First Lady

First lady Michelle Obama told the Naval Academy's 4,000 midshipmen that she and the president would honor their sacrifice by making sure the country takes care of them.  "You have a president and a first lady who will keep working to make sure that this country serves you as well as you serve us," Michelle Obama said during brief remarks before sharing lunch with midshipmen.  The first lady was in Annapolis for a State House ceremony where...

Michelle Obama encouraged the graduates of Bowie State University on Friday to live up to the legacy of their university's founders and the leaders of the civil rights movement by promoting the importance of education in the black community. "Just think about this for a moment — for generations, in many parts of this country, it was illegal for black people to get an education," Obama told the predominantly black crowd, referring to the period in which Bowie State was founded. "Slaves caught reading or writing could be beaten within an inch of their lives.

Michelle Obama seems to have found her mission as first lady, and it grew out of the planting the most famous vegetable garden in the world. She hinted at what might become her cause last summer when she celebrated the garden's first harvest with the schoolchildren who helped her plant it. She declared that poor eating habits are a root cause of obesity, and obesity is a root cause of health problems that are taxing this country's resources: heart...

Jimi Helen McCormick, a first lady of the McCormick spice, seasonings and flavorings firm, died Friday of cancer at Stella Maris Hospice. She was 74 and had homes in Reisterstown and Stuart, Fla. Born Jimi Helen Faulk in Jackson, Miss., she lived in Southern California as a child. After her father's death, she was partially raised by aunts and uncles in Methodist parsonages in Mississippi and Louisiana, where she attended schools. Her mother, Minnie Rae Faulk, was a Washington dressmaker.

First Lady Catherine Curran O'Malley issued an apology this morning for saying that delegates who'd switched their votes on same-sex marriage last session were "cowards. " In a statement issued a few minutes ago, the First Lady said she let her "feelings get the better of me. " “I regret my recent choice of words," O'Malley said in the statement. The Associated Press reported Thursday night that the First Lady, speaking at the 24th annual Conference on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Equality in Baltimore, said “there were some cowards that prevented it from passing.” Last year a same-sex marriage bill passed in the Senate, but was pulled from the House floor when leaders found they were a few votes short of passage.

I don't get it ...the United States is in extreme debt and getting higher every second. Yet Michelle Obama and daughters are apparently enjoying their travels in Africa. ( "Aids Activists Share Plight With First Lady" June 24.) The plight of AIDS will long be with us. Talking about it solves absolutely nothing. Question: Does the First Lady have to get approval from anyone for her trips? When will our government realize we cannot fix other countries' problems? We cannot fix our own!

It's difficult to fathom the real purpose or intent of the scathing critiques of Michelle Obama's health initiative to lower the rate of childhood obesity. We know that this country has a significantly greater obesity problem than other industrialized nations and that this health problem increases morbidity and mortality rates, decreases productivity and significantly increases the cost of health care. Any effort to stem this tide is appreciated. Ms. Obama is attempting to persuade people to develop better eating and exercise habits.

The only GOP lawmaker to support same-sex marriage so far is Sen. Allan Kittleman, of Howard County, but some influential Republican Marylanders are beginning to weigh in. Joe Steffen, the longtime political operative to Republican former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr., wrote a post on his Global Rhetoric blog defending First Lady Catherine Curran O'Malley for calling the some of lawmakers who switched their vote on same-sex marriage "cowards" and...

The first family is America's egalitarian version of royalty (if you are too young to remember the sprawling Kennedy clan), and thanks to our People magazine sensibilities, we know as much about their family life and fashion as the Brits do about Kate and William's. For example, the latest news is that 13-year-old Malia Obama is beginning to spread her social wings, and it is giving President Barack Obama hives to see his oldest daughter leave the White House all dolled up for a dance or a party.

Elinor Isabel "Judy" Agnew, who as the wife of former Baltimore County Executive, Maryland Gov. and Vice President Spiro T. Agnew preferred quiet domesticity to that of the political limelight, died June 20 in Rancho Mirage, Calif. She was 91. "She passed away very peacefully with all of her children at her side," a daughter, Susan Sagle of Palm Springs, Calif., said Thursday. "She died of natural causes and had been in failing health since 2005. " "Judy was truly a lady and a very outstanding second lady.

