In his first major address since taking office, Prince George's County Executive Rushern L. Baker III said he is pinning much of his hope for a turnaround on a proposed $50 million economic development fund to promote job creation in a county where 60 percent of the residents commute somewhere else for work.

Prince George's police detectives are looking for more victims of the "East Coast Rapist" in the county after a Connecticut man was arrested Friday who is believed to be responsible for five attacks in Prince George's dating back to 1997.

Officials say DNA links the suspect, Aaron H. Thomas, 39, of New Haven to a total of 12 rapes in four states between 1997 and 2001, including the five girls and women raped in four separate incidents in Prince George's.

Detectives are reviewing the county's unsolved rape cases to see if more victims identify their attacker as Thomas. Now that he is in custody, county police detectives plan to show his photo to at least four other victims of sexual assaults in which DNA evidence was not collected but there were similarities in the manner of the assaults, said county police commander Lt. Col. Gary Cunningham.

New data released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau reveal a wide gap in income and education levels among Prince George's County residents as well as insight into the commuting patterns of residents.

The wealthiest households were in Woodmore, according to the new data collected between 2005 and 2009, where the median household income was about $154,000. By contrast, residents in Cottage City took home a median household income of just $38,750.

South county residents continued to have the longest commutes. In Brandywine, Accokeek, Friendly, Temple Hills and Fort Washington, more than a quarter of residents reported traveling at least an hour to get to their job.

Offshore wind power advocates are asking Maryland lawmakers to pass legislation to compel utilities to make long-term investments in offshore wind energy.

Hundreds gathered Saturday in Annapolis for a conference and a small group marched on the State House afterward. The advocates say investing in wind energy can help the environment while also creating jobs.

State Sen. Paul Pinsky of Prince George's County said that utilities won't invest without the right legislative conditions and that he plans to introduce a wind power bill when the General Assembly convenes its 90-day session next month.

Maryland environmentalists tomorrow will stage the first-ever citizens' conference and rally to promote offshore wind as a clean energy alternative, less than a month after the state became the second to receive federal approval for a large, offshore wind farm and days after the release of a report touting the potential of wind-generated power along the Atlantic coast.

The report, released at various public events along the coast, found that two-thirds of the state's energy needs could be met via offshore wind generation using current technology.

...While all of this is going on, the incoming leadership is trying to set the tone for a "new day."

"Folks are excited for this breath of fresh air: Rushern Baker," says James Adams, who is coordinating media for incoming County Executive Rushern Bakers as part of Team Baker Communications.

Despite allegations of corruption swirling in the county, Baker is making one thing clear: His administration will put the county on a new path.

To no one's surprise, the tough economy has made money tight across the entire state as well as the nation.

Despite this, one company plans on bringing some dough to Prince George's County — literally.

Gold Crust Baking Company, a family-owned wholesale bakery that specializes in breads and rolls, is relocating its operations from Alexandria, Va., to Landover.

The company, which has been in operation since 2000, manufactures more than 200 million pounds of dough per year for hotels, restaurants, country clubs and catering companies in the Mid-Atlantic region.

In the three weeks since Prince George's County Executive Jack B. Johnson was handcuffed by federal agents, plenty of tongues have wagged and plenty of ink has been spilled about the county's dirty politicians.

Less often mentioned: its dirty cops.

Sadly, law enforcement wrongdoing has long been par for the course in Prince George's, with its long history of police corruption and brutality. So when the feds fingered three county cops on extortion, drug and gun charges, you might forgive the good people of Prince George's for reacting with something less than shock and outrage.

And so while incoming county executive Rushern L. Baker ran on a platform emphasizing jobs, economic development, and education, it's clear that after his inauguration Monday, the county's law enforcement still demands his attention.

A campaign between two incumbents for leadership of the Prince George's County Council may come down to the vote of Leslie E. Johnson, who was arrested along with her husband, County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D), on federal charges soon after she was elected to the council.

Leslie Johnson was arrested Nov. 12 for allegedly destroying evidence linked with a corruption probe. Despite criticism by some council members and residents, she is expected to take the oath of office to represent District 6 on Dec. 6.

The town of Cheverly, Md., is the first in Prince George's County to get a wind turbine, and energy advocates say it's a window into the future of energy in Maryland.

Right now, it's just a 10-by-10 concrete slab, but in a few weeks, it'll be a 70-foot wind turbine that will generate half of the Cheverly Public Works facility's electricity.

Eight Maryland counties including Montgomery and Prince George's have asked the State Board of Education to give them a pass on mandatory school funding because of an influx of federal dollars.

State law requires counties to increase funding to schools each year based on factors such as higher enrollments, independent of dollars coming in from state and federal sources. But in dire budgetary times, counties can petition for a waiver. And the promise of extra federal money helps their case.

In two years, Prince George's County residents have seen a former schools superintendent sent to prison and corruption charges brought against a senior state senator and the county executive and his wife.

The latest case is the stuff of movies or late-night TV jokes: Authorities say County Executive Jack Johnson and his wife were arrested Nov. 12 after he accepted $15,000 from a developer and federal investigators tapping his phone reportedly heard him tell her to flush a $100,000 check down the toilet and hide $79,600 in her bra.

