Headway

House Speaker Michael E. Busch  presided over a marathon meeting this afternoon of key leaders in his chamber on a gambling expansion bill. He briefly spoke with reporters when the group finished around 4:30 p.m. and said they'd made "some headway into what we believe will be the best possible product that we can put forward. " Busch downplayed talk that Internet gambling could be part of the legislation -- an idea he had floated in a memo that he sent to lawmakers on Wednesday evening.

House Speaker Michael E. Busch  presided over a marathon meeting this afternoon of key leaders in his chamber on a gambling expansion bill. He briefly spoke with reporters when the group finished around 4:30 p.m. and said they'd made "some headway into what we believe will be the best possible product that we can put forward. " Busch downplayed talk that Internet gambling could be part of the legislation -- an idea he had floated in a memo that he sent to lawmakers on Wednesday evening.

It's heeerrrrrrre!Though I suspect many would just as soon it went away, forever. Especially those who are black and of the liberal to leftist political persuasion."

BWI back to normal on Friday Updated 6:52 p.m.: Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport expects to resume normal operations Friday, according to a spokesperson. The first commercial flight after the two-day winter storm arrived at BWI Thursday morning at 9:02 a.m. Throughout the day, airlines ramped up their schedules and by evening, Southwest, the airport's leading carrier, was operating its usual number of flights. Passengers who have been affected by flight cancellations and want to rebook their travel are encouraged to contact the airlines by phone or use their Web sites rather than going to the airport to make reservations.

WASHINGTON -- For years, the abortion fight has been waged with in-your-face protests in front of abortion clinics and with graphic pictures of bloody fetuses.Now, abortion foes are increasingly relying on a quieter strategy of carefully targeted political pressure. The goal isn't to fundamentally change abortion policy; it is to make gradual, but steady headway -- or make adversaries pay a price if they don't go along.Judging by the past week's events, the approach is working.Abortion opponents in Congress wanted to bar aid to international family-planning groups that promote, perform or support abortion with their own money.

The United Nations appeared to make no headway in its attempts to negotiate the release of two Croats seized in central Bosnia by Serbs from a U.N. armored vehicle Monday. The Muslim-led government halted an evacuation of Serbs from SARAJEVO in apparent retaliation for the kidnappings. Almost 300 of the 642 scheduled evacuees remain in the city.Bosnia's Muslim-led government said there was no point reviving peace talks unless mediators stopped presenting "ultimatums" to accept partition based on Bosnian Serb conquests.

Admit your boo-boos, folks tell me, and it'll make a bigger man of you. Right now, I should be about the size of Hoss Cartwright.Boo-boo No. 2 was caught by a Mitch Tullai, who correctly read Saturday's column and noticed that I said that Preston Brooks of South Carolina, who viciously caned Massachusetts Sen. Charles Sumner on the floor of the Senate in 1856, was also a senator. Tullai reminded me that Brooks was a member of the House of Representatives. Brooks bludgeoned Sumner in retaliation for remarks the Massachusetts senator had made about South Carolina Sen. Andrew Butler, Brooks' uncle.

50 years agoMore than $1,883,000 is expected to be spent during the next five years by Carroll County homeowners on remodeling and repair work. The year 1946 promises to inaugurate one of the greatest eras in American history for home repairs and modernization, according to estimates released by the Tile Council of America. Because of lack of materials and manpower during the war, the majority of the county's 9,857 dwelling units are in need of some kind of repair or remodeling. -- Democratic Advocate, Dec. 28, 1945.

As labor leaders begin their endorsement process for September's primary, Mayor Martin O'Malley's administration is still trying to hammer out new contracts with most of the city's unionized workers. The contracts for the five unions representing city workers expired Monday, and only the two bargaining units representing firefighters have approved new deals. The city has failed to negotiate new pacts with the two unions representing non- uniformed employees and the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 3. The city extended the contract of the City Union of Baltimore until July 15. No formal extension has been offered to the American Federation of State, City and Municipal Employees Local 44, but negotiations with AFSCME are expected to resume next week.

As labor leaders begin their endorsement process for September's primary, Mayor Martin O'Malley's administration is still trying to hammer out new contracts with most of the city's unionized workers. The contracts for the five unions representing city workers expired Monday, and only the two bargaining units representing firefighters have approved new deals. The city has failed to negotiate new pacts with the two unions representing nonuniformed employees and the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 3. The city extended the contract of the City Union of Baltimore until July 15. No formal extension has been offered to the American Federation of State, City and Municipal Employees Local 44, but negotiations with AFSCME are expected to resume next week.

