Md. legal aid program needs help

Local control for LNG

Once again, U.S. Sens. Benjamin L. Cardin and Barbara A. Mikulski have proposed legislation to repeal a provision of the five-year-old Energy Policy Act so that states could veto the location of a liquefied natural gas terminal. That an LNG terminal and pipeline might be forced on Sparrows Point...

The fugitive

It sounds like a classic case of the tail wagging the dog. An inmate at a prison in Western Maryland files a piddling lawsuit on the Eastern Shore that requires his presence in court. When corrections officials attempt to transport him there so he can testify, he outwits them during a stopover in...

Alonso is right to hold charter schools accountable

Baltimore schools CEO Andrés Alonso has presented the city board of school commissioners with a problem of both practical and philosophical import: How long should the city wait before deciding to close charter schools that clearly aren't up to the job they were intended to do?

Traffic court no-shows

With a minimal imposition on the public, Maryland police departments could collectively save millions of dollars in overtime -- and make streets safer -- by keeping officers on patrol instead of wasting their time at phantom traffic court hearings.

State police silent on punishment for racial slur

Maryland State Police have been under considerable scrutiny over matters of race relations over the years. Racial profiling in traffic stops is just one example. Despite the agency's decision to abandon the practice, allegations of "driving while black" incidents still pop up regularly.

Unemployment insurance deal is good for business

Gov. Martin O'Malley went into this General Assembly session with a proposal to secure nearly $127 million in federal funds that would allow the state to lower the unemployment insurance taxes of Maryland's businesses. The response from the business community? Fierce opposition. Business leaders...

Mandatory interlock saves lives

In Maryland, about 165 people are killed each year in drunk-driving accidents. Lawmakers have the power to reduce that carnage by one-third with little cost to taxpayers and using technology that's proven to be effective. Why is there any hesitation?

Bravo, Columbia!

In a year when everyone needs to keep a sharp eye on expenses, we were gratified by Columbia residents' decision to continue supporting the arts in their community. Last week, the Columbia Association board voted to contribute $95,000 to the Columbia Festival of the Arts, allowing the 22-year-old...

Answers lacking in Cheltenham death

The shocking slaying of a 65-year-old teacher at the Cheltenham Youth Facility in Prince George's County was a wake-up call to the risk of workplace violence faced by state workers at such institutions. The body of Hannah Wheeling, who had taught youths at the troubled institution since 2004, was...

NAACP should put gay rights on its agenda

The election last week of Roslyn Brock of Maryland as the new chairwoman of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People again marked a generational shift in leadership of the nation's oldest civil rights group. Ms. Brock, 44, and NAACP President Benjamin Jealous, 37, are the...

A winter's tale

This year's Winter Olympics in Vancouver have produced their share of drama and pathos, but perhaps no moment more moving than watching Canadian figure skater Joannie Rochette compete after her mother died suddenly last Sunday of a heart attack.

Disagreeing to agree

A pattern emerged during yesterday's health care summit between President Barack Obama and members of both parties in Congress. Republicans argued that Democrats have gone badly astray in their efforts to reform the system and should be focusing instead on other things -- tort reform, allowing...

Regulating debt settlement

For someone deep in debt, the offer may sound like a lifeline: Send payments to a debt settlement company, and it will negotiate with your creditors to get them to reduce what you owe by as much as half -- without declaring bankruptcy.

A step toward marriage equality

Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler advanced the cause of civil rights in Maryland yesterday with his opinion that the state must recognize same-sex marriages from other states. The decision is not only a huge victory for the gay and lesbian community but also for the principles of equality...

A fair plan for fire, police pensions

Baltimore's police and firefighters have tough jobs, and they are particularly dependent on their city pensions in retirement because they aren't eligible for Social Security. For those reasons, it is important that the city taxpayers maintain a pension system that honors their service and...

GOP offers constructive ideas for Md. budget

For years, Republicans in the General Assembly have been carping that Democrats spend too much, but rarely have they said what they would do instead. They occasionally propose an across-the-board spending cut -- a bad idea that fails to set any priorities. But often they eschew specifics, saying...

Snow is no excuse

For those tired of all the excuses mouthed by elected leaders and bureaucrats over their handling -- and mishandling -- of this month's record snowfall, Ralign Wells is a welcome relief. The Maryland Transit Administration's new chief is willing to admit that mistakes were made, which means he...

Junkyard dog

Lawmakers in Annapolis ought to follow some legislative equivalent of the physicians' ethical tenet, primum non nocere or "first, do no harm." As various versions of the axiom have only been around since Ancient Greece, perhaps it hasn't gotten on the General Assembly calendar quite yet.

The filibuster goes too far

One of the most perplexing things about contemporary Washington is that Democrats simultaneously hold the largest majority any party has had in the Senate in decades and are utterly unable to move forward with important legislation. The key to this paradox is the Senate rule that allows for the...

Besieged by bags

The Baltimore City Council is again considering action to curb the mountain of plastic and paper bag waste accumulating on city streets. Most of this garbage ends up tangled in trees or clogging drainage grates, from whence it flows through the sewer system to pollute local rivers and streams. It'...

Breaking a bad habit

The plethora of pot holes emerging from Maryland roads this winter is not the result of the weight of the recent snow or the damage done by plows. Rather, it is the pernicious freeze-and-thaw cycle fueled by so much standing snow that gradually turns concrete to rubble.

A step toward reducing foreclosures

In many respects, Maryland is weathering the recession better than most other states, but not when it comes to foreclosures. The number of foreclosure events -- either final dispositions of foreclosures or court filings -- increased in the final three months of 2009 to nearly 17,000. That's 13.4...

Zoo in peril

Only a few weeks ago, the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore was confidently anticipating a banner season of visitors to the 133-year-old facility. Officials were proudly showing off the improvements they had made during the off-season as part of their prolonged effort to bring the Druid Hill Park...

The stimulus, one year later

This week's anniversary of President Barack Obama's stimulus package has provided yet another episode of that never-ending TV series: "Extreme Partisanship, Washington Edition." Democrats have hailed the spending as the country's economic savior, and Republicans mock it for failing to stop job...

Jamming cell phones in prison

There's a growing sense among the nation's correctional institutions that the most dangerous contraband being smuggled into prisons isn't drugs, and it's not weapons. It's cell phones. They're turning up by the thousands in prison cells in Maryland and across the nation, and they're being used to...