Union Hospital is considering creation of a non-profit entity in Cecil County to operate an 8 to 12-bed short-term drug detoxification program outside a hospital setting and may ask the county government to subsidize the operation, a hospital official told county leaders on Tuesday. At the same time, the hospital has already created a...
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Governor Larry Hogan delivered his first “state of the state” address on Wednesday 2/4/15, promising to reinstate some road aid to the counties—but the fiscal reality is that Cecil County might get just a few extra peanuts and not a substantive boost in state road and bridge repair aid that has been cut by...
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Governor Larry Hogan’s recently proposed Fiscal 2016 state budget would cut local impact aid to counties and communities where gambling casinos are located, including a $372,000 hit on Cecil County’s aid from the Hollywood Casino in Perryville. An analysis of the budget proposal by the General Assembly’s non-partisan Department of Legislative Services said that...
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A CECIL TIMES Special Report Maryland Governor Larry Hogan’s newly proposed budget would cut state aid to a variety of programs and services in Cecil County– but after counting the cost of pensions for some employees, the state calculations try to make the cuts look smaller. Overall, state “direct aid” to Cecil County government...
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NEWS ANALYSIS Larry Hogan was sworn in as Maryland’s 62nd Governor on Wednesday 1/21/15, with an optimistic view of the state’s future and calls for bipartisanship to solve the state’s economic problems. But it will take much more than hope and optimism to solve massive budget shortfalls and to forge a new path in...
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NEWS ANALYSIS The script for a citizens’ “town hall” meeting this week on the upcoming Fiscal 2016 Cecil County budget was much the same as similar sessions in the past: the majority of speakers advocated for public schools and library spending and predict dire consequences if these popular programs do not get what their...
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Cecil County Executive Tari Moore has withdrawn a controversial proposal to impose tough new regulations on single-family homeowners who rent their property to vacationers. And the Cecil County Council endorsed changes to the county’s water and sewer plan to expedite services in the “growth corridor” and a proposed private drug rehab hospital in rural...
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Departing Governor Martin O’Malley, never much of a fan of Cecil County nor a favorite among county voters, has cut a new source of state aid just a year after the county first qualified for it, putting a more than $230,000 hole in the county budget to plug shortfalls in his own state budget....
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The Cecil County Council is considering legislation to set tough new regulations on owners of single-family homes who rent their properties out temporarily to vacationers, imposing zoning and inspection mandates on all properties as part of an effort to crack down on one particular Earleville home that has been the subject of community complaints....
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The Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) has issued a six-month permit to the US Army Corps of Engineers to allow renewed dumping of shipping channel dredge spoil at the Pearce Creek site the Corps owns in southern Cecil County. But dumping could not resume until construction begins on a seven-mile water pipeline from...
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Union Hospital of Cecil County is considering establishing a new short-term, drug abuser detoxification program, according to members of the Cecil County Council. It could be the first and only program of its kind in the county, which is on track for a record number of drug overdose deaths this year. Representatives of the...
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When Cecil County elected officials and members of the state delegation representing the county in Annapolis—all Republicans– met this week to discuss legislative priorities for 2015, it was a lovefest of optimism for the administration of Governor-elect Larry Hogan. But some officials cautioned that a looming state budget crisis means that there may not...
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CROW on MOORE’S MENU at HOGAN CHOWDOWN? Governor-Elect Larry Hogan is hosting a breakfast meeting in Annapolis on Tuesday 12/9/14 at the swank Treaty of Paris restaurant with the five Republican County Executives in the state, including Cecil County Executive Tari Moore. But the seating arrangements at the intimate gathering could be a bit...
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A CECIL TIMES SPECIAL REPORT Drug overdose deaths in Cecil County continue to rise to record levels, according to newly released state data, but members of the county’s drug abuse council were not informed of the statistics at a Thursday meeting. At the same time, county agencies and officials have rapidly advanced a proposed...
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What a difference two years—and an election—make. When Cecil County’s switch from a Board of Commissioners form of government to a new Charter system– with an independently elected County Executive and a five-member County Council– was launched in 2012, the transition was marked by rancor and a boycott of the inauguration by the county’s...
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