Candidates

Before sunrise Monday, Kevin and Shelley Taylor set out from their Millersville home to a new employment center for the Maryland Live! Casino, a slots parlor next to the Arundel Mills mall seeking workers for 1,500 jobs. Having tracked the progress of what will be the state's largest casino, the Taylors believe the facility could provide opportunity for their five-member family. Though Kevin Taylor has a job, he wants a better-paying one. And Shelley Taylor has been out of work for several months.

My response to your editorial "Citizens United II" (May 22) is get real. Do you really think that the justices "fail to grasp that spending by a super PAC on behalf of candidates amounts to something little different than giving them money directly," or, "surely the justices are capable of recognizing their mistake"? Citizens United is no mistake; the justices knew exactly what they were doing. Michael Brown, Columbia

For the first time in some 5,000 years of Egyptian civilization, voters went to the polls this week to select a leader in a contest where the outcome was uncertain. Given Egypt's crucial role in maintaining order and stability in the Middle East and the wide range of candidates, from secular to military to Islamist, that fact is unnerving to some in the United States, Israel and elsewhere. But it has been a cause of unbridled jubilation throughout Egypt, where millions of ordinary people lined up to cast ballots and determine their national destiny.

For the first time in some 5,000 years of Egyptian civilization, voters went to the polls this week to select a leader in a contest where the outcome was uncertain. Given Egypt's crucial role in maintaining order and stability in the Middle East and the wide range of candidates, from secular to military to Islamist, that fact is unnerving to some in the United States, Israel and elsewhere. But it has been a cause of unbridled jubilation throughout Egypt, where millions of ordinary people lined up to cast ballots and determine their national destiny.

The Tewaaraton Foundation announced Wednesday afternoon that the list of candidates for the annual honor given to the collegiate top player has been whittled down to 25 names. No. 1 Loyola and No. 13 Johns Hopkins are two of five programs with two representatives on the list. The Greyhounds are represented by junior attackman Mike Sawyer and junior long-stick midfielder Scott Ratliff, while the Blue Jays have a pair of candidates in junior goalkeeper Pierce Bassett and junior defenseman Tucker Durkin.

Roberto Alomar is among 15 first-time candidates on this year's Hall of Fame ballot, joining holdovers Mark McGwire , Andre Dawson and Bert Blyleven . Edgar Martinez , Barry Larkin and Fred McGriff also are new to the ballot this year. There are 26 candidates, three more than last year when Rickey Henderson was elected in his first appearance and Jim Rice made it on his 15th and final try. Dawson fell 44 votes shy of the 75 percent needed and Blyleven was 67 short.

I agree with Mr. Kohn (letter, April 12) that one should not have to be registered as a member of a major political party in order to vote in a primary on Circuit Court candidates. However, I did some research and found that the current system of having candidates for this office appear on the primary election of both major parties has been in effect since 1941. That, of course, doesn't mean it can never be changed. I also learned of a Maryland court ruling in 2007 (Suessman vs. Lamone 383 Md. 697)

I observe religious beliefs making politicians less responsible. Consider anyone who believes their particular prophet actually existed and rose to heaven, or especially that the Earth is only 6,000 years old, in spite of plentiful evidence to the contrary. They believe that no matter how much they poison my environment to benefit Big Oil or Big Coal, their savior will swoop down and take them to an imaginary heaven when global warming sterilizes the planet. They are categorically not qualified for any office.

The names of four candidates to fill a vacancy at Maryland's highest court were sent to Gov. Martin O'Malley this week. The Appellate Judicial Nominating Commission recommended Baltimore County Circuit Court Judge Kathleen Gallogly Cox; Chief Magistrate Judge Paul William Grimm, of the U.S. District Court in Baltimore; Robert Neal McDonald, chief counsel for opinions, advice and legislation in the Maryland Attorney General's Office; and Court of...

When the Anne Arundel County Council began the process of selecting a candidate to fill a vacancy on the panel last month, they whittled the list of 10 applicants down to two. And then they got stuck. The council has been deadlocked in a 3-3 tie between two candidates: Peter I. Smith, a Defense Department budget manager and a Marine reservist from Severn who is African-American, and Michael J. Wagner, a former state senator from Ferndale, who is white. As the council prepares to take up the matter for the third time Monday, the two Democrats have sought to highlight their qualifications in the battle to replace Daryl D. Jones, who began serving a five-month federal prison term in January for failing to file nearly three dozen personal and business tax returns over six years.

