Brown, Biden, Senate Women Join Effort to Reauthorize Violence Against Women Act

By MARK MILLER
Capital News Service

WASHINGTON - Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown championed Maryland's efforts to crack down on domestic violence and offer support to abuse victims at a panel hosted by Vice President Joe Biden in Washington, D.C., Wednesday.

Brown and other participants, including former Montgomery County police corporal and Johns Hopkins University instructor David Thomas, briefly discussed the impact of the federal Violence Against Women Act, which is up for reauthorization, on their communities and described their personal experiences with domestic violence.

"There are a lot of things we're doing in Maryland to fight domestic violence, and a lot of that is dependent on the Violence Against Women Act," said Brown, whose cousin Cathy was killed by an estranged boyfriend in 2008.

Without the VAWA, Brown said, there would be no funding for programs such as the hospital-based domestic violence programs, currently operated by six medical facilities throughout Maryland, that screen patients and train staff to recognize the signs of domestic abuse and provide specialized treatment. The state also provides electronic notifications of protective orders with federal grant money associated with the act.

The White House panel, as well as a news conference among Senate women on Capitol Hill, was part of a push Wednesday designed to pressure reluctant members of Congress to reauthorize VAWA, which was first approved in 1994. Thomas, who headed Montgomery County's domestic violence unit from 1997 until his retirement from the force in 2000, said he was spurred to combat domestic abuse after witnessing a man shoot and kill his wife.

"It was clear that something needed to be done," Thomas said.

Thomas described a "sea change" in attitudes toward domestic violence and the ability of law enforcement officers to respond since VAWA's passage. From an average of 69 domestic homicides per year before the law took effect, the number of such killings in Maryland dropped to 27 last year, he said.

"We have seen a great deal of progress, yet there is much more to be done ... to make sure the law fulfills its promise," said Thomas.

Brown called on Congress to reauthorize the act, warning that failure to do so could compromise the state government's efforts.

"I urge Congress to reauthorize VAWA so that we may continue life-saving efforts throughout Maryland and take another step towards eliminating this senseless crime," Brown said. Then-Sen. Biden, D-Del., was the lead VAWA sponsor in the Senate in 1994. Congress has since reauthorized the act twice, in 2000 and 2005. Congressional Republicans have balked at additional measures Democrats say are necessary to expand the protections granted by the law. Some Republicans in the Senate, where the bill to reauthorize VAWA has five Republican cosponsors, have accused Democrats of attaching provisions opposed by many conservatives in a deliberate effort to stall the bill for political gain. In remarks delivered after the discussion panel wrapped up, Biden made no reference to such specifics, instead decrying Congress' hesitation to reauthorize a law he said should not be controversial. "Nobody should question whether this is needed," said Biden, his voice hoarse. "Just imagine the impact on the moral approbation of society if the Congress refuses to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act."

On Capitol Hill, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H.; Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.; and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., called a news conference Wednesday to ask Senate Republicans to support the VAWA reauthorization.  Maryland Democratic Sen. Barbara Mikulski was unable to attend because she was speaking on the Senate floor to oppose closing the Easton Mail Processing Center.  Feinstein and Shaheen extolled the benefits the act provided to battered women's shelters and police forces, which were able to fund units that dealt specifically with violence against women. The extension now pending before Congress extends the original benefits to include aid to Native American reservations and immigrants. Murray said "outliers" in Congress should not stop "serious work" from getting done.

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Baker Announces Plan to Improve the Quality of Life in Hurt Communities

By Press Information Officer
County Executive’ Office 

Holistic County government approach and focus to six communities. Receives overwhelmingly strong community support.

Upper Marlboro, MD – Yesterday, Prince George’s County Executive Rushern L. Baker, III announced his plan to improve the quality of life in vulnerable communities through his Transforming Neighborhoods Initiative (TNI). Focusing on six specific communities, the overarching goal of the TNI is to achieve and maintain a thriving economy, great schools, safe neighborhoods and high quality healthcare by utilizing cross-governmental resources in target neighborhoods that have significant and unique needs.

“I am a citizen and resident just like you which means that I have the same concerns and compassion for my community. When faced with any challenge, my first inclination is to evaluate the situation, review my options and formulate an action plan that will yield improvements and results.  On paper the TNI comprises all the major components of a strategic plan.  However, our purpose can only be fulfilled with the help and hard work of the most key elements…our neighborhood partners,” said Baker.  “The Administration’s team will do the heavy lifting in the target areas by deploying necessary resources to deter crime and improve economic development, education, healthcare and human services.”

“I am excited to work with County Executive Baker, Police Chief Magaw and Major James Harper, this is a good idea and I know good things will come as a result of this initiative.  I have been a resident of Glassmanor since 1977 and all my children have grown up here and I have no plans of leaving,” said Jacoline Key, Glassmanor Civic Association President.

