The Death Penalty, Troops In Afghanistan, A Lower Estimate For Income Tax Revenues, and A Suspicious Coconut

Thursday, March 8, 2012

On the day Governor Martin O’Malley moved to commute the life sentences of two inmates convicted of felony murder, a State Senate committee took up a bill to repeal Maryland’s death penalty. WYPR’s Joel McCord reports.

Senators Ben Cardin and Barbara Mikulski are advocating a quick withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Afghanistan (via the Baltimore Sun). 

The slow economy has prompted Maryland's Board of Revenue Estimates to predict lower income tax receipts, this year and next (via our wire service, the Baltimore Business Journal, marylandreporter.com, and the Baltimore Sun).

The American Civil Liberties Union is filing a public information request to view a "political enemies" list allegedly belonging to indicted Anne Arundel County Executive John Leopold (via the Annapolis Capital and the Baltimore Sun).

The Coast Guard has given the Port of Baltimore's six public terminals another "excellent" security assessment. This is the fourth consecutive year the port received high marks (via the Baltimore Sun). 

An additional 112 acres of wetlands are being acquired for the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge near Cambridge (via the Baltimore Sun).

And: A suspicious-looking coconut is being blamed for the partial evacuation of the Frederick County courthouse. A courthouse deputy discovered the coconut just before 8 o'clock yesterday mornign, lying next to a column near the building. The tropical fruit reportedly looked like it had been sliced down the center and put back together. The bomb squad was called in, and determined the coconut was no danger to the public (via the Frederick News Post).