Free Republic

Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. said yesterday he wants to determine whether Democratic rivals were behind exposing a former administration aide who participated in Internet rumor-mongering about Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley that the governor says he knew nothing about. A place to start an inquiry, he said, was a threatening e-mail he received last month from Michelle Lane, a friend of the aide. --Snip-- Lane wrote the governor that she would release more damaging messages between her and Steffen - the first few were the "tip of the iceberg," she said - if the governor and his staff did not...

IN THE continuing saga of Official State Dirtball Joseph Steffen, a new name enters the mix: Kendel S. Ehrlich. It turns out, the day before Steffen was to be outed for spreading filth about Mayor Martin O'Malley, he turned to the first lady of Maryland for a shoulder to cry on. Relax, Kendel Ehrlich told Steffen, we need you. The next day, Steffen was shoved offstage. As Shakespeare didn't quite say: Out, out, damned Dirtball. The Kendel Ehrlich e-mail was the most fascinating item uncovered by two dozen reporters scrounging through 14,500 pages of e-mails and other documents the Ehrlich...

Reporters and editors at some of Washington’s largest out-of-town newspaper offices, including the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and Baltimore Sun, are holding their breath while waiting for word from on high this week as to how many will fall victim to drastic cost-cutting measures. And that may be the good news. Even worse news could come next year, when the Chicago-based Tribune Co. is expected to consolidate the Washington bureaus of a half-dozen daily newspapers the company owns, including the Hartford Courant and Orlando Sentinel. This could mean further staff reductions and partial loss of identity for some of...