Maryland Counties

Searching for a home to buy in Maryland on the Internet may have become a little easier as the Metropolitan Regional Information System -- the multiple-listing database for local Realtors -- has launched its own consumer Web site: www.HomesDatabase.com.Instead of having to sift through an assortment of national real estate Web sites and then focus on Maryland, the site provides consumers with an easier pathway to find homes for sale in the Baltimore/Washington metropolitan areas.The site, which was launched late last month, complements MRIS' other Web site -- MRIS.

In the weeks after Hurricane Floyd swept up the East Coast, Maryland officials doled out $747,000 in federal money to help farmers repair damage to their fields -- then ran out of money, leaving other farmers in limbo.Those farmers might soon get help. Congress has approved a supplemental $50 million for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's emergency conservation program.The money, which pays for repairs to waterways and ponds on farm fields to slow run-off and distribute it through woods and marshes, "hopefully should be available any time now," said Bebe Shortall, a program specialist with the state Farm Service Agency.

If ever there were a year to allow Carroll and other Maryland counties to collect taxes when clerks enter property deeds into court records, this would have been it, said state Sen. Larry E. Haines, a Westminster Republican.Haines, chairman of Carroll's legislative delegation, has been trying for years to help Maryland counties and Baltimore do what Prince George's County has done since 1968 -- collect their own recordation taxes when recording property deeds. The move could save the counties $5 million a year.

If ever there were a year to allow Carroll and other Maryland counties to collect taxes when clerks enter property deeds into court records, this would have been it, said state Sen. Larry E. Haines, a Westminster Republican.Haines, chairman of Carroll's legislative delegation, has been trying for years to help Maryland counties and Baltimore do what Prince George's County has done since 1968 -- collect recordation taxes when recording property deeds. The move could save the counties $5 million a year.

THE RACE in Harford County attracting the most attention beyond the county is for state Senate in District 34 between two delegates, Democrat Mary Louise Preis and Republican Nancy Jacobs. Case in point: Last month, fresh from engineering the defeat of a moderate colleague who favored a woman's right to choose an abortion, conservative Republican Sen. Larry E. Haines of Carroll County told a reporter his next goal was to help elect GOP gubernatorial candidate Ellen R. Sauerbrey -- and Ms. Jacobs.

Glendening endorsed by labor groups at Dundalk rallyGov. Parris N. Glendening was endorsed by several labor unions at a rally yesterday.More than 100 members of the United Steelworkers, United Autoworkers and Machinists unions attended the meeting at the Steelworkers Hall in Dundalk."

Edith Cooper has lived in the same Irvington rowhouse for 40 years now, the last 23 as a widow, and you can almost hear the laugh in her voice when she says she's not half as worn out as her furnace. And she worries about not seeing the hole in the porch decking because of her glaucoma.Not far away lives Almeta Thompson, also a widow. She shares many of the same concerns that all too many elderly people on fixed incomes face -- what to do about drafty windows, a deteriorating roof, and doors that don't work properly.

ABOUT 15 years ago during a visit from Birmingham, Ala., to see friends and relatives in Washington I was introduced to someone who remarked, "I wish I lived in the country." I think he meant it as a compliment. He said "country folk" aren't pretentious, and rural lifestyles are peaceful.But I was offended, having recently learned that 'bama is a euphemism for "yokel" up here in the Mid-Atlantic. I quickly assured the man that I was city-bred and street-smart. Why, I didn't even know what a cotton boll looked like until I was well into my teens!

Two investment companies have resolved a lawsuit over Baltimore County regulations intended to discourage hyperinflated bids for properties at tax auctions, an issue in several Maryland counties.Harry L. Chase, lawyer for Fundco Inc. and Heartwood '88 Inc., said the suit was resolved last week after Baltimore County agreed not to require proof that his clients had the money to buy the properties on which they successfully bid.He said his clients were only required to give the county general financial information about their companies.

Salaries of Maryland government's professional employees are lagging far behind those of civil servants in the counties and surrounding states, according to a report to be released today by two unions representing state workers.The study shows that the maximum salaries for fully experienced professionals in some counties are more than 50 percent greater than those of state workers with comparable duties.The largest disparities showed up in Montgomery and Prince George's counties, but large gaps also were found in Howard, Harford and Anne Arundel.

At the end of a particularly spirited night, one in which nearly 90 percent of the more than 60 patrons packed inside the Southside Saloon would puff away hour after hour on cigarettes, owner Stuart Satosky would make it all of about two steps inside his South Baltimore home before the stench would hit his wife, who demanded the immediate removal of his smoke-filled clothes. "I'd have to put them in another room," said Satosky, a nonsmoker who has owned the bar in the 400 block of E. Fort Ave. for eight years.

