Promising to follow governing fundamentals and guaranteeing to use taxpayer dollars as responsibly as she can, Candice Quinn Kelly announced Monday night that she is joining the race for the Charles County commissioner president’s seat.
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“We live by the notion that we cannot control growth … we can,” Kelly said. “The county has a responsibility to ensure people can get to and from work, children have seats in schools and when you dial 911 someone will [pick up].”

Related thread: Delusional Duck Scoop

Brief Description: The County Commissioners of Charles County are hereby requesting proposals from qualified, multi-disciplined Engineering firms to provide engineering and design services to replace the existing multipurpose room floor of approximately 2,850 sq. ft in the Nanjemoy Community Services Building.

01/08/2010   Proposal Documents

ANNAPOLIS, MD (January 12, 2010) –Governor Martin O’Malley issued this statement today following the successful completion of a 50-year lease and concession agreement with Ports America Chesapeake to operate the Seagirt Marine Terminal at the Port of Baltimore, and bring 5,700 new jobs to the Port.  Governor O’Malley announced the State’s intent to enter into this public/private partnership agreement in November.  This is the first such agreement of its kind in Maryland. 

I expect to pass through life but once.  If therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again.  ~William Penn

When Bill Carmichael built his bayside home at the Chesapeake Ranch Estates part of Calvert County 18 years ago, the house was about 60 feet from the edge of the cliff. But the cliff’s edge is moving closer to the house—fast.

“Well, Thanksgiving evening, here, there was about a 10-food (wide) hot tub, here. We had a deck, out here—12 foot. And were all out here Thanksgiving evening, the kids and everybody, just looking at everything, and went back in, and woke up in the morning, and its gone,” said Carmichael. “A whole 12 feet of it at one shot.”

Federal regulators moved Tuesday to seek public input on a plan to link the insurance premiums levied on U.S. banks to the degree of risk-taking encouraged by their executive pay policies.

A divided board of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. voted to make public a preliminary proposal for using executive compensation as a factor in assessing the fees that banks must pay for the deposit insurance fund. The plan could involve both rewards and penalties for banks. The idea is for institutions deemed to be higher-risk to pay bigger insurance fees.

In accordance with the guidelines established by the Maryland Department of the Environment, the Charles County Department of Utilities and the Charles County Health Department report that an accidental sewage overflow occurred at a manhole adjacent to Wakefield Lake on St. Thomas Drive near the intersection with St. Charles Parkway in Waldorf.

According to the Department of Utilities, an accumulation of grease blocked the sewer line, resulting in an overflow at the manhole. The overflow discharged raw sewage in excess of 10,000 gallons into Wakefield Lake which, in turn, flows to an un-named tributary of Jorden Swamp. The exact amount of the overflow is not immediately known and will require further investigation.

...at Upcoming Diversity Forum

The most powerful earthquake ever recorded in Haiti devastated parts of the impoverished island nation Tuesday, leveling a hospital in the capital, severely damaging the U.N. headquarters and other buildings, and sending panicked residents into the streets.
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The State Department said the United States will provide military and civilian disaster assistance to Haiti. The U.S. Agency for International Development said in a statement that it would send up to 72 workers, six search-and-rescue dogs, and up to 48 tons of rescue equipment. The Coast Guard said Tuesday night that it was preparing to deploy cutters and aircraft to deliver aid as needed.

After months of speculation, the Montgomery County delegation introduced a bill Monday to exempt the county this year from having to fund education at the same level as last year.

Under the so-called maintenance-of-effort law, local governments are required to fund their school systems at least at the level of the previous fiscal year.

If they fail to do so, local governments face a reduction in state aid for their school systems. For Montgomery County, that could mean as much as $46 million lost for the school system.

The Federal Reserve on Tuesday issued sweeping new rules to better protect Americans from sudden hikes in interest rates on credit cards.

The new rules, which take effect on Feb. 22, generally bar rate increases during the first year after an account is opened. After the first year, companies must provide customers with a 45-day notice before bumping up rates.

Gov. Martin O’Malley will push legislators to pass a package of renewable energy initiatives that would boost solar production, make the state more attractive for offshore wind development and offer incentives for purchasing electric cars.
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To attract a developer for an offshore wind farm, the governor wants to update the state’s coastal zoning rules. Such changes would ease the way for underground transmission lines to connect ocean-based wind production to the state’s grid. Also, modifications are needed to run a line under an eroding beach.

Shooting and stabbing victims immobilized to protect their spines might be twice as likely to die because of the delay in transporting them to the hospital, Johns Hopkins researchers conclude in a new study that could trigger a review of treatment protocols used by Maryland paramedics.

Immobilization is standard procedure for paramedics in Maryland and many communities across the country, and the study could have particular significance in Baltimore, where 218 people were fatally shot or stabbed last year.