Alan Suderman

Montgomery County employees accuse Human Rights boss of waste and abuse

Workers in Montgomery County's Office of Human Rights are asking county officials to investigate their boss, who they say is wasting taxpayer money and abusing his staff. But county Human Rights Director Jim Stowe said he is moving the office in a "very positive direction" and complaints concerning his treatment of employees or spending practices have no merit. Stowe became head of the Office of Human Rights last fall, which is tasked with investigating possible cases of discrimination. Complaints from his staff started during his first week on the job, said Doug Menapace, a field representative for Municipal and County Government Employees Organization, the union that has asked the...

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MontCo legislation would target anti-abortion centers

The four pregnancy centers in Montgomery County that don't provide abortion services would be required to tell potential clients that they should go elsewhere for medical advice, under new legislation proposed by Councilwoman Duchy Trachtenberg. Trachtenberg said the private centers, which promote themselves as a place to help women with unexpected pregnancies, often provide false and misleading medical information about the dangers of abortions or contraceptives in attempts to convince women not to abort their pregnancies. Her resolution would require the centers to present potential clients with disclaimers in English and Spanish that the information given by the center isn't...

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Montgomery traffic signals fixed after two painful days

Montgomery County managed to fix a broken computer system Thursday that had caused serious headaches and delays for commuters for two straight days. "The system is fixed," County Executive Ike Leggett said. "We will continue to monitor it throughout the evening and overnight but we anticipate that [Friday] morning's rush hour will be much smoother." Traffic problems began early Wednesday, when an aging centralized computer that is supposed to control traffic flow failed, leading to uncoordinated lights and rush-hour traffic snarls in a county already known for frustrating commutes. AAA Mid-Atlantic spokesman John Townsend said it was "absolute gridlock and chaos" after the computer...

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Poll shows O'Malley unpopular with voters

Maryland voters are giving Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley low marks for not holding down taxes, creating jobs or managing the state budget effectively in a new poll that shows only 39 percent of voters want to see him re-elected next year. The poll by the nonpartisan Clarus Research Group put O'Malley's approval rating at 48 percent, five points lower than where a Washington Post poll pegged his approval rating in October 2008. The poll also shows that given a choice between O'Malley and former Republican Gov. Bob Ehrlich, voters would choose O'Malley by roughly the same 6.5 percent margin they did in the 2006 election. Ehrlich, who is mulling a potential 2010 challenge to O'Malley,...

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Montgomery Police Chief still backs helicopters

Montgomery County Police Chief J. Thomas Manger said he continued to support starting a new police helicopter program, despite ongoing opposition from the County Council. Manger said he was in favor of a bill by Councilwoman Duchy Trachtenberg, D-at large, that would allow money from the Drug Enforcement Forfeiture Fund to be used for drug treatment and prevention programs, as long as there was enough money in the fund to pay for the fund's primary purpose: investigating and arresting drug dealers. "We must use [the fund] intelligently to help combat drug trafficking," Manger told the County Council. He later told The Examiner that his support for the bill didn't mean he was...

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Montgomery County sues librarian who hurt herself trying to get shampoo bottle out of car

Montgomery County is suing a county librarian who won about $5,500 in workers' compensation for hurting herself while trying to retrieve a shampoo bottle from her car during her lunch break, court records show. Ginger Wilson, 64, said a gust of wind blew her car door into her while she was getting into her car at the Twinbrook library, causing her to fall and hurt her left arm, knee and foot. Wilson was trying to get a shampoo bottle because she had scheduled a hair appointment for her lunch break, court records show. Wilson had surgery on her left wrist because of the injury and filed a workers' compensation claim. The Maryland Workers' Compensation Commission found that her injuries...

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FBI probe brings up question of funding renewal

The disclosure of an FBI probe into the finances of a publicly funded child care center in Wheaton has renewed the concerns of some Montgomery County Council members that the county's decision to renew $448,000 worth of contracts may have been "premature." The Examiner first reported Sunday that an FBI agent visited Centro Familia last week and spoke with the center's bookkeeper in what was described as a "routine inquiry." "For the FBI to even have entered this discussion ratchets things up," said Councilwoman Valerie Ervin. Councilwoman Nancy Navarro, who co-founded the center but severed all ties with it in 2004, echoed Ervin's concerns and added that the county's recent decision...

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Frederick County sheriff worried about MontCo gangs

Montgomery County's relativelywelcoming stance on illegal immigration may be attracting gangs that are causing problems for its stricter neighbor, said Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins. "I believe that the policies of Montgomery County are beginning to affect Frederick County," Jenkins said. He pointed to two recent armed robberies in Frederick by Montgomery County members of the Latin Kings, a notoriously violent street gang that typically has illegal immigrants as members, as examples of what he said could be a growing problem. In an August armed robbery of the Philly Cheesesteak Factory on Urbana Pike, one of the robbers hit a victim in the head with a hammer, police said....

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MY WASHINGTON: Diana Quinn

Faves and raves by Diana Quinn Quinn is weekend desk manager, writer and producer for CBS News and a member of several local bands, like Honky Tonk Confidential, the Fabulettes, and Tru Fax & The Insaniacs. PERSONAL STATS AGE: Old enough to know better. NUMBER OF YEARS IN D.C.: I moved to the D.C. area in 1966 when I was a little girl -- and I've lived here for more than 30 years. NEIGHBORHOOD: Capitol Hill - Alan Suderman 1. FAVORITE NEIGHBORHOOD HANGOUT Lincoln Park (lots of doggie friends and neighbors). Of course, the great local hangouts are the Hawk and Dove, the Tune Inn, and Tunnicliff's. 2. BEST MODE OF TRANSPORT A 1965 powder blue Vespa! 3. FAVORITE...

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FBI examines Wheaton day care center

The FBI is probing a publicly funded child care center in Wheaton that has been investigated for potential fraud by Montgomery County officials, according to the head of the center. Centro Familia Executive Director Pilar Torres said an FBI agent visited the center last week with an employee from the county Inspector General's Office. Torres said the agent, who did not have a warrant, spoke with the center's bookkeeper and told Torres that she was visiting the center as a "routine inquiry." "They did not explain why they were there," Torres said. A spokesman for the FBI's Baltimore Field Office declined to comment. Inspector General Thomas Dagley could not be reached for...

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Furloughs unlikely for Montgomery employees, Leggett says

Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett probably will not force county employees to take unpaid leave during the current fiscal year, and instead is suggesting the county hire fewer police officers, raise fees for monthly bus passes and buy fewer office supplies to help save $30 million for the budget-deficient county. Leggett's proposed savings "> » $124,440 by reducing the frequency of repainting parking lot lines. » $247,000 by eliminating tree-planting program for fiscal 2010. » $200,000 by reducing road and bikeway maintenance. » At least $185,290 by reducing printing and office supply costs. Source: County records ">...

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Weast wants $1.5 billion for Montgomery school construction

Montgomery County schools Superintendent Jerry Weast proposed Wednesday that the county spend $1.5 billion on school construction projects, including expanding nine schools and building two new ones, over the next six years to address overcrowding. Weast's capital improvement plan calls for a new elementary and middle school to be built in the rapidly growing Clarksburg area. He also is asking that Clarksburg High School be expanded. He said the county had an "awesome" opportunity to take advantage of a favorable bond market and low construction prices to meet the schools' growing enrollment. "It's kind of counterintuitive ... the country has got an economic problem,...

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Pilot at fault in helicopter crash, NTSB says

Human errors likely caused the Maryland State Police helicopter crash in Prince George's County last year that killed four people, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. A decision by the pilot to try and "duck under" the cloud ceiling and not adhere to standard procedures for flying in low visibility, was the probable cause for the crash, the NTSB said. Pilot Stephen Bunker likely kept his eyes off of the instrument panel, which would have given him his descent rate and altitude information, because he was "preoccupied with looking for the ground" before the crash, the NTSB said. An air traffic controller at the Potomac Consolidated Terminal Radar...

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Former Montgomery County asst. fire chief drops bid to get job back

Former Montgomery County Assistant Fire Chief Greg DeHaven has dropped his lawsuit against the county to get his job back after he was fired for causing a four-car pileup following a day of drinking, court records show. DeHaven's legal challenge to the county lasted three weeks, and no motions or hearings were made in the case. But in suing the county, DeHaven made public a report by a county review board that paints an unflattering picture of the 28-year fire department veteran and suggests that other public safety officials may have tried to give him special treatment. His lawyer could not be reached for comment. DeHaven was fired after he crashed a county-owned sport utility...

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Police rules for illegal immigrants may violate federal law, critics say

Federal law: » "Notwithstanding any other provision of Federal, State, or local law, a Federal, State, or local government entity or official may not prohibit, or in any way restrict, any government entity or official from sending to, or receiving from, Immigration and Naturalization Service information regarding the citizenship or immigration status, lawful or unlawful, or any individual." Source: Department of Justice TheMontgomery County Police Department's new rules for dealing with federalimmigration authorities may violate federal laws and hamper police officers ability to do their jobs, according to critics. "You can be held more accountable for going 12...

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Montgomery to resume debate on restaurant nutrition labeling

The Montgomery County Council is set to resume debate this week over whether chain restaurants should have to include in their menus the amount of calories, fat and sodium of the food they sell. Councilman George Leventhal, D-at large, introduced a bill in 2007 requiring restaurants with 10 or more facilities nationally to post nutritional information on their menus and menu boards in all of their Montgomery County locations. A committee held work sessions on the bill, but the full council never voted on the proposed legislation. Food for thought Jurisdictions where restaurant nutrition labeling has been implemented: » Multnomah County, Ore. » King County,...

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Tuition assistance produced few degrees

Montgomery County's embattled tuition assistance program has produced few college diplomas or professional certificates in the past five years despite a heavy investment of taxpayer money, county records show. For the roughly $4 million the county spent on the program during that period, 121 employees reported earning a degree and 18 reported earning a certificate, county records show. The county recently suspended the program over concerns of abuse. The Examiner first reported that employees were using taxpayer money to take Spanish lessons in Costa Rica and yoga lessons. Under the rules of the program, employees were required to take courses that would earn them degrees or...

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The 3-minute interview: Doug Eldridge

Eldridge is a local sports agent who is running 10 marathons this year in hopes of raising $100,000 for the Wounded Warrior Project, which helps disabled service men and women returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. He'll be running the Marine Corps Marathon on Sunday. How'd you get the idea to run 10 marathons? The cause came first. Running one or two marathons in and of itself would not generate the degree of sacrifice and attention I think is needed for these young guys. Looking at the calendar and jockeying with some numbers, that was when we really came up with 10 marathons in 12 months for $100,000. It was something that was extreme enough that it would generate conversation. Do...

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Longtime Montgomery County thief gets 36.5 years in prison

A 44-year-old career criminal who tried to buy a Play Station 3 and a $839 television with a stolen credit card in Montgomery County could be spending the rest of his life in prison. The Maryland Court of Special Appeals has upheld a sentence of 36.5 years for James Lewis Clark, who the court described as a "lifelong thief and self-confessed heroin addict." Clark has more than 30 prior criminal convictions and already has spent 27 years in the prison system, court records show. "This was really excessive," said Sherrie Glasser, an assistant public defender who handled Clark's appeal. "It is in effect a life sentence." She added that people convicted of violent crimes have been...

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Fired Montgomery County employees face long odds in getting jobs back

Merit System Protection Board's mission: » "The mission of the Merit System Protection Board is to oversee the merit system and protect County Government Employees and Job Applicant rights guaranteed under the merit system law." Source: Montgomery County Fired Montgomery County employees who try to get their jobs back, like former Assistant Fire Chief Greg DeHaven who was dismissed after crashing a county vehicle into three other cars following a day of drinking, face long odds in getting reinstated, county and court records show. The county board that reviews and has the power to reverse discipline cases, known as the Merit System Protection Board, has voted...

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County tightens rules for cooperating with feds over illegal immigrants

Montgomery County police have been warned against turning over illegal immigrants to federal immigration agents based on affiliation with gangs, according to a memo sent to officers. The changes were spurred after an illegal immigrant named Milton Guerra alleged that police beat him and turned him over to federal authorities to be deported in retaliation for filing a police complaint. A September memo authorized by Police Chief J. Thomas Manger reminds police that they can only contact U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents if they arrest someone for violent or handgun-related crimes. When suspects are arrested for other crimes, "ICE will NOT be contacted, regardless of...

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Rule changes may spur speed bumps in Montgomery

More speed bumps are probably coming to Montgomery County. The County Council is expected to pass new rules Tuesday that would allow speed bumps to be placed on streets with less traffic than currently required and require fewer neighbors to approve them. County Executive Ike Leggett proposed the rules in February, saying he was concerned that some streets with speeding problems weren't eligible for speed bumps because they weren't used frequently enough. Currently, bumps are allowed on roads that carry 100 vehicles per hour. Here, there, everywhere » Montgomery County: 1,198 speed bumps for 2,400 miles of county road: one speed bump for every 2 miles of road »...

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WSSC says it needs 11 percent rate increase

Suburban Maryland residents and businesses are likely to face another steep increase in their water rates next year, as the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission says it needs up to an 11 percent increase to keep the water utility afloat. But Montgomery County's elected officials said a double-digit increase is unlikely because of a poor economic climate. Instead, County Executive Ike Leggett has proposed, and a County Council panel approved Monday, a ceiling of 9.9 percent. An 11 percent increase would mean that the average residential ratepayer would see an increase of $74 a year. A 9.9 percent increase would mean about a $68 a year increase. "I don't see that flying,"...

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Md. pulls young sex offenders from residential center

Juvenile sex offenders will no longer be allowed to live at a residential treatment center in Rockville, a state agency ruled after neighbors said they felt unsafe in their own community. The state Department of Juvenile Services ordered Karma Academy, a 13-bed treatment facility, to remove any sex offenders it is treating by next month. Neighbors of the facility complained to elected officials after three teenagers escaped in September. Neighbors said they were concerned about a perceived lack of security and supervision at the facility and the fact they hadn't previously been told that convicted sex offenders were housed there. "It seems more a question of when versus if...

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Montgomery County IG faults county's investigation into crash

The Montgomery County Fire Department failed to interview key witnesses and record salient facts in its investigation of a high profile crash caused by a former assistant fire chief who had been drinking, according to a report by the county inspector general. Former Assistant Fire Chief Greg DeHaven was fired after colliding with three cars on Interstate I-270 while driving a county-owned sport utility vehicle. He was coming home from a Washington Redskins game, where he drank numerous beers after leading the fire department's honor guard in presenting the colors, court records show. The county has launched several investigations into the crash, and whether there were efforts to...

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Former MontCo fire chief sues to get job back

Former Montgomery County Asst. Fire Chief Greg DeHaven, who was fired after his involvement in a four-car pileup on Interstate 270 that followed a day of drinking at a Redskins game, is suing to get his job back, court records show. Evidence filed in county circuit court by DeHaven's lawyer as part of the lawsuit described the assistant chief as severely impaired in the aftermath of the crash, and suggested police may have offered him special treatment at the scene. DeHaven was fired in March, four months after he crashed a county sport utility vehicle into three cars, including a police vehicle, while on his way home after leading the fire department honor guard's presentation of...

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Baltimore objects to racetrack owner's plan to auction Preakness

Baltimore is protesting a proposal by the bankrupt owner of the Laurel Park and Pimlico race courses to auction off the racetracks in January, saying the proposed bidding process is uncompetitive. Magna Entertainment Corp., the Canadian company that owns the racetracks, is asking a bankruptcy judge to allow it to auction the racetracks and the Preakness Stakes, the "middle jewel" of the Triple Crown. The company is requiring that anyone interested in buying the Preakness must promise not to move the race out of Maryland. That condition drew praise from Gov. Martin O'Malley, who said, "I am pleased that Magna recognizes the importance of keeping the Preakness here in...

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Pro-choice groups try to stop Catholic hospital expansion

Pro-choice groups are battling a proposed new hospital in northern Montgomery County because of Catholic restrictions on abortion and contraceptives. Both Holy Cross, a Catholic hospital in Silver Spring, and Adventist HealthCare of Takoma Park have submitted bids to Maryland to build hospitals in upper Montgomery County, one of the fastest-growing areas in the region. Holy Cross wants to build a 93-bed hospital on the Montgomery College campus in Germantown, whileAdventist wants to build a 100-bed in Clarksburg. The Maryland Health Care Commission is expected to pick between the competing proposals in the spring. A coalition of women's group, including Planned Parenthood and NARAL...

