Administration

WASHINGTON -- Officials at the Woodlawn-based Social Security Administration informed employees they do not anticipate furloughs when across-the-board federal budget cuts go into effect, the union that represents many of those workers said Thursday. The announcement came days before $85 billion in budget cuts known as sequestration were expected to take effect on Friday -- cuts that the Obama administration has warned could lead to government-wide furloughs. Acting Social Security Administration commissioner Carolyn Colvin informed employees in a meeting on Thursday that furloughs would be avoided.

The Baltimore school system has started monitoring the administration of the High School Assessments this year, expanding on a measure that began in 2011 after a series of cheating scandals in its elementary and middle schools. City school officials said the move was not prompted by suspicions of cheating on the tests - which students have to pass to graduate - but to be proactive. "The natural extension is ensuring that we were being fair and consistent in our process," said Jennifer Bell-Ellwanger, the system's chief accountability officer.

Catherine R. Kane, a Harford County government administrator who earlier had worked for the Baltimore County Department of Social Services, died Feb. 12 from colon cancer at her Bel Air home. She was 65. "She really was an important part of Social Services when I was director," said Camille B. Wheeler, who had been director of Baltimore County Social Services for 19 years before retiring in 1998. "She was hard-working and understood everything about the mission of the department.

Letter writer Don Mathis of the Community Action Partnership insists in one breath that he is not a shill for the Obama Administration, then in the next tries to convince readers what a wonderful job the president is doing ("Obama speech was about strengthening the middle class," Feb. 17). Really? Mr. Mathis claims unemployment is going down when the reality is that it is climbing. The work force has declined considerably since the onset of this administration, making the unemployment rate much higher than touted by mainstream media outlets and a complicit Sun. Accordingly, Mr. Mathis may be right about the auto industry not crashing, but he forgot to mention the billions of dollars it owed to taxpayers that we will never recover.

The Steelworkers union local at Sparrows Point has been taken over by its parent organization, a standard practice when a steel mill closes. United Steelworkers Local 9477 was put into "administratorship" in January, according to Jim Strong, the Baltimore-area director for the USW International. Strong has been appointed to oversee the local while it winds down operations. "They've begun the dissolution process, basically," said Chris MacLarion, vice president of the local at Sparrows Point before it was taken over.

I'm not a shill for the Obama administration, but I must disagree with reporter David Lauter's analysis of the president's State of the Union Address ("In singular speech, a split approach to power," Feb.13). Mr. Lauter writes that early in his first term, President Barack Obama "appeared to believe that he could sway the country, including members of the opposition, by delivering a carefully crafted speech. " My public policy and advocacy work promoting economic security for low-income communities, families and individuals leads me to a different conclusion.

It is certainly not be what he hoped or intended, but one of President Barack Obama's biggest legacies in foreign affairs may prove to be the proliferation of drones as tools of war, assassination and terror. Mr. Obama is not the first to use drones to strike enemy targets, but the 300 attacks that have happened on his watch are six times the number carried out under President George W. Bush. A new set of guidelines that give the president broad discretion in approving execution by drones, coupled with the current congressional hearings on the nomination of John Brennan as CIA director, have brought the drone debate front and center.

A Baltimore County administrative law judge has approved developer Steve Whalen's proposal for a medical office project in Catonsville, one month after Whalen pleaded guilty to giving illegal campaign contributions to county politicians. Judge John E. Beverungen said the proposed Southwest Physicians Pavilion, planned for Kenwood Avenue near the Beltway, meets the county's zoning laws and complies with its master plan. In January, Whalen pleaded guilty to five counts of violating state election law, admitting he funneled $7,500 to the campaign of County Councilman Tom Quirk - who represents the Catonsville area - by giving money to others to give to Quirk.

The problems cited by the article "VA falls short on helping veterans" (Jan. 27) regarding the Veterans Affairs Department's huge delays in processing disability payments raises another question regarding how well it administers its responsibility for providing health care to our veterans in general. Why is there a need for the "Wounded Warriors" organization that constantly solicits donations from the public? Isn't this the clearest indication of the VA's failures and an extreme embarrassment to this administration?

News flash: President Romney and congressional leaders met today to review the terms of the recently concluded fiscal cliff deal wherein the Bush tax cuts were extended by four years, the corporate income tax rate was reduced from 35 percent to 25 percent, and the capital gains tax rate for middle class taxpayers was lowered to 10 percent. The leaders returned to Washington to encouraging news from Wall Street, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 800 points since the fiscal deal was announced.