The six areas of the County that have been identified for the TNI are as follows (click on areas for specific maps): 

• East Riverdale / Bladensburg

• Glassmanor

• Hillcrest Heights / Marlow Heights

• Kentland / Palmer Park

•  Langley Park

• Suitland / Coral Hills

“This Initiative brings these priorities and principles to life by employing the best practices of other initiatives such as our Police Department’s Summer Crime Initiative and bringing together on a frequent, regular and consistent basis more than 17 departments and agencies both inside and outside the Executive Branch of Government,” said Chief Administrative Officer Bradford L. Seamon.  

Our overall strategy is to be proactive in the target areas while maintaining and improving service delivery outside of these areas.  We will accomplish this by using cross governmental teams that will communicate and coordinate in a manner that will result in improved service delivery strategies.  These improved strategies will be employed across the departments thus improving service delivery both in the high need areas and the lower need areas.

Overall program success will be measured by the improvement in the need indicators. Interim program progress and success will be measured by output indicators that are specific to each neighborhood strategy. This is reflective of the idea that different neighborhoods have different needs and will therefore conduct different activities thus generating different outputs (i.e. number of code violations or number of sidewalks repaired).

The program will be reviewed every six (6) months to determine its impact on the local economy, the improvement of education, the safety of neighborhoods and the quality of health and human services. Annually, the program will be reviewed to determine how it will continue.

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Maryland Basketball Looks Local for Recruits

By SAM SPIEGELMAN
Capital News Service

COLLEGE PARK - After a full year as the head coach of the University of Maryland's men's basketball team, Mark Turgeon is putting his own local recruiting stamp on the program.

Scouts have ranked Turgeon's incoming recruiting class among the top-20 in the nation, and they believe he has positioned the team to land some of the country's best players in future years.

Area high school coaches said Turgeon and his staff are making a strong effort to be more visible at local high schools than his predecessor Gary Williams.

"People definitely have seen coach Turgeon out here beating the pavement and getting in the faces of a lot of the schools here locally, more than they did with coach Williams at the end of his career," Gonzaga College High School basketball coach Steve Turner said. "As a player you want to be able to see that coach. You want to know that he's recruiting you."

Williams, who retired last spring after 22 years as the Terps' head coach, compiled a 461-252 record and brought the school its lone championship in 2002.

But some fans were disappointed that Williams failed to consistently land top-echelon in-state recruits.

"A lot of the guys that he gets flack for - the Rudy Gays, the Kevin Durants - those guys were one-and-dones or two-and-throughs. Some programs deal with that and some programs don't," Mt. Saint Joseph's basketball coach Pat McClatchey said. "Gary wasn't dealing with that bull crap."

Gay played at Archbishop Spalding High School in Severn and AAU ball in Baltimore, while Durant starred at Montrose Christian High School in Rockville his senior year.

Both were considered NBA talent, and neither showed interest in Maryland.

Local recruiting woes were never more evident than when Williams failed to land Michael Beasley, the top recruit in the nation and a McDonald's All-American from Prince George's County. Instead, Beasley committed to Kansas State.

Beasley's commitment to Kansas State stemmed from his AAU ties to then-Wildcats assistant coach Dalonte Hill.

Williams was reluctant to build relationships through the AAU circuit, according to McClatchey and others, because he was worried of running afoul of NCAA rules.

Instead, he wanted to recruit players who would benefit the program by sticking around College Park for more than one year.

"You get them one year and then they're gone. So you have success for that one year, but you're starting that whole process all over again," McClatchey said.

Turgeon wants the top players in the state to know they can succeed in College Park, said Rivals.com national basketball recruiting analyst Eric Bossi.

"They're going to recruit the heck out of you," from the time they are freshmen in high school, Bossi said. "He's open to the best talent he can possibly get. I don't think at the end of the day he really cares whether they're going to be there one, two, three or four years, if they're willing to play there and play the way he wants them to play."

The New Style of Recruiting

While Williams was hesitant to dip his toes in the AAU water, Turgeon and his staff have embraced it, recruiting analysts and coaches said.

Turgeon hired Dalonte Hill away from Kansas State, where he was believed to be the highest-paid assistant coach in the country making $423,750 a year, according to the Kansas City star.

Maryland had struggled to attract recruits from the Washington, D.C., area in recent years, and recruiting analysts and coaches said Hill would fix that problem.

"Dalonte has built a lot of relationships, having been on the AAU circuit and being an AAU coach with a great AAU organization," Turner said. "At the end of the day, a lot of it comes down to relationships, and he has that in his favor."

Hill played and coached the D.C. Assault. In 2007, used that relationship to lure Beasley to Kansas State.

"If there's no Dalonte in Manhattan, Kan.," Bossi said, "there's no Michael Beasley."

The 2012 Recruiting Class

Four players have officially committed to join Turgeon's first recruiting class that will begin playing in the fall: Shaquille Cleare of Houston, Jake Layman of Wrentham, Mass., Charles Mitchell of Marietta, Ga. and Seth Allen of Fredericksburg, Va.