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The 3-minute interview: Satira Streeter

Streeter is a clinical psychologist and the executive director of Ascensions Community Services in Anacostia. She was one of 10 winners nationwide to get a $125,000 award from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for providing mental health care to the underserved. What kind of work to you do at Ascensions? I provide mental health services to families east of the Anacostia River. And those services include therapy, psychoeducation, support and any other innovative services we can give to help families. What kind of change have you seen since you started? Since we opened in 2004 we've been able to work with 500 families. And we've been able to see those families make better choices...

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Council members want drug fund spent on treatment, not helicopters

Montgomery County Council members want money seized from drug dealers to be spent treating drug addicts instead of a new police helicopter program proposed by County Executive Ike Leggett. A bill set to be introduced Tuesday by Councilwoman Duchy Trachtenberg, D-at large, would allow -- but not mandate -- money from the fund to be used for drug treatment and prevention programs. "It is hard to think of a better use of money seized from drug offenders than to allocate it toward people who want help for their drug-related problems," Trachtenberg said. The fund comes from cash and property, including cars and homes, seized in relation to drug crimes. It had a balance of about $2....

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Montgomery County sheriff clamps down on tuition applications

Montgomery County 123cg Sheriff Raymond Kight said he is cutting off requests by his deputies to take outside training in martial arts, shooting and being a bodyguard as part of a taxpayer-funded tuition-assistance program -- a program Kight and other county officials are investigating because of allegations of fraud. Kight said his office has denied five recent applications by his deputies --for a $1,500 yearlong martial arts class geared toward law enforcement officers, a $625 executive protection training class, and a $595 three-day handgun class in North Carolina -- because of concerns the money would be misspent. The county already offers similar training free of charge to its...

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My D.C.: Hirshhorn, Skins tops for lifelong D.C. resident, author

Faves and raves by Tracey Gold Bennett Author of several books, including her latest, “Historic Photos of Washington D.C. Monuments.” PERSONAL STATS AGE: 40 NUMBER OF YEARS IN D.C.: All my life. My father (now deceased) was raised on Lanier Place in Adams Morgan. NEIGHBORHOOD: Reston 1. FAVORITE NEIGHBORHOOD HANGOUT Ben’s Chili Bowl 2. BEST MODE OF TRANSPORTATION Metro 3. FAVORITE LOCAL SPORTS EVENT Redskins games 4. BEST PLACE FOR LIVE MUSIC Bukom Cafe (2442 18th St.) in Adams Morgan or Cafe Nema on U Street (1334) 5. BEST PLACE FOR OUT-OF-TOWN VISITORS The National Mall 6. FAVORITE MUSEUM The Hirshhorn 7. MOST ROMANTIC SPOT The National Gallery of Art...

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Chevy Chase looks to use speed camera money on Tasers

Chevy Chase Village is looking to spend $30,000 raised by speed cameras to buy 12 Tasers for its police force. Village Police Chief Roy Gordon said Tasers were an important public safety tool that would give his officers a less deadly option than a firearm. "Anytime we can put a tool in the hands of a police officer that's going to be less than lethal force, why not?" Gordon said. Where Montgomery County spends its speed camera money: Family Crimes Division investigators: $1.4 million Exercise and training administrator: $105,000 Planning for installing video cameras...

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Pr. George's cop botches Miranda rights in double murder, judge says

A videotaped confession in a high-profile double murder can't be used as evidence because a Prince George's County police detective failed to clearly read a suspect his rights, according to the Maryland Court of Special Appeals. Terris T. Luckett, who has entered a plea of insanity, is set to go to trial in November in the murder of his wife and his son's football coach, both of whom he allegedly shot after thinking the pair was having an affair, according to court records. But a hospital bed confession Luckett gave to Detective Matthew Barba can't be used as evidence in the trial, the appeal's court said, because Barba didn't adequately inform Luckett of his right to remain silent...

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Montgomery County jail holding more inmates

The number of inmates at Montgomery County's main jail has grown by nearly 7 percent thanks partly to a changing criminal landscape that includes more gang members and pack robberies, according to county officials. The population at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility in Boyds averaged 731 inmates during the year ending in August, which is about 46 inmates higher than the same period the previous year and about a 15 percent jump from the average in 2005. The facility holds inmates awaiting trial and those sentenced to up to 18 months in prison. Arthur Wallenstein, director of the Montgomery County Department of Correction and Rehabilitation, said the growing numbers are due to...

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Strains, sprains costly for Montgomery County

The sprained joints and strained muscles of some of Montgomery County's hurt workers can quickly cost taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars, according to a new report. In looking at the 10 percent most expensive workers' compensation claims over the last three fiscal years, the county found that it paid $8.78 million to treat and compensate 183 employees suffering from sprained joints -- an average of $47,960 per employee. The county also paid $6.34 million for muscle strains of 176 employees during the same period. Thirteen employees who injured themselves when they "slipped, but did not fall" cost the county $1.11 million, an average cost of $85,304, according to the...

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State not cracking down on fraud, officials say

Maryland is doing little to address the large number of fraudulent workers' compensation claims made each year, according to Montgomery County officials. The Maryland Workers' Compensation Commission, a state agency that decides worker's compensation cases, has referred 98 allegations of fraud to the Maryland Insurance Administration from fiscal 2005 to 2008. Some allegations came out of cases heard by the commission, while others were from mostly anonymous tipsters. The commission held more than160,000 hearing on workers' compensation claims during that time. "That points potentially to a serious issue of undetected and unaddressed fraud in the system," said County Attorney Leon...

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Committee recommends big pay increases of sheriff and state's attorney

The salaries for Montgomery County's two top elected law enforcement positions are too low and need nearly 15 percent increases, according to a citizens committee tasked with recommending compensation levels. The committee said the sheriff should make $154,000 starting next year after current Sheriff Raymond Kight retires. Kight's salary is $135,298 a year, about $400 less than what his top deputy makes. And the state's attorney should make $199,000 during the next term, which starts Jan. 1, 2011. That would be nearly a 15 percent increase over the $173,181 salary of current State's Attorney John McCarthy. Top dogs The 10 highest-paid employees in...

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Montgomery County weighs giving hiring boost to disabled

Montgomery County is considering changing its laws so that it can give hiring preferences to people with disabilities over similarly skilled people who aren't disabled. County law requires that hiring and promotion decisions for most employees, excluding managers and contract workers, be based on "merit and fitness," but the County Council's Management and Fiscal Policy Committee will look at changing its law to increase the number of disabled county employees. "I absolutely think it's the right thing to do," said committee Chairwoman Duchy Trachtenberg, D-at large, citing the difficulty the county's unemployed have finding jobs. About 10 percent of county residents identify...

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Montgomery County unions fight tuition program's halt

Irate union officials in Montgomery County said they will fight the county's suspension of its tuition assistance program, a day after the county shut down the troubled program because of "serious questions" about the types of classes county employees have been taking on the taxpayers' dime. County Executive Ike Leggett's "administration has irresponsibly approved the expenditure of tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars for programs" that weren't part of the collective bargaining agreement, the county's police union said. The Examiner first reported on questionable courses the county approved over the last three years, including Spanish lessons in Costa Rica for fire...

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Report details previous trouble with tuition assistance in Montgomery County

Montgomery County's efforts to provide publicly funded training for its employees has a checkered past, according to a report obtained by The Examiner. There are currently multiple investigations into the county's current tuition assistance program, with County Council members expressing concern that the program funded classes that have little to do with an employee's job. But 10 years ago, former Inspector General Norman Butts found a similar problem when three employees from the Division of Fleet Management Services were reimbursed a total of $32,991 in a three-year period for college training ending in 1999. Butts said the county had paid for courses that "were not essential" to...

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Montgomery County freezes tuition assistance program

Montgomery County officials have suspended a troubled tuition assistance program because of "serious questions" about classes county employees have taken. Chief Administrative Officer Tim Firestine sent county employees an e-mail Wednesday telling them that the county was conducting an internal audit of the program and is seeking reimbursement from "individuals involved" in questionable classes. Since July, The Examiner has reported on the program and several classes, including hot yoga classes, art classes, and language classes abroad. The County Attorney's Office and the Inspector General's Office are conducting separate investigations into the program. The...

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Montgomery County Council votes to keep Sligo open

The Montgomery County Council voted 7-2 Tuesday to approve spending $150,000 in public money to keep an inside-the-Beltway golf course open for the next nine months while the county tries to come up with a long-term plan to make the course financially solvent. Elected officials who supported the appropriation to save Sligo Golf Course, which is a nine-hole course in Silver Spring that is popular with seniors and beginning golfers, said it was a jewel the county couldn't afford to lose. "This funding will give us the 'breathing space' to roll up our sleeves and craft a long-term solution to sustain this valuable resource," said County Executive Ike Leggett, who advocated spending the...

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Montgomery County drivers get a speed-camera break

Small changes in state law may mean big losses for Montgomery County's speed-camera program, as the county stands to send out 40 percent fewer speed-camera tickets and lose $5 million for public safety programs, according to a new report. Currently, the county sends tickets to drivers caught going 11 miles and hour or faster over the speed limit. A new state law that goes into effect Thursday will change that to 12 miles an hour or faster. According to a new County Council report, 32 percent of ticketed drivers were caught going exactly 11 mph over the speed limit. And state law will require the county to turn off speed cameras in school zones between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. and on weekends....

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Montgomery employees taking religion courses on county dime

Montgomery County employees used a taxpayer-funded tuition assistance program to take religion courses that appear to be geared toward their own spiritual growth rather than toward their jobs, county records show. The county has paid up to $900 each for courses like "Principles of Christian Growth" and "Contemporary Evangelism" that emphasized "memorizing key Bible verses" and "restraining the flesh and renewing your mind ... (to) Christ," according to county records and online course descriptions. The tuition assistance program is supposed to help employees take classes or earn degrees that are related to their current or future jobs with the...

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MontCo wants cops to pay speed camera tickets

Montgomery County is asking the state's highest court to require on-duty police officers to pay speed camera tickets, saying the issue has "far-reaching ramifications" as Maryland readies for the cameras to be used statewide. The Examiner first reported that a Montgomery County Circuit Court judge tossed out speed camera citations issued to four speeding on-duty police officers in July, including two who were driving 50 mph and 51 mph in 25 mph zones. Judge Ronald Rubin said the police department didn't have a clear, written policy about when on-duty cops would be expected to pay any speed camera tickets. He also added that the county's speed camera policy was nothing more...

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Sudan divestment costs county $50,000

Montgomery County's efforts at divesting from companies doing business in Sudan cost the county employees' pension fund nearly $50,000 earlier this year, according to a new county report. The County Council passed a law in April 2008 prohibiting managers of the county's $2 billion Employment Retirement System from investing in companies doing business with Sudan's government in an attempt to stop the conflict in that country's Darfur region. In December, the county discovered that one company it had more than $340,000 invested in a Swiss power company, ABB Ltd., which was listed as a "highest offender" by the Sudan Divestment Task Force for its work on a large dam project that the...

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Leggett proposes $30M in midyear cuts

EXAMINER FILE Ike Leggett wants the Montgomery County school board t find $9.7 million in savings and wants $17 million cut from county departments. Pictured: Lakeland Park Middle School. Critics want long-term economic solution Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett said Thursday he is looking to cut $30 million from the current budget to make up for losses in state aid. Leggett is asking the county's school board to find $9.7 million in savings and wants $17 million cut from county departments. He also is asking the heads of tax-supported agencies such as the state's attorney's office, the county's community college and the Sheriff's Office to cut 0.5 percent to 1 percent of their...

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Firefighters play at band camp with public funds

Montgomery County firefighters went to band camp in North Carolina on the county's dole. At least three firefighters, who are members of the Montgomery County Maryland Firefighters Pipes and Drums band, attended a weeklong course at the North American Academy of Piping and Drumming in Valle Crusis, N.C., county records show. The course costs $520 a week, which includes room and board. The county has paid least $2,460 to the school, county records show. Tuition assistance funds are supposed to be used to help county employees improve at their jobs. They also are supposed to cover only tuition, not other items like room and board. The Montgomery County Maryland Firefighters Pipes...

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Probes of Montgomery County's tuition program expand

Glock handguns for $99. Yearlong yoga classes. Spanish lessons in Costa Rica. Montgomery County's tuition assistance program is coming under increasing attack for a multitude of questionable classes taken by employees at taxpayer expense. The program is supposed to help county employees take classes or earn degrees that will make them better employees and help them advance in their careers with the county by giving them up to $1,730 each a year to spend on outside training. But a lack of oversight by County Executive Ike Leggett's human resources staff has left the door open to potential abuses and fraud, critics say. The program is being investigated by the inspector general, the...

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Montgomery County buys land for new training academy

The Montgomery County Council voted Tuesday to pay $47 million for 127 acres of undeveloped land in Gaithersburg to house the workers who make public school lunches and the academy that trains police and firefighters. The 6-2 vote by the council comes days after a council panel voted 5-0 to buy only half of the parcel, a field called the Webb Tract, along Snouffer School Road near Montgomery Village. Council members said they reversed course partly because the seller offered to reduce the cost by $225,000 if the entire property was bought by the end of September. The vote is a victory for County Executive Ike Leggett, who pushed for the entire parcel to be bought as part of his...

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The 3-minute interview: Mark Farkas

Mark Farkas Farkas produced C-SPAN's behind-the-scenes documentary on the Supreme Court. The 80-minute documentary airs Oct. 4 at 9 p.m., kicking off the channel's "Supreme Court Week," which features full-length interviews with all nine current justices and two retired justices. What's going to interest people the most about the documentary? You learn about the human side of the court. *** There are things that go on there that go on behind the things that really promote collegiality. They have a lunch together after almost every oral argument where it's just the nine of them, and the rule is you talk about everything else except oral arguments. They talk about the opera,...

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Prince George's to lay off up to 125

As many as 125 Prince George's County employees will be getting pink slips by November, County Executive Jack Johnson announced Monday. Johnson said the recent $22.7 million budget gap caused by reductions in state aid made by Gov. Martin O'Malley left him no choice but to trim the county's work force. "I have tried very hard during the 18 months of this economic downturn to prevent job losses," Johnson said. "As a result of the state cuts four weeks ago, I have nowhere else to look." Johnson added that county is in a "very precarious financial position" and more layoffs could be coming. Johnson said up to 40 Department of Health employees will lose their jobs in the current round...

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Montgomery Co. funds Spanish classes in Costa Rica

Montgomery County fire department employees used a taxpayer-funded tuition assistance program to take Spanish lessons in Costa Rica that included cooking and dancing classes, according to records obtained by The Washington Examiner. At least three fire employees have taken Spanish courses in the last two years with Centro Panamericano De Idiomas in Costa Rica ranging in price from $415 to $1,306, records show. According to the company's Web site, the classes include dance and cooking classes, "movie night" and "cultural week" as part of the tuition. Textbooks are also included. Tropical adventure Extra-curriculars available at Costa Rican language schools, not...

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Taxpayers fund cops' flying lessons for years

Montgomery County police department employees have been using a taxpayer-funded tuition assistance program to take flight lessons for at least the last three years -- long before the police department had anything to fly, county records show. The county has paid more than $21,000 to Advanced Helicopter Concepts in Frederick, Md., for "basic tactical flight training" and other courses. The county paid up to $1,947 per course, records show, though the tuition assistance program is currently capped at $1,730 a year per employee. The head of the tuition assistance program did not respond to requests for comment. The county also paid nearly $7,000 to two flight companies for other...

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Taxpayers fund cops’ flying lessons for years

Montgomery County police department employees have been using a taxpayer-funded tuition assistance program to take flight lessons for at least the last three years — long before the police department had anything to fly, county records show. The county has paid more than $21,000 to Advanced Helicopter Concepts in Frederick, Md., for “basic tactical flight training” and other courses. The county paid up to $1,947 per course, records show, though the tuition assistance program is currently capped at $1,730 a year per employee. The head of the tuition assistance program did not respond to requests for comment. By the numbers Tuition assistance money paid for flight...

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Most Montgomery tuition money goes to cop-owned companies

The majority of the $1 million that Montgomery County taxpayers have paid for extra training for police officers has gone to companies that are owned by other county police officers or employ them, raising questions about potential breaches in the county's conflict-of-interest rules. At least eight training companies, which have been paid a total of about $630,000 through a taxpayer-funded tuition assistance program in the last three fiscal years, are owned by or employ county police officers, according to county and state records and company Web sites. The bulk of the money, about $550,000, went to three linked companies, including Applied Sciences for Public Safety, that are under...

