44th District

Legislators from Baltimore's west side called on other state leaders yesterday to oppose the governor's proposed General Assembly district map, which threatens to eliminate an incumbent senator and two delegates from their community. "It is so important that we come together as a community," Del. Verna L. Jones, who represents Baltimore's predominantly black 44th District, said at a news conference with other district delegates in front of City Hall. "We are going to make sure that Baltimore maintains its strength and power in Annapolis," Jones said.

Legislative redistricting unofficially began in Annapolis this week, and the best evidence is the map stationed prominently in Gov. Parris N. Glendening's State House office. Senators and delegates who visit Glendening to ask for favors can't miss the map, which shows Maryland's 47 General Assembly districts. The governor's aides call the map a "gentle reminder" - redistricting is coming up, and lawmakers better behave if they want Glendening's help when the state's political atlas is redrawn next year.

SINCE Larry Young's acquittal on bribery and tax evasion charges last month, speculation about the popular former state senator's future has become a kind of parlor game. Will he run for office again? Will he write a book? Will he continue as a talk show host on WOLB-AM?We asked politicians and other citizens to weigh in on what they think Mr. Young's next career move will be.* * *State Sen. Clarence Mitchell IV represents the 44th District, the seat formerly held by Mr. Young:I suggest he enjoy his court victory.

Declaring that a legislator owes a duty to the state as a whole, not just the district that elected him, an Anne Arundel circuit judge has firmly rejected former state Sen. Larry Young's plea to have his bribery and extortion trial moved to Baltimore.In a four-page ruling issued yesterday, Judge Joseph P. Manck also rejected a request by Young's attorneys to have the entire criminal case against the West Baltimore Democrat thrown out.The decision means Young will go on trial Sept. 13 in Annapolis before an Anne Arundel County jury.

State Prosecutor Stephen Montanarelli told an Anne Arundel judge yesterday that former state Sen. Larry Young met in Annapolis with an unidentified top state official about the same time the legislator was demanding bribes from the owner of a health care company seeking a state license.The disclosure, which suggested that Young was trying to wield influence for the health care company, came during a one-hour hearing on whether to have the bribery and extortion charges against the West Baltimore Democrat thrown out or have the case moved to Baltimore.

State Sen. Clarence W. Blount, the West Baltimore Democrat known as "the conscience of the Senate," last night withstood a challenge by Del. Frank D. Boston Jr. in a bitter race marked by Boston's legal attempts to prove that the Senate majority leader didn't live in his district.With 100 percent of the precincts reporting, Blount, who was first elected to the state Senate in 1970, had 68 percent of the vote in the 41st Legislative District to 30 percent for Boston.A third candidate, Gregory Truitt, had 2 percent.

Democrat John D. Jefferies, the man appointed to replace ousted Sen. Larry Young, is looking to win a term of his own representing the 44th Legislative District in the state Senate in Tuesday's primary.His challenger, Clarence M. Mitchell IV, is trying to move from the House of Delegates to the Senate, representing the state's poorest legislative district.In West Baltimore's 44th, more than half of its nearly 97,000 residents live in households earning less than $15,000 a year. Unemployment is 14 percent.

Rodney A. Orange, who is seeking a seat in the House of Delegates, has temporarily stepped aside as head of the Baltimore branch of the NAACP because of the national organization's policy requiring that candidates for public office not be chapter officers.G. I. Johnson, the local group's first vice president, has replaced Orange on an interim basis while Orange campaigns. Seven other Democratic candidates are running for three House seats in West Baltimore's 44th District in September's primary.

I'm figuring Baltimoreans need a good laugh. Readers, sit yourselves down. This morning's laugh is a real howl.C. Miles, the Recovering Ebonics Negro of Radio One's WOLB, is back to his old delusions. He actually thinks his opinion matters.Monday I attended the Congressional Black Caucus news conference at Micah's Restaurant in Northwest Baltimore. Yesterday a woman sounding like a Miles groupie took to the airwaves. (Don't be surprised Miles has groupies. Even the aesthetically challenged Moms Mabley had groupies.

Baltimore Democratic officials have an extra two days -- until Tuesday -- to choose another nominee for the Maryland Senate seat from which Larry Young was expelled last month.The Democratic State Central Committee in the 44th District nominated the 48-year-old Young this week to reclaim the seat he lost for ethics transgressions.But Gov. Parris N. Glendening refused to appoint the West Baltimore Democrat, citing the opinion of Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr. that Young was not "legally qualified," because of his expulsion last month.