The string of scandals has left residents angry, frustrated and wondering who will be next. Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein described their arrests as "the tip of the iceberg."

UNLESS SHE strikes a plea deal with prosecutors in the next two weeks, it appears there is no legal way to block Leslie Johnson from being sworn in and taking her seat on the Prince George's County Council on Dec. 6. Her inauguration would be a further embarrassment for a county stung by the federal charges against Ms. Johnson, wife of outgoing County Executive Jack B. Johnson. Those allegations include destroying and concealing evidence by flushing a $100,000 check from a developer down the toilet and stuffing $79,600 in cash into her bra as FBI agents knocked on the door of her home Nov. 12.

Ms. Johnson is innocent until proven guilty. But we hope that she won't seek to use her council seat as a bargaining chip with prosecutors or allow her case to become a distraction to the incoming county government. It would be in the county's interest for her to give up the post.

The arrests of a Prince George's County liquor store magnate and his wife by federal authorities last week as part of a broad corruption probe involving County Executive Jack B. Johnson has pulled back the curtain on the complex and often incestuous world of liquor and politics in the county.

The county's chief liquor inspector is also the head of the local Democratic Party. One of the five members on the Board of Liquor License Commissioners - responsible for granting and revoking liquor licenses - is also on the party's central committee, which helps choose the board members.

A coalition of current and incoming Prince George's County Council members have joined critics who want Leslie Johnson to give up the council seat she won before being escorted from her home in handcuffs, multiple sources said.

Johnson and her husband, County Executive Jack Johnson, were taken into custody a week ago for trying to conceal thousands of dollars in bribes from developers, the first in an expected series of arrests related to a widespread investigation into corruption by Prince George's government officials.

As the negative gaffes begin to pile up from misspoken statements to unheard of predictions, current Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele may be in for a helluva re-election battle. However beyond the normal political gestures and whispers that often go on behind-the-scenes of a Party election, Steele may be facing more of a racial undertone that could spell his demise.

The 52-year old Prince George's County native has held the Republican Party top post since his 6th-ballot 91-vote victory on January 30, 2009 becoming the 64th Chairman of the RNC. Facing a possible up-hill battle, if he chooses to run for re-election this time around, he certainly will not be deterred by such systematic provocations as he has been challenged time and time again throughout his career.

A plan to widen roads around Joint Base Andrews within the next 10 years may require Prince George's County officials to reclaim private property, but the proposal — part of several that overlap the area — could face numerous hurdles along the way.

A rough outline of proposed road improvements was presented to residents and officials Friday at a meeting to plan for long-term infrastructure upgrades around Andrews. The group overseeing the planning, the Joint Base Andrews Joint Land Use Study Implementation Committee, also discussed findings of the first of a series of reports on conditions around the base.

Police Chief Roberto L. Hylton will be featured on Fox 5 news this evening in an in depth interview with Fox reporter Wisdom Martin.

Chief Hylton will be addressing the recent events within Prince George's County to include the cooperative effort of the department's involvement into the FBI's indictments of three County officers.

Prince George's County Executive-Elect Rushern Baker says that despite recent developments, these are not sad days for the county and the acts of a few should not deter residents from moving the county from good to great. (VIDEO)

Last week, I attended the unveiling of the new Decatur Street in Edmonston with Mayor Adam Ortiz and Congresswoman Donna Edwards. Assisted by federal stimulus money, Decatur Street is lined with a variety of trees, wind powered streetlights, permeable concrete sidewalks, rain gardens, and a bike lane. At the unveiling, Mayor Ortiz boasted that this street had become the "greenest street on the East Coast."

I hope you read about the Washington Post's coverage of this event and look at their pictures of Decatur Street, which can serve as model for every community in Prince George's County.

This event made me consider my "green" goals for the county.

Despite the arrest of Prince George's County Executive Jack Johnson on corruption charges, the head of joint development for the D.C. Metro said the agency is moving "full speed ahead" with its search for a development partner at New Carrollton, a site that has attracted national attention for its potential as a large-scale, mixed-use, transit-oriented development.

Steve Goldin, director of real estate at the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, said the barrage of negative headlines over the FBI investigation won't hamper progress.

"I can confidently predict that the incoming county executive and council members know that we are at a crossroads of opportunity in Prince George's County and together we are all determined to move past this incident to create jobs for residents and revenue and ridership for Metro,"

Nine people -- including three police officers -- were arrested on Monday, accused by the federal government of running drugs, guns, and black-market alcohol and cigarettes. FBI agents also moved to seize more than 30 homes, businesses and vehicles as part of the probe of corruption in the county.

Seven defendants, including two of the police officers, have been charged with conspiring to commit extortion under color of official right in a scheme involving the transport and distribution of untaxed cigarettes and alcohol, said the FBI. Another man and the third officer are charged with a drug and gun conspiracy.

Some Prince George's residents have started an online petition to keep Leslie Johnson from taking her seat on the county council.

Johnson, who earlier this month won election the county council, was arrested Friday along with her husband County Executive Jack B. Johnson and charged with evidence tampering and destruction of evidence.

The online petition is called "Leslie Johnson must resign now!"

It is too premature to determine what will happen to the Prince George's County Council's District 6 seat following the arrest Friday and pending federal investigation of its Councilwoman-elect, Leslie E. Johnson, a county spokeswoman said.