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Montgomery County employees taking yoga classes with public funds

Montgomery County employees are sweating through their downward dogs on the public's dime. The county's Office of Human Resources, which is tasked with making sure that county employees don't abuse a troubled tuition assistance program, approved $3,027 for yoga classes for at least one of its own employees in the last two years, according to records obtained by The Examiner. Taxpayers paid for the "hot" yoga classes at Bikram Yoga Rockville, where 90-minute classes cost $17 and take place in a studio with the temperature set at 105 degrees. The classes were funded through the county's tuition assistance program, which allows employees to take an outside course or training if it...

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Leggett holds $25K retreat in middle of budget problems

Montgomery County ExecutiveIkeLeggetttook his senior staff on a two-day retreat that cost as much as $24,750 after saying the county government had been "living beyond its means" and proposing an increase in property taxes to fill a $400 million budget gap. The county contracted with Indiggo Associates, a Rockville consulting group, at a rate of $250 an hour to plan and run an "Executive Leadership Retreat" for up to 50 county leaders in June 2008, county procurement records show. The event was held at the county-owned Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, said Leggett's spokesman, Patrick Lacefield. The contract allotted $9,000 for consultants to interview and meet Leggett and senior staff,...

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Serious Metro crimes jump in Montgomery County

Serious crime at and around Montgomery County's Metrorail and bus stops jumped 11 percent over a two-year period, a new county report that combines statistics from Metro and county police shows. Metro's police department reported a 37.5 percent increase in serious crimes, ranging from theft to aggravated assault, at Montgomery County's Metro-owned properties from 2006 to 2008. The station with the most crime was the Shady Grove stop, which accounted for 20 percent of the 291 crimes, both serious and minor, reported to the Transit Police in 2008. That was down from 24 percent in 2007. The majority of the crimes were larceny, or theft without the owner present. Statistics from...

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Montgomery County residents upset over proposed 'Science City'

Montgomery County residents are irate over a proposed "Science City" in Shady Grove they say will bring tens of thousands of new cars to the area and "bury" them in traffic, require giant multilane highway interchanges, and destroy the character of area. ‘Science City’ plan » 40,000 potential new jobs » 5,750 new housing units » 15-story buildings » 20 percent public space, down from 25 percent green area » Phased in over 25-35 years Source: Montgomery County But developers, university officials and business leaders say the proposal is a bold step to turn Montgomery County into a premiere biotechnology and life-sciences...

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Montgomery County adds 'second layer' of oversight to tuition assistance

Montgomery County government is adding a "second layer" of oversight to its embattled tuition assistance program to ensure that taxpayers aren't paying for county employees to attend courses of questionable value, county officials said Monday. Office of Human Resources Director Joseph Adler told a County Council panel Monday that employee applications to receive up to $1,730 in county money for off-duty classes or training are now being reviewed at least twice before being approved. In additional to a human resources staff member reviewing applications, a manager also will look over applications to make sure they are legitimate, Adler said. The new policy started last week. The...

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Andrews: Wage freeze necessary to close next year's budget gap

Montgomery County Council President Phil Andrews called for freezing a proposed 10.5 percent pay raise for firefighters and to halt other county employee salary increases as part of a plan to stabilize the cash-strapped county's budget. Andrews, D-Gaithersburg/Rockville, told reporters that the county's various employee unions will need to accept a freeze on both an across-the-board raises and performance-based raises, known as step increases. "I don't think there's any way the county will be able to afford ... a general wage increase or step increases," Andrews said. The projected budget deficit for next year is $370 million, and salary freezes could save the county between $150...

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Leggett touts little-used car-sharing program to Obama

Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett is showcasing a car-sharing program to the Obama administration that effectively has cost taxpayers about $280 hour for county employees to rent a car. As a follow-up to phone conversations with Vice President Biden and White House aides, Leggett and county officials provided 25 pages filled with examples of local "best practices" that could help the Obama administration make government "more effective and efficient in making the changes that America needs." The county's car-sharing program, a pilot program that started this year, has been expensive and inefficient. So far, the county said it has paid Enterprise Rent-A-Car more than...

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Montgomery County employees take varied classes on taxpayer's dime

Montgomery County taxpayers picked up the tab for county employees to take a three-day ice climbing class, Harley-Davidson-sponsored motorcycle classes for new riders, and an introduction to poetry course as part of the county's tuition assistance program. The county also approved courses or seminars such as "The wise heart and the mindful brain," "Olympic lifting certification" and "The magic of mindful movement," for county employees to attend. In total, the county approved more than 1,100 courses for 1,732 employees during the last two fiscal years for a total cost of $1.7 million, county records show. Employees can spend up to $1,730 a year on earning a degree related to the...

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Montgomery County accuses former cop of fraud

Montgomery County will take a former county police officer to civil court on charges she committed workers' compensation fraud by lying about an injury to improperly draw disability benefits paid by county taxpayers. The county is accusing former police officer Valerie Willis of misleading the county about what caused her bum knee. County officials said Willis didn't tell the county when she applied for workers' compensation that she'd "hopped off" a pickup truck one New Year's Eve and twisted her knee while off duty. That injury came after injuring her knee twice on the job. "She deliberately hid that evidence from the county," said Wendy Karpel, an associate...

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Tuition assistance for police cost nearly $500,000 last year

The number of Montgomery County police officers who participated in a taxpayer-funded tuition assistance program nearly tripled in the last four years, raising the cost to taxpayers from $133,000 to $454,000. A large chunk of the increase can be attributed to interest in a police-owned training company that officials say may have improperly used funds from the tuition program to sell guns to officers at steep discounts. Officials said 275 police officers took classes with the company, Applied Sciences for Public Safety, in the last two fiscal years. The county has paid the company and its predecessor, Global Law Enforcement Advisory Group, almost $500,000 in the last five...

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Maryland favors furloughs over layoffs

Unlike his Virginia counterpart, Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley turned to shutting down state government and mandating unpaid leave for state workers over handing out pink slips. O'Malley cut $736 million from the current state budget to make up for lowered revenue expectations. His proposal included cutting more than 200 jobs from the state's payroll, about 0.3 percent of the 67,000 state government work force. Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine is proposing to lay off nearly 600 of 102,000 state workers, or about 0.6 of the workforce. While the percentages may not differ much, the amount of unpaid time off for state employees does. O'Malley is closing most state agencies for five days...

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State closes assisted living group home after finding abuses

A caretaker at a Potomac assisted living group house taped shut the mouth of an 84-year-old woman suffering from Alzheimer's "to keep her quiet," according to state officials, who shut down the house after discovering "numerous"instances of alleged abuse. The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene also reported that the caregiver yelled at her patients and said she didn't write an incident report when one of her patients fell and hit her head on a bedrail because the caretaker "cannot read or write English." But the chief executive of the group home, called AAA Warmcare of Potomac, told the state's investigator that she allowed the caretaker to administer medication to the home's...

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Cheerleading moms sometimes overzealous

The world of cheerleading can make adults do strange and sometimes illegal things. The most famous example is Wanda Holloway, a Texas mom who tried to hire a hit man to kill the mother of her 13-year-old daughter's rival for a spot on a cheerleading team. Holloway gunned for the mom, thinking that the daughter would be too consumed with grief to compete for the cheerleading squad. Holloway's efforts failed, and she spent six months in prison. Holloway was originally sentenced to 15 years in prison, but her conviction was overturned because one of her jurors was on probation. She later pleaded no contest to solicitation of capital murder. Witnesses at her original trial described...

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Cheerleading gyms take fight to court

A cheerleader fight in Montgomery County is taking the call to "be aggressive" to a whole new level. Competition in cheerleadingis normally limited to girls and some boys jumping, tumbling and flying for spots on private teams that can cost $3,500 a year to join. Or it's those private teams, with names like "Rapture" and "Tiny Tantrums," competing for bragging rights in the multitudes of competitions held around the country each year. But now three Montgomery County cheerleading gyms are locked in an ugly legal battle that involves accusations of poaching cheerleaders, stealing funds, setting up false Web sites and starting a whisper campaign that a rival...

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Immigration lawyer disbarred after lying about client's work history

A Falls Church immigration lawyer has been disbarred in Maryland after pleading guilty to fraud after he was caught lying about a client's past work history. A split state Court of Appeals upheld an earlier disbarment order against Jose Expedito Garcia, saying the public needed to be protected against his "egregiously poor judgment." Garcia pleaded guilty to fraud two years ago after federal immigration officials caught him after he signed a false "certification of employment" that said his client had been a caregiver in the Philippines, court records show. Garcia was sentenced to spend 10 weekends in prison and pay a $750 fine. The client was trying to get a green card to work as...

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Montgomery County fights worker's comp overtime award

Capt. Kenneth Deibler hurt his right knee three years ago when he tripped over a picnic table during a training drill. The knee was operated on, and while he recovered he served on light duty for several months, which meant he couldn't perform all of his normal duties. The county paid him his full salary while he was on light duty, and increased his hourly wage by about 20 percent so he'd make the same working 40 hours a week as he'd normally make working 48 hours -- the normal work time for full-duty firefighters, court records show. But Deibler said he "worked a lot of overtime" prior to his injury, about 800 to 1000 hours a year, and didn't get the same overtime pay on light duty....

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Maryland starts two-month tax amnesty

Maryland's scofflaws have the next two months to pay off back taxes without penalties and with interest rates cut in half, as the cash-strapped state tries to generate more income. Gov. Martin O'Malley said Monday that Maryland residents who owe income taxes, corporate income taxes, withholding taxes, sales and use taxes, and admissions and amusement taxes would get a break from Sept. 1 through Oct. 31. The Maryland General Assembly approved the program during its last legislative session. Tax amnesty in your area » The District's chief financial officer has the authority to hold a tax amnesty program during the next fiscal year, but has not announced any plans to do...

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Appeals court sides with county over police union

The Maryland Court of Special Appeals has sided with the county in a dispute over a police officer who authorities say ignored an armed robbery call less than a block away from where she was sitting in her police car but challenged her one-day suspension. The ruling, which overturns an earlier judgment by the Montgomery County Circuit Court, gives Police Chief J. Thomas Manger more control over how his officers are punished by letting him pick the officers who make up hearing boards that review cases of officer misconduct. "It's another tool that's available," said Ed Lattner, a division chief in the county attorney's office. The ruling stems from two cases of alleged officer...

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Family sues after falling tree branch kills man

The family of a man who was killed after a falling tree branch hit him in the head as he was riding a motorbike is suing Montgomery County for $6 million, saying the county was negligent in its job to trim the dead branch. Colenester Jones was riding his motorbike on West Old Baltimore Road last summer in Boyds when a 19-foot tree branch fell on his head, his attorney said. He was 48 years old. Witnesses said the branch fell with no warning, knocked Jones off his motorbike and landed on top of him, according to police. He was transported to a nearby hospital where he died two days later, police said. Jones' family is suing because the accident could have been prevented and the county...

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Appeals court sides with county over police union

The Maryland Court of Special Appeals has sided with the county in a dispute over a police officer who authorities say ignored an armed robbery call less than a block away from where she was sitting in her police car but challenged her one-day suspension. The ruling, which overturns an earlier judgment by the Montgomery County Circuit Court, gives Police Chief J. Thomas Manger more control over how his officers are punished by letting him pick the officers who make up hearing boards that review cases of officer misconduct. “It’s another tool that’s available,” said Ed Lattner, a division chief in the county attorney’s office. The ruling stems from two...

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The 3-minute interview: Bill McGregor

McGregor is starting his 28th year as head football coach of DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville. McGregor was named the NFL’s high school football coach of the year in 2004 — nominated by his former player, Philadelphia Eagles running back Brian Westbrook. And McGregor’s team was recently ranked No. 15 in the country by Rivals.com. Are you surprised by the ranking? It’s really a nice honor and I think a real testament to where our program is. This year’s team obviously hasn’t done a thing yet, but I think it’s based on the reputations of the great teams we’ve had over the last number of years. Does that put a target on your...

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My Washington: Nats, Eastern Market tops for National Opera director

Faves and raves by Mark Weinstein Executive Director, Washington National Opera PERSONAL STATS AGE: A “youthful” 53 NUMBER OF YEARS IN THE D.C. REGION: During this “tour of duty,” 18 months. But I started my career here 25 years ago and it’s great to be back. NEIGHBORHOOD: Foggy Bottom FAVORITE NEIGHBORHOOD HANGOUT Sette Osteria in Dupont Circle (1666 Connecticut Ave.) — Great pizza. Before heading back to college, this summer my son had a job waiting tables there, so I’d stop by for dinner a lot. I really enjoyed having my kid wait on me for a change! BEST MODE OF TRANSPORTATION Walking ... after I’ve parked my car. FAVORITE...

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Sheriff investigates deputies' checks to cop for guns

Montgomery County sheriff's deputies wrote $99 checks directly to a county police officer for steeply discounted handguns and don't recall paying taxes on the purchase, Sheriff Raymond Kight said. Kight's office, which is investigating whether a police-owned training company misused funds from a county taxpayer-supported tuition assistance program to offer public safety employees discounted guns, has talked to at least eight deputies who bought handguns through the training company, Applied Sciences for Public Safety, Kight said. He added that some deputies wrote checks to Detective Aaron Bailey, who works in the county police department's firearms unit; others wrote checks to Ted...

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Union sues county over buyouts

The union representing Montgomery County government employees is trying to compel the County Council to vote on a plan to offer buyouts of $40,000 to dozens of its employees. In a lawsuit, the Municipal & County Government Employees Organization said the County Council had acted illegally by not indicating whether it supported or rejected a proposed buyout plan. But the county's attorney said the council made it clear that it was rejecting the buyout agreement between the union and County Executive Ike Leggett when it deferred a vote indefinitely. The union said the long-term savings of giving buyouts to employees who were within two years of retirement would be $2.6 million. But...

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Leggett accuses helicopter critics of 'burying their heads in the sand'

Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett accused opponents of a plan to start a police helicopter unit of "burying their heads in the sand" and ignoring the benefits of testing the program for two years at little cost to the county. The county has been tapped by the federal government to receive two free hand-me-down Army helicopters that can be converted to police use. Leggett and police officials said the program would be funded by federal grants and money seized from drug dealers for its first two years as officials gauge the program's usefulness. Police said the helicopters could prove useful in catching criminals, lessening the dangers of high-speed chases and searching for...

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Company under tuition assistance probe co-owned by ATF employee

A longtime employee of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives owned one of the companies being investigated by Montgomery County officials for allegedly using a taxpayer-supported tuition assistance program to sell guns at steep discounts, state records show and county officials confirmed. ATF program manager Gary Schaible is listed in state incorporation records as a co-owner of Global Law Enforcement Advisory Group, which county officials said may have improperly used money from a tuition assistance program to give $200 flashlights to course participants in 2007. Sheriff Raymond Kight said Schaible was also an instructor for Global or the company it later became,...

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O'Malley proposing $45 million in cuts to suburbs

Gov. Martin O'Malley is proposing cuts of more than $45 million in state aid to the Maryland suburbs as he slashes a total of $736 million to help balance the state's budget. He would cut $22.5 million in aid to Montgomery County and $22.7 million to Prince George's County. The bulk of the cuts, about $30 million between both counties, would be for road maintenance. The rest of the cuts would go toward health and police services, and community college funding. The governor also wants to shut down state government for five days and lay off 205 state employees, out of about 67,000. "These are difficult times, and we have to make the decisions necessary in order to protect our...

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Budget cuts may hurt swine flu efforts, O'Malley says

Maryland's aggressive efforts to combat a second round of swine flu may be undercut by looming budget cuts, Gov. Martin O'Malley said Monday. "Might affect, might compromise," O'Malley said following a news conference at Prince George's Community College. "These are the biggest cuts that we've seen in the state budget in modern times." O'Malley is set to propose about $470 million worth of cuts to the state budget Wednesday, including $250 million to local governments. The cuts come on the heels of $280 million in fund transfers and cuts the governor announced in July to help bridge a $700 million budget gap. Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Secretary John Colmers said state...