First lady Michelle Obama told the Naval Academy's 4,000 midshipmen that she and the president would honor their sacrifice by making sure the country takes care of them.  "You have a president and a first lady who will keep working to make sure that this country serves you as well as you serve us," Michelle Obama said during brief remarks before sharing lunch with midshipmen.  The first lady was in Annapolis for a State House ceremony where...

First lady Michelle Obama is scheduled to visit the Naval Academy and the State House in Annapolis today as she praises a new Maryland law as setting a national standard for legislation to help veterans get professional credentials, the White House said. Her arrival coincides with Gov. Martin O'Malley signing the bill, which passed the General Assembly unanimously this month. It aims to ease Maryland veterans' transition from the military to civilian jobs and universities, as well as help veterans and military spouses get professional licenses for more than 70 jobs when they move here.

First lady Michelle Obama will visit the Naval Academy and attend a bill signing in Annapolis on Wednesday, the White House said on Monday. Obama will be present when Gov. Martin O'Malley signs the Veterans Full Employment Act, legislation that makes it easier for veterans and spouses of active-duty service members to receive professional licenses. The first lady has made military families among her top issues. Before the bill signing, Obama will meet with service members affected by the new legislation at the Naval Academy, the White House said.

In the Sunday Baltimore Sun, there was an article entitled "Some lawmakers to give back pay" (April 7). It claims that President Barack Obama is showing solidarity and shared sacrifice with the federal employees who are about to be furloughed. What a joke and an insult! President Obama will give back 5 percent of his salary or $16,667. Furloughed employees will be giving back 21 days of pay, about 13 percent of their salaries. If Mr. Obama really wants shared sacrifice, as he states, he would give back 21 days of pay or $32,308.

Madeline L. Healey, a homemaker who was an executive secretary to two Maryland first ladies, died of an intestinal blockage April 5 at Gilchrist Hospice Care in Towson. The former Annapolis resident lived in Cockeysville and was 92. The daughter of Alva and Nannie Duvall, she was born in Baltimore and raised on Poplar Grove Street in Walbrook. A 1939 graduate of Forest Park High School, she met her husband, William H. Healey Jr., when both were teens living in the same neighborhood.

Tragedy seemed to stalk Mary Todd Lincoln as surely as it did her husband. Long before that Good Friday in 1865 when the Lincolns decided to attend Ford's Theatre, it was clear that the mental health of the president's wife had begun to fray. To this day, she is a riveting figure. There's something of a Shakespearean dimension about her personality and her life, which, post-Washington, included stints in a mental asylum. No wonder she dominates the uneven, but intriguing, new play by Tazewell Thompson, although the first lady gets only half the title.

Ellen Ingram Fretterd, who was known as the "first lady" of the Maryland National Guard, died of cancer Dec. 3 at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia. The Federalsburg resident was 75. Born Ellen Ingram in Pike, W.Va., and raised in Seaford, Del., she was a graduate of Seaford High School. She earned an associate's degree from Chesapeake College and a bachelor of arts from what was then Salisbury State College. In 1988 then-Gov. William Donald Schaefer appointed her to the school's board of visitors.

North County High School student Jack Andraka was slated to be a guest of First Lady Michelle Obama on Tuesday night at the State of the Union address in Washington. Jack Andraka, of Crownsville, was invited to sit in the box with the First Lady and also Dr. Jill Biden during President Barack Obama's address at the U.S. Capitol, according to a release from the White House. In 2012 Andraka, a sophomore at North County, was awarded first place in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his discovery of a method to detect pancreatic cancer.

Former Maryland first lady Kendel Ehrlich is considering running to fill the Anne Arundel County executive seat that was recently vacated by John R. Leopold, saying Saturday that she feels "uniquely qualified for a unique situation. " The County Council has 30 days to fill the seat left by Leopold, who stepped down as county executive Friday after being suspended from his position following his conviction on two counts of misconduct in office. Ehrlich, an attorney and the wife of former Gov. Robert Ehrlich, who has sparked rumors she would run for the top Arundel seat in the past as well, including in 2009, said Leopold's fall has left many county residents and employees frustrated and ready for change.