GUN LAW FALLOUT: Despite Beretta’s threats that the company would leave Maryland if new gun laws were passed and signed by Gov. Martin O’Malley, Beretta USA has no current plans to abandon its headquarters in Prince George’s County, reports Erin Cox for the Sun. In a statement sent to the Sun Monday, Beretta USA board member and general counsel Jeffrey Reh said the company would not let the new law interfere with completing its contract to supply the U.S. Army with pistols.

Carroll County Commissioner Richard Rothschild said he wants to stand up for people’s right to own firearms, but is not yet prepared to release information on a county resolution that would aim to do just that, Christian Alexandersen reports in the Carroll County Times. Details on the resolution remain murky leading up to the Carroll County Board of Commissioners public forum on gun rights and the Second Amendment Wednesday.

A hunter, a mother and a minister are featured in new advertisements touting Maryland’s new gun law, which was signed last week and represents one of the nation’s most sweeping pieces of gun-control legislation passed this year, reports Erin Cox in the Sun.

DISTRACTED DRIVING: Marylanders soon will be ticketed for texting or talking on a mobile phone while driving under a new law, but studies show such crackdowns on phone use do little to prevent traffic accidents, writes Andy Brownfield for the Washington Examiner.

WINE SALES: As shoppers walk through Maryland farmers markets in the next few months, they may find wine bottles among the fresh-baked bread, local fruits, vegetables and homemade preserves, Jennifer Shutt of the Salisbury Daily Times reports. While some counties already permitted wine sales at farmers markets, a new state law to take effect June 1 will establish a statewide permit for wineries that removes county-specific restrictions.

ARUNDEL ALTERS RAIN TAX: Anne Arundel County’s stormwater fee hasn’t been collected yet, but the County Council has already changed it, reports Pamela Wood for the Sun. By a 7-0 vote Monday night, council members agreed to reduce the maximum fee that commercial property owners would pay and to phase in the fee for some property owners.

NEW DHCD HOME: The Maryland Department of General Services has selected a site in New Carrollton to be the new home for the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development under a lease proposal to be considered for approval later this month, Daniel Sernovitz writes in the Baltimore Business Journal.

READERS SURVEY: We’d like to hear from our readers on whether we should be including more content from the Daily Record. Baltimore’s legal and business newspaper has lots of good coverage of state issues, but almost all its original coverage is behind a paywall that doesn’t even allow a minimum number of page views first, as do the Sun and the Capital. If you’re not a subscriber, you get only one sentence. Would you like MarylandReporter.com to include more Daily Record stories in its State Roundup even though nonsubscribers won’t be able to read the story? If the answer is YES, just send an email to Len@MarylandReporter.com and put the word YES in the subject line. Since yesterday, only six people have voted YES.

GUILLORY DEPARTS: Gov. Martin O’Malley’s communications director and long-time aide Raquel Guillory will leave the governor’s office at the end of the month for another job in state government, reports the Sun’s Erin Cox. Guillory is the fourth high-level staffer to depart the governor’s office since the November election.

DUNCAN SEEKS EXEC SEAT: Former Montgomery County Executive Doug Duncan, seeking to reclaim the office he held for three terms, held his first major public event Sunday, a picnic fundraiser where he received the endorsement of U.S. Rep. John Delaney, writes Bill Turque for the Post.

Delaney received Duncan’s endorsement in the 2012 congressional race. Incumbent County Executive Ike Leggett initially planned to retire at the end of his second term, but is now considering whether to seek a third term in 2014, reports Daniel Leaderman of the Gazette.

Josh Kurtz of Center Maryland has an interesting take on Duncan’s announcement, writing, “An eerie fog hung over Montgomery County for most of the day Sunday, the kind that makes you think of ghosts and spirits and raising the dead. A too-simple metaphor, perhaps, but an unavoidable one, for Doug Duncan’s comeback attempt, on the day he happened to hold the first big public event of his 2014 campaign for county executive.”

DELANEY PROPOSES BANK: Freshman Congressman John Delaney plans to roll out his signature legislative initiative for his first term — a plan for a national infrastructure bank that requires no federal appropriations, writes Len Lazarick for MarylandReporter.com. The proposal is an innovative financing measure that relies on the sort of economic opportunities Delaney exploited when he founded two publicly traded financial services firms that have helped make him one of the richest members of Congress.

TU ATHLETIC DIRECTOR LEAVES: Towson University athletic director Mike Waddell is leaving the school after less than three years to take a job at the University of Arkansas, a move that comes as Towson’s athletics department has been under fire for cutting its men’s soccer team, Ryan Sharrow reports for the Baltimore Business Journal. A proposal, set forth by Waddell, also called for the elimination of the university’s baseball team, but an influx of $300,000 in state money saved the program for the next two years.

The timing of Waddell’s decision to leave Towson might indicate that he found the climate uncomfortable, though the position he will be taking at the Southeastern Conference school involves many of his strong suits as an administrator, reports Don Markus of the Sun.

ARMED ON CAMPUS: Some Carroll Community College campus safety personnel will soon be armed on campus under a new memorandum of understanding signed Monday between the school and the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office, Brett Lake reports in the Carroll County Times.

RETIREMENT QUESTIONED: Heather Rawlyk of the Capital-Gazette writes that Anne Arundel Republicans are questioning the timing and motives behind the retirement of longtime county State’s Attorney Frank Weathersbee. Alan Rzepkowski, chairman of the Republican State Central Committee of Anne Arundel County, criticized the six-term incumbent for resigning before his term is up and lobbying for Deputy State’s Attorney Tom Fleckenstein, a top donor to Weathersbee’s 2010 campaign, to take his place until the 2014 election.

JOB LOSS: Maryland employers slashed 6,200 jobs in April, cutting short a string of gains, the U.S. Department of Labor said Friday, as the state began feeling the pinch of federal budget sequestration and cutbacks in consumer spending. Jamie Smith Hopkins and Lorraine Mirabella report that the government’s separate survey of households, however, showed that Maryland’s unemployment rate dropped to 6.5 % in April from 6.6% a month earlier. The surveys of jobs and residents don’t always move together, in part because Marylanders commuting across state lines or starting businesses don’t affect the count of jobs.

