State Roundup, December 10, 2009

The Montgomery County schools superintendent is warning of larger class sizes and layoffs if he doesn’t get the $2.2 billion he requesting, Leah Fabel reports in the Washington Examiner. A more detailed version by Nelson Hernandez was in yesterday’s Washington Post. News Channel 8 has a video report.

Mayo Shattuck at Constellation Energy Group granted long interviews to the Baltimore Business Journal and The Baltimore Sun. A key message was that executives would give up the golden parachutes that drew the scorn of Gov. Martin O’Malley and many others. Shattuck also said the company would focus more on renewable energy and nuclear power.

Businesses that are upgrading their septic systems to keep nitrogen out of the Bay say some homeowners are walking away with the dough subsidized by taxpayers, Catherine Krikstan with Capital News Service reports in The Capital.

Ovetta Wiggins at The Post describes a shift in tactics for Maryland’s minority business programs.

The Post picks up a story and photos from the Gazette by Patricia Murret and Sebastian Montes on an aggressive state drunk driving program.

The editorial page of The Capital wonders whether the “stalling” on slots by the Anne Arundel County Council will ever end.

Oink. Get your earmarks. There is more than $100 million for more than 70 Maryland projects in the federal appropriations bill, Paul West reports in The Sun.

The state did not get a hoped-for grant from the Gates Foundation to help write its Race to the Top proposal for federal school funding, Liz Bowie reports in The Sun.

More delays in the start of smart cards to pay fares with the Maryland Transit Administration, reports Michael Dresser in The Sun.

The State Police lab will now be testing blood samples of motorists suspected of drunken driving for all the police departments in the state, Ryan Marshall reports in the Carroll County Times.

There were concerns about state tourism budget cuts at a legislative hearing in Garrett County, reports Kevin Spradlin in the Cumberland Times-News.

Gov. Martin O’Malley’s Web cast town hall meeting had lots of glitches, reports the Post blog.

Laura Smitherman in the Sun blog reports that Sen. E.J. Pipkin says the governor should have called the legislature back into session to help decide on the state’s massive budget cuts this year, as other governors have in the past for reductions of this magnitude.

About The Author

Len Lazarick

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Len Lazarick was the founding editor and publisher of MarylandReporter.com and is currently the president of its nonprofit corporation and chairman of its board He was formerly the State House bureau chief of the daily Baltimore Examiner from its start in April 2006 to its demise in February 2009. He was a copy editor on the national desk of the Washington Post for eight years before that, and has spent decades covering Maryland politics and government.

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