Reporters Notebook: Firing up the fight for tighter emission controls

The ruling shows that the California regulations are valid and legal, said Sen. Brian Frosh, who shepherded the bill through his Judicial Proceedings Committee.

The auto industry argues that the ruling shows that global warming issues should be dealt with on a national scale. Both sides are squaring off in federal court in Fresno over whether California can set its own standards, as an exemption to the weaker federal Clean Air Act.

Del. Maggie McIntosh, whose Environmental Matters Committee also passed the clean cars bill, saw the ruling as a victory for the case for the state legislation.

‘‘It’s always best to have the federal government set a high standard, or in this case low emission standards,” she said.

McIntosh said she would be ‘‘happy to look at” amending the clean cars legislation if more stringent standards are mandated by a ruling in the federal case pending in California or by the EPA.

Frosh, who worked on federal legislation aimed at the greenhouse effect while working in the U.S. Senate in the mid-1970s, said he is not holding his breath for the EPA to set more stringent standards. ‘‘I think the Bush administration is still trying to get over the fact that the Earth is not flat, and having them accept the well-established evidence that we have a problem of global warming is not something I can say I’m optimistic about,” he said.

Maryland’s vast coastline makes it particularly vulnerable to the rising sea level that scientists say can result from global warming, Frosh said. ‘‘When you’re looking across the street at a forest fire you start thinking about how to protect your house,” he said. ‘‘It’s not as imminent as a forest fire, but it’s a big problem and not far away.”

— Sean R. Sedam

By the book

Rumor had it last week that the Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee planned to present freshman Mike Lenett with Dale Carnegie’s classic, ‘‘How to Win Friends and Influence People.”

The presentation never happened — at least not to Lenett.

Instead, last Thursday’s night of committee parties saw the committee present the book to another Mike — as in Senate prez Miller.

‘‘We figured that in its 71st year of printing, he, too, needed to learn how to win friends and influence people,” said Roy Dyson, the committee’s vice chairman.

But Lenett didn’t wind up empty-handed.

In recognition of Lenett’s bill to ban assault weapons, Miller presented Lenett with a baseball cap from the NRA emblazoned, ‘‘Guns are good.”

The bill, alas, died in committee. Others have fared better. One, requiring cigarettes to be fire-safe, is headed for the governor’s desk.

‘‘He’s been a very good senator,” Dyson said of Lenett. ‘‘He’s learning well. Every senator on the committee is learning well.”

— Sean R. Sedam

Slow year, Act IV, Scene I

Scene: Outside the House chamber Monday, one week until Sine Die. An almost eerie calm hangs over a legislature coming to the end of an unusually placid session.

Lobbyist to Del. Galen Clagett: ‘‘Ready for the sprint to the finish line?”

Clagett: ‘‘I’d call it a jog, not a sprint.”

— Sean R. Sedam

E-nough already

She worked for five U.S. presidents, but Mary Lou Maddox, 77, of Columbia will forever be known as Maryland’s ‘‘one-millionth electronic filer.”

At least if Comptroller Peter Franchot’s office has anything to say about it.

According to a news release Wednesday, the former White House staffer said she finds e-filing her state taxes ‘‘easy, cheap and convenient.”

E-filing use is ‘‘about 8 percent above last year’s totals,” the release said. ‘‘The process cuts down significantly on processing and staff costs in addition to reducing errors and delayed refunds.”

Maddox ‘‘chose to have her refund direct deposited for the first time this year as a way to get her refund more quickly,” we learned.

We’re not sure what being the millionth electronic filer gets you — other than a news release [and who hasn’t had their own news release from the Comptroller’s Office this session?].

We assume there were no bells and whistles, no confetti. That kind of stuff is reserved for million-dollar winners on slot machines. And we know the comptroller will have none of that.

— Sean R. Sedam

Life for the living wage?

The return of the living wage bill comes as Christians are moving through Holy Week, a time that celebrates how death is not eternal.

With Sine Die on Monday — Easter Monday! — the resurrection could be complete.

Less pious observers have been thinking less about eternal souls and more about reanimated corpses. A suitable headline for the measure’s passage could be: ‘‘Night of the Living Wage Bill.”

— Douglas Tallman and Sean R. Sedam

That’ll teach you

Sometimes, the minority party silences itself.

Case in point, Rick Weldon lost his voice for two days last week after impersonating Tony O’Donnell’s thunderous voice during the Follies. He even missed out on a Friday radio appearance.

‘‘I’m just glad that Leader O’Donnell is kinder and gentler, so if I do have to lampoon him in the future, I won’t have to scream and risk my vocal chords,” Weldon said.

— Alan Brody

New Electoral College?

Jamie Raskin wants to dismantle the Electoral College, but instead of just doing away with the centuries-old method of electing presidents, we’ve got another idea that could put the bastion of ballot bombast to work.

Promote an elector appointment program that would prevent Sanjaya Malakar (whose first name, Kumar Barve tells us, is actually feminine) from becoming the next American idol. Malakar’s survival on the show has even generated hunger strikes until he is booted, so maybe the institution of an American Idol Electoral College would lead to his demise.

— Douglas Tallman and Alan Brody

Gone south

Mike Steele’s Senate campaign spokeswoman has landed in the Bayou.

Roll Call reported recently that Melissa Sellers has signed on as communications director for Congressman Bobby Jindal’s second gubernatorial run. Incumbent Dem gubbie Kathleen Blanco is not seeking re-election, and Jindal, who narrowly lost in 2003, is considered a leading candidate for the GOP nomination.

— Alan Brody

Doublemint twins?

We know Peter Franchot has gubernatorial ambitions, but he showed up at Wednesday’s Board of Public Works meeting Wednesday looking a little too ... gubernatorial.