VOTER FRAUD: Luke Rosiak and Jeffrey Anderson of the Washington Times report that Washington, D.C., has failed to remove from its voting rolls as many as 13,000 former residents who years ago moved to Prince George’s County and cast ballots there, making fraud by voting in two jurisdictions as easy as going to the polls in their old neighborhoods.

WINERY SALES: By June 1, Maryland wineries will be allowed to sell wine and offer samples at farmers markets, writes Ike Wilson in the Frederick News Post. A new off-site permit, which replaces the current winery special event permit, removes previous county-by-county restrictions and limits on the number of markets, or market days, a winery may attend.

SMOKE ALARM LAW: A new law in Maryland aims to increase the likelihood that people’s lives will be saved by smoke alarms during a fire, writes Naomi Jagoda for the Washington Examiner. Legislation signed by Gov. Martin O’Malley on Thursday requires that battery-operated smoke alarms in homes have sealed-in batteries designed to last 10 years as well as a “hush” button that allows people to silence the alarms without removing the batteries.

FALSE LIENS: A new Maryland law punishes those who file false financial claims against state residents, a tactic used by anti-government extremists to ruin the finances of public officials, writes Andy Brownfield for the Washington Examiner.

WIDER WEDDING MARKET: For many offering wedding-related services from flowers to accommodations, the market in Maryland is expanding as gay couples now can stay in Maryland or travel to the state to tie the knot, reports Lorraine Mirabella in the Sun.

MASS GAY WEDDING: On June 16, as part of Baltimore City’s Pride Festival, city Mayor Stephanie Rawlings Blake, a longtime supporter of marriage equality, will conduct a mass wedding ceremony for gay couples, Fern Shen reports for Baltimore Brew.

ROCKY GAP CASINO: The flashy jangle of slot machines is a far cry from the stillness of Rocky Gap State Park in Western Maryland, but state and local leaders are betting that this week’s planned casino opening will transform a struggling lakeside lodge into the economic engine its planners envisioned 15 years ago, writes the AP’s David Dishneau in the Hagerstown Herald Mail.

OYSTER PLANTING TIME: For state and federal agencies, it’s planting time in the Chesapeake Bay, just as it is on land for farmers and gardeners across Maryland, writes Tim Wheeler in the Sun. Instead of seeds, hundreds of millions of speck-sized baby oysters — known as spat — are being planted in Harris Creek, where it’s hoped they’ll grow and multiply. It’s an effort to see if the bay’s depleted oyster population can be restored, one creek and river at a time.

STORMWATER PROJECT: The $1 million Cabin Branch stream restoration project dedicated last week, officials said, is an example of the stormwater restoration work Anne Arundel County will tackle with funds from the new stormwater fee. It’s a citizens project, meant to be a prototype for restoration efforts across the Chesapeake Bay watershed, writes E.B. Furgurson for the Capital-Gazette.

SEPTIC FEE COST: New state laws on septic systems will require increased on-site work for Allegany County Health Department staff and could lead to an eventual increase in septic system inspection fees, reports Matthew Bieniek for the Cumberland Times-News.

LAWMAKERS’ EXPENSES: Anne Arundel County lawmakers spent nearly $42,000 of state money on dining and driving during the 2013 General Assembly session, reports Alex Jackson for the Capital-Gazette. The county’s 10 Republican state senators and delegates claimed nearly $25,000 in reimbursements from Maryland for meals and mileage in 2013. Anne Arundel’s 10 Democrats claimed nearly $17,000.

MINIMUM WAGE: With minimum wage hike proposals languishing in Congress, some advocates may have given up hope of an increase anytime soon. But Acting Labor Secretary Seth Harris is not discouraged, writes Bruce Vail for In These Times. Harris has taken the agency on the road in favor of a wage raise. He traveled to Baltimore last week to meet with low-wage workers and promote President Barack Obama’s State of the Union proposal to lift the federal minimum from $7.25 to $9 an hour.

ECONOMIC FUTURE: If Mid-Shore residents hope to see their finances, job stability and economic prospects improve, they will need to call on legislators to spend less and save more, Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot told the Talbot County Chamber of Commerce last week, reports Jennifer Allard for the Easton Star-Democrat.

TAX APPEAL DELAYS: An audit released Friday said that out of 720 appeals of property tax assessments “filed and heard” between July 2010 and February 2013, about 41% “were heard and determined” within 120 to 461 days after their filing dates. That means that the decisions were rendered one month to one year after the 90-day period required by law, writes Christopher Goins for MarylandReporter.com.

CELL PHONE BLOCKING: Maryland corrections officials are taking advantage of new technology designed to block the use of contraband cellphones by inmates — a problem at the heart of recent indictments at the Baltimore City Detention Center, reports Ian Duncan of the Sun.

GANG LEADER MOVED: Ian Duncan of the Sun writes that the alleged leader of the Black Guerrilla Family who is at the center of the detention center scandal will await trial in federal custody out of state. A federal judge ordered him moved from state custody Friday after a hearing on the conditions of his detention.

DEM FUNDRAISER: The Montgomery County Democratic Party’s spring fundraiser brought in more money than expected despite a union boycott that organizers credit for low attendance, Andy Brownfield of the Washington Examiner reports. A spokeswoman for the county Democratic Central Committee said the May 11 Spring Ball had already raised more than $50,000 and the party is still seeing pledges rolling in.

O’MALLEY VS. CUOMO: John Fritze of the Sun writes that, by the time Gov. Martin O’Malley left the Democratic convention last fall, he had schmoozed with party leaders from Iowa, spoken to potential donors and hosted swanky parties that kept delegates entertained into the next morning — efforts that heightened speculation about his ambitions beyond Maryland. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo took an entirely different approach: He arrived in Charlotte two days late, spoke for 20 minutes to his state delegation and went home. The two Eastern state governors are often mentioned together as potential candidates for president these days.

KATIE, OH! MarylandReporter.com blogs that Maryland’s first lady Katie O’Malley, who is also a district court judge, is usually associated with serious issues like eliminating bullying. But now she graces the cover of the June issue of Baltimore Style magazine in high fashion. “Katie, oh!” says the headline. “Maryland’s first lady goes glam.”

WILL DUTCH RUN? U.S. Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger gives his take on Maryland’s upcoming race for governor, including speculation that he might run, in this Center Maryland podcast with Lisa Harris Jones and Damian O’Doherty.

HARRIS BLASTS IRS: U.S. 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, reports John Fritze of the Sun. Noting that the IRS 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.”

