Larry Young

Louis Goldstein, a tax collector, was beloved. Why can't the IRS be more like Louie?Americans only pretend to re-enact their Civil War. Ulstermen really do re-enact theirs.Gee, Larry Young could be Baltimore's answer to New York's Rush Limbaugh.It's Willie Don's last hurrah. What if Joan Pratt beats him?Jenny Chuasiriporn for governor!Pub Date: 7/08/98

IN HIS brilliant novel, "The Invisible Man," Ralph Ellison angrily exhorted, "We are here, white people! Look at us! See us! Appreciate us! Be aware of us! And if your hearts grant permission, relate to us."That appeal is as poignant today as it was when it was written in 1947. Maybe more so now. I thought about it as I followed the sad saga of Larry Young, the former state senator who was kicked out of the Maryland General Assembly on corruption charges. The case also reminded me of Adam Clayton Powell Jr., the late New York City congressman who was expelled by his colleagues some three decades ago over ethics accusations.

Cheer up. Larry Young is on the way back.The CIA missed India's nuclear preparations because it didn't bother to listen to what the winners of India's election were saying.Milosevic learned his lesson in Croatia and Bosnia (mass murder, destruction and ethnic cleansing work) and is applying it to Kosovo.Grass is growing again in the Chesapeake. No drought there.Pub Date: 6/04/98

Expelled state senator Larry Young plans to launch his re-election campaign at a Baltimore fund-raiser next week, despite criminal probes that could cost him his seat a second time.The $50 tickets for the event refer to "State Senator Larry Young" with no mention of his expulsion. They call him "hard-working, unbought, unbossed, yet always responsive" and quote Young as saying, "I believe I'll run again with your help."The Maryland Senate expelled Young in January for using his public office to benefit corporations he created.

First came the front-page headlines. Then the subpoenas. Now comes the hard part.Federal and state prosecutors examining corruption charges against former state Sen. Larry Young are reviewing thousands of documents subpoenaed by grand juries to assess whether they have enough evidence to obtain indictments and convictions.It could be months before the grand juries decide whether to indict, and months more before any criminal charges reach courtroom. But while prosecutors are working in secrecy, a road map of their investigation is beginning to emerge.

An article about former state Sen. Larry Young i Wednesday's Maryland section incorrectly stated that the University of Maryland's medical school was part of a consortium that purchased Total Health Care last year.The Sun regrets the errors.A federal grand jury investigating corruption charges against former state Sen. Larry Young is demanding records of payments that Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Maryland Inc. and a Baltimore health care firm might have made to the then-chairman of an influential Senate health care subcommittee.

WITH CONTROVERSIES swirling around two lucrative state health-care contracts, it came as no surprise that Gov. Parris N. Glendening would set up a commission to review and tighten Maryland's ethics procedures.But the governor's directive, responding to a legislative ethics committee recommendation, ignores major contracts in other fields where intense lobbying by legislators has occurred.The current stir revolves around the role of former Sen. Larry Young -- and to an extent the governor -- in a bid by Merit Behavioral Care Corp.

BLAME IT on El Nino. What else could explain the downpour of ethics controversies drenching members of the 1998 Maryland General Assembly?Two senior leaders have resigned or been expelled; the House speaker's role in a land-swap deal is under scrutiny; two more city legislators face questions about pushing state aid for an office building being developed by a political power broker.No wonder the mood is so foul.In recent weeks, delegates have bemoaned the fate of Gerald J. Curran: "Poor Gerry," they keep saying.

JUST when I think we've reached the nadir of public trust in government, political integrity sustains another blow. Now Maryland's General Assembly is mired in the second investigation in as many months into allegations of the ethical misconduct of a state legislator.Former state Sen. Larry Young was ousted by the Senate last month after the panel found he had violated ethics laws. Now, Del. Gerald J. Curran's business dealings are under investigation.To some close observers of the Maryland legislature, these revelations came as no surprise.

State prosecutors have hit the Baltimore Liquor Board with new subpoenas for licensing records of bars and liquor retailers, an action that might relate to a continuing probe of former Sen. Larry Young.Nathan C. Irby Jr., executive secretary of the board, acknowledged yesterday that subpoenas had been issued by the office of State Prosecutor Stephen Montanarelli. He declined to provide copies.John C. Poliks, a special agent with the state prosecutor's office, served the subpoenas on the liquor board late last week.