Damonte Dodd, who played in Centreville on the Eastern Shore, has verbally committed to the team and is expected to sign a letter of intent next week. And Baltimore native Sam Cassell Jr. is still considering Maryland.

May 16 is the last day for teams to sign players for next season.  A Maryland athletics department spokesman said Turgeon could not comment on recruiting until the end of April or early May.

The commitments by Cleare, Layman and Mitchell demonstrate that Turgeon and his staff can nab high-profile recruits outside the state.

And Bossi said he expects Maryland to land even more local players in future years.

"They're going to (get local players). It's just a matter of finding the right guys," Bossi said. "You'll start to see things get together, but you have to give the staff a year or two to all get on the same page and get their attack figured out."

Looking Ahead to 2013 and 2014

For 2013, the team is recruiting players like Gonzaga junior Kris Jenkins, the Gatorade D.C. Boys Basketball Player of the year.

Players from Gonzaga have not traditionally chosen to play at Maryland, but Turgeon's sales pitch may break the trend.

"It's an opportunity to play in the ACC, as well as be a local guy from home helping the program try to win, to have success and make a run at a national championship," Turner said.

The team is still in the mix for talented high school players across the country, from Houston, Orlando, Charlotte and Philadelphia.

"Part of the reason Mark Turgeon took that job was not only because of great local talent base, he viewed it as a sleeping giant that could eventually recruit nationally," Bossi said. "They want to lock down the very best players they can locally, and where they can, supplement it with national talent."

Maryland is vying for the nation's top high school recruit for 2013, Andrew Harrison of Texas.

Harrison has his choice of Arizona, Baylor, Georgetown, Texas, Villanova, UCLA and the reigning national champions, Kentucky. And Maryland may have to win more before they can recruit against national powers.

"If people are expecting Duke and North Carolina recruiting immediately, it's probably not going to happen. That's not a legitimate expectation at [all] but three or four universities in the country," Bossi said. "Given time to show how they play and get a feel for the area and which guys fit their system, they'll start to land talent that at least on paper will make the fanbase a little happier."

For 2014, Maryland has already offered Mt. Saint Joseph sophomore Phil Booth a scholarship. His head coach said that although it's early in the process, the interest is mutual.

"(Booth) was proud to receive the offer. It shows the seriousness of their interest and intent of him becoming a student-athlete at the University of Maryland," McClatchey said. "(The Booths) are very much interested and receptive to what coach Turgeon is trying to build there."

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Maryland Blue Crab Growth at 19-Year High

By ELLEN STODOLA
Capital News Service

ANNAPOLIS - The Chesapeake Bay's blue crab population is at a 19-year high, a significant improvement from several years ago when conservation efforts were put in place.

Gov. Martin O'Malley made the announcement at Mike's Crab House in Riva Thursday, where he discussed the Maryland Department of Natural Resources' annual winter dredge survey.

"In 2008, I told you that the crab population was at a 19-year low and that the crab population was in great danger," O'Malley said. "Because of a different set of better choices that all of us have made together, I am now glad to report that the population of the blue crab is now at a 19-year high."

The announcement is a continuation of last year's success, when the blue crab population saw the second highest survival rate since 1997, despite an extremely cold winter.

O'Malley said the success of the blue crabs is positive for watermen, the bay, jobs and economic recovery.

There has been a lot of legislation this year related to the bay, he said, including bills on septic systems, stormwater runoff, and a hike in the flush fee.

"One of the clearest indications that the health of the bay is not a hopeless cause is the rebound of late of this blue crab population," O'Malley said.

A few years ago, female crabs were being overfished and the fishery was at risk of collapse, O'Malley said.

In 2008, Maryland coordinated efforts with Virginia and the Potomac River Fisheries Commission to reduce stress on the blue crab population through conservation, and by reducing harvests on the female crabs by 34 percent.

Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Director Tom O'Connell said the difficult decisions the two governors made has fostered a relationship between Maryland and Virginia, and positive progress forward is evident.

Not only is the crab population at a 19-year high, with about 66 percent more crabs living in the bay than last year, but the juvenile crab population reached a record level.

The number of juvenile blue crabs totals 587 million, almost triple the number for last year.

Despite the general success of Maryland's blue crab population, the number of spawning-age female crabs has dropped, though it still remains above a safe threshold.

Thomas Miller, a professor of fisheries science at the University of Maryland, said there are three possible explanations for the decrease in the female population.

The warm weather may have affected the location of the crabs, he said, and they may not have been in areas they typically inhabit, and they also could have moved to slightly offshore waters.

The other factor to consider is variability.

"This is a survey, it's not a census," he said.

Miller said the survey is designed to minimize variability, but there will always be some difference in estimates because there is no way to tell where all the crabs are.

"We still have a lot of work ahead of us, but it is an important milestone," O'Malley said.

Progress wouldn't have happened if we had continued with the same behavior and hoped for a different result, he said.

"The crab's iconic," O'Malley said. "The crab represents, for so many people, some of the best moments they share with family in this region of our country."

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