MARYLAND BRIEFING
MARYLAND BRIEFING
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STATE BUDGET SHORTFALL
O'Malley Hopes for Deal, Special Session
Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley said yesterday that he remains hopeful that he and lawmakers can reach consensus on a plan to close a looming budget shortfall in time to hold a special session this fall.
Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert) has urged a special session to close the projected $1.5 billion shortfall with tax increases, spending cuts and the legalization of slot-machine gambling. House Speaker Michael E. Busch (D-Anne Arundel), a slots foe, has said lawmakers can wait until they are scheduled to reconvene in January.
O'Malley (D), visiting the State Fair in Timonium yesterday, told reporters that he is hopeful he can present a plan in coming weeks that would allow a special session in October or November. If legislative leaders are not on board by that time, "we might as well wait" until January, O'Malley said.
"We really need to firm it up and nail some things down in the next few weeks here," O'Malley said, acknowledging that finding consensus on slots remains difficult.
-- John Wagner
PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY
Excavation Halted Without Finding Body
D.C. and Prince George's County police have stopped digging in a small wooded ravine in Fort Washington where they believe the body of a woman who disappeared 11 years ago might be hidden. They did not find a body.
With help from a search dog, metal probes, shovels and a backhoe, police searched Tuesday and Wednesday for the remains of Shaquita Bell, a 23-year-old mother of three when she was last seen June 27, 1996. That day, police said, Bell left her grandmother's home in Alexandria with her estranged boyfriend, Michael Dickerson.
Bell disappeared days before she was to appear as a witness against Dickerson, who had been charged with assaulting her. Dickerson, who is serving a 15-year sentence on the assault charge, has denied involvement in her disappearance.
