Postponement problems
Who: The National Football League
What: They postponed the Ravens’ game against Houston because, well, no one wants to play in a hurricane.
Why it’s a bad idea: The Ravens spent their entire week preparing to play the Texans, and the game was postponed — not geographically moved, as they’ve done for previous hurricanes, but postponed. Now we don’t get a bye week. Sure, they can call the postponement our bye week, but the Ravens spent their time prepping for the Texans — not resting. They should have postponed the game earlier so that we could get some real rest in. It’s not like we didn’t know the storm was coming, now was it?
Why they are doing it: They thought they were doing the right thing, but the right thing would have been to postpone the game earlier and give our guys some real rest.
Where to vent: nfl.com
DIM BULB
Padlock privilege out of control. City officials shut down a liquor store because there was too much crime in and around it.
OK, so it sounds like the store owner didn’t call 911 when he should have. Maybe. If there’s a crime, charge him with a crime. If not, leave him alone. Don’t just shut his business down, because he’s a victim. Since when has not stopping crime been a punishable offense? Not allowing Chang Yim to make money to pay his rent isn’t the way to get crime down. Abandoned businesses will probably make the problem worse, long-term. There has to be another solution — can’t we find a way to help business owners respond to crime problems instead of not even trying?
Give a hoot
Don’t pollute. ExxonMobile Corp. agreed to pay Maryland $4 million for a 25,000-gallon leak at a Baltimore County gas station in 2006.
The Details: Maryland Department of the Environment hit the oil giant with the biggest civil penalty in state history for groundwater contamination at the Jacksonville site and extracted a promise of ongoing cleanup under the threat of $1 million annual penalties.
The deal won’t benefit victims, according to the Greater Jacksonville Association. But at least it may help companies to understand the reality that it’s cheaper to do right than wrong.
Justice denied
Wife-strangler Christopher O’Brien got house arrest as part of his manslaughter plea deal last year in the 2006 killing. What? Yes, he did. Then he could not handle even that.
The Details: The judge must have had a good reason to approve this deal custom-tailored to crush faith in our criminal justice system, but at least that system didn’t buy O’Brien’s string of excuses for violating house arrest. He’s on his way back to prison for three years.
Three years? Oh, by the way, his wife is still dead. Who can blame citizens for thinking that perhaps justice is not always served?
Reform delayed
Baltimore City officials put profligacy ahead of growth in delaying property tax reform because — shocker — revenue from transfers is down in a bad economy getting worse.
The Details: Sure, when it comes to politicians delaying government reforms, any excuse is a bad excuse. The very solution to bipolar-disordered transfer and recordation revenue dependency — down 48 and 51 percent year over year respectively — is lower property taxes, increasing value, growing the grand list and generating more transfers by doing what? Cutting property taxes. So, delaying property-tax reform because transfer revenue drops is more than a non sequitur, it’s just plain crazy.
‘Legal’ (mind) games
State law allows legal video gaming machines in establishments that sell alcohol if they’re used for “amusement only.” How amusing.
The Details: 7,200 establishments pay a pittance to have the games. The “amusement only” thing is an open joke. Comptroller Peter Franchot’s recent crackdown merely highlights the impossibility of policing this farce. His agents can check about 100 a month. So, every 72 months somebody has to worry about getting caught. The big problem is that if slots are approved, these machines will leach revenue away. We should just eliminate them.
Oops, gotta go!
Baltimore City unions are complaining because a new rule says they can’t talk on their personal cell phones and operate city vehicles at the same time.
The Details: They need to stop complaining because this new rule might help employees do their jobs better — it might even save a life or two. No one wants to see someone driving a garbage truck or a police car chit-chatting away on their cell phone when they’re supposed to be on the job.
Banking on it
Bank of America Chairman and CEO Kenneth Lewis handed $500,000 to Enoch Pratt Free Library Thursday for 21st-century upgrades to this outstanding 19th-century community resource.
The Details: About 40 percent of Baltimore households have no Internet access. Enoch Pratt made a revolutionary declaration 125 years ago: “My library shall be for all, rich and poor without distinction of race or color.” Now that means a lot more than books. Bank of America honors Pratt’s tradition. And Lewis, who is at the helm of our nation’s largest bank during the worst financial storm in eight decades, must be commended for taking the time to show up personally and deliver a vital message: The library “is an important economic driver in Baltimore’s ongoing revitalization.”
Slot ballot spot
Maryland’s highest court ruled that the ballot question on our slots amendment is OK as long as the state adds the word “primary.”
The Details: The seven Court of Appeals judges put it in front of “purpose of raising revenue for education” to indicate to voters that there are secondary, tertiary and even more purposes. Opponents claimed they wanted the whole divvy listed on the ballot and plumped into our fundamental document. That would have encumbered voters, cluttered the constitution and locked out funding changes to meet future needs. “Education” is on the ballot because that is the one thing we want to guarantee no future legislature can change.
Fashion for arts
Baltimore’s own international fashion maven Ruth Shaw put on two fashion shows to benefit Baltimore School for the Arts.
The Details: The Cross Keys boutique entrepreneur raised money for new sets for BSA’s legendary annual student production of “The Nutcracker.” The show is one event that involves students from all grades. Models from New York, D.C. and Philadelphia strutted Shaw’s fall collection. Now the production can get much-needed new sets and keep ticket prices low.
Google good
Google co-founder Sergey Brin and his family donated $1.5 million to the University of Maryland School of Medicine to expand Parkinson’s disease research.
The Details: Brin’s mother, Eugenia, has Parkinson’s. The endowment establishes a professorship that enables continuing and expanding database research into “the natural history of the disorder and kinds of factors that make a difference,” said Dr. Lisa Shulman, the first professor. Brin is a UM College Park grad, his brother is a senior there, and his father was a professor.
“If you’re looking for, in corporate parlance, a white knight to come and save your company and partner and merge, you couldn’t find a more reputable and stronger white knight than Warren Buffett.” – Gov. Martin O’Malley discussing the sale of Constellation Energy to a company owned by Buffet
