First Click -- Maryland

Your daily download of Maryland's top political news and analysis

Friday, January 15, 2010:

O'Malley's war chest nears $6 million
"Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley's campaign said Thursday that it has more than $5.7 million in the bank, a significant advantage for the Democratic incumbent at the start of an election year in which he is drawing opponents from both major parties," reports The Post's John Wagner. "No other gubernatorial hopeful is expected to declare more than a modest sum next week, when reports are due to state election officials."
More Coverage in The Baltimore Sun.

Levi to announce campaign today
"Del. Gerron S. Levi -- vying to become the first female county
executive in Prince George's County history -- says she will officially toss her hat in the ring Friday by filing as a candidate," reports The Post's Jonathan Mummolo. "In a statement, Levi said she decided to make her candidacy formal after 'consulting with family, friends, constituents and supporters.'"

Miller says he wants Prince George's slots site
"The president of the Maryland Senate said Thursday that he would like to expand the state's fledgling slots program to include a venue in Prince George's County, a prospect that generated no immediate support from other state leaders," Wagner writes.
More coverage by The Sun.

O'Malley calls Geithner about TARP money
O'Malley reiterated Thursday he will be proposing a small business credit recovery program to boost lending on Main Street, and he said "he has talked to U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner about investing federal money in small business lending," writes The AP's Brian Witte. "O'Malley said he recently phoned Geithner, who happens to be a Maryland resident, to talk about reinvesting money from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) in loan guarantee funds in all 50 states."

Gazette: "Significant layoffs" coming, source says
Citing one source "knowledgeable about the budget," The Gazette's Douglas Tallman and Alan Brody write that "Gov. Martin O'Malley's fiscal 2011 budget, which will be revealed next week, will contain significant layoffs." Regarding the source: "To be more specific would reveal the employee's identity, they said. O'Malley spokesman Rick Abbruzzese on Thursday would not characterize the extent of the layoffs in the budget, but he disagreed that they would be 'significant.'"

MoCo fines Clarksburg developer
"The Montgomery County Planning Board, citing more than 400 unauthorized changes to plans for Clarksburg Town Center's unbuilt downtown, fined the developer $22,000 Thursday, even as company officials said they had scuttled the changes and would stick with an agreement hammered out a year ago," reports The Post's Miranda Spivack.

Intercounty spat over Connector
"Prince George's County Council members are accusing officials overseeing construction of the Intercounty Connector of penalizing the county by canceling or changing more of its environmental projectsthan those in Montgomery County," reports The Post's Katherine Shaver.

MoCo budget proceeds with school construction
"School construction will move full speed ahead in Montgomery County under a six-year, $3.9 billion capital budget that county executive Isiah Leggett will unveil Friday, officials said," reports The Post's Michael Birnbaum. "The plan, which increases capital spending for schools by more than 17 percent over the previous six-year plan, shows that Leggett (D) is prioritizing education as budget woes force the county to make difficult decisions about where money is spent."

Briefly: