Tuesday, April 2, 2013
A Germantown Patch reader shares her reasons for supporting Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley's gun violence prevention bill.
Editor's note: The following letter was submitted by Patch reader, J. Elizabeth Rodriguez: Some legislators in Annapolis want to vote against Governor O’Malley’s gun violence prevention bill. I urge EVERY Maryland lawmaker to vote for the Firearm Safety Act of 2013. It will prevent criminals, like the one who mugged my son, from purchasing guns. My son was held up at gunpoint when he was going to the library to complete his English paper. Fortunately he was not hurt physically. I grew up in Brooklyn New York where I was faced with gun violence and did not want this for my children. I moved to Maryland and apparently the violence has moved here as well. We can end much of this violence by keeping guns out of the hands of criminals. If …
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
The ban is expected to pass the Maryland General Assembly.
Drivers in Maryland still using hand-held mobile devices on the road should be prepared to either make the move to hands free or simply keep their cell phones put away. The Maryland Senate voted 40-6 Monday to approve a bill that makes the use of hand-held electronic devices while behind the wheel a "primary offense," The Baltimore Sun reported. Currently, drivers in Maryland can only be cited for using a cell phone if an officer pulls them over for committing another offense — such as speeding. If the proposed ban is approved—which, according to reports, is likely—drivers could be pulled over for using their mobile phones without committing another offense. Gaithersburg Mayor Sidney A. Katz said he could see where it makes sense to …
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
New Goucher College poll finds the public is almost evenly split on the job performance of both Gov. Martin O'Malley and the Maryland General Assembly.
A narrow majority of Marylanders believe the state is headed in the wrong direction and most are split on the job performance of Gov. Martin O'Malley and the General Assembly. Forty-seven percent of those surveyed in a poll conducted by the Sarah T. Hughes Field Politics Center at Goucher College believe the state is on the wrong track compared to 44 percent who think it is going in the right direction. The same poll gave mixed reviews on the job performance of the governor and state legislators. Forty-six percent of Marylanders polled said they held a favorable view of O’Malley compared to 45 percent who said they held an unfavorable view. When asked O’Malley's job performance as governor, 47 percent approved and 43 percent disapproved. …
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
A Montgomery County state senator is opposing a bill that would allow gas companies to update old pipelines at a faster pace.
Would you pay more each month for gas utility service in exchange for updated gas pipelines? A bill that easily passed both houses of the Maryland General Assembly would increase Marylanders' gas bills by $2 and allow gas companies to more quickly upgrade old pipelines that are near schools and neighborhoods, the Washington Post reports. Two senators, one from Anne Arundel County and another from Charles County, sponsored the measure, which is different from the current law because it allows companies to charge for upgrades before they are complete. This pre-payment, which has been proposed five times in the past four sessions, according to the Post, is akin to deregulating the utility system, say some opponents. “This is about ending …
Thursday, February 7, 2013
The county's delegation of senators will spend the afternoon discussing where and how businesses can sell beer and wine.
It is unclear what the rules are regarding state legislators drinking on the job, but this afternoon's agenda for the Montgomery County Senate Delegation may be enough to make anyone reach for the nearest glass of vino. Here's what county senators will be discussing and possibly voting on today: 1) Winery Special Event Permits - Farmers' Markets, sponsored by Del. Eric Luedtke (D-Dist 14). Essentially, farmers' markets need permits to host special wine tasting events. With all of the markets in Montgomery County, legislators want to amend the law to allow them to be able to get a permit. Read more here. The House delegation already voted yes on this. 2) Montgomery County - Alcoholic Beverages - Refillable Beer Containers, sponsored by …
Monday, February 4, 2013
"People are suffering every day" and need medical marijuana, delegate says.
- GOVERNMENT
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Monday, February 4
By Ethan Rosenberg Capital News Service Despite coming up short the last two years, several House legislators are trying again to legalize medical marijuana, while others are attempting to tighten restrictions on its synthetic counterparts. Delegate Cheryl Glenn, D-Baltimore, plans to reintroduce the Maryland Medical Marijuana Act to the House Judiciary Committee. The bill would allow the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to regulate the distribution of medical marijuana through compassion centers for patients who have an ongoing relationship with a physician. “People are suffering every day in the state of Maryland, and they are being subjected to going out on the streets to get the relief we should be providing,” Glenn said. The …
Thursday, January 31, 2013
What's going on in Annapolis that affects Montgomery County?
'Tis the season, when dozens of legislators from Montgomery County file into Annapolis to create and pass (or shut down) a bevy of new laws that may or may not change our daily lives. The Maryland General Assembly convened Jan. 9, 2013 and it won't adjourn until April. Since you can't be there, keeping an eye on lawmakers from your town, we'll be rounding up some of their more important deeds each week. Here's what our local legislators did recently: Takoma Park Delegate Heather Mizeur, a Democrat who everyone says is running for governor next year, is doing something that only a person interested in state office would do—leave her district to give a speech. She's talking to the Queen Anne's County Democratic Club next month about "major …
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
A bill is proposed on behalf of the Montgomery Village Foundation.
Capital News Service Along with high-profile legislation that would repeal the death penalty and strengthen gun control, Maryland’s General Assembly is considering making it more expensive for people caught stealing shopping carts. The bill would increase the fine from $25 to $100. It came about when the Montgomery Village Foundation, which represents more than 45,000 residents, asked Del. Kirill Reznik (D-Dist. 39) of Germantown, to do something about the number of shopping carts that were being taken from nearby stores and left strewn throughout the community. The current law, which was enacted in 1957, requires store owners to post a sign at each exit informing shoppers that there is a $25 fine for taking a shopping cart off store …
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Safeway Stores
20211 Goshen Rd, Gaithersburg, MD
/articles/legislator-goes-after-shopping-cart-scofflaws
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Wednesday, January 23, 2013
By Julia Maldonado, Capital News Service
- POLICE & FIRE
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Wednesday, January 23
ANNAPOLIS—Part-time school employees in Maryland have been able to engage in sexual relationships with students as young as 16 and avoid prosecution due to a loophole in state law. Delegates from Montgomery and Allegany counties proposed two bills Tuesday that would prohibit school employees 21 and over—including full-time, part-time, contractors and coaches—from having sexual contact with minor students. The current law was passed in 2006 and only prohibits full-time employees from sexual contact with students who are of legal age to consent, which is 16 in Maryland. During their testimonies, delegates Sam Arora (D-Dist. 19) of Silver Spring and Luiz R. S. Simmons (D-Dist. 17) of Rockville, cited the recent case involving Scott Spear, a…
Friday, January 18, 2013
The legislative package also includes bills regarding offshore wind, expansion of early voting and allowing voters to register and vote on the same day.
Calling it his top priority for the 2013 General Assembly session, Gov. Martin O'Malley Friday said he will introduce a set of proposed gun control laws. The bills are part of O'Malley's 25-item agenda that was announced Friday morning. The requests include bills on school safety, repeal of the sunset of the state DNA database program, offshore wind, jobs and expansion of early voting as well as making it possible for voters to register on the same day they vote. But the focus of the news conference was on O'Malley's gun control bills. "Military assault weapons don't just threaten children and they don't just threaten families," O'Malley said. "They also threaten the men and women, that on our behalf, execute search and seizure warrants. …
38.979086
-76.491431
100 State Cir, Annapolis, MD
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Baltimore Matt
12:18 pm on Tuesday, April 2, 2013
How about we only ban free cell phones...period more ›