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Cops sue county over release of records in probe

Two Montgomery County police officers are suing the county to prevent Montgomery's inspector general from scrutinizing the way the police department handled an accident involving a former assistant fire chief, court records show. Sgt. Edward Shropshire and Capt. Willie Parker-Loan don't want the police department to share the results of an administrative investigation with Inspector General Tom Dagley. Dagley is investigating how the county handled a four-car pileup on Interstate 270 last November caused by former Assistant Fire Chief Greg DeHaven, in which DeHaven's county-owned sport utility vehicle hit a police car. Soon after the accident, county officials acknowledged...

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Police tab puts county $240,000 in hole over tuition program

Montgomery County spent $240,000 more than budgeted during the last fiscal year to pay for police officers to attend outside training classes, county data show. The county's tuition-assistance program in fiscal 2009 cost $220,000 more than in the previous year -- during the same period officials say a police-owned training company may have improperly used those funds to sell guns to officers at steep discounts. The county sets aside a pot of money each year -- currently about $800,000 -- for its employees to use for continuing education programs. Once the money is gone, the county does not pay for any more courses. Employees can spend $1,730 a year. But under a deal with the...

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Leggett pushing ahead with helicopter plan despite council's objection

Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett and the county police department are pushing forward with a plan to add two helicopters to its arsenal of crime-fighting tools, despite strong opposition from Council members who say the county can't afford them. Council President Phil Andrews, D-Gaithersburg/Rockville, told Leggett last month that the Council would not approve using grant money to operate the hand-me-down helicopters. The county's poor financial shape made it unwise to take the aircraft, Andrews wrote in a memo to the county executive, whatever their merits may be. The county is facing a $370 million budget deficit next year. The helicopters are expected to cost $300 an hour to...

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Silver Spring's Fillmore negotiations drag on, developer hoping for deal in 30 to 60 days

A Montgomery County developer said he expects to reach a deal with the county within the next 30 to 60 days to build a long-awaited music hall in Silver Spring. County Executive Ike Leggett announced a deal two years ago with California-based Live Nation that would bring a Fillmore Music Hall to a former J.C. Penney store site on Silver Spring's Colesville Road. The deal would preserve the historic facade of the store, which has sat empty for nearly 20 years. Leggett pushed the County Council last year to approve $4 million in funds and special land-use rule changes that were supposed to pave the way for a deal with the developer, Lee Development Group. But the path to the deal has been...

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Tighter police disability pension rules take effect in Montgomery

Montgomery County police officers seeking disability pensions will face new rules today when changes voted on by the County Council go into effect -- though without a provision that critics say is necessary for "meaningful reform." After months of debate over a system that awarded 62 percent of retiring officers a disability pension during a recent three-year period, the County Council in May approved changing the makeup of the medical panel that reviews cases and other procedural changes that were previously agreed upon by County Executive Ike Leggett and the Fraternal Order of Police union. But the council didn't pass a two-tiered disability system that would pay less money...

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Montgomery's little-used car-share program used less in July

Montgomery County is still paying huge sums of money for a car-sharing program that almost no one is using. The county paid Enterprise Rent-A-Car $27,500 in July to rent 25 hybrid cars that were used a total of 79.5 hours -- a rate of essentially $346 an hour. Only 11 county employees used the service that month, county records show. Officials said in June that they hoped the car-sharing program would become more popular after the county reassigned 54 "under-utilized" county-owned cars from various departments by July 1, forcing employees to use the car-sharing program. But that hope never materialized, and the use of the program dropped from 206.5 hours in June to fewer than...

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Councilman says Montgomery deserves more respect from state

Montgomery County Councilman Mike Knapp said he wants Maryland leaders to remember where much of the money they are about to cut in aid to local governments comes from. "We are the economic engine of the state," said Knapp, a Germantown Democrat and chairman of the county's committee on economic development. "How far do you want to push to find out that your economic engine doesn't work anymore?" Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley said over the weekend that he expects to cut $250 million in overall aid to police departments, health services, community colleges and road maintenance, though he did not give specifics of how those cuts would be distributed around the...

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Retired Montgomery County firefighters winning worker's compensation claims

A Maryland state commission is awarding worker's compensation to retired Montgomery County firefighters who say their recent heart problems were caused by the stresses of their old job -- even if they have a family history of heart disease, smoked for decades and have been retired for more than 20 years. Associate County Attorney John Beamer, who handles worker's compensation cases for the county, said such cases from retired firefighters and other public safety officials are common. Ten to 12 firefighters who retired in 1988 have filed worker's compensation claims because of heart disease they said is related to the stresses of their job. They have been dubbed "the class of '88" by...

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Moonlighting casts shadows over Montgomery cops

The part-time jobs of Montgomery County police officers are causing the county plenty of headaches. Although the outside jobs, which range from security guards to fishing guides, must be approved by an assistant police chief and the county's Ethics Commission, the officers are on their own once approved. "We're not supervising officers while they're on part-time work," said spokesman Lt. Paul Starks. "It's not our responsibility." The county is currently investigating a police training company owned by two police officers after the Sheriff's Office said the firm may have gotten money from a taxpayer-funded tuition assistance program for guns sold at a deep...

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Gaithersburg officials probe rent deals for city employees

Gaithersburg officials are looking into how city employees were allowed to live in city-owned houses well below market rates for years, in some cases for as long as nearly three decades. One city employee, a public works supervisor who made more than $100,000 last year in salary and overtime according to published accounts, has been paying as little as $350 a month since at least 1999 to live in a 1,700-square-foot house steps away from City Hall. Bobby Johnson has been living at the house for nearly 30 years, said city officials, who couldn't find a copy of his lease. In exchange for low rent, Johnson has performed duties for the city, like locking and unlocking the bathrooms at a park....

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Three-minute interview - Bruce Macphail

Bruce Macphail is a volunteer project manager for Clowns Without Borders, a nonprofit group that sends clowns around the world on humanitarian trips. What’s the criteria for a Clowns Without Borders trip? Clowns Without Borders visits post-crisis places, usually conflict zones but also natural disasters, like tsunamis and earthquakes. The idea is to bring relief to the vulnerable children in these communities. And bring laughter and play to these children. And through that to bring attention to the plight of the youth in these places, which is often sidelined when you have so many issues existing in the community. What are some of the places you’ve gone? I was a clown in...

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Gaithersburg officials probe rent deals for city employees

Gaithersburg officials are looking into how city employees were allowed to live in city-owned houses well below market rates for years, in some cases for as long as nearly three decades. One city employee, a public works supervisor who made more than $100,000 last year in salary and overtime according to publish accounts, has been paying as little as $350 a month since at least 1999 to live in a 1,700-square-foot house steps away from City Hall. Bobby Johnson has been living at the house for nearly 30 years, said city officials, who couldn’t find a copy of his lease. In exchange for low rent, Johnson has performed duties for the city, like locking and unlocking the bathrooms at a...

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Airport seafood restaurant closes doors

Friday is the last chance to buy a jumbo shrimp cocktail at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport's most popular restaurant, as Legal Sea Foods shuts down after a failed lease negotiation with the airport and a failed bid in court for a temporary reprieve. A federal judge ruled last week against Legal Sea Foods' request for a preliminary injunction as part of an ongoing lawsuit to prevent another restaurant from taking its place. The move left the eatery no choice but to close, said General Manager Soline Simenaur. "It's been a sad week," Simenaur said, adding that most of the restaurant's 50 employees will be relocated to different locations. The chain has a restaurant...

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Overtime up for Montgomery's transportation workers

Montgomery County officials are looking into why the Department of Transportation had a nearly 10 percent climb in overtime during the last fiscal year. The county paid nearly $900,000 more in overtime to the DOT, for a total of $7.9 million in overtime in fiscal 2009, according to county data. The department, which employs about 1,400 people, used 228,000 hours of overtime during the last fiscal year, up about 20,000 hours from the year before. After years of soaring overtime costs, County Executive Ike Leggett has made reducing overtime pay a priority, and the county's oversight program, CountyStat, tracks each department's overtime use each quarter, said Chris Cihlar, a manger of...

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Metro train kills man who was on tracks intentionally

A man was fatally struck by a Metro train Wednesday morning after deliberately stepping on the tracks, Metro officials said. A six-car Orange Line train headed in the direction of New Carrollton struck the man at West Falls Church-VT/UVA station at about 11:18 a.m., according to spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein. Metro officials had not yet identified the man, but did say he was a customer and not an employee. Eyewitnesses said the man got onto the track as the train was entering the station. The man's death was more bad news for an embattled transit system that's been having a very bad summer and a miserable week. On Tuesday, a Metro police officer died following a motorcycle accident near...

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Man hit by Metro train at West Falls Church station

A man was fatally hit by a train Wednesday morning at the West Falls Church-VT/UVA station, according to Metro officials. A six-car Orange Line train headed toward New Carrollton struck the man, who was standing on the track, at about 11:18 a.m. Metro officials said. Preliminary reports say he was on the tracks intentionally as the train pulled into the station. Trains are sharing tracks in the area, so Metro riders should expect delays up to 30 minutes, Metro officials...

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County still reviewing vehicle privileges, months after incident

Montgomery County is still reviewing its policy on county employees' driving privileges more than four months after police arrested a county employee with a long history of alcohol-related convictions for driving drunk at 8 a.m. in a county-owned vehicle. The March arrest of Department of Economic Development employee Cynthia Harrison, who police records show was required to have an interlock device installed in her personal vehicle, occurred amid other alcohol-related incidents involving county employees driving county-owned vehicles. County officials were quick to acknowledge after Harrison's arrest was reported that she shouldn't have had access to county vehicles and the county...

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Johnson’s chances for higher office are slim, experts say

Prince George’s County Executive Jack Johnson isn’t making a secret of the fact he wants to continue his career in politics after his term expires next year. He’s told local media that he’s strongly considering a run for statewide office in 2010, and hasn’t ruled out taking on Gov. Martin O’Malley, who is preparing to campaign for a second term. But Johnson’s chances of success on a statewide level, either in a run for the governor’s mansion or another elected office, range somewhere between slim and none, according to political experts. “That’s going to be a steep hill for him,” said Matthew Crenson, professor emeritus...

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Montgomery employees to have access to Facebook

Bored Montgomery County employees soon will have a new way to kill time as the county loosens its restrictions on the popular social networking site Facebook. But employees won’t be given carte blanche to peruse newly posted pictures of their friends and keep tabs on old flames, said E. Steven Emanuel, the county chief information officer. Instead, they will be expected to conduct a “limited” amount of Web surfing for personal use, Emanuel said. Emanuel said the Department of Technology Services doesn’t have the resources or the desire to monitor every employee’s Web habits. But to help keep employees honest on a potentially “addictive” Web...

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My Washington: Magazine editor likes Newseum, United games

Faves and raves by Radley Balko Senior editor at Reason magazine PERSONAL STATS AGE: 34 NUMBER OF YEARS IN THE D.C. REGION: Eight. NEIGHBORHOOD: Del Ray 1. FAVORITE NEIGHBORHOOD HANGOUT Rustico (827 Slaters Lane, Alexandria). Huge beer list, great atmosphere. The menu is a cut above your average gastropub. 2. BEST MODE OF TRANSPORTATION My car. I can’t remember the last time I took Metro. I do much prefer Amtrak to flying. But don’t tell my employer. 3. FAVORITE LOCAL SPORTS EVENT D.C. United games. Smoke bombs, Screaming Eagles crazies, chanting and singing — rowdy, like sports fans ought to be. 4. BEST PLACE FOR LIVE MUSIC The Birchmere has...

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O'Malley hails visas as boon to crab industry

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley hailed the federal government's decision to grant additional temporary worker visas Thursday, saying the move will bolster Maryland's crab industry. O'Malley said the Department of Homeland Security would allow an additional 25,000 visas, on top of the 66,000 temporary visas already approved for fiscal 2009. "Today's announcement is good news for all whose livelihood depends on the crab industry," O'Malley said. "These additional temporary workers visas will allow the crab-picking houses on our shore to remain strong throughout the season with the work force they need." A severe labor shortage has prevented a number of crab-processing...

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Wheaton group to meet about overcrowding

A group of Wheaton homeowners is having a special meeting this weekend to voice concerns to Montgomery County officials about the growing number of overcrowded houses in their neighborhood and a lack of action from the county. Kim Persaud, vice president of the Wheaton Regional Park Neighborhood Association, said several small single-family homes were being run like boarding houses for immigrants and housing as many as 14 people, she said. The result is too many cars that block traffic and too much trash that attracts rats and raccoons, Persaud said. Compounding the problem is a county government that is incapable of enforcing zoning laws that are already on the books. "It's utter...

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County hires outside investigator to probe tuition aid program

The Montgomery County Attorney's Office has hired an outside security consultant to help with its ongoing investigation into whether hundreds of public safety officials tried to use money from a taxpayer-funded tuition program to buy their own guns at a steep discount. The county is hiring Robert Warshaw, the former police chief of Rochester, N.Y., and the associate director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy during the Clinton administration, to help direct the investigation, County Attorney Leon Rodriguez said. "We want to ensure that the public understands that this is an independent set of eyes on this investigation," Rodriguez said. "An independent and...

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Critics charge plenty of waste in local stimulus projects

How much would you pay for a company to take apart one desk and put together and ship two more? The federal government used stimulus funds to pay a Baltimore company $840 to do the job for an office in Reston. Though a tiny fraction of the $787 billion stimulus pie, critics say it is one of many examples of how tax dollars aren't being spent on the most useful projects. "It's only $840 but you see examples like this and you can't think that this is the stimulus people had in mind when they supported this thing going through," said Dan Holler, deputy director of Senate relations at the conservative Heritage Foundation. Holler said the public expected a stimulus that would fund...

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Prince George's cutting back on fire service due to budget woes

Budget woes in Prince George's County are forcing the county's fire department to make service cuts and rely more on volunteer firefighters to do the work of professionals. Fire Chief Eugene Jones said the moves will cut overtime pay while reducing the amount of unnecessary overlap between nearby fire stations. "We can no longer continue to operate as we have in the past," Jones said. "Financial challenges will affect many facets of our organization and require alterations to the manner by which we prepare to calls for service." Fire officials said the county has had the second highest number of staff stations of any local government in the region. Jones said the...

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County settles with victims of botched SWAT raid

Montgomery County has agreed to pay $30,000 to a family whose door was knocked in and their apartment searched at 4 a.m. by a SWAT team that went to the wrong address. The county had earlier offered the family a “couple of movie passes” to compensate for the botched raid, according to American Civil Liberties Union records filed in court. The ACLU represented Nancy Njoroge, a Kenyan immigrant who was at home with her two teenage children when her apartment was raided. The Njoroges lived in No. 202 of their Gaithersburg apartment complex. The police had a warrant to search No. 201. “The ACLU is delighted that Montgomery County had to pay damages for a serious...

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Three-minute interview - Arla Albers

Albers is a professional face painter who recently retired after 20 years of being “GoGo the Clown.” What’s new in the world of face painting? Today’s professional face painters do mostly full face painting. It’s easier, it’s faster than doing cheek art and it looks better. And the kids get a feeling out of it. In other words, they become a cat. They become a dog. And the dogs chase the cats and the cats chase the butterflies. It’s actually a feeling that the kids get out of the face painting. I take it that face painting is not a 9-to-5 job? It’s not. But in my particular case it is at least a four- to five-day-a-week job. I do birthday...

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County settles with victims of botched SWAT raid

Montgomery County has agreed to pay $30,000 to a family whose door was knocked in and their apartment searched at 4 a.m. by a SWAT team that went to the wrong address. The county had earlier offered the family a "couple of movie passes" to compensate for the botched raid, according to American Civil Liberties Union records filed in court. The ACLU represented Nancy Njoroge, a Kenyan immigrant who was at home with her two teenage children when her apartment was raided. The Njoroges lived in No. 202 of their Gaithersburg apartment complex. The police had a warrant to search No. 201. "The ACLU is delighted that Montgomery County had to pay damages for a serious...

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Funding for golf course faces opposition

Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett may have a tough time convincing the County Council to shell out big money to keep an inside-the-Beltway golf course open another year. That's because the county is facing a $370 million budget shortfall next fiscal year and Leggett has said the county needs to make midyear cuts to the current budget that may include layoffs and furloughs of county employees. "I think it makes it more difficult to justify," said Council President Phil Andrews, D-Rockville/Gaithersburg. Sligo Creek Golf Course is a nine-hole course just minutes away from downtown Silver Spring that is popular with new golfers, seniors, women, minorities and others who...

