Maryland Commission

There is no how-to manual for plotting a millennium celebration.And, as Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend said yesterday, "You just can't go to the people who planned the last one and ask how they did it."So Gov. Parris N. Glendening, the lieutenant governor and the legislature did what government does best: They formed a commission, tossed it a million bucks and -- Happy New Year! -- Maryland has itself a millennium celebration.Yesterday, more than two years after beginning work, officials from the Maryland Commission for Celebration 2000 joined Townsend at Baltimore's World Trade Center to announce what they have devised.

Didn't sound like developers to meBy the time I reached the end of the second paragraph of Jill McCuan's letter ("Why make developers scapegoats?" Nov. 8) I did a double take, wondering if I was actually reading about the selfless volunteers in "Habitats for Humanity."But, by the end of her paean to developers, there was no mistaking the subject or that her letter would bring a smile to any marketer intent on improving his/her client's "image." However, leaving out the hype and propaganda, what do we have?

A former state public affairs official and the director of a program development center for the National Council of Negro Women have been named to head the Maryland Commission on African-American History and Culture.Carroll H. Hynson Jr. of Arnold, retired public affairs director for the Maryland State Lottery and formerly with the State Aviation Administration and the old Provident Hospital, was chosen as chairman.Mitchellville resident Lucenia W. Dunn, national director of the Bethune Program Development Center of the women's council, will be vice chairwoman of the commission.

Maryland residents -- increasingly cynical toward the criminal justice system -- favor more capital punishment, are losing faith in the courts and think inmates do little work, according to a state survey being released today.In a telephone poll of 800 Marylanders for the Maryland Commission on Criminal Sentencing Policy, two-thirds of those responding said they favor increased use of the death penalty and believe crime is a major problem nationwide, though not necessarily in their communities.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. today at St. David's Episcopal Church, 4700 Roland Ave. for Calhoun Bond, 75, a retired Baltimore attorney, and his wife, Jane P. Bond, 66, homemaker who was active in civic affairs.A memorial service also will be held at 11 a.m. tomorrow at Fairhaven Retirement Community, 7200 Third Ave., Sykesville, where the Bonds moved two years ago from their longtime Roland Park residence.The Bonds, who were killed Monday in a single-car accident near Lewes, Del., were longtime members of St. David's and were active in the affairs of Maryland's Episcopal Diocese.

Maryland has become the ninth state to make testing for the AIDS virus mandatory for professional fighters and kick-boxers licensed by the state.The Maryland State Athletic Commission, headed by chairman D. Chester O'Sullivan, voted unanimously Thursday night to require annual blood tests for AIDS and highly contagious Hepatitis B no more than 30 days before a first-time licensee or a boxer seeking a license renewal will be allowed to fight within the...

Five years ago at Painters Mill Theater, promoter Stuart Satosky found himself without a main event for his cable-TV boxing card.Maryland State Athletic Commission secretary Dennis Gring notified Satosky that lightweight Julian Solis had failed a motor skills test linking numbers and letters, indicating possible neurological problems. Solis would not be permitted to fight Calvin Grove."It caught the TV producers from USA Network completely off guard," Satosky said. "They screamed and raved about the commission being overzealous and vowed we'd never get another TV date in Maryland.

The Maryland Public Service Commission's recent decision to charge customers for a 1989 breakdown of Baltimore Gas & Electric Co.'s Crane power plant suggests that it is more understanding of utilities' excuses than of consumer interests.The money involved in this case is small, less than $1 for each customer. The implications of the decision, however, could mean significant charges for consumers in future PSC verdicts.The commission, and its hearing examiner, found BG&E "management action" was responsible for the three-month outage of the Crane generator.

One student, who is gay, dropped out of school because of sexual harassment. Another had condoms taped to her locker.Both shared their stories with a group of educators, state officials, students and parents recently in Bel Air in an effort to increase awareness of sexual harassment in Maryland schools.In conjunction with the American Association of University Women, organizers from three agencies -- the Maryland Department of Education, the Maryland Commission on Human Relations and the Maryland Commission for Women -- said they were responding to surveys and national and statewide incidents of sexual harassment.

In yesterday's editions of The Sun, Ronnie Smuck wa identified incorrectly as a co-promoter of an unsanctioned boxing show that had been scheduled at Tiffany East in June. John DiRossi was the sole director of the event, which was enjoined by the Maryland State Athletic Commission. Mr. DiRossi, who said the show would benefit the United Society of the Handicapped, raised $500 for Easter Seals through the advance sale of tickets for the non-sanctioned card.The Sun regrets the errors.Baltimore welterweight Eddie Van Kirk has been suspendefor a year by the Maryland State Athletic Commission.

