Kach

Republicans in the House of Delegates are scrambling to rebuild their leadership after Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. announced yesterday that the House minority whip will become the next chairman of the Public Service Commission. Del. Kenneth D. Schisler's appointment as chairman occurs one day after Ehrlich nominated House Minority Leader Alfred W. Redmer Jr. to be Maryland's new insurance commissioner. The loss of the top two House GOP leaders has touched off an intraparty squabble over who will lead 43 Republican delegates.

Republican Del. Wade Kach has formally announced he will challenge Baltimore County Council Todd Huff next year. “When I look at the Third District, I see a need for an experienced, tested legislator to deal with the challenges we face,” Kach, who was first elected in 1974, said this week in a statement. “I believe that by moving from the House of Delegates to the County Council, I can bring the kind of responsive public service that the citizens want and need.” Huff, a Lutherville Republican, was elected to the council in 2010.

Ending a contentious leadership struggle, Republicans in the Maryland House of Delegates elected by a two-vote margin Del. George C. Edwards as the next minority leader, bypassing a rival whose running mate supports abortion rights. Edwards, of Garrett County, and his choice for minority whip, Del. Anthony J. O'Donnell of Southern Maryland, narrowly defeated a ticket headed by Del. A. Wade Kach of Baltimore County. The campaign to lead 43 House Republicans was marked by accusations of mudslinging, including accusations that Kach's running mate, Del. Adelaide C. Eckardt, was unfit to become the minority whip because she supports abortion rights.

Del. Wade Kach, a Baltimore County Republican, told The Sun this morning that he will switch his vote and throw his support behind Gov. Martin O'Malley's bill to legalize same-sex marriage. Kach said the change in heart came after considerable deliberation. He plans to put out a statement at 10:15 a.m. The move puts O'Malley closer to the 71 votes he needs for passage in the 141-member chamber, but it is still unclear that supporters have the numbers they need. Lawmakers will begin debating the marriage bill this morning.

Two Republicans, two Democrats and one independent are seeking to defeat incumbent Del. A. Wade Kach and win the seat in the Maryland House of Delegates that Kach has held since 1975. Kach, 55, a Republican who lives in Cockeysville, represents the newly created 5B Legislative District, which has one delegate. The district extends north from Hunt Valley to the Pennsylvania line and west to Carroll County, and encompasses the northern and most rural section of Baltimore County. The primary is Sept.

Maryland builders launched a full-scale legislative assault yesterday against a bill intended to protect buyers of new homes from unscrupulous builders.Builders, led by Dennis McCoy, a lobbyist and former delegate, lined up in solid opposition to the bill sponsored by Baltimore County Republican A. Wade Kach and eight other delegates."This is bad for the industry and bad for consumers," McCoy testified before the House Economic Matters Committee.Kach's bill would create a statewide, self-supporting registration system to cover builders, who currently are licensed only in Montgomery and Prince George's counties.

Deadline March 18 to challenge changes proposed for districts Voters and lawmakers unhappy with Gov. Parris N. Glendening's General Assembly redistricting plan have until March 18 to file petitions challenging the new map, the Maryland Court of Appeals ruled yesterday. The court will hear all redistricting lawsuits filed in lower state courts. The Court of Appeals said its first hearing will be April 11. It extended the deadline for candidates to establish residence in new districts for November's election from May 5 to July 1. At least two state lawsuits and one federal lawsuit have been filed seeking to change the map, which took effect Feb. 22. More lawsuits are expected.

Four years ago, Democrat Stephen C. Kirsch faced off against incumbent Dels. A. Wade Kach and Martha S. Klima, both Republicans, for the two House of Delegates seats in District 9A and finished third by more than 7,000 votes. Since then, the northern Baltimore County district has been redrawn, renamed 5B and refashioned into a single-seat district. But Kirsch has returned to try to unseat Kach, and this time, he said, his chances of winning are better than ever. "I started campaigning in May 1998 and I haven't stopped at all," said Kirsch, a Baltimore lawyer who lives in Phoenix.

