Maryland Officials

Maryland officials are working behind the scenes to lure the FBI's headquarters to the state from its longtime home base in downtown Washington as the agency seeks an updated building to carry out its expanded counterterrorism and cyber crime missions. If successful, the effort would land nearly 12,000 jobs and a 2.1 million square-foot office complex in Prince George's County, making it one of the largest economic development coups in years. Its impact would rival the immense footprint in the state of the Social Security Administration, which has its headquarters in Woodlawn.

Maryland officials are working behind the scenes to lure the FBI's headquarters to the state from its longtime home base in downtown Washington as the agency seeks an updated building to carry out its expanded counterterrorism and cyber crime missions. If successful, the effort would land nearly 12,000 jobs and a 2.1 million square-foot office complex in Prince George's County, making it one of the largest economic development coups in years. Its impact would rival the immense footprint in the state of the Social Security Administration, which has its headquarters in Woodlawn.

In Maryland, Haroon R. Ansari once told whopping lies on a resume that state officials never bothered to check and was named to a $62,000-a-year job as head of Crownsville Hospital Center.The would-be psychologist was declared a fraud, resigned in disgrace and pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor last April, promising never to lie on a job application again.A week later, he sent his resume to officials with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Michigan. Authorities said he told more whopping lies and got hired for over $80,000 a year, with his employer once again failing to conduct a background investigation.

An Anne Arundel County hotel is laying off employees and a defense-contracting operation in Southern Maryland will follow suit by the end of the year, Maryland regulators said Monday. Interstate Hotels & Resorts began laying off its 52 employees at the Comfort Inn on Baltimore Annapolis Blvd. in the Linthicum area last week and will continue through the end of the year as it temporarily shuts down the hotel and its restaurant for major renovations. DynCorp International, a federal contractor based in Northern Virginia, warned Maryland officials that it would lay off 74 employees in Lexington Park.

Can you challenge the logic behind Gov. Martin O'Malley's decision to give $9.5 million in taxpayer money to Bechtel Corp.? No governor wants to lose 1,250 jobs to a neighboring state. Especially if he's a Democrat and the neighbor, Virginia, has a Republican governor bragging about low taxes. Especially if he recently lost another economic development contest when Northrop Grumman chose Fairfax County, Va., instead of Montgomery County, Md., for its headquarters. This time O'Malley won!

A story about delinquent child support payments in the Nov. 15 issue of The Sun misstated the amount of payments collected by Maryland officials. The state collected $250 million in payments.The Sun regrets the errors.

Maryland's juvenile services agency pushed back Wednesday against claims that Virginia officials had notified them that a rape suspect under police surveillance there would be returning to Baltimore to visit relatives for the holidays. Tammy Brown, a spokeswoman for the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services, said state officials received a fax Tuesday indicating that 19-year-old Donald Vaughan would be in the area. That's a day after Vaughan had been arrested and charged with raping and slashing the throat of a Canton woman after he shoveled her front walkway, and Brown said the notification came only after Maryland officials made an inquiry.

The mother of a young woman who was raped and killed in Denver intends to sue Maryland for at least $102 million, charging that state officials released the man accused of killing her to a Colorado drug rehabilitation program without notifying authorities there. Patricia Tuthill of Mary Esther, Fla., filed a claim against the state in February, putting the state on notice that she would sue it for "gross negligence" in its supervision of convicted armed robber and burglar Donta Paige. Though Gov. Parris N. Glendening apologized to Colorado's governor last year for the state's actions in the case, Maryland officials denied the claim in March.

The University of Maryland, Baltimore and the Maryland Emergency Management Agency have received a $1.5 million federal grant to help other states develop plans to keep vital services working in case of disaster. The grant is part of a $30 million package announced by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Fifteen universities and groups received money, which will be used to train emergency workers. More than 260 groups applied for the grants. Florida State University in Tallahassee received the largest amount, $6.2 million, to develop a seven-part security training curriculum.

Three Maryland residents have paid a total of $15,500 in civil penalties for their roles in laundering campaign contributions in a 1994 scheme orchestrated by one-time prominent political fund-raiser Lalit H. Gadhia, according to federal election officials.The Federal Election Commission also sent "admonishment" letters to about 40 others who were involved in making or soliciting the illegal contributions, closing the agency's investigation of the matter, a spokeswoman said.In May 1996, Gadhia pleaded guilty to election fraud for laundering at least $46,000 in campaign contributions, money that was given to Gadhia in 1994 by an official at the embassy of India.

