Forum

4545 Ammendale Road, Beltsville Prince George's County Council member Mary Lehman, who represents District 1, is hosting a forum on the plans submitted by the Redistricting Commission to adjust the county's councilmanic district boundaries. The redistricting forum will be held Monday, Sept. 19 at 7 p.m. at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School, 4545 Ammendale Road, in Beltsville. Commissioner David Harrington and staff plan to provide an overview of the redistricting process, information on the commission's goals and priorities and the process moving forward.

Annapolis mom Jessica Pachler has long bought eggs from a local farmer in the name of environmental responsibility and healthful eating. But for years she has wanted to go further, so she and other residents began lobbying the city for the right to keep egg-laying chickens in their backyards. And they won. Annapolis Mayor Joshua J. Cohen signed into law last week an ordinance allowing city residents to keep hens on their property — legislation that was the subject of fierce debate over issues ranging from the smell of chicken waste to the sound of roosters crowing.

A ray of hope, and a touch of grace. That's the mantra that the family of Howard County teen Grace McComas hopes will prevail in confronting incidents of bullying. Addressing a group of parents and school leaders Saturday, they said the emerging epidemic played a part in Grace, a 15-year-old, ending her own life on Easter Sunday. The McComas family joined forces with Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice to send a powerful message in a forum called "A Ray of Hope: A Pro-kindness, Anti-bullying, Teen Suicide Prevention Outreach," at Howard High School.

A ray of hope, and a touch of grace. That's the mantra that the family of Howard County teen Grace McComas hopes will prevail in confronting incidents of bullying. Addressing a group of parents and school leaders Saturday, they said the emerging epidemic played a part in Grace, a 15-year-old, ending her own life on Easter Sunday. The McComas family joined forces with Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice to send a powerful message in a forum called "A Ray of Hope: A Pro-kindness, Anti-bullying, Teen Suicide Prevention Outreach," at Howard High School.

Laurel Advocacy and Referral services is offering a free consumer credit forum as a preliminary step to help those experiencing the consequences of a poor credit score. The community consumer credit forum will be held Wednesday, March 7 from 7-8 p.m. at the Laurel Police Department's Partnership Activity Center, 811 Fifth St. The forum will feature a panel discussion with local bankers and credit counselors, with a half hour for questions from the audience. LARS officials said the agency has found many of its clients unable to secure housing because of a poor credit score.

Washington Redskins general manager Bruce Allen says the team is inviting 500 area high school football coaches to a concussion forum during a minicamp next month. Speaking Wednesday at a panel discussion as part of Brain Injury Awareness Day on Capitol Hill, Allen said the Redskins have sent a letter to coaches in Washington, Maryland and Virginia, asking them to attend practice at new coach Mike Shanahan 's first minicamp and participate in an information session about concussions.

WESTMINSTER - The Board of County Commissioners will host a forum this week on the county's solid waste disposal needs. The forum will be held at Carroll Community College, Building K, room 100, 1601 Washington Road, Westminster, on Tuesday, Feb. 28, beginning at 7 p.m. Residents are invited to attend. The forum will include an overview of current services and demands, as well as future projected needs and options for handling those needs. The commissioners said that although incineration and waste-to-energy will be discussed as options for waste disposal, arrangements made by the prior Board of County Commissioners will not be discussed.

Put a Democratic congressman, a Republican opponent and a Libertarian challenger at the same candidates' forum table and what do you get? Agreement that some children of illegal immigrants should be afforded a way to become citizens and stay in the only country they've ever known. That was just one highlight at Tuesday night's marathon six-hour, televised candidates' forum at Howard Community College sponsored by the Association of Community Services and the League of Women Voters.

One teen spoke about attending 17 schools due to an unstable family. Another discussed the isolation she felt being raised by an unemployed single father who devoted more attention to her younger half-siblings. A third dedicated her question for the politicians to a former classmate who, when he started middle school, began selling drugs to support his family. After weeks of answering questions from religious leaders, labor organizers and talk show hosts, those vying to be Baltimore's next mayor fielded questions from an unexpected group Wednesday evening: high school students.

Propped up on her elbows while lying on her bed with cell phone in hand, the teen on a poster looks troubled as she reads this text message: "Sry I gt mad n lost cntrl last nyt. " The confused young woman in the poster is poised to accept her boyfriend's apology for abusing her on their date the night before, explained Annie Louise Burton, who took the reins of the Domestic Violence Center of Howard County on Jan. 31. But such forgiveness can...

Days after the Ravens added eight players in the NFL draft, director of player personnel Eric DeCosta said there are items left on their wish list - assuming the player and the price are right. "We're very excited about last weekend and the draft we just had," DeCosta said. "Our work is not yet done. … There are still moves left to be made. This team is not yet ready for September. " DeCosta was the featured guest Wednesday night at The Baltimore Sun Newsmaker Forum series at the Jewish Community Center in Owings Mills.

Live Ravens chat: Sun Newsmaker Forum with Eric DeCosta Ravens director of player personnel Eric DeCosta will answer questions from readers and Sun reporters at The Sun's Newsmaker Forum on Wednesday night in Owings Mills. The Ravens were in the news this past weekend with the NFL draft, and DeCosta was right in the middle of it as the team traded out of the first round and was still able to fill many of its needs. Check back for live coverage of the forum, including streaming video, from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday.

More than 100 parents and students gathered at Wilde Lake High School in Columbia on Thursday night to learn about how to prevent of cyberbullying and hear details of the Howard County public schools' anti-bullying policy. Thursday's forum was in the works before the Easter Day suicide of a Glenelg High School sophomore who had been bullied online. But experts say the conversation is especially timely given the threat of copy-cat suicides. "Cyberbullying doesn't directly lead to suicide," said Sameer Hinduja, the forum's keynote speaker and co-director of the Cyberbullying Research Center.

Republicans running for Congress in the competitive 6th District piled on Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett during a debate Sunday, arguing that the GOP incumbent lacks the sense of urgency needed to win in what is likely to be among the most competitive House races in the country. Most of the GOP candidates running in the April 3 primary to unseat Bartlett and take on the Democratic nominee in November used the debate to offer criticism of their fellow Republican's 10-term career in the House of Representatives, even though their positions on most of the issues did not diverge from his significantly.

Saturday marks the seventh annual National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day and the NAACP is hosting a public lunch and panel discussion at Coppin State University . The day is coordinated nationally by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office on Women's Health . It aims to raise awareness about impact the epidemic is having on women and girls. The forum is open to the public and there are still tickets available. They can be reserved here .  It runs from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Coppin's Physical Education Complex & Multipurpose Gym, 2523 Gwynns Falls Parkway in Baltimore.

Coppin State University President Reginald Avery told an auditorium of roughly 300 students, faculty and staff Wednesday that he is accountable for the direction of the institution and that he will address concerns about his leadership head-on. Avery, who recently received a vote of no confidence from faculty, fielded about a dozen questions and comments, including that the university needs to improve staff training, better its customer service, provide higher salaries and add perks for loyal staff, amplify school pride and prioritize campus improvements.

Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate and House of Representatives will discuss their platforms and answer questions during a three-hour forum Saturday in Glen Burnie.Six of seven Senate candidates as well as candidates for the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th district congressional seats will participate, said Linda Lamone, president of the newly formed club,Democratic Women of Anne Arundel County.The forum will begin at 3:30 p.m., immediately following a short club meeting, Lamone said.After short speeches by each candidate,and questions to the Senate candidates, Lamone said the House candidates will split up to meet with the voters from their separate districts.

A passionate, cheering, standing-room-only crowd of more than 260 people gathered in Harper's Choice on Tuesday night at a primary candidates forum, putting the simmering differences among West Columbia Democrats into sharp relief. Partisans at the event at Kahler Hall seemed to compete to be the loudest as District 4 County Councilwoman Mary Kay Sigaty and Alan Klein debated, along with veteran Del. Elizabeth Bobo and John Bailey, her challenger in District 12b. The fault line, as usual, was the view of the 30-year downtown Columbia redevelopment plan.

An Anne Arundel county councilman was peppered with questions Saturday about diversity on the all-white, all-male council — and criticized for his public use of a racial slur — before storming out of a community forum in Odenton. Richard B. "Dick" Ladd, a Broadneck Republican, was the only councilman to attend the discussion on local government, sponsored by a historically black sorority. His appearance came as the council is deadlocked between two candidates — one white and one black — to replace a member who is serving a prison term.

WESTMINSTER - The Board of County Commissioners will host a forum this week on the county's solid waste disposal needs. The forum will be held at Carroll Community College, Building K, room 100, 1601 Washington Road, Westminster, on Tuesday, Feb. 28, beginning at 7 p.m. Residents are invited to attend. The forum will include an overview of current services and demands, as well as future projected needs and options for handling those needs. The commissioners said that although incineration and waste-to-energy will be discussed as options for waste disposal, arrangements made by the prior Board of County Commissioners will not be discussed.