Existing Programs

Responding to a worsening teacher shortage, Gov. Parris N. Glendening proposed yesterday to give scholarships to Maryland students if they agree to teach in the state after graduation.His proposal, which builds on a program approved this year by the governor and General Assembly for math and science students, would provide grants of up to $3,000 a year to education majors who maintain "B" averages."Our goal is to take the best and brightest from our colleges and put them in our classrooms," Glendening said at a news conference at the University of Maryland, College Park.

In an effort to improve the quality of life in Baltimore, Housing Commissioner Daniel P. Henson III yesterday unveiled a 10-point plan designed to increase homeownership in the city.The initiative -- which includes some existing programs -- provides grants, tax breaks and other incentives to city employees and others to bolster home sales among all income groups in all areas of the city, Henson said. It also seeks to entice those not living in Baltimore to become city dwellers."Homeownership is the lifeblood of a city," Henson said.

The bad news about Carroll's 1996-1997 school budget likely will get worse, and school board President Joseph D. Mish Jr. says the tight spending plan will please almost no one."It's going to be a difficult year. There's no question about it," Mr. Mish said. "We're going to be criticized by education advocates for not being more demanding and saying this is what we really need, and we're going to be criticized by conservatives who say we're spendthrifts and ought to slash administrative salaries."

WASHINGTON -- The fax machine in The Sun's Washington bureau made its familiar whine, then produced a unique, unsigned missive:"Please stop lying about school lunches," the fax-sender wrote by hand. "Thank you."In the hysteria that has passed for debate on the Republican proposal to trim the school lunch program, this note, sent by a follower of conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh, was a mild salvo.At least this critic said please and thank you.The usual rhetoric in this debate has been unduly harsh even by the nasty partisan standards of modern Washington.

WASHINGTON -- President Clinton and Labor Secretary Robert B. Reich unveiled yesterday a five-year, $13 billion job training and assistance bill designed to help unemployed people get back to work faster -- the fourth major element of the administration's domestic policy agenda for the year."

Dealing with the loss of a loved one or a close friend is hard.Often, being able to share the feelings of loss with someone who understands helps to make the pain more tolerable.For people who are suffering from a loss, Carroll Hospice is offering a support group called "Pathways," which begins at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow.The workshop will take place at the Carroll Hospice office, 95 Carroll St. in Westminster."This group is open to anyone who has suffered any type of loss as a result of separation, divorce or death," said Susan Hannon, director of bereavement services for Carroll Hospice.

Harford County has just made another Top Ten list -- being ranked 10th in the nation in farmland acres preserved by easements.Harford has protected nearly 7,000 acres under Maryland's 12-year-old program, and is poised to add 1,100 more acres in the next few months under its new county program. That high standing may come as a surprise to the prophets of development doom who foresee Harford agricultural fields covered over by waves of concrete and asphalt. After all, the county enacted a 1 percent real estate transfer tax only this year to begin its farm easements program.

When Arlene A. Johnson had her first child, she was a high school teacher in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y."I couldn't find a baby sitter, but there was a shortage of teachers, so they let me set up a playpen in the classroom," said Ms. Johnson, now program director for work force research at the Conference Board, a New York business think tank."

Despite the gloomy atmosphere in Annapolis, the 1992 session of the General Assembly that got under way this past week may turn out to be a watershed event. Either the 188 elected lawmakers will swallow hard and come to grips with a number of crucial issues, or the state will continue to flounder as quaking legislators run for political cover rather than offend angry interest groups.The scene has been set for dramatic breakthroughs. Since last summer, legislators have been formulating ways to cut costs, raise new revenue and restructure government.

A local writer and former TV journalist has sent the governor tips on how Marylanders can become more aware of the importance of a healthy self-esteem.In March 1990, Susan White-Bowden was appointed by Gov. William Donald Schaefer to chair a 23-member task force on self-esteem.The group's mission was broad and perhaps a bit nebulous: Chart the status of existing self-esteem programs in Maryland in society's preeminent institutions -- government, business, education, media, family, law enforcement, correctional facilities and volunteer non-profit organizations.