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Montgomery County looks to private eyes for help with worker's comp cases

Montgomery County is hiring private eyes to spy on employees who may have filed bogus claims as part of an effort to curb rising worker's compensation costs. County employees file more than 2,000 worker's compensation claims a year, and the county spent more than $16.5 million on settling claims during the last fiscal year -- more than a 50 percent increase from three years go, according to county records. "As in any situation, there may be employees that are taking advantage of the system, and we want to make sure they're not," said Patricia Via, a county attorney division chief whose office handles contested worker's comp cases. PAYING UP Montgomery County's worker's...

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Private eyes spying on worker’s comp fakers

Montgomery County is hiring private eyes to spy on employees who may have filed bogus claims as part of an effort to curb rising worker’s compensation costs. County employees file more than 2,000 worker’s compensation claims a year, and the county spent more than $16.5 million on settling claims during the last fiscal year — more than a 50 percent increase from three years go, according to county records. “As in any situation, there may be employees that are taking advantage of the system, and we want to make sure they’re not,” said Patricia Via, a county attorney division chief whose office handles contested worker’s comp cases. Via said she...

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Montgomery County approves cameras in police cars

The Montgomery County Council approved using more than $600,000 in federal stimulus funds to start putting cameras in county police cruisers -- 10 years after the county said it would. In 1999, the county agreed to set aside about $1 million to equip its cruisers with cameras. The agreement was in addition to a $2 million settlement with the family of Junious W. Roberts Jr. after he was accidentally shot in a Wheaton McDonald's parking lot by a police officer. Also part of the deal, which was partly brokered by the late, high-profile attorney Johnnie Cochran, the county agreed to increase the recruitment of minority officers and enroll its officers in sensitivity training. But...

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Furloughs and more layoffs could be coming in Montgomery

Montgomery County employees may be laid off or told to take unpaid leave this year to help ease the county’s budget woes, County Executive Ike Leggett said Monday. Less than a month into the county’s current fiscal year, Leggett told the County Council in a letter that the county needs mid-year savings that could include job losses because of looming state cuts to the county’s budget and a projected $370 million budget gap in fiscal 2011. Leggett didn’t have specifics on the number of jobs that could be affected or the number of days employees would have to take off, because the county is waiting to see what kind of reductions in state aid it will face. The...

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Montgomery continues with pedestrian safety effort

Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett rolled out another effort to curb the number of pedestrian deaths Monday with a series of public service announcements and videos that include emotional testimonies from mothers who lost children to car accidents. The 30-second commercials — which will air on the county cable channel — and longer videos — which will be available in high schools and adult learning centers — are part of an ongoing effort by Leggett to reduce the number of collisions between cars and pedestrians in the county. The videos cost $25,000 to make; the county has allocated $5 million during the current fiscal year for Leggett’s pedestrian...

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County starts ethics probe of officers, firm involved in training program

Montgomery County investigators are exploring potential breaches in the county’s conflict-of-interest ethics rules as part of a probe into whether public safety officers used taxpayer funds to get steep discounts on guns, county officials said. “There are issues to be explored,” said Edward Lattner, a division chief in the County Attorney’s Office who handles ethics-related issues. Specifically, county officials said the county would examine whether its policy prohibiting employees from owning or working for a company that contracts with the county department they work for was broken. Two police officers are listed as the owners of the Global Law Enforcement...

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Police have unlimited access to training funding

At the beginning of every fiscal year, Montgomery County employees rush to get their piece of $800,000 set aside for tuition assistance. But police officers need not hurry — that’s because the Fraternal Order of Police union’s contract requires the county to pay for any tuition assistance for police officers, even if the fund has dried up. No other union has a similar deal with the county. Funds for the program are given out — at a maximum of $1,730 per employee — to the rest of the county on a first-come, first-served basis. There have been 442 requests since the fiscal year started July 1, according to Human Resources Director Joseph Adler. Council...

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Cops own company being probed by county attorney

Two Montgomery County police officers ownone of the companies at the heart of an investigation into whether more than 100 public safety employees tried to use money from a taxpayer-supported tuition program to buy their own sniper rifles at steep discounts. Police Sgt. Alfven Uy and Officer Aaron Bailey are listed on state incorporation records as owners of Global Law Enforcement Advisory Group, which county officials said may have improperly used money from a tuition assistance program to give $200 flashlights to course participants in 2007. Global essentially became Applied Sciences for Public Safety a year later, according to countyofficials and public documents. An investigation by...

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Alexandria arms dealer sues Iraq for $25 million

An arms dealing company with offices in Alexandria has sued the Iraqi government for nearly $25 million the company claims it's owed for refurbishing Iraqi-owned Russian tanks. Wye Oak Technology Inc. was owned by Dale C. Stoffel and hired by Iraq in part because of Stoffel's history in working with Russian equipment as an arms dealer in Eastern Europe. Stoffel was assassinated outside Baghdad in December 2004. He was headed to the capital to collect payment on the $25 million Wye Oak is now suing for, the lawsuit filed in Alexandria's federal court said. By the time of Stoffel's slaying Wye Oak was nearly done repairing the 160 Iraqi-owned Russian tanks that paraded through Baghdad on...

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Md. board approves O'Malley's $280M cuts

The Maryland Board of Public Works unanimously approved $280 million in budget cuts Wednesday proposed by Gov. Martin O'Malley. The state is facing a more than $700 million budget shortfall, and O'Malley has promised additional cuts by Labor Day. The governor called the first round of cuts, which include about 60 state job cuts and reductions in state money for psychiatric hospitals, painful but necessary. "Were it not for these decisions we made together, the choices we'd face today would be far more difficult and Marylanders would be facing many of the nightmare scenarios plaguing other states," O'Malley said in a statement. The three-member board is composed of O'Malley,...

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MontCo Council president says he’ll ‘ensure’ scrutiny of tuition program

The Montgomery County Council will consider establishing stricter oversight measures for a taxpayer-funded tuition program that is being investigated for potential fraud, according to Council President Phil Andrews. Andrews told The Examiner that he will "ensure" that the council takes a close look at how employees are awarded up to $1,730 in tuition assistance. The County Attorney's Office is investigating the program to see whether one company, Applied Sciences for Public Safety, used county funds to sell guns to public safety employees at a steep discount. Officials also are looking into whether more than 100 county employees tried to sign up for upcoming classes with the...

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O'Malley announces first round of state budget cuts

Gov. Martin O'Malley took his first whack at trying to bridge a $700 million budget gap Tuesday by proposing a wide array of cuts to state government that include using generic drugs at psychiatric hospitals, reducing funding for stem cell research and cutting the advertising budget for state lotteries. O'Malley's proposals, which he's set to present to the Board of Public Works Wednesday, come to $280 million. Much of the money used to fill the gap -- $75 million -- is additional Medicaid funding from the federal government. State officials said Maryland is eligible for the increased funding because of the state's rising unemployment rate, which is currently about 7.5 percent. How the...

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Montgomery County investigating whether cops use training money to buy guns

Montgomery County officials are investigating whether more than 100 public safety officials tried to use money from a taxpayer-funded tuition program to buy their own personal sniper rifles at a steep discount. The county is investigating whether a local company it has paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to train its police officers, prison guards and sheriff deputies used a substantial part of that money to subsidize guns it sold to county employees. Sheriff Raymond Kight's office began an investigation last week after finding some discrepancies in some of the 14 applications employees filled out to attend a one-day $1,600 class with Applied Sciences for Public Safety. The company...

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District-based Marine charged with killing puppy

A District-based Marine faces three years in prison after police said he admitted to killing a puppy by throwing it across a room and kicking it. Lance Cpl. Jordan Darbyshire told Gaithersburg police that he had a drinking problem and killed a 13-week-old cockapoo named Tippy during a “drinking episode,” court records show. Darbyshire said he “picked up the dog, squeezed her hard, threw her across the room and kicked her,” according to police. The 22-year-old is stationed at the Marine Corps Barracks in Capitol Hill but lives with his wife in a Gaithersburg apartment. Darbyshire’s mother-in-law alerted a local veterinarian of possible animal abuse after the...

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Cuts to public programs done quick are best, budget watchers say

Cutting public workers and programs may not be the favorite part of a politician’s job, but like pulling off a Band-Aid, it’s best done quickly, budget watchers say. That’s because the cost of delay can quickly add up. “If the budget is to be cut, for most ongoing items, sooner is better than later,” the Maryland General Assembly’s chief fiscal analyst, Warren Deschenaux, told state leaders in a letter. Money in Maryland’s general fund is spent at a rate of about $39 million a day, $275 million a week and $1.1 billion a month. “The longer the delay, the proportionately deeper the cut must be to yield the same dollars,” Deschenaux...

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Public employees' jobs on the line as budgets worsen

The recession is forcing Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley to slash $300 million from the state budget by Wednesday, a move that is expected to include layoffs of state employees as public workers around the region worry about being pink-slipped. Maryland will have to cut $700 million overall to address its midyear budget shortfall as the "state budget is once again being overwhelmed by the deteriorating economy," said Warren Deschenaux, the state legislature's chief fiscal analyst. The governor has been mum on the details of his proposed cuts and whether they will include job cuts. But he has made it clear that trimming the state's payroll is a possibility. "It becomes...

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My Washington: Matt Kazam

Faves and raves by Matt Kazam Veteran comic, guest lecturer at the Smithsonian Institution PERSONAL STATS AGE: 40 Number of years in D.C.: Been here off and on since 1984. I went to three years of high school in Northern Virginia, then college at George Mason University. I moved away for work a few times, but I always came back. Neighborhood: Reston 1. FAVORITE NEIGHBORHOOD HANGOUT Hawk ’n’ Dove on Capitol Hill. It was even better when I lived on the Hill. I miss my 20s. 2. BEST MODE OF TRANSPORTATION My car. I wish I had a better answer, but at least I know my car does not stop running after 3 a.m. like the Metro. 3. FAVORITE MUSEUM The Spy Museum. That stuff...

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Montgomery County cops want copters, but council says no

The Montgomery County police department and some County Council members are at odds over whether the department needs -- and county taxpayers can afford -- two helicopters to do police work. Police officials said helicopters would be a "vital" tool in their efforts to catch criminals and find missing people, and would reduce the risks of high-speed chases. But council members are balking at the price tag of the long-term costs of staffing and operating the helicopters, which are projected at $7.9 million over five years. "Now is not the time to add a helicopter unit," said Council President Phil Andrews, D-Gaithersburg/Rockville. "Whatever the merits may...

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Cops fighting speed camera tickets hurts county's image, officials say

The four Montgomery County police officers who won't have to pay their speed camera tickets are undermining the public's opinion of the police department and the speed camera program, elected officials said. "This is a small group of officers who are refusing to pay when it appears they should have to," said Council President Phil Andrews, D-Gaithersburg/Rockville. "The public is resentful when public employees are treated different than private citizens, unless there is a valid reason for the action." The Examiner reported Wednesday that a Montgomery County judged tossed tickets of four on-duty police officers who were caught by speed cameras. Two of them were...

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Police officers busted by speed cameras get ticket reprieve

Four on-duty Montgomery County police officers caught speeding by automated cameras -- in two cases driving twice the speed limit -- had their $40 tickets thrown out by a county judge. Circuit Court Judge Ronald Rubin ruled the officers' right to due process had been violated, because the county police department does not have a written policy that outlines when on-duty officers would be exempted from getting tickets from speed cameras. Speeding is a regular part of a police officer's job and cops shouldn't be expected to remember why they were speeding weeks or months after a speed camera catches them, attorney James Shalleck said. "How are they going to recall that it wasn't...

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Plea deal means no prison time for accused priest

A former Germantown Catholic priest accused of sexually abusing a 14-year-old altar boy will serve no prison time under a plea deal reached with prosecutors. Instead, the deal between the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office and the Rev. Aaron Joseph Cote calls for 10 years probation, five of which are supervised. Cote, 57, also is supposed to undergo a sex offender evaluation and complete any recommended counseling, court records show. A judge has signed off on the plea deal, in which Cote did not admit to any wrongdoing, Cote’s lawyer said. Cote, who is now a priest at St. Vincent Ferrer Church in New York, turned himself into county police more than a year...

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Montgomery officials consider big cut to housing occupancy limit

Complaints of overcrowding in Montgomery County's homes have more than doubled in the past six years, prompting county officials to suggest essentially cutting in half the amount of people that can live in a house or an apartment. The complaints -- more than 1,300 in the past two fiscal years -- are focused in areas with smaller and older homes and apartments in neighborhoods such as Wheaton and Silver Spring. Some residents have complained of two- or three-bedroom homes in their neighborhood being filled with 10 to 12 unrelated adults who may be illegal immigrants. These kinds of houses led to parking problems on residential streets and bring down property values, according to...

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Maryland GOP beset by turmoil, infighting

The Maryland Republican Party has been marked by infighting and revelations of legal troubles and financial woes, prompting concerns from GOP loyalists that the drama will hurt any chances of a political comeback. Top lawmakers have called on the party’s chairman to resign, and state election officials have told the cash-strapped party it needs to pay back $77,500 in illegally donated funds. Adding to the problems are accusations from federal prosecutors that a former party chairman committed fraud. “It’s not helpful,” said Montgomery County Republican Central Committee Chairman Mark Uncapher, referring to the recent internecine squabbles at the party’s...

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Montgomery County car buffs fired up over proposed junk-car restriction

Montgomery County's car buffs are worried that a proposed anti-junk-car rule may hamper their hobby. County Executive Ike Leggett has proposed tightening the county's laws so that county residents couldn't store their unused, unregistered cars on their property if the cars were in the public's view for more than 30 days. The move is in response to complaints from residents that junk cars sitting in plain sight hurt the look of the community and lower property values. But one man's junker is another man's classic-that-hasn't-been-restored-yet, and concerned antique car enthusiasts say the proposed rule would make it impossible to fix up old cars without a large amount of garage...

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Death taxes in Maryland can apply to those still alive

Maryland's inheritance tax revenues by fiscal year 2007: $ 47.8 million 2008: $ 49 million 2009: $ 50 million 2010: $ 51.4 million Source: Maryland Comptroller Who knows the true intentions of the dead? The taxman does, according to Maryland's Court of Special Appeals. The court recently upheld earlier decisions that required a Montgomery County family to pay $138,518.53 in state inheritance taxes on gifts a rich uncle started giving a...

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Montgomery County ponders fate of roadside landmark

Montgomery County officials are trying to figure out what to do with the Cider Barrel, a rare beacon of the county's rural past that now sits incongruously in a sea of suburbia. The roadside attraction, shaped like a one-story barrel, opened in Germantown in the mid-1920s advertising fresh, nonalcoholic apple cider during the height of Prohibition. The stand closed in 2003, after its longtime owner, Bill Cross, sold the property to a developer. Locals fondly remember a packed store during their annual autumnal visits to the stand, which sits on the busy Maryland Route 355. "I wish I had a chance to go get their cider again É to me it was just unmatchable," said Neil...

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Montgomery County police: We were trying to help a local business

Montgomery County police said they were trying to help out a local production company when they gave off-duty officers permission to use county equipment for a mock police raid that would be filmed for a TV show. Police spokeswoman Lucille Baur said the county has given the green light for officers to participate in filming for TV shows before, including "America's Most Wanted" and a documentary detailing the Beltway Sniper drama of 2002. "We've not had a problem in the past," Baur said. But this time they did. County police officers crossed into the District, in county-owned police cars, to stage a raid in a Northwest. Now residents are upset because they said weren't told...

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D.C. neighborhood upset over fake televised raid

About a half dozen off-duty officers, who wore county uniforms and drove county police cars, were hired by a local production company to stage a police raid on 315 Aspen St. NW, which is about a quarter of a mile from the Montgomery-D.C. border. "If the D.C. police had been in Montgomery County, that's all [anyone] would have talked about," said an irate Kelly Craven, who lives a few houses down from the raided house. The filming was for a show called "Prison Wives," which is about women who fall in love with and marry prisoners, according to neighbors. The show is in development for the cable channel Investigation Discovery, according to its Web site. Filming went on for half a...

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Montgomery County to get $1.5 million in federal funds

Montgomery County is getting $1.5 million in federal money to help the county respond to disasters, including $245,000 to train and equip the county’s bomb squad to disarm improvised explosive devises. County’s emergency response wish list »45 police car cameras: $4,500 each » 100 pocket-size radiation detectors: $1,795 each » 4 medical cots: $2,500 each In a memo to the County Council detailing how the money would be spent, county officials said the money was needed so the fire department’s bomb squad could “respond to multiple incidents simultaneously to counter the emerging threats” from IEDs. The county will spend $20,000 on two...

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Montgomery County delays vote on expanding speed bumps

The Montgomery County Council delayed voting on new rules that would increase the number of speed bumps on county roads Tuesday. Council members said they wanted to hold a public forum this fall to give the public a chance to discuss all of the tools the county uses to control speeding including speed cameras and speed bumps. "We need to think more about how these [tools] are integrated together," said Council Vice President Phil Andrews, D-Gaithersburg/Rockville, who added that speeding on the county's residential streets and near schools "has been, and continues to be, a major issue." County Executive Ike Leggett proposed slight changes to county rules would allow...

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Feds hampering access to stimulus money, MoCo officials say

Montgomery County's efforts to snatch up stimulus money is being hampered by an unresponsive federal government, county officials said. "The lack of guidance on competitive grant opportunities has made it extremely difficult to develop ideas and begin the task of writing," the county's public school system said in a memo to the Montgomery County Council. The school system is expecting more than $100 million in stimulus funds, and is competing for millions more. "[The] challenges include obtaining information in a timely manner for competitive applications," echoed Tom Tucker, director of government relations for Montgomery College. Kathleen Boucher, the county's...

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Residents want Sligo golf course to stay open

Montgomery County residents are growing increasingly upset as the closing date of an inside-the-Beltway public golf course draws near. Fans of Sligo Creek Golf Course, which is set to close Oct. 1, have set up a Web site and Facebook group, and have frequently protested to the County Council. "It seems impossible to believe that this marvelous green sward of recreational opportunity will suffer the slings and arrows of bureaucratic malaise," Don Collins said in one of the more colorful letters to the council. "I will be alerting many residents of Montgomery County to scream and scream and scream about this travesty." The county has said it can't afford to keep...

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Montgomery County council rejects ambulance fees, again

The Montgomery County Council rejected an ambulance fee proposed by County Executive Ike Leggett on Tuesday, defeating the measure Leggett has pushed hard for more than a year. But proponents of the fee quickly condemned the council's vote and pledged to work to change the council's mind. "This issue is very alive," Assistant Fire Chief Scott Graham said. "It remains a good idea," added Leggett's spokesman Patrick Lacefield. "We think it's a better idea than raising people's taxes or having to cut fire and rescue services." The council voted 5-3, with Council member Nancy Floreen, D-at large, abstaining, to kill Leggett's proposed regulations, which would...

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Reverse discrimination claims common in region's fire departments

The Supreme Court's ruling Monday that white firefighters in New Haven, Conn., were discriminated against because their race touched on a familiar topic in local fire departments. And there remains a feeling among some white firefighters that the upper echelons of the D.C. fire department's leadership are mostly reserved for black firefighters, according to attorney James Maloney. "There's a feeling ... that the reverse discrimination still goes on," said Maloney, who represented two dozen white firefighter captains who sued the city in 2004, alleging that they were unfairly passed over for promotion because of their race. A jury sided against the white firefighters in...

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Montgomery County car-sharing program still not attracting users

Montgomery County government's pilot car-sharing program continues to have a tough time attracting employees to use the service, which costs the county almost $20,000 a month. For most of June, only 10 county employees used the service for a total of 180 hours. In effect, the county paid $110 an hour for the use of 18 rented cars. In April and May, county employees used the service for a total of 291 hours, essentially a $136 hourly rate. The county pays $1,100 a month per car to Enterprise Rent-a-Car for the hybrid cars, which are available on county property for employees to check out by the hour. The de facto hourly rate the county is paying to rent the cars is about double what it...

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Council to take up ambulance fee debate again

The Montgomery County Council is set to vote on ambulance fees this week — the latest chapter in a long-standing debate between the council and County Executive Ike Leggett over whether the county should charge up to $800 for emergency transportation. Though the County Council tabled a bill last November that would have given the county the legal authority to institute ambulance fees, Leggett went ahead and proposed regulations in May that would require a person who uses a county ambulance to provide information to the county for billing purposes. The council has until Tuesday to either accept, kill or put off Leggett’s regulations. Leggett has pushed repeatedly for the...

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My Washington: Abstract painter enjoys opera, Arboretum

Faves and raves by Michele Banks Painter currently displaying her work at Artomatic. PERSONAL STATS AGE: 44 NUMBER OF YEARS IN D.C.: 18 NEIGHBORHOOD: Georgetown FAVORITE NEIGHBORHOOD HANGOUT: Le Pain Quotidien (2815 M St., Georgetown). I don’t do nightspots. Also, Montrose Park (3099 R St., Georgetown). BEST MODE OF TRANSPORTATION: My car. BEST OUT-OF-TOWN RETREAT: Harpers Ferry, W.Va. BEST INSIDE-THE-BELTWAY RETREAT: The National Arboretum. FAVORITE MUSEUM: The Freer Gallery of Art (Jefferson Drive and 12th Street SW) and the Sackler Gallery (1050 Independence Ave. SW). FAVORITE LOCAL SPORTS EVENT: Whenever the Steelers are in town. BEST PLACE FOR LIVE MUSIC:...

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Police limiting ‘light-duty’ work, officials say

The Montgomery County Police Department has reduced the amount of time an officer is assigned a desk job because of an injury or other condition from an average of 249 days in 2006 to 189 days in 2008, police officials said. Taking it easy Average percentage of uniformed staff on light duty: Department; fiscal 2006; fiscal 2007; fiscal 2008 » Corrections; 6%; 3%; 3% » Fire; 5%; 4.8%; 4.7% » Police; 3.3%; 3.4%; 3.2% Source: Montgomery County government The county’s public safety supervisors said they have begun keeping closer tabs on injured or pregnant police officers, firefighters and prison guards to make sure they are not wasting taxpayers’ money...

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Metro crash victim: Ana Fernandez, 40

Fernandez of Hyattsville was a 40-year-old mother of six, according to a family friend who answered the phone at her house Tuesday. Fernandez had been living in the Washington area for 10 years and worked part-time during the evenings as a housekeeper, Jessica Guillen said. Fernandez was on her way to work when the Metro accident happened, Guillen said. She rode Metro frequently. Her children's ages are 21, 18, 14, 12, 11 and 1 1/2, Guillen said. Guillen said Fernandez was kind and acted like a second mother to her. "She was the best, what can I say," Guillen said. - Alan...

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Berwyn Heights mayor sues Prince George's County over SWAT raid that killed his dogs

A suburban mayor whose black Labrador retrievers were gunned down by a SWAT team in an errant raid said Monday that he is suing Prince George’s County because its law enforcement agencies are incapable of policing themselves and need outside oversight. Berwyn Heights Mayor Cheye Calvo said in his lawsuit that the county police and sheriff’s office frequently break the law by having SWAT teams enter innocent people’s houses without a proper warrant and “randomly and routinely” kill family pets. He is asking a judge to order the county to change its policies because the county’s leaders have shown “they lack the will and credibility to do...

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Family sues after SWAT team raids their apartment by mistake

Kenyan immigrant Nancy Njoroge had been living in the United States for a year when a Montgomery County SWAT team burst into her Gaithersburg apartment at 4 a.m., handcuffed her and her two teenage daughters, and searched her apartment, court records show. Police found nothing. The reason: Njoroge lived in No. 202 of her apartment complex. The police had a search warrant for apartment 201. After rejecting an offer from the county’s claims adjuster of a “couple of movie passes,” the American Civil Liberties Union is suing the county on the family’s behalf for unspecified damages, according to ACLU records filed in court. The ACLU said the purpose of the lawsuit...

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Montgomery County finds more irregularities in funding at child care center

Montgomery County has found more financial irregularities at a publicly funded child care center in Wheaton that previously has been investigated for fraud, county records show. The county believes there may have been “several” overpayments to Centro Familia, which contracts with the county to provide child care to low-income Hispanics, Chief Administrative Officer Timothy Firestine wrote in a memo. But he added that a complete financial picture wasn’t available because the center had not provided requested information. The Wheaton center couldn’t properly account for $900,000 of public money it spent in fiscal 2007 and 2008, Inspector General Thomas Dagley wrote...

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Suburban Md. sewer agency plucks new chief from D.C. counterpart

Suburban Maryland's water utility has picked the head of the District's water agency to be its new general manager. Jerry Johnson was set to resign as general manager of the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority this summer. He has been criticized by watchdog groups for the agency's poor response to reports of high levels of lead in the city's drinking water, but he said that situation “was not an issue” when he decided to leave WASA. The selection by the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission, which is contingent on a background check and contract negotiations, would end a lengthy and contentious search for the next head of the agency. The utility provides water and sewer...

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Montgomery County aims to preserve residential areas

Wheaton resident Geoff Patton said two boarding houses were operating on his quiet street, each with about 10 residents who were likely part of a “not-so-underground railway of hard-to-document people.” The houses, which were designed for a single family, have been filled for two years with a rotating cast of workers whose cars or work trucks are parked in the yard or are taking up a large chunk of street parking, Patton said. A maid service is run out of one of the homes, and its employees live at the house when not working, he added. The influx of people and the heavier traffic they have brought are affecting property values, Patton said. “All of us are being...

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Montgomery County proposes higher fees, deadline on construction projects

Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett is proposing increased inspections of residential construction projects in an effort to curb unfinished works that become neighborhood eyesores. The proposal would likely lead to an across-the-board increase of less than 5 percent on residential construction permit fees, according to county staff. Leggett’s bill would impose an 18-month deadline on all new construction and additions to single-family homes, town houses and other structures, such as sheds, once permits for those projects were approved, though extensions could be granted. The bill would also require inspections at both six months and 12 months after a permit was issued. And the...

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Md. water utility vows to make inspections a priority, regardless of budget

The WSSC promised Monday not to again skip inspections of suburban Maryland’s water pipes — some of which could have been improperly installed, like the recently burst water main on River Road — because of budget woes. Earlier this decade, a lack of funds led the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission, the water utility for Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, to cut inspections of its larger pipes. But after a series of spectacular breaks, including the December rupture of a 5 1/2-foot water main on River Road that trapped 15 motorists and passengers in their vehicles, the utility has stepped up its inspections and hopes to have all 77 miles of pipes 48...

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O’Malley to meet with official accused of war crimes

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley is scheduled to meet today with Bosnia-Herzegovina’s minister of defense, a man accused by Croatian officials of war crimes during the civil war in the former Yugoslavia. Defense Minister Selmo Cikotic has never been formally charged with being a war criminal by international tribunals. But in 1997, he was expelled from the U.S. Army’s Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., because of accusations made by Croatian officials that he had “commanded soldiers who killed and tortured people in and around the town of Bugojno” in 1993, The New York Times reported. Captured Croat and Serb prisoners in Bugojno were...

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O’Malley must show European trip is good for state, watchdog group says

Gov. Martin O’Malley is on a weeklong trip to Europe, following up his appearance at a D-Day ceremony in France with stops in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Estonia and Sweden. The governor’s trip will cost the state about $8,000, according to O’Malley spokesman Shaun Adamec, for airfare, meals, lodging and transportation. Part of that figure will cover O’Malley’s visit to Sweden on Wednesday, where he plans to meet with business and government representatives and to take a tour of an “eco-friendly city.” Government affairs lobbyist Craig Holman, who works for the watchdog group Public Citizen, said overseas travel by elected officials can be...

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My Washington: Food, fun, and all that jazz

My Washington Faves and raves by Danielle Westphal Jazz singer, producer of “An American Musical Landscape” PERSONAL STATS AGE: Oh my gosh, you have to know that? NUMBER OF YEARS IN THE D.C. AREA: Most of my life NEIGHBORHOOD: Old Town Alexandria FAVORITE NEIGHBORHOOD HANGOUT Joe Theismann’s (1800 Diagonal Road, Alexandria), when the weather’s nice. BEST MODE OF TRANSPORTATION My favorite is walking, but I don’t get to do that as much as I want. FAVORITE LOCAL SPORTS EVENT The Nationals BEST PLACE FOR LIVE MUSIC Blues Alley in Georgetown BEST PLACE FOR OUT-OF-TOWN VISITORS The top of the Hotel Washington, if it’s open. I really should...

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Cop car proposal would raise insurance costs

A proposal to let 205 Montgomery County police officers take their squad cars to their out-of-county homes would cost between $200,000 to $300,000 in extra insurance expenses, according to the county’s budget director. Police residences Where Montgomery County’s rank-and-file police officers live: In county » 852 In Maryland » 266 Out of state » 36 In county » 1,154 Source: Montgomery County The proposal is part of an agreement County Executive Ike Leggett reached with the Fraternal Order of Police union to secure a pay freeze this year, and would allow officers to drive up to 15 miles outside the county’s borders in their squad cars to...

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Maryland the least-free state in U.S.

Its nickname may be the “Free State,” but Maryland is ranked the worst in the country for personal freedoms, according to a study released by a local university. The state’s strict gun-control laws and restrictions on home schooling combined with restrictions against civil unions and tough marijuana laws make Maryland “the worst of both worlds,” according to Jason Sorens, one of the study’s authors. “Maryland seems to have a lot of the restrictions that conservative states have, as well as restrictions on personal freedoms that liberal states have,” Sorens said. The study used a wide swath of comparative data to determine personal...

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Pa. firm considers slots at Laurel track

A Pennsylvania gambling company is looking to revive efforts to put slot machines at the Laurel Park Racetrack as a rival effort to put nearly 5,000 machines next to an Anne Arundel County shopping mall sits in legislative limbo. A spokesman for Penn National, which runs Charles Town Races & Slots in West Virginia, said his company has held talks with potential partners to submit a new bid to put slots at the foundering racetrack less than a mile from Prince George’s County. The move is in response to the difficulty the Cordish Co., which wants to put 4,750 slots next to Arundel Mills mall, has had with winning zoning approval from the county’s lawmakers, spokesman D....

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Raises split council, irk some residents

Rockville employees will receive pay raises of up to 6.75 percent next year, despite a continuing recession that has forced state and county governments and private businesses to freeze pay and cut jobs. The city council on a 3-2 vote approved next year’s $100 million budget with a 3.25 percent cost-of-living increase for all 550 employees and varying pre-negotiated increases and merit-based increases for union and nonunion employees. Opposing the budget were Councilwomen Phyllis Marcuccio and Anne Robbins, who said the $1.7 million the city was going to spend on pay raises would have been better spent at a lowering property taxes and fees. “They really balanced this budget...

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Police officer wins workers’ comp for off-duty injury

A Montgomery County police officer who was injured while he was off-duty and had been drinking settled a workers’ compensation claim for a work-related injury. Officer Gabriel Stone agreed to accept a $250 payout stemming from injuries he received while trying to hold on to a vehicle that had just been rear-ended by his girlfriend on Ridge Road in Germantown, according to county records. According to records obtained by The Examiner, the settlement comes six months after the county agreed to pay $70,000 to a man who accused Stone of assault and false arrest, county records show, though both the county and Stone deny any wrongdoing. In court records, Stone indicated that he was...

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Montgomery County tries to keep foreclosed homes looking presentable

Montgomery County is trying to make sure its increasing number of foreclosed houses don’t become eyesores. The county has set up a Web site where residents can anonymously report vacated properties that may have overgrown lawns or be inviting to squatters. Many of the complaints are related to overgrown weeds and grass, with the county receiving more calls lately because of the spring weather, according to Richard Nelson, director of the Department of Housing and Community Affairs. “If you’ve got two feet of grass [on a vacant property], it makes the neighborhood look like hell,” Nelson said. Grass must be taller than 10 inches before it violates county...

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Montgomery STD clinic overloaded

Montgomery County’s free clinic for treating sexually transmitted diseases takes reservations at 8 a.m. for the next day’s appointments. On many days, the 27 slots are filled 15 minutes later. Roughly 300 people who call for an appointment are turned away each month, according to county records, though the clinic’s nurse administrator, Barbara Davis, said that number may include some who call the clinic multiple times. The number of people being tested and treated at the Silver Spring clinic rose by 29 percent from 2005 to 2008, while the county’s population grew by about 2 percent. The number of cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis doubled in the county...

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Montgomery coffers filling with collected debts

The lawyers tasked with collecting Montgomery County’s debts are on track to pull in $30 million this fiscal year, an almost fourfold jump from two years ago. Budget help Money collected by Montgomery County’s debt collection unit: Fiscal 2006: $16.6 million Fiscal 2007: $8.3 million Fiscal 2008: $23.8 million Fiscal 2009 (through February): $20.1 million County Attorney Leon Rodriguez said the success by the county’s debt collection unit at collecting money owed by delinquent taxpayers and bad check writers had been “beyond our most optimistic expectations.” From July to February, the debt collection unit pulled in $20.1 million — with $4.8...

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Montgomery County services mostly untouched in new budget

The Montgomery County Council approved a $4.4 billion operating budget Thursday that doesn’t raise property tax rates or reduce essential county services. Instead, the county’s final budget bridged a gap of about $600 million by freezing planned cost-of-living increases for county employees, cutting recreational and other nonessential programs, and raising parking fees in Bethesda — one of the county’s more affluent areas. Budget changes Montgomery County Council’s changes to County Executive Ike Leggett’s proposed budget: Rejects ambulance fees. Restores bus service to 18 Ride-on bus routes. Raises parking fees in Bethesda and North...

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My Washington: Jazzman touts J.V.’s, kids’ school system

Mike Thornton Jazz vocalist, Capitol Steps performer Personal stats Age: 52 Number of years in D.C. area: 14 Neighborhood: Falls Church FAVORITE NEIGHBORHOOD HANGOUT I’d have to say, J.V.’s restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd.), it’s been around since 1945. They have music every single night. BEST MODE OF TRANSPORTATION Because I live in the ’burbs now, I have to say it’s my car 90 percent of the time. When it’s nice out, my bike. FAVORITE LOCAL SPORTS EVENT Local high school lacrosse ... the George Mason High School team, I have neighbors who have kids on that team. BEST PLACE FOR LIVE MUSIC The State Theatre in Falls Church. BEST PLACE FOR...

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Montgomery County exec makes late push for ambulance fees

Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett is making a late push for county ambulance fees, saying the estimated $14 million they would bring in would help the county avoid making painful cuts to crucial county programs. But county council members who oppose the measure said they’ve been able to craft a better budget without the fee, which would charge upward of $700 per ambulance transport. The council was set to finalize its budget Thursday, but put that off until Tuesday pending word from the state on whether it will allow the county to waive $80 million for schools in next year’s budget. Leggett unsuccessfully pushed the ambulance fees in last year’s budget. He has...

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MontCo withholds money to charity because of high executive pay

The Montgomery County Council is withholding funding for a local charity in an effort to send a message that the charity pays its director too much money. The council voted to remove $55,000 in county funding for Food & Friends, a D.C. nonprofit that delivers meals to people living with HIV/AIDS and cancer, because its executive director, Craig Shniderman, made $357,447 in salary and benefits in 2007. “This situation appears abusive,” said Councilman George Leventhal, D-at large, who spearheaded the effort to remove funding for Food & Friends. According to Internal Revenue Service records, Food & Friends’ budget was more than $9.7 million in 2007. In 2006,...

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Montgomery OKs some disability reforms

The Montgomery County Council passed legislation Tuesday that would allow disabled police officers hurt in the line of duty to continue to draw a full disability pension regardless of the severity of their injury. The full council agreed to procedural changes to the county’s disability pension system that were previously agreed upon by County Executive Ike Leggett and the Fraternal Order of Police union, but was split over whether to require the county and the unions to agree to a two-tier disability system that would likely pay less money to partially disabled officers and more to fully disabled officers. Currently, disabled officers receive two-thirds of their salaries in a...

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Montgomery Co.’s automated speed cameras kept busy

Montgomery County’s automated cameras take a picture of a possible speeder about once every 40 seconds, according to a recent monthly tally obtained by The Examiner. And there will likely be a lot more pictures taken in coming days as the county increases the number of fixed cameras it operates from 30 to 60. As of March 21, the county had 49 fixed-place cameras spread throughout the county. “We’re going full tilt,” said Capt. John Damskey, the director of the Montgomery County Police Traffic Division. The devices have provoked the ire of many. A newly formed group is seeking to repeal a new state law that will expand the use of cameras to school and work...

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Montgomery attorney: Police officers get light punishments thanks to union

Montgomery County police officers caught breaking the rules almost always receive light punishments because of a disciplinary process tilted in favor of the police union, according to the assistant county attorney who handles police internal affairs cases. In 2008, one out of nine officers found by the department to have committed a serious offense received the punishment originally recommended by Police Chief J. Thomas Manger, according to Assistant County Attorney Chris Hinrichs. The year before, none of the 24 cases that went before a hearing board — which is made up of a police officer picked by the union, an officer picked by the chief of police and an agreed-on neutral panel...

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Montgomery County gives concessions to reach union deals

The Montgomery County firefighters union agreed to give up a cost-of-living wage increase in exchange for up to five extra paid days off, the free use of county gyms and pools, and a promise that County Executive Ike Leggett himself won’t accept a raise. The agreement, which was finalized Monday, comes on the heels of similar deals with the county’s police and county employees unions. The police union agreement lets rank-and-file police officers drive their patrol cars to their homes up to 15 miles outside the county, while the other deal gives 1,450 county government union members an extra 60 hours of paid leave that is equal to $2.6 million in wages. Leggett in a statement...

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Week of forecast rain dampens spirits

April may be the cruelest month, but the beginning of May hasn’t been much nicer. Soaked District residents and workers slogged through the beginning of a new workweek Monday after a weekend of gloomy skies and rain and the forecast calling for more of the same through the end of the week. “Nice day to be a duck,” remarked Nancy Huber, a vice president at a downtown legal-services firm, shortly before stepping outside into pelting rain. Few people braved the District’s soaked sidewalks; those who did were glum faced and squinting to keep the rain, which seemed to come from every direction, out of their eyes. Benches at Lafayette Square were empty, and only a...

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Council members give tentative approval to disability pay reforms

A Montgomery County Council panel tentatively approved on Monday compromise legislation aimed at overhauling the county’s police officer disability pension system that does not include key recommendations made by county officials or outside consultants. The council agreed to change the makeup of the medical review board that determines a county police officer’s eligibility for a disability pension and other procedural issues. But it stopped short of instituting a two-tiered system that would pay different amounts to hurt officers based on the severity of an injury. Instead, the legislation was amended to require that a two-tiered system be negotiated by County Executive Ike...

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More speed cameras would mean more costs, six jobs

Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett’s proposal to double the number of speed cameras in the county would add six jobs to the county payroll at an additional cost of $430,00 a year. And changes in Maryland law would mean that sworn police officers would have to devote part of their workday to signing off on the $40 tickets generated by the cameras before they were sent out, county staff said. The six proposed new employees — a senior financial specialist, three traffic enforcement technicians, one principal administrative aide and one office services manager — will join 25 other county personnel already assigned to the county’s speed camera program if...

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Swine flu containment prompts up to 2-week school closures

At least two local schools will be shut down for up to two weeks in an effort to limit the spread of the H1N1 virus or swine flu. Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley ordered the closure of any public or private school that has a student who has been diagnosed as having a “probable” case of swine flu. The move means both Rockville High School in Montgomery County and Montpelier Elementary School in Prince George’s County will close their doors for now and stop all extracurricular activities. As of Friday, two other schools, one in Anne Arundel County and one in Baltimore County, also were ordered closed. Montgomery County Health Officer Dr. Ulder Tillman asked...

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Swine flu hits World Bank, White House

The swine flu came to Washington’s corridors of power, with new cases reported Thursday at the World Bank and White House. Probable cases of the illness were detected for the first time in Virginia, and the number of Maryland residents believed to have the flu virus rose to eight, including a probable case in Montgomery County. Federal and state officials have identified more than 130 cases in 17 states. On Thursday, the White House confirmed that a member of President Barack Obama’s government entourage on the recent trip to Mexico came down with flulike symptoms and that he passed them on to his family in Anne Arundel County — three of whom tested...

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Montgomery weighs cuts for climate change programs

Montgomery County officials want to scale back some of the county’s ambitious efforts to reduce the county’s greenhouse gas emissions in order to help bridge a budget gap of more than $550 million. The county set a goal last year of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050, and has instituted a number of programs to help meet that goal. But with the county deep in the red, officials now propose to switch from biodiesel fuel to low-sulfur diesel, reduce the number of cars available for a county carpool pilot program and cut funds to buy equipment for telecommuting workers. Council staff recommended cutting almost $100,000 that County Executive Ike Leggett has...

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Three-minute interview - Janine Vaccarello

Janine Vaccarello is the chief operating officer at the National Museum of Crime & Punishment in Washington. What’s your favorite exhibit at the museum? The John Dillinger car, actually. We have it right in our lobby. It’s just beautiful, it’s from the ’30s. It’s a Ford bulletproof car. Did he use it while committing any crimes? He pretty much was always doing something wrong. But we have no idea of what specifically was done in it. He was shot in it. Even though it was a bulletproof car, the bullet went through the grille and hit him in the leg. He wasn’t caught in that car, but he was injured in that car. Do you ever get creeped out working at...

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My Washington: Longtime resident likes being near ‘major happenings’ of D.C.

Libby Rhoads Coordinator of volunteers at the U.S. Botanic Garden. Age: 30 Number of years in D.C.: 20ish Neighborhood: Rockville FAVORITE D.C. HANGOUT Matchbox (713 H St. NW). They have good food, it’s a nice vibe, and they have a good happy hour. BEST MODE OF TRANSPORTATION I am a big fan of Metro, when it’s working properly. FAVORITE LOCAL SPORTS EVENT Caps hockey. BEST PLACE FOR LIVE MUSIC Glen Echo Park, because there’s dancing involved. BEST PLACE FOR OUT-OF-TOWN VISITORS Of course, I’m going to take them to the Botanic Garden. FAVORITE MUSEUM The National Building Museum. MOST ROMANTIC SPOT I like the Tidal Basin when the cherry blossoms...

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Group pushing referendum on speed cameras

Hate speed cameras? Grab a pen. A group that is against speed cameras is trying to overturn a new Maryland law permitting their use statewide. “We believe the majority of citizens do not want them,” said Daniel Zubairi, a Bethesda businessman and former Republican congressional candidate who is helping circulate a petition seeking a 2010 voter referendum on whether to overturn the measure. Zubairi’s group, Maryland for Responsible Enforcement, already has more than 1,000 members on its Facebook page. More than 600 people have signed up for e-mail alerts, Zubairi said. “It’s been pretty viral in the week that we started this,” Zubairi said. State...

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Man who threatened CASA apologizes, blames GOP

mb threats against immigrant-rights group CASA of Maryland publicly apologized Wednesday at one of the group’s worker centers, blaming influence by “misinformation” he received at a “Republican meeting.” Flanked by several members of CASA, his father, who is in a wheelchair, and some Hispanic would-be workers, Wesley James Queen II made his apology in a basement room of CASA’s worker’s center in Langley Park. Queen pleaded guilty to making threatening phone calls and entered into a plea agreement earlier this month. He is set to be sentenced in July. He said a number of factors led him to making the calls in May 2008. “The combination of...

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MontCo special election primary set for Tuesday

The primary set for Tuesday in the special election for a seat on the Montgomery County Council vacated by the death of former member Don Praisner could have a significant effect on the direction of the council, local experts said. The council’s eight members are often split on issues concerning development and county relations with labor unions. The winner of the election for the District 4 seat, which includes Silver Spring, could become the deciding vote on major issues. “It’s a big deal,” said Council Vice President Roger Berliner, D-Potomac-Bethesda. The winner of the Democratic Party’s primary is expected to win the general election on May 19,...

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Dismissed deputy fire chief wins settlement in free-speech case

The Bethesda Fire Department has agreed to pay $259,000 to a former deputy fire chief who was fired after publicly criticizing Montgomery County’s ability to respond to a chemical or biological attack, according to the ex-official’s lawyer. Shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, former Deputy Fire Chief Lewis German told media outlets that the 150 biochemical protective suits the county had acquired through $500,000 in federal funds were practically useless. German complained that the suits weren’t widely distributed at county fire stations and hadn’t been tested on a regular basis to make sure they worked properly. After former County Executive Doug...

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Md. Senate passes budget, warns of additional cuts in coming years

The Maryland Senate passed a state budget Thursday that included a $24 million cut for Montgomery County’s roads and $15 million less for the county’s public schools, while forecasting even deeper cuts. The Senate’s budget cuts $900 million from the state’s budget over the fiscal years 2009 and 2010 — about $75 million more than the House budget passed last week. Lawmakers from both chambers will hammer out the differences in a conference committee in coming days before the General Assembly finalizes its budget. The legislative session is set to end April 13. In crafting their budgets, both chambers sheared aid to local government, including less money...

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Md. bill would broaden power of workers’ comp agency

The Maryland Senate has passed legislation that would expand the state’s authority to investigate employers who may not be paying for workers’ comp insurance, including giving investigators the power to enter businesses unannounced. The legislation would authorize hiring more investigators for the Workers’ Compensation Commission and allow them to enter any place of business — including small and home businesses — and examine and copy business records to make sure employers are properly paying for workers’ comp insurance for their workers. Senate Republicans said the measure would mean state investigators could barge into the homes of small business...

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Md. Senate tentatively OKs statewide speed cameras

The Maryland Senate approved a bill Tuesday that would allow local governments throughout the state to place speed cameras in highway work zones and school zones. Only Montgomery County has speed cameras in residential areas, including school zones. The Senate bill initially allowed for speed cameras to be placed in highway work zones statewide. But the bill was amended to include school zones, which supporters say is needed for safety reasons. “Do you care about our children? It’s that simple,” said Sen. James Robey, D-Howard County. Opponents of the bill said cameras could be placed within a half-mile of a school, effectively allowing local governments to place...

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Maryland Senate rejects delay of medevac helicopter purchases

The Maryland Senate rejected a bill Tuesday that would have delayed the purchase of new medevac helicopters until the state studied and compared the price of buying the new equipment. Meanwhile, the House Appropriations Committee approved spending $52.5 million from the state capital budget to buy three new medical evacuation helicopters. Proponents of the Senate bill said lawmakers owed it to Maryland taxpayers to study the state’s helicopter emergency medical services before approving a procurement that could top $200 million. They said the state’s dismal financial state — coupled with the assurances by the state police that the current fleet of emergency...

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Montgomery County eyes raising bus, parking fees

Montgomery County would suspend free bus rides for seniors, the disabled and county students under new cost-saving proposals by County Council staff. No free ride Proposed increases in Montgomery County bus and parking fees: Suspend free bus rides for seniors, the disabled and county government employees. Suspend Kids Ride Free Program for students during weekday afternoons. Increase two-person carpool permit in Bethesda from $70 to $100 a month. Raise fine for parking recreational vehicles on public streets from $50 to $75. The council’s staff also is proposing big increases for parking fees in Bethesda’s business district, including increasing the cost of a monthly...

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Maryland to battle over driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants

Maryland lawmakers are set to duke it out this week over whether illegal immigrants should be able to get state driver’s licenses. A bill in the Senate would require the state to issue licenses only to citizens or others who are in the country legally. A House bill would create two sets of licenses, one for citizens and those legally in the state, and another that would allow illegal immigrants who have a current license to renew. The bill would not allow illegal immigrants to obtain a new license as of April 19. Supporters of the House bill said it was a practical compromise that took into consideration that there were drivers who fell “into a special category”...

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3-Minute Interview: Neil Kerwin

Neil Kerwin is president of American University. So, your basketball team has had back-to-back appearances at the NCAA [basketball] tournament. We’re very proud of them. The team, I think, performed beyond expectations, and the expectations were high. Both last year and this, I think they demonstrated just a tremendous amount of character. They played a number of games this year where it looked as if they were going to lose to a strong team, but they always found a way to win. We played Villanova, which is really an excellent basketball team, more than head to head for what amounted to 30 minutes and ended up losing. But all of us up here are very proud of them. What does getting...

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General Assembly sends O’Malley new death penalty rules

The Maryland House of Delegates approved a bill Thursday to restrict capital punishment to murderers who leave behind biological evidence, give a voluntary video confession, or are caught on videotape committing the murder. The bill was hailed by proponents as a compromise between pro-death penalty and anti-death penalty lawmakers that would prevent the execution of the wrongly convicted. But opponents, including the state’s attorney general, said the legislation’s requirements were so narrow that it would effectively nullify capital punishment. “You have cleverly and successfully killed the death penalty in Maryland,” Del. Patrick McDonough, R-Baltimore...