Johnson and her husband, outgoing County Executive Jack B. Johnson, face federal charges after Jack Johnson allegedly received at least $120,000 from a developer in return for "using his official influence and authority for the benefit of [the developer] and his companies," and tampering with evidence, according to a criminal complaint filed Friday by a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent.

Photo gallery: View photos from the arrest.

Prince George's County Executive Jack B. Johnson is accused of accepting cash in return for helping a developer secure federal funding, and then conspiring with his wife to destroy evidence as federal investigators closed in Friday morning.

Johnson and his wife, Leslie E. Johnson, who recently won her bid to represent District 6 on the Prince George's County Council, were arrested Friday by federal agents at their Mitchellville home.

Development deals have been at the center of Prince George's County's most contentious political fights for decades, the source of its highest hopes and deepest embarrassments.

The arrests Friday of Prince George's County Executive Jack B. Johnson and his wife suggest that a federal investigation of corruption in county government, long a subject of rumor and speculation, is reaching critical mass.

Law enforcement officials familiar with the probe, which is being overseen by the U.S. attorney for Maryland, said more arrests are expected, possibly this week.

Johnson (D), whose term ends next month, and his wife, Leslie Johnson (D), newly elected to the Prince George's County Council, were charged with destroying and tampering with evidence.

The arrests Friday of Prince George's County Executive Jack B. Johnson and his wife suggest that a federal investigation of corruption in county government, long a subject of rumor and speculation, is reaching critical mass.

Just after 10:12 a.m. Friday, Leslie Johnson frantically phoned her husband, Jack B. Johnson, the Prince George's county executive.

Two FBI agents were at the front door of their two-story brick colonial in Mitchellville.

"Don't answer it," the county executive said, unaware that more agents were listening in.

Johnson ordered his wife to find and destroy a $100,000 check from a real estate developer that was hidden in a box of liquor.

Prince George's County Executive Jack Johnson declared Friday night that he and his wife would "be vindicated," hours after the two were charged with destroying evidence related to a two-year federal corruption probe.

Federal agents arrested Johnson and his wife, county councilmember-elect Leslie Johnson, after raiding Johnson's home and offices Friday morning.

Jack Johnson instructed his wife to flush a $100,000 check down a toilet and stuff cash in her bra earlier in the day, according to the criminal complaint.

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., D-Calvert and Prince George's counties, said taxes will be a tough sell this year, but "at some point in time we're going to have to pass a gasoline tax."

Maryland's 23.5-cents-per-gallon gas tax is lower than those of 27 other states -- including neighboring Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The revenue would return dollars to the state's Transportation Trust Fund, which O'Malley has raided in the past as a source of funding transfers.

On top of fixing the 2012 budget, the legislature is expected to tackle ballooning pension and health benefits costs -- which are $33 billion underfunded.

"We might not end session on time," Miller said, predicting certain gridlock after studying his colleagues' faces during the two-hour budget briefing. "The fact that we're into an extra session will put added pressure on us to do what's right for our constituents and make the tough cuts."

Farmers in Prince George's County will be entitled to federal help following a summer of record high temperatures and little rain, after the county has been declared a natural disaster area.

But only about 20 percent of county farms will meet eligibility requirements for federal relief programs, meaning most local farmers will not benefit.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the designation Monday for 22 counties in Maryland. Farmers who lost at least 30 percent of their crops this year will be eligible for low-interest federal loans and other federal relief programs, provided they have crop insurance and can meet other eligibility requirements.

Dressed in the orange and navy blue jumpsuit issued to juveniles at the Prince George's County jail, 16-year-old Joshua McFadden may not look like an accomplished chess player at first glance.

But when he sits down at a board, McFadden plays like a pro, never taking more than one or two seconds each turn to expertly navigate his plastic pawns, bishops, knights and other pieces around the board.

Although not eligible to vote, area teens from Bowie and Eleanor Roosevelt high schools and Howard Community College carved time out of their busy school and extracurricular schedules to be involved in the primary election campaign efforts for Shukoor Ahmed, a democratic candidate for Maryland House of Delegates.

Ahmed has also encouraged some of them to run for public office in the future. The teens used words such as "enlightened," "motivated" and "excited" to describe their experience during and after the campaign.

Troops serving overseas will have a small reminder of home this holiday season thanks to the efforts of Nicole Hardman and her fellow Prince George's County firefighters and medics.

Hardman started a countywide effort to collect items that will be shipped to military personnel.

The initiative, Helping Hearts for Troops, aims to bring the comforts of home overseas. Sometimes items, such as packaged foods or a certain brand of shampoo, can help alleviate homesickness and brighten the holidays for the armed forces.

A small group of Prince George's County firefighters have worked to create donation stations at all Prince George's County fire stations. Hardman, a firefighter for the past nine years, is asking the public to donate gifts and toiletries that will be made into care packages and distributed to troops stationed in the Middle East.

Burglaries are down in Hyattsville, following the arrest of a man Hyattsville police report is connected with several local break-ins.

"The magnitude of the burglaries has dropped significantly," Sgt. Chris Purvis said. "There's a few random ones that we don't think are related."

Prince George's County planners are seeking public input for redeveloping a stretch of Branch Avenue marred by heavy traffic, rundown storefronts and a lack of office space to take advantage of nearby Metrorail stations and proximity to Washington, D.C.

