NEWS
By Thomas F. Schaller | August 26, 2008
DENVER - In the 1930s, Colorado officials realized they were facing a long-term water problem because the Continental Divide channels about 80 percent of rain and snowmelt westward toward neighboring states and, ultimately, the Pacific Ocean. But most of the population of the state lives east of the Rockies, in the Front Range. So Colorado politicians decided to dig tunnels through the Rockies, creating man-made arterials that redirect waters eastward to those burgeoning, thirsty counties.
NEWS
By GREGORY KANE | January 26, 2008
Nancy S. Grasmick, Maryland's state superintendent of schools, said she's proud of the fact that four different Democrats who've run for governor asked her to be their lieutenant governor. A fifth Democrat might ask her one day; you'd make some easy money by betting that it won't be Gov. Martin O'Malley. The guv's made it clear: He wants Grasmick out. Grasmick's a "poster child for No Child Left Behind," O'Malley has groused on public airwaves. What's more, she's "a pawn of the Republican Party."
NEWS
By Alexander S. Belenky | December 11, 2007
Republicans are proposing to award 53 of California's 55 electoral votes by districts and only two at large. Though the chances of the proposal being on the ballot in 2008 are uncertain, the plan raises electoral issues of national concern. Can a referendum decision trump the constitutionally stipulated power of the state legislature to choose a manner of awarding state electoral votes? Can any large or medium-size state really benefit from adopting the district scheme of awarding electoral votes?
NEWS
By PAUL MCCARDELL | November 11, 2007
As reported Nov. 16, 1967, in The Sun: More than 10 miles of new state highways in Howard and Baltimore counties were opened to the public yesterday afternoon at a brief but cold dedication ceremony. Among the audience of about 75 persons were several dozen construction workers, contractors, Howard and Baltimore county politicians and State Roads Commission officials. Construction of six miles of Interstate Route 70N, which will connect the Baltimore Beltway and Route 29, and 4.5 miles of a dualized Route 29 from I-70N to Route 108 costs slightly more than $14,000,000, most of which was paid for by the Federal Government.
NEWS
February 4, 2007
MARYLAND Lawmakers driving the agenda Democrats in the state legislature - used to acting on their own during Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s term - are not waiting for Gov. Martin O'Malley to take the lead. They're pushing to ban smoking in bars, abolish the death penalty and establish strict pollution limits for cars. pg 1b Smart Growth at risk A shortage of water in Carroll County's population centers is threatening to undermine the state's pioneering anti-sprawl policies by forcing new homes into undeveloped areas, a national expert on water rights said yesterday.
NEWS
September 10, 2006
Rosapepe worked hard for Clinton The Sept. 3 article about the 21st District state Senate race quoted Jim Rosapepe's opponent criticizing his service in the Clinton administration with no response from those of us who served with him. The truth is that, as U.S. ambassador to Romania, Jim was a hard-charging advocate for President Clinton's foreign policy agenda. No one should be surprised that he ruffled some bureaucratic feathers. The bottom line is that he successfully served Clinton and did a great job. John Podesta Washington, D.C. The writer is a former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton.
NEWS
June 29, 2006
Clever, those Supreme Court justices. They've produced a ruling on the Texas redistricting map that invites such outrageous political mischief that the national movement to take remapping away from politicians may get a backhanded boost. The high court not only rejected the claim that election districts wildly contorted for partisan objectives violate constitutional protections, it also encouraged such maneuvers by ruling that state legislators need not follow the traditional practice of remapping after each decennial census, but may redraw the lines as often as they like.
NEWS
April 13, 2006
Pity the potential candidates for the Carroll County Board of Commissioners. They're going to have a tough time campaigning for office anytime soon. That's because nobody knows whom they're supposed to represent. The General Assembly's failure this week to approve legislation setting the boundaries for the county's five commissioner districts has left the local election process in disarray. The controversy started two years ago when Carroll voters approved a referendum expanding the board from three to five members who would be elected by local districts instead of at large.
NEWS
By Pradnya Joshi | May 12, 2005
NEW YORK - The United Nations will need to make a decision on its temporary office space before the end of this year, officials said at a news briefing yesterday. The world body wants to start renovating its dilapidated headquarters in 2007, so it can't wait on the state Legislature to approve its previous plans to build temporary office space at Robert Moses Playground across the street from its current location. A report released Tuesday said that one site in downtown Brooklyn and another in Manhattan would meet the United Nations' specifications for temporary space.
NEWS
May 5, 2005
WHAT'S IT GOING to be, Magna, a "solemn commitment" or nothing for Maryland racing without slots? A year ago, Magna Entertainment Corp., the Canadian firm that owns Pimlico and Laurel Park racetracks, made a big deal of proclaiming its deep interest in reinvigorating Maryland horse racing - even if it didn't get the windfall of a state license to operate slot machines at one or more of their tracks. "It's a solemn commitment," Frank Stronach, Magna's chairman, told The Sun back then. Added Jim McAlpine, a Magna vice-chairman and then president and CEO: "We didn't make this investment in Maryland with the idea that, if everything didn't go our way, we'd pull up stakes."