State Roundup, October 11, 2016

Allan Kittleman

Allan Kittleman

KITTLEMAN PRESSES SHERIFF TO QUIT: Howard County Executive Allan Kittleman pressed his county’s embattled sheriff again Monday to resign, and said he’s exploring legal options to force the sheriff out, reports Pamela Wood in the Sun.  Sheriff James Fitzgerald has been accused of using racist and offensive language, discriminating against employees and retaliating against those who did not support his re-election bid.

DIXON TO LAUNCH WRITE-IN EFFORT: Former Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon, who narrowly lost the Democratic primary to reclaim her old job, is expected to launch a write-in campaign for Baltimore City mayor today — a move expected to shake up what’s been a relatively quiet general election race, Luke Broadwater of the Sun reports. The story is topped by a short video explaining the write-in campaign and its chances of success.

  • It is unclear how much a Dixon write-in, rumored for weeks but taking on concrete form this weekend, will change the sleepy dynamics of Baltimore’s mayoral election, writes Mark Reutter for Baltimore Brew. The Democratic Party candidate, state Sen. Catherine E. Pugh, had been relying on the overwhelming number of registered Democratic voters to coast to victory against Republican Alan Walden and Green Party candidate Joshua Harris.

SPEED CAMERA COLLECTIONS DOWN: The 45 Maryland jurisdictions with speed-camera programs collected nearly $57 million in fines in fiscal year 2015, according to the most recent data provided to the Maryland comptroller. That represents about $3.1 million more than was collected the previous year but $13 million less than fiscal 2013, Luz Lazo reports for the Post.

OYSTER RESTORATION: When members of Maryland’s Oyster Advisory Commission left last month’s meeting, they took a homework assignment with them. The Department of Natural Resources officials who ran the meeting asked commission members to each come back with a list of recommendations for which of the state’s tributaries should be selected next for targeted oyster restoration efforts, writes Megan Brockett for the Annapolis Capital.

GOP WOMEN STAND WITH TRUMP: Congressional candidate Amie Hoeber and Senate candidate Kathy Szeliga will stand by their man Donald Trump for president despite his vile language describing sexually assaulting women because he can, writes Louis Peck for Bethesda Beat.

STOP ONLINE VOTE PLAN: Michael Collins in a column for MarylandReporter.com writes that the State Board of Elections has decided to move forward with a scheme to allow voters to request absentee ballots on-line.  This is a bad idea that should be stopped. Cyber security experts have warned that the system is extremely vulnerable to hacking and fraud.

VOTE: This year’s apparently one-sided presidential election in Maryland may encourage some people to consider not voting. Polls consistently have Democrat Hillary Clinton ahead of Republican Donald Trump by a whopping 30 percentage points – and this was before release of Trump’s X-rated remarks about his sexual pursuit of women. While there are few other races of consequence on most local ballots, there are plenty of other reasons to show up at the polls or cast an absentee ballot, opinionator Barry Rascovar writes for MarylandReporter.com

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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