Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Day three of the misconduct trial of County Executive John Leopold centered around his re-election campaign and its operations.
The third day of testimony in the misconduct trial against Anne Arundel County Executive John Leopold centered around his 2010 election campaign. Leopold faces a five-count indictment, which includes four counts of misconduct in office and one count of fraudulent misappropriation by a fiduciary. His bench trial in front of Circuit Court Judge Dennis Sweeny started in Annapolis on Friday. Leopold's Campaign Signs Cpl. Mark Walker, a 24-year veteran with the Anne Arundel County Police, testified that he placed, distributed and removed campaign signs from around the county during Leopold's 2010 re-election bid. Walker was assigned to Leopold's executive protection unit—a group of officers tasked with protecting the county executive. "Leopold …
Friday, January 18, 2013
The misconduct trial of Anne Arundel County Executive John Leopold started with emotional testimony from his former secretary.
In an emotional start to testimony in the official misconduct trial of Anne Arundel County Executive John Leopold, his former scheduling secretary cried as she described getting on her "hands and knees" to empty Leopold's urine from his catheter bag. Patricia Meglin testified that after Leopold's back surgery in 2010, he asked her to help him change the bag—which was strapped to his ankle—because he couldn't bend over to do so himself. "I was quiet at first because after he said that he looked at me and said 'You don’t have a problem with that, do you, Patty?'" Meglin said. "It was my experience that you don’t tell him no because then he would consider you un-loyal and then you lost your job ... I just didn’t say no because I was scared of…
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Patch wants to know whether you think taxpayers should pay more than $20,000 for County Executive John Leopold's defense against his discrimination lawsuit.
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Thursday, September 27, 2012
Attorneys are busy working on a defense strategy for Anne Arundel County Executive John Leopold—and taxpayers are the ones paying the legal bills, according to a report from WBFF FOX45. Patch previously reported that Leopold and the county are currently facing potentially costly litigation involving former employees accusing the county executive of official misconduct and gender discrimination. According to WBFF FOX45, Leopold's private attorneys for the federal discrimination lawsuit cost up to $450 an hour and the bill is already more than $20,000 for two weeks of work. The Anne Arundel County Council has discussed Leopold's situation. Patch reported that Councilman Jamie Benoit (D-4th District) said Leopold's court case has become a …
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
As first responders and community members gathered for a moment of silence on the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Anne Arundel's county executive focused on what he said he sees as the next great threat.
Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold focused his remarks at a 9/11 memorial on Tuesday on the importance of cybersecurity. "Cyberterrorism will shut down our electrical grids, shut down our air-traffic-control system, shut down our financial networks," Leopold said. "We spend $4 billion on cyberdefense in this country, which is less than what we spend on agricultural subsidies. We need to do more." He called Anne Arundel County the epicenter of national security effort to combat cyberterrorism because of U.S. Cyber Command at Fort Meade. In 2011, Patch reported on an increase in congestion around Fort Meade as thousands of new workers commuted to the area on a daily basis. And in 2012, discrepancies between how the White House …
Thursday, August 2, 2012
A judge ruled Thursday that the case against John R. Leopold, originally scheduled for next month, will not be heard until next year.
UPDATE (1:45 p.m.)—Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold will have to wait at least two months longer for his trial, after a court filing was approved Thursday. Anne Arundel County Circuit Court Judge Paul A. Hackner approved postponing Leopold's trial between two months, and possibly up to 2013, so that his defense has more time to prepare, according to The Baltimore Sun. Leopold was indicted by a grand jury in March for four counts of misconduct and one count of financial malfeasance. The Baltimore Sun reported that in court on Thursday, Leopold's attorney Bruce Marcus argued that the defense was looking into the conduct of other officials in Maryland, particularly how they handle security. Leopold's private security team, …
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Anne Arundel chapter president says County Council's inaction on the county executive's indictments is "unacceptable."
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
"No one is indispensable," according to the national president of the International Brotherhood of Police Officers.
The national president of the International Brotherhood of Police Officers held a press conference in Annapolis Wednesday afternoon to publicly call for the resignation of Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold and Police Chief James Teare Sr. The union that represents the sergeants and lieutenants of the county police department had earlier called for their resignations, but re-issued the call after the state prosecutor announced that Leopold had been indicted on various counts of misconduct in office and one count of fraud. The push for the resignations comes just weeks after the union criticized Leopold and Teare for mounting problems in the department that put it on "the verge of crisis." On Wednesday, the American Civil …
Monday, March 5, 2012
The International Brotherhood of Police Officers, which represents the sergeants and lieutenants of the Anne Arundel County Police Department, released a press release on Monday calling for the resignations.
A union of sergeants and lieutenants is calling for the resignation of County Executive John R. Leopold and Police Chief James Teare Sr., according to a press release. The International Brotherhood of Police Officers, which represents the sergeants and lieutenants of the Anne Arundel County Police Department, released a press release Monday calling for the resignations in light of the indictment Leopold on last week. Leopold is charged with four counts of misconduct in office and one count of fraudulent misappropriation by a fiduciary. The full release is copied below: The International Brotherhood of Police Officers, which represents the sergeants and lieutenants of the Anne Arundel County Police Department, is calling on County Executive…
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Callahan, who died Wednesday morning, is remembered as a "can-do" leader.
Former Annapolis mayor and Anne Arundel County official Dennis Callahan died Wednesday morning of a heart attack, according a release. Callahan, 70, was mayor from 1985-89. He also ran unsuccessfully for county executive in 2006. According to a story in The Capital, he was director of the county’s Department of Recreation and Parks from 1999-2006. Mayor Josh Cohen said Callahan “left his mark” on the city as one of the “most can-do mayors in memory.” “He was never afraid to make a decision,” Cohen said in an email. “Sometimes Dennis' brash personality rubbed people the wrong way, but I always appreciated that he didn't mince words and was willing to take some lumps in order to get the job done.” He said even after Callahan moved onto his …
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Maintenance of Effort funding laws are one obstacle in ensuring the state continues to be a leader in education, according to the president of the Maryland State Education Association.
For the fourth year in a row, Education Week magazine ranked Maryland public schools as No. 1 in the country. The annual state-by-state report card put Maryland on top with a "B+" rating and cited the state’s excellence in social issues, early childhood development and college readiness. Maryland State Education Association President Clara Floyd expressed her pride about the ranking in a released statement but acknowledged that key issues still stand in the way of making the public school system better. “To continue to move our top-ranked schools forward, it is imperative that we work together to repair Maryland’s broken Maintenance of Effort (MOE) law and safeguard local school funding,” Floyd said in the release. The MOE law has …
patricia
7:50 am on Tuesday, January 22, 2013
How about this, if he's found guilty he should pay all legal fees. If he's found not guilty, then the people who filed the charges against him should pay, and he should be allowed to file a counter lawsuit against them. This way the trial lawyers and the unions would think twice about wasting time and money on smearing people. more ›