Purpose

The indictment State Prosecutor Emmet C. Davitt secured against Anne Arundel County Executive John Leopold is positively tawdry. It includes accusations about his intimate relationships that call to mind Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth Starr's report about former President Bill Clinton. That's a connection Mr. Leopold's attorney seems intent on making in another context: He has painted the entire effort by Mr. Davitt as a rogue investigation by a politically motivated, unaccountable prosecutor intent on personally embarrassing the county executive.

Gilman star Cyrus Jones is one of 53 seniors chosen for PARADE Magazine's 49th annual All-America High School Football Team, which will be published Sunday. In partnership with Sporting News, PARADE editors picked a team a players "whose on-the-field performances represent the best of high school football. " The list of previous PARADE All-Americans includes the likes of Emmitt Smith, Dan Marino, Marcus Allen, Tony Dorsett, Joe Montana, John Elway, Peyton Manning and Tim Tebow.

With any new medical treatment, the primary consideration for doctors is the evidence - how effective is it, what are the side effects, what are the indications, what is the appropriate dose, and so on. That should go for lawmakers and regulators, too, even when it comes to the emotionally charged issue of medical marijuana. There is a mountain of anecdotal evidence suggesting cannabis is useful in treating pain, nausea and other symptoms of chronic disease, but there is precious little in the way of rigorous scientific study.

This holiday season, thousands of families are welcoming home children, siblings, spouses and parents from the Middle East. For family members and service members alike, this return marks a long-anticipated and joyful reunion. But for the soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines whose return marks the end of their military service, it may also usher in a period of great uncertainty. After the reunions, the "welcome homes" and the "thank yous" that our returning veterans receive, the national dialogue they hear turns largely to scant job opportunities, post-traumatic stress, school dropout rates and suicide.

It's not difficult to get people incensed over a speeding ticket. It's an unwanted expense, a burden of paperwork, an embarrassment, an annoyance. And perhaps worst of all, they feel like the business end of a trap, a way for government to hook the unwary. If nothing else, Maryland's unmanned speed cameras have been a boon to local talk-radio hosts as motorists call in to vent their anger and disgust. For many, the fact that they weren't pulled over by a police officer only exacerbates the circumstance.

A cluster of vacant rowhouses in the 1600 block of North Gay Street succumbed to the metal claw of an excavator this month, as yet another batch of unwanted city homes turned to rubble. Once the East Baltimore tract is cleared, nothing will be built there. It will be turned into a community-managed open space, providing a patch of green for residents of nearby senior housing units and tenants at the restored American Brewery building. The $215,000 demolition is among the most recent projects funded by the city's Affordable Housing Program.

The Sun in its recent editorial ("Time for Phase II," Dec. 14), tells us that Occupy Baltimore protesters need to become "mainstream," that camping out in downtown Baltimore accomplished nothing and city residents were "perplexed" by the actions of the protesters. Some of the tactics the protesters used may have seemed over-the-top, but they created an awareness of issues that likely would not have been noticed using conventional, mainstream methods of protest. The civil rights movement and the peace movement of the 1960s and '70s relied on nonviolent, civil disobedience to accomplish their goals of equality for African Americans and an end to the war in Vietnam.

Editor: A recent editorial in The Aegis expressed the opinion that the Tea Party is comprised of the "grass roots" right while the "Occupy" movement is comprised of the "grass roots" left. There seems to be an implication that these two groups are comparable in nature. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Tea Party's central purpose is to rein in out of control government spending and excessive taxation as expressed in their TEA acronym, Taxed Enough Already.

The Greater Havre de Grace Outdoor Nativity Challenge gets under way next week, sponsored by the Susquehanna Ministerium. Residences and businesses are asked to display an outdoor nativity scene between Monday, Dec. 12, and Sunday, January 8. Send photographs of your displays to First Baptist Church, 108 S. Stokes St., Havre de Grace, 21078, or by e-mail to rsmith5858@hotmail.com and register by Dec. 20 for the judging. For questions, phone 410-939-5233. The purpose of the Nativity Challenge is to help remind everyone to keep Christ in Christmas.

A blue-ribbon commission set up to recommend ways to finance Maryland's growing backlog of transportation projects recommended Tuesday that the state raise its gas tax by 15 cents a gallon and increase public transit fares as well as protect that revenue from being diverted to other purposes. The panel, set up by the General Assembly, also urged legislators and Gov. Martin O'Malley to back a series of other revenue-raising measures, including a 50 percent increase in vehicle registration fees and doubling the emission inspection fee to $28. The increase in Maryland Transit Administration fares would affect bus, light rail, MARC and metro service.