Dollars

ISSUE: County Executive John R. Leopold raised more than $100,000 last week at an exclusive fundraiser attended mainly by developers -- each of whom paid the $4,000 state maximum for a campaign contribution. Leopold, who won election in November pledging that he wouldn't be beholden to developers, said that he hasn't changed and that his record bears that out. "Whether a donor gives me $4,000, $1,000 or zero dollars, it won't change the direction I will pursue in the county," he said. Even as critics, including his Democratic opponent last fall and a former Republican county executive, accused Leopold of hypocrisy, they acknowledged that fundraising is part of political life.

$1,023,600,000. That's the amount of money that the stockholders of Computer Associates lost as a result of the accounting fraud by former Chief Executive Officer Sanjay Kumar. Both Kumar, 44, and federal prosecutors agree on the number, which was computed by government economic consultants, according to court papers. They also agree that Kumar is responsible for repaying shareholders as a result of a plea deal. Yesterday, in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, N.Y., Judge I. Leo Glasser signed off on the pact in which Kumar will be required to pay $798 million in restitution.

WE WANT YOUR OPINIONS ISSUE: County Executive John R. Leopold raisedmore than $100,000 last week at an exclusive fundraiser attended mainly by developers -- each of whom paid the $4,000 state maximumfor a campaign contribution. Leopold,who won election in November pledging that hewouldn't be beholden to developers, said that hehasn't changed and that his record bears that out. "Whether a donor givesme $4,000, $1,000 or zero dollars, it won?t change the direction Iwill pursue in the county," he said.

ISSUE: Anne Arundel County Board of Education members say that they have been put in the awkward position of being asked to approve millions of dollars a year in security upgrades without knowing if or how they fit in with a consultant's report detailing $39 million in weaknesses. Administration officials have never released the 2005 report, saying that they do not want to publicize which schools had poor lighting, unlocked doors and windows or other safety failings. Despite their lack of information, the board approved $2.7 million last week for unspecified improvements, which could include fencing, cameras or other technology.

A 24-year-old Baltimore man was sentenced yesterday to life in prison plus 135 years for the 1997 kidnapping and execution-style murder of an Owings Mills woman whose body was left in Leakin Park.Thomas George Brown of the 1600 block of N. Calhoun St. received life in prison for the first-degree murder of Antoineen Darden, 30, who was shot once in the head after being driven around the city.Circuit Judge Carol E. Smith also sentenced Brown to 30 years each on two counts of kidnapping, 15 years each for first-degree assault and robbery with a deadly weapon, 10 years for burglary, and 35 years on two counts of using a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence.

ITS NOT the worst misuse of the publics dollar weve ever seen. Yet, Daniel P. Henson III ought to have known better.The soon-to-depart head of the citys housing department and its public housing authority is merely a caretaker now, awaiting the Dec. 7 inauguration of the next mayor. This is not the time for bold plans or 2 1/2 day, taxpayer-funded management retreats in scenic St. Michaels.Mr. Henson defended the trip and its $13,446 price tag, saying the retreat was needed to lay out a strategy for streamlining and making the operation of public housing more efficient.

In the year since Vice Adm. John R. Ryan became the 56th superintendent of the Naval Academy, the most surprising thing that's happened is that nothing surprising has happened.At a school whose name had become linked with the word "scandal" -- baggage from the cheating, drug sales and car thefts of years past -- what folks at the academy wanted most in a leader was stability, someone whose decisions and persona would attract little attention."I think the academy needed a calming period," said former U.S. Rep. Beverly B. Byron, who is chairwoman of the academy's board of visitors and has served with five superintendents.

In 1995, the same year Avesta Sheffield made a half-billion dollars' profit, the steel company came to Maryland taxpayers, asking for a little bit more. xxIf Maryland would just ante up $1.1 million in special incentives, Avesta executives promised, the company's stainless-steel mill in Baltimore County would continue operations, make new investments and nearly double its work force to 350.Maryland delivered. Gov. Parris N. Glendening took credit for the "rebirth" of the old factory, which once employed 1,500 and stamped out artillery shells during World War II.It was not to be.The mill stopped production last year, and last week Avesta put it up for sale.

Sick K-9 dog elicits concernOn the evening news recently was a report of a dog that is a member of the Anne Arundel County canine corps. This 8-year-old highly decorated shepherd has been in service for 7 years. He is working now because the cancer he has is in remission due to chemotherapy he is receiving.These animals work side by side with an officer in the field. They apprehend the bad guys. They find lost children. They locate cadavers. They search for drugs and explosives. Look what they are doing in Turkey at this moment.

