White House

WASHINGTON -- First lady Michelle Obama will speak at Bowie State University's commencement on May 17, the White House said Thursday. The school, Maryland's oldest historically black college and one of the oldest in the nation, is celebrating its 148th anniversary. The school is "part of the rich legacy of historically black colleges and universities that have been instrumental in educating generations of African Americans," the White House said in its announcement.  Obama will also speak at Eastern Kentucky University and a Tennessee high school, the White House said.  The announcement comes a day after the first lady entered the policy debate over gun control with a deeply personal address on violence to a conference in Chicago.

As the White House spin doctors find it more and more difficult to cook up acceptable "talking points" for Benghazi and the IRS and Department of Justice situations, the new term "Trigate" seems to take over where "Watergate" once served. The morning paper gets more and more interesting as we read each day to see the new developments in Washington and peruse the administration's attempts at damage control. Dick Huffman, Timonium

As he traveled through Baltimore to promote his jobs agenda on Friday, President Barack Obama found himself sitting near a 29-year-old man who was uncertain how to reset his life after being released from prison two years ago. In one of the few spontaneous moments of the president's visit, Marcus Dixon - father of two boys - told Obama how he connected in 2011 with a workforce development group called the Center for Urban Families, put his life...

The scandals at the White House in the last few days and the lack of knowing what was going on does not wash ("IRS head forced to go," May 16). The IRS in Ohio targets conservative groups, but the interim head of the IRS located in Washington gets fired. Why doesn't the person in charge of the Ohio office get fired? Could it be she will spill the beans on who directed her to do this? The Attorney General's office subpoenas phone records of the Associated Press, but does Eric Holder get fired?

Journalist Bob Woodward, certainly not a lifelong conservative, dares to tell the truth about the current administration and is castigated by the White House and the trolls in the media ("Woodward's spat with White House grabs spotlight," March 1)? How interesting. Let's see if others now break ranks and decide to tell the truth about this abomination. F. Cordell Text NEWS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun local news text alerts

The scandals at the White House in the last few days and the lack of knowing what was going on does not wash ("IRS head forced to go," May 16). The IRS in Ohio targets conservative groups, but the interim head of the IRS located in Washington gets fired. Why doesn't the person in charge of the Ohio office get fired? Could it be she will spill the beans on who directed her to do this? The Attorney General's office subpoenas phone records of the Associated Press, but does Eric Holder get fired?

WASHINGTON - A publicist for the couple that crashed a White House state dinner denies they are "shopping" any interviews or demanding money from television networks to tell their story. In an e-mailed statement Monday, publicist Mahogany Jones said the allegations are false and demanded that "this adverse, inaccurate information cease immediately." Jones said Michaele and Tareq Salahi are not making any formal comments or arrangements to speak with the media. An appearance previously scheduled for Monday night on CNN's "Larry King Live" has been canceled.

- In a victory for people with cancer and other serious medical problems, the White House agreed Friday to help close a loophole in the Senate health care bill allowing annual dollar limits on their care. "The president has made it clear that health insurance reform legislation should prevent insurance companies from placing annual limits on health expenditures that can force families into financial ruin," said White House spokesman Reid Cherlin. The move was applauded by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, which first called attention to the problem.

The Obama administration is considering "multiple options" for trying the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, as local officials and some members of Congress resist the current Department of Justice plan for a civilian trial in New York. But administration officials are not saying whether Khalid Sheikh Mohammed could be tried before a military commission, or at the Illinois prison where they plan to move other detainees from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, or at some other unnamed site. Administration officials said last month that the White House was involved in discussions about the trial, as Congress was actively considering precluding options for trying Mohammed and the other detainees in New York.

- Congress authorized subpoenas Wednesday for the White House gate-crashers to testify about how the couple got into a state dinner without an invitation. Lawmakers on the House Homeland Security Committee voted to compel the attention-hungry couple to answer questions about the Nov. 24 incident. The couple, Tareq and Michaele Salahi, have said they will invoke their Fifth Amendment right to refuse to answer questions. While the committee authorized the Salahi subpoenas, it would not accept its top Republican's plan to subpoena White House social secretary Desiree Rogers.

Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland used a rare opportunity to speak on behalf of the Republican Party on Saturday to tie the unfolding IRS scandal to President Barack Obama's 2010 overhaul of the nation's health care system. Noting that the Internal Revenue Service will be responsible with taxing individuals who fail to obtain health insurance, Harris argued that, "if we've learned anything this week, it's that the IRS needs less power, not more. " Harris, an anesthesiologist, was chosen by Republican leaders to offer the weekly address days after the House of Representatives voted to repeal the health care law, much of which takes effect next year.

As he traveled through Baltimore to promote his jobs agenda on Friday, President Barack Obama found himself sitting near a 29-year-old man who was uncertain how to reset his life after being released from prison two years ago. In one of the few spontaneous moments of the president's visit, Marcus Dixon - father of two boys - told Obama how he connected in 2011 with a workforce development group called the Center for Urban Families, put his life...

Remarks by President Barack Obama this afternoon at Ellicott Dredges in Baltimore, from the White House.   THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, Baltimore!  (Applause.)  Well, it is wonderful to see all of you.  Give Duncan a big round of applause for the great introduction.  (Applause.)  I want to thank all of you for the warm welcome, the great hospitality.  And I tell you what, I'm going to return the favor by hosting your Super Bowl Champion Baltimore Ravens at the White House this summer.  (Applause.)

When I bought Marlin Steel in 1998, the extent of its technology was an old fax machine. Today, our factory is full of industrial robots that are fed computer-aided designs and churn out steel containers for industry 60 times faster than before. We're winning jobs that used to go to China and elsewhere. My employees, who once made $6 an hour, average $26 an hour now. This isn't your grandfather's small factory: We depend on the Internet, cloud computing and other new technologies, just like thousands of other manufacturers our size.

President Barack Obama has named an Annapolis man to head the multibillion-dollar grant program through which the Federal Emergency Management Agency helps local governments prepare for disasters. Brian Kamoie, 41, will oversee a vast portfolio of federal grants used by states and cities to prevent and respond to terrorism and other disasters, the White House said. Kamoie was most recently senior director for preparedness policy on the White House national security staff. Kamoie takes control of the FEMA grant program as the Obama administration pursues a controversial consolidation of $2 billion in preparedness funding it says will streamline a system that grew unwieldy following the attacks of Sept.

Baltimore-made "House of Cards" brought some extra Hollywood star power to the White House Correspondents' Dinner Saturday night in Washington. Here's Kevin Spacey starring in the "House of Nerds" spoof video (above) that topped the event. He's superb. Maryland Congressman Steny Hoyer gets some nice face-time as well in the video. #sigshell { float: left; width: 320px; height: 52px; margin: 20px 0px; display: block; } #sigheadshot{ float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; }

The 2012 Navy football team will visit the White House on Friday for a ceremony with President Barack Obama . The team will be honored for winning the Commander in Chief's Trophy for the eighth time in the past 10 years. The time and location of the ceremony has not yet been determined. The Midshipmen were victorious over Air Force (28-21 in overtime) and Army (17-13) en route to an 8-5 record and the school's ninth bowl game in the past 10 years. Navy has won 19 of its past 21 service academy games.

Finally, someone who sees things clearly! Cal Thomas hit the nail on the head by asking "why would you think you would be better off in four years [under Obama] when you're worse off today than you were four years ago?" ("A winning pick," Aug. 15). I was happy to see a change four years ago, hoping that a new administration was the answer to some of our many problems. But I haven't seen any movement in the right direction. Can we seriously blame the Bush administration forever? A change every four years sends a serious message: Get it cleaned up during your first term and we will happily vote you in for a second.

As the federal government shifts its drug control strategy toward drug treatment and education initiatives, the U.S. drug czar said Wednesday at an event in Baltimore that he plans to emphasize the expansion of drug courts to divert nonviolent offenders to treatment instead of prison. Gil Kerlikowske, director of national drug control policy, announced the changes at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine as he laid out his goals for the year. The former Seattle police chief said there would be no official change in the federal stance that marijuana is an illegal and harmful drug, a hot issue since two states voted to allow its use last year.