A bug in the best-interest standard
June 27, 2008
The New York Times has a piece today about how tough it is to transfer children removed from their homes in one state to relatives who live in another state.
The story is datelined Hyattsville and features five kids from Washington whose Maryland grandparents and aunt and uncle want to take them in. Because of the bureaucratic hurdles that accompany interstate transfers, the kids are in foster care, “where they could remain for months while their relatives wait for Washington and Maryland to make formal requests, home inspections and approvals,” the Times’ Erik Eckholm writes.
“From the kids’ point of view, it’s like they’re being punished,” the aunt, Mia Johnson, told the Times.
CARYN TAMBER, Legal Affairs Writer
Sphere: Related ContentThis man does not give up.
June 27, 2008
Comptroller Peter Franchot spent a good part of Wednesday’s Board of Public works meeting advocating for the spending panel’s July 16 meeting be relocated to the Eastern Shore so it will be easier for officials to attend the J. Millard Tawes Crab and Clam Bake in Crisfield on that same day.
The Tawes event, named for the former governor and held in his home town, is something of a political tradition in the state, and can draw upwards of 3,500 people. Franchot does not want to miss it. He repeatedly mentioned moving the meeting, and even got Salisbury University to offer meeting space for the BPW meeting.
Gov. Martin O’Malley and Treasurer Nancy Kopp were decidedly noncommittal, which made for a few awkward exchanges at the public meeting. One possible reason, the state has scheduled a bond sale that day, where it expects to raise hundreds of millions of dollars for capital spending. It’s a big deal, and Kopp was concerned about the legal implications of moving the scheduled meeting.
Not to be deterred, Franchot sent out a letter to his two BPW counterparts on Thursday (he also shared it with the press).
“… The Tawes Crab and Clam Bake is one of Maryland’s grandest civic traditions, bringing lawmakers, government officials and business leaders from across the state together for a day of Eastern Shore seafood and hospitality. This annual event also brings tourists, consumer spending and statewide media exposure to a region of the State that needs all the support that we can provide,” he wrote.
ANDY ROSEN, Business Writer
Sphere: Related ContentHome for sale: 2,000 sf plus wife
June 27, 2008
The real estate market must be really lagging, if this Florida woman is trying to auction off herself and her home in a combo deal. She’s using Craigslist and Ebay to do it.
JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor
Sphere: Related ContentTaking a look at Baltimore’s “downtown renaissance”
June 27, 2008
It may have something to do with the fact that Charles Center turned 50 this year, or maybe it’s all the condo and office buildings rising along Key Highway and in Harbor East. Whatever the reason, there has been a lot of looking back recently, remembering and critiquing Baltimore’s downtown redevelopment.
Two recently-produced documents demonstrate that there are two very different perspectives on the “downtown renaissance,” and whether it was really as visionary and beneficial for the city as its creators would have us believe.
“Global Harbors: A Waterfront Renaissance,” a documentary film that aired June 10 on Maryland Public Television, and will re-air July 22 at 9 p.m., revisits both Charles Center and Harborplace through the eyes of Martin Millspaugh, former Evening Sun reporter and urban planner, whose work made both developments possible. The basic premise of the film is that Baltimore’s plan to re-develop its waterfront was risky, but it has been a tremendous success, and has inspired waterfront redevelopments in “90 to 100” cities worldwide, including Sydney, Australia — where the Rouse Co. partnered with local government to build a festival market that looks remarkably like Harborplace — to Osaka, Rotterdam, Pittsburgh and Honolulu.
Sphere: Related ContentSaving the earth, one CFL at a time
June 27, 2008
We’ve all heard that if we want to save the planet, and perhaps a bit of money on our electricity bills, compact fluorescent light bulbs are the way to go.
The problem is that the swirly bulbs contain small amounts of mercury, and recycling options haven’t exactly been accessible. So, when CFLs land in the trash heap, we’re possibly doing more damage to the Earth than we were back when using incandescent bulbs was in vogue.
People who wanted to dispose of used CFLs in an Earth-friendly way once had to live near an Ikea or True Value, where they have recycling programs, or buy special kits to mail them back to manufacturers — but not anymore.
This week, Home Depot announced it would accept all unbroken CFLs at its retail locations for recycling, allowing tree huggers and carpenters alike to dispose of CFLs properly, and just a little closer to home. The company estimates that 75 percent of Americans live within 10 miles of a Home Depot.
According to The New York Times, Ron Jarvis, Home Depot’s senior vice president for environmental innovation, said the company is just “trying to do the right thing.”
Home Depot also stands to bring in some heavy foot traffic if people latch onto the idea.
I guess the question is what’s worse for the environment, burning a gallon of gas on that round trip to the Home Depot or throwing out your bulbs with the rest of the garbage?
DANIELLE ULMAN, Business Writer
Sphere: Related ContentLos sonidos del verano
June 26, 2008
The Washington Nationals announced yesterday they’ve partnered with the Spanish Beisbol Network to launch Spanish radio broadcasts of all Nats games. The first broadcast on WZHF 1390 AM will hit the airwaves Friday when the team hosts the O’s at Nationals Park.
The broadcasting team is headlined by Angel Castillo, Carlos Guillen and Luciano Rodriguez…not that many Spanish-speaking Orioles fans will be able to hear it in Baltimore — the broadcasts will just reach the District, Northern Virginia and parts of Montgomery County and MLB Radio, according to the news release.