Can you challenge the logic behind Gov. Martin O'Malley's decision to give $9.5 million in taxpayer money to Bechtel Corp.? No governor wants to lose 1,250 jobs to a neighboring state. Especially if he's a Democrat and the neighbor, Virginia, has a Republican governor bragging about low taxes. Especially if he recently lost another economic development contest when Northrop Grumman chose Fairfax County, Va., instead of Montgomery County, Md., for its headquarters. This time O'Malley won!

Maryland committed secondary NCAA rules violations by allowing Joe Harrington to prepare scouting reports on men's basketball opponents a few seasons ago, but the school self-reported the matter and was not penalized, according to interviews with school officials. The case covered portions of the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons — a period in which Harrington held an administrative post with the team but was not one of Maryland's three assistant coaches. Therefore, he was not permitted — at least initially — to be involved in scouting opponents by compiling video clips or performing related activities.

Notre Dame's Mike Brey doused speculation that he could be Maryland's men's basketball coach, leaving a short list of other candidates as members of the university community counseled a restive fan base to be patient. "I think the person that's right for the job is probably still out there," said Len Elmore, a former Maryland and NBA player and chief executive of iHoops, a youth basketball organization. "My advice is take your time. This is not about next year, it's about the long term," said Elmore, who was on the search committee that selected Kevin Anderson as Maryland's athletic director last year.

Maryland's Commissioner of Financial Regulation, along with regulators in other states, has agreed to cooperate with the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on supervising providers of consumer financial products, Maryland officials announced Tuesday. As part of this memorandum of understanding, state regulators and the new federal consumer bureau agree to consult each other on the procedures and practices used when conducting compliance examinations on businesses such as banks, mortgage lenders and money transmitters.

There has been a "dramatic" increase in flu cases across Maryland in the past two weeks, according to the state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. The state's tracking system shows that there are now flu cases across the state, and they are starting to "impact emergency rooms in a serious fashion," said David Paulson, a department spokesman. For the week ending Jan. 1, there were 273 confirmed cases. State officials are encouraging residents to get vaccinated in advance of the flu season's peak in late February.

Sept. 4: Maryland hires former Army athletic director Kevin Anderson as its new AD. Oct. 7: Anderson tells reporters that Ralph Friedgen is doing "a fantastic job" with the team at 4-1. Nov. 18: Anderson announces in a statement that Ralph Friedgen will return as coach in 2011. Dec. 3: Friedgen's attorney Jack Reale tells The Sun that Friedgen has earned a contract extension. Dec. 13: Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn turns down Vanderbilt coaching job, making Maryland offensive coordinator James Franklin the top candidate.

Maryland's Commissioner of Financial Regulation, along with regulators in other states, has agreed to cooperate with the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on supervising providers of consumer financial products, Maryland officials announced Tuesday. As part of this memorandum of understanding, state regulators and the new federal consumer bureau agree to consult each other on the procedures and practices used when conducting compliance examinations on businesses such as banks, mortgage lenders and money transmitters.

Maryland committed secondary NCAA rules violations by allowing Joe Harrington to prepare scouting reports on men's basketball opponents a few seasons ago, but the school self-reported the matter and was not penalized, according to interviews with school officials. The case covered portions of the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons — a period in which Harrington held an administrative post with the team but was not one of Maryland's three assistant coaches. Therefore, he was not permitted — at least initially — to be involved in scouting opponents by compiling video clips or performing related activities.

Former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach met Thursday with the University of Maryland's president, its athletic director and the search committee tasked with finding Ralph Friedgen's successor as football coach, according to sources familiar with the process. Maryland had not made an offer to Leach or any other candidate by late Thursday night, said the sources, who declined to speculate on whether an offer was forthcoming. But Leach was interviewed extensively. University president Wallace Loh met with him apart from the search committee.

One of Kevin Anderson's first actions last week as Maryland's athletic director was to author a guest column for the campus newspaper challenging students to be "respectful" to opposing teams during sports events. After several days on the job, Anderson had already received messages from families complaining that Maryland fans' behavior was offensive. Anderson said he had been bothered by profane slogans he saw on T-shirts during recent football and men's soccer games against Duke.