Walter Baker

Hey, dude, is this Senate bill very excellent, or what?"Way, Mr. President!"Is Sen. Walter M. Baker a secret "Wayne's World" fan? Or does the Cecil County Democrat who claimed he was dragged into the 20th century actually have a secret penchant for "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure"?These questions arise because Mr. Baker seemed to lapse into a credible imitation of MTV-speak last week, when he described a bill as "very excellent."The bill at hand proposed dropping vehicle registration for golf carts on Smith Island, often used in place of motor vehicles.

"Way, Mr. President!"Is Sen. Walter M. Baker a secret "Wayne's World" fan? Or does the Cecil County Democrat who claimed he was dragged into the 20th century actually have a secret penchant for "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure"?These questions arise because Mr. Baker seemed to lapse into a credible imitation of MTV-speak last week, when he described a bill as "very excellent."The bill at hand proposed dropping vehicle registration for golf carts on Smith Island, often used in place of motor vehicles.

Capital punishment is an ineffective penalty in Maryland since convicts are seldom executed, Del. Richard N. Dixon told the House Judiciary Committee yesterday."

THE COMING week in Annapolis is pivotal for the administration's handgun-control bill. Close votes in the Senate and a House committee are expected. A defeat would send the wrong message to both concerned citizens and criminals that Maryland isn't serious about cracking down on the sale of guns to the wrong kinds of people.What Gov. Parris Glendening is proposing isn't revolutionary. He wants Maryland to follow the lead of Virginia and South Carolina by limiting the sale of handguns for an individual to one a month.

Ever wished your favorite dress was more user-friendly? Sure, it's pretty, but wouldn't it be nice if it treated you like your best pair of jeans and came with a set of handy pockets for your cash, cell phone and lip gloss? Designers have figured out that today's woman wants more from her clothes than just good looks. Many of the hottest looks in dresses for summer and fall conveniently come with pockets. So ditch the heavy handbag and go hands-free in dresses such as these local favorites: 1. Camille dress by Dace Price: $225 Wear it to work; wear it to a party or just out for the day. This ultra-chic dress is a sexy but comfortable shape and comes in a gorgeous, versatile color: chocolate brown.

Just when it looked as if Maryland would join 46 other states dead-serious about cracking down on drunken driving, state Sen. Walter Baker snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.Mr. Baker had already made known his aversion to so-called per se legislation creating a concrete standard for drunken driving. Anyone caught driving with a blood-alcohol concentration of .10 would be considered drunk. That's the minimum law of the land everywhere but Maryland, Tennessee, South Carolina and Massachusetts.

Once again, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller is confronted with an uncomfortable decision: Whether to exert his considerable influence to persuade a stubborn committee chairman to let committee members vote on a bill the chairman personally despises.It is no surprise the reluctant chairman is Sen. Walter Baker, whose notion of a democratic legislature leaves something to be desired: What Mr. Baker likes is handled with dispatch and diligence; what he opposes is discarded without a vote.

Remember these names: American Joe Miedusiewski, George Della, Vernon Boozer, Thomas Bromwell, Nancy Murphy and Michael Wagner.These are metro-area fence-sitters in the drive to ban 18 brands of semi-automatic pistols, known as assault weapons, from Maryland. Most of these state senators have made a commitment to groups trying to remove assault pistols from the streets but are now equivocating.We find it appalling that these senators actually believe assault pistols serve a legitimate sporting or self-defense purpose.

Metropolitan Baltimore ranks as the sixth smoggiest region in the nation; the Washington metropolis is No. 10. Not only does this pose a health hazard for Marylanders, smog is a major factor in polluting the Chesapeake Bay. Cleaning up Maryland's air should be a top priority.One sensible step would be to adopt tougher tailpipe emissions standards for motor vehicles. The House of Delegates is debating such a proposal right now. Last week, a House committee approved the "California cars" bill by a surprisingly wide margin of 20-3.

This General Assembly session's first showdown on handgun-control begins tomorrow in a House committee, which is hearing arguments on a slew of gun bills even as advocacy groups and the governor's office continue negotiations on finding common ground.Handgun-control organizations believe that two Democratic delegates hold the key in the House Judiciary Committee -- Del. Mary Louise Preis of Harford County and Del. Gerry Brewster of Baltimore County. In both cases, the delegates come from districts that strongly endorsed handgun control in the 1988 referendum.