The leading Democrats considering a challenge to Ehrlich are Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan and Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley.
Tsunami Fundraiser on Saturday
The Park Hall Elementary Community Yard Sale canceled by snow last weekend is on again from 9 a.m. to noon this Saturday. The event is a fundraiser to aid victims of the South Asia tsunami. This project will raise money for the Red Cross International Response Fund.
Meeting on Lower Potomac Set
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Charles County have rescheduled the jointly sponsored Lower Potomac River Area meeting that was snowed out last weekend.
The meeting will now take place in two sessions Saturday.
From 10 to 11 a.m., BLM officials will be at Maryland Point to discuss the future of that area with members of the public. Maryland Point is on Route 224.
At 1:30 p.m. Saturday, people are invited to meet at the Nanjemoy Community Center, 4375 Port Tobacco Rd. During the two-hour afternoon session, staff will take people by van to visit three sites in the planning area. Recent planning for future uses of the public land along the Potomac have identified sensitive areas and defined locations suitable for recreational activities and support facilities.
Information illustrating conditions and possible recreational activities is posted on the DNR Web site, www.dnr.state.md.us/resourceplanning/lpra.html.
Those attending either session Saturday should bring appropriate footwear and clothing for walking outdoors on unimproved trails. There are no restroom facilities in the area.
For information about the status of the meeting, a voice-mail message will be available the day of the meeting at 410-260-8408.
School Handbooks Posted Online
St. Mary's County public schools students are now just a click away from the rules that govern their lives during the school day.
The school district has posted handbooks for elementary and secondary schools online at www.smcps.k12.md.us/ps/ps-index.htm.
St. Mary's Awarded NEH Grant
The Center for the Study of Democracy at St. Mary's College of Maryland and Historic St. Mary's City was awarded $148,000 last week by the National Endowment for the Humanities to bring 90 elementary and secondary teachers from across the United States to St. Mary's County to study Maryland's historical contributions to democracy.
The funding is part of NEH's Landmarks of American History Workshops, which provide opportunities for K-12 educators to study important topics in American history and visit the relevant historical sites. The featured sites in "Life, Liberty and Opportunity: The Struggle for Freedom in Tidewater Maryland 1634-1865" include Historic St. Mary's City, Sotterley Plantation and Point Lookout.
"Maryland has a unique, and often overlooked, story to tell about the contributions our state has made to the foundation of the democratic system," Zach Messitte, the director of the Center for the Study of Democracy, said in a statement announcing the grant. "It is wonderful that 90 educators from all over America will go back to their classrooms next fall with the lessons from Maryland's history on their minds and in their curricula."
The 90 teachers will be selected through a national application process. They will live at St. Mary's College of Maryland for two, separate one-week sessions in June. The participants will hear lectures from experts on topics that include Maryland's contributions to representative government, liberty in religious practices, minority rights, relations with indigenous peoples and Maryland's tensions as a border state during the Civil War.
Since its inception two years ago, the Center for the Study of Democracy has organized new courses, developed a democracy studies cross-disciplinary curriculum, sponsored more than 40 public lectures, supervised a student-led voter registration drive, opened an international exchange program with developing democratic countries that is being funded by the Mellon Foundation and launched the William Donald Schaefer Internship Program in Government Service.
Historic St. Mary's City was the site of the fourth permanent settlement in British North America and the first capital of Maryland, from 1634 to 1695.
St. Mary's Offers E-Mail Notices
St. Mary's County has started a service that allows the public to sign up to receive automatically via e-mail general information that is posted on the county Web site.
Anyone wishing to receive the updates may register by logging onto the county Web site, www.co.saint-marys.md.us, then select the heading E-GOV, and click on Auto-Notify Sign-up.
First-time users should click Sign up for Automatic Updates and fill in the required information. Users are able to choose the information they want to receive from a list of items, including latest updates, agendas/minutes, media releases, emergency announcements, Channel 12 schedule, sheriff's office announcements, vacancy announcements and procurement open bids. Users may edit their settings or discontinue the service at any time.
