Post
Wednesday, May 4, 2005; B03

Maryland

A group formed to monitor Wal-Mart's business practices is calling on Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. to return a $4,000 political donation from the retailing giant as well as proceeds from a $1,000-per-person fundraiser the company held for Ehrlich in December.

Ehrlich (R) has promised to veto a bill that would effectively force Wal-Mart to boost spending on employee health benefits or make a contribution to the state's insurance program for the poor.

"If Governor Ehrlich is intent to vetoing this bill, he could at least reduce the appearance of being bought by the company," said Wal-Mart Watch spokeswoman Tracy Sefl.

Ehrlich's most recent campaign report lists the $4,000 contribution Jan. 12, the first day of the legislative session. State law prohibits candidates from raising money after noon that day.

Ehrlich's aides have said that the governor's view of the legislation is not affected by donations. Ehrlich has said that the bill sends a signal that the state is hostile to business.

Anne Arundel County police are looking for an 89-year-old man with short-term memory loss who was last seen at a gas station in Sykesville yesterday morning.

John M. Court, of the 900 block of Cumberstone Road in Harwood, is described as 5 feet 6 inches tall and 125 pounds, with gray or white hair and green or blue eyes. He was last seen wearing a white baseball cap and driving a beige mid-size Dodge sedan bearing the license number NA 0036.

Police released a photo of Court, who is considered a "critical" missing person because of his age, the memory loss and a heart condition. Anyone with information is asked to call 410-222-1960.

The Prince George's County Council opted yesterday to allow schools to transfer more than $28 million among various spending accounts for this school year, said Chairman Samuel H. Dean (D-Mitchellville). The decision, made without a formal vote of approval, clears the way for a $25.8 million reduction in the budget for instructional salaries, to $478 million, and a $13 million increase in the budget for administration expense, to $33.5 million, among other shifts.

Overall school spending for fiscal 2005 remained unchanged at $1.27 billion.

Although some council members raised concerns about the smaller instructional budget, schools chief Andre J. Hornsby described the transfers as essentially technical corrections for a system that is on the rebound from recent budget deficits. He told council members yesterday that the schools are expanding their teaching staffs.

Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) yesterday appointed a new director for the Port of Baltimore to replace the popular former director, whose politically messy departure led to acrimony in the legislature over the administration's handling of the port.

F. Brooks Royster III, 54, is a 33-year veteran of the maritime industry. He was chosen from a field of nearly 30 candidates to be executive director of the Maryland Port Administration. For the past three years, he has been the executive officer of the Port of Miami Terminal Operating Co. He will assume his new post June 1.

Ehrlich praised Royster, saying: "This is an incredibly competitive business. He understands what it takes to be successful."

Royster replaces James White, who resigned in February over the objections of shipping interests. Democratic lawmakers accused the administration of mismanaging the port, pushing White out of his job and replacing senior port staff members with political appointees.

Five eighth-grade teachers at Arlington's Gunston Middle School have received a 2005 Hewlett-Packard "Technology for Teaching" grant worth $35,000 that is designed to improve learning through classroom use of technology.

The grant includes five HP Tablet PCs, five HP multimedia projectors, five HP digital cameras, an HP Officejet All-in-One, a $500 stipend per teacher and a professional development program to support teachers' use of technology.

The five teachers who submitted the proposal, "Living Healthier Lives," were math teachers Charlene Wentz and Linda Allen, physical education teacher Josh Merck and science teachers Nadia Robles and Lisa Warden. Starting this fall, their students will research "healthy life choices," then collect and analyze data about them.

Gunston is one of three K-12 schools in Virginia and 174 nationwide to receive grants totaling $6.2 million in cash and equipment.

Fort Belvoir yesterday unveiled the first of 15 military neighborhoods to be built on base as part of a nationwide public-private partnership designed to revamp military housing.

The three-bedroom townhouses, averaging 1,850 square feet of living space, might cost as much as $500,000 if they were off base, given the region's booming real estate market. But the rental costs and utilities will be covered by the monthly housing allowance -- for example, $1,400 a month for Spec. Awilda Rodriguez, her husband and three children.

The new housing is part of the Army's Residential Communities Initiative, which calls for private contractors to build modern housing for soldiers at 45 Army installations across the country.

Eventually, Fort Belvoir plans to replace all but 170 of the 1,800 homes on base. The 170 historically significant homes will be renovated and will be joined by about 2,000 townhouses and single-family homes organized into 15 neighborhoods.

The D.C. government is offering free safety checks of infant and child car seats, with the next session set for Saturday.

The inspections, provided by the D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department and the D.C. Department of Transportation, will take place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the firehouse for Engine 33, at 101 Atlantic St. SE. Similar inspections will be held once a month in various parts of the city.

"I don't know doctors, lawyers and Indian chiefs -- I know crooks, hookers and dope peddlers."

-- Thomas Twitty, 66, commenting on the people he encounters in his Northeast Washington neighborhood, which for five years has been ministered to by David East, who is now moving to the West Coast. -- B1

Compiled from reports by staff writers John Wagner, Eric Rich, Nick Anderson and Tara Bahrampour and the Associated Press.