparedness Month In September Presented on PBS by Thirteen/WNET New York NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 3, 2005-- A videotape claiming that a terrorist attack will happen at a shopping mall in the next few days is sent to a major national news organization. How does the organization respond? On the one hand, this is an exclusive news event; on the other, it's a potential national...

EXCERPT : The job of U.S. attorney is a political appointment. The top man in any U.S. attorney's office comes and goes. The real continuity in the office rests in the hands of scores of often anonymous assistant U.S. attorneys working there. DiBiagio had a foot planted in both worlds. Before his appointment as U.S. attorney by the Bush administration, DiBiagio worked in the Maryland office as an assistant U.S. attorney from 1991 to 2000. So he was a longtime internal operative. He's a graduate of Dickinson College, in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and the University of Richmond, where he earned his...

Mayor: O'Malley steps up to face a question he had been dancing around. Even in a city with a rumor control center dedicated to stomping out tall tales, the story clouding Mayor Martin O'Malley's political future would not disappear. Rumor had it that the mayor, a married father of four who plans to run for governor next year, had cheated on his wife. Every news organization in town had tried to nail the story, scouring courts for divorce filings or paternity suits, seeking records of the mayor's travel and security detail. They all came up empty-handed. Yet the story --...

In the Blogosphere, Lightning Strikes Thrice    O'Malley Blames GOP Plot For Rumors (MD GOVERNOR'S AID FIRED FOR FREE REPUBLIC POSTS)    No Bids but Lots of Bite at Budget Panel Hearing (NCPAC Mentioned)    Ehrlich: "Rogue Operation" (free republic/Gov. Ehrlich story about Mayor O'Malley's cheating)  click here for more info back story licks there as well as better discussion :)  Jim Robinson's short and cryptic reply re what really happened in the Md Gov mess and Free Republic: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1341174/posts?page=20#20  MD4Bush posted, "Yeah, he cheats on his wife. I heard that he is not allowed in the house and is...

Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley yesterday accused agents of Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s administration of spreading false rumors that he had an extramarital affair, and Ehrlich responded hours later by dismissing a longtime employee. The mayor, a Democrat considering a bid for governor in 2006, said he believes that the widespread and persistent rumors were part of a "concerted and orchestrated and sustained" effort and called on the Republican governor to apologize to his wife and children. "I don't think any of us run for office expecting that this sort of hurt will be heaped on our kids or...

<p>BOSTON -- Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley brought his prescription for improving homeland security to the Democratic convention Wednesday night, but his short speech was rewarded with only modest applause outside the Maryland delegation and a snub from both broadcast and cable television networks. Many in the FleetCenter spent the duration of O'Malley's speech moving about the arena, their chatter building to a noisy rumble. Plus, an apparent microphone glitch meant the mayor's remarks barely drifted up to the nose-bleed seats filled with spillover crowds of delegates and guests from Maryland and the rest of the country.</p>

There are a lot of rumours going around that one of the principal speakers at the Dem Convention is barely holding together some career threatening info. Martin O'Malley, Mayor of Baltimore, is out of the house due to an affair (or many) and reports are there may be a pregnancy. Now I have got this from two separate sources and they are reliable (and not politically hostile to O'Malley). His father-in-law is pretty powerful guy and his wife is a former judge. Anybody hear anything on this?

Mayor Martin O'Malley is more worried about President Bush's policies than he is about al-Qaida terrorists, and he's not reluctant to say so. The Democratic mayor yesterday reiterated criticisms he made this week about Bush that have angered Republicans and some local and national talk-show hosts. At a fund-raiser for Sen. John Kerry's presidential campaign at M&T Bank Stadium on Monday, O'Malley said: "I remember after the attacks of September 11, as mayor of the city, I was very, very worried about al-Qaida and still am. But I'm even more worried about the actions and inactions of the Bush administration."

      When Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley stated he is "more worried" about the "actions" or "inactions" of the Bush administration than he is about al-Qaida, what are your first throughts? He's lost it:   65.7% He spoke without thinking:   8.3% He really does believe it:   18.5% He's right on:   7.4%      

Canadians go to Baghdad as 'human shields'Martin O'Malley, CBC News Online | Dec. 5, 2002 Opposition to a war on Iraq has a long way to go before it rivals the draft-card burnings and demonstrations against the war in Vietnam in the 1960s, but a new anti-war movement is growing muscle. Some Canadians already have left for Iraq to serve as human shields against bomb attacks on Baghdad. More will follow before Christmas. Irene Vandas and Jennifer Ziemann of Vancouver are heading to Iraq on Friday. Vandas, a 32-year-old registered nurse, and Ziemann, a 30-year-old home-care worker, will fly to...