O’s spokesman Greg Bader said in an e-mail yesterday that Spanish language broadcasts are “something we are exploring along with our partners at CBS Radio. Nothing is imminent, but it is being discussed and evaluated.”
WZHF will be the primary carrier of Nats games, with XM Satellite Radio and WMET 1160AM, a multi-cultural format station, carrying a small portion. Washington is also one of the few MLB teams that has a Spanish language Web site, which was launched on April 7.
Do you think the Orioles are missing out on an important fan base here?
I will note that, according to U.S. Census Bureau statistics from 2006, Montgomery County has the largest Hispanic population in the state with nearly 14 percent of its residents being of Hispanic or Latino origin. Baltimore County’s percentage is just under 3. (Data was not available for Baltimore City in the same year.)
LIZ FARMER, Daily Record Business Writer
Sphere: Related ContentBill Gates, e-mail motivator
June 26, 2008
Bosses often send employees e-mails offering “constructive criticism.” Turns out Bill Gates is no exception.
Gates will officially leave Microsoft on Friday to focus on his philanthropic efforts. The news, which has been known for months, led to a comprehensive series of stories looking at the Gates era by the company’s hometown Seattle Post-Intelligencer, which in my opinion is one of the best newspaper names in the country.
The series opens with a 2003 e-mail from Gates made public as the company was facing antitrust lawsuits. Gates wrote it to several of his employees after he was unable to download Windows Movie Maker on his computer.
Now, if you and I couldn’t download the software, we’d probably spend hours on the phone, in vain, with tech support. But if you’re Bill Gates, you go right to the software’s creators with a 1,000-word missive that is nicely summed up in the first line:
“I am quite disappointed at how Windows Usability has been going backwards and the program management groups don’t drive usability issues.”
When asked about the e-mail recently by P-I reporter Todd Bishop, who covers Microsoft for the paper, Gates responded: “There’s not a day that I don’t send a piece of e-mail … like that piece of e-mail. That’s my job.”
-DANNY JACOBS, Legal Affairs Writer
Sphere: Related ContentSCOTUS nixes gun ban, ‘Millionaire’s amendment’
June 26, 2008
In two of the last three opinions of its term, the Supreme Court struck down both the D.C. handgun ban and portions of the “Millionaire’s amendment” to federal campaign financing laws, both by 5-4 votes.
“[T]he enshrinement of constitutional rights necessarily takes certain policy options off the table,” Justice Antonin Scalia wrote for the five-judge majority in the handgun ban case, D.C. v. Heller. “These include the absolute prohibition of handguns held and used for self-defense in the home.”
In one of two dissents, Justice John Paul Stevens expressed disbelief that “over 200 years ago, the Framers made a choice to limit the tools available to elected officials wishing to regulate civilian uses of weapons.” (For more quotes from Heller, see our sister blog, D.C. Dicta.)
In the second case, Davis v. Federal Election Commission, the court sided with Jack Davis, who’s spent millions of his own money in two unsuccessful bids for a Congressional seat and hopes to make a third run. Davis claimed it’s unconstitutional to triple the limit his opponents can raise from individual donors once he spends $350,000 of his own money. The majority agreed, noting that the limit was not lifted on Davis’ outside donors.
“This Court has never upheld the constitutionality of a law that imposes different contribution limits for candidates competing against each other,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote, “and it agrees with Davis that this scheme impermissibly bur¬dens his First Amendment right to spend his own money for cam¬paign speech.”
In the third case, Morgan Stanley Capital Group v. Public Utility District 1 the justices agreed that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission should reconsider the validity of power contracts purchased by utilities in California, Nevada and Washington state during the energy crisis of 2000 and 2001.
However, contrary to the 9th Circuit, it found the Mobile-Sierra doctrine does apply in this case. That means FERC must presume the contractual rate is “just and reasonable” unless it finds that the contract “seriously harms the public interest.”
Morgan Stanley was decided by a 5-2 vote; Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. and Justice Stephen Breyer recused themselves.
BARBARA GRZINCIC, Managing Editor/Law
Sphere: Related ContentA bit of unexpected goodwill
June 26, 2008
An interesting bit of found treasure out of the Eastern Shore: a painting left with the Maryland Goodwill a little while back has been auctioned for $40,600.
All proceeds to charity, of course.
“Marche aux fleurs” or “Flower Market” by Edouard Leon Cortes, was donated to a Goodwill in Easton in March. Volunteers suspected they could have something significant on their hands, and a bit of Googling led them to Sotheby’s in New York.
“We just lucked upon an opportunity to increase our ability to give back,” said store manager Terri Tonelli, according to the AP.
I doubt the person who donated the work meant to part with something so valuable, but though they might be kicking themselves right now, they can take a bit of comfort in their excess of karma credits.
And now I’m off to my parents’ basement in search of works of art by notable French Impressionists.
JOE BACCHUS, Web Specialist
Sphere: Related ContentAccentuate the mole
June 25, 2008
Truth be told, I have to look up the spelling of UB President Robert Bogomolny’s name every time we write about him (Brother, can you spare a vowel?), but I’ve never worried about how to pronounce it.
Apparently, though, many people do. Luckily for them, the school takes its educational mission seriously, in a light-hearted kind of way, offering this pictorial and phonetic guide on its Web site.
BARBARA “accentuate the ZIN” GRZINCIC, Managing Editor/Law
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