First Click -- Maryland

Rawlings-Blake says pension concerns 'understandable'
"Baltimore's mayor-to-be Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake vowed Monday to re-examine the city's pension plan for elected leaders in the wake of outrage over Mayor Sheila Dixon's $83,000-a-year benefit and to strengthen ethics laws governing city officials," writes The Sun's Julie Scharper. "'It's understandable that people are very upset about the prospect of a lifetime pension,' City Council President Rawlings-Blake said during a lengthy interview with The Baltimore Sun's editorial board. 'I know there are ways we can look at other pension systems around the country, to kind of close these loopholes.'"

O'Malley prepares government makeover
"When Gov. Martin O'Malley unveils his fiscal 2011 spending plan on Jan. 20, the massive document is likely to include elements of a state government makeover," writes The Gazette's Douglas Tallman. "You know the budget must be in dire straits if the O'Malley administration is looking for Ehrlich-era ideas."

The $100,000 club
"More than 10,000 state workers are raking in annual salaries topping $100,000 this year in Maryland and Virginia, states that have cut services and laid off employees and once again are facing massive budget shortfalls," writes The Examiner's Alan Suderman. "In Maryland, 5,217 employees, most working for the state's public colleges and universities, make $100,000 a year or more, according to public records requested by The Examiner. Virginia has 5,368 employees in the $100,000 club, though that figure excludes employees from some state agencies, including the judiciary."

MoCo delegation eyes maintenance of effort waiver
"The Montgomery County Delegation is now considering a local bill to waive the county's Maintenance of Effort (MOE) penalty for FY 2010," writes blogger Adam Pagnucco at Maryland Politics Watch. "Since the bill is co-sponsored by five of the county's eight Senators and seventeen of the county's twenty-four Delegates, it will almost certainly clear the two-thirds hurdle required of emergency bills like this one. Its fate in Annapolis is another question, as it must be approved by the entire General Assembly."

10 years later, Clarksburg a promise unrealized for many
"It was to be a model suburb, a chance for Montgomery County to get it right," writes The Post's Miranda Spivack in a story looking back at Clarksburg Town Center, which became a major issue in the 2006 Democratic primary. "The vision was for an intimate, walkable community, shops, a library, restaurants and public transportation close by. Home buyers, attracted by large houses with relatively moderate prices at low interest rates, were drawn to the northern Montgomery community, even camping out overnight for the chance to buy the home of their dreams. But for many, the promise of Clarksburg Town Center remains unrealized.

Former delegate and lobbyist dies
"Royal V. Hart, 83, a Maryland state legislator in the 1960s who sponsored bills to promote fair housing and to repeal the state's ban on interracial marriage and who later was the chief lobbyist for Prince George's County at the State House, died Jan. 2 at Anne Arundel Medical Center after a heart attack," writes The Post's Timothy R. Smith.

Case study: In Baltimore, newspapers still drive storylines
A new study by the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism, mentioned briefly in this space on Monday, as it was released, suggests that while the news landscape has rapidly expanded, most of what the public learns is still overwhelmingly driven by traditional media--particularly newspapers. The study, which examined all the outlets that produced local news in Baltimore, Md., for one week, surveyed their output and then did a closer examination of six major narratives ... of the stories that did contain new information nearly all, 95 percent, came from traditional media -- most of them newspapers. These stories then tended to set the narrative agenda for most other media outlets. The local papers, however, are also offering less than they once did. .... A comparison of one major story during the week studied -- about state budget cuts -- found newspapers in the area produced only one-third as many stories in 2009 as they did the last time the state made a similar round of budget cuts in 1991, and the Baltimore Sun one seventh as many. Yet the numbers suggest the addition of new media has not come close to making up the difference."

News of the weird:

Maryland has a bridge to sell you
"Maryland highway officials have a bridge in Cecil County they want to sell you. The State Highway Administration says the Maryland Route 545 bridge over Little Elk Creek in Childs is available to be purchased and reused at a new location.," reports The AP. "The state is willing to sell the bridge to a city or county government, historic preservation group, nonprofit, corporation or individual. The new owner would be required to preserve the bridge according to established standards for historic bridges. The steel pony truss bridge was built in 1932 and is 27 feet wide. Federal regulations require that bridges must be at least 32 feet wide to handle the traffic load that crosses the span daily. State officials say it would be easier to take the bridge apart and move it than it would be to widen it."

O'Malley waiting for lobsters
"The Baltimore Ravens defeated the New England Patriots in Sunday's NFL playoff game, and O'Malley (D) is looking for his payoff," Wagner writes. "O'Malley last week made a "friendly wager" with Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D): O'Malley would provide Maryland crab cakes if the Patriots prevailed; Patrick (pictured here) promised New England lobsters. We have the video.

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