That’s because he and Gov. Martin O’Malley wore the same neckwear (no, they didn’t share a tie — you people need a vacation). Happily, O’Malley donned a white shirt and Franchot a light blue shirt, so they weren’t complete doppelgangers.

Few may have noticed the twin ties if Franchot hadn’t pointed it out: ‘‘I just wanted to compliment the governor on his tie selection.”

— Alan Brody

Sharing

Pat McDonough, who offers no apologies for his proposal that the state to buy the Calvert Cliffs nuclear plant, will be debating the slavery apology on C-Span: He opposes it. He’ll be on air April 12 at 9:30 a.m.

— Douglas Tallman

Employed

Brian Moe, a former delegate from Laurel, has been appointed deputy secretary of state.

Moe, a master firefighter with Howard County and a member of the Laurel Volunteer Fire Department, spent nine years in the House, was chief deputy majority whip and chaired the legislature’s Fire Caucus.

The secretary of state’s office carries out international protocol functions, registers and regulates charities, renews certifications of notaries public, tracks executive orders and sets protocol for flying the Maryland flag.

— Douglas Tallman

New job for Cryor?

Jean Cryor, who was MoCo’s sole Republican in the legislature until she lost her re-election bid in November, may be on her way to joining a panel where at least one other Republican still holds power. She’s a candidate, surely a top contender, for the non-majority party county Planning Board seat that opens when Meredith Wellington’s term expires in June.

Cryor said throwing her hat into the ring marks a ‘‘coming full circle” for her politically and follows the re-emergence of land use as the major issue in Montgomery.

She recalled working with tape measure-wielding civic activists in western Montgomery 20 years ago to push construction of a Giant supermarket out of a watershed as the beginning of a keen interest in planning and, eventually, her political career. Cryor testified last year before the Planning Board that building in Clarksburg did not match plans the board approved and she covered as a Gazette journalist years ago. Lately she has been tracking the board’s work closely.

— Margie Hyslop

Bragging for Barack

Barack Obama has yet another fan. Seems MoCo Roger Berliner just loves the junior senator from Illinois.

Last week Berliner proclaimed far and wide that Obama is not only the best thing since sliced bread, but also the knife used to slice the bread.

‘‘What’s unique about Senator Obama is his ability to go beyond party loyalty and attract new voters to the process,” Berliner gushed about Obama’s ‘‘special gift.”

So has the freshman councilman from Potomac put his money where his mouth is? Was he one of the 100,000 people donating to Obama’s $25 million war chest this year?

Not yet, Berliner says. He will be, he tells us, but he’s waiting to put some things in order first.

Not sure what those ‘‘things” are, but we’re sure Hillary Clinton is shaking in her boots and John Edwards has taken to his bed in grief.

— Janel Davis

Looks like a winner

Steve Abrams, we hardly knew ye. The former MoCo Republican and GOP Central Committee member-turned Democrat is being replaced, probably by Sam Malhotra, CEO of the IT firm Subsystem Technologies in Virginia.

So far Malhotra is the only applicant, said county GOP chairman Tom Reinheimer: ‘‘We’ve already heard some comments from the other Central Committee members about Sam being a good candidate. Everyone’s pretty excited about having someone of his caliber and quality on the committee.”

The vote is set for April 24.

— Janel Davis

Paying the piper

In other MoCo GOP news, it seems the Young Republicans’ Save the Building Charity Ball, scheduled for April 14, isn’t as desperate and depressing as it sounds.

The county GOP is not about to lose its headquarters in Gaithersburg, Reinheimer tells us. The young’uns just want to pay off a second mortgage.

Whew! We were worried about losing our favorite spot to watch intraparty wrestling.

— Janel Davis

Deprivation

It was difficult to sort out the winners and losers last week after Prince G’s county exec Jack Johnson shut down nine nightclubs that he blamed for violent crime. Most of the clubs reopened within a few days anyway.

Among those clubs were CFE in Forestville and Classics in Camp Springs, which were dark over the weekend. Asked who won and who lost, CFE and Classics attorney Jim Bell said no one won. ‘‘I think what happened is the community lost,” he said.

Howzzat?

Well, Bell said in all seriousness, ladies lost the ability to go to a ‘‘safe” environment and watch good, clean male dancing. ‘‘This is more like the movie ‘Footloose,’ where they banned dancing,” he said.

— Judson Berger

Who are the ad wizards ... ?

Ever wonder why football is outpacing baseball as the national pastime?

On Saturday, Major League Baseball sponsored the Civil Rights Game, so named because it was played in Memphis near the site of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination.

The marketing concept itself seemed like a good one in theory — honor the civil rights movement while maybe raising baseball’s profile among African Americans whose interest in the game has waned among younger generations.

One of the teams, the St. Louis Cards, played the game in the home of their Triple-A farm team, which seemed sensible. The same cannot be said for baseball’s choice of the Cards’ opponent: the Cleveland Indians.

The irony was not lost on National Council of American Indians President Joe Garcia, who called the involvement of Cleveland and its stereotypical mascot Chief Wahoo ‘‘particularly inappropriate” in The Native American Times newspaper.

NCAI, the oldest and largest Native American group in the United States, condemns the use of Native American images and team names, including that of the NFL team that calls Prince George’s County home.

‘‘We commend MLB for implementing the Civil Rights Game to pay homage to the historic Civil Rights movement that changed this country,” Garcia told the newspaper. ‘‘But at the same time, it is absolutely irresponsible to include a team such as the Cleveland Indians, whose buck-toothed Indian mascot promotes blatant racism, mockery and negative stereotypes of Native Americans.”

Cleveland fell 5-1.

— Sean R. Sedam