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Prosecutors want tougher laws for financial crimes

Montgomery County prosecutors are pushing for tougher state penalties for financial crimes, so big-time white collar crooks such as Bernard Madoff would be punished with more than just a slap on the wrist. Legislation in the Maryland General Assembly would allow the state to seize and sell property gained through certain financial crimes and give part of the proceeds back to victims. “Our seizure laws right now are nonexistent for financial crimes,” said county Assistant State’s Attorney Bryan Roslund. “If [Madoff] were here, we would not be able to seize his apartment to try to pay victims back. We would not be able to seize money that he transfers to his wife...

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Berwyn Heights mayor wants greater SWAT oversight

Some state lawmakers had strong words Tuesday for police tactics that have led to the death of dogs during recent SWAT team raids. Del. William Frank, R-Baltimore County, said it seemed as if it was “open season” on pets by “trigger-happy” SWAT team members. Frank’s comments came after hours of often emotional testimony to the House Judiciary Committee by Maryland residents whose dogs were killed during SWAT team raids of their homes that were in error or netted only small amounts of marijuana. The biggest name testifying was Berwyn Heights Mayor Cheye Calvo, whose two black Labrador retrievers were killed in July by a Prince George’s County SWAT team...

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Traffic improvements could mean property grab

The state of Maryland is considering seizing private land to make room for extra lanes of traffic around Bethesda’s National Naval Medical Center, which is expecting 4,000 more visitors each day as Walter Reed Army Medical Center moves to the Rockville Pike campus. Easing gridlock Intersections the State Highway Authority is considering for “major” improvements: Old Georgetown Road and West Cedar Lane Rockville Pike and Cedar Lane Rockville Pike and Center Drive/Jones Bridge Road Connecticut Avenue and Kensington Parkway/Jones Bridge Road The National Institutes of Health, a Catholic girls school and homeowners are among those who could lose land as the state...

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Maryland looking to make big cuts to local government

Proposed cuts of $37 million in state aid to Montgomery County are expected to mean further cuts in local programs and services. Charging for soda fountains Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot says counties should be enforcing a nearly century-old law that established a $25 to $60 annual soda fountain license fee. Franchot’s office says the fees aren’t just for places where soda jerks work, however. All restaurants, convenience stores and other places with soft drink dispensers would be charged the fee for each soda fountain they operate, according to a recent memo. - AP Last week the state House Appropriations Committee sliced roughly $480 million in the state budget,...

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O’Malley designates $6 million from federal stimulus for WSSC

Suburban Maryland’s water utility will receive $6 million in federal stimulus money from the state, far less than the $75 million the agency wanted. The state Department of the Environment approved $119.2 million in funding for 95 water projects statewide. The “much-needed” federal dollars would help safeguard the state’s drinking water as well as provide money for new jobs, Gov. Martin O’Malley said. The state received $3.7 billion in requests for funding, including 23 projects totaling $75 million from the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission, the water and sewer utility for Montgomery and Prince George’s counties. The state awarded the WSSC a...

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Hispanic gang violence on the rise in Montgomery, police chief says

Montgomery County is experiencing an increase in violence among notorious Hispanic street gangs, including MS-13 and the Latin Kings, the county’s chief of police said Thursday. Chief J. Thomas Manger said there was no apparent reason why gangs were targeting other gangs, apart from their mutual hatred of each other. “The only reason they need is to be in a different gang,” Manger said after a Montgomery County Council Public Safety Committee meeting. Manger said a recent stabbing in Aspen Hill highlighted the “totally random” nature of gang violence in the county. Police have charged two teens in connection with the March 11 stabbing of a 20-year-old...

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Auto thefts fall in Montgomery County

Montgomery County police received 225 fewer reports of stolen vehicles last year, a “bright spot” in mostly unchanging crime statistics, according to the county’s police chief. The county saw small increases in the number of murders, rapes and assaults last year compared with the previous year, while the number of thefts rose by nearly 9 percent, said a report by Police Chief J. Thomas Manger set to be presented to the County Council today. “The detectives in our auto theft section are doing a great job at making arrests and reducing the number of vehicle thefts,” Manger said in his report, adding that “by any measure, Montgomery County continues to...

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Ex-San Antonio water chief picked to head area utility

The heads of Montgomery and Prince George’s counties announced Tuesday that they have selected a former water executive from San Antonio to head the beleaguered regional water utility. But the man they have tasked with fixing the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission’s crumbling infrastructure and repairing sore feelings among commissioners has a history of bad breakups with his former employers. Prince George’s County Executive Jack Johnson and Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett called David Chardavoyne, 61, an “outstanding” candidate for chief executive and general manager of the WSSC. They said his leadership would help unite the commission and...

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Aide: Leggett likely to cut jobs

Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett is looking at cutting “a couple of hundred” of county jobs in his upcoming proposed budget, his spokesman said Thursday. Leggett’s proposed budget, which he is scheduled to present Monday, must balance a projected budget shortfall of more than a half-billion dollars. “Likely, there will be job cuts,” Leggett spokesman Patrick Lacefield told The Examiner. “It could be a couple of hundred.” Lacefield said the budget was still being finalized, but said Leggett’s priorities had been to protect funding for public safety, education and “help for the most vulnerable.” County Council Staff...

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Montgomery businesses resist Leggett’s economic stimulus proposals

Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett’s proposals to jump-start the county’s economy by allowing builders to defer paying taxes and fees is meeting resistance from the County’s Council staff and business development officials. Leggett has proposed allowing builders to put off paying county fees and taxes for a year and extending the life of inactive building permits by six months, saying the moves would “help to encourage new construction, which is aimed at retaining existing jobs and creating new job opportunities.” Housing sales have plunged in the county in last two years; the average new condominium price, for example, dropped from $473,746 in 2006 to...

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Maryland could shift millions in costs to Montgomery

Montgomery County’s budget woes could worsen if state elected officials approve shifting some of the cost of running the government from the state to the county. County staff presented a list of 12 items to the County Council recently that Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley or the General Assembly’s Department of Legislative Services have proposed cutting or shifting to the county. The cost would be in the tens of millions. The proposals are widespread, ranging from reductions in state money for special education services to transferring some of the cost of housing state prisoners to the county. Some of the proposed cost shifts to the county will be “backfilled”...

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Md. lawmaker wants smoking banned in cars with youngsters

A Maryland state lawmaker wants to ban smoking in cars carrying young children. The proposed legislation by Sen. Mike Lenett of Montgomery County would fine smokers who light up in cars with children under 8 as passengers. The maximum fine would be $50. “This is not an anti-smoking bill,” Lenett said in his prepared testimony to a Senate committee. “It is a children’s health bill.” Four other states — Arkansas, Louisiana, California and Maine — have enacted similar legislation and 21 others are considering it, Lenett said. A 2006 report by the U.S. surgeon general said that even brief exposure to secondhand smoke could be harmful to children...

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My Washington: Alison Fraser

Faves and raves by Alison Fraser Director of the Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at the Heritage Foundation PERSONAL STATS AGE: 39 ... again NUMBER OF YEARS IN D.C.: 5.5 NEIGHBORHOOD: Vienna FAVORITE NEIGHBORHOOD HANGOUT Vienna Inn. Great atmosphere (casual is an understatement), and you can't beat the food — Vienna ale, dogs and chili cheese fries. Come and hang out any time — especially after a round of golf — and you're sure to run into friends. For more upscale, got to be Bazins. Stop in for a nice glass of wine if you're in a hurry. In town, got to be the Monocle ... or the patio at La Luna on a warm summer afternoon. FAVORITE MODE OF...

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Prince George’s considering 320 job cuts to fix budget gap

Prince George’s County is considering cutting 320 jobs, mostly public safety positions, to bridge its projected $132 million budget shortfall. County Executive Jack Johnson’s official budget is due March 16, but a list of proposed cuts his office is considering was making the rounds last week. Johnson’s spokesman on Friday would neither confirm or deny the accuracy of the list, but added that discussions about job cuts have “been on the table since day one.” “If we don’t get the additional revenues, which we need to get from Annapolis … the executive has said that we will see … cuts and additional furloughs,” said Jim Keary,...

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Council pressures Leggett to back off ambulance fees

Montgomery County Council members pressed County Executive Ike Leggett to keep a projected $13 million in ambulance fee revenues from being included in the coming fiscal year’s budget. Leggett’s proposal to collect ambulance fees has drawn strong criticism from some council members and the county’s volunteer firefighters, but Leggett says the money is needed to help offset the county’s yawning budget gap. “It’s $13 million and we’re facing a $520 million gap,” said Patrick Lacefield, Leggett’s spokesman. Leggett included ambulance fees last year in his budget proposal for this fiscal year, but they were removed by the council. On...

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Montgomery executive asks for tougher drunken-driving laws

Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett on Thursday asked state lawmakers to strengthen traffic laws, just days after he was hit by an alleged drunk driver. Leggett wrote a letter Thursday to the House Judiciary Committee in Annapolis asking members to support a bill that would mandate placing Breathalyzers wired to a vehicle’s ignition, called ignition interlock devices, into the car of convicted drunk drivers. The device prevents drivers from starting their vehicles when their blood-alcohol readings are above the level at which they are presumed drunk. Leggett and his wife, Catherine, were passengers in a county-owned Chevrolet Suburban on Sunday when the vehicle was broadsided...

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Officials, activists in Prince George’s say they were snubbed by O’Malley

Some elected officials and community activists in Prince George’s are upset that Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley didn’t attend a meeting they had called to discuss federal stimulus money spending in the county. Seat Pleasant Mayor Eugene Grant said O’Malley had neglected Prince George’s County in the past. “We want the governor to understand and to remember who it was that put him into office,” Grant said Wednesday. “It was the people of Prince George’s County.” Grant and others in attendance Tuesday at Central High School in Capitol Heights estimated as many as 300 people showed up, including about five local mayors and two...

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Laurel Park racetrack owner files for bankruptcy

The Canadian-based company that owns Laurel Park racetrack filed for bankruptcy Thursday, adding another hurdle to the company’s efforts at putting slot machines at the track. Magna Entertainment Corp. said it filed for bankruptcy because it needed a “comprehensive financial restructuring.” “Simply put, MEC has far too much debt and interest expense,” Frank Stronach, Magna’s chairman and chief executive officer, said in a statement, adding that the current recession, global credit crisis and downturn in the U.S. housing market had contributed to the company’s poor financial situation. Magna has assets of slightly more than $1 billion and owes...

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Bills to shift teacher pension costs likely dead

Efforts in the Maryland General Assembly to shift some of the costs of teacher pensions from the state to counties are likely dead this year, said Montgomery County officials, who vowed to continue to fight any future attempts. Money from the federal stimulus package has allowed Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley to put $329 million toward projected pension cost growth for the next two years, effectively ending debate in Annapolis over whether the state will continue to cover all teacher pension costs, said Melanie Wenger, director of the county’s office of intergovernmental relations. “[The stimulus] takes it off the table for the year,” Wenger said. But the...

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Montgomery cuts overtime to safety workers by 13 percent

Montgomery County’s public safety departments scaled back the amount of overtime they paid last year by 13 percent, reversing a trend of escalating payments that had alarmed some elected officials. County fire, police, corrections and transportation staff accounted for $35 million in overtime pay in 2008, down $5.3 million from the year before, according to county statistics. The number of overtime hours for those departments in that time period dropped from 960,827 in 2007 to 806,546 in 2008. Montgomery officials on Tuesday called the reduced overtime pay and hours a “success story” that showed their efforts at increased oversight and accountability were paying...

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Eight in running for Montgomery Council seat

Eight candidates have filed to run for a vacant seat on the Montgomery County Council, including a current school board member, a state delegate and a veteran candidate who first ran for public office in 1970. So far, five Democrats, two Republicans and a Green Party candidate are running for the 4th District seat left open when Councilman Don Praisner died in January after cancer surgery. Praisner won a special election last year to replace his wife, Marilyn, who died while in her fifth term on the council. Among the Democratic candidates is school board member Nancy Navarro, who lost to Praisner by 370 votes in last year’s Democratic primary. Also running in the Democratic...

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O’Malley calls for ‘rational regulation’

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley proposed Monday to give the state government the power to order construction of new energy plants, reversing a decade of deregulation of electric utilities. “Deregulation has failed us,” O’Malley said in a statement. “Rather than relying on market forces that have failed to deliver for us, we’ll put those important decisions about securing our energy future into the hands of the Public Service Commission.” O’Malley’s proposed legislation would give the commission a say on when and where new power plants are built, but stops short of full regulation — an action the governor said was too...

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MoCo police want more stringent laws for selling on eBay

Montgomery County police want to strengthen county laws to make it harder to sell stolen goods on eBay — a move some merchants selling through online auctions said wasn’t needed. Police and the county’s Office of Consumer Protection are supporting proposed legislation that would require eBay retailers — individuals or businesses that sell customers goods on the online auction site for a fee — to report their merchandise to police in the same way pawnbrokers do. Under current county law, pawnbrokers have to report all their transactions to police and hold items for a certain period of time. Police said the law, which was written in the early 1980s, has...

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Montgomery council member wants to ban new brick walkways

Brick surfaces hinder disabled people and shouldn’t be part of any new sidewalks, streets or other public areas, according to a Montgomery County councilwoman. Councilwoman Nancy Floreen said brick surfaces are uneven and inconvenient not only for disabled people, but for seniors and those pushing baby strollers. Plus, she said, they are more expensive than concrete or other alternatives. “These days, I think it’s an extra that we just can’t afford,” Floreen said. Floreen introduced a resolution last week banning brick surfaces. The proposal wouldn’t affect construction projects that have already been approved and would allow for brick trim to be...

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MontCo state lawmakers look to toughen WSSC regulations

Montgomery County lawmakers are pushing for greater oversight and increased regulation for the embattled Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission. “There’s a lot of anger directed toward the WSSC, at least in the Montgomery County delegation,” said Del. Saqib Ali, D-Gaithersburg. “I mean look, our roads are exploding ... and they’re bickering.” The county’s state lawmakers have proposed legislation that would require the water utility, which serves Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, to release its financial information more widely, protect whistleblowers who report fraud and waste in the agency, and require some measure of bicounty...

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Montgomery County’s budget hole expected to grow to nearly $520M

Montgomery County’s budget deficit is expected to grow by an additional $70 million, bringing the county’s estimated operating budget gap to about $520 million, Montgomery budget officials said Tuesday. Lower-than-expected revenues from county income taxes — caused by a worsening stock market — are mostly to blame, county Director of Finance Jennifer Barrett told the County Council. And prospects of collecting higher revenues from capital gains taxes, as in previous years, are slim, she said. “The outlook is so much worse in terms of the length of this recession,” Barrett said. She added that the “good news” was that the county’s...

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Montgomery officials object to $20 million request for public housing upgrades

Montgomery County’s top elected officials are balking at a request for $20 million to renovate the county’s public housing units. The request, from the county’s Housing Opportunity Commission, is for “ongoing rehabilitation” to bolster the “curb appeal” of the county’s 1,555 public housing units. HOC officials said proposed renovations would include modernizing kitchens and bathrooms; replacing roofs, carpets, windows, doors and appliances; and improving fencing, lighting and landscaping. The county already has approved spending $1.25 million a year to cover any shortfall of federal funds for the upkeep of the county’s dozens of...

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Economists question job numbers in OMalley transportation plan

Local economists are questioning Gov. Martin O’Malley’s promise that proposed transportation projects paid for with federal stimulus money will support 10,000 jobs statewide. O’Malley earmarked $365 million of federal funds last week, including $85 million on transportation projects in the Washington area that state officials said would keep or create 2,400 area jobs. “We are acting immediately to get transportation projects out the door so we can preserve jobs, protect families and improve the economy in every region of our state,” O’Malley said. “The aggressive action we are taking to maximize the benefit of the federal dollars [is] all about...

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Montgomery County can't account for $900,000 to child care center

Montgomery County's Department of Health and Human Services can't account for more than $900,000 it paid to a child-care center for Latino immigrants founded by a local school board member, according to the county's inspector general. The county approved 70 invoices to Centro Familia in fiscal years 2007 and 2008 without verifying the “validity and appropriateness” of the payments, Inspector General Thomas Dagley wrote in a memo to the County Council on Wednesday. Also, Centro Familia was unable to provide accounting records to justify the county's payments, raising “significant concerns about … possible fraud, waste or abuse,” Dagley's office...

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