Candidates

As the former chair of the Oakland Mills Village Board, I have had the pleasure of working with both candidates for Columbia Council. I am supporting Julia McCready. When Julia served on the board, she listened to all voices regarding items before the board, and with her great grasp of the issues, asked the tough questions to determine what is best for Oakland Mills and Columbia. She has proven to me to be a positive, forward thinker that I trust will do the job that she is elected to do. Her opponent says in a mailing that he "Looks out for the interest of all residents," but after working with him, I know that he fights for the agenda of a narrow constituency.

Legg Mason Inc.'s new CEO, Joseph A. Sullivan, announced Tuesday a shake-up of his executive team and the exit of some top officials, including one who had been in the running for chief executive. Sullivan, a Legg insider who was named CEO and president in February, had been serving as interim chief executive after Mark R. Fetting stepped down in October. The Baltimore-based money manager in recent years has suffered from poor performance among some of its mutual funds as well as an outflow of investor dollars.

Ten lawyers, including the county's state's attorney and a member of the Maryland House of Delegates, have applied for the vacancy on the Harford County Circuit Court. In addition, 20 lawyers have applied for the vacancy on the county's District Court bench, with six applying for both. The 10 applicants to replace recently retired Circuit Judge Emory A. Plitt Jr. are: • Joseph Ignatius Cassilly, Harford County State's Attorney since 1983; • Michael Gerard Comeau, a senior assistant attorney in the Harford County Law Department and a former state delegate; • Yolanda Lauranzon Curtin, a state administrative law judge and former Harford prosecutor; • Michael Hugh Andrew Daney, associate zoning hearing examiner for Harford County; • Howard Wayne Norman Jr., a member of the House of Delegates representing Northern Harford; • Steven J. Scheinin, a lawyer in private practice and previous judge applicant and candidate; • District Court Judge Victor Kuras Butanis, a district judge since 1996; • Melissa Lazarich Lambert, chief legal counsel to the Harford County Council and a former assistant state's attorney; • Kerwin Anthony Miller Sr., a deputy state's attorney for Cecil County; • Diane Adkins Tobin, a deputy state's attorney for Harford County.

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, in an ambitious effort to direct a party makeover in wake of its defeat last November, has targeted the next presidential cycle's debates and primaries. A new party entity called the Growth and Opportunity Project (GOP - get it?) recommends that the number of primary-period debates be sharply reduced and that the primary schedule start earlier and be curtailed in 2016. The theory is that there was too much of a good thing in 2011-12, and the process lasted so long it severely damaged the chances of electing a Republican president.

Former Maryland congressional candidate Wendy W. Rosen pleaded guilty Friday to voting illegally in two elections and will serve five years probation and pay a $5,000 fine. The 58-year-old Rosen, who won a Democratic primary last year to challenge Republican Rep. Andy Harris in Maryland's 1st Congressional District, cast ballots in 2006 and 2010 in Baltimore County even though her legal residence was in Florida. The revelation last September ended her run. The sentence is the result of a plea agreement with the Office of the State Prosector.

The House of Delegates approved a bill Thursday that would allow political candidates to use campaign funds to pay for the cost of attending professional conferences. The legislation, sponsored by Del. Carolyn J.B. Howard, a Prince George's County Democrat, passed on a vote of 110-27. It now goes to the Senate. The bill would let incumbent officeholders and candidates use their campaign funds to pay for the travel, lodging, meal and registration costs of conferences focused on policy issues related to the office they hold or are seeking.

Salisbury's road to an 11th national championship ran into a huge roadblock with the news that senior midfielder Ryan Clarke will miss the remainder of the season because of a ruptured spleen. Coach Jim Berkman said via email that Clarke, a Tewaaraton Award candidate, has not played in the No. 9 Sea Gulls' last two games. The team improved to 4-2 with victories over McDaniel (16-3) on Wednesday and No. 14 Gettysburg (8-5) on Saturday. Clarke, who had recorded 35 goals and 29 assists last year, had posted eight goals and five assists in four contests this season.

After initially balking at The Baltimore Sun's request following an accidental shooting that critically injured a recruit, Baltimore police have released protocols and policies related to firearms exercises. With criminal and internal investigations pending, its unclear what specific policies might have been broken or how. But the documents make clear that no live firearm should have been present during the Feb. 12 training exercise. The policies state that a "safety officer" must be placed at every entrance or access point to ensure that no weapons are inside the training area.

A police recruit wounded in a training exercise can respond through hand signals but remains hospitalized with an unclear path to recovery, said a Baltimore attorney representing the officer. State police identified the injured officer candidate on Wednesday as Raymond Gray, 43, of Baltimore. Gray, who was training to be a University of Maryland campus police officer, was accidentally shot in the head with a live round Feb. 12 during what authorities have described as an unauthorized training exercise using simulated ammunition.

On Feb. 15, the Baltimore City Democratic State Central Committee-45th District convened at the Oliver Community Center to select a candidate to assume the seat once held by Del. Hattie Harrison, a longtime political stalwart in East Baltimore who died last month. Ten candidates interviewed for the position, three of whom were also members of the committee conducting the interviews, before Nina Harper, director of the Oliver Community Association, was chosen for the position. At no time did the chair or committee members appear to think it was inappropriate for them to participate as final arbiters of the decision as to who should succeed Delegate Harrison.