Armed with a recommendation from a state commission to abolish Maryland's death penalty, opponents who have long sought to end the practice are hoping to finally put the matter to rest by pressuring key lawmakers to switch their votes. With many opinions solidified on the personal and divisive issue, anti-death penalty and religious activists are focused on converting just one lawmaker on a Senate committee. Many Annapolis observers say the panel could be the only roadblock to passing a repeal bill - but getting the single vote needed to send the legislation to the floor for an up-or-down vote is far from certain.

The owner of a Maryland chain of education supply stores has agreed to pay $16,000 to a Muslim former employee who complained that she was fired shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks because of her religious beliefs. As part of the settlement, which followed an investigation by the State of Maryland Commission on Human Relations, the owner of Learning How also sent an apology to the fired worker, Shabana Ahmed, and agreed to send his managers to cultural and religious awareness training. Ahmed, 27, worked as a saleswoman at the company's Columbia store for several weeks in October 2001.

Child advocates yesterday called for an investigation into whether the state Department of Human Resources' oversight of a group home company was compromised by the relationship between an agency official and the company. DHR is looking into whether the official, Elisha B. Pulivarti, is a director of Evershine Residential Services Inc., despite a state regulation barring agency employees from serving on boards of companies it licenses. The advocates said the department probe, or an independent investigation, should go further.

Heather Rodenhizer and Beth Schull left their boyfriends at home last Thursday night to visit an Arbutus bar. The two twentysomethings from Pasadena found themselves girl-talking over drinks priced just for them. Every few minutes, the DJ announced why: It was ladies night at Fish Head Cantina. For many bar owners, such promotions are obvious: Free admission and discounted drinks will attract women. And a bar filled with women usually attracts men. But while some view it as good marketing, others see it as a clear case of discrimination.

Anne Carey Boucher, former chairwoman of the Maryland Commission on the Status of Women and member of Morgan State University's board of regents, died in her sleep of undetermined causes Friday at her Towson home. She was 66 and had lived for many years in Cockeysville. She and her husband, Greater Baltimore Committee Director William Boucher III, were recalled yesterday as an "inseparable civic team" who promoted the rebirth of downtown Baltimore. Mr. Boucher, who died in 1995, headed the civic group for 26 years.

Burdette C. "Bud" Terry, former executive director of the Maryland Commission on Physical Fitness and owner of Mr. Bud's Fit by Five Inc., died of pancreatitis June 29 at St. Agnes HealthCare. He was 67 and lived in Arbutus. Mr. Terry was born in Celeron, N.Y., and raised in Erie and Warren, Pa. He earned a bachelor's degree in health education from Slippery Rock State Teachers College in 1956. From 1957 to 1967, he worked for the YMCA in Pennsylvania. He later was associate physical director at the YMCA in Washington until being named executive director of the Maryland Commission on Physical Fitness in 1968.

The U.S. Supreme Court upheld yesterday the right of Verizon Communications Inc. to sue the Maryland Public Service Commission in federal court - a ruling cheered by the nation's large phone companies, even though the result might end up costing some of them millions of dollars in Maryland. In its second ruling in eight days on the reform of the phone industry, the court ruled by an 8-0 vote that state commissions that oversee phone service and other utilities are not protected from being sued in federal court under the 1996 Telecommunications Act. The verdict reversed earlier wins by the Maryland commission in U.S. District Court in Baltimore and in the 4th Circuit of the Court of Appeals.

THE MARYLAND Constitution places responsibility for providing an adequate public education for all children squarely on state government. Yet by almost any measure, the state's effort has been insufficient. No public school system in Maryland meets Education Department performance standards, and the gap between African-American and white students grows wider each year. Money won't solve all our educational problems, but without adequate state funding, we cannot hope to overcome the obstacles faced by disadvantaged children, especially those in less affluent jurisdictions.

Westminster resident Naomi Benzil, a member of the Maryland Commission for Women since the fall, is eager to increase participation in the advocacy group in Carroll County and elsewhere. "Lots of people say why have a commission for women," said Benzil, who was appointed by Gov. Parris N. Glendening to a four-year term. "For those who wonder, I share this philosophy: when the concerns for women are positively addressed, the result is that family life and the economic wellbeing of entire community benefit."

There is no how-to manual for plotting a millennium celebration.And, as Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend said yesterday, "You just can't go to the people who planned the last one and ask how they did it."So Gov. Parris N. Glendening, the lieutenant governor and the legislature did what government does best: They formed a commission, tossed it a million bucks and -- Happy New Year! -- Maryland has itself a millennium celebration.Yesterday, more than two years after beginning work, officials from the Maryland Commission for Celebration 2000 joined Townsend at Baltimore's World Trade Center to announce what they have devised.