State Roundup, April 23, 2014

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COMMON CORE PART 2: In Part 2 of the MarylandReporter.com series on the Common Core, Glynis Kazanjian writes looks at what the new standards mean for Maryland public school systems and their limited options in implementing them.

CITY LIFE, GREEN LIFE: The Maryland secretary of planning has a piece of green advice for everyone this Earth Day: go live in a city, reports Bryan Sears for the Daily Record. “While some might not think of cities as an environmentalist’s dream, the truth is that redeveloping and revitalizing in places that are already built is one of the greenest strategies we have,” Richard Hall writes on the Smart Growth Maryland blog.

TAKE-HOME CRAFT BEER: CNS’s Sarah Tincher writes in the Cecil Whig that taking home a bottle of your favorite brewpub craft beer is nearer reality thanks to legislation awaiting Gov. Martin O’Malley’s approval.

OLD STYLE POLITICS: News of the recent death of Robert “Rabbit” Pomerlane took Sun columnist Dan Rodricks back to Baltimore’s ough-and-tumble political world: guys with tickets to testimonials, guys with Election Day walk-around money, schmoozers and hustlers, retired boxers and bookies, a whole pack of Democratic Party muldoons in suits with wide lapels. Rabbit was well known in the top echelons of state political circles as well, Rodricks writes.

IRELAND TRIP: Gov. Martin O’Malley left Tuesday for a five-day trip to Europe that includes a “congressional pilgrimage” to northern Ireland and a conference in Amsterdam, writes Erin Cox for the Sun. The governor will first visit Dublin along with civil rights leader U.S. Rep. John Lewis of Georgia as part of a 50-person delegation to learn about the island’s historic divide and reconciliation efforts, organizers said.

Gov. Martin O'Malley, left, helps Del. Ron George measure the curtains at Government House in a photo the delegate and candidate for governor sent out.

Gov. Martin O’Malley, left, helps Del. Ron George measure the curtains at Government House in a photo the delegate and candidate for governor sent out.

CURTAINS, FOR WHO? Alex Jackson of the Annapolis Capital writes that Republican gubernatorial candidate and state Del. Ron George found humor amid the partisanship of Annapolis when he and other legislators were invited to Government House on the final day of the session. He brought along a measuring tape to measure the windows for curtains, even capturing a picture of Gov. O’Malley holding the other end.
A QUIET GUBERNATORIAL CAMPAIGN: Bryan Sears of the Daily Record and Fraser Smith of WYPR-FM ponder the quietness among the gubernatorial election’s leaders – don’t the voters want to know what they have to say?  Or are they just trying to maintain their leads?
MIZEUR’S PRIMARY: Brian Griffiths of Red Maryland asks and answers this question: Is the Democratic primary Heather Mizeur’s to lose? Conventional wisdom is saying that the race is between Doug Gansler and Anthony Brown. But is it?

GANSLER ON HEALTH-CARE PRICING: If he is elected governor of Maryland, Doug Gansler said he would immediately take steps to make health-care pricing in the state easier to understand and navigate, writes John Wagner for the Post.

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‘RECKLESS & IRRESPONSIBLE:’ Making a rare direct reply Tuesday to an attack by a rival candidate for governor, Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown labeled “reckless and irresponsible” remarks by Attorney General Doug Gansler suggesting that Brown’s service in Iraq was not a real job. Meanwhile, a veterans organization stepped up its attack on Gansler over the comments, accusing him of “swiftboating” the lieutenant governor.

VENDOR SEEKS PAYMENT FROM LOLLAR: A political database software vendor in Northern Virginia wants the campaign of Charles Lollar, one of four Republican gubernatorial hopefuls in deeply blue Maryland, to pay its bills, reports Jenna Johnson in the Post.

NEW TOP BAKER AIDE: Prince George’s County Executive Rushern Baker has tapped a former D.C. government official to become his new top aide, replacing Brad Seamon who is resigning to return to the private sector, Arelis Hernández writes in the Post.

RAWLINGS-BLAKE SPENDS: Nearly as fast as Baltimore City Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake’s political committee has gotten the money, it’s been spending it. Records reviewed by The Baltimore Brew show that the “Rawlings-Blake For Baltimore” committee has used up $345,276 since January 2012. That’s nearly $2 out of every $3 raised, reports Mark Reutter.

STATEWIDE RACES: Len Lazarick, editor and publisher of MarylandReporter.com, will be on Charle Duffy’s Political Pulse, Montgomery County Cable Channel 16,  Thursday, April 24, 9 p.m. and  Fri-Sun, April 25- 27 at 6 p.m.  Topics that will be discussed include the races for governor and attorney general. We’ll post a link after its up online Monday at www.mmctv.org, click video, click Political Pulse.

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About The Author

Cynthia Prairie

cynthiaprairie@gmail.com
https://www.chestertelegraph.org/

Contributing Editor Cynthia Prairie has been a newspaper editor since 1979, when she began working at The Raleigh Times. Since then, she has worked for The Baltimore News American, The Chicago Sun-Times, The Prince George’s Journal and Baltimore County newspapers in the Patuxent Publishing chain, including overseeing The Jeffersonian when it was a two-day a week business publication. Cynthia has won numerous state awards, including the Maryland State Bar Association’s Gavel Award. Besides compiling and editing the daily State Roundup, she runs her own online newspaper, The Chester Telegraph. If you have additional questions or comments contact Cynthia at: cynthiaprairie@gmail.com

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