Rep Andy Harris' needs to check his own office for underage abuse.

So, hopefully by now folks in MARYLAND's 1st DISTRICT are waking up to the fact that your elected official Rep Andy Harris,  has a new colony to look after, it's small area of land known as the District Of Columbia --   You know-- the "Capital of the free world" where citizens are arbitrarily exposed to rules made by folks that don't live in this geographic area ....

Now it's no secret that congress in particular White, old, GOP men love to stick their nose into the affairs of the District of Columbia -- kinda a savior of everything in DC and nothing at home syndrome.

In this case Rep Andy Harris claims that DC citizens are endangering the lives of kids,

"Leading the charge was Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), who said the measure was “bad policy” that would harm children.   BTW this  article by Mike Debonis suggest that Rep Harris interfering in DC might have have just legalized marijuana 

Funny thing about choosing which drug does or doesn't harm kids!  Since it turns out that Rep Harris' Capitol Hill office is a prime example of dangers to kids;  Yet, since it has to do with Alcohol ,which I point out further below is a huge issue in his own District, it's really not a problem....

"Now there is a report of underage drinking in the office of Rep. Andy Harris. Joe Steffen reported that Harris Chief of Staff Kevin Reigurt bought alcohol for a party celebrating the completion of an internship at the end of the summer. The intern who was being honored was not of legal age, per Steffen. In fact, he goes on to write that the intern was kicked out of the internship program early. Reigurt reportedly tried to blame another staffer for the incident. The father of that alleged scapegoat, Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun, is said to have confronted Harris over the phone about it, according to Steffen.
In the Palazzo and Larsen cases, low-level staffers were fired swiftly. In the case of Harris, Steffen questions why Reigurt is still Chief of Staff. The Harris situation is just now breaking, so it remains to be seen what, if anything will be done."  Quintonreport.com

This story was also covered in the Baltimore Sun. http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2012-01-03/news/bal-harris-faces-report-of-underage-drinking-by-intern-20120103_1_underage-drinking-intern-harris

With just a few key strokes further digging reveals that Rep Harris's own District has a real health issue and it's, you guessed it's Alcohol.

Talbot County ranks first in the state for alcohol-related treatment admissions for individuals 21 and under. Talbot County 8th, 10th and 12th graders have among the highest rates of alcohol abuse in Maryland. Nearly 60% of our high school seniors use alcohol on a regular basis. Students as young as 6th grade have reported alcohol use! While alcohol is the drug of choice for Talbot County teens and pre-teens, other drugs including marijuana, cocaine, K2/Spice, ecstasy, heroin and prescription drugs are used by our youth at unacceptably high levels. http://www.easternshoresavvy.com/hot-seat/talbot-county's-new-drug-problem/

To anyone reading tea leaves-- it seems that the good doctors really cares more about making a statement then leading in the area he's elected or in his own words.

 “The Constitution treats the District of Columbia and Maryland differently,” says Harris.

I have to wonder if the voters in Maryland 1st District know they were electing someone to fix DC or to go to work in Washington for their behalf - since there is a difference it might be helpful to know in advance.

i95 fire pictures from Saturday Feb 19th 2001

This is just South of  Balimore MD and it was visable

BTW The smoke was viable before the Harbor Tunnel. 

We could see the i95 South traffic coming to a stop @ 130pm

This is 198 and it is blocked off

All pictures are granted a fair-use exemption for new, school or other community blogs. 

Maryland Congressional leaders are you with us or for them.

This Thursday, the House of Representatives is expected to hand phone companies a get-out-of-jail-free card for illegally turning over your private phone records to the government. I don’t have to tell you how wrong this is.

We have 48 hours to stop them. Tell Rep. Chris Van Hollen that you oppose any effort to cover-up illegal spying on Americans. We will deliver the letter before Thursday's vote.

Tell Rep. Chris Van Hollen: No Cover Up

This is vital to protecting your basic right to make a phone call, send an e-mail or search the Internet without the government monitoring your activity.

