POLICE SAY LATEST HOMICIDE SUSPECT IN CUSTODY

From the Annapolis Police Dep't:

Homicide Update On Oct 31- Nov 1, 2007, detectives with the Annapolis Police worked diligently thought out the night and day gathering information. Their hard work paid off and a suspect for the homicide the evening before was generated. On Nov 1, at 2:44pm, a subject wanted for the Oct 31 homicide of eighteen Jerome Hughes turned himself in to, the detectives, at the Annapolis Police station. The suspect has been identified as seventeen year old, Dupree Reshard Williams of Annapolis. Williams was charged with Murder in with First Degree, as well as other related Hand Guns charges.

We are relieved. Now, what are we going to do about the 23 officers whose positions remain vacant?

(NOTE: The text above is published here in the way it was written by the police department. Where are the grammar and language police when we need them?)

COUNCILMAN COHEN URGES GENERAL ASSEMBLY TO "HOLD THE LINE AGAINST SLOT MACHINES"

Anne Arundel County Council Member Josh Cohen (D-6) today had his legislative aide Gail Smith read a statement opposing slots to the Joint House Ways and Means Committee and Senate Budget and Taxation Committee hearing. CP is in complete agreement with Cohen‘s statement published below, but would like to add another reason why. Slots allow government to continue to be irresponsible, take the easy way out and to keep looking to this questionable source of revenue in its never ending quest to spend and spend (I’m not sure if Josh would agree on that one or not…). Just one question--did the Speaker ask you to do this? Herewith are Councilman Cohen's remarks:

Dear Delegate Hixson, Senator Currie, and Members of the Committees: I urge you to hold the line against slot machines here in Maryland. As elected officials, I believe that one of our first responsibilities is, as Hippocrates wrote, to “do no harm.” In other words, whatever actions we take during our term of office, let’s not do anything to leave our jurisdiction worse off than we found it. This is as true for protecting the health of the Chesapeake Bay as it is for protecting the quality of life in our communities. Slots will do nothing to improve our quality of life. Their social ills are well-documented. They encourage gambling addiction and lead to more child neglect, divorce, bankruptcy and broken families, not to mention prostitution, illegal drug use and organized crime. Their economic ills are well-documented. They are a huge vacuum that sucks up millions of dollars in disposable income, leaving less money to support locally-owned small businesses. To appreciate the impact of slots on local businesses, we need look no further than the horse racing industry’s about-face. In the 1990s the industry opposed casinos because they would lure betting customers away from the tracks. Only more recently, when slots were proposed at racetracks, did the racing industry become slots’ biggest cheerleader. Just as the state regulates other so-called “victimless” vices such as prostitution, alcohol and drugs, the state has every right to regulate and restrict gambling. Not only does it have the right, it has the obligation. The only reason the state is considering slots is money. But as any small non-profit organization can attest, it is foolish and short-sighted to go “chasing the money.” Non-profits and state governments alike need to stay true to their values and mission. Maryland is already a wonderful state with a tremendous quality of life. It would be foolish and short-sighted to knowingly start down a slippery path in which the state takes on a vested interest in turning more and more of its own citizens into gamblers. As elected representatives, we are hired by the people to make tough decisions. I respectfully urge the General Assembly to “do no harm” and vote down slots legislation in this Special Session. If instead the matter goes to referendum, I hope the question posed will be a responsible one. Instead of a partial question about support of slots in the abstract, the question should be a responsible one about support of slots in one’s own jurisdiction. Thank you for your time and consideration.

EMBATTLED DELEGATE TONY MCCONKEY'S LAWYER CALLS HIM A "PRINCIPLED CONSERVATIVE...AND GOOD FRIEND."

CP has found an interesting tidbit in the unfolding McConkey story. See my previous post CP EXHIBITS SCHADENFREUDE FOR DELEGATE MCCONKEY'S WOES about Republican Delegate Tony McConkey's latest run in with the legal system concerning a real estate deal. According to The Capital, McConkey has been voluntarily disbarred and had his real estate broker's license revoked. I guess it does not stop him from being a lawmaker or deciding how to deal with our deficit during this special session

Here is what former candidate for delegate, lawyer and Republican activist Greg Kline has to say about McConkey on his still-active campaign website http://klinefordelegate.blogspot.com/

"I want to congratulate my running mate Delegate Tony McConkey for being the top vote getter in the race. Despite the nasty attacks on him by cowards who hid in the shadows, the voters on Tuesday recognized what I have known for years, Tony is a principled conservative leader and we are privileged to have him as our Delegate. I was proud to team up with him during this campaign and am honored to call him my friend."

Yeah, a real principled conservative leader all right. What's worse is that The Baltimore Sun even endorsed these guys in the last race:
“In what may be the county's most staunchly conservative district, Republicans should support incumbent Tony McConkey … and first-time candidate Greg Kline, a lawyer and former legal counsel to the county's Republican State Central Committee.” (excerpted from same website)

Kline has an inactive blog called The Conservative Refuge which he describes as:

"A safe place for conservative Republicans in Anne Arundel County Maryland to share views, get inside information and plot our way out of the wilderness."

District 33 is some wilderness! Geeze, he makes it seems as if he's some kind of fight-to-the-end survivalist. Hmmm......??? Well, he certainly does not appear to be a very good judge of character. Kline's active podcast spot is also called The Conservative Refuge
http://theconservativerefuge.libsyn.com/index.php?post_year=2007&post_month=10 but its description is toned-down to a more simple "The Place for Conservative Politics in Anne Arundel County Maryland."

THE WASHINGTON POST's (less than...) EXTRA..WHAT GOOD IS IT?

CP has long bemoaned the fact that the weekly Anne Arundel Extra section of the Washington Post is an anemic bore, consisting mainly of press release regurgitation, sports scores, crime and home sales listings and occasionally an actual story or feature requiring a reporter to give the appearance of having done some work. What a disappointment. CP grew up with the Washington Post each morning and the old Washington Star in the afternoon. CP has known many of its editors and reporters and their familes, among them some of its most celebrated "stars". It's just an incredible newspaper, so why does it put together such a pitiful excuse for a local insert?

Here is just one example to make this point taken from today's section, The Post decided it needed to report on what is already "old" news, the resignation of Alderman Mike Christman. A caption under a picture of Christman says he did not offer a reason for stepping down. Wuh? It's been reported everywhere else. How about the fact that he has sold the contents of his home and moved to Australia where his wife got a job (hmmm...annapolis? Australia??? decisions, decisions...). Does that count for a reason?

Three of the ten paragraphs refer to the last special election in the city, almost a year ago, but what is missing is what is so ridiculous. There is not a mention of which candidates have stepped forward to declare their intention to run. That's what most folks want to know--who is running? Democract Debbie Rosen Mckerrow and Green Karen Jennings were not even mentioned in this story. What is wrong with The Post? Click here and judge for yourself. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/31/AR2007103100839.html

CP EXHIBITS SCHADENFREUDE FOR DELEGATE MCCONKEY'S WOES

Anne Arundel County Republican Delegate Tony McConkey appears to be in trouble....again. According to today's Capital http://www.capitalonline.com/cgi-bin/read/2007/11_01-31/TOP, McConkey is a defendant in a lawsuit for violating a court order and misappropriating proceeds from a home sale. According to The Capital, he is involved in buying and selling foreclosed homes.

Here is what else was reported by The Capital:
"Before Mr. McConkey was first elected to office, The Capital revealed a long list of legal, business and criminal problems he failed to mention on the campaign trail.
He was given probation before judgment on a 1992 battery charge, but explained that the case was a dispute between a landlord and a tenant that escalated too far.
Mr. McConkey was voluntarily disbarred as an attorney in 1995 for misappropriation of funds, but said he never had any clients other than himself and gave up his career because he was broke and depressed over a bad business deal.
He also had his real estate broker's license revoked and was fined $2,000."

CP reported on a visit to McConkey's office during the previous legislative session, wherein he told a group of Green Party activists that he was not only in favor of capital punishment (not this blog, silly!) but said that "I think we need to kill more people." However, he was firmly opposed to abortion and could not understand why Green activists could be opposed to the death penalty and support abortion. His general demeanor and comments made CP and the rest of the Green Party activists shudder. Here is a proposition for you Delegate McConkey--I'll support state sponsored executions for elected officials who commit white collar crime. Will you join me in favor of that? When will someone foreclose on you being in the house--The House of Delegates???

CRY THE BELOVED CITY--EIGHTH MURDER THIS YEAR!!!

If only we had a Segway or a horse, this 18 year old might still be alive today! Once again, we learn of a murder in Annapolis, JUST A FEW BLOCKS FROM THE STATE HOUSE where our Governor has called a special session of the General Assembly.

Governor O'Malley, please help our city!!! We are down 23 police officers with more about to retire and our Mayor and her police chief either don't want to or can't do anything about the high levels of crime here in our State Capital.

Here are the numbers of homicides in Annapolis each year since 1990:
5, 1, 2, 4, 4, 2, 4, 1, 1, 3, 2, 4, 4, 5, 3, 4, 7.....and in 2007 to date, 8
This is twice as many murders as in 2005 and is 3.4 times the national murder rate per capita!!!!

ALDERMAN ARNETT WANTS TO HEAR FROM YOU

Ward 8 Alderman Ross Arnett invites residents to meet with him on Thursday, November 8th, 7 p.m., at the Eastport Fire Station to discuss, crime initiatives, the 2 am liquor licenses, the bill to ban plastic bags, and any other issues on your mind. CP applauds Arnett for putting on this meeting and wonders, if maybe, just maybe CP's reporting oin the grumblings of many Eastporters about his less than stellar record on communicationg with them had any impact. Herewith is the Alderman's response to CP about the upcoming meeting and its issues:

"I plan to vote no for the current version of the plastic bag ordinance. I don't believe bans are the correct place to start and I don't think paper is much better than plastic from an environmental perspective, setting aside the litter issue. My approach is for the City to provide reusable cloth bags, just like we provide blue recycling tubs. I'd also like to see a bag fee for both paper and plastic bags. That would make the user aware of the number of bags they use and encourage the use of their own bags. In my household we use reusable or no bag at all. The City can use the fee to defray the cost of the reusable bags and also put recycling bins in all the commercial areas. It can also get more serious in helping to recycle plastics and paper of all sorts with some additional funds.

I also plan to vote no on the 2 AM. liquor licenses. The City has virtually no enforcement for the late night scene. The ABC has no staff to enforce and the police only break up fights, they don't go after excessive drinking or under age drinkers. They certainly don't follow patrons back to their cars to make sure that they don't commit unsavory acts. And of course, we have larger crime issues that the police should be attending to, rather than spending late night at the foot of Main Street. If the ordinance were amended to address enforcement, I may reconsider.

But there are two other issues that trouble me. This ordinance undoes the Ward One sector Plan and I don't think it is appropriate for the Council to over ride that agreement, which was worked on and agreed to by a large number of Ward One residents, businesses and the alderman at the time. In addition, other concessions regarding the number of restaurant seats and the food verses alcohol splits were made as part of the plan agreements. Will they be rolled back as well?

Finally, I worry about the economic impact of the ordinance. We all know that the sale of liquor is quite profitable, much more so that the sale of food. Many of the bars owners have told me that these two additional hours will more than double their profits. That's not a bad thing in and of itself, but it does have the potential to out compete other business and give us a glut of new bars. This is especially true in new redevelopment areas like outer West Street. Remember, this ordinance applies City-wide.

To date the sponsor has not addressed any of my issues, and, failing that, I can not vote for the ordinance.

I do plan to speak about these issues at the Ward 8 meeting and I will listen to the views of those who attend. I'm keeping an open mind, but for now my vote is no for both."

CP READERS EVENLY SPLIT OVER BAR CLOSINGS

The results of our latest poll show that CP readers are evenly split over the "Bar Wars" legislation. When asked, "DO YOU SUPPORT LEGISLATION CURRENTLY BEING CONSIDERED TO ALLOW ALL BARS TO STAY OPEN UNTIL 2 AM?" 25 said "Absolutely Yes" and 25 said "Absolutely Not". Five said "Probably Yes" and 2 said "Probably Not".

CP reminds readers that this is not a scientifically valid survey but shows that 57 self-selected readers of this blog are split down the middle about bar closings. But it also shows us that more and more people are reading CP, as last week's poll on crime perceptions received 44 votes. We made a significant jump of attracting almost a third more voters. 44 voters is more than turn out for most City Council meetings--or elections (just kidding on that one). The next poll will be on banning plastic bags.

CP ATTEMPTS TO UNTANGLE BUDGET/DEFICIT and fails...but manages to strike a cord with legislators

I'm the kind of guy who wants a flat consumption tax because I cannot figure out how much I owe every year without paying an accountant two days of my salary for his four hours of work. Let's eliminate income tax and the IRS and just tax those who have the bucks to buy lots of things. Then our legislators could stop focusing on tax, tax, tax and when they campaign they could quit lying about it too.
But I digress. CP attended a special seminar for other bloggers put on by a most informed and intelligent Senator Rich Madaleno of Montgomery County. CP gained some insight, and yet became more confused. The next day he was at a breakfast for District 30 lawmakers put on by The Maryland Prosperity Project (http://www.marylandprosperity.org/). The MPP is an interesting nonpartisan coalition which educates MD employers and workers about issues that impact job security. MPP encourages participation in government and voting.

