State Lines

In a case described by a prosecutor as "every parent's worst nightmare," a New York man was accused yesterday of raping a judge's 14-year-old daughter after using Internet chat rooms to lure her to a motel.Catalin Buculei, 40, could become the first alleged Internet stalker to face life in prison under a rarely used federal statute that targets child pornographers who cross state lines. Prosecutors say he filmed part of the encounter."This is a story about the dark side of the Internet," said federal prosecutor Andrew C. White in opening statements of the trial in U.S. District Court in Baltimore yesterday.

Story misrepresented action by Congress on minors and 0) abortionOn July 15, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to make it a federal crime to transport a minor across state lines to circumvent a state law requiring parental or judicial involvement in the minor's abortion decision.From your misleading July 16 headline, "House votes 276-150 to restrict abortions for minors," one would have thought that a federal parental involvement bill had been passed.A better headline might have been "Statutory rapists restricted from hiding pregnancy and crime" or "Parents' rights and responsibilities in abortion decision upheld."

BOSTON -- Sooner or later it always comes down to earrings.At some point in the debate, a legislator, politician or moralist who has never previously shown the slightest interest in the public policy on body piercing will utter the same rhetorical battle cry: "If a teen-ager can't get her ears pierced without parental consent, why should she be able to get an abortion?"Frankly, the analogy still escapes me. We are, after all, talking about the realities of reproduction, not jewelry.Teen-agers can have sex (alas)

No sooner had a 46-truck convoy of Baltimore first-responders and equipment left for Louisiana on Sunday than it received an education in emergency communications: Even state-of-the-art systems can fail. Heading south on Interstate 81, the city's new 800-megahertz radios did not always work long-range because the national network of radio towers was not switched on or available everywhere. "That surprised us; they were supposed to work across state lines," said Mayor Martin O'Malley. "That's something we're going to have to revisit."

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- Among the tasks facing the people trying to make a new country out of the old South Africa is one of the most basic -- drawing the lines on maps that will form the boundaries of the country's new states.Current provincial borders that divide the country into the Cape province, Orange Free State, Natal and Transvaal came about in a similar way to the evolution of state lines in the United States: a combination of traditions, land grants, natural boundaries, military fights between white settlers and natives as well as between British and Afrikaners, and a bit of politics.

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. political system is all askew for a 21st century in which citistate metropolitan regions will be critical to our global competitiveness and economic well-being.Washington's official relationship is with states, not regions or local governments. Governors, mayors, county commissioners have the influence -- regional officials rarely do.Yet it's entire metro regions -- areas rarely correspond with a state or municipal line -- that we now know are the economic engines of our time, producing a significantly bigger share of the U.S. economic output than their populations represent.

There's plenty on the mind of the average Maryland voter these days - public education, health care, crime, jobs, development and the environment, to name a few real-life areas of concern. There is not a burning desire to bring thousands of slot machines into the state, except within the hearts of those who would directly benefit - and once again, on the second floor of the State House. Last weekend, Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. told a gathering of county officials in Ocean City that he would push for a "funding source" to finance school construction over the next four years.

Bobbie Monahan has a plan if her candidate, Barack Obama, doesn't win on Election Day. "I swear to God, I'm going to Canada," said the 63-year-old homelessness counselor. And with that, Monahan boarded a bus heading north. But not for the border. She and dozens of other Obama supporters were bound for Philadelphia on a recent weekend, among the thousands of Marylanders who've been devoting time to the dueling presidential campaigns - and leaving the state to maximize their impact. The concept of exporting volunteers and resources to competitive states isn't new. But state political observers say the scale, the impact and the stakes have never been higher than this year.

CHICAGO - Life in New York involves many frustrations that can drive a person to drink. But stressed-out Gothamites seeking solace in the bottle may find they don't have their choice of bottles. New York does not allow residents to order wine from out-of-state wineries. So if they happen across a heavenly Cabernet while traveling through the hinterlands, they may be out of luck upon returning home. The Supreme Court recently agreed to consider whether the ban is tolerable in an age when you can buy just about anything you want, from anywhere you want, over the phone or the Internet.

You can order everything from used cars to fine works of art online and have them delivered to your doorstep in Maryland - but not wine. A case the Supreme Court began hearing yesterday might change that, in Maryland and 23 other states that now ban direct interstate wine shipments in one form or another. The justices listened to arguments yesterday on three appeals of laws in Michigan and New York. Out-of-state wineries have argued that they should be allowed to sell to consumers in those states by phone or computer.