Free Republic

Montgomery's Unseemly Windfall How the rich get richer Monday, April 17, 2006; A12 AN UNHERALDED, fine-print change in federal tax law means that Montgomery County will reap an accidental windfall in state education funding, in the range of $20 million or more annually, starting in July of next year. That's nice for Montgomery. The trouble is, the windfall is largely at the expense of 20 of the 23 other jurisdictions in Maryland, especially Prince George's County. As a result of the federal change, Prince George's schools would be shortchanged by roughly the same amount, an estimated $20 million. The arrangement...

Hundreds of Prince George's residents packed an Upper Marlboro church yesterday to warn county officials that they are fed up with increasing crime and want some relief. "We are pushing not because we are antagonizing, but because we are terrified," said the Rev. C. Anthony Muse, one of the organizers of the meeting. In 2005, Prince George's tallied 173 homicides, a record for the county. Additionally, sexual assaults increased by 3 percent, robberies by 24 percent and carjackings by 45 percent from the previous year. Residents and a few county officials painted a grim picture of some streets and school...

Doors, Windows Battered At 22 Pr. George's [Maryland] Homes By Avis Thomas-Lester Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, January 10, 2006; Page A01 Paul Drake had fallen asleep watching football on the living room sofa when a loud thud woke him. It was followed by a series of thuds as vandals charged his front door with what he believes was a battering ram, splitting the frame and leaving Drake struggling to keep them out. "Let the dog out! Let the dog out!" he recalled hollering to his wife as the vandals fled. The incident, at 1:45 a.m. Sunday in Suitland, was...

<p>Jonathan Kozol, a former Boston schoolteacher, has written 11 books over four decades in a crusade to help inner-city children that government policymakers gently label "disadvantaged."</p> <p>In "Shame," Kozol, 69, denounces the No Child Left Behind education law that President Bush pushed through Congress...</p>

Md. Officials Celebrate End of 8-Year Fight to Build Complex Developer Milton Peterson joined elected officials from across Maryland yesterday to mark the culmination of an eight-year political fight to begin transforming 220 acres of shrubs and dirt on the banks of the Potomac River into National Harbor, a $2 billion complex of hotels, shops and restaurants. The groundbreaking ceremony also signaled the beginning for construction crews preparing to build the project's centerpiece, Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center, which alone is expected to cost $565 million. Described by some as the largest single commercial venture in state history, National...