Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon wasn’t the only Democrat to be convicted in court this week. Annapolis Alderman Samuel Shropshire (D-Ward 7) was convicted after a one-day bench trial for groping a Naval Academy midshipmen.
The Capital says that Shropshire was found guilty by Judge Paul F. Harris Jr. of second-degree assault and fourth-degree sex offense and will be sentenced in February. Shropshire, 61, will be leaving office next week after he decided to run for mayor in the primary. He came in last place with just nine votes.
One of the big stories that has been popping up since I was busy with school is the vote on whether to approve a slots parlor to be built at the Arundel Mills Mall in Hanover.
The last development was the fact that Annapolis Mayor-elect Josh Cohen (D) would resign his Anne Arundel County Council seat on December 6, the day before he is inaugurated and the day before he is sworn in as Mayor of Annapolis. The move ensures that a possible pro-slots member would not be appointed in time for the vote. Cohen is anti-slots.
There has been a number of delays on the County Council voting to approve rezoning for slots at the Western Anne Arundel County based mall; but all of that could be a moot point if the state slots committee makes it’s move before the council. The Capital is reporting that their move before the council vote could indeed happen and all signs point to yes.
We have not talked much about the upcoming municipal election taking place this year in Annapolis, but now
There will be more than 20,000 people taking part (possibly) in the Annapolis election, but when it comes to the mayoral race, much of that money is coming from outside of naptown.
The Capital crunched the numbers, and they found out that Anne Arundel County Councilman Josh Cohen (D-Dist. 6) has developer dollars out numbering Annapolitan dollars three to two. The lone Republican in the race, Annapolis Alderman David Cordle (R-Ward 5) received the most money in the race from city residents, but also has a “who’s who” among Anne Arundel Republicans funding him.
It’s safe to say that many people are not a fan of Washington, DC sending their young offenders 30 miles outside of the city to Anne Arundel County, especially when it was the Oak Hill Youth Center in Laurel. Oak Hill was known for it’s lacksidasical style of security. If you are Anne Arundel County Executive John Leopold (R), you are getting pretty frustrated with the situation, especially after the latest prison break, the second since the new “New Beginnings Youth Center” opened, just over a month ago.
Leopold sent a letter to DC Mayor Adrian Fenty (D) calling for better security for the center. “My opposition to locating this facility in Anne Arundel County has not changed, because juvenile offenders should be rehabilitated in their own jurisdiction,” said Leopold. “Despite the name change from Oak Hill to New Beginnings, there has been no end to a long history of escapes.”
Annapolis Mayor Ellen Moyer is hosting a charrette, an intensive effort in other words, to solicit ideas to get Market House re-opened. It will happen this Friday at city hall starting at 9:30a.m.
The city regained control of Market House earlier this month from Market House Ventures LLC, but they did not leave with heavy pockets. The city had to pay $2.5 million to get out of a 20 year master lease.
The Mayor is hoping to have Market house re-opened at some point this summer.
A dozen women who work with Anne Arundel County Executive John Leopold (R) came defended his character Friday. The Baltimore Sun say that the women organized the press conference without Leopold’s prompting and on their own personal time. WBAL-TV (Channel 11) reporter John Sherman gives a good recap.
The Anne Arundel County Council is holding off voting on any potential changes to the slots proposal near Arundel Mills Mall until Councilman Ed Middlebrooks (R-Dist. 2) has recovered from neck surgery.
The Capital says that the consensus between slots friends, slots foes and the council is that all members should be present for the amendments in addition to the final vote.
Anne Arundel Senator Janet Greenip (R-Dist. 33) announced that she is retiring to spend more time with her family. The 61-year-old has one year left in her term and had been in office for 15 years., the first eight of those were in the House of Delegates.
Two of the six slots proposals have been thrown out because they did not come with the required fees.
The Baltimore Sun reporting this afternoon that the vote was unanimous following Attorney General Doug Gansler’s advice that the commission did not have discretion to consider a proposal without the fees with it.
We know one of the people who did not pay the money is Magna Entrtainment, who owns Laurel Park in Western Anne Arundel County. They actually put the fees in an escrow account at a bank in the state. They are one of two people vying for a license in Anne Arundel County. The other proposal that was rejected was for the Rocky Gap resort in Western Maryland.
As far as Magna is concerned, they are taking up the saying, “If you can legislate, litigate.” They filed motion in Anne Arundel Circuit Court, should the bid be rejected. The filing this morning calls the entire bid process “constitutionally defective” and asks the court to prevent Laurel Park’s bid from being thrown out without a full court hearing. The motion is also seeking to forbid the commission from taking any action to disqualify Laurel Park for at least 10 days if an injunction is granted.
Anne Arundel County Executive John Leopold is shrugging his shoulders off concerning an activity complaint surround his county issued vehicle in the parking lot of the Westfield Annapolis Mall.
The Baltimore Sun reporting that a 911 tape of the incident which happened in January was released yesterday. A caller reported activity in the vehicle which the caller said was not propoer. Anne Arundel County Police found nothing improper according to Leopold who said, “As a public official, it is unfortunate to have to respond to rumors and gossip. I have been asked to respond to an allegation from an anonymous caller that was found to have no merit.”
Anne Arundel County Executive John Leopold submitted his legislative package to the county’s delegation with the goal of promoting public health, the environment and preserving revenue.
Among the bills being proposed by the county are:
- Strengthening regulations recently adopted by the Maryland Department of Environment regarding coal fly ash.
- Allowing use of Bay Restoration Fund money for inspections of on-site nitrogen removing septic systems.
- Extending the statute of limitations for counties to enforce stormwater management plans, which is currently one year.
- Require reimbursement by the State to counties that implement environmental health monitoring and testing when the Maryland Department of Environment collects fines.
- Extend the sunset from July 1, 2009 to July 1, 2010 for “instant bingo” operation at three locations in Anne Arundel County.
Leopold says, “While our primary goal is to mitigate the budget pain that will come from reductions in State aid to counties, there are other important gains that can be made through these initiatives.”
Delegate Mary Ann Love (D-Dist. 32) and Sen. John Astle (D-Dist. 30) will sponsor the legislation.
A new year and a new look for Anne Arundel County’s webstie, aacounty.org.
The refreshed, award-winning and nationally recognized website went live today. County Executive John Leopold said that functionality is the most important part of the website, making sure that citizens can access information easily and quickly. “Appearance is also important, because it helps market Anne Arundel County as a great place to live, work and
play,” Leopold added.
The county says that one of the biggest changes viewers will notice is simplicity. Pages have been reorganized to have less text while still conveying just as much information. The font sizes are bigger, and slideshows make the pages more inviting to visitors.