BEIJING - - Polite applause and attentive smiles greeted President Barack Obama as he traveled through China, but there was no indication that his powers of persuasion budged the Chinese on key positions. To the contrary, the Chinese appeared to be digging in their heels on the issue of currency and remaining noncommittal on nuclear nonproliferation. Hours after Obama, standing side by side with Chinese President Hu Jintao in the Great Hall of the People, praised China's commitments to "move toward a more market-oriented exchange rate over time," a senior Chinese official called a news conference to defend China's policy of sustaining the yuan's position against the dollar, which helps keep the price of Chinese goods low. "We maintained a stable yuan during the financial crisis, which not only helped the global economy but also the stability of the world's financial markets," He Yafei, deputy foreign minister, said Tuesday.

Last year, Tashera Savage squeezed her father's hand and held onto his gaze as he lay dying of a gunshot wound outside her house. Such a profoundly troubling experience could easily have derailed the city high school junior. "I thought it was something I would never get over," she said. But her small high school rallied around her. Her teachers cried with her, and her classmates stayed close to her. Savage will walk across the stage at the Academy of College and Career Exploration High School (ACCE)

JERUSALEM -- Palestinian leaders rebuffed Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's efforts to restart peace talks yesterday, as Israel warned that more violence could be just over the horizon. Rice returned to the Middle East on a diplomatic damage-control mission to keep alive the Bush administration's hopes of brokering a peace deal by year's end. Peace talks slid to a halt on the eve of Rice's arrival after an exceptionally bloody Israeli military campaign in the Gaza Strip that left more than 110 people dead.

BAGHDAD -- Top U.S. diplomatic and military officials urged Iraq's lawmakers yesterday to speed up political progress, a sign of Washington's concern that security gains could be squandered amid legislative infighting. The comments were reminiscent of those heard repeatedly last spring and summer as pressure mounted on Iraq's parliament to pass legislation considered crucial to fostering national reconciliation. Also reminiscent was the political discord in parliament. Now, as before, lawmakers are divided into sectarian blocs, and boycotts and walkouts continue to hamper movement on major bills.

HAGERSTOWN -- Mayor Martin O'Malley and Democratic Party leaders know they cannot beat Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. in conservative strongholds like this Western Maryland city. But that hasn't stopped them from trying to energize Democrats in the state's conservative-leaning rural regions. "I'm here in Washington County because Western Maryland is very, very important to the outcome of this statewide race," O'Malley, a Democrat, said before a recent speech here.

Developer Patrick Turner has big plans for nearly 40 acres in Baltimore's struggling Westport neighborhood. Big as in more than 5 million square feet of waterfront offices, retail, entertainment and urban living. Big as in 1,800 homes, twice what Westport has now. KSI Services Inc. has big plans in the city, too: just over 1,000 homes on 14 acres in Greektown. And in midtown, the state has hired a development team to transform its office complex into a new neighborhood so big the numbers won't be worked out for at least a year - though a "vision plan" by the state shows the possibility of 1,200 mixed-income homes, a 200-room hotel, and many offices and shops.

NOTES and quotes about your money: "My studies (and Warren Buffett's) show that the market will deliver a total return of only 6-7 percent a year (if we're lucky) for the next 10-15 years, compared with 16 percent in the last decade." (Bill Staton, chartered financial analyst) "The market's tumble is making some people nervous about tying part of their Social Security to Wall Street. In a Washington Post-ABC poll, 53 percent supported the idea, down from 64 percent a year ago." (Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine)

IT'S HARD not to get the feeling that as the various factions in Iraq bargain over a new constitution, they are only playing at democratic give-and-take - largely for the benefit of their somewhat clueless American overseers. The way a handful of Shiite members of the governing council sandbagged the constitutional adoption ceremony Friday certainly fuels that impression. On Thursday, U.S. authorities were exulting over the way their Iraqi tutees were already learning the ways of politics, and preparing for a satisfyingly solemn and historic signing.

IT'S HARD not to get the feeling that as the various factions in Iraq bargain over a new constitution, they are only playing at democratic give-and-take - largely for the benefit of their somewhat clueless American overseers. The way a handful of Shiite members of the governing council sandbagged the constitutional adoption ceremony Friday certainly fuels that impression. On Thursday, U.S. authorities were exulting over the way their Iraqi tutees were already learning the ways of politics, and preparing for a satisfyingly solemn and historic signing.