City Council bags ban on…bags
July 22, 2008
After reading the Baltimore Sun article this morning about the City Council’s failure to pass a ban on plastic bags in grocery stores and retail chains, I had one question: Are those who want to replace plastic bags with paper barking up the wrong tree? (Yes, that was an attempt at a pun.)
But seriously — those in support of the measure, voted down by the council 11-3, say they are concerned about the amount of garbage created by plastic bags and this is certainly a legitimate concern. But on the other hand, those against the bill said they did not think that tapping natural resources to make more paper bags would help the environment any more.
As it was so aptly put by City Councilwoman Rochelle “Rikki” Spector, “It takes trees to make paper bags.”
Is it, after all, not the material itself but our use of the material that needs to be put in check? I prefer plastic bags for their sturdiness — especially when holding products that tend to perspire in bags like milk or ice cream — and for their convenient handles. I also save them to reuse as garbage bags.
But I also throw away my share of plastic bags and could do more for the environment like save them for the bag recycling bins I see outside many grocery stores, or bring my own cloth shopping bag to the store to cut down on plastic bag use.
But, quite honestly, that requires a little more effort on everyone’s part and I don’t know that any amount of activism and raising awareness will be able to get every shopper to consistently change their habits.
What do you think? Should we keep pushing the paper because at least it’s a step in the right direction or should we “bag” that approach (sorry, I couldn’t help myself) and start addressing people’s shopping behavior?
LIZ FARMER, Business Writer
(picture taken by Assistant Legal Editor Christina Doran in downtown Baltimore)
Sphere: Related ContentBereano’s back
July 17, 2008
It’s been five years, but Bruce Bereano is once again the highest-paid lobbyist in the state.
According to this report in the Gazette, Bereano earned $806,000 between Nov. 1 and April 30, inching out Joel D. Rozner by a relative nose — $5,000 – for the top spot among 61 lobbyists who disclosed earning more than $100,000 for those key six months.
Bereano, the state’s first lobbyist to crack the million-dollar mark, was convicted of federal mail fraud in 1994 but still managed to work while appealing the conviction and ultimately serving his 10 month term of confinement — five months in a halfway house, the other five on home detention — in 1999.
He made it back to the top of the lobbying list in 2003, the Gazette says. That was the same year the State Ethics Commission ordered a 10-month suspension of his license. (His lobbying license, that is; he was disbarred in 2000 due to the mail fraud conviction.) The ethics commission said he had agreed to represent a client on an illegal contingency-fee basis.
Once again, Bereano bit back: the suspension was put on hold while he appealed it all the way to the state’s highest court. And earlier this year, his persistence paid off when the Court of Appeals sent the matter back to the commission.
All in all, not a bad year for Bruce. Think this is the year he’ll try to get his law license reinstated, too?
BARBARA GRZINCIC, Managing Editor/Law
Sphere: Related ContentE. Shore mayor eschews e-mail
July 15, 2008
Funny what you can learn by reading discovery rulings (PDF) in federal cases.
Like this: Cleveland Rippons, the lame-duck mayor of Cambridge, “does not use e-mail at all.” So wrote U.S. Magistrate Judge Beth P. Gesner, in a failure-to-promote discrimination case that has since been defeated and is now on appeal.
The little Eastern Shore city with a history of racial unrest elected its first black mayor last week, when Victoria Jackson-Stanley, deputy director of the Dorchester County Department of Social Services, defeated the two-term incumbent Rippons.
The result had locals celebrating how far the bayside birthplace of Harriet Tubman has come since its infamous race riots in 1967. And the “no e-mail” policy sheds some light on Rippons’ governing habits, lending credence to those who said the political contest was less about race than about changing economic conditions.
Is a “no e-mail” policy an indication of a politico out-of-touch with the realities of 2008? Or is such criticism of the 54-year-old Rippons — or 71-year-old presidential candidate John McCain, for that matter — just a different type of discrimination?
For the record, Jackson-Stanley is also 54; no word on her e-mail habits.