WORK DISCLOSURE: Alison Knezevich of the Sun reports that Baltimore County Councilman John Olszewski did not disclose his outside employment over the past several years, including his work with a painting and drywall company that has a $3.1 million contract at a new high school being built in his district.

REGIONAL AGENCY: The Capital-Gazette’s editor’s notebook urges Anne Arundel County to join Howard and Prince George’s counties in creating a Regional Transportation Agency of Central Maryland to fix the fragmented bus system.

ANTI-BIAS POLICIES: Anne Arundel County Executive Laura Neuman on Friday said she has launched a review of county anti-discrimination policies and its Human Relations Commission, writes Rick Hutzell for the Capital-Gazette.

The gun law bans the sale of assault-style rifles, including the AR-15 used in the Newtown killing of six educators and 20 first- and second-graders, the Sun’s Erin Cox reports. The law limits gun ownership for people with mental illness, outlaws the sale of high-capacity magazines and establishes the nation’s first new handgun licensing scheme in two decades.

As he signed legislation Thursday raising Maryland’s gas tax, Gov. O’Malley identified an initial $1.2 billion in new road and transit projects that he said the new revenue will make possible, including several in the Washington region, the Post’s John Wagner reports. Erin Cox of the Sun lists 10 projects that officials announced immediately after the gas tax bill was signed.

A $1 billion plan to replace aging schools in Baltimore City, signed into law Thursday, went from ridiculous to reality because of hard work by scores of people in both Baltimore City and Annapolis, and a host of political forces were in play. But three stand out, reports Michael Dresser in the Sun.

The Carroll County Student Government Association members went to Annapolis Thursday to watch Gov. O’Malley sign into state law the bill they helped create – SB 428 adds the position of a non-voting student representative to the Carroll County Board of Education into the education article of Maryland law, writes Alisha George for the Carroll County Times.

For much of the two-hour bill signing, barn dance music was piped into the governor’s reception room as he and legislative leaders signed more than 250 bills into law.

TAKING AIM AT GUN LAW: Christian Schaffer of WMAR-TV reports that gun rights supporters in Maryland agree they would like to fight to overturn the state’s new gun law. But not all of them agree on just how to do it. On Thursday, hundreds of gun owners and advocates gathered in Carroll County to hear details on the gun restrictions and to plan their next move in their attempt to repeal them.

JAIL SCANDAL HEARING: Maryland lawmakers have rescheduled a hearing prompted by problems at the Baltimore City Detention Center for June 6, two weeks earlier than previously announced, writes John Wagner of the Post.

NO. 2 FOR SEXUAL CONTACT: Ian Duncan of the Sun reports that the Baltimore City Detention Center had the nation’s second-highest rate of sexual contact between jail staff and inmates, according to a U.S. Department of Justice study released less than a month after federal prosecutors accused corrections officers at the jail of sleeping with gang members.

TAX APPEAL CASE DELAYS: The Maryland Tax Court, which hears appeals in cases involving state and local taxes, must hear and decide residential property assessment cases within 90 days. But, reports Jamie Smith Hopkins of the Sun, 41% of the cases heard between July 2010 and mid-February took longer — as much as a year past the 90-day point, the Office of Legislative Audits said.

OT A BOON FOR SOME STATE WORKERS: Some Maryland state government workers more than doubled their salaries with overtime payments in 2012, and more than 3,300 topped $10,000 in overtime payments, writes Meg Tully for MarylandReporter.com.

BAKER STICKS WITH MGM: Prince George’s County Executive Rushern Baker is holding pat on his support for MGM Resorts International’s casino plan at National Harbor, despite a surprise bid from a Pennsylvania-based gaming company, reports Michael Neibauer for the Baltimore Business Journal.

PROPER NOTICE: Alison Knezevich of the Sun reports that a state panel that rules on open meeting complaints has found that Baltimore County officials gave proper notice of its meeting where residents could testify about a new stormwater fee.

HOWARD RAIN TAX CALCULATOR: Thanks to a new web-based impervious surface estimator created by Howard County’s Geographic Information Services, county residents and businesses can now calculate how much Maryland’s new storm water management fees or the “rain tax” as it is known, will cost them on their July property tax bills, writes Red Maryland’s Mark Newgent for Watchdogwire.

DEL. KACH TO RUN FOR COUNCIL: Long-time Baltimore County Del. Wade Kach has formally announced he will challenge Baltimore County Council Todd Huff next year, writes Alison Knezevich of the Sun.

DEL. SCHUH TO CHAIR: Del. Steve Schuh was elected Thursday morning to serve as chairman of the Anne Arundel delegation in the House of Delegates, replacing Del. Nic Kipke who resigned from the role after being elected House minority leader last month, reports Alex Jackson in the Capital-Gazette.

RAIN TAX: Homeowners already implementing measures to deal with stormwater runoff say they are being double-taxed by new fees, Kevin James Shay reports in the Gazette.

MoCo DEMS: A union protest limited attendance at a Montgomery County Democratic party fundraiser last weekend , but it hasn’t stopped donations from rolling in, Kate Alexander reports in the Gazette. County Democratic Central Committee Chairman Gabe Albornoz said that pledges made in the wake of the party’s May 11 Spring Ball have helped the party exceed its fundraising goal for the event.

HOSPITAL CHARGES: Two patients in Maryland go to the hospital for an identical procedure. If they both go to the same hospital, they will face the same charges. But if each goes to a different facility, the charges for that procedure could differ, sometimes by thousands of dollars, Daniel Leaderman writes in the Gazette.

MoCo BUDGET: The Montgomery County Council will enhance services and reduce energy taxes through its fiscal 2014 operating budget unanimously agreed to Thursday morning, reports the Gazette’s Kate Alexander. The council reached a tentative agreement on the $4.8 billion spending plan and will take a final vote on the budget Wednesday.

RACE FOR GOVERNOR: Gazette columnist Blair Lee handicaps the Democratic race for governor.

The new law, writes Andy Brownfield for the Washington Examiner, would outlaw the sale of 45 assault rifles, require licensing and fingerprinting for new handgun purchases, restrict ammunition magazines to 10 rounds and outlaw gun ownership by the mentally ill. It would become effective Oct. 1.

In a related story, Brownfield writes that groups have long ranked Maryland among the strictest states when it comes to gun ownership — both the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence rank Maryland seventh among states with the strictest gun laws.

