Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Montgomery County Council meets most Tuesdays in Rockville.
All nine Montgomery County Council members are expected to vote "yes" on a $4.8 billion budget for fiscal 2014 at 9:30 a.m. Thursday in Rockville. It will be the last council session before a three-week recess. Key county agencies, including police, fire and rescue, schools and health and human services will receive more aid and new positions, while property taxes will increase by 1.8 cents, to $1.01 for every $100 of assessed value under the tentative plan, Patch reported last week. Click here to read more about the budget agreement. The council will reconvene on June 11. (Read the entire council agenda, attached to this article.)
The Montgomery County Executive answered questions in an hour-long live chat Tuesday.
County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) went online Tuesday to answer questions from county residents. Here are some of the questions he received: Answers to these questions and more can be found here on the Live Discussion with Ike Leggett transcript page.
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Jordan Cooper may be young, but he's not inexperienced, and he's running to be a delegate in the Maryland General Assembly.
Jordan Cooper may not have reached his 30th birthday yet, but he already has a vision of how he can help Montgomery County. Last month, Cooper—a Democrat—announced that he is running in the November 2014 election for the position of District 16 delegate to the Maryland General Assembly. Cooper, 28, is 2003 graduate of Walter Johnson High School. Born and raised in the Bethesda area, he served as a page for the Maryland General Assembly in high school, taught high school civics in DC, worked in Baltimore as a legislative aid for two years, earned a master's degree in health policy from Johhs Hopkins University and has been volunteering in the community since he was a child. He's also worked on about a dozen campaigns, but this is his first…
Monday, May 20, 2013
Delaney: 'Doug Duncan’s record speaks for itself and his values and expertise are well-known around our county.'
U.S. Rep. John Delaney on Saturday endorsed Douglas M. Duncan at the former Montgomery County Executive's first major campaign event in his bid to regain his old job. “Doug Duncan’s record speaks for itself and his values and expertise are well-known around our county,” Delaney (D-Dist. 6) of Potomac said in a statement released by Duncan’s campaign. “I know Doug has the long term vision to make our county a great place to work, live, start a business, raise a family, and he has a plan to make Montgomery work.” Duncan, a Democrat, served three terms as county executive from 1994 to 2006. In 2006, he sought the Democratic nomination for governor, before dropping out of the race, citing depression. After a hiatus, Duncan has decided to re-…
Sunday, May 19, 2013
What advice did the first lady give graduates? Will electricity rates go up - again? Get all the Maryland news with one click on Patch.
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Sunday, May 19
By Patch Staff It was a big news week in Maryland last week, with a visit by the first lady, a commuter nightmare in Montgomery and a heads up for a sixth casino in the state. All the headlines from 48 Patch sites across Maryland: Berliner Calls for Better Electricity Service with 'Utility 2.0' Montgomery County Council Member Roger Berliner asked the Maryland Public Service Commission to require that substantial changes be made to electricity services in the state. Meanwhile, Pepco is asking for permission to raise rates. Michelle Obama to Bowie State Grads: It's Time to Feel Hungry Again In a speech rich with historical references, the first lady reminded the BSU class of 2013 why education is important. Report: Quince Orchard Students…
Maryland looks to buses to loosen traffic-tied I-270.
By Nicole Macon, Capital News Service When Margie Weaver accepted a job in North Bethesda, she didn’t think much about driving 42 miles from her home in Unionville to her workplace—until a trip she thought would take her about 45 minutes took up to two and a half hours in traffic on Interstate 270. “When you add that [commute] on to an eight-, nine-hour day, you’re 14 hours away from home,” Weaver said. Because she needed her car for work, Weaver had no choice but to drive each day. She tried to change her schedule to avoid peak travel times, but eventually quit her job after about a year to work closer to home. Now Weaver helps link Frederick drivers with others who share similar commutes and helps residents plan routes that reduce the …
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Gaithersburg, Ft. Meade, Bethesda, Columbia and College Park could lose some public transportation options.
The Intercounty Connector could lose three of its existing five commuter bus routes by Aug. 1, 2013, according to The Washington Post. Based on low ridership numbers, the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) is considering axing three commuter bus routes, including: The article notes that initial supporters of the toll highway, which stretches for 18 miles between I-270/I-370 and I-95/US 1, hyped the highway's ability to provide bus transportation. Now, 60 percent of those bus routes, which provided peak-hour weekday service, could end in the coming months. The MTA has scheduled a number of public hearings in the first week of June: If you are unable to attend one of the meetings in person, the MTA will accept comments with a name and …
'People,' 'testified' and 'college' also were big in Nancy Navarro's budget statement.
When Montgomery County Council President Nancy Navarro summarized the fiscal 2014 county budget, naturally, the words "county," "budget" and "Montgomery" featured prominently in her statement. Council members tentatively approved the spending plan in a unanimous straw vote Thursday. Other words that Navarro was fond of in describing the $4.8 billion plan: "percent," "funding," "college," "testified," "people" and "providing." See what else Navarro (D-Dist. 4) of Silver Spring thinks of the budget in the word cloud above. Read Navarro's statement here. What words would you use to describe the Montgomery County budget? What would be the big words in your word cloud?
Friday, May 17, 2013
High-profile Maryland bills on firearms and funding state transportation projects became law.
Two of the most controversial bills Maryland state lawmakers grappled with this session became law Thursday. Gov. Martin O'Malley, flanked by Senate President Thomas V. "Mike" Miller, House Speaker Michael Busch and Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, signed 268 bills into law. Among them were the Transportation Infrastructure Investment Act of 2013 which increases the state's gas tax, and the Firearm Safety Act of 2013, a restrictive gun control bill. The gun control measure was an important part of O’Malley’s legislative priorities, but was widely contested by Republicans in the General Assembly. Under the law, more than 40 types of guns are banned in Maryland including most semi-automatic rifles. In addition, digital fingerprints of gun owners are …
Thursday, May 16, 2013
The new post office will not affect the operation or location of the post office at 6900 Wisconsin Ave.
Bethesda is slated to get another post office, and the U.S. Postal Service is asking residents for advice on where to locate it. The new post office will be about 2,000 square feet, will offer retail and customer service, and will have post office boxes. "We’re talking about a small, storefront operation," Richard Hancock, a real estate specialist for the Postal Service, told a small group of Bethesda residents at a meeting Wednesday evening at the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services Center. The new post office won't replace anything, and has nothing to do with last year's closure of two Bethesda post offices (at 7001 Arlington Rd. and 7400 Wisconsin Ave.) to consolidate their operations at one location, 6900 Wisconsin Ave. "I’m not …
Timothy
8:22 am on Tuesday, May 21, 2013
I wonder if Delaney will backpedal should Leggett decide to run again. Notice how careful Delaney was NOT to criticize Leggett; Delaney even went out of his way to praise him. Sounds like Delaney is more reciprocating Duncan's endorsement of him than a full evaluation and choice among the potential candidates for Executive. more ›