After intense lobbying by AT&T, Verizon and the Bush White House, the Senate has already signed off on immunity for these companies. If the House passes the FISA bill this week, more than 40 legitimate lawsuits currently pending against phone companies will disappear before they've begun.

Americans have had their rights violated, and now Congress may pass a bill that gives us no legal remedy. When you are accused of breaking the law, you should have your day in court. Neither the phone companies nor this White House is above the law

Remember how your representatives vote on this it is the difference between US and the large companies......

You can send a letter via FreePress campaign....


Technorati Tags: Van Hollen, FISA, Congress, Phone companies

Arresting a citizen while we keep criminals in office.

I have to ask what County Executive Ike Leggett is going to do about this knowing the man I cannot believe that he finds this acceptable to have Montgomery County resources wasted on arresting someone for free speech. Ike are you with the people on this if not you will not stay in office too long.

Technorati Tags: Kensington, Allen McConnell, Impeach Bush, Arrested for Selling buttons

Chesapeake and global warming who knew????

Warming Poses Threats To Chesapeake, Group Says - washingtonpost.com

Warming Poses Threats To Chesapeake, Group Says

By David A. Fahrenthold
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, July 20, 2007; Page B01

Climate change has already begun to alter the Chesapeake Bay, warming and raising its waters in a way that could unbalance delicate ecosystems and doom low-lying islands, according to a report released yesterday by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

The report, citing scientific research from around the bay, sketched a prognosis that was troubling even by the standards of the Chesapeake -- a beautiful but polluted estuary that environmentalists have spent decades trying to save.

Oh wait did not the last Governor of Maryland claim to have made progress on the Chesapeake under this Republican Administration. I guess we can discount that along with just about any thing the GOP claims.

Didn't Al Gore have something to say about this Inconvenient truth?

Technorati Tags: Chesapeake Bay, Climate Change, Al Gore

Forgot to include the Financial's in a HOA disclosures. OPPS

Bail-Out Deadlines by E-Mail - washingtonpost.com

Bail-Out Deadlines by E-Mail

By Elizabeth Razzi
Sunday, July 15, 2007; Page F05

Buying a condominium? A house in a neighborhood run by a homeowners association? You had better stay on top of your e-mail.

A very large and extremely important document could be coming your way. Its arrival starts the clock ticking on a short period during which you can cancel the deal, should you desire to back out of your purchase contract.
New laws that took effect in Virginia on July 1 change the process for distributing the extensive disclosure packages that must be given to anyone buying a home that is part of a condo or homeowners association. While the law directly affects Virginians, buyers in the District and Maryland, where the disclosure requirements are not as detailed as they are in the Old Dominion, may find the effects spilling over as management companies that do business in all three jurisdictions adopt new practices.

If your in the District of Columbia and you happen to live in a Townhouse or Singe Family Homeowner Association you can stop reading this article here.

Why?

Because the leaders of the District have failed for years now at mine and others prodding to establish an HOA Act which is what is the triggering mechanism in this need to disclose. As the District does not have such an Act there is no specific law as is the case in MD or VA to disclose anything about rules and regulations.

Whats more in Maryland the HOA Act does not require that financial information about the community be provided to the buyer. So the budget, pending litigations or special assessments are made available to the new homeowners after they move in. Seem pretty fair to me and you too I bet. Having heard one of the principle in this ruse brag about how they fought to keep this from becoming part of the law. I have to wonder of the community and homeowners share this excitement with them. What I was told is that it would be too hard to provide this information at closing time.

So is there any wonder in what area of the housing market the last foot will fall. If you have been reading this blog you know that I know that HOA and Condo fees are not being paid and thus these communities are running negative budgets. But since the District and Maryland don't disclose this information before settlement those perspective homeowners that are buying may not and have no idea what the status of the communities financial health is or will be in the future until rules, regulations and financial information are fully disclosed.



So I have an idea for Elizabeth why not do a story on why the District has failed to enact such a law or why Maryland does not require the Financial s to be included.