Advertisements praising Maryland’s new gun control law will appear on Baltimore-area televisions soon after the measure is signed — the first volley in a two-pronged effort to defend the legislation and the politicians who voted for it, writes Erin Cox in the Sun.

OTHER BILLS TO BE SIGNED: Gov. O’Malley plans to sign more than 250 bills into law today, including one to raise taxes on gas to yield more money for transportation projects, writes John Wagner of the Post.

TAX COLLECTION FEE: A Pennsylvania collections firm has pried Maryland back taxes out of delinquent taxpayers so well that the comptroller’s office just got approval for $300,000 more from the Board of Public Works to pay the agency’s commissions, writes Christopher Goins for MarylandReporter.com.

$271 FOR O’MALLEY: For once, Gov. O’Malley got a pleasant surprise from Comptroller Peter Franchot at the start of a Board of Public Works meeting, according to an AP report in the Daily Record. Franchot presented the governor with a check for $271 from the comptroller’s unclaimed properties division Wednesday.

The check — apparently a royalty from O’Malley’s cameo appearance as Baltimore’s mayor in “Ladder 49″ (a 2004 film starring Joaquin Phoenix and John Travolta) — made O’Malley the 7,001st Marylander to find unclaimed property this year, blogs Alexander Pyles for the Daily Record.

CASINO BID: Greenwood Racing’s bid to build a Parx Casino in Fort Washington came as a surprise to many following Maryland’s gambling saga, but company officials say the move had always been in the cards, reports Matt Connolly for the Washington Examiner.

ECONOMY’S FUTURE: Eileen Ambrose of the Sun writes that the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond is saying that Maryland for years benefited from its close proximity to the nation’s capital, but the mandatory federal spending cuts called sequestration will be a drag on the state’s economy for the next couple of years.

DEM PART PROTEST FOLLOWUP: David Moon of Maryland Juice has been following the labor union protest of the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee’s annual spring fund-raiser, which was Saturday, and provides a range of photos, videos, and newspaper commentary describing and reacting to the conflict.

BROWN TO PRESENT PREAKNESS TROPHY: John Wagner of the Post reports that Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, who announced his campaign for governor last week, should get some national television exposure Saturday: He is scheduled to present the trophy to the winner of the Preakness Stakes in Baltimore.

DEL. MYERS’ FUTURE: Del. LeRoy Myers announced Wednesday that he will not seek re-election to the Maryland House of Delegates in 2014, ending a run as a state legislator that began with an upset victory in 2002 over longtime House Speaker Cas Taylor, a Western Maryland Democratic heavyweight. Kaustuv Basu of the Hagerstown Herald-Mail reports that Myers is getting ready for a second act in politics.

TUITION HIKE: Maryland’s in-state undergraduates will pay a few hundred dollars more per semester this fall under a new tuition-and-fee plan approved Wednesday by the university system’s Board of Regents, reports Tricia Bishop in the Sun. Out-of-state students will be hit a little harder, paying as much as $1,060 more, for example, at the University of Maryland, College Park.

LOBBY FIRM MERGER: The Annapolis-based law firm Rifkin, Livingston, Levitan & Silver LLC has acquired and is merging with the Law Offices of Arnold M. Weiner, located in Baltimore. The merger will go into effect on July 1, according to a statement from the firms released Wednesday, writes Steve Kilar in the Sun. (A much more detailed story is in the Daily Record, but behind its paywall.)

NO SIGN WAVING: Anne Arundel County Councilman John Grasso said he’ll introduce legislation to allow people to wave signs along Anne Arundel roadways after he got cited for doing so early Wednesday morning, reports Allison Bourg for the Capital-Gazette.

NO SMITH ISLAND BUYOUT: Tim Wheeler of the Sun reports that a proposed buyout of Smith Island homeowners to help them escape future damage from tropical storms and rising waters has been dropped amid vocal resistance from residents of the low-lying community in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay.

LOWER VOTING AGE: A national movement to grant more teens the right to vote scored its first victory this week with the passage of legislation in Takoma Park, to lower the voting age in municipal elections to 16. But momentum continued Wednesday as advocates in Massachusetts spoke at the statehouse in favor of allowing 17-year-olds to vote, reports Andrea Noble in the Washington Times.

The Takoma Park City Council also voted to allow convicted felons- who have served their time – to vote in city elections, according to a report at WBFF-TV.

GAZETTE SHUTS TWO PAPERS: The Gazette has shut down its Frederick and Mount Airy editions, the newspaper is reporting. Owner Post-Newsweek Media said the company will continue to publish community weeklies in Montgomery, Prince George’s and Fairfax (Va.) counties where the business models are strong.

Cara Anthony of the Frederick News-Post reports that 18 full-time and 12 part-time workers were laid off from the Frederick Gazette.

Zoe Read of the Capital-Gazette reports that the judge told Dwyer that as a public official he is held to a higher standard, which Dwyer’s attorney called unfair.

The chief District Court prosecutor for Howard County, who was brought in to prosecute the Dwyer case, had asked for a weekend in jail as part of the sentence, but deferred to the judge whether a weekend Dwyer spent in an inpatient alcohol treatment facility could take its place, reports Andrea Siegel in the Sun.

THE LIST: Dwyer joins a growing list of public servants from Anne Arundel County who have been sentenced to serve jail time recently, writes Sarah Blumberg in the Capital-Gazette.

The Capital-Gazette puts together a little photo gallery of public figures from Anne Arundel who have served time in jail.

PUBLIC INFORMATION: Scott Calvert and Alison Matas of the Sun ask for the phone records of a number of public officials, including Gov. Martin O’Malley. The reporters write about their findings and say that the responses to the requests highlight differing viewpoints on the state’s public information law.

CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS’ PAY: Meg Tully of MarylandReporter.com reports that 13 Maryland correctional officers indicted last month in a corruption case that has outraged legislators and the public were getting paid between $28,000 and $47,000 in 2012, according to salary figures from the comptroller’s office.

PRISON TREATMENT QUESTIONED: As the alleged leader of the Black Guerrilla Family gang at the Baltimore City Detention Center, federal prosecutors say, Tavon White could get access to pretty much whatever he wanted: drugs, phones, money and sex, writes Ian Duncan for the Sun. He is now being held under more straitened circumstances at a state prison in Cumberland, says his attorney, who is asking a judge to reconsider the conditions of his detention.

