Dennis Callahan

On December 12 2005, SHIRLEY G. CALLAHAN of Catonsville, formerly of Linthicum. Beloved wife of the late Edward J. Callahan; devoted daughter of the late Archie and Edna Elsroad; dear sister of the late Nelson Elsroad; loving mother of Dennis M. Callahan and his wife Brenda, Sharon E. Vale and her husband Christopher, Cassandra Junk and her husband Rick; cherished grandmother of eight grandsons and seven granddaughters-in-law, and sixteen great grandchildren....

Political opponents of Annapolis Mayor Alfred A. Hopkins have attacked a recent advertisement by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Maryland, which features the city administrator holding his newborn son, as a conflict of interest.The city's Republican Central Committee issued a statement yesterday chiding Michael Mallinoff, the mayor's right-hand man, for appearing in the ad, which has been printed in The Sun and the Maryland Gazette. Former Mayor Dennis Callahan, an undeclared candidate in next year's mayoral race, also questioned the ad because the city contracts with the lowest bidder to provide employee health benefits.

Baltimore Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke helped Annapolis Alderman Carl Snowden raise $5,000 last night for his re-election campaign.Mr. Snowden, D-Ward 5, is running for his third term against Republican G. William Hill in the Nov. 2 city election.Mr. Schmoke was one of about 50 people who attended a $100-a-plate fund-raiser for the incumbent. The other guests included two Annapolis mayoral candidates, incumbent Democrat Al Hopkins and former mayor Dennis Callahan, an independent."I think of him [Mr. Snowden]

Mayor Alfred A. Hopkins is expected to ask the city council tonight to appoint Paul G. Goetzke as Annapolis' new legal counsel.If the council approves the appointment during a closed 7 p.m. session, Mr. Goetzke, an associate with the Annapolis law firm of Council, Baradel, Kosmeri & Nolan, would replace Jonathan Hodgson, who is stepping down next month.Mr. Goetzke is chairman of the Anne Arundel County Ethics Commission and member of the Annapolis Board of Appeals.Mr. Hodgson, the only political appointee Mr. Hopkins said he planned to replace as he started his second term, announced 11 months ago that he would leave the Office of Law and start his own practice after the Nov. 2 election.

Annapolis officials say the long-promised Pasadena public golf course project is back on track after the General Assembly passed emergency legislation intended to clear the way for construction. Legislators sought the bill, which broadens the charter of the project's developer- Maryland Economic Development Corp. - after a golf course development company challenged the legality of MEDCO's involvement. Dennis Callahan, county recreation and parks director, said he expects construction to begin in early July, with completion in fall 2002 - six months behind schedule.

Anne Arundel County Sheriff George F. Johnson IV added to his list of Democratic endorsements this week by picking up the support of County Councilwoman Barbara D. Samorajczyk, an outspoken opponent on growth who had pondered her own run for the county's chief executive post. Samorajczyk, a Democrat and two-term council member who is prohibited from seeking a third term, made her announcement before a crowd of 50 people Wednesday at the Arundel Center, according to a Johnson campaign news release.

A former youth football coach accused of punching a rival coach's teen-age son after a game last fall was fined $1,000 and sentenced to three years of probation yesterday. Judge Rodney C. Warren of the Anne Arundel County Circuit Court also ordered Michael T. Pivec, 53, of Queenstown to seek anger-management counseling and stay away from the 15-year-old victim. As part of an agreement with the county state's attorney's office, Pevic agreed that he had struck the boy in the face without provocation, but he did not admit guilt to a crime.

The Laurel Football Association - which failed last week to win reinstatement into Anne Arundel County's youth football league - has filed another appeal of the ban that was imposed after association officials allegedly falsified player documents. The county's Department of Recreation and Parks threw the association out of its league in January, saying that association board members, coaches, parents and players had repeatedly falsified paperwork during the past two seasons so ineligible players could compete.

On the eve of taking office, Anne Arundel County Executive-elect John R. Leopold has shifted Dennis Callahan to the chief administrative officer post and is doing away with the chief of staff position as a cost-cutting measure. Leopold, a Republican state delegate, had previously announced that Callahan, a prominent Democrat, would be his chief of staff. But in the flurry between a razor-close election and the swearing-in ceremony, Leopold changed his mind. The executive-elect made the announcement in a statement Friday.

A former Anne Arundel County employee who was blocked from joining a $10 million gender discrimination and workplace retaliation lawsuit against County Executive John R. Leopold has again asked a federal judge to consider her case. John M. Singleton, the attorney who is representing former employee Karla R. Hamner, filed legal papers to add Joan M. Harris, also a former employee, to the suit. Yesterday, the judge presiding over the case gave Singleton the green light to proceed on some of the allegations, though several were dismissed.