local government

There's a vacant house on Doris Circle in Aberdeen that is on the verge of collapsing, and it may fall to the city government to get rid of the structure. The condition of the property and what to do about it was discussed at length during the most recent city council meeting on Aug. 22.

Why are so many citizens disappointed with their elected officials? Why do so many elected officials fall short, or advocate policy inconsistent with expectations?

Howard County Government offices will be closed for Labor Day on Monday, Sept. 5 and will re-open at regular business hours on Tues., Sept. 6.

Bel Air Mayor Susan Burdette, who is in her fifth year on the town board, spends her days and nights serving residents and representing the Harford County seat at the state and regional level. She's technically a mayor in name only, because the post is mainly ceremonial, but that hardly means she isn't constantly busy with town government related activities and decisions.

The Harford County legislative delegation ended the 2016 General Assembly session Monday with the passage of a flurry of bills that will show the county and state's continued support for two slain Harford County Sheriff's Office deputies, allow alcohol to be served in local movie theaters and allow Harford Community College to obtain a license for alcohol sales during community events on campus.

A heroin bill has been withdrawn; the newest movie theater being built in Harford County is slated to have beer, wine and liquor sales, provided the legislation that would allow them passes the Maryland State Senate, and a bill designed to resolve municipal election ties such as the one affecting Aberdeen's City Council has passed the House of Delegates and moved to the Senate.

Following the retirement of Laurel city administrator Kristie Mills, director of emergency operations Marty Flemion has taken the reins of his former coworker.

In awarding the latest subsidy for development in cash-strapped Baltimore, leaders of the City Council on Monday required the developers to set aside millions for the nearby community — a new standard they plan to begin imposing.

Aberdeen city leaders say they are working to find the money to hire a school resource officer for Aberdeen Middle School, following recent incidents in which the police had to respond to the school.

Harford County Executive Barry Glassman says his first year in the top local elected office fulfilled a long-held dream.

Harford County officials and the Historical Society of Harford County are working to move and preserve the historic Joesting-Gorsuch House, which had been slated for demolition to make way for five new houses to be built on the north side of the Winters Run Golf Club property near Bel Air.

Newly-elected Havre de Grace Mayor Bill Martin plans to appoint Mike Hitchings to Martin's open council seat

More than a year after it was proposed, a major project to build single-family houses and a large retirement community on a former farm east of Bel Air has the majority of the necessary Harford County approvals to proceed, but county officials, state officials and the developers are still trying to work through traffic mitigation issues.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Larry Hogan promised government officials from across the state Saturday that he would usher in a "new era of state and county cooperation," while Democratic rival Anthony G. Brown vigorously defended Maryland's strategy for cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay.

Carroll County taxpayers will be footing the bill for four county commissioners to attend all or a portion of a four-day conference in Ocean City this week, including two that will be out of office in December. It's estimated to cost $12,000 to send the commissioners and seven county staff members to the conference.

A Calvert County circuit judge has overturned the Southern Maryland county's decision to exempt the proposed Cove Point liquefied natural gas export facility from local zoning regulations.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake has broken her contract with city police and fire employees.

A controversy is brewing over who should be in charge of hiring a new county administrator — the current Carroll County Board of Commissioners or the new board taking office in December.

McKenzie Elliott's death is doomed to be unless we do something.

The redevelopment of a former Army base in the Blue Ridge mountains doesn't initially appear to have much in common with the renovation of the historic Hippodrome Theatre on Baltimore's west side. Except one thing: "it's at least as big a challenge."

While potential cuts of up to nearly 4,300 military and civilian jobs at Aberdeen Proving Ground are far from a done deal, Harford County leaders stressed the need Monday evening for local residents to get an early start on letting the Army know about the impact any such cuts will have on the region's largest employer and on their community.

The speed camera company blasted in Baltimore for issuing tickets to people who weren't speeding is now facing criticism in Howard County, where it submitted a year's worth of inaccurate data about the program there.

The Harford County Board of Estimates recently approved a bulk fuel purchase worth $3.8 million, which is expected to save considerable money compared to if it were paying retail pump prices like ordinary consumers.

Decision by Baltimore County police to curb public comment in Dundalk likely started at the top

Rep. Paul Ryan's anti-poverty plan is heartfelt but unworkable

Harry Black will be replaced with deputy Henry Raymond

As time goes on, having some sort of national standard for what basics need to be known upon graduating from high school will be as important as ever, but it will be almost impossible to have such a standard if every state goes back to doing its own thing.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake's proposal to sell garages to fund new rec centers is an appealing idea — provided it really generates the kind of windfall she's advertising.

Harford County government has had no Internet connection all morning and into the early afternoon Monday, an apparent casualty of the thunderstorms that swept through the area around midnight Sunday.

When a little bit of passion at a public meeting elicits a visit from the cops, it's a sign that Baltimore County government is too complacent.

Forward thinking on the Red Line

Standard & Poor's raised Baltimore's bond rating to its highest level in years — a move that reflects growing confidence in the city's fiscal health and will lead to potentially millions of dollars in savings for the city's budget.

The state of affairs with regard to garbage collection and disposal in Harford County is one very much in need of organization, or we could find ourselves dealing with an unsavory situation.

Harford County public works officials say the cost of providing waste disposal and recycling services is projected to increase 24 percent during the next 10 years, and they are considering potential changes in how the current system operates, possibly to include a major shift in the arms-length relationship that has existed for decades with commercial waste hauling companies.

State and local officials in Maryland stressed Wednesday that they are working with the federal government to identify a shelter for Central American children crossing the U.S. border after at least four potential sites fell through, including one that was opposed by Gov. Martin O'Malley.

WASHINGTON — Carroll County officials voiced swift opposition Friday to news that the federal government is eyeing a former military property near Westminster as a potential a shelter for immigrant children — underscoring the challenge the Obama administration faces as it tries to manage a surge of new arrivals.

Baltimore officials will open two youth centers in advance of the strict new curfew law that takes effect Aug. 8, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said Thursday.

The Hobby Lobby case may not affect Maryland directly, but the next governor's views on women's reproductive health matter.

A former repair auto shop on Bel Air's North Main Street could be the site of a microbrewery and restaurant and a key for development on the north side of town, according to the business owner.

Two laws sunset this year no longer requiring law enforcement to provide Maryland with information on traffic stops and SWAT operations

The Supreme Court's decision in Harris v. Quinn only dealt with home health care workers in Illinois, but it invited more direct challenge to public sector collective bargaining laws.

Carroll County has agreed to pay a $40,000 penalty after a federally led inspection found the county had failed to properly protect its streams and water ways from polluted stormwater runoff.

The Havre de Grace City Council finally passed the city's 2015 budget after reconvening Wednesday night and agreeing to shift some revenue sources and restore two previous planned cuts. The council also agreed to freeze four open positions in city government.