Cardinals

U.S. Sens. Barbara A. Mikulski and Ben Cardin publicly challenged on Wednesday a federal decision not to provide aid to Maryland residents affected by Hurricane Sandy - calling on President Barack Obama and federal emergency officials to rethink the decision. "It's a sad day in Maryland," Mikulski said at a hearing on storm relief efforts before the Senate Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee, holding up a copy of The Baltimore Sun reporting the Federal Emergency Management Agency's decision Tuesday to deny Maryland families aid. The areas hit by the storm are some of the most "cash poor" in the state, she said - and people can't recover on their own. "We understand the collective damage issue," Cardin said, noting the many fronts of storm damage FEMA is handling.

- Legislation by Sen. Ben Cardin to pressure Russia on human rights abuses is expected to win approval in Congress Thursday despite concerns that it will hurt already tenuous U.S. relations with the Kremlin. The proposal - which requires the State Department to maintain a public list of human rights abusers in Russia and freeze their assets - has received bipartisan support in the House and Senate even though the Obama administration has largely resisted the effort. Because the language is tucked into a trade bill that is a priority for Russia and U.S. businesses, President Obama is expected to sign the measure if sent to his desk.

Researchers commissioned by the Defense Department said Monday that decades-old limits on lead exposure are inadequate to protect the health of workers on military firing ranges. Moreover, the National Academy of Science reported, lead from ammunition fired on Army, Navy and Air Force ranges in the last five years has "frequently exceeded" those limits, "in some cases by several orders of magnitude. " Sen. Ben Cardin expressed concern about the report's implications for workers at Maryland installations with firing ranges, such as Aberdeen Proving Ground in Harford County.

Sens. Ben Cardin and Barbara A. Mikulski have introduced legislation to block the move of a Navy Reserve attack electronic squadron from Joint Base Andrews to the West Coast. The Maryland Democrats said the Navy plan to move the VAQ-209 electronic attack squadron to Washington state had not received congressional oversight and could leave the National Capital Region vulnerable to an electronic warfare attack. “Keeping this unique squadron home-based here in Maryland is critical to the safety and security of the United States,” Mikulski said in a statement.

When he was 13 years old, Sunny Jane decided to leave his home country of Lesotho and move to the United States to advance his soccer career. Last Sunday, Jane took another step along that path as he contributed two goals and an assist as the second-seeded Terps cruised to a 5-1 victory over Coastal Carolina in the NCAA tournament. The win secured a trip to the quarterfinals and a rematch against Louisville on Saturday at 5 p.m. in College Park. The matchup with the Cardinals is particularly interesting for Jane because his first trip to the College Cup hinges on beating a college from Kentucky, the state in which he settled after coming to the country.

Del. Jon Cardin -- nephew to U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin -- publicly launched his pre-campaign to be Maryland's next attorney general this morning with an email declaring that he's formed an "exploratory committee. " The field already includes Senate Judicial Proceedings Chairman Brian Frosh, a Montgomery County Democrat. Also rumored to be considering a run are former U.S. Rep. Frank Kratovil and Del. Bill Frick. Current AG Doug Gansler is widely expected to run for governor in 2014 -- creating a vacancy.

Sprinting down the sideline in single coverage with just over a minute left in Thursday's 93rd Turkey Bowl, Calvert Hall senior Logan Kurek knew this was the chance he had dreamed about. Moments later, the receiver turned that dream into one of the most dramatic moments in the history of the storied rivalry, hauling in Colar Kuhns' deep ball and outrunning his defender for an 83-yard touchdown that gave the No. 4 Cardinals a 21-14 win over Loyola before an announced 9,298 at M&T Bank Stadium.

A year after Gilman escaped with a 34-32 double-overtime win over Calvert Hall in the inaugural Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference championship game, the Greyhounds put a much more emphatic stamp on their 11th title since 1995. No. 1 Gilman's size and strength at the point of attack wore down the No. 2 Cardinals as the Greyhounds pounded out a 35-7 victory at Johnny Unitas Stadium. Both teams started slowly, playing to a scoreless stalemate in the opening quarter.

U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin celebrated his election to a second term with a traditional breakfast at Fells Point diner Jimmy's Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. "I'm kind of a boring guy: Egg white omelet. So that's what I got this morning with my grits," he said. "It was delicious. " Cardin sat at a table with U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, who was not facing re-election this year, and Del. Maggie McIntosh. After finishing his meal, Cardin walked through the restaurant and talked to other diners, apologizing if he had caused them any inconvenience.

U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin won a second term Tuesday despite a spirited and well-funded campaign from one opponent and a multimillion-dollar advertising blitz from another. A known commodity in Maryland politics for more than 40 years, Cardin, a Democrat, aligned himself closely with the policies of President Barack Obama. Given the state's political leanings, that made the junior senator one of the safest incumbents in the nation. "The key to the next term, certainly the next two years, is that we have to get very serious about our deficit — we've got to work across party lines," Cardin said in an interview.