james n robey

Calvin Ball, who has served 12 years on the Howard County Council, was sworn in on Monday as the first black person to hold the office of Howard County Executive. The Howard County Council was also sworn in.

The Republican's portrait unveiling saw a star-studded attendance. At least 150 people including Sen. Ben Cardin, Lt. Gov. Boyd Kevin Rutherford and Howard Executive-elect Calvin Ball were at the ceremony.

The Democrat voted against funding Howard's five-year flood mitigation plan and committed to increasing school funding.

Members of a state commission created to look into the Baltimore Police Gun Trace Task Force scandal convened their first meeting in Annapolis on Tuesday, with a state senator giving a sobering assessment of the state of the city to emphasize the importance of their work.

Former Howard County chief administrative officer was later Maryland Association of Counties director

Howard County Executive Allan Kittleman is calling on Sheriff James F. Fitzgerald to resign, following the release of a scathing report finding discrimination and harassment of his employees.

And in the newly created House District 9B, where the race had been labeled a dead heat by both sides, former Republican delegate Bob Flanagan defeated attorney, blogger and former CA board member Tom Coale, the Democratic candidate.

Laurel voters had few contested local races in Tuesday's general election, but joined voters across the state in deciding the next governor. The 2014 midterms didn't draw the same volume of voters as a presidential election, but residents showed up to polling stations in a steady, but slow, stream throughout the day.

Laurel voters have few contested local races in today's general election, but will join voters across the state in deciding who will be the next governor.

The revelation that a former Catonsville doctor accused of an alleged sexual assault previously went to prison for rape has lit a fire under lawmakers and regulators who plan to ensure the state screens physicians it licenses, a measure that has failed and been ignored in recent years.

State Sen. James N. Robey claims no grand ambition, no plan to arrive where he now sits as majority leader of the Maryland Senate, or to have made the unusual leaps from Howard County police chief to county executive to legislator. Things happened, he said, one thing led to another, people egged on a sometimes reluctant candidate.

The Senate gave preliminary approval Wednesday to a $38.9 billion state budget that includes no new taxes while giving state workers a 2 percent cost-of-living raise. It is slightly leaner than the governor proposed.

Democratic legislative leaders gave tepid backing Monday to a push to raise the minimum wage, with some reiterating unwillingness to impose a "one size fits all" increase across the state.

Marking a generational shift in Baltimore County politics, Del. John A. Olszewski Jr. will announce Tuesday that he's running for the Dundalk-area Maryland Senate seat held by Sen. Norman R. Stone Jr. for almost 50 years.

Zirkin, Morhaim, Stein form re-election ticket

Guzzone rules our race for Howard executive

Howard County legislators said last week they believe the General Assembly will have to make adjustments in 2014 to a state-mandated stormwater management fee imposed on Howard County and nine other Maryland jurisdictions.

The end of the 2014 General Assembly session in Annapolis will mark the end of 48 years in public service for Howard County Sen. Jim Robey.

Motorists in Maryland could be pulled over and ticketed for driving while talking on hand-held phones even if they were not committing another traffic offense under legislation that is poised for final passage in the General Assembly.

The Senate passed a repeal of the death penalty last week 27-20, but Howard County senators were on opposing sides of their party in the vote.

A judge has ruled that Baltimore County's contract with its speed camera vendor is illegal, because it pays the company a cut of each citation issued — a ruling that could help others challenge their citations in court.

Efforts to end Maryland's death penalty moved forward late Monday as the Senate squashed attempts to retain the death penalty for what one senator called "the worst of the worst."

Gov. Martin O'Malley said Tuesday that state law bars speed camera contractors from being paid based on the number of citations issued or paid — a so-called bounty system approach used by Baltimore City, Baltimore County and elsewhere in Maryland.

A rusted pipe burst Monday afternoon in the William S. James Senate office building in Annapolis, flooding some rooms on two floors and prompting the Department of General Services to shutter the building.

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller has named a special committee to review that state's ethics laws that apply to legislators and other state and local officials and make recommendations for reforms that could be voted on as early as this year.

Miller names special panel to review ethics laws

Howard County lawmakers are looking to increase restrictions on county massage establishments and taxicab drivers, requiring them to undergo nationwide criminal background checks.

Several local elected officials took trips overseas this spring to places like Israel, turkey and Asia.