BRENDAN KEARNEY, Legal Affairs Writer
Sphere: Related ContentBush Bus makes pit stop at City Hall
July 10, 2008
If you were on I-95 earlier today and thought you saw a 45-foot long, 28-ton bus with a picture of President Bush splashed across the side, you weren’t mistaken.
“The National Bush Legacy Tour,” sponsored by Americans United for Change, stopped outside of Baltimore’s City Hall this afternoon. It was part of the group’s coast-to-coast summer tour, aimed at bringing public attention to what they deem “two terms of failed conservative policies.”
Individuals from AUC and Progressive Maryland spoke outside the bus before a crowd of about 25 people, mostly supporters.
“It’s important that we remind the public of just how bad things have been,” said Matthew Weinstein, Baltimore’s Region Director of Progressive Maryland.
The bus (which runs on clean biodiesel) has a full exhibit inside on Hurricane Katrina, the Bush administration’s education policies and the war in Iraq. I also noticed a command center of sorts in the rear of the bus.
Take a look at the pictures. Do you think the marketing campaign is effective, or overkill?
RICHARD SIMON, Multimedia Reporter
Sphere: Related ContentHow would you like every Friday off?
July 10, 2008
When I read last week that Utah state employees are switching to a four-day workweek to reduce energy costs, I thought it was only a matter of time before someone in Maryland got on board.
Which is why I wasn’t surprised to read that Howard County Executive Ken Ulman (subject of a story in our Wednesday paper) is proposing a similar plan for county employees.
From the AP story:
[Ulman] believes an alternative work schedule would save fuel, reduce stress for employees and cut pollution.
According to Ulman, the best options are four 10-hour days each week or eight nine-hour days and one eight-hour day in a two-week period.
He also proposed flex time so employees could adjust start and ending work times to avoid traveling during heavy commuting hours.
What I wouldn’t give to be a Hoco employee if this pans out.
Seriously, if the work won’t suffer, this seems like a no-brainer to me. The key is, as Ulman acknowledges, “maintaining services for residents.”
I’ve got no hope of such a switch here; four-day workweeks for the newsroom would leave either Business Friday or Maryland Lawyer readers without an issue. (Not to mention the resulting irony of the name “The Daily Record”).
Could your office make it work? Would you prefer putting in some extra time in exchange for a three-day weekend?
JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor
Sphere: Related ContentUntraceable guns, untraceable crime
June 25, 2008
According to the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, gun dealers nationwide “lost” an average of at least 82 firearms every day last year. For all of fiscal year 2007, this adds up to a grand total of more than 30,000 firearms that cannot be accounted for in dealers’ inventories. The Brady Center analyzed this month’s data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which led to these disturbing figures.
Untraceable guns are the perfect fit for criminals seeking to become untraceable themselves. That’s why the law already requires dealers to keep records of the guns it sells, and to whom. And gun laws aside, tracking inventory should be basic shopkeepers’ math. It doesn’t seem like that should be too much to ask of any honest, moral gun dealer.
Unfortunately, an enforcement agency like the ATF doesn’t have the resources to inspect every single gun store across the country. Between untraceable guns and legislative loopholes (like the fact that our government has failed to require gun shows to implement a thorough background check on customers), gun control looks more and more like an exercise in futility.
As a person who grew up in a house with guns, and whose father took the license to have such a weapon very seriously, I would hope there are many law-abiding gun owners out there who would not see more stringent enforcement of inventory regulations as an assault on the Second Amendment. Besides, according to that very amendment, even the militia “necessary to the security of a free State” is “well regulated.”
Francis Smith, Special Publications Assistant Editor
Sphere: Related ContentRoss Perot calls for “action this day”
June 16, 2008
Don’t count out Ross Perot.
The former presidential candidate has stepped into the spotlight again with the launch of a new Web site on “government fiscal irresponsibility.”
Think of it as a place for him to keep his economic charts - the ones he became famous for using in his campaigns for the presidency, including the 30-minute television timeslots he bought (like this one in October 1992).
