Rivals for State’s Attorney, Register of Wills Face Sharp Questions; Judge Race Calmer at GOP Forum

May 10, 2018

There were some tough questions when rival candidates in the June Republican primary for Cecil County State’s Attorney and the Register of Wills office squared off in a candidates’ forum sponsored by the Republican Club of Cecil County last week, putting some candidates on the defensive hot seat. In contrast, a panel of three...
Read more »

State’s Attorney Candidates Raise Campaign $; A Backer Bashes Rival

May 2, 2018

The three candidates running for Cecil County State’s Attorney in the June Republican primary have drawn very different bases of financial support for their campaigns, with one candidate drawing most of her support from just three aligned donors, another tapping the traditional lawyer donations, and the third relying mostly on small donors and his...
Read more »

More Name’s-the-Same Political Dirt: Larsen Grabs Patchell’s Name for Website to Link to his own Campaign, Donation Site

April 29, 2018

NEWS ANALYSIS From nose-biting at a polling place to creating a political club with virtually the same name as a longstanding and well-known Republican group so as to confuse voters, never let it be said that Cecil County politics is clean and above-board. Now we can add to the dirtpile the cyberspace hijacking of...
Read more »

Cecil County Fire Companies Aghast at Budget; Spending Rises 5.8% but Equipment $ in Doubt

April 4, 2018

It was just two days after Cecil County Executive Alan McCarthy presented his new Fiscal 2019 budget that the county suffered one of its most devastating fire emergencies, when the Owens Landing condo project in Perryville erupted into a fireball that destroyed one building, injured four people, and made 24 people homeless. The embers...
Read more »

New Cecil County Budget Freezes Property, Income Tax Rates; Boosts School $, Sewer Fees

March 31, 2018

Cecil County Executive Alan McCarthy unveiled his new Fiscal 2019 budget plan on Friday (3/30/2018), freezing property and income tax rates at current levels, boosting school spending slightly, and calling for a major increase in sewage treatment fees in order to balance the wastewater fund. The budget now goes to the County Council, which...
Read more »

Cecil County Sheriff, Schools Outline Plans to Keep Kids Safe in School Shootings Aftermath

March 27, 2018

As the nation mourns the loss of 17 students recently in the Parkland, FL school shootings, Cecil County schools and law enforcement officials held a public briefing Monday evening (3/26/2018) to detail longstanding, and new, initiatives designed to protect students in county schools. But as policy and political debates rage nationally and on local...
Read more »

GOP County Council Candidates Tout Economic Development, Job Skills; Schneckenburger Won’t Commit to Serve Full Term

March 19, 2018

NEWS ANALYSIS It was mostly a meeting of the like-minded when four Republican candidates for the Cecil County Council met for a polite discussion of issues at a forum sponsored by the Republican Club of Cecil County on 3/15/2018 in Elkton. But there was an extra elephant in the room, apart from pictures of...
Read more »

Cecil County’s Names-the-Same GOP Politics, Round 2: GOP Club Vs. Sammons’ Soiree

March 14, 2018

NEWS ANALYSIS We’ve seen it before in Cecil County politics: a disgruntled lone wolf creates a rump group with a name similar to a well-established organization to confuse the public and launch political attacks on the original group. So, a dissident online presence created in 2016 by conservative activist Vincent Sammons that had existed...
Read more »

Cecil County Exec McCarthy Gets Probation on DWI Charge

March 8, 2018

Cecil County Executive Alan McCarthy pleaded guilty Thursday (3/8/2018) to one count of driving while impaired by alcohol and received probation before judgment. If he successfully completes the one-year period of unsupervised probation, his record can be expunged. A trial in Cecil County Circuit Court was initially expected to be postponed due to schedule...
Read more »

GOP Names Harford County Farmer, Jason Gallion, for Norman’s State Senate Seat on Primary Ballot

March 5, 2018

Jason Gallion, a Harford County farmer and a former two-time candidate for the House of Delegates, has been named by Republicans in the two-counties of Senate District 35 to run unopposed on the GOP primary election ballot in June. His name would replace that of incumbent Sen. Wayne Norman, who died suddenly on Sunday....
Read more »

RIP: Sen. Wayne Norman (R-35) Dies Suddenly; Gov. to Fill Seat with Appointee

March 4, 2018

Sen. Wayne Norman (R-35), a cheerful political presence in Harford and Cecil Counties who pursued a conservative legislative agenda and a personal agenda of kindness and humor, died suddenly Sunday at his home. He was unopposed for re-election in both the Republican primary and on the November general election ballot. Gov. Larry Hogan issued...
Read more »

Smigiels File Double-Play, Names-the-Same Political Contests: Dad for Judge, Son for Dad’s Old Delegate Seat

February 27, 2018

NEWS ANALYSIS Never let it be said that perennial candidate and three-time loser Michael D. Smigiel, Sr., doesn’t have any more political tricks up his sleeves, even if they aren’t the sleeves on a Cecil County judicial robe that he desperately wants to wear. Now he’s trying for a two-fer: a judicial seat for...
Read more »

CECIL TIMES RETURNS: Health and Hospitals, Geography and Gratitude

February 27, 2018

It’s been a few months since Cecil Times posted on our website, or on Facebook, but the radio silence wasn’t an abandonment of the role CT has played for the past eight years as an independent voice in our local conversations about Cecil County and Maryland government, politics and assorted oddities. Sometimes real life...
Read more »

Cecil Co Council Rejects Budget, Walks Away from Spending Cuts; McCarthy Budget Heads to AutoPilot Adoption Via Charter

June 6, 2017

The Cecil County Council refused to adopt a Fiscal 2018 budget Tuesday night, voting 3-2 against the budget even after members adopted a package of over $422,000 in spending cuts. As a result, the budget originally proposed by County Executive Alan McCarthy appears headed for automatic adoption, without the spending cuts, under a Charter...
Read more »

Cecil County Budget: All Over But the Shouting; $415K in Spending Cuts Won’t Block Tax Boosts

June 2, 2017

It’s all over but the shouting on Cecil County’s Fiscal 2018 proposed budget, after the County Council made its last round of budget decisions on Thursday and added back $49,100 in funds the panel had previously cut. The Council is set to formally adopt the budget next week at its 6/6/2017 evening meeting, at...
Read more »

ADVERTISEMENTS

Fine Maryland Wines
Proudly made in Cecil County

www.dovevalleywine.com