Robert Ehrlich

Gov. Robert Ehrlich's proposed 2007 capital budget includes $8.8 million for Hagerstown Community College and $400,000 for YMCA of Hagerstown. Read the full story in Tuesday's Herald-Mail newspapers.

Gov. Robert Ehrlich signed the first batch of local bills into law Tuesday, but a relatively simple local bill was among the many that got lost in the closing hours of the General Assembly on Monday. Read the full story in Wednesday's Herald-Mail newspapers.

District Judge M. Kenneth Long Jr. has been named to a new Circuit Court judgeship for Washington County. Gov. Robert Ehrlich announced Long's appointment Thursda in Annapolis. Read the full story in Friday's Herald-Mail newspapers.

Convicted sex offenders in Maryland deemed to be the most dangerous would face life in prison or lifetime monitoring under legislative proposals formally announced Friday by Gov. Robert Ehrlich. The governor's plan also would prohibit sex offenders from entering school property or child-care facilities without permission. See Saturday's Herald-Mail for the full story.

The issue: The race between incumbent Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich (R) and Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley (D) for governor. What's new: A recent poll of 800 likely voters interviewed by phone between Oct. 28 and 30 indicates the two are running almost even. Ehrlich has trailed O'Malley in a series of independent polls over the last year, and a poll published by The Washington Post three days earlier showed O'Malley up by 10 percentage points. What's next: Voters will make the final decision on Tuesday.

ANNAPOLIS - Gov. Robert Ehrlich announced a number of appointments to state boards and commissions on Friday. The appointments must be confirmed by the Maryland Senate before becoming official. Appointed from Washington County were: - William M. Rohrer, Board of Boiler Rules - Marc. M. Gammerman, State Board of Chiropractic Examiners - Howard B. Bowen, Maryland Economic Development Commission - Carla A. Viar, State Board of Certified Interior Designers - Carolyn Williams Brooks and Pamela H. Christoffel, Hagerstown Community College Board of Trustees - William F. Dunham, Washington County Board of License Commissioners

Mack Trucks' groundbreaking for a new engine development laboratory north of Hagerstown, scheduled for Friday, has been postponed because several guests plan to attend former President Reagan's funeral that day, Mack spokeswoman Patti Friend said. The groundbreaking for the $150 million transformation of the Hagerstown-area plant into the North American Centre of Excellence in Manufacturing for the Volvo Group has not been rescheduled, Friend said. Gov. Robert Ehrlich was expected to attend the event.

Friday's state funeral for former President Ronald Reagan has prompted Gov. Robert Ehrlich to cancel some of his scheduled appearances in Hagerstown that day. A spokeswoman in the governor's press office said he would "most likely" rearrange his schedule Friday to attend the funeral. Donna Long, director of operations for the Hagerstown-Washington County Chamber of Commerce, later confirmed that Ehrlich had canceled a planned luncheon at Fountain Head Country Club. She said he planned to reschedule for an as yet undetermined date.

Candidates for a Washington County District Court judgeship will be interviewed during the second week of June.M. Kenneth Long, Gregory C. Bannon and Daniel P. Dwyer, who are being considered to replace retired Judge R. Noel Spence, each confirmed Wednesday that his final interview with Gov. Robert Ehrlich will take place on June 8. Ehrlich is responsible for making the judicial appointment. A spokeswoman in the governor's press office declined to comment on interview dates or when a decision on the winner can be expected.

Ronald L. Bowers' term as administrator for the state's Property Tax Assessment Appeals Boards expires at the end of this month, and while the governor's office said a new appointee will take over those duties July 1, Bowers declined to comment on whether he will be retiring from state employment until he's had some communication from Gov. Robert Ehrlich. "In due respect to the governor's office, it would be inappropriate for me to comment until I have some information," Bowers said Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Former presidential candidate John McCain said Robert Ehrlich has his support in Maryland's Republican primary for governor. McCain expressed his support for the former governor in an interview Monday with The Associated Press after a meeting of the U.S. Naval Academy's Board of Visitors. McCain said he thinks Ehrlich is "a fine guy," and he said Ehrlich has his endorsement. Sarah Palin, who was McCain's running mate, has endorsed business investor Brian Murphy in today's GOP primary.

