Here’s this morning’s chat with Maryland Morning News Anchor Bill Vanko where we cover water main repairs and dueling bills that would change the county school board from fully appointed by the governor to either a fully elected or a hybrid of the two.
Here’s the link to my weekly political chat with WBAL 1090 AM Maryland Morning News anchor Bill Vanko. On today’s docket: Pay raises for the county executive and county council and early “retirement” of long-time county police spokesman Bill Toohey.
We’ll be talking politics including County Executive Jim Smith’s political future, county pension plans, the state budget and slots on Maryland Public Television’s State Circle.
Tune in tonight at 7:30 p.m. or catch the rebroadcast Sunday at 8 a.m. It’s a bye week for the Ravens so it’s not like you’ll be tailgating.
Professional wrestling’s legendary manager, “Captan” Lou Albano, died earlier this week and it got me thinking about a famous wrestling bad guy with Baltimore County connections — Josip Nikolai Peruzović.
Peruzović, known to fans of pro wrestling as Nikolai Volkoff, is a Glen Arm resident and county code enforcement officer. He also unsuccessfully ran for House of Delegates as a Republican in the 7th District, which includes Cockeysville, Honeygo and Middle River (hey, you can’t hit your opponents with chairs and knock out the ref in politics). (more…)
Republican and former Del. Don Murphy is running again — but not for public office.
Murphy, who represented the Catonsville and Arbutus area from 1995 to 2003, only decided last Thursday that he would sign up to run the Riley’s Rumble Half Marathon in Germantown, Maryland. The race was yesterday.
He ran the race in “2-hours 13-minutes and change,” Murphy said in a phone message on Sunday after the race. (more…)
I don’t plan on doing this often but in light of the fact that County Executive Jim Smith honored Lou Panos today with a proclamation (you can read about that here), I wanted to share one story about Lou.
I worked my first newspaper job back in 1987 at the tender age of 19. I met Lou the following year. He was on a media panel asking questions at a debate between incumbent Republican Rep. Helen Delich Bentley and Joseph Bartenfelder, the Democratic challenger.
I found myself on the panel after my more qualified editor bowed out due to illness.
I don’t remember the question that provoked Bentley, but after the debate Bentley came flying off the stage and into my face. Her question was peppered with expletives (she did work at the port, you know) demanding to know who told me to ask that question.
I was paralyzed. The tirade continued for a moment and abated.
Lou then approached and patted me on the back.
“Is that your first time meeting the congresswoman?” he asked.
I nodded.
“Don’t worry, that’s everyone’s first meeting with her,” he said with a smile and walked away.
Fourteen years later, I was hired to fill the position Lou was leaving for semiretirement but would continue on at Patuxent as a columnist until earlier this year. It was an amazing opportunity and a dream of mine.
To this day, people still ask me about Lou. He knew everyone, and his institutional knowledge, which he freely passed on, is endless. He was always humble about his work and I often heard him, while speaking to sources, introduce himself as “Lou Panos, boy reporter.”
He is irreplaceable, and for me, doing this job that was once his feels a lot like being a child walking around the house in his father’s shoes.
Welcome to Patuxent Publishing Co.’s Baltimore County government and politics blog.
I may be familiar to many of you who have read my articles in the Towson Times, Catonsville Times, Owings Mills Times, North County News, Northeast Booster or our other publications. (more…)