(UPDATED 11:23 pm) Pam Howard, the former Cecil County Treasurer, soundly defeated her chief rival, North East Mayor Robert McKnight, for the Democratic nomination for the county’s first County Executive. With 20 precincts reporting, Howard had 54.9 percent of the vote to McKnight’s 37.1 percent. She will face County Commissioner Tari Moore, victor in...
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Cecil County voters went to the polls Tuesday in Democratic and Republican primary elections to select nominees for the county’s first-ever County Executive and two members of the new County Council in Districts 1 and 5. But turnout was described as “very low” by local election officials as of 3 p.m. Turnout was reported...
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Commentary and Analysis At “Cecil Night” in Annapolis a few months ago. Sen. E.J. Pipkin (R-36) tried to convince some local business leaders that there really wasn’t a “Smipkin” political machine, led by him and Del. Michael Smigiel, and that they really had no interest in controlling Cecil County government. If only that were...
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Editorial Voters in Tuesday’s Democratic primary have several choices of candidates to take on the difficult, and probably thankless, task of trying to unseat Republican incumbent Andy Harris in the 1st District seat in Congress. But Dr. John LaFerla, a Chestertown physician, is the clear choice for Cecil County voters who want to see...
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In the crowded Republican primary for Cecil County executive, current Commissioner Tari Moore (R-2) is the top fundraiser while fellow Commissioner and candidate Diana Broomell (R-4) got money from an Ethics panel appointee she championed. And “Smipkin” political machine candidate Michael A. Dawson is primarily financed by a liquor licensee found guilty of selling...
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Dr. Alan McCarthy, who is seeking to oust incumbent County Commissioner James Mullin (R-1) in this year’s Republican primary, has raised $11,631 so far from donors and fundraising events while Mullin has done minimal fundraising but has a $16,200 mystery in his campaign reports: money showed up in January but disappeared in March, with...
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Robert McKnight, the mayor of North East and a Democratic candidate for Cecil County Executive, remained the top fundraiser of the campaign season so far while his two Democratic primary rivals ran low budget, self-financed efforts. The latest campaign finance reports, which covered the period from 1/12/12 to 3/18/12, are the last financial accounting...
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The race for Cecil County Council in District 5 so far is a low budget affair but newcomer candidate Keith Moore is taking full advantage of his own printing business to produce campaign materials in his bid to unseat incumbent County Commissioner Robert Hodge in the Republican primary, according to new campaign finance reports...
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CECILTON— Democrats hoping to take on the uphill battle to reclaim the Congress seat now held by Rep. Andy Harris (R-1) brought their spirited primary campaign to Cecilton Wednesday night. Dr. John LaFerla, a Chestertown physician, and Wendy Rosen, a Baltimore County businesswoman, answered questions from members of Cecil County and Kent County Democratic...
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A long-proposed project to develop housing for homeless veterans on the grounds of the Perry Point VA hospital in Perryville drew more questions before the Cecil County Commissioners Tuesday as the county’s housing director warned that proposed demands could siphon off housing aid from families in the county. David Mahaney, the county’s housing director,...
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Maryland Gets D Minus Grade on “Integrity” Report Card Anyone with short, or long, memories of political scandals in Maryland knows that the state has a long and sordid history of corrupt elected officials. But a new study finds the state’s laws, regulations and access to public information contribute to a climate of ethical...
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The Democratic primary election candidates for Cecil County Executive and two new County Council seats had some mostly gentle disagreements with each other during a candidate forum Wednesday evening, in contrast to some of the more embattled discord among members of the county’s current all-Republican government. The forum, sponsored by Cecil County Democrats and...
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The Cecil County Commissioners endorsed, by the usual Three Amigos majority vote Tuesday, a proposal by Commissioner Diana Broomell (R-4) to give longer terms of service to three new members of the county Ethics Commission, in a do-over of a vote taken months ago. The action amounted to yet another “do-over” of a previous...
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Cecil County should require developers of new taxpayer-subsidized housing projects to agree to limit rent increases for low and moderate income residents, the county’s housing director told County Commissioners Tuesday. The proposal is in response to a massive rent hike for some tenants proposed by developers of the new Elkton Senior Housing project in...
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ANALYSIS The state Senate is expected to vote this week on a revised proposal, approved by a Senate committee late last week, that would ease the devastating blow to county budgets proposed by Gov. Martin O’Malley to shift half of teacher, community college and library staff pension costs to the counties. But the bill...
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