This budget stuff may not be rocket science, but it's close. Overall, O'Malley's plan seems to be more of a restructuring that a real tax raise. Of course, sales and auto titling will go up, but supposedly, income tax will go down. However, if the goal is to increase revenue, and it does that, it's got to come from somewhere (read you and me.) I guess we'll just have to trust the great legislative minds who have returned to Annapolis to sort this out and look after our interests.

What am I-nuts? I could be.

At the breakfast CP managed to sit next to and have a pleasant and productive conversation with Delegate Don Dwyer--yes the ultra conservative, lightning rod legislator from Pasadena--and I liked him. I mean we listened to each other, had a good exchange of ideas, and found things upon which to agree. Of course we did not discuss God, guns or gays, except a bit about civil marriage, where we both again, found common ground. He has not invited me out hunting yet or to his moonshine still, and I have not invited him to my secret, underground, subversive study cell, but.... Delegate Ron George told the group that 41 of the 44 bills already proposed will be heard in his committee--this week! All this while he runs a busy jewelry store (at the beginning of the huge holiday season)and raises a house full of kids.

Say what you will about all those self-serving, pocket lining, greedy, bumbling buffoons that have again arrived in Annapolis, but my experience is that most, but certainly not all, are hard-working, dedicated men and women who are serving us. And every single one of them has consistently told CP that they welcome our input, and they want to hear from us and have us involved.

MAYOR AND HACA...again...

Your other local political blogger at Annapolis Politics, has a good post about the ongoing ridiculousness between the Mayor and the Housing Authority (mainly on the Mayor's part, I might add...) at http://annapolispolitics.blogspot.com/2007/10/public-bickering-continues.html In this post, he includes a recent letter from HACA Director Eric Brown from The Capital (See-all media exist in a contagion!!).

AP publisher Brian Gill repeats what CP has been saying for months with his commentary:
"Mayor Moyer has been somewhat famously uncooperative when it comes to collaboration with other local jurisdictions. While we have have sister cities in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France, Estonia, Canada, and Brazil-- and a soon to be sister city in England--we have seen little cooperation with the county that surrounds us. Transportation, police, and fire are departments that could easily enjoy economies of scale savings, were they to be combined or partially merged."

It's Time for Maryland to Be a National Leader on Global Warming Solutions

Are You Ready to STEP IT UP?
Saturday, November 3rd, 2007
10 AM - 12 PM
Newman Park, Annapolis (at Compromise and Newman Streets) (Note--so that's Newman Park???? See it before it's under water)
Come dressed as your favorite endangered species! (Second note: what ????)
Bring a sign asking O'Malley and Maryland to be a leader on global warming solutions!
Featuring:
Stacy Griffin, DJ for WRNR
Sam Shropshire, City Alderman
For more information, contact Cherie Yelton at (443) 254-1602 or http://www.blogger.com/.
Get directions! (Other note--this means walk, ride a bike, or take an Annapolis Transit bus....would you drive to this?)
Step it Up: It's Time for Climate Leaders!

WHAT ARE COUNTY RESIDENTS THINKING?

Here is the latest survey of Anne Arundel County residents undertaken by the Center for the Study of Local Issues at AACC. http://www2.aacc.edu/csli/CSLI/surveys/2007/CSLI_Fall_2007_Press_Release.PDF
CSLI is headed up by political scientist (is that an oxymoron?) Dan Nataf, who is always a source of humorous and perspicacious commentary in person and at public events. The latest survey of over 900 residents show that there are a few more Republicans than Democrats (okay-we'll have to try harder!) but that "W" still receives an approval rating similar to the national average (read a failure) of about 34 percent (He has to try harder too). Folks are always concerned about growth, traffic, congestion and schools and of course, taxes.

The semi-annual CSLI surveys are a great way to put one's finger on the pulse of our fellow county residents--at least those that have pulses and receive the randomly generated phone call. Of course, the most important local survey remains the ones posted to the upper left of this blog each week!!!