FOX ON O’MALLEY: Fox News is not backing off on the Baltimore prison story scandal despite a bunch of big national stories that have conservatives salivating over the damage they see the Obama administration suffering, writes media columnist David Zurawik for the Sun. Gov. Martin O’Malley, he writes, says the media needs to put the situation in context: that his administration initiated the federal probe into corruption two years ago. O’Malley added that he wonders why the official memorandum of understanding among federal and state agencies hasn’t been released.

Del. Mike Smiegel apparently has obtained that MOU, which, he adds, was supposed to be shredded. You can see the document here.

O’MALLEY TOURS OVAL OFFICE: On a lighter TV note, Gov. O’Malley took a tour of the Oval Office – on the set of “House of Cards” – as he touted the number and variety of jobs brought to Maryland through the film industry, writes columnist David Zurawik in the Sun.

WAIT FOR GUNS: On Tuesday, state Sen. Bryan Simonaire called on Gov. O’Malley to address the prolonged wait for state police background checks on gun purchases and transfers, which he said has stretched from seven days to 60, Zoe Read reports in the Capital-Gazette.

AIM AT REAL THREATS: In an op-ed in the Sun, Tom Schaller writes that while he supports gun ownership, “is it too much to ask that gun advocates more often aim their anti-government suspicions at real examples — rather than absurd fantasies — of governmental abuse of power?”

DEATH PENALTY PETITIONS: Bryan Sears of Patch.com reports that state Sen. Jim Brochin is saying that getting the signatures required to place the death penalty on the 2014 ballot is going to take a lot of work and gives it a “50-50 chance.”

MILITARY PARTNERS: Gov. O’Malley, the ambassadors of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Estonia and military leaders of all sides met in Annapolis on Monday to celebrate anniversaries of partnerships between the two countries and the Maryland National Guard, which has been giving the two countries’ militaries battlefield experience, writes Matthew Hay Brown for the Sun.

HEALTH CARE REFORM: Maryland health advocates urged religious leaders on Tuesday to learn more about how federal health care reform will be implemented in the state so they can pass information on to uninsured congregants, according to an AP story in the Daily Record.

CYBER INTELLIGENCE: In this video interview, U.S. Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger talks with Center Maryland’s Damian O’Doherty and Lisa Harris Jones about the importance of passing the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act to help protect against the significant amount of cyber attacks our nation faces on a daily basis.

NATIONWIDE ALERT SYSTEM: U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin wants a nationwide alert system to help catch violent criminals who injure or kill police officers and is urging Congress to pass a bill that would put such a system in place, the Gazette’s Daniel Leaderman reports.

ST. MARY’S NEEDS FRESHMEN: St. Mary’s College of Maryland has only locked in about two-thirds of the students it needs for a full freshman class next school year, a shortfall that could cost the public liberal arts school $3.5 million in lost tuition, Jenna Johnson reports in the Post.

MOMENT OF SILENCE: Cecil County Council members moved one step closer Tuesday to adoption of a set of policies and procedures for themselves to follow, choosing, on a 3-2 vote, a voluntary moment of silence to start their future meetings, instead of having council members take turns in giving a prayer, reports Cheryl Mattix for the Cecil Whig.

One day before he was set to go to trial, the Republican from Pasadena apologized for his role in the accident near Cornfield Creek, a crash that injured seven people including himself and several children out for a day of tubing, reports Zoe Read for the Capital-Gazette.

The Post’s John Wagner reports that an attorney for Dwyer said that his client has secured a plea deal with prosecutors that will not result in jail time for a drunken boating charge.

Dave Collins of WBAL-TV reports that Dwyer is hoping to get probation before judgment.

HIGH SALARIED STATE WORKERS: MarylandReporter.com’s third annual report on state salaries found that 5,663 state employees – about 6% of all state employees – pulled in $100,000 or greater in 2012. Three out of four of these six-figure salaries are earned by people working for state colleges and universities — more than 10% of the full-time employees — led by three million-dollar coaches, reports Meg Tully for MarylandReporter.com.

DATA FAILURE? Gov. Martin O’Malley constantly touts his data-driven approach to governing, as embodied in StateStat, writes conservative blogger Mark Newgent and Change Maryland’s Jim Pettit for the National Review Online. However, they write, over the last few years, a series of legislative audits have revealed a raft of problems — a lack of accountability for the state’s speed-camera vendors, violations of procurement laws at the State Highway Administration, failure of the education department to conduct background checks for child-care workers and millions of dollars in lost and overpaid funds at the Developmental Disabilities Administration.

ANTI-GUN CONTROL PETITIONER: Meredith Somers of the Washington Times writes about Sue Payne, the Montgomery County housewife and political activist who has revived a stalled referendum effort against Maryland’s recently passed gun-control bill. She’s breaking from a plan favored by the National Rifle Association and leaving her the daunting task of producing thousands of signatures in about two weeks.

GUN TURN-IN: Nine guns were turned in at the Salisbury Police Department headquarters during Attorney General Doug Gansler’s Statewide Gun Turn-In Day, according to the Salisbury Daily Times.

CASINO BIDDERS: James Karmel, who tracks Maryland’s gaming industry, said none of the three bidders for a casino in Prince George’s County has an unobstructed path to winning the lucrative license, writes Gary Haber for the Baltimore Business Journal.

3,000 SLOTS: Penn National Gaming Inc. intends to install at least 3,000 slot machines at Rosecroft Raceway if it wins the right to operate a casino in Prince George’s County, even though the company paid an initial licensing fee to the state that only covers 500 slots, writes Alexander Pyles of the Daily Record.

ZIRKIN TO SEEK RE-ELECTION: Sen. Bobby Zirkin announced his reelection campaign Monday and said in an interview that he considered not running for a fifth term in the General Assembly after a “very, very hard session” that kept him away from his two young children, writes Erin Cox in the Sun.

Bryan Sears of Patch.com reports that the decision to run for a third term in the Maryland Senate comes a month after an interview in which he said he was considering leaving public office.

The AP is reporting in the Daily Record that a lawmaker who toured the Baltimore City Detention Center with Republican legislators on Friday said that the Civil War era jail needs to be demolished and replaced.