Walk into the Rams Head Tavern in Annapolis on a given night and the first thing you might notice -- before the lobbyists and legislators hobnobbing, waiters dashing between tables, or the old-world wooden bar -- is the smoke. But the smoke won't be getting in anyone's eyes after February 2008. Down the street from the Rams Head, where a sign in the front window reads "Where great minds meet," the Maryland General Assembly gave final approval this week to a statewide ban on smoking in bars and restaurants.

Compromise needed for smoking bills Two days after the House of Delegates passed a statewide smoking ban in bars and restaurants, the Maryland Senate approved a similar measure yesterday - leaving negotiators to hash out differences over what kind of exemptions might be granted. "The gap is not that big between these bills," said Sen. Robert J. Garagiola, a Montgomery County Democrat and sponsor of the Senate measure. The two main sticking points are whether to exempt private clubs, and whether the state or local officials should decide when to issue hardship waivers to businesses that demonstrate the ban has harmed them financially.

HAGERSTOWN -- Mayor Martin O'Malley and Democratic Party leaders know they cannot beat Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. in conservative strongholds like this Western Maryland city. But that hasn't stopped them from trying to energize Democrats in the state's conservative-leaning rural regions. "I'm here in Washington County because Western Maryland is very, very important to the outcome of this statewide race," O'Malley, a Democrat, said before a recent speech here. O'Malley's strategy for a statewide win in the governor's race is to make sure he does not lose rural regions as badly as party nominee Kathleen Kennedy Townsend did four years ago, while securing large victories in the heavily Democratic jurisdictions of Baltimore City and Montgomery and Prince George's counties.

Nearly two years ago, Laura Allen drove her '95 Ford pickup from San Diego to Anne Arundel County, toting a small trailer and a big dream - opening in a restaurant near her son, a midshipman at the Naval Academy. Today, Allen operates a thriving Mexican restaurant in Severna Park. The secret to her success is not just her recipe for fish tacos and carne asada, it's the county, Allen said. "I don't know of any other place where I could have done it," said Allen, who opened Diego's Mexican Restaurant in November.

ST. LEONARD -- It was shaping up to be the rarest of energy projects: a proposed natural gas pipeline ready to be built through three Southern Maryland counties without serious opposition from either regulators or environmental groups. But that was before St. Leonard tree farmer George "Stovy" Brown and a group of his neighbors began asking questions about the pipeline's proposed route and its impact on the environment and farmland of Calvert County, across the border from Anne Arundel County.

Development over the past 20 years has done much to alter the face of Maryland, a reality that has prompted state researchers to weigh how the flooding risk has changed across the state. A recently released report by the Maryland Department of the Environment reveals that Anne Arundel County, one of several counties experiencing explosive growth, is among the jurisdictions most vulnerable to flooding disaster. According to research by MDE and Salisbury University, a 100-year flood could damage more than 7,000 buildings within the county - most of them residences - and cause nearly $1 billion in damage.

Development over the past 20 years has done much to alter the face of Maryland, a reality that has prompted state researchers to weigh how the flooding risk has changed across the state. A recently released report by the Maryland Department of the Environment reveals that Anne Arundel County, one of several counties experiencing explosive growth, is among the jurisdictions most vulnerable to flooding disaster. According to research by MDE and Salisbury University, a 100-year flood could damage more than 7,000 buildings within the county - most of them residences - and cause nearly $1 billion in damage.

It's a common sight: church volunteers, school kids and homeless people pacing road medians, extending buckets and hands so that motorists stuck at red lights can donate money. In Anne Arundel County, where the practice is highly visible on major roads such as Ritchie Highway and West Street, some local officials say such soliciting is a safety hazard and a nuisance to drivers. So they're pushing to make Anne Arundel and Annapolis the latest jurisdictions to limit the practice. Five Maryland counties - Charles, Harford, Howard, Prince George's and Washington - have laws restricting solicitation on public roads.

It's a common sight: church volunteers, school kids and homeless people pacing road medians, extending buckets and hands so that motorists stuck at red lights can donate money. However in Anne Arundel County, where the practice is highly visible on major roads such as Ritchie Highway and West Street, some local officials say such soliciting is a safety hazard and a nuisance to drivers. So they're pushing to make Anne Arundel and Annapolis the latest jurisdictions to limit the practice.