EXPLORE
May 15, 2013
Learn from past for answers to overcrowding We have all heard, "If you don't learn from history, you are destined to repeat it. " We must learn from events 18 years ago when citizens wanted the (County Executive Dutch) Ruppersberger Administration to commit to the voters' approval to reopen Bloomsbury as a middle school. Instead, the county executive transferred the approved monies to other school projects. Citizens of Catonsville united and appeared before the Baltimore County Board of Education, the County Council, county executive and even held hands around Bloomsbury to no avail.
NEWS
By Pamela Wood, The Baltimore Sun | May 12, 2013
The debate over Anne Arundel County's new stormwater fees - criticized by many as the "rain tax" - will continue through this month, and possibly beyond, as the County Council weighs several options for revising the controversial levy. Council members have before them five bills to tweak the rate structure, and more could come before July 1, when the fees must be in place. Councilman Jamie Benoit, a Crownsville Democrat who is sponsoring four of the bills, said his goal is to "make this fee equitable and align the obligation to pay with the ability to pay. " The council initially approved a set of stormwater fees in April, only to have the bill vetoed by County Executive Laura Neuman, who expressed concern that too few people knew about them.
NEWS
By Alison Knezevich, The Baltimore Sun | May 11, 2013
An education advocate and a longtime state lawmaker say they are eyeing Baltimore County Councilman Todd Huff's seat. Democrat Laurie Taylor-Mitchell, an art historian and local education advocate, said she has decided to run for the four-year term in 2014, and Republican Del. Wade Kach said he's "seriously considering it. " Huff, a Lutherville Republican, was elected in 2010 for the district that covers the northern part of the county....
NEWS
By Pamela Wood, The Baltimore Sun | May 9, 2013
Former Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold has resurfaced with a critique of his successor, saying her statements about his administration are "disingenuous" and "feckless. " In a letter sent to The Baltimore Sun and other newspapers, Leopold criticized current County Executive Laura Neuman's description of the county as "defined by mediocrity" and "way behind in culture, attitude and investment" because of Leopold's actions. Leopold said in an interview Thursday afternoon that he decided to speak up because he felt Neuman's assertions went too far. "I have no problem with her wanting to stress her goals and accomplishments, but I felt some of her statements were inaccurate," he said.
EXPLORE
AEGIS STAFF REPORT | May 7, 2013
Explicitly referring to it in the pejorative and reiterating previous statements that state officials bear all the blame, Harford County Executive David Craig signed Harford County's new "rain tax" into law this week. In doing so, Craig signed off on legislation passed last month that is significantly different than what he himself had proposed two months earlier. The net effect is Harford went from potentially having one of the highest residential stormwater remediation fees in the state to one of the lowest, or at least for the next year.
NEWS
By Pamela Wood, The Baltimore Sun | May 6, 2013
It will soon be legal to own a Taser or stun gun in Anne Arundel County, following a vote by the County Council on Monday. Council members voted 4-3 to legalize the devices, which use an electric shock to disable another person. The bill was sponsored by Councilman Derek Fink, a Pasadena Republican who had argued that Tasers are a good way for people to protect themselves, especially if they don't want to own a gun. "It's going to give them another viable option to protect themselves, their families and their property," Fink said.