photo from GOP staffer A burst pipe in the Senate Office Building in Annapolis sent water pouring into offices and the hallway on Monday afternoon. Sen. Richard Colburn 's office took the biggest hit, according to some GOP senators.

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photo from GOP staffer The hallway of the Senate Office Building looks like it might in the aftermath of another earthquake. Only this time, the damage was from a burst pipe on Monday.

photo from GOP staffer A burst pipe in the Senate Office Building in Annapolis sent water pouring into offices and the hallway on Monday afternoon. Sen. Richard Colburn 's office took the biggest hit, according to some GOP senators.

 

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U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin has his “date” lined up for President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address.

Cardin has invited state Sen. Joanne Benson to be his guest.

“Joanne is a friend and a gifted political leader from Prince George’s County,” Cardin said in an emailed statement. “President Obama will outline his vision for the coming year in his State of the Union Address, and I am extremely pleased that she will be able to join me.”

The senator has invited different Marylanders to attend the event with him each year, said Cardin spokeswoman Susan Sullam.

The event is one of the most popular for politicos, with some congressional members sending staff to the floor of the House of Representatives to save them a seat on the aisle so they can be seen shaking hands with the president as he enters and exits.

“This is an exciting opportunity to give support to the President as he outlines an agenda that will significantly benefit every American,” said Benson of Landover, who served in the Maryland House of Delegates from 1991 until 2011. In 2010, she was elected to the state Senate.

A new Gonzales poll showed Cardin has a 68 percent approval rating with state Democrats, even as he faces eight primary challengers, including state Sen. Anthony Muse of Fort Washington.

— C. Benjamin Ford

Wet and wild

When a water pipe burst in the aging James Senate Office building in Annapolis on Monday afternoon, it sent legislators and aides on the building’s third and fourth floors scrambling to save valuables and generally get out of the way as water began to seep — and in some cases pour — through ceilings into offices and hallways.

The damage was so bad that officials closed the building that day.

The offices of GOP Sen. Richard Colburn, on the third floor, sustained the worst damage, several GOP senators said Monday night as they gathered for the Senate’s floor session.

Senators huddled with GOP aide Theresa Goddard and Colburn looking at photos of the damage that Goddard had shot. The photos depicted flooded hallways and offices in disarray.

Water was “coming out of the light fixtures,” Goddard said. “It was just pouring in buckets.”

Most of the offices were open by Tuesday, said Sam Cook, the director of the Annapolis complex. He added that he hoped the building would be “fully operational” by Friday.

— Steve Kelly

Ice queen

When Aruna Miller touches cold water, she breaks out in hives, she reports.

This is not very promising for the second-year delegate who will participate for the first time in the annual Polar Bear Plunge, which raises money for the Maryland Special Olympics.

Miller, who said she plans to bring an EpiPen to the massive fundraiser Saturday at Sandy Point State Park, is hoping to generate $5,000 for the charity.

Her motivation for joining in this exercise in self-torture was born out of a need to represent womankind, or at least legislative women, in the fundraiser.

Miller said she was spurred to get involved because the likes of Jon Cardin and Herb McMillan also are participating in the plunge.

“I’ll just take on the boys,” she said.

A longtime Senate plunger, Jim Robey, will miss out this year, though.

Robey, who routinely has earned the distinction of super plunger by jumping in the Bay each hour for an entire day, said he has retired from the event.

He concedes, though, that it’s easier to be a super plunger than a one-and-done dipper, as those making the 24-hour commitment are supplied with heated tents and someone holding a warm towel as they scramble out of the frigid Bay.

Super plunger or not, from firsthand experience we can tell you that while it’s for a good cause, jumping into icy water in mid-January is never, ever as easy as you hope it will be.

The freezing cold sand will send screaming cramps from your feet all the way through your thighs — so good luck, lawmakers.

— Sarah Breitenbach