Kathleen Kennedy Townsend

Kathleen Kennedy Townsend has no illusions that her first book might serve as a springboard back into elected politics. The book - a reflection on her personal faith mixed with a broader look at America's religious traditions - argues that the Catholic and Protestant churches have lost their way in recent decades, falling short of the Christian concept of social justice as they've been "hijacked" by political conservatives. "This is a book you can only write when you're out of politics," says Townsend, who served two terms as Maryland's lieutenant governor and is the eldest daughter of Robert F. Kennedy.

A GOP leader charged yesterday that a bill offering state grants for after-school programs was an attempt to set up a political "slush fund" for Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend.Del. Robert L. Flanagan, the House Republican whip from Howard County, said the legislation would give the power to award the grants to a five-member executive committee controlled by Gov. Parris N. Glendening and his appointees. The amendments provide that the governor could designate the lieutenant governor to serve in his place.

Using the arts to help revitalize distressed areasNancy Haragan and Debra Rubino's letter, "Arts emphasis could help city thrive," (June 21) was right on target.Their message, that cities like Baltimore flourish when the arts touch all aspects of citizens' lives, resonates across Maryland -- as distressed communities adopt innovative programs to rehabilitate retail districts and create jobs.Using the arts to rehabilitate older areas can bring people, shopping and entertainment back to downtowns.

HYANNIS PORT, Mass. -- At St. Francis Xavier Roman Catholic Church, where for 75 years the Kennedy family has worshiped, wed and mourned, the Rev. Edward Byington asked midway through yesterday's morning Mass: "Why are there calamities in life?"Even for the faithful, it is the most unfathomable of questions. When Byington's somber congregation of residents and tourists bowed their heads in silent prayer, some said they asked for a miracle. Some said they prayed for strength.So began another hot day on Cape Cod of waiting to learn the fate of John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife, Carolyn, and his sister-in-law, Lauren Bessette.

BALTIMORE COUNTY Executive C. A. Dutch Ruppersberger and Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan are formidable fund-raisers in Maryland, but take them to North Carolina and they're just a couple of big guys with Northern accents.Not so with Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend. She of the famous middle name raised about $40,000 in contributions during a Sept. 22 swing through the Tarheel State.Townsend's North Carolina foray is a vivid example of the fund-raising advantage she enjoys as she gears up for her widely expected run for governor in 2002.

A photo caption in Monday's Maryland section misstated the reason for Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend's visit to Stoneleigh Elementary School. The school was thanking her for state funding for repairs and renovations, not for an announcement of further work.The Sun regrets the error.Pub Date: 1/28/99

The Kennedys were gathered in Hyannis Port yesterday for what was to be a joyous occasion -- the wedding of Rory, the daughter Robert F. Kennedy never lived to see. Instead, they found themselves uniting in the all-too-familiar rituals of grief in what seems likely to become the latest in the unending series of tragedies that has struck this family."

CLARIFICATIONA photo caption in Monday's Maryland section misstated the reason for Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend's visit to Stoneleigh Elementary School. The school was thanking her for state funding for repairs and renovations, not for an announcement of further work. The Sun regrets the error.

WELCOME to Baltimore, where the blame game is now a popular pastime. The city has a gruesome crime rate, a harassed and demoralized police department and a court system in meltdown.What are officials doing? Denying any responsibility for what's going on.As The Sun's editorial, "Getting away with murder," clearly pointed out yesterday, the situation is a mess. There's no accountability, little cooperation and a burning desire on the part of most officials to avoid being blamed for this disgraceful predicament.

The Maryland prison system has won a $475,000 federal grant to combat drug use by inmates, sources said yesterday.President Clinton is expected to announce the grant to Maryland and similar ones to seven other states, at a White House ceremony today.The money will be used for drug-fighting efforts at the Maryland House of Correction in Jessup, a maximum-security prison with about 2,400 inmates.The grant will pay for the establishment of a prison wing devoted to drug treatment, video surveillance cameras, devices for detecting drug particles and other anti-drug efforts, sources said.

Maryland officials joined in mourning Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, with many describing him as irreplaceable and some expressing hope that his death might help revive a faltering Democratic effort to overhaul the nation's health care system. Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski, a co-chair of Kennedy's 1980 presidential campaign who would later serve with him in the Senate for 22 years, described the Massachusetts Democrat as a loyal friend who was "modest about himself." At one of the high points of Kennedy's life, his speech at the 1980 Democratic National Convention, it was Mikulski who introduced him to the crowd at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Anyone caught in the logistical nightmare formerly known as Barack Obama's inauguration can take heart that democracy was at work: Even some Kennedys got frozen out. Three of former Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend's four daughters planned to attend the swearing-in. Yes, they had Uncle Ted to get them tickets, but they waited in line like everybody else to get inside the Purple Zone. And waited. And waited. In a tunnel. In the cold. And mostly in place. They moved a bit over the course of three-plus hours, but not enough to get them inside.

Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown has been appointed co-chairman of President-elect Barack Obama's transition team overseeing veterans policy, officials said yesterday. At the Agency Review Team for the Department of Veterans Affairs, Brown - an Iraq war veteran and 24-year member of the Army Reserves - will help formulate the incoming administration's policy goals regarding veterans. Brown will be working with Maryland Labor Secretary Thomas E. Perez, who is part of a team reviewing personnel and policies at the departments of Justice, Health and Human Services, Veterans Affairs, and Housing and Urban Development.

DENVER - The lights will dim inside the Pepsi Center tonight, a shock of silver hair will appear on giant monitors, and connections will be made once again between Camelot and the Obama nation. A film tribute to Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, a 46-year-veteran of the Senate diagnosed with a brain tumor this year, will dominate the opening hours of the Democratic National Convention. Watching from a prime seat will be Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Maryland's former lieutenant governor and Kennedy's niece, one of the state's 99 delegates here.

Kathleen Kennedy Townsend is still moved by the strangers who approach her to describe how her father inspired them. Former U.S. Sen. Joseph Tydings, a Maryland Democrat, says that his dear friend Robert F. Kennedy's murder transformed him into a gun control activist, a move that cost him his political career. And civil rights advocate Kweisi Mfume remembers 1968 as a pivotal year of his life, with Kennedy's death as one in a series of events prompting him to pursue a political career that led him to the halls of Congress.

We hate talking about it. We fear saying something awkward or intrusive. We think we'll only make it worse by acknowledging it, so we fall silent. "I think, in large part," Kathleen Kennedy Townsend says, "we don't have a culture that knows how to deal with death." Townsend, a former Maryland lieutenant governor, is, of course, sadly expert on the subject of death. When she was 12, her uncle was killed; when she was 16, her father. That these intimates were President John F. Kennedy and presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy is something that is a well-known part of her biography, if not necessarily something that she speaks extensively about in public.

WASHINGTON -- Americans finally have narrowed the presidential race to two front-runners: John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan. Too bad they're both busy chatting up Guinevere and Galahad, respectively, in the ultimate Camelot, where the climate really is perfect all the year. Eternally. Back on Earth, where we typically elect live specimens, the legacies of Mr. Kennedy and Mr. Reagan can't get a rest. The Republican race looks like a Barnum & Bailey elephant walk, with every candidate trying to tie his trunk to Mr. Reagan's tail.

BASEBAWL Cal Ripken wasn't the only one who got choked up during his Hall of Fame speech. John Travolta, who became friends with the Iron Man while filming Ladder 49 in Baltimore and attended the festivities in Cooperstown, seemed beside himself. See for yourself at http:--web.baseballhalloffame.org/sightssounds. Fast-forward to the 1 hour, 28 minute mark in the induction ceremony, when Ripken gets to the part about his children. The camera pans to Ripken's son and daughter, and Travolta can be seen seated right behind them.

Kathleen Kennedy Townsend has no illusions that her first book might serve as a springboard back into elected politics. The book - a reflection on her personal faith mixed with a broader look at America's religious traditions - argues that the Catholic and Protestant churches have lost their way in recent decades, falling short of the Christian concept of social justice as they've been "hijacked" by political conservatives. "This is a book you can only write when you're out of politics," says Townsend, who served two terms as Maryland's lieutenant governor and is the eldest daughter of Robert F. Kennedy.

Hired in the 1970s to lead a Pennsylvania training school when he was only in his mid-20s, Donald W. DeVore has since developed a reputation as a nationally recognized expert in juvenile justice, adept at parachuting into states to help improve programs for troubled youth. Advocates said yesterday that they are eagerly awaiting DeVore's arrival in Maryland, where he is expected to be tapped by Gov. Martin O'Malley to lead the state's struggling Department of Juvenile Services. He would leave his post as director of Connecticut's Bureau of Juvenile Services, a position in which he has ordered the closure of an expensive and highly controversial school after drastically reducing its population.