The political season is blooming early in Baltimore County as another candidate has entered the race for the Maryland Senate seat being vacated by Republican Andrew P. Harris. Alfred W. Redmer Jr., the former Republican state delegate and insurance commissioner, is holding a campaign kickoff rally tonight [...]
Who isn’t considering running for governor on the GOP ticket?
Republicans are waiting to see who all emerges from their camp to challenge Gov. Martin O’Malley in the 2010 election. So far, a Towson lawyer has said he’ll run, a state delegate and a Cabinet member in former [...] As the Maryland Senate is poised tonight to pass legislation designating the Smith Island Cake the state's official dessert, one reader writes to ask why not anoint the Lady Baltimore Cake?
In an email, Bitten Norman writes, "If they are serious about a Maryland State Cake, perhaps they should do [...]
Union members rallied in Annapolis for higher wages last night, pointing to a recent survey that found state employees lag behind other public sector employees in terms of base salary.
Officials with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees singled out part of the survey showing that starting [...]
As lawmakers scour the budget for programs to slash, health care advocates released a poll yesterday showing that 64 percent of Maryland voters oppose funding cuts for recently enacted health care programs aimed at getting more residents health insurance.
State lawmakers approved legislation during last year’s special session that expands [...]
The House of Delegates voted overwhelmingly yesterday to allow for the incidental taking of the Delmarva fox squirrel, which has a place on the state’s threatened and endangered species list.
The General Assembly has made such an exception before — for the Puritan tiger beetle, whose breeding can clash with [...]
With budget problems threatening to burgeon in Annapolis, state lawmakers are considering holding the line on any new initiatives projected to cost more than $250,000.
The fiscally restrained stance comes as the General Assembly braces for updated revenue estimates that are expected to be released Thursday. Those figures could show [...]
With crucial presidential primary contests in the run for the Democratic nomination today, all eyes are on Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama to see who cries “uncle" first. The race is tight and today’s primaries in Texas and Ohio could prove the deciding factor in one of those candidates conceding.
Veteran [...]
More than a dozen state lawmakers testified today in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage in Maryland, an unusual show of legislative support even as it is unclear if proponents will be able to muster the votes for passage this year.
The House Judiciary Committee also heard bills that would [...]
Parents receiving child support payments through the state agency that enforces the arrangements would have to pay a $25 annual fee under a bill that passed the Maryland Senate today.
The measure drew sharp criticism from some lawmakers, who said it would be wrong to burden mostly single mothers [...]
The Maryland Senate unanimously approved a measure to put a constitutional amendment to voters that would further cement recent court rulings that 17-year-olds may vote in nonpartisan primary elections, as long as they will turn 18 before a general election.
While the matter has been settled in the courts, [...]
State lawmakers have shelved a bill that would require private health insurance companies to cover the cost of prosthetic devices, such as an artificial leg or eye.
Del. Heather R. Mizeur, a Montgomery County Democrat, said she withdrew the bill so that the Maryland Health Care Commission could study [...]
Maryland’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene came out in support of a bill that would extend to domestic partners the same rights to participate in health care decisions as currently afforded to spouses under state law.
The bill, championed by the gay-rights community, would confer to domestic partners [...]
The Maryland House of Delegates has given preliminary approval to legislation that would ban the sale of children’s products and toys that contain lead, responding to a series of recalls of lead-tainted toys from China in recent months. A final vote is expected in the next few days.
Del. [...]
About a dozen former Rosewood Center residents presented Gov. Martin O’Malley today with long-stemmed yellow roses, which they called symbols of freedom. The governor has ordered the facility for the disabled to close within 18 months, citing reports of abuse, neglect and mistreatment.
It was Developmental Disabilities Day in the [...]
The head of the California-based Pollinator Partnership wrote an impassioned plug for a bill to designate an official Pollinator Week in Maryland. The bill was part of a story in The Sun last week.
Here is an excerpt from the letter from Laurie Davies Adams:
"Estimates run as high as one out [...]