Technorati Tags: Homeowners Associations, Disclosure Laws, HOA Documnets, Rules & regulations

Maryland Democrats seem to know something the party elite don't.

Van Hollen's Rockville Office Puts Up Fight Against Nonstop Fox News - washingtonpost.com

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley's endorsement of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) for president apparently held little sway with fellow Democrats participating in an online poll sponsored by the Maryland Democratic Party.

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) was the top vote getter, capturing 25.7 percent of the 4,117 online ballots cast in the poll, which ended Tuesday. He was followed by former vice president Al Gore, who is not currently running, with 21.3 percent.

Clinton finished third, with 18.4 percent. She was followed by former North Carolina senator John Edwards, with 14.4 percent. Edwards has been called the most electable Democrat by state Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert).

No other Democratic hopeful received more than 10 percent of the vote.

-- John Wagner

Well for a non campaign I do not believe that Gore could run a better one............



Technorati Tags: Al Gore, Presidential 2008, Democratic, Obama, Clinton, Edwards,

Others may build bigger & better; yet DeMatha still wins........

Leveling the Private Playing Field - washingtonpost.com

Leveling the Private Playing Field
Sports Facility Construction Booming at Area High Schools

By Josh Barr
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 16, 2007; Page E01

Entrenched as the most prominent athletic powerhouse among Washington area high schools, DeMatha finally plans to catch up with some of its peers when it comes to sports facilities. The Hyattsville Catholic school hopes to break ground next year on a $9 million convocation center that includes a gymnasium and is in discussions to have artificial turf practice and game fields installed at off-campus sites.

The improvements merely will keep DeMatha in step with many of the region's private schools, which are in the midst of a spending spree to build top-flight athletic facilities that would be the envy of many colleges.

Let just note that this article leads off with the one school that does not even have a football practice field let alone a football stadium. When I went there way back in the days we wrestled in a classroom. Guess what year after year Dematha has been in the top ten if not number one positions in the Washington Post polls and the only school locally to consistently show up in the USA Today Top 25 teams.

I often use this example when I hear people talking about the need for more facilities when the most superior sports program -DeMatha's- has the sports facilities of my daughters public school in DC. A think I better get out the check book all the more since like so many DeMatha graduates I have pride in my school and what they have done with what they have.

To all those building the super facilities keep it up we like it when you have a nice place for DeMatha teams to come whip your butts......


NRJ Class of 1982


Technorati Tags: DeMatha, Sports,

Snap people are not paying thier Association fees.

Condos Feel the Mortgage Crunch - washingtonpost.com

Condos Feel the Mortgage Crunch
Behind on Payments, Many Owners Forgo Association Dues

By Nancy Trejos
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, April 7, 2007; Page D01

At Glen Waye Gardens Condominiums in Silver Spring, 21 owners are more than 30 days behind on their monthly condo fees. Two other owners have not paid since they bought their units, one in April 2005 and the other in September 2006. Both properties went into foreclosure.

The lost fees, which make up 5 percent of the association's annual budget of $1.3 million, have pushed the condo board to dip into its reserve funds to fix the roof and replace a water heater.

Vicki Vergagni, board president of Glen Waye Gardens Condominiums in Silver Spring, where 21 owners are at least a month behind on fees, said:
Vicki Vergagni, board president of Glen Waye Gardens Condominiums in Silver Spring, where 21 owners are at least a month behind on fees, said: "We've had to use way too much of our reserves." (By Susan Biddle -- The Washington Post)


"When those things go bad, you have to spend on them. You have no choice," said Vicki Vergagni, president of the 214-unit community's board. "We've had to use way too much of our reserves."