JERUSALEM -- Israel branded two Jewish extremist groups "terrorist organizations" yesterday, breaking an official myopia that saw danger only from Arabs.The Cabinet acted after hearing secret evidence that members of the two groups of settlers "may be responsible for certain unsolved murders of Arabs," according to Israel radio.Israel also "clarified" orders to allow soldiers to shoot Jewish gunmen as well as Arabs, and pronounced security a matter for authorities, not rifle-toting citizens.

IT WAS the second semester of freshman year at Salve Regina University in Newport, R.I., and John Kach, then 18, and a member of the basketball team, was in great shape. Until one night, when he developed a fever of 104 to 105 Fahrenheit and flu-like symptoms. His girlfriend wanted to take him to the hospital, but he said no. After all, Kach was a guy and, as he puts it, "a guy's not going to go to the hospital for a high fever." But by 5 a.m., he was fading in and out of consciousness.

Ending a contentious leadership struggle, Republicans in the Maryland House of Delegates elected by a two-vote margin Del. George C. Edwards as the next minority leader, bypassing a rival whose running mate supports abortion rights. Edwards, of Garrett County, and his choice for minority whip, Del. Anthony J. O'Donnell of Southern Maryland, narrowly defeated a ticket headed by Del. A. Wade Kach of Baltimore County. The campaign to lead 43 House Republicans was marked by accusations of mudslinging, including accusations that Kach's running mate, Del. Adelaide C. Eckardt, was unfit to become the minority whip because she supports abortion rights.

Republicans in the House of Delegates are scrambling to rebuild their leadership after Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. announced yesterday that the House minority whip will become the next chairman of the Public Service Commission. Del. Kenneth D. Schisler's appointment as chairman occurs one day after Ehrlich nominated House Minority Leader Alfred W. Redmer Jr. to be Maryland's new insurance commissioner. The loss of the top two House GOP leaders has touched off an intraparty squabble over who will lead 43 Republican delegates.

Four years ago, Democrat Stephen C. Kirsch faced off against incumbent Dels. A. Wade Kach and Martha S. Klima, both Republicans, for the two House of Delegates seats in District 9A and finished third by more than 7,000 votes. Since then, the northern Baltimore County district has been redrawn, renamed 5B and refashioned into a single-seat district. But Kirsch has returned to try to unseat Kach, and this time, he said, his chances of winning are better than ever. "I started campaigning in May 1998 and I haven't stopped at all," said Kirsch, a Baltimore lawyer who lives in Phoenix.

Two Republicans, two Democrats and one independent are seeking to defeat incumbent Del. A. Wade Kach and win the seat in the Maryland House of Delegates that Kach has held since 1975. Kach, 55, a Republican who lives in Cockeysville, represents the newly created 5B Legislative District, which has one delegate. The district extends north from Hunt Valley to the Pennsylvania line and west to Carroll County, and encompasses the northern and most rural section of Baltimore County. The primary is Sept.

Deadline March 18 to challenge changes proposed for districts Voters and lawmakers unhappy with Gov. Parris N. Glendening's General Assembly redistricting plan have until March 18 to file petitions challenging the new map, the Maryland Court of Appeals ruled yesterday. The court will hear all redistricting lawsuits filed in lower state courts. The Court of Appeals said its first hearing will be April 11. It extended the deadline for candidates to establish residence in new districts for November's election from May 5 to July 1. At least two state lawsuits and one federal lawsuit have been filed seeking to change the map, which took effect Feb. 22. More lawsuits are expected.

TAPUAH, West Bank - No one is sure who killed three Palestinians in a roadside shooting Thursday night, but the spirit that might have driven the crime abides in this hilltop Jewish settlement south of Nablus. It's the spirit of Meir Kahane, the Israeli rabbi-politician who, before his assassination in New York in 1990, led the now-outlawed Kach movement and advocated expulsion of Arabs from the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Kahane's son Binyamin lived here before he was ambushed and killed with his wife on a West Bank road.