Vernon Gray

"The Democratic County Council slate backed by Executive J. Hugh Nichols and state senator James Clark, Jr., made a showing in Tuesday's primary election. "Incumbent Council members Elizabeth Bobo, Ruth Keeton and Lloyd Knowles rolled up victories, with C. Vernon Gray, a member of their slate, placing fourth. Nichols-backed James H. Clark took the fifth place. "In the general election, they will face Republican Charles C. Feaga. "Angela M. Beltram, an independent Democrat, ran sixth.

The Howard County School Board Study Commission will hold a meeting Monday, Sept. 26, 7 p.m. in the Vernon Gray Room at the George Howard Building, at 3430 Courthouse Drive, in Ellicott City. The Commission will consider various options for selecting school board members in order to improve diversity and ensure that all areas of the county are represented. The meetings are open to the public and will reserve time for public comment. Individuals can email comments or information to schoolboardstudy@howardcountymd.gov .

Coalition to sponsor review of 1994 electionThe African American Coalition of Howard County will sponsor a review of the 1994 election and how it may affect blacks, at 7:30 p.m. today at Wilde Lake Interfaith Center, 10431 Twin Rivers Road.Panelists include Dr. Ron Walters of Howard University; David Bositis of the Washington Post; political analyst and national pollster Brad Coker; and Dr. C. Vernon Gray of the County Council.Carl O. Snowden, Annapolis city councilman, will moderate.Information: the Rev. Robert Turner, 992-6977.

Howard County Councilman C. Vernon Gray's position on the county's anti-smoking law was not fully explained in an article in Wednesday's Howard County edition of The Sun about efforts to lobby the council to repeal the law. Gray does not plan to revive County Council discussion of the anti-smoking law. But if the issue comes to the council through the initiative of another member, Gray said, he would consider its merits as he would with any bill.Pub Date: 10/04/96

Howard County Councilman C. Vernon Gray, a Democrat from East Columbia, has received one of seven Distinguished Black Marylanders awards given this year by Towson State University.Mr. Gray has served on the council since 1982, when he became the first African-American council member elected in the county. He has served as president of the Maryland Association of Counties and is on the board of the National Association of Counties.A political science professor at Morgan State University, he is a past president of the National Conference of Black Political Scientists.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. has formally endorsed Steven H. Adler for Howard County executive, according to a statement issued by the Ehrlich campaign yesterday. Adler is backed by the county's Republican Party organization, though he faces a challenge in Tuesday's primary election from fellow Republican Clark J. Schoeffield. C. Vernon Gray, a Democrat running for state Senate in District 13, has also won two endorsements: from the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, Council 92, and from the Maryland Friends of Agriculture Fund, the political action committee of the Maryland Farm Bureau.

Sheila M. Tolliver, who was council administrator when Democrats controlled the Howard County Council four years ago, is coming back to the job now that the Democrats have won back a 3-2 council majority.At $89,752 a year, the Democrat will make substantially more than her Republican predecessor, Christopher Emery, who earned roughly $68,000 a year.Her salary also is more than $20,000 higher than it was when she was fired by the County Council after Republicans won a 3-2 majority in 1994.

A requested zoning change that would create a 54-acre shopping center site at U.S. 29 and Route 100 will not be heard before comprehensive rezoning of the eastern county is completed, the county Zoning Board decided last week.In a 5-0 vote Wednesday, the County Council, sitting as the board, rejected a request by developer Robert Moxley to hear the case before the lengthy comprehensive process ends. That process could last until March, planning officials have said.However, Chairman C. Vernon Gray said the board is likely to consider rezoning the parcel during comprehensive rezoning.

Gray plans to push near-ban on smokingELLICOTT CITY -- C. Vernon Gray will try to convince his Howard County Council colleagues tonight that Howard Countyfaces a health crisis because of secondhand smoke.Council Chairman Gray, D-3rd, wants the county to make the existing anti-smoking law tougher, and implement an almost total ban on smoking by July 1, 1995.Howard restaurant owners told the council last week that they favor such a move only if it is enacted statewide, fearing that if Howard County becomes the only jurisdiction with a total smoking ban, they could lose customers to restaurants in nearby counties.