Guess that last part about using the reserve funds sound funny to you too. Because if my memory serves me right it is against the law to use reserve funds for anything other than repair and maintenance of property. So now they have an under funded budget and a draining reserve fund. I wonder how those are going to be brought back into the black? Special Assessments which=Debit

Here is another funny thing about this in Maryland. With no financial disclosure on Townhouse and Single family Associations sales someone could move in and not know the community is bankrupt. Or what the status of the physical assets of the overall community

I also like the WashPost only showing the lien and foreclosure remedy for getting deliquient dues paid...Since I was one of the founder of an alternative method that does not result and lawyers getting rich and communities actually getting paid. One would think they could dig a bit deeper and find www.CommunityCollections.com

Good luck if your buying a home in Maryland because you will need it. Seeing how there is no law to help or one coming anytime soon.

Technorati Tags: Condo, HOA, Assessments, Foreclosure

So what that three hundred VA communities lost their money!

Homeowner Groups' Funds Missing in N.Va. - washingtonpost.com

Homeowner Groups' Funds Missing in N.Va.
Employee of Fairfax Management Company May Have Embezzled $800,000, State Officials Say

By Bill Turque
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 21, 2007; Page B01

At least $800,000 from homeowner associations in Northern Virginia may be missing and was probably embezzled by an employee of the Fairfax company hired to manage the money, state officials charge in court documents.

Koger Management Group Inc., which handles funds for more than 300 homeowner groups with approximately 70,000 members, was placed under a court-ordered monitor Feb. 26 while a forensic accountant appointed by the Virginia Real Estate Board investigates the disappearance of the money.

Guess what the State of Maryland does not require that Homeowner Associations have audited books, Anyone want to guess how many communities are missing some fund in Maryland. What I do know is that not very many elected offical's care.

Oh well it's just the economy going down the tube and 3 out of 4 homes in Maryland. No big deal no one need to do anything. It will just fix itself.

Technorati Tags: Homeowners Associations, MD, Lack of Disclosure, HOA Act,

I guess things change of the Hill too. Or do they?

I am sad to say that just the other day that I had the unhelpful experience with a staffer from Senator Mikulski's office. It started right after Al's senate testimony.

I was the Senator leaving and stopped her to say hello and to bring up to her some of the problems facing Maryland and other homeowner across the country which was along the line of some fact finding she did a few years earlier at the request of my company CPWI. She was like fine and a staffer stepped up and handed me her card, actually two of them and this staffer said call her and she will help.

So what happened? Well for those that already read this post ya know the first part--But like many things in life there may be a happy ending with the start of the new week. Seeing how I have now heard for the Senators office and it seems to be function very well.

Which just goes to show ya everyone has a bad day. Now if we can just do something about the State of Communities

The Post picks up the Disappearing Terrapin story.

Md. Officials Aim To Halt Harvest Of Prized Terrapins - washingtonpost.com

Md. Officials Aim To Halt Harvest Of Prized Terrapins

By Lisa Rein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 6, 2007; Page B01

Deep in the tidal marshes of the Chesapeake Bay, demand for a five-inch reptile is helping to narrow the U.S. trade deficit with China.
The diamondback terrapin is under siege from global turtle traders in East Asia, who are feeding South China's newfound appetite for expensive turtle soup. With markets in Malaysia, Cambodia and Indonesia depleted, China's booming economy and expatriates and immigrants in New York City are vacuuming up the terrapins of Maryland, one of just four states that allow commercial harvests.


The diamondback terrapin, Maryland's state reptile, is considered key to the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem.
The diamondback terrapin, Maryland's state reptile, is considered key to the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. (By James M. Thresher -- The Washington Post)

Now, after five years of studies and a false start (GEE THANK THAT PAST GOVERNOR FOR THE CARE OF THE TERRIPANs) that further decimated the population, Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) and Maryland lawmakers are on course to stop commercial harvesting of the beloved state reptile.

"It's an international devouring of natural resources," O'Malley said in an interview. "History has unfortunately shown that we are equally capable of destroying the planet as we are of preserving it."

The Department of Natural Resources is expected next week to propose a moratorium on terrapin harvests that would take effect in May. If the terrapins make a comeback, harvests could be reinstated. Two bills pending in the General Assembly take a harder line, proposing to stop harvesting permanently.