John Rydell of WBFF-TV reports that Del. Michael Smigiel says officers from other facilities will be coming to the center to search correctional officers as they come to work. You can view Rydell’s video report here.

BROWN LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN: Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown launched his campaign for the state’s top elective office on Friday, telling several hundred supporters gathered in Prince George’s County that after more than six years as the state’s No. 2, he knows best how to continue building a better future for the Old Line State, writes Aaron Davis of the Post.

MarylandReporter.com posts a video of Lt. Gov. Brown announcing his run for governor.

Brown started off his morning and his Saturday campaign kickoff tour with some coffee and flapjacks in Frederick, writes Bethany Rodgers for the Frederick News-Post.

Gov. Martin O’Malley on Saturday touted Lt. Gov. Brown as his preferred successor, calling the newly announced gubernatorial candidate an “outstandingly effective” leader, writes John Wagner of the Post.

GANSLER RESPONDS: The campaign team of Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler, who may announce his candidacy for governor in the fall, responded to the start of Brown, blogs Alexander Pyles for the Daily Record. “Marylanders expect their governors to be leaders who work for them and have a record of real accomplishments to prove it,” said Gansler’s campaign strategist. “Doug has led as attorney general and will continue to work on behalf of families across Maryland to get things done.”

DOING BUSINESS IN MD: Responding to a recent survey that ranks Maryland 41 for doing business, business groups say Maryland isn’t necessarily unfriendly to business, but rather has a perception problem, reports Andy Brownfield for the Washington Examiner. Maryland Chamber of Commerce spokesman William Burns said the reintroduction of seemingly unfriendly legislation can give the state a bad rap.

Attorney General Doug Gansler, sounding for all the world like a gubernatorial candidate, voiced deep concern about what he called the state’s failure to keep and attract large companies, and said he opposes the coming gas-tax increase proposed by Gov. O’Malley, reports Steve Lash for the Daily Record.

DWYER ON DRUNK BOATING: One day before his trial in Annapolis, Del. Don Dwyer has scheduled a news conference for today to talk about drunken and negligent boating charges against him, reports Zoe Read of the Capital-Gazette.

Linda So of WMAR-TV reports that Dwyer has not specifically said what he will talk about other than he wants to address the charges against him.

CASINOS HELP RACING: With the 138th Preakness Stakes set to run on Saturday, Maryland casino revenue is keeping the state’s once-flagging horse racing industry afloat the other 364 days of the year, reports Matt Connolly for the Washington Examiner.

THREE BID FOR PG CASINO: Three companies have put in bids to build a Prince George’s County casino, leading to a high-stakes competition to operate what could be one of the most lucrative gambling venues on the East Coast, reports John Wagner of the Post.

CONOWINGO PROBLEMS: A 14-mile reservoir behind the Conowingo hydroelectric generating dam in northern Maryland stops 2 million pounds of sediment every year from flowing into the Chesapeake Bay. But 1 million pounds get through, burying underwater grasses that support sea life and adding to the bay’s myriad pollution problems, writes CNS’s Jessica Wilde for MarylandReporter.com.

UMD PAY: The Chronicle of Higher Education is reporting that, of Maryland’s three public university leaders, all ranked in the low 80s in terms of highest paid. William Kirwan, chancellor of the University of Maryland, ranked 80th with compensation of $490,000. Tricia Bishop of the Sun writes that four presidents at public research universities in the U.S. made a collective $9.2 million in fiscal year 2012.

FIREARMS COLLECTED: Montgomery County police collected 111 firearms Saturday as part of a statewide gun turn-in program, Doug Tallman reports in the Gazette. “We don’t expect to get a lot of crime guns,” police Sgt. Ken Berger said. “But they could be future crime guns if they weren’t turned in.”

STABLE HOSPITAL COSTS: Prices charged by hospitals nationwide vary widely, according to data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, writes Rachael Pacelli for the Capital-Gazette. Such prices are more uniform in Maryland, the only state in which a commission sets hospital rates. Also, charges for common services in the state are half the national average.

MVA’S ONLINE VISION SERVICE: The Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration now offers an online vision certification service that allows authorized eye care providers to submit screening results directly to the MVA, writes Kelsi Loos for the Frederick News-Post. The change will allow drivers to renew their licenses online or at an MVA self-service kiosk.

SMITH ISLAND BUYOUT: Superstorm Sandy barely laid a glove on Smith Island last fall, to hear residents tell it. Hundreds of homes in Crisfield and the rest of Somerset County were damaged but only a couple islanders got any water in their homes from the surging Chesapeake Bay. Yet with the island slowly shrinking and sinking into the bay, the state is considering using $2 million of the federal storm recovery aid it’s received so far to buy out islanders who want to sell their homes and move to the mainland, reports Tim Wheeler in the Sun.

DEM PARTY PROTEST: About 200 union members protested outside a Montgomery County Democratic Party fundraiser Saturday, asserting the party had strayed from progressive positions, reports Doug Tallman for the Gazette. The action skimmed off about 25 percent of its normal attendance, party leaders said.

LEOPOLD, GO AWAY: In a blunt commentary, Brian Griffiths of Red Maryland tells former Arundel County Exec John Leopold, who was convicted and jailed for offenses against his office, he is no longer welcomed in Republican Party politics.

OBAMA VISIT: President Barack Obama will visit Baltimore on Friday, the second in a series of outings aimed at selling his stalled jobs agenda, John Fritze reports in the Sun.

ARUNDEL STORMWATER FEES: The debate over Anne Arundel County’s new stormwater fees — criticized by many as the “rain tax” — will continue through this month, and possibly beyond, as the County Council weighs several options for revising the controversial levy, writes Pamela Wood for the Sun.

TOLLIVER GOOD-BYE: Dozens gathered at the Anne Arundel County Police Department’s Millersville headquarters Friday morning to bid farewell to outgoing police chief Larry Tolliver, writes Ben Weathers for the Capital-Gazette.

DEL. KACH RUNNING FOR COUNCIL? An education advocate and a longtime state lawmaker say they are eying Baltimore County Councilman Todd Huff’s seat, reports Alison Knezevich for the Sun. Democrat Laurie Taylor-Mitchell, an art historian and local education advocate, said she has decided to run for the four-year term in 2014, and Republican Del. Wade Kach said he’s “seriously considering it.”