The proposed eight-mile section of Branch Avenue to be included in a new planning document spans Marlow Heights, Temple Hills, Camp Springs and Clinton, with the likely boundaries being St. Barnabas Road to the north and Southern Maryland Hospital Center to the south.

Planners met Thursday with about 15 representatives of community associations around Clinton to learn about the problems facing the southern section of the Branch Avenue; a similar meeting for Camp Springs-area residents on the northern end of Branch Avenue took place Oct. 26.

A larger public meeting is scheduled for Dec. 11.

IT'S HARD TO imagine that Maryland lawmakers would jeopardize $250 million in federal education dollars, particularly in these tight budget times. That, though, is what a special committee of the General Assembly has done in following the lead of its chairman, Sen. Paul G. Pinsky (D-Prince George's). The committee voted against regulations requiring teachers and principals to be judged by how effectively they promote student achievement. What makes the committee's action more disturbing is Mr. Pinsky's conflict as an employee of the teachers union that is fighting these sensible new rules.

Heart attack patients now have more help to save their lives.

Southern Maryland Hospital Center in Clinton has joined Prince George's and Charles counties' Emergency Medical Service units to provide LIFENET, an Internet-based system that transmits heart scans from the ambulance to a waiting laboratory.

Clinton resident Tijuana Clark was sitting in her office a few weeks ago when she realized she needed a way to organize the stacks of paper piling up on her desk.

Clark sent out an e-mail explaining her predicament to her local Freecycle group, an online forum where residents can post messages about items they need or want to give away for free. Within a week, Clark had a new filing cabinet.

"The person [items are] going to, you know they really want it," said Clark, who has given away and received dozens of items for free since joining one of two Freecycle groups for communities in southern Prince George's County in 2006. "I've had awesome experiences."

Transit-oriented concrete plant: Not only does the proposed concrete plant in Prince George's County intensify polluting uses near the same poor, minority residents, but as Dave Murphy notes, it's really close to Cheverly Metro, missing a good opportunity for TOD at the same time.

The tiny town of Edmonston, one of the Washington area's lowest-lying communities, has long been a victim of its environment.

Speeding freight trains cut through town along Route 1, and buses whiz by on Decatur Street, the town's main drag. The Anacostia River splits Edmonston in two, causing flooding during heavy rains. Located in Prince George's County between much larger Hyattsville and Bladensburg, Edmonston is not a place where money flows freely.

But Edmonston - an unlikely champion of the green movement - is now calling Decatur the "East Coast's greenest street," thanks to $1.3 million in stimulus money and a year of construction.

Prince George's County Public Schools soon will receive a 2010 Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for using accounting practices that are consistent with national standards, Schools Superintendent William R. Hite, Jr. said recently.

The accounting firm, Clifton Gunderson LLP, audited the 2010 financial statements of the school system for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2010.

The independent auditor of the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report found "no material weaknesses or significant deficiencies," but noted that timecard approvals for substitute teachers and rebate revenues should be addressed.

Hite said that the school system has established internal accounting controls for its financial practices. For this reason, he said that officials are reasonably assured that assets are properly safeguarded and accounted for, and reliable accounting information is used. This helps in preparation of financial statements that follow generally accepted accounting principles, he explained.

Maryland's approach is to improve transportation and environmental outcomes and streamline environmental processes through regular, ongoing dialogues with resource agencies, communities, and other stakeholders.

"That way we can anticipate issues early in the project development process," Sanghavi said. "When you go above and beyond [what is required], regulatory agencies recognize this and it helps develop collaborative partnerships over the long-term."

For example, through an agreement with the Maryland Department of the Environment, the highway administration conducts self-certification for inspections of erosion and sediment controls.

Maryland is currently involved in a particularly challenging "mega project:" constructing the Intercounty Connector across Montgomery and Prince George's counties in the Washington suburbs. The construction zone includes an area of significant environmental challenges. Sanghavi said that the MSHA is proving its environmental stewardship one community at a time, building support for the long-planned project to move into construction.

The political wing of CASA de Maryland devoted thousands of dollars this election cycle to push for Hispanic-backed candidates. But some argue the group should stay out of politics while accepting taxpayer money.

CASA in Action, the sister organization run by the state's largest immigration advocacy group, spent $35,000 this election on phone banks, mailers and door-to-door canvassing across the state.

The holiday shopping season hasn't even arrived yet, but a local firefighter-paramedic is hoping folks in the Washington area will keep the troops in mind this year.

Nicole Hardman, who's based at Station 47 in Fort Washington, has organized a donation drive to send care packages to two to three troops fighting overseas per week, from now until Dec. 17.

"I want them to have things for Thanksgiving and for Christmas," Hardman says. "So I chose to spread it out."

You've heard the gloom and doom reports, and yes, the economy's in the tank, but employers see glimmers of hope on the horizon and are offering advice for job-seekers.

Over and over again, employers at a job fair at Prince George's Community College said they wanted to see crisp, clean resumes, applicants who are dressed for success and positive attitudes.

Also this week, we had the chance to talk with Mel Franklin, one of five new members of the Prince George's Council. For those of you who missed that conversation, here it is: [video]

Oxon Hill High School senior Tyler Mays, 17, said it used to take the computers at his school up to 30 minutes to boot up or load programs.