"We're saying, 'Enough is enough,' " said Del. Virginia P. Clagett (D-Anne Arundel), who sponsored the House bill. "Closure is the thing we want. The Chinese palate is really in for turtles. We're just losing them."

Sen. Roy P. Dyson (D-St. Mary's) has sponsored a companion measure.

As we have already blogged about this we welcome the Washington Post covering this story more in the media and on the blogs need to, too.

Every Freestater needs to be worried about this and start demanding that officials in Maryland and Federal City move to save the Terps.

Go Terps, Lets win the ACC tournament


Technorati Tags: Terrapians, Washington Post, Harvest, Maryland, Terps.

Terps sweep Duke in regualr season -- Oh Boy!

I know were I was when Maryland took a broom to duke.

Al Gore documentary gets air time at MD Assembly

Al Gore documentary gets air time at Assembly
McIntosh promotes film on global warming to fellow lawmakers
By Kristen Wyatt
The Associated Press
Originally published January 11, 2007, 6:03 PM EST
ANNAPOLIS // It was popcorn time at the Maryland legislature today as House members settled in to watch a global warming documentary to prepare them for bills about the problem this session.

The documentary "An Inconvenient Truth," in which Al Gore urges action to combat global warming and shows pictures of icebergs falling apart, was screened at the first meeting of the House Environmental Matters Committee.

Advertisement
Del. Maggie McIntosh, chairwoman of the committee, said the documentary made such an impression on her that she decided to bring in a popcorn machine and show the film to her committee. The film will also be screened twice next week.

Maryland Gore

Save the Terps?

Please Help Conserve Diamondback Terrapins

A group of scientists and conservationists have been participating in an effort to encourage the Maryland State Government to impose a moratorium on the commercial fishing of diamondback terrapins. Terrapin populations have declined significantly along the MD shore due to habitat loss, deaths associated with commercial seafood harvesting (such as entrapment in crab pots), and collection for sale in Asian seafood markets, primarily outside the state. Terrapins normally take 8-13 years to reach reproductive maturity, and the species cannot reproduce quickly enough to sustain such significant losses. Other states, including Virginia, and North and South Carolina have already banned the fishing of diamondback terrapins.

Please help conserve this wonderful species by signing the Chesapeake Terrapin Alliance's petition in support of a moratorium on terrapin fishing at:

www.cterrapin.org

Conserve Diamondback Terrapins

Al Este De Baltimore, and O'Malley backed by Latino leaders.

Little America
On Columbia day the stars aligned with some of the most important Latino’s gathered at Arco Restaurant (Al Este De Baltimore) to meet and share cevesa, food, greetings and ideas with Democratic Candadite for Governor of Maryland, Martian O’Malley.

Most of the people attending were Baltimore Latinos that have emerged as a key player in politics as well as in civic engagement. Tom Prez from Montgomery County and several Washington and out of town movers & shakers were in attendance.

The setting was Nicholas restaurant where food and libations flowed and eveyone got to meet with the candidate and each other. Cards and handshakes were flying all over the room.

This could be the straw that breaks open the race for Govern 'or of the Free State. With Prince Georges rapidly developing large pockets of Latino’s Baltiomore now emerging those running for office should already have been told this by the polling frims, consultants and campaign staff. Right?

None the less Martain got the memo and he was relaxed and delivered a passioned heart felt speach, to those gathered. There will be a culture and political sharing of power where as before there was only one power voter trends since 2004 have been to upset established candidates most of whom are Republican.

The O’Malley Brown Ticket show that potential. This is going to be a butt kicking in Nov. Make this blogs words.

Howllllllllllllllllin from al este de baltimore

It had to happen. A blog about Maryland

This is a blog about Little America, which by the way is the name of Maryland. There is a little bit of each part of the US in MD. So get read for some insights about the Freestate that are out of this world, well at least not reported or ill reported in the media.