Maryland House Republicans were surprisingly complimentary of Public Safety Secretary Gary Maynard at a Thursday news conference about the pervasive gang activity in state prisons revealed in a federal indictment of 13 correctional officers at the Baltimore City Detention Center, writes Ilana Kowarski for MarylandReporter.com.

Alexander Pyles of the Daily Record reports that Minority Leader Nic Kipke said, “House Republicans are disappointed by inaction on this issue. It took days to hear from the administration and hearings to address this scandal have been pushed off until next month.”

JAIL OFFICIAL TO FIGHT BACK: Christian Schaffer of WMAR-TV reports that the only person who has faced discipline since the Baltimore City Detention Center scandal broke just over three weeks ago plans to fight back. Shavella Miles, a veteran of the Department of Corrections who was moved to the Baltimore City Detention Center just one year ago, was removed from that post and placed on administrative leave.

O’MALLEY SEEKS REFORMS: Ian Duncan of the Sun reports that Gov. Martin O’Malley said Thursday that he would expand the use of technology to block cell phone calls in Maryland corrections facilities, part of a set of reforms designed to “root out corruption” after a federal indictment alleged widespread gang activity at the Baltimore City Detention Center.

CECIL AGAINST GUN LAW: Cecil County has become the first Maryland jurisdiction to reject the state’s new gun law, which is a stand that may strengthen if more counties join its forces. This resolution may not carry much weight, but it certainly has the potential to grow, according to a story at WBFF-TV.

GUN TURN-IN DAY: Three Lower Shore police agencies will be open Saturday for an inaugural statewide gun turn-in day to provide residents an opportunity to voluntarily and safely dispose of their unwanted firearms, according to the Salisbury Daily Times.

SESSION ASSESSMENT: Washington County state lawmakers gathered Thursday night at a public forum to discuss the recently concluded session of the Maryland General Assembly and answer questions from the public, writes Kaustuv Basu for the Hagerstown Herald-Mail.

MGM’S FLASHY BID: With a splash of Las Vegas showmanship, MGM Resorts submitted to Maryland officials its proposal to build and operate a high-end casino in Prince George’s County, John Wagner of the Post is reporting. Ornate boxes containing multiple copies of the company’s bid documents were on display at a morning news conference at National Harbor, where MGM proposes to build the casino.

Details about MGM’s bid won’t be released until later Friday after the 2 p.m. deadline passes to submit bids for what would be the state’s sixth casino, Eileen Ambrose reports in the Sun. The Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency will release information about proposals once it has reviewed them to make sure they are complete and accurate.

BROWN TO ANNOUNCE: Seeking to emerge from the long shadow of Gov. O’Malley, Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown will make official Friday what everyone in Maryland politics has known for a long time: He’s running for governor, reports Michael Dresser in the Sun.

When he announces his candidacy, Brown is expected to lay out several priorities, including a stepped-up focus on fighting racial and other disparities in health care, education and employment, writes John Wagner of the Post.

ACCESSIBLE MARYLAND CODE: The OpenGov Foundation just released MarylandCode.org, a user-friendly, searchable and downloadable publication of the Maryland Code of law, writes Becca Heller of MarylandReporter.com. The project unpacks the dense, inaccessible code on the state website and encourages citizen participation through transparency.

DEM LABOR PROTEST: David Moon of Maryland Juice writes that two Democrats explain why they are going to the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee’s biggest fundraiser of the year instead of boycotting it in solidarity with a labor protest.

And he publishes what he says is an email from Del. Kathleen Dumais on why she believes boycotting the MCDCC event isn’t a good idea.

The editorial board of the Washington Post writes that Montgomery County’s government unions, which for decades amassed powers unique even in the pro-labor state of Maryland, had their wings clipped when the recession forced local officials to roll back privileges — and blatant abuses — that bilked taxpayers and tied the hands of public agencies. Now, in a fit of petulance, the Post says, the unions are striking back at their paymasters — elected officeholders — by boycotting and picketing the local Democratic Party’s annual fundraiser this weekend.

LEOPOLD CRITICIZES SUCCESSOR: The Sun’s Pamela Wood reports that former Anne Arundel County Executive John Leopold has resurfaced with a critique of his successor, saying her statements about his administration are “disingenuous” and “feckless.” Wood also interviews Leopold, who has completed a jail sentence and is now working to complete his community service requirement. Here’s a copy of his letter.

DELEGATE CANDIDATE: The Gazette’s Agnes Blum reports that Hrant Jamgochian announced on May 4 that he will once again run for the Maryland House of Delegates in District 16. In 2010, Jamgochian lost in a crowded Democratic primary after entering the race late. He placed fifth overall, behind the three winning delegates Bill Frick, Ariana Kelly and Susan Lee and contender Kyle Lierman.

ALONSO DEPARTS: Gazette columnist Blair Lee writes glowingly of Baltimore City schools chief Andres Alonso on his departure, and the need for a strong replacement for “the toughest job in Maryland.”

CECIL OPPOSES GUN BILL: Several citizens spoke in support of Cecil County Councilman Alan McCarthy’s resolution opposing the state’s recently passed gun law Tuesday night, shortly before the council voted 4-0 to adopt it with amendments, reports Cheryl Mattix for the Cecil Whig.

DETENTION PERSONNEL CHANGES: One day after state officials admitted the director of security at the Baltimore Detention Center had been fired, Gov. O’Malley says to expect more firings and more personnel changes at the state run prison, where 25 people including 13 corrections officers were indicted last month in a crackdown on a drug and contraband smuggling ring, Robert Lang of WBAL-AM reports.

INMATE OUTLINED PROBLEMS: Months before a federal indictment detailed allegations of corruption at the Baltimore City Detention Center, the smuggling and sexual improprieties at the core of that case had already been outlined in an inmate’s lawsuit, writes Kevin Rector for the Sun.

COMPOUNDING OVERSIGHT: Scott Dance of the Sun reports that batches of sterile drugs from so-called compounding pharmacies will be subject to state review under the measure Gov. O’Malley signed this month. And pharmacists and doctors who perform compounding, in which drugs are somehow altered from their Food and Drug Administration-approved form, will face an extra layer of permits and inspections for drugs used in Maryland.

STATE DATA RELEASE: Gov. O’Malley has launched an initiative releasing a wide variety of state data to the public online, describing it as the first statewide open data portal that will provide information to researchers, entrepreneurs, public servants and residents, according to an AP story in the Frederick News-Post.