But the flat-screen desktop computer he was using Oct. 27 -- one of more than two dozen donated to the school through a new partnership between Prince George's County public schools and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and federal contractor Lockheed Martin -- took about 10 seconds to start up, he said.

"It's much faster; there are more options, more capabilities," Mays said. "We'll be able to do more."

On a typical weekday, it takes Jane Young about an hour to commute from her Croom home to her job at the U.S. Department of Education in Washington, D.C.

Young, who travels by car and Metro, is among the more than 60 percent of Prince George's residents who travel out of the county for work, according to a new analysis of statewide commuting patterns between 2000 and 2008 that the Maryland Department of Planning released this month. The data highlights the county's struggle during the past decade to attract employers -- especially federal agencies -- and jobs that appeal to the county's professional work force.

Young said she is willing to make the two-hour round trip each day to and from work so that she can continue to live in the quiet, rural community south of Upper Marlboro.

Republican Charles Lollar won the majority of Southern Maryland votes in Tuesday's midterm election, but a Democratic landslide in Prince George's County cost him the race against U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer on Tuesday night.

O'Malley, who won by 14 percentage points statewide, ran up his numbers in large part thanks to suburban Montgomery and Prince George's counties. He won more than three-quarters of roughly 470,000 votes cast in those two jurisdictions combined, including nearly 89 percent in Prince George's, his biggest margin anywhere in the state. His combined margin of victory in the two counties, about 262,000 votes, exceeded his overall statewide margin of 234,000 votes. In other words, without Montgomery and Prince George's, and Mr. O'Malley would have lost the election. (The City of Baltimore also chipped in, giving Mr. O'Malley, the former mayor, a cushion of 100,000 more votes than Mr. Ehrlich received.)

It was a Friday night and young people were doing what they've done for centuries —socializing at a dance.

What made the dance on Oct. 15 in Hyattsville different is that the boys were dancing with the boys, and the girls were dancing with girls. It was the third dance organized by the Youth Equality Project, the user-friendly name of the Prince George's County Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning Youth Task Force.

Earlier this month, President Barack Obama drew a massive crowd at Bowie State University, urging Prince George's County Democrats to come out in force to re-elect Gov. Martin O'Malley, who was losing ground in the polls. Democratic leaders feared the low turnout that plagued the primary would continue into the general election.

Partisanship aside, there are significant enough issues at stake in the county that presidential involvement should not be needed to inspire residents to vote.

The county's budget shortfalls (officials estimate a $50 million county deficit next fiscal year), second-highest crime level in the state, low standardized test scores, financially distressed hospital system and highest foreclosure rate in the state are among the many challenges that make turnout critical.

A lack of cohesive leadership continues to be a major impediment to job creation and quality growth in Prince George's County, business leaders told presumptive County Executive Rushern L. Baker III on Thursday night.

"We need the highest quality development we can get," said Dan Smith of Cheverly, one of about 90 people who attended Baker's last "listening session" with residents at Friendly High School in Fort Washington. "But we need some leadership here."

Prince George's County Maryland is deciding whether to spend more money then planned on a waste transfer facility right next to the Patuxent River adjacent to significant wildlife wetlands. Our political elite which always knows better than the rest of us and whose vision is to pave our way to prosperity is oblivious to long term costs and damages that here attempt to hide their real intentions will being to the county. In order to solve a bad management process, poor political leadership and to hide their own accountability they have decided to sacrifice long term ecosystem services for short term political expediencies.

Constitutional convention

Should a constitutional convention be called for the purpose of changing the Maryland Constitution? Under Article XIV, Section 2 of the Maryland Constitution, the General Assembly is required to ask voters every 20 years whether a constitutional convention should be called for the purpose of altering the Maryland Constitution....

Gov. Martin O'Malley and former Gov. Bob Ehrlich each tried to prove they have done more for the African-American community in a debate Thursday morning on WOLB's Larry Young Show.

Health care, veterans, crime and funding for minority-owned businesses and historically black colleges and universities dominated the election's third debate, moderated by Young, a former Democratic state senator from Baltimore. In the midst of the policy debate, the candidates barely looked at one another, instead exchanging

"that's not true" jabs and a comment by Ehrlich that O'Malley will soon be looking for a job in the private sector.

More Marylanders entered the workforce last month, causing both unemployment and employment to rise, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report released last Friday.

The rate of unemployment in Maryland last month reached its highest point since April, 7.5 percent, up from 7.3 percent in August. And 4,200 more people were unemployed last month than in the same month of 2009.

Maryland transportation officials said they will be spending more than $12 million on new Prince George's County road projects next fiscal year — but added that they still do not have money for many of the county's top priorities.

Maryland voters get one chance every 20 years to decide whether they want to hold a convention to rewrite the state's constitution, and the question is again before them on the ballot.

The threshold for approval isn't easy. It would need a majority from all voters who cast ballots in the election, not just a majority of voters who weigh in on the issue alone. It's a significant qualifier, because many voters often vote for offices at the top of the ballot and skip questions near the bottom.

Supporters of holding a convention say it could be an effective way of addressing government reforms that present conflicts of interest to elected officials, such as term limits or reducing lawmakers' roles in redrawing legislative districts.