In a welcome video on PerotCharts.com, Perot says gravely - in his Texas drawl - “We live in the greatest country in the history of man. We’ve been so successful for so long that we now take our success for granted. Not since the Great Depression have we seen an economic crisis of the magnitude that we are facing today.”
Much of his attention focuses on the national debt, which he says is growing by more than $1 billion each day. Mandatory spending programs such as Social Security and Medicare, he says, are only going to get costlier as the Baby Boomer population ages. Perot asserts that unless we solve these fundamental issues, the country won’t be able to meet future challenges.
In case you begin to feel downtrodden about the wealth of information the billionaire shares, he notes: “The good news is that Americans are resilient and resourceful, and have always responded unselfishly in a crisis.”
To view his Web presentation, “Suicidal Spending,” click here.
JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor
Sphere: Related ContentA surprise guest at the BPW
June 12, 2008
There was an unusual substitution at Wednesday’s meeting of the Board of Public Works.
Gov. Martin O’Malley was flanked by Treasurer Nancy Kopp and Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown — instead of Comptroller Peter Franchot.
O’Malley and Franchot have been known to snipe at each other at BPW meetings, sometimes coming down on different sides of spending issues. They had some particularly unpleasant interactions last summer over some land acquisitions for state conservation programs. O’Malley and Brown, on the other hand, shared a ticket in 2006 and seem to get along just fine.
During the opening of Wednesday’s meeting, Brown noted that he was not the comptroller, but thanked O’Malley for the introduction.
“I thank you,” O’Malley quipped. Everybody got a kick out of that one.
ANDY ROSEN, Business Writer
Sphere: Related ContentLobbyists have feelings, too
June 6, 2008
So you want to make sure lawmakers are paying attention to your point of view. Maybe there’s a bill that will affect your business, or maybe something affecting your industry has become a hot legislative topic. What do you do? Probably hire a lobbyist if you have the cash.
Lobbyists can help people who don’t have the time to get to Washington, Annapolis or whatever seat of government they’re trying to influence. I’ve seen them operate in Maryland, and they’re pretty busy. So what happens when lobbyists need to go to bat for their own industry?
Well, they turn to The American League of Lobbyists, a trade organization that monitors ethics laws and other decisions that affect their industry.
Yes. Lobbyists have their own lobbyists.
And today, many lobbyists are upset about the way John McCain and Barack Obama are treating the profession in their campaigns. If you haven’t been watching, these campaigns have been competing to see who can disavow more lobbyists in a shorter period of time. They’re both trying to keep campaign staffs free of professional advocates, and they’re not being quiet about it.
Friday, the league reminded voters that “lobbyists are citizens, too.”
Here’s a little excerpt from a news release issued in the morning:
“Presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain have declared Washington lobbyists persona non grata as far as participation in the forthcoming campaigns. The leadership of the American League of Lobbyists (ALL) vehemently objects to this treatment. ALL reminds the candidates that all U.S. citizens are guaranteed the right to petition the government under the First Amendment to the Constitution.”
“As a profession, lobbying is an easy target and a candidate automatically garners public support with each declaration,” said Brian Pallasch, League President.
ANDY ROSEN, Business Writer
Sphere: Related ContentSlideshow: Ehrlich’s portrait unveiling
June 4, 2008
Last night’s portrait unveiling, held at St. John’s College in Annapolis, was heavy on tradition and relatively light on politics, according to the AP.
Reporter Brian Witte writes:
 |
| Ehrlich portrait unveiling |
“It’s not about looking to the future,” Ehrlich told reporters before the event. “It’s about celebrating a great first lady and obviously our administration, but we’re really not going to be discussing anything about the future this evening.”
He continues:
The audience of more than 600 was obviously pro-Ehrlich and applauded loudly and yelled “four more years” and “2010″ as the former governor was introduced.
The event was emceed by Edward Norris, who played a role in both O’Malley’s mayoral administration in Baltimore and Ehrlich’s cabinet. Norris was O’Malley’s police commissioner until he was tapped by Ehrlich to be the head of the Maryland State Police in 2003. Norris resigned from the state police after being indicted in a federal probe and served six months in prison for misusing city police funds in Baltimore.
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