Gridlock

ROCKVILLE - Nothing attracts a politician's notice like voter anger, and there is plenty being vented by the commuter-warriors inching along Montgomery County's clogged roads each day. Motorists' exasperation is why County Executive Douglas M. Duncan championed an "End Gridlock" campaign slate in November, helping elect council members who back his $10 billion "Go Montgomery!" roads and transit improvement plan. So now Duncan, a Democrat, has a council willing to implement most of the proposal, but he says Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. hoodwinked him by seeming to support it, then withholding necessary funding after the election campaign ended.

Buses offer solution to Carroll traffic ills Easing morning and evening rush hour traffic on Routes 140, 97 in Westminster and 30 is a no-brainer. Quality of life doesn't require the spending of tens of millions of taxpayer dollars to add to our county and state's road and gridlock creep, which, it turns out, only destroys the very quality of life that we now enjoy. It requires the simple application of the principles of free enterprise that has made America the most dynamic country the world's people has ever seen.

Maryland's 195th General Assembly comes to Annapolis this week amid uncertainty over whether the state's first Republican governor in more than three decades will bring partisan gridlock or a new era of interparty cooperation. At one extreme are the pessimists who anticipate 90 days of stalemates, with leaders clashing on how to handle a suffocating budget shortfall and whether slot machines should help fill the gap. Those who see a half-full glass - including Gov.-elect Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. - envision a more collegial capital where lawmakers forge bonds while munching on pizza and watching late-night sports shows inside the governor's mansion.

WASHINGTON - After all the rallies, the handshaking, the millions of dollars spent and the barrage of negative television and radio advertising by the candidates of both parties, the country today remains about where it was politically 24 hours ago - split down the middle. But in a campaign in which no central issue seemed to sway the voters across the nation, President Bush, by investing a huge amount of his time and prestige, bucked the history of first-term presidents in a midterm election.

ALBANY, N.Y. - A 2-year-old federal law withholds money from states that fail to adopt tougher drunken driving laws, lowering the legal blood alcohol limit from .10 to .08. Most states have complied, but not New York, an omission that has cost the state $30 million so far. New York's inaction is odd, since Gov. George E. Pataki supports the change, as do Sheldon Silver, the Assembly speaker; Joseph L. Bruno, the Senate majority leader; and solid majorities...

Unexpectedly warm and sunny weather drew hundreds of people to Baltimore's Jones Falls Valley yesterday to experience the green and gritty urban corridor in a way that few residents ever do. More than 350 athletes, from grade-schoolers to runners in their 70s, turned out at Wyman Park for the Jones Falls 8K Express Race, a five-mile morning run down the northbound lanes of the Jones Falls Expressway - closed for the event - from the 28th Street ramp...

CHICAGO - Gridlock is that phenomenon, much dreaded by Washington insiders and commentators, in which partisan bickering and gamesmanship prevent bold legislative action. But it's not necessarily something to dread. It often serves to block shameless pandering and force sober reflection. Last week, it also turned out to be the taxpayer's best friend. The two parties have been quarreling for months over how to furnish prescription drug coverage to Medicare recipients, something no one is much inclined to oppose.

For the Johns Hopkins University, the breaking point came when consultants showed college leaders photos of campus tours in which prospective students were crossing paths with soda delivery trucks. At the University of Maryland, the realization arrived more gradually, over the course of countless traffic jams on the congested College Park campus. But at both institutions, the decision has been the same. Following the lead of colleges around the country, the state's largest private and public universities have embarked on ambitious missions to rid their campus cores of cars - even as more students are arriving at the colleges with their own wheels.

WASHINGTON - The airport security bill is being held up by a filibuster. A nasty snag entangled the anti-terrorism bill as it was being readied for Senate debate. Efforts to shape an economic stimulus bill must overcome vast differences over whether tax cuts or spending increases should take priority. Meanwhile, the House erupted Thursday night in the latest noisy round of a 2-decade-old debate over sugar subsidies. Seems like old times on Capitol Hill: The lawmakers who joined hands Sept.