Implementation

An international relief organization based in Carroll County has re-established primary health care, battled disease and built basic infrastructure that will help ensure the health of nearly 8 million people in the remotest areas of the Democratic Republic of Congo. IMA World Health, headquartered in New Windsor, has released the results of its four-year project in the central African country, an effort funded with more than $40 million in U.S. aid. According to the group, the project trained more than 33,000 native health care workers, vaccinated nearly 1 million children and delivered treatment that has saved countless lives.

As Republicans in Congress consider a vote to repeal federal health care reform, Maryland officials are poised to begin taking specific steps this year to implement the law. A panel charged with mapping out reform gave Gov. Martin O'Malley a 16-point plan Monday that recommends creation of a new oversight office and a government body to run the exchange where the uninsured will buy private insurance. That plan from the Health Reform Coordinating Council estimates reform will save the state $829 million over the next decade and cover about half of Maryland's 700,000 uninsured.

It's official! The bank bailout has not worked. Global stock prices are in a panic rush to the bottom. The bailout cannot fulfill its primary mission to restore investor confidence, because it does only half the job. It will provide banks with much-needed liquidity, but it does not address the compensation and management practices on Wall Street that drove irresponsible decisions and gave rise to the crisis. It does not address the void of sound leadership at the top of major financial institutions such as Citigroup and Merrill Lynch.

Too often in this life, we ignore chances to make modest improvements because we're waiting for the perfect solution. I'm glad baseball didn't make that mistake with instant replay. Instead, commissioner Bud Selig implemented limited replay as soon as he reached agreements with his players and umpires. If the technology saves even one blown call down the stretch this season, it was worth it. Some baseball men felt replay was introduced hastily. Orioles manager Dave Trembley said that if technological kinks haven't been worked out, "they are going to set themselves up for some embarrassing situations."

WASHINGTON -- The leaders of the 9/11 commission are preparing a progress report on their recommendations for improving the nation's anti-terror defenses, with plans to release it around the sixth anniversary of the 2001 attacks. Former commission Chairman Thomas H. Kean and Vice Chairman Lee H. Hamilton have been working with aides in recent weeks to assess the status of the recommendations made in the initial report three years ago. "We're coming up on another anniversary, and people said to both of us, `What do you think now?

WASHINGTON -- House and Senate negotiators reached agreement yesterday on a long-debated anti-terrorism bill as the Democratic majority in Congress scrambles to rack up accomplishments to boost job-approval ratings. The legislation to implement many of the recommendations of the bipartisan commission that investigated the Sept. 11 attacks is among the raft of measures that Democrats hope to pass before leaving next week for a monthlong recess. One major provision would require screening of all cargo bound for U.S. ports within five years and steer more anti-terrorism funding to regions considered at the greatest risk of attack.

OCEAN CITY -- Gov. Martin O'Malley said yesterday that he will help municipal and county governments to implement the computerized crime tracking system he used in Baltimore and will provide grant money to help law enforcement officials to fight gangs and share intelligence. Addressing mayors, town council members and other local officials at the Maryland Municipal League's annual conference, O'Malley said he envisions the state taking a greater role in coordinating law enforcement activities against increasingly organized and broad-reaching criminal elements.

The Howard County Education Association says it will not sign new contracts containing an increase in salaries until the school system completes negotiations to establish a mandatory union fee. But the teachers and support staff likely will get their raises July 1 as scheduled, even if their contracts are not signed by then. In a closed-door meeting Wednesday night, the Board of Education indicated it would grant the negotiated salary increases and health benefits by passing a resolution, according to schools spokeswoman Patti Caplan.

Acquisitions Advance Business Systems, a Cockeysville business-equipment company, bought Service Concepts Inc., a 21-year-old Frederick firm. Awards The Maryland unit of the Society for Health Care Strategy and Marketing Development presented Bonnie Heneson Communications, an Owings Mills-based advertising and public relations agency, with three Alfred Knight awards for ad campaigns for Howard County General Hospital. Expansions HealthCare Resolution Services Inc., a Laurel-based health information management company, opened a Southwest regional office in San Antonio.