Anne Arundel Peace Action's 25th Anniversary

Anne Arundel Peace Action's 25th Anniversary Celebration will be Friday, November 9 at 7 p.m. at Annapolis Friends Meeting, 351 Dubois Road off Bestgate Road just outside Annapolis. Admission is free. Directions: http://annapolis.quaker.org/

The featured speaker will be Ray McGovern, a retired CIA analyst and co-founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity, an organization dedicated to exposing what it believes to be the mishandling of important intelligence by presidents and their staffs particularly to justify wars. Mr. McGovern served for more than 27 years in the CIA under seven presidents and was in charge of preparing the daily security briefings at the White House during the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations.

The program also will include:

· Awards to the winners of the 2007 Fred B. Benjamin Peace Writing Contest for Maryland middle school students. Each of the four winners will read an excerpt from his or her entry. This year's topic: Do some reading about the life and philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi, the major political and spiritual leader of the independence movement in India. Then write a dialogue that imagines a conversation that Gandhi might have with President Bush.
· Generations of Peacemaker Awards to Anne Arundel County residents or former residents of diverse ages who have made notable contributions to peace and social justice locally: Cynthia Carter, Linda Deming, Robert Eades, Kristin Famula, George Gorayeb, Edith Leech, Careen Mayer, Max and Suzanne Ochs, Sylvia Oliva, Lucy Oppenheim, Severna Park High School Students for Peace and Social Justice, Josephine Thoms, and Dick Vanden Heuvel.
· Musical entertainment by Max Ochs

NEWS FROM THE EASTPORT CIVIC ASSOCIATION

Halloween Porch Parties: A Brand New Eastport Tradition
join your friends and neighbors (at least 10 homes so far) and host a "Porch Party" on your porch or front yard. Bars, food, decorations, music, chairs--everything or anything goes!
The time frame is 5 to 7:30 or 8 p.m. and locations will be spread throughout Eastport. Friends, neighbors and roving revelers are all invited.
Bring the festive spirit of Halloween to your front yard - or get outside and visit a few of these convivial gatherings! If you have questions or would like a map of confirmed party locations, contact Jess Pachler at 410-916-5500.

The Art Between the Creeks artists will bring new and exciting work to their temporary gallery space at the Annapolis Yacht Club's Sailing Center in Eastport November 9-11. Optical Delusion, the fall show, will feature the work of 16 local artists - and a new twist that serves as a show preview - The Painted Mirrors.
The mirrors will be sold during a silent auction at the artists' opening reception on November 9. Funds raised by the auction, plus patron donations, will be used to purchase art supplies for the art program at Eastport Elementary School. Funds raised by the artists in this manner have made a big impact on the school's art supplies annual budget.
The mirrors are currently on exhibit at Free State Press, 79 West Street, but you can see then on the Art Between the Creeks' website.
The public is invited to the show's opening reception on November 9, 6-9 p.m. The AYC Sailing Center is located at Severn Avenue and 6th Street.
Tenth Annual Tug of War Needs You!
The MRE Tug of War is just around the corner. It will be held entirely in Eastport this year - on Fourth Street - due to the closing of Susan B. Campbell Park/City Dock. Volunteers are needed! Visit the MRE's website to see how you can become involved in this fun event!
http://www.blogger.com/

HALLOWEEN EXCESSES AND DENTIST'S CANDY BUY-BACKS

Indeed it is spooky. Are you fed up with all this Halloween craziness? I mean, even without waxing on about the religious, historical or anthropological nature of the pagan day, CP prefers to look at it as one of those holidays if not invented, at least blown up by Hallmark, Mars Candy and Anheuser Busch. It's an excuse for kids to consume unhealthy candy to excess and increasingly for so-called adults to unhealthily imbibe to excess. Along with Cinco de Mayo and St. Patrick's Day, it's real origins shrouded in mystery and completely lost to most of the partygoers, we in our great American way, have managed to make it about mass consumption, mass entertainment and mass commercialism. There are even Halloween stores for $@%^@ sakes--two of them at least in Annapolis are open right now!!! The real culprits are not just the crazy neighbors who may slip the rumored razor into an apple (shades of Snow White or Sleeping Beauty perhaps) but of the candy, booze and Madison Avenue types who have turned this whole thing into something truly scary. And don't even get me started on the apparent inability of children or their parents to figure out how to make a costume, and who see their child's costume as some kind of vicarious status symbol or repressed childhood fear (hint-- "don't even get me started" means "get me started please").