THIS country's legal profession had better take a hard look at the egregious size of the fees its members are collecting from tobacco lawsuit settlements. They're in the billions of dollars -- far more than what most Americans would consider fair payment.Granted, these lawyers took the cases against tobacco companies on a contingency basis. That means they would have gotten nothing had the cases gone against them. They deserve to be rewarded if they win a big monetary award for their clients.

As the dollar falls against the euro, yen and other major currencies, China and other emerging economic powers holding lots of dollars and U.S. securities are crying foul - and urging an end to the dollar's central status in global commerce. If they are truly disgusted, they should look to themselves for answers. Since the end of World War II, the dollar has largely replaced gold as the reserve asset central banks hold to back up national currencies. The supply of gold is too limited, and efforts to back up currency with gold would result in chronic shortages of liquidity and global deflation.

None of us will ever forget where we were and what we were doing that fateful morning eight years ago today, when the hijacked airliners flew into the World Trade Center towers in Manhattan. I was just leaving the house for work when my wife called out for me to come back inside. The first plane had just struck its target, and for a moment we didn't know if it was an accident. All doubts disappeared seconds later when we saw, live on television, the second tower struck by another plane.

WASHINGTON - - First came the crash and the rescue efforts. Then the news conferences, the memorial services and the official investigations. Now come the lawsuits. It took just two days after last month's deadly Metro crash for the first personal injury lawsuit to be filed in federal court. Five others have followed, one seeking as much as $25 million in damages. Legal experts said the number of liability claims for the crash, which killed nine and injured 80, can be expected to rise for months and, perhaps, years.

Whether you see it as an exorbitant taxpayer bailout of Wall Street and the banks or you're cheering from the sidelines, you can agree: The federal moves to rescue the mortgage system could have huge impacts on consumers. Even the chief architect of the plans, Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr., says the costs could run into the "hundreds of billions" of dollars. That inevitably means higher taxes somewhere down the line. On the other hand, Paulson has argued that the costs of not acting and allowing the global financial system to unravel day by day would ultimately cost taxpayers much more.

SEPT. 24, 2028 Dear grandchildren: Now that you're old enough to begin understanding the world you have inherited, let me try to explain what happened. By rights, the United States should be in far better shape for you. But your elders failed to deliver "what is due to their posterity," in the words of a conservative British politician who thought about these things a long time ago. It didn't happen all at once. Nobody intended to leave the country to the next generation diminished in influence and avoiding calls from debt collectors.

Here in Paris, Coca-Cola is 10 dollars a glass. A grilled cheese sandwich is 10 dollars. And gas is 10 dollars a gallon. But France still offers one good deal to Americans - and the French and everybody else. A decent bottle of wine is 2 or 3 euros - 3 dollars to 5 dollars. A great bottle can be had for 10 or 15 dollars. (I'm violating Sun style by spelling out monetary amounts, but my French keyboard doesn't have a dollar sign! At least not that I can find. It also has the letters "w" and "m" and "a" and a bunch of other stuff in the "wrong" places.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Free is good. That's my rallying cry for coming high school seniors starting the scramble for every dollar they can get their hands on between now and next spring to cover college tuition, textbooks, and room and board. Yet, at a time when college costs continue to escalate with no end in sight, many sources for "free" money are being overlooked and untapped. By "free," I mean millions of dollars in scholarships that are typically available annually to qualified students with no repayment strings attached.

There's likely enough good news coming out of the recently completed legislative session to soften the blow of last fall's tax increases and return a bit of luster to the image of Gov. Martin O'Malley, who took a subsequent beating in opinion polls. The $2 billion settlement with Constellation Energy Group (including the $170 credit for BGE customers), the rollback of the much-reviled tax on computer services, the imposition of greater controls on development around the shores of the Chesapeake Bay, and an anti-crime initiative that expands the state's DNA databank all are likely to sit well with the public.

Tomorrow's primary elections in Ohio and Texas could be decisive in determining who will be the Democratic Party's presidential nominee. The following excerpts are taken from phone interviews that the Editorial Board of The Sun conducted with Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama. How would you reinvigorate federal efforts to assist American cities like Baltimore? Well, one of the first things we're going to have to do is to get our budget under control. You know, if we're spending $9 billion a month in Iraq, that's money that can't be spent in our cities, and so I've been clear about the need for a phased withdrawal.

State and local officials urged lawmakers yesterday to enact legislation that they say will make sure private developments on Maryland military bases pay their fair share for the new roads, water and sewer lines needed to accommodate an influx of military jobs into the state. Backers of Gov. Martin O'Malley's proposal to allow local governments to negotiate payments in lieu of taxes for the projects say that is the only equitable way to deal with the off-base impacts of such developments.