Cecil County Commissioner Diana Broomell (R-4) has been forced to “relinquish” her job as manager of the Havre de Grace “Main Street” program because an executive panel of the group believed it posed a conflict with her elected position. William Price 3rd, president of the Havre de Grace Main Street organization, sent an emailed...
Read more »

The old state lottery slogan, “you gotta play to win,” will take on a new meaning when Cecil County and the Town of Perryville begin divvying up their proceeds from the state’s first slots parlor, Hollywood Casino in Perryville. Private promises of financial help to lure the casino here are now coming home to...
Read more »

Crime makes citizens pay and public safety requires public dollars was the message to the Cecil County Commissioners from safety agencies Tuesday, during reviews of budget proposals for the upcoming Fiscal 2012 budget year. Sheriff Barry Janney said he needs to hire and equip two additional patrol deputies, replace 11 old patrol cars and...
Read more »

The Cecil County Commissioners escalated a feud over property rights and their decision-making process Tuesday, with angry exchanges at a morning worksession followed by three commissioners voting in the evening to reject Planning Commission-recommended zoning changes on four properties because they are owned by Commissioner Robert Hodge (R-5). Hodge recused himself from the actions....
Read more »

The Cecil County Commissioners Tuesday selected Ed Cole, a former county commissioner and current Orphans’ Court judge, to a seat on the new Charter government advisory panel. His selection came on a unanimous vote, after past contentious discussions on who should help guide the county’s transition to Charter government in the next two years....
Read more »

Cecil County’s criminal element costs taxpayers a lot of money, from the harm they inflict on the community by their crimes to the costs of bringing them to justice in court and incarcerating them. But now 179 of our least productive citizens have done us a small favor: a slight boost in the county’s...
Read more »

Several Cecil County Commissioners refused to act Wednesday on two rezoning requests by fellow Commissioner Robert Hodge (R-5), who had recused himself from voting on his properties in accordance with an opinion he requested from the county Ethics Commission. Commissioner Diana Broomell (R-4) moved to reject the proposals, while Commissioner Tari Moore (R-2) moved...
Read more »

Rep. Andy Harris (R-1st), chatting with constituents in a teleconference Wednesday, opposed state legislation that would delay a controversial gas drilling proposal for Western Maryland and suggested investment of some US government funds in foreign bonds, including those of China. He also opposed raising the wage base on which Social Security taxes are assessed...
Read more »

The Cecil County Commissioners voted Tuesday to create a Charter Government Transition advisory panel including the three newest Commissioners, several county government senior staffers, and an unnamed “new face” from the Charter Board that drafted the county charter approved by voters last November. But Commissioner Board President James Mullin (R-1) and Commissioner Diana Broomell...
Read more »

Cecil County’s smallest town, Port Deposit (population 653 in the latest census) is gearing up for a vigorous campaign for mayor, with one current and two former mayors contending for the post in the upcoming May town election. It is a study in contrasts between small town dedication to service and some of our...
Read more »

The Cecil County Commissioners again postponed a decision on creating a charter government advisory panel Tuesday but the Board President moved quickly to kill an airport authority proposal that had not been voted on by the full board. The perennially polite Commissioner Tari Moore (R-2) became angry at the attempt by Commissioner Board President...
Read more »

The Cecil County Board of Commissioners voted Tuesday to revise history, deleting or rewriting from the minutes of previous meetings statements that were made in public but some commissioners did not want in the printed record of their work sessions. The Commissioners have been arguing for weeks over the minutes of public and closed...
Read more »

The 2010 Cecil County political soap opera, “as the Republican Central Committee turns,” is back for an encore performance this year. James W. Hutchinson, a member of the former Cecil County Republican Central Committee who was elected to the panel in the September GOP primary election, resigned from the committee on Thursday, and within...
Read more »

Cecil County is about to lose key state funds to support part of its jail operations, leaving open the prospect that the county could be forced to pick up about $1 million a year in operating costs for the facility. Part of the problem was disclosed Tuesday during a work session of the Cecil...
Read more »

The Hollywood Casino in Perryville saw increased per-machine slots revenues last month, resulting in a total of $2.4 million in “local impact” aid for Cecil County and the Town of Perryville in the current fiscal year. The Perryville slots parlor has generated a total of over $44 million in revenues, including $14.6 million in...
Read more »