But may I turn my attention to the real toothy issue? Yes candy is bad. Yes we like candy and so do our children. Yes we all have to brush and see our dentist. Yes we have an epidemic of obesity and diabetes and who knows what other diet induced maladies, but let's make this clear--a little bit of candy once in a while is not so bad! BUT, a lot of candy is bad.

So, what have more and more dentists and orthodontists done over the years? They have set up various types of candy "buyback programs." On the "face" of it, they sound like great things, so here goes, at the risk of getting kicked in the teeth, CP would like to again register his disdain he did so in a letter to The Capital years ago) for these programs.

One local orthodontist, Dr. Mairead O'Reilly has done this for years. She has a huge and expensive ad in The Capital promoting her buyback program, which she calls a "monstrous success." CP calls it "monstrous excess." Through this, the good doctor has donated money to local charities and to an organization called The Smile Train which provides corrective surgery for children born with cleft palates. All very well and good--excellent in fact, yet something does not sit right.

The way this apparently works is that kids bring in candy, and get a dollar per pound and a dollar per pound goes to charity. And get this, the candy goes to a local food bank. Food bank?? But it's not food (some dentists send the candy to Iraq for our troops because we all know none of us are making any sacrifice...sacrifice? saccharin?? And we all know how health care is for them at Walter Reed! This requires yet more commentary, but...)

Okay, so where does CP start to digest all the problems he has with this whole thing? I may run out of band width describing it, as there are so many reasons why I think this is utterly improper and misguided, but let me chew on just a few of the many reasons. The kids do nothing! They have fun getting candy and bring it in. They get it for free. Homeowners buy the candy, give it to the kids who give it to the doctor who gives them a dollar. What do the kids do with the money they just got from collecting things for free and selling them? What kind of a lesson is that? Think of all the more positive ways this whole thing could work. Kids go out and perhaps have even more reasons to collect yet more candy and they still keep and eat lots of candy. They collect their favorites, and probably make it all into a big game about who collected more etc., etc. They also will try to collect more to get more money and still have enough to rot their teeth. They learn little if nothing about proper health or dentistry. They are not encouraged to get ride of candy and eat real food. Plenty of the kids coming in to the doctor's office will still be FAT and lead LAZY lives. And finally, although truth be told, I've barely begun, THE VERY IDEA OF SENDING THE UNWANTED CANDY (yes because the kids will choose their least favorite brands) TO A LOCAL FOOD BANK MEANS WHAT? It means that instead of local children learning about inequality and poverty here, or about hunger and poor health here, they let the good doctor deal with that "sticky" issue and people living here with real health and nutrition deficiencies get the "giveaway" candy. LET THEM EAT CANDY, I say!!! Giving candy to a food bank??? Oh yeah, and how will those families get proper dental care? Will Dr. O'Reilly provide them with dental care after they've chewed all the Mary Janes and fudgey cremes?

Really--what kind of mixed up messages are we sending? That you can get something for nothing? Candy is bad for you, so go get as much as you want and we'll give it to kids and their families who are much less fortunate than you and it's okay for them to eat? Where does this end?? Okay, I'm ready to get kicked in the teeth now. Witches and ghosts may come after me, but I implore you to kindly smile before you scream at me. I'm going to get some tofu.

AND I THOUGHT IT WAS TOUGH WRITING A BLOG...

CP is glad to hear The Capital is alive and well. Editor Tom Marquardt writes a coumn today titled "Editor's desk:We’re adjusting to changing times and a changing market" which you may read at: http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2007/10_28-45/OPN.

Along with Eric Hartley's column, which CP has praised in an earlier post, Marquardt's regular "Editor's desk" is the other "must read" in our local daily. Marquardt helps readers to understand how it is so difficult to please every one of us, and some of us will never be pleased.

CP, who is unconstrained by the vicissitudes of the marketplace, other than the marketplace of ideas, certainly hopes that financial and human resource concerns at our local daily will not negatively impact either the news hole or the news budget.

One question the editor leaves unasked is what might be the impact of the growing blogosphere upon The Capital.

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT NOW THIRD MOST INFLUENTIAL POLITICAL BLOG IN MARYLAND

Steadily climbing up the list week after week, CP is now rated as Maryland's third most influential political blog, according to BlognetNewsMaryland http://www.blognetnews.com/Maryland/. Furthermore, we fully expect to reach the 10,000 hit level within the week. October exceeded September's previous record-breaking month over a week ago. Thanks to you the reader for your support and for your continued interest. This is a public service! We ask for your comments and input. Fight ignorance and apathy!