Based on an analysis of newly filed campaign finance reports, the researchers find that the Ehrlich campaign has raised a larger percentage of its contributions from individuals (72 percent) than O'Malley, for whom individuals accounted for only 60 percent of contributions. This is a reversal from 2006, when O'Malley relied more heavily on individual contributions, and less heavily on interest groups, than Ehrlich.

"In most elections, incumbents enjoy certain fundraising advantages over challengers, such as the ability to raise large amounts of money from organized interest groups," explains University of Maryland researcher Paul Herrnson, who directs the Center for American Politics and Citizenship. "Ehrlich enjoyed this advantage as the incumbent during the 2006 campaign, and the reversed roles of the current campaign seem to be benefiting O'Malley."

Prince George's County Council members are planning to vote on several controversial bills just before many of the members leave office in December because of term limits.

The measures would offer tax breaks to developers, implement new stormwater management regulations, make bond financing contingent on minority business participation and give pay raises to nonunionized employees.

Democrats who had been undecided during the summer are lining up behind O'Malley, who enjoys wide margins in the vote-rich Washington suburbs of Montgomery and Prince George's counties and has a narrow edge in the Baltimore suburbs — regions where Ehrlich had hoped to make inroads.

The Maryland-National Park and Planning Commission, in partnership with the Prince George's County Department of Public Works and Transportation and Economic Development Corporation, has been awarded $800,000 under the HUD Community Challenge Planning Grant Program.

Funds will be used to plan for the expansion of the corridor around Prince George's County's four southern Metro Green Line stations. The goal is to attract new federal and spin-off office tenants and mixed-income housing, facilitated by an efficient and effective multimodal transportation system.

On Tuesday, October 26 Prince George's County Council has a chance to chart a new course for development in the county that is two kinds of green: good for our environment and good for our economy. Come to the Council hearing room at 9AM on Tuesday to make your voice heard: County Administration Building 14741 Governor Oden Bowie Drive Upper Marlboro, Maryland 20772-3050.

For the first time in a general election, early voting is underway in the state of Maryland. From 10 a.m. until 8 p.m. every day until Thursday of next week, voters will be able to cast their ballots at 47 locations in Montgomery County, Prince George's County and Howard County.

THE FOLLOWING are The Post's endorsements in contested legislative races for the Maryland House of Delegates in Prince George's County. (With the exception of District 27, where Sen. Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. faces only nominal opposition, the races for state Senate in Prince George's are sadly all uncontested. ) The names of endorsed candidates appear in boldface.

Five minutes after early voting started at the Bowie Library at 10 a.m. Friday, poll worker Delores Sharp looked up to see a line of more than 50 people stretching out the door.

"Oh my goodness! Well, I guess they got the word," Sharp said.

Poll workers and voters said they saw more people and experienced fewer problems at the start of early voting for the general election in Prince George's County, raising hopes for supporters of Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) in his race against former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) in the Nov. 2 election.

Governor Martin O'Malley announced new safety and community improvement initiatives in Prince George's County: the approval of $4 million in design funds will be used to work on the Maryland Route 450 Bladensburg Community Safety and Enhancement Project. The $4 million design project will begin immediately on new roadway safety improvements along Maryland Route 450 between Kenilworth Avenue and 54th Street.

The students at Barack Obama Elementary School boasted presidential manners and flashed toothy grins, eager to show off songs they learned for the school's official dedication last week.

Parents, elected officials and special guests were just as excited, filling seats, lining the walls and giving the occasional standing ovation to the inaugural student body at the Upper Marlboro school.

U.S. Senators Benjamin L. Cardin and Barbara A. Mikulski (Both D-MD) today announced that the Maryland-National Park and Planning Commission, in partnership with the Prince George's County Department of Public Works and Transportation and Economic Development Corporation, has been awarded $800,000 under the HUD Community Challenge Planning Grant Program. Funds will be used to plan for the expansion of the corridor around Prince George's County's four southern Metro Green Line stations. The goal is to attract new federal and spin-off office tenants and mixed-income housing, facilitated by an efficient and effective multimodal transportation system.

If you're a renter and get a bedbug infestation, one of the first questions you'll ask is: Do I have to take care of extermination, or is that the landlord's responsibility?

Frustrated members of the Prince George's County Council said Wednesday that they will take a final look next week at a proposed 2 percent pay raise for non-unionized county employees but said that top county officials had not made basic financial data available to help them determine whether the county can afford the increases.

The fiscal policy committee unanimously voted to send the bill, proposed by County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D), to the full council Tuesday. The vote came a day after council members had opened the door to potential salary increases for incoming council members and the county executive, already the highest-paid county government officials in Maryland.

A team of Prince George's County Firefighter/Medics are coordinating an effort that is sure to make our troop's holidays a little brighter. Helping Hearts for Troops are collecting items for care packages that will be delivered to our troops overseas. The Firefighter/Medics are looking forward to a successful campaign with everyone's cooperation and generosity for the men and women serving our country.

The Fire/EMS Team is working with the USO of Fort Meade to assist in delivering the Holiday Care Packages. The Helping Hearts for Troops are looking for item donations, such as toiletries, non-perishable food items and new, unwrapped, clothing, board games, CD's, and DVD's (a list of suggested items is below).