HAGERSTOWN -- This year, Maryland Democrats have "M.O.M.," the party chair said Wednesday in Washington County. Chairwoman Susan W. Turnbull said the party is well positioned in money, organization and message, the three parts of the M.O.M. acronym. The Democratic Party in Maryland has more money than it's ever had going into an election, she said at Wednesday's annual Jefferson-Jackson Dinner. Those factors, she said, will steer the party as it attempts to re-elect its main "MOM" - Gov. Martin O'Malley.

The question posted Friday on The Herald-Mail's website was: During a campaign stop this week in Hagerstown, Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley said his administration has made Maryland better than it was four years ago. Do you agree? Poll results: Yes: 141 votes (18 percent) No: 659 votes (82 percent) o "Whether or not Maryland is 'better' today than it was four years ago is simply a matter of individual perspective. It might be going great for O'Malley, while for many other the opposite is true.

BALTIMORE (AP) -- Gov. Martin O'Malley is jumping full bore into re-election mode by saying Maryland needs to move forward, not back to the ways of his political nemesis -- former Gov. Robert Ehrlich. O'Malley, a Democrat, kicked off a three-day campaign swing on Tuesday in the Fells Point neighborhood in Baltimore. On Wednesday, O'Malley is scheduled to be in Hagerstown, Frederick and Columbia. Then, he will head to the Eastern Shore in Cambridge. On Thursday, he will campaign in Aberdeen, Catonsville and Glen Burnie.

ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) -- Former Republican Gov. Robert Ehrlich wants his old job back, and he's challenging the Democrat who ousted him four years ago in a rematch testing whether a blend of GOP, tea party and independent voters can make a difference in heavily Democratic Maryland. Ehrlich launched his candidacy Wednesday in Montgomery County, the state's largest jurisdiction and a key battleground as the home of nearly a quarter of the state's registered independent voters. At a rally in Rockville with about 100 supporters, Ehrlich contrasted himself with Gov. Martin O'Malley by saying he wants to cut the state's sales tax, which was raised from 5 percent to 6 percent under the O'Malley administration.

o If you like reading Tim Rowland, you'll love watching him. See what else Tim has to say Gambling has never really been able to stand on its own two feet in the public's eye, so it has incorporated another game - Cowboys and Indians - to tip the balance in its favor. Gambling will benefit Native American tribes, or the horse industry, they say. Or teachers, or students, or taxpayers, or local government, or - well, just about everyone except the actual gamblers themselves, who always lose in the end. Is it a noble, or at least a tolerable, trade-off?

ANNAPOLIS (AP) -- While Republican candidates already are expressing interest in challenging Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley next year, former GOP Gov. Robert Ehrlich is watching from the sidelines for now. Nevertheless, the leading state Republican fundraiser is confident Maryland's first GOP governor in a generation will have a hard time keeping himself off the field. "I think Bob Ehrlich is going to run," said Richard Hug, who keeps in touch with Ehrlich and his past supporters.

Disability services Oct. 6 and 7; Oct. 14 - The Department of Rehabilitation Services at the Washington County One-Stop Job Center. 10 a.m. to noon, 14 N. Potomac St., Suite 100, Hagerstown. Free. Call 301-791-4760. Brown Bag Symposium Oct. 7 - Hagerstown-Washington County Chamber of Commerce, topic is "Bad Check Restitution Program. " Presented by Stacey Simmons, community relations representative for the Maryland State's Attorney's Bad Check Restitution Program.

WASHINGTON COUNTY - Even after an "order" supposedly turned out to be a misunderstanding, Douglas M. Duncan still isn't coming to Hagerstown for a dinner of political discourse. Duncan, a former Montgomery County, Md., county executive and current University of Maryland at College Park vice president, was going to appear at a chamber of commerce dinner, the Democratic co-headliner with former Gov. Robert Ehrlich, a Republican. They were to speak together at a Hagerstown-Washington County Chamber of Commerce dinner Oct. 14 at Duffy's on Potomac in Hagerstown.

WASHINGTON COUNTY -- Even after an "order" supposedly turned out to be a misunderstanding, Douglas M. Duncan still isn't coming to Hagerstown for a dinner of political discourse. Duncan, a former Montgomery County, Md., county executive and current University of Maryland at College Park vice president, was going to appear at a chamber of commerce dinner, the Democratic co-headliner with former Gov. Robert Ehrlich, a Republican. They were to speak together at a Hagerstown-Washington County Chamber of Commerce dinner Oct. 14 at Duffy's on Potomac in Hagerstown.