Stung by criticism from a County Council member that Howard County's new health access plan has enrolled too few residents, officials are refocusing their efforts to find more people who qualify. Dr. Peter L. Beilenson, the county health officer, said yesterday that to ensure continued political support for the Healthy Howard Plan, he is seeking residents who do not have health insurance and who do not qualify for any existing program. The program seeks to provide access to health care to each of the estimated 20,000 limited-income residents who have no insurance.

The small number of residents found to be eligible for Howard's new health access program for the uninsured during the initial enrollment period has prompted a call from a County Council member to consider redirecting some of the money for the initiative. Given the difficult economic climate, part of the $500,000 set aside for Healthy Howard this year could be of more use going to traditional nonprofits, Councilman Greg Fox said Monday at a budget briefing for the council. During October, the first month of enrollment, about 1,100 people registered for Healthy Howard.

WASHINGTON - NASA took an organizational step yesterday toward President Bush's new vision for the space program - and in doing so offered a clue as to where the money for the first five years will come. National Aeronautics and Space Administration officials have declined to discuss the budget specifics of Bush's plan, which calls for building a new spacecraft that can put humans back on the moon no later than 2020. In announcing the proposal Wednesday, Bush said only that he wants Congress to give NASA $1 billion in new money over the next five years and that the agency would have to find $11 billion over that time from existing programs.

BALTIMORE teen-agers who kill or are killed often share common traits. Over the years, local and state officials have built a patchwork of targeted programs, trying to stanch the blood flow. But with the 10-month-old Operation Safe Kids component, they may have finally pieced together a quilt. Most teen-age killers and victims have lengthy juvenile arrest records, the first arrest being about four years before the fatality, according to an analysis of city statistics by the state's attorney's office and the Baltimore City Health Department.

MARYLAND's spending spree may be coming to an end. Tax receipts are starting to slow, but the Glendening administration's expansion in education, the environment and health is consuming every available dollar - and more. No wonder the General Assembly's fiscal analyst now estimates next year's budget could be short $438 million. Spokesmen for Gov. Parris N. Glendening discount this doomsday prediction. Everything will be fine, they say reassuringly. But there are troubling signs. This month's budget forecast is nearly identical to the same analyst's prediction back in April at the close of the General Assembly session.

Baltimore County police Chief Terrence B. Sheridan is taking a cautious approach to a proposal that would allow officers to take home their cruisers, saying he still must be convinced that the concept is a practical crime-fighting tool. Some county officers have lobbied for the program, which would give them a permanent marked car to drive while off-duty to increase visibility. Sheridan would "support an arrangement that is fair and equitable and can be afforded by the county," said Bill Toohey, a county police spokesman.

Responding to a worsening teacher shortage, Gov. Parris N. Glendening proposed yesterday to give scholarships to Maryland students if they agree to teach in the state after graduation.His proposal, which builds on a program approved this year by the governor and General Assembly for math and science students, would provide grants of up to $3,000 a year to education majors who maintain "B" averages."Our goal is to take the best and brightest from our colleges and put them in our classrooms," Glendening said at a news conference at the University of Maryland, College Park.

In an effort to improve the quality of life in Baltimore, Housing Commissioner Daniel P. Henson III yesterday unveiled a 10-point plan designed to increase homeownership in the city.The initiative -- which includes some existing programs -- provides grants, tax breaks and other incentives to city employees and others to bolster home sales among all income groups in all areas of the city, Henson said. It also seeks to entice those not living in Baltimore to become city dwellers."Homeownership is the lifeblood of a city," Henson said.

The bad news about Carroll's 1996-1997 school budget likely will get worse, and school board President Joseph D. Mish Jr. says the tight spending plan will please almost no one."It's going to be a difficult year. There's no question about it," Mr. Mish said. "We're going to be criticized by education advocates for not being more demanding and saying this is what we really need, and we're going to be criticized by conservatives who say we're spendthrifts and ought to slash administrative salaries."

WASHINGTON -- The fax machine in The Sun's Washington bureau made its familiar whine, then produced a unique, unsigned missive:"Please stop lying about school lunches," the fax-sender wrote by hand. "Thank you."In the hysteria that has passed for debate on the Republican proposal to trim the school lunch program, this note, sent by a follower of conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh, was a mild salvo.At least this critic said please and thank you.The usual rhetoric in this debate has been unduly harsh even by the nasty partisan standards of modern Washington.