WATER COOPERATION: Post columnist Robert McCarthy writes that, while he is critical of the lack of cooperation among D.C. and its adjacent suburbs – including Montgomery and Prince George’s counties — he celebrates the success of the Blue Plains wastewater treatment plant. It hardly draws much attention, but its a world-beater at cleaning wastewater so it’s fit to pump back into the Potomac.

VOTING RATES: About 67.5% of eligible black Marylanders and 65.6% of eligible white Marylanders voted in 2012, both down from the previous presidential election, writes Matt Connolly for the Washington Examiner.

BUSINESS RANKINGS: With a report Monday by CEO magazine ranking Maryland among the 10 worst states to do business, the Greater Baltimore Committee said it’s going to renew its push to improve the state’s competitiveness, writes Len Lazarick for MarylandReporter.com.

RANKLING CEOs: Sun columnist Dan Rodricks, exasperated with what he sees as the CEOs continual whining and taking aim at CEO magazine’s rankings, writes that “Bloomberg, the financial news service, recently compiled data on CEO compensation and found the average package to be 204 times that of the average pay for a worker at an S&P firm.” That’s an increase of 20% since 2009. “And these are the same people who fight minimum wage increases,” he writes.

MGM TO BID: Officials from MGM Resorts on Wednesday confirmed that the company will bid this week for a license to build and operate a new casino in Prince George’s County, the Post’s John Wagner reports. The move came a few days after Penn National Gaming said in a federal regulatory filing that it “intends” to bid to put a casino at Rosecroft Raceway in Fort Washington.

HONORING THE PICKET LINE: David Moon of Maryland Juice provides a round of updates on which Democratic officials and organizations are supporting a planned protest of this Saturday’s MoCo Democratic Party fundraising ball. It appears that statewide officials and a handful of MoCo lawmakers are unwilling to cross the picket line.

Maryland Juice runs a column from Matthew Herrmann, a Democratic Party activist, precinct official, and Democratic club official, in which he condemns the planned protest by labor leaders of the MoCo Democratic Party’s spring ball this weekend.

ACTING CHIEF: An acting police chief is expected to be named by next week following Tuesday’s retirement of Anne Arundel County Police Chief Larry Tolliver, county officials said. Tolliver’s announcement came after a two-week investigation by the county Personnel Office found Tolliver used an anti-gay slur in the workplace, writes Ben Weathers, Allison Bourg and Tim Prudente for the Capital-Gazette.

OPEN MEETINGS COMPLAINT: A Pikesville man has filed an Open Meetings Act violation complaint against the Baltimore County Council, alleging that citizens didn’t get proper notice of a meeting where they could have testified about the county’s new stormwater fee, reports Allison Knezevich for the Sun.

BA CO BUDGET: Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz returns to Center Maryland to discuss with Lisa Harris Jones and Damian O’Doherty his tax neutral $2.8 billion operating budget for 2014.

Jayne Miller of WBAL-TV reports that state prison officials offered no comment about the move, only saying the chief was removed Friday.

QUICK ACTION, SOMETIMES: The editorial board for the Sun writes that when federal authorities announced a sweeping indictment alleging widespread corruption by 13 guards at the Baltimore City Detention Center, members of the House of Delegates Judiciary Committee were quick to call for a hearing so they could demand answers from corrections chief Gary Maynard. They were much quicker to do that, in fact, than they have been to approve legislation designed to crack down on the very offenses that are at the heart of the indictment.

OPEN JAIL CELLS: Electrical surges that twice resulted in 500 jail cell doors unlocking all at the same time in the Montgomery County correctional facility in Boyds has prompted the county to hire outside firms to review the jail’s computerized security system, reports Virginia Terhune for the Gazette.

SMALL BUSINESS BURDEN: One small businesswoman in Frederick County tells News-Post reporter Ike Wilson that small businesses do not have, nor can they afford, experts to interpret tax laws from 50 states, which vary and are constantly changing. “Does anybody like to do taxes other than CPAs?” she asked.

GUN PETITION: Sue Payne, the Montgomery County woman who is hoping to get the state’s new gun law overturned by referendum, said she is running the petition effort without the financial support of any state or national gun groups, reports Andy Brownfield for the Washington Examiner.

SESSION ANALYSIS: In this 10 minute video, a panel of five reporters, moderated by Len Lazarick of MarylandReporter.com, analyzed the recent 90-day session of the Maryland General Assembly at a luncheon put on by Maryland Business for Responsive Government.

LATE TERM ABORTION: Sun columnist Marta Mossburg writes that in light of the horrific testimony in the trial of a Pennsylvania abortion doctor, Maryland should reconsider its stand on late-term abortion.

RUBBING NOSES: Nothing Gov. Martin O’Malley said made news Tuesday morning when he greeted the Dalai Lama at a lecture at the University of Maryland. But photos of what O’Malley did upon meeting the Dalai Lama quickly went viral, writes John Wagner in the Post.

BROWN ANNOUNCEMENT: Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown is expected to announce his gubernatorial bid, according to an AP story in the Daily Record. Officials say that Brown will make the announcement Friday during a picnic at Prince George’s Community College. The lieutenant governor is also expected to make stops in Frederick, Montgomery County and Baltimore on Saturday.

TOILET PROTESTER FILES: A Milford Mill man known for political protests involving putting toilets in front of a county government building in Towson has filed as a candidate for lieutenant governor in 2014. Duane “Shorty” Davis has filed as the running mate with Brian Vaeth, a Perry Hall man, reports Bryan Sears for Patch.com.

TOLLIVER RESIGNS: Anne Arundel County Police Chief Larry Tolliver announced on Tuesday he will retire in two weeks, writes Ben Weathers and Tim Prudente in the Capital-Gazette. The announcement comes after a two-week investigation by the county Personnel Office found Tolliver used an anti-gay slur in the workplace.

Tolliver said he was spurred to resign following what he described as constant questioning of his leadership, especially through anonymous letters and complaints. He said they took a toll on him, his family and on the department as a whole, report Pamela Wood and Andrea Siegel in the Sun.

GUNS AT THE DUMP: Those permitted to carry firearms may soon be able to carry them in Carroll County’s solid waste acceptance facilities after an organization advocating the Second Amendment sent a letter to the county, reports Christian Alexandersen for the Carroll County Times.