Howard County school board member Allen Dyer had four of his fellow board members served with a legal complaint moments before the panel recessed during Tuesday night's meeting. Dyer, who is currently battling the school board's request that the state board of education oust him from the panel, filed the lawsuit May 4 in Howard County Circuit Court against fellow members Janet Siddiqui, Ellen Flynn Giles, Sandra French and Frank Aquino. The four voted in favor of a June 9 resolution requesting his ouster.

Terry Weldon Taylor, a former public affairs director of a Baltimore health center and veteran political operative, died Wednesday from complications of a stroke at Northwest Hospital. The Windsor Mills resident was 62. "I got to know him through the late Wendell H. Phillips, who was the pastor of Heritage United Church of Christ and had served in the Maryland House of Delegates. Terry had all of the political spirituality of that congregation," said City Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke.

Baltimore officials said Wednesday that they plan to bring together a panel of experts and hire an outside firm in their search for the city's next police commissioner, even as two potential candidates got an audition of sorts before the City Council. Spokesman Ryan O'Doherty said a panel of law enforcement and legal experts will work with Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake's deputy chief of public safety and operations, Yolanda Jiggetts, to find a replacement for Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III. He announced his retirement last week, effective Aug. 1. An outside search firm is likely to be brought in, though specifics were still being worked out as officials seek to fill other key vacancies at City Hall.

I agree with Mr. Kohn (letter, April 12) that one should not have to be registered as a member of a major political party in order to vote in a primary on Circuit Court candidates. However, I did some research and found that the current system of having candidates for this office appear on the primary election of both major parties has been in effect since 1941. That, of course, doesn't mean it can never be changed. I also learned of a Maryland court ruling in 2007 (Suessman vs. Lamone 383 Md. 697)

A non-partisan, national group that plans to run a third-party presidential candidate nominated by an online convention will submit more than 18,000 signatures to the Maryland State Board of Elections on Wednesday with the hope of gaining a spot on the state's ballot in November. Americans Elect, a well-funded nonprofit that is working to gain ballot access in all 50 states, aims to change the way presidents are elected, bypassing the primaries and conventions used by Democrats and Republicans and instead allowing voters to pick a candidate via the Internet.

The Tewaaraton Foundation announced Wednesday afternoon that the list of candidates for the annual honor given to the collegiate top player has been whittled down to 25 names. No. 1 Loyola and No. 13 Johns Hopkins are two of five programs with two representatives on the list. The Greyhounds are represented by junior attackman Mike Sawyer and junior long-stick midfielder Scott Ratliff, while the Blue Jays have a pair of candidates in junior goalkeeper Pierce Bassett and junior defenseman Tucker Durkin.

The three candidates vying for Anne Arundel County executive faced off in a televised debate Tuesday night, sparring over the county's projected budget deficit, the planned slots casino at Arundel Mills mall, and misconduct and ethics issues. Republican County Executive John R. Leopold debated Joanna L. Conti, a Democratic candidate and Annapolis business executive, and Michael Shay, an environmental activist and Green Party candidate, during the 90-minute session at Anne Arundel Community College.

The ascendance of Christine O'Donnell, Delaware's tea party-backed candidate for the U.S. Senate, has women like me cringing like we haven't done since Sarah Palin arrived on the scene. Please, God. Not another ditz with baggage and a loopy belief system. Ms. O'Donnell — and the never-married 41-year-old might object to that courtesy title — was the surprise winner of the Republican nomination in our neighbor state, running with Ms. Palin's endorsement and on her platform of patriotic platitudes.

The questions routinely asked of our presidential candidates are insufficient for assessing their potential ability to lead the nation. The following questions are based on my studies of the leadership style of recent presidents. The candidates' responses to these questions - as well as evidence of how they have already "answered" them in practice - would, I believe, provide more reliable guidance for their leadership potential in the White House: •Vision/purpose. Does the candidate embrace a strong vision or compelling view of the nation's future?

By month's end, Ray Rice could be the face of one of the most popular video-game franchises in America. So why are some Ravens fans now willing to root against the very same star they cheer on every fall Sunday? Three words, far scarier than any onrushing linebacker and oftentimes just as devastating: The Madden Curse. It's a worthwhile topic for anyone voting for Rice as he takes on Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers in the Madden NFL 13 cover competition. Linebacker Ray Lewis, the 2005 cover boy - a bit of a misnomer, don't you think?