Concerns over bullying and staffing cuts at Prince George's County schools were raised at a community forum held this week by incoming county executive Rushern Baker.

Joe Murchison, a Laurel resident and the executive director of the nonprofit Side by Side, said he was worried about the effect recent parent liaison layoffs at county schools would have on the Hispanic community.

"Our Spanish-speaking families, they make up a sizable number of our families," said Murchison, at the Tuesday night forum at Lake Arbor Elementary School. Census Bureau data from 2009 reveals that persons of Hispanic or Latino origin make up 13.5 percent of the population of Prince George's County. Many of those families don't speak English and need bilingual parent liaisons to help them get involved, Murchison said.

When the glass doors at Wegmans in Prince George's County glide open at 7 a.m. Sunday, shoppers will be stepping into a place that symbolizes the county's continuing transformation.

For a county without any other high-end grocers - no Whole Foods, no Trader Joe's, no Harris Teeter - officials and residents describe it as an impressive achievement.

Prince George's County Executive Democratic nominee Rushern Baker (right) and Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett (center) host a press conference earlier this month in Lanham with other county school officials, including Prince George's Board of Education Chairwoman Verjeana M. Jacobs (left), to express their concerns over education funding cuts recently proposed by Republican gubernatorial candidate Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.

One of the states where Black turnout is important is Maryland, where incumbent Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) is fighting to keep his job from former Gov. Robert Ehrlich (R), whom he defeated in 2006 with a strong African-American vote in Prince George's County and Baltimore. Recent polls show that O'Malley has a 5-point lead, but that is among likely voters, a sample that does not traditionally include a large number of African Americans.

The Prince George's County Council on Tuesday opened the door to potential salary increases for incoming council members and the county executive, already the most highly paid county government officials in Maryland.

The council rejected a bill that would have frozen the pay of council members and the county executive for two years and instead left intact a one-year freeze that will be lifted in December 2011 and potentially boost pay for council members, who now get $96,417 for the part-time positions, and for the executive, who gets $174,540. The action followed a recommendation by a commission that included close associates of departing County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D).

Fact checking how Prince George's fared under Ehrlich and O'Malley

With the two leading candidates for governor spending an increasing amount of time in voter-rich Prince George's County, former GOP governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. has made the provocative suggestion that the heavily Democratic jurisdiction fared better during his tenure than during that of his rival, Gov. Martin O'Malley (D).

Thousands of struggling elementary students in Maryland remain all but immune to massive and costly efforts to improve public education. The reason is they miss at least a month of class every school year.

State records show that more than 19,000 elementary students - or 6 percent of the total statewide - were absent for more than 20 days in the year that ended in June.

In Prince George's County, where schools serve many children with a host of economic and educational disadvantages, the chronic absence rate for elementary students was nearly 8 percent. At more than 30 county elementary schools it exceeded 10 percent. The figures include absences counted as excused or unexcused.

Less than a year after Prince George's County lost millions in federal housing aid, a report calls on the new county executive to revamp the housing department by conducting a national search for a director, setting up a local trust fund for housing needs and offering more rental housing.

Angry members of the Prince George's County Council delayed a 2 percent pay raise for non-unionized county workers Tuesday, accusing County Executive Jack B. Johnson of withholding information about the county's financial condition.

The proposal comes after a bruising budget season in which Johnson (D) dipped into about $40 million in one-time funds to plug an $85 million budget gap - and the likelihood of more grim financial news ahead.

National journalism groups have weighed in at the Court of Appeals in a high-profile dispute over whether the Maryland State Police should turn over to the Maryland NAACP files showing how the agency handled five years' worth of complaints of racial profiling in traffic stops.

The NAACP's effort to see the internal police documents has drawn a brief from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, joined by the Society of Professional Journalists. The national NAACP had also filed a brief in support of the state NAACP.

The federal base realignment and closing plan will transfer thousands of new employees to Andrews Air Force Base in Prince George's County, but the jobs are unlikely to result in the kind of economic boom that will take place near other military installations across the Washington region, including Fort Meade.

The Prince George's County Department of Public Works and Transportation is planning changes to TheBus service on all 4 routes operating out of Greenbelt Station.

Prince George's wants to better allocate resources to run buses at higher frequency. But several Berwyn Heights officials are upset about the plan, because they think residents don't want — and won't ride — a bus with more frequent service.

O'Malley said he made no apologies for environmental regulations to protect Maryland's environment and the Chesapeake Bay. O'Malley said Maryland sits in the center of a corridor of innovation, provided that state leaders protect investments in education.

This state has a competitive gubernatorial election between current Gov. Martin O'Malley and former Gov. Bob Ehrlich. At this university, the media and politicians like to talk about tuition. However, I've been engaging students on environmental issues for the last four years, and the majority either have an inclination to support environmental policies or actively promote them. The most concrete example of this is the 2007 SGA election referendum in which 91 percent of student voters approved a self-imposed green fee to offset carbon emissions.

If you care about the health of the Chesapeake Bay, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, creation of clean energy jobs and construction of the Purple Line, the best choice for governor is clearly O'Malley.

President Obama will travel to Maryland next week to rally voter turnout in support of Gov. Martin O'Malley, who is running for re-election against former Republican governor Bob Ehrlich.

