Thanksgiving Travel, MD's Unemployment Rate, Governor O'Malley's Middle East Trip Postponed, and AG Gansler Weighs In On Former Delegate Tiffany Alston's Push For Reinstatement In The General Assembly

Expect the roads to be crowded today as folks begin their Thanksgiving travels. Today is traditionally the busiest travel day of the year... and AAA Mid-Atlantic says more than 800-thousand Marylanders will be crammed onto the roads through Sunday -- representing about half a percent more holiday travelers this year than the year before. Those Maryland drivers will be joined by lots of folks from out of state -- The Maryland Transportation Authority expects some 2.7 million travelers to use the state's toll facilities through Sunday. MTA officials say you should travel during off-peak hours to avoid delays. You can check on the roads here, and you can find out what travel's like on the Bay Bridge here. 

Maryland's unemployment rate fell two-tenths of a percent in October... reaching six point seven percent. The U.S. Labor Department says Maryland added over 14-thousand jobs last month -- making it the best month for overall job growth since 1999. All of Maryland's job growth for the month came in the private sector, with the largest gain in the professional and business services sector, followed closely by the leisure and hospitality sector. The private sector's job growth was the best since 1996. The public sector actually shed positions; with 27-hundred government jobs lost last month (via our wire service, the Baltimore Business Journal, and the Baltimore Sun). 

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake plans to announce a micro-loan program for the city's small businesses today (via our wire service, the Baltimore Sun, and the Baltimore Busienss Journal).

Governor Martin O'Malley has postponed his planned trip to the Middle East that was scheduled to depart on Saturday (via our wire service, the Baltimore Sun, the Washington Post, and the Gazette). 

State Attorney General Doug Gansler is telling Governor O'Malley that former Prince George's County Delegate Tiffany Alston is not allowed to return to the General Assembly. Alston was removed from her post last month, after entering into a plea agreement for a misconduct in office conviction; but last week, her suspended, one-year jail sentence was changed to a "probation before judgement," keeping the conviction off her record. Alston's attorneys have indicated that they are planning a lawsuit in an attempt to force her reinstatement (via the Gazette and the Baltimore Sun). 

On today's edition of Inside Maryland Politics, WYPR Senior NEws Analyst Fraser Smith talks to The Afro's Alexis Taylor about The Legistative Black Caucus of Maryland.

Attorney General Gansler is calling on Congress to extend tax relief to homeowners who have had mortgage debt forgiven (via our wire service and the State Attorney General's office). 

Maryland Live! casino officials say more than two-thousand people have applied to get free training to become craps and card dealers. The new table games approved during this month's referendum are expected to be introduced in mid-April (via our wire service; more here from the Washington Post).

2012 looks like it'll be a record year for the Port of Baltimore. More than seven-point-two million tons of general cargo went through from January to September, ten-percent above the same time in 2011 (via our wire service and the Baltimore Business Journal).

State Senator Ron Young is looking to increase organ donation in Maryland -- by changing the way that drivers become organ donors. Young says he'll introduce a bill in the next General Assembly session that would make drivers who are renewing or getting drivers licences opt out of the organ donor program. Currently, drivers are asked whether they want to become organ donors (via the Gazette).

Baltimore officials are looking for someone to donate a christmas tree to the city. If you've got a tree that fits the bill -- and you're looking to get rid of it -- the city pay to cut down the tree and transport it into Baltimore. If you've got a tree you'd like to donate, you can call Davis at 410-396-4947 (there's more here from the Baltimore Sun).