Olesker

Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. said yesterday that his directive preventing state officials from speaking with two journalists at The Sun was "meant to have a chilling effect" on "two writers who have no credibility." Speaking on a WBAL radio program yesterday morning, the governor said the ban was intended to draw a line in the sand and set a benchmark for the minimum level of accuracy he expects in newspaper coverage of his administration. "At what point does a monopoly newspaper abuse its privilege, its First Amendment privilege, in making things up, making quotes up, making context up?"

Waste by HABC dwarfs surplus city has gained Kudos to Mayor Martin O'Malley for realizing a $37.5 million budget surplus and for immediately reallocating it to address unmet needs in our schools and communities ("City expects $37.5 million budget surplus this year, O'Malley says," April 14). If only the Housing Authority of Baltimore City (HABC) would follow the mayor's lead. Among Baltimore's most pressing needs is additional affordable housing. Unfortunately, Baltimore's budget surplus for fiscal 2005 is dwarfed by the housing dollars recaptured by the federal government because of HABC's inability to spend them.

Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. agreed yesterday to meet with top executives of The Sun to talk about his directive ordering state employees not to talk to two Sun journalists. The Ehrlich administration sent out an e-mail three weeks ago forbidding state employees from talking to Sun State House Bureau Chief David Nitkin and columnist Michael Olesker, whose coverage, Ehrlich asserted, had included falsehoods. Last week, The Sun filed a lawsuit asking a federal judge to lift the ban. The meeting is set for 4 p.m. Dec. 17 in Annapolis.

The Ehrlich administration has taken the unusual step of banning all state officials from speaking with two Sun journalists, who they say are "failing to objectively report" on state issues. The governor's press office sent a memo Thursday to all state public information officers and to the governor's staff ordering them to not speak with State House Bureau Chief David Nitkin or columnist Michael Olesker. "Do not return calls or comply with any requests," press secretary Shareese N. DeLeaver wrote in the memo.

Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. said "there's no doubt" he will meet at some point with the editor of The Sun to discuss the governor's ban that forbids all state officials from talking to two journalists at the newspaper. Ehrlich said on a WBAL radio program Wednesday evening that he was open to the idea of a meeting. The governor told radio host Rob Douglas that he would be willing to sit down with The Sun, "but it's not to placate anybody, it's simply to hear them out and for them to hear me out."

MARVIN MANDEL had reporters probing his marital strife. Harry R. Hughes got pounded over the savings-and-loan debacle. William Donald Schaefer was fond of giving the press his single-digit salute for criticisms (both real and imagined). Parris N. Glendening was hounded by reporters over a pension scandal. Ask any Maryland governor: They all hated the press. Good journalists are skeptical, relentless and entirely inconvenient to politicians who want to hand out information selectively and with a self-serving spin.

A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals handed The Sun a defeat yesterday in its lawsuit against Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. that challenged his ban on talking with two Sun reporters. The judges affirmed a lower court decision that rejected the newspaper's claim that the reporters' First Amendment rights had been violated by an Ehrlich order, issued Nov. 18, 2004. It banned state executive branch employees from speaking with Sun reporter David Nitkin and columnist Michael Olesker, who has since left the paper.

Olesker NeighborsMichael Olesker and The Baltimore Sun staff have written several articles about Louis DePazzo which imply that he is racist because he objects to the Moving to Opportunity program.I know Lou DePazzo as a person who cares about his constituents, and there is nothing racist about him or his opinions.The liberal mentality of Mr. Olesker suggests that if you oppose a government giveaway program, then you must be a racist.This is common among liberals who live to use the "R" word against anyone who opposes their ideas about social engineering.