http://delusionalduck.com/index.php/site/index/ Blogging from the subterranean conduits of Charles County, Maryland en quack@delusionalduck.com Copyright 2009 2009-07-03T17:14:14+00:00 http://delusionalduck.com/index.php/site/on_the_bright_side_there_are_still_fish_in_the_potomac_river/ http://delusionalduck.com/index.php/site/on_the_bright_side_there_are_still_fish_in_the_potomac_river/#When:17:14:14Z Environment, Open Thread, Watercooler 2009-07-03T17:14:14+00:00 http://delusionalduck.com/index.php/site/lte_article_caused_misunderstanding_on_progress_of_301_study1/ http://delusionalduck.com/index.php/site/lte_article_caused_misunderstanding_on_progress_of_301_study1/#When:15:20:20Z Discussions with various citizens and officials have brought to my attention that the June 10 article, “State gridlock stalls bypass,” has caused misunderstanding of the progress of the current U.S. 301 Waldorf Area Study. There are several points which require clarification. Maryland, Charles County 2009-07-03T15:20:20+00:00 http://delusionalduck.com/index.php/site/commissioners_begin_work_on_cheaper_housing_options/ http://delusionalduck.com/index.php/site/commissioners_begin_work_on_cheaper_housing_options/#When:15:16:59Z Last month, the Charles County commissioners agreed it is time for county officials to quit talking and take action when it comes to offering affordable and workforce housing to county residents. The Housing Commission of Charles County has recognized the state guidelines that declares homes that can be purchased by those making between 60 and 120 percent of the median family income for the county are considered workforce housing. [...] Commissioner Samuel N. Graves Jr. (D) asked where village zones fit into the zoning ordinance, and County Attorney Roger Fink said these areas were under rural village and conservation zones, the former of which would still abide by the current 1,650 square foot minimum. The latter was not addressed in the proposed amendment, but Fink said staff could look into it if the commissioners wished them to do so. “For the villages to have an opportunity for revitalization, we may want to put that tool in the tool box for them, so that they have a diversity of housing ...,” Graves said. Maryland, Charles County 2009-07-03T15:16:59+00:00 http://delusionalduck.com/index.php/site/connector_foes_propose_options_to_planned_east-west_highway/ http://delusionalduck.com/index.php/site/connector_foes_propose_options_to_planned_east-west_highway/#When:15:14:49Z Local conservationists and area environmental groups met Wednesday at the intersection of Middletown and Billingsley roads to draw attention to the choices surrounding the crossroad and urge Charles County to responsibly handle the options surrounding the cross-county connector. Environment, Maryland, Charles County 2009-07-03T15:14:49+00:00 http://delusionalduck.com/index.php/site/open_thread_-_july_3_2009/ http://delusionalduck.com/index.php/site/open_thread_-_july_3_2009/#When:14:04:05Z “Suppression of information is the surest way to cause its significance to grow and persist. Clarity and openness are the best antidotes, either to dispel criticism if not merited or, if merited, to correct such errors as may be found.”—Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein Open Thread 2009-07-03T14:04:05+00:00 http://delusionalduck.com/index.php/site/new_fiscal_year_same_old_song/ http://delusionalduck.com/index.php/site/new_fiscal_year_same_old_song/#When:13:38:04Z Maryland budget hawks are wishing fiscal 2009 good riddance but are not greeting fiscal 2010, which began Wednesday, with thoughts of a happy new year. Legislators left Annapolis in April after passing the fiscal 2010 budget with the cushioning of a projected balance of $96 million. That cushion has disappeared in the two-and-a-half months since Sine Die. Maryland 2009-07-03T13:38:04+00:00 http://delusionalduck.com/index.php/site/accounting_change_could_net_state_100m/ http://delusionalduck.com/index.php/site/accounting_change_could_net_state_100m/#When:13:36:04Z Maryland’s treasury could collect as much as $100 million more if it adopted an accounting method that was rejected during the 2007 special session, an official in the Comptroller’s Office said this week. The figure is two to four times higher than estimates prepared for 2007, but less than what some people believed. Maryland 2009-07-03T13:36:04+00:00 http://delusionalduck.com/index.php/site/the_capital_-_our_say_this_time_county_shouldnt_be_kept_in_dark_on_fly_ash/ http://delusionalduck.com/index.php/site/the_capital_-_our_say_this_time_county_shouldnt_be_kept_in_dark_on_fly_ash/#When:13:16:52Z After the environmental mess Constellation Energy Group made in Gambrills, we hoped we had heard the last of the words “fly ash” for a while. We were much too optimistic. [...] Safe disposal of fly ash is an unsolved national environmental problem. But we hoped that, with Constellation sending the ash from its Pasadena power plants to landfills in Virginia and Western Maryland, this county would have no further headaches of this type. Now we find out Constellation plans to buy a 65-acre industrial landfill in Curtis Bay, a stone’s throw from the county line, for more fly ash disposal. Environment, Maryland, Anne Arundel County 2009-07-03T13:16:52+00:00 http://delusionalduck.com/index.php/site/judge_dismisses_constellation_lawsuit/ http://delusionalduck.com/index.php/site/judge_dismisses_constellation_lawsuit/#When:13:09:34Z In a blow to Constellation Energy Group, a judge dismissed Thursday the company’s lawsuit challenging the authority of Maryland regulators to investigate its deal to sell half its nuclear power business to a French utility. The ruling means Constellation has little choice but to proceed with the regulatory review of its $4.5 billion transaction with Electricite de France, a regulatory hurdle that the utility had hoped to avoid and had argued was not required under state law. [...] The company reiterated Thursday that its proposed new reactor at Calvert Cliffs in Southern Maryland won’t be built unless the EDF deal goes through, describing the two issues as “inseparable.” Maryland, Calvert County 2009-07-03T13:09:34+00:00 http://delusionalduck.com/index.php/site/hard_line_on_inmate_cellphones/ http://delusionalduck.com/index.php/site/hard_line_on_inmate_cellphones/#When:11:43:02Z Md. Prisons Seek to Jam Signals; Industry Warns of Effect on Regular Users In the war for wireless supremacy, there is Verizon vs. AT&T, the iPhone vs. the BlackBerry.—And then there’s Gary D. Maynard vs. the 23,000 residents of Maryland’s state prisons.—In his bid to snuff out mobile phones in Maryland’s two dozen state lockups, Maynard, the state’s public safety secretary, is willing to try just about anything. Maryland 2009-07-03T11:43:02+00:00