Daily "Recent Prince George's County News" updates were suspended in early March 2016. They were compiled primarily from retweets of news headlines. Those retweets continue, but in unformatted and unarchived form at PG-Politics-Briefs. To follow such headlines on a current basis, follow @pgpolitics on Twitter.

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

News Briefs (Tuesday and Wednesday)

(Posted 15 Feb 2006)
Prince George's Hospital Center
  • Examiner Editorial - Hospital needs more than a cash transfusion.
  • With health care so ridiculously expensive, how can Prince George's Hospital Center be losing so much money that without a massive $2.5 million a month transfusion, it will be forced to close in April?
    [. . .]
    Dimensions Healthcare Systems - which has managed the hospital and other county-owned medical facilities in Laurel and Bowie for the past 23 years - only hastened its deterioration. Despite a $54 million torrent of red ink requiring a $45 million public bailout, one former chief executive was paid an obscene half-million dollars in consulting fees for just one month's work. As the lifeboat was sinking, Dimensions executives were drilling more holes in it.
    [. . .]
    Saving Maryland's only public hospital system will require a lot more effort - and expense - than county officials seem willing to acknowledge.
  • Ehrlich, Johnson discuss ways to keep hospital open.
Politicians
  • Duncan courts black PG voters.
    • Times, 15 Feb 2006 (by Jon Ward, The Washington Times).
    Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan, in a close race for governor, knows he must work hard to win votes in the primarily black Democratic stronghold of Prince George's County.
    [. . .]
    Mr. Duncan took advantage of the breakfast to continue his attack on Mr. O'Malley for apparently falsifying reports on how he reduced crime in the city.

    "What do people want in Prince George's County?" Mr. Duncan asked. "They want better schools and less crime. The mayor has been absent on those issues. Now we're hearing that the mayor is cooking the numbers on crime."
    [More] .
  • Stem cell research accord sought; Senators seeking to avoid filibuster.
  • Hoping to push Maryland to the forefront of cutting-edge science, key senators and leading medical researchers are negotiating a revised stem cell research plan in an effort to avoid a threatened GOP filibuster and win the backing of Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.
    [. . .]
    "We're looking at some form of compromise to move the issue forward," said Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller. . . .
    [. . .]
    But Sen. John A. Giannetti Jr., a Prince George's County Democrat and a Roman Catholic who would otherwise support a filibuster, expressed support yesterday for a modified version . . .
    [. . .].
  • Inner Suburbs Fall Through the Cracks; Study Says Cities, Exurbs Get the Help.
  • The nation's inner suburbs, including those around Washington, face critical challenges from aging neighborhoods and growing numbers of poor, elderly and immigrant residents, according to a report to be released today. In some cases, it says, the fate of those communities could undermine their regions.
    [. . .]
    Nationally, one in three residents in the inner suburbs is a member of a minority group, compared with one in six in 1980. In the Washington area, the figures are higher, ranging up to 76 percent in Prince George's County.
    [. . .]
    In Prince George's, crime and deteriorating housing are long-standing problems for some inner communities, but other parts of the county are attracting upscale development. For many residents there, "the older communities serve as the affordable housing stock," said County Council member David Harrington (D-Cheverly), who is concerned that rising real estate values could make it hard for longtime owners to be able to pay property taxes.
    [More].
Pro-Criminal Politicians and Judges
  • Ehrlich to veto bill on felons.
    • Times, 15 Feb 2006 (by S.A. Miller, The Washington Times).
    Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. yesterday vowed to veto a bill that would restore voting rights to felons, including the state's most violent criminals, immediately upon their release from prison.

    "I don't think you reward the franchise to those who commit the most horrific crimes," Mr. Ehrlich, a Republican, told The Washington Times. "Full restoration of every right is inappropriate."

    Dozens of House Democrats have co-sponsored legislation that would allow about 150,000 murderers, rapists, robbers and other felons to vote this year, and the state Democratic Party has endorsed the bill.
    [. . .]
    Mr. Ehrlich said he is convinced that some Democrats are backing the bill for "purely partisan purposes."

    "The vast majority of Marylanders would share my concern with the issue [and] would support my veto," he said.
    [. . .]
    "Once they have paid their debt to society, clearly they should be able to vote," Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., Prince George's Democrat, said yesterday.
  • Victims outraged that admitted shooter walks free; Gunman was released with no bond.
  • A Capitol Heights man charged with two counts of attempted murder after shooting two repo men in November is freely walking the streets while awaiting his trial. . . .

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