Gadhia

Now comes Baltimore lawyer Lalit Gadhia to answer inquiries of federal authorities who wonder whether he broke laws controlling the way money is raised for political campaigns.Mr. Gadhia follows lobbyist, Bruce C. Bereano, into the glare of prosecutorial attention.Until his indictment and changes in state law curbed his activities, Bereano was Maryland's prime mover of fund-raiser tickets. He has appealed his conviction on mail fraud charges -- flowing from campaign fund-raising activities -- and remains active on the Maryland circuit of $15-to-$250 bull roasts, golf tournaments and bay cruises.

A Baltimore lawyer who has been a key fund-raiser for dozens of Maryland Democrats in recent years steered thousands of dollars in apparently illegal contributions into an obscure New Mexico campaign fund that supports politicians with ties to India, several contributors say.Lalit H. Gadhia and his nephew approached people in the Baltimore area -- including a young lawyer and a hotel manager -- and asked them to write large personal checks to the fund, three...

Their immediate relatives have been spared the tragedy.But a kinship with those suffering from the Maharashtra earthquake -- which has killed at least 30,000 people since striking a rural area of India early Thursday morning -- led 13 Baltimore-area Indian organizations to begin planning a relief effort yesterday."

The Baltimore zoning board last night rejected a proposal for a shop in Fells Point specializing in the sale of condoms.The 4-1 vote by the Board of Municipal and Zoning Appeals overturns a decision by the city zoning administrator to grant a permit for the store. The store was bitterly opposed by dozens of Fells Point business owners and residents but applauded by health advocates. Last night's decision came after two days of often emotional public hearings.Jeanne L. Brown, the proprietor of the proposed store, The Rubber Tree, sharply condemned the board for what she called a "Neanderthal decision."

Domingo H. Kim spent $40,000 to open the Poppleton Food Market near the Lexington Terrace apartments, but he will lose his business because of a mistake by Baltimore's zoning office.Mr. Kim opened the store in May at 805 W. Lexington St. after the zoning office mistakenly told him that the neighborhood's zoning did not prohibit groceries. In August, he learned that the area is zoned for residential use and a grocery cannot operate there without a special exception from the zoning board.Yesterday, the Board of Municipal and Zoning Appeals voted 3-2 in favor of Mr. Kim's request for a special exception.

The Sun's May 12 editorial involving the government of India contributing $46,000 to candidates in U.S. elections makes a good point.While India should not be giving money to American politicians (apparently it would have been OK for India to hire lobbyists), we Americans should share their blame, because we tolerate a political system that seems to invite such contributions.Your editorial, however, fails to mention that the United States' government, usually acting covertly through the CIA, spends immense amounts of our tax money trying to influence the outcome of elections all over the world.

The state agency charged with improving Maryland's economy has appointed two more executives, filling the remaining vacancies in its top management two months after the department was reorganized.Stephen J. Lynch Sr., a former vice president for First Fidelity Bancorp's Maryland division, is assistant secretary for finance of the state's Department of Business and Economic Development. He'll run programs to invest public and private money with the aim of creating and preserving Maryland jobs.

Robin O. Oegerle is the woman behind the smoking calculator of Gov. Parris N. Glendening's furious fund-raising efforts.But despite the full-court press to move tickets for the governor's dual-scale fund-raiser tonight at the B&O Museum in Baltimore -- a $125 affair with an optional $1,000 VIP cocktail reception -- Oegerle won't step fully into the fray until the morning after."

Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke is to leave Sunday for a one-week visit to India that is intended to build economic and cultural ties between Baltimore and the huge Asian subcontinent.The trip, which is being paid for by STEP IN, an organization of Baltimore-area Indian business people, will include a reception in New Delhi for Indian business leaders with Thomas Pickering, the U.S. ambassador to India, as host.A delegation of Baltimore-area business people will meet Mr. Schmoke in India.Aides say the mayor's trip is intended to put Baltimore in a position to take advantage of India's efforts to make its economy more accessible to foreign business people.

For a school district unable to keep track of its students or buy basic supplies without reams of paperwork, the deal from a local computer company sounded too good to refuse. Give us $5.2 million and 18 months, Information Control Systems told Baltimore school officials, and we will deliver what you need: reliable computer systems. Eight months later, the ICS consultants wanted an additional $1.5 million for more work. They got it. Two months after that, the consultants brought in a new bill for $750,000.