Maryland

The new gun bill will be the first of hundreds Gov. Martin O'Malley plans to sign at a ceremony Thursday. Key provisions of the 62-page law include:   A ban on the sale of 45 types of assault weapons and their copycats.   A ban on sales of magazines that hold more than 10 rounds.   A fingerprinting and licensing requirement for handgun buyers.   A 4-hour training requirement for first-time handgun buyers.   A ban on gun ownership for anyone involuntarily committed to a mental heath facility, as well as those voluntarily committed for more than 30 days.

Dan Rodricks is absolutely clueless. His article criticizing CEOs for their opinions regarding taxation and regulatory policies ("Complaining CEOs need to take a hike," May 8) has to be the most stupid piece on the subject that I have ever read. The editor who allowed it to see the light of day ought to be canned. What does Mr. Rodricks think CEOs should be doing - joining hands and singing Kumbaya while the tax and spend politicians who want to have a say in every aspect of individuals' lives send Maryland down the rathole?

Maryland officials agreed Wednesday to buy the historic Annapolis post office building from the U.S. Postal Service for use as part of the government complex surrounding the State House. Without dissent, the three-member Board of Public Works agreed to pay $3.2 million for the 13,000-square-foot building on Church Circle. Built in 1901, the structure is listed on the Maryland Historical Trust inventory of historic properties. Under the deal, the state will lease space back to the Postal Service to continue services for eight to 20 months until it relocates.

I was filled with admiration after reading about Kevin Plank's dedication to staying in his home state of Maryland ("Under Armour founder Kevin Plank sees himself as the underdog," May 9). I have no doubt that he will achieve his goal of growing Under Armour into a Fortune 500 company. Minutes later, I read Constance Kihm's letter bidding farewell to Maryland because of the laws passed by our (democratically elected) leaders ("Farewell, my Maryland, farewell to taxes, farewell to extreme liberalism," May 10)

Guests at Saturday's Preakness will get the first slurp of the Skinny Dipper, a new oyster from True Chesapeake Oyster Co., an oyster farm in St. Mary's County. The Skinny Dipper will be supplied to Baltimore-area restaurants beginning this summer, but it will get some high-profile attention at Saturday's race, where it has been named the "preferred oyster of Preakness," according to a press announcement. The Skinny Dipper will be presented at the raw bar inside Preakness Village, the event's corporate entertaining area, where the menu is being created by "Top Chef" contestant Mike Isabella.

Maryland for years benefited from its close proximity to the nation's capital, but the mandatory federal spending cuts called sequestration will be a drag on the state's economy for the next couple of years, said the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. "This retrenchment at the federal government level ... is tough this year. We are still finding out what the dimensions of this are," said Jeffrey Lacker, the Fed president. Despite the pain, the spending cuts are needed for the long-term fiscal health of the country, he added.

In a recent column, Dan Rodricks essentially excoriated corporate CEOs for whining about Maryland ("Complaining CEOs need to take a hike," May 8). OK, he feels that they make too much money, that's his right, and it falls exactly in line with the thinking in the halls of both Annapolis, and Washington, D.C. It's those "greedy capitalists" again. When will they ever have enough? Fast forward to a more letter to the editor ("Ignore business climate at our peril," May 11) in which a reader notes that Baltimore is no longer the home city for corporate offices of a single Fortune 500 company!

Katherine L. Vaughns, a University of Maryland School of Law professor and secretary of the Center Stage board who immersed herself in the arts community, died of pancreatic cancer May 4 at a Sinai Hospital hospice unit. The Bolton Hill resident was 68. "She was a great, great citizen of Baltimore," said Jed Dietz, director of the Maryland Film Festival. "We dedicated the opening night of the Maryland Film Festival to her. She was the most perfect board member. She did more than you asked, often before you asked.

The entire undergraduate student bodies of the Johns Hopkins University and the U.S. Naval Academy combined. The population of Bel Air, according to the 2010 U.S. Census. The average attendance at a Hershey Bears hockey game (the highest in the AHL). Every one of those descriptions represents roughly 10,000 people. By any way of looking at it, that's quite a large crowd. It's also the same number of people who are killed each year in vehicle crashes involving alcohol-impaired drivers in this country.

As Maryland awaits word from former Memphis point guard Antonio Barton regarding his possible transfer to College Park, it might be interesting to look at the lineups Mark Turgeon could put on the floor next season with or without the 6-2 senior from Baltimore. His three-season stats at Memphis might not accurately reflect how important a piece Barton could be for the Terps. How do you measure a player's basketball IQ, leadership and maturity? Think of what Logan Aronhalt gave Turgeon's team last season, but with Barton playing a much bigger role at a more key position.