Rainy Day

LAUREL - - Davidson horse trainer and owner Hubert "Butch" Cave had a hearty laugh Saturday when someone told him she decided to bet on his horse, Sumacha'hot, in the Maryland Million Classic because his "wife" had passed along a tip that the horse was going to win. "I'm not married, and I'm not even dating anyone," Cave said, shaking his head. "So I don't know where that came from. When you own racehorses, the women tend to run the other way." Still, someone was out there talking up Sumacha'hot, and whoever it was, she seemed to know something few others did. The 4-year-old horse, which Cave picked up for $5,000 in a claiming race less than a year ago, won the $200,000 Maryland Million Classic on Saturday at the 24th running of the Jim McKay Maryland Million in front of 19,622 at Laurel Park.

The county is set to eliminate more than 100 vacant jobs in the next budget proposal, as well as dip into its $46 million rainy day fund for the first time - additional steps County Executive John R. Leopold said he's taking to battle next year's budgetary woes. "We're not operating in a vacuum," Leopold said. "We're all part of the same economic downturn, and we've seen where corporate entities have been compelled to order what they call 'right sizing,' or layoffs. ... The public sector is not immune from the same budgetary winds that have been blowing for some time."

Amid a looming budget deficit for next fiscal year, the county is considering furloughs for county employees and tapping into the rainy day fund for the first time to cut costs. Although the county does not anticipate furloughs for this fiscal year, next year's anticipated $108 million budget deficit will require the county to cut spending where it can, County Executive John R. Leopold said. "These are options that may be necessary in light of this sluggish economy," Leopold said. The furloughs - they would require county employees to take off up to 13 days without pay - were not official last week, but John Hammond, Anne Arundel County's budget officer, said the likelihood of them happening was "very high."

Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon has proposed tighter restrictions on a city reserve fund that some City Council members want to tap to ease the effects of budget cuts. Under the new policy - up for a Board of Estimates vote today - the so-called "rainy day" fund must be maintained at an amount equal to at least 8 percent of the combined value of the city's general fund and motor vehicle fund. That would be roughly $30 million more than its current value of $92.3 million. The proposed rules would restrict spending from the reserve account until other leftover money is spent, and the funds would have to be used only to "avoid a budget deficit in any given year."

A Baltimore City Council committee rejected a proposal to use interest from the city's $88 million "rainy day fund" for children's programs during an unexpectedly passionate debate last night about the best way to ensure the city's financial future. In a blow to advocates who have lobbied City Hall for more money for youth programs, a majority of council members said the city should continue to build its rainy day fund in case of an emergency rather than direct the interest from the fund to youth programs.

The personal financial picture doesn't seem too bright these days. The stock market, with all of its uncertainty over credit problems, remains shaky. People know how bad housing is. The economy is slowing down. In times of uncertainty like this, investors should consider hunkering down and spending some time going over the basics. They want to feel secure, while waiting for housing to recover, watching the economy wind down and seeing the stock market do whatever it will do. The first basic is an emergency fund, with some cash, readily available.

Gov. Martin O'Malley announced plans yesterday to freeze tuition at colleges and universities and nearly double funding for stem cell research, releasing an inaugural budget that would slow state spending growth but do little to prevent billions in shortfalls expected later in his term. Just one day after taking the oath of office, O'Malley presented his $30 billion plan for state spending, which relies on nearly $1 billion from the state's "rainy day" reserve account that had been boosted by former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. - but includes no tax increases.

Whether you call it a rainy-day fund, an emergency fund or a cash cushion, making plans to have significant cash available when bad things happen is fundamental to financial planning. But what exactly constitutes an emergency fund? The most conservative definition - and most repeated advice - is cash equal to three to six months of living expenses sitting in a safe account earning minuscule interest. But for many people, that could be overkill, said Sheryl Garrett, founder of the Garrett Planning Network, a group of financial advisers who provide money advice at hourly rates.

Fells Point, a neighborhood known in part for its for wild nightlife, can be just as happening during a weekday lunch hour. Landscape worker Michelle Schimke, siblings Ashley and Nick Alder, and mother and daughter Elaine and Phylicia Childs were some of the folks who dined in the area on a rainy day last week. Fells Point has dozens of restaurants, from upscale eateries to pubs and carry-out spots.

One of the joys of late summer in Maryland is a good soaking rain, one that washes away the heat and, for a few moments, transforms the landscape in sweet and subtle ways. Many of these changes escape the notice of drivers and others in a hurry. But for those of us willing to slow the pace, there is beauty to be found: in the sparkle of a pokeberry plant, in reflections in water pooling on a deck. Sun photographer Jed Kirschbaum captured these images on a rainy Tuesday at the Promenade in Havre de Grace.