The president will campaign with O'Malley in Prince George's County on Oct. 7 at Bowie State University, according to O'Malley spokesman Rick Abbruzzese. Bowie State University is Maryland's oldest historically black college.

Campaign analysts say black Democrats — whose turnout is traditionally low in Maryland — are particularly valuable to O'Malley.

Republican former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich began to open up about how he would pay for some of the tax cuts he's been promising on the campaign trail and told AP reporter Brian Witte that he'd chop the extra education money that goes to Baltimore, Prince George's County and Montgomery County.

The additional funds are fondly known in Annapolis as the GCEI, or Geographic Cost of Education Index. The theory is that the money pads allocations to places in the state where the cost of living is either quite high (Montgomery County) or where the conditions are so unappealing that teachers need hardship duty funds (Baltimore and Prince George's County).

Angarai International, Inc., a company located in the Prince George's County Economic Development Corp's Technology Assistance Center (TAC), has been selected as one of this year's Top 100 MBEs.

Wayne K. Curry had soared to the peak of his political career in September 1996 when he was featured in a Washington Post Magazine cover story. Two years earlier, Prince George's County voters had made him the first black executive and the nation's only black chief elected official of a county.

Curry, a real estate lawyer who had grown up in Prince George's and helped desegregate its public schools, was the most potent symbol of the demographic shift that had transformed the county from a predominantly white, blue-collar farming community into a haven for an emerging African American middle class. Curry described Prince George's then as "the jewel in the crown of the post-civil-rights era," a place whose new black leadership wanted prosperity and progress for everyone, not just its then-55-percent black majority.

"He's a man of integrity. When he says he's going to do something, he does it. What more could we want in a leader?"

The words spoken by Fred Harley, a long time community activist in Clinton, are descriptive of the next Prince George's County Councilman who will lead District 9, Mel Franklin.

Franklin, 34, beat a crowded field of 10 candidates with an aggressive strategy that outlined economic growth, educational improvements, job creation, and a commitment to public safety.

Late Friday night, Gov. Martin O'Malley was shaking the last few hands on his way out of a union hall in Forrestville when Jos Williams made him a promise.

"We'll deliver Montgomery County and Prince George's County," the president of the Metropolitan Washington Council of the AFL-CIO pledged. "The western half of the state can do what the hell it wants."

O'Malley's re-election campaign will need to do more than just win Prince George's if the incumbent is to top the Republican nominee, former Gov. Bob Ehrlich, in the Nov. 2 general election. It'll need robust voter turnout far in excess of the middling 21 percent on primary day. Turning out voters in Prince George's will require heaps of support from the county's unions, plus some payoff from the incumbent's closeness with President Barack Obama.

Prince George's County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D) has proposed giving county employees a 2 percent pay increase beginning in January, using savings he says the county has amassed so far this year.

The cost-of-living increase was proposed by Johnson as one of several bills the executive has asked the council to take up before his term ends. Johnson and five of the nine council members are leaving office at the end of the year due to term limits.

The pay raises would apply to most of the roughly 5,900 county employees, including police and firefighters. The raise would not apply to employees in the county's school system, which laid off about 300 workers this year and required teachers and staff to take furloughs due to budget cuts.

Charles Herbert Flowers High School, one of Prince George's County's newer schools, has always set high standards for its students and seems to be meeting them. It is one of three high schools in the county with a science and technology program. In 2009, it met all federal targets for adequate yearly progress. Its graduation rate was 82 percent, well above the national average. Its 12th-grade passing rate was above 80 percent on state tests.

Yet, it was one of the few schools in the Washington area refusing to let average students challenge themselves in an Advanced Placement course. Students were told this year that AP English, biology, American history, calculus and most of the other college-level courses at the school were open only to those with at least a 3.0 grade-point average. They also had to have written permission from a teacher.

Rushern Baker III, who won the Democratic nomination for Prince George's County executive, watched as his friend Adrian M. Fenty made bold and sometimes controversial changes as D.C. mayor, especially school reform, which Baker, too, has promised.

Then, on Sept. 14, as Baker won in Prince George's, he saw Fenty, criticized for having lost touch with even his closest supporters, get booted out of office.

But Baker, who has no Republican opponent on the Nov. 2 ballot and is soon to take the reins in Prince George's, is optimistic that his pledges to remake his county's political and fiscal culture and improve its lagging public schools can be accomplished without alienating his reform-minded political base.

Sixty-four new officers have joined the Prince George's County police force.

The new police officers, along with three officers who are joining the Baltimore City Schools Police, graduated this month from the police academy.

The academy takes about six to seven months to complete, Cpl. Henry Tippett, a police spokesman, said.

Another 5.5 cents of every dollar will go to the local governments in which a slots facility is operating, with portions also initially given to Baltimore through the Pimlico Community Development Authority and Prince George's County for the area near Rosecroft Raceway, even though there are no slots casinos planned there. How much of that goes to Anne Arundel County will be dependent on the profitability of its facility, as every jurisdiction with a slots site will be allocated money based on its share of gross revenue....

A "yes" vote on ballot Question A would clear the path for the casino. A "no" vote would kill the zoning legislation and require the county to approve new zoning before any future slots proposal could move forward.