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Forehand: State should raise smoking age to 21 Bald eagles shot, killed Lawmakers preview 2014 session in Rockville n
BY
ELIZABETH WAIBEL STAFF WRITER
A Maryland lawmaker wants people to wait until they are older before they can legally buy or smoke a pack of cigarettes. State Sen. Jennie M. Forehand (D-Dist. 17) of Rockville said she plans to introduce a bill this year to raise the legal smoking age to 21. Forehand spoke during a Monday Rockville mayor and council meeting. She and other representatives for District 17, which includes Gaithersburg and Rockville, were at the meeting to discuss the 2014 General Assembly session with city officials. Currently, the legal smoking
age in Maryland is 18. Minors violating the law can be fined up to $25 for the first violation and up to $100 for a second or subsequent violation, according to the Maryland Attorney General website. Forehand said she has pushed for anti-smoking laws because of her father, who died of lung cancer brought on by secondhand smoke. She already has pre-filed a bill for this session that would prohibit smoking in a vehicle with a young child, The Gazette reported last week. “Of course, people made fun of me when I first started doing this, but we’ve seen the results now, and I think that’s real good,” Forehand said. At the Monday meeting, Del. Kumar P. Barve, a Gaithersburg Democrat and House majority leader, said he is hopeful that the state will send more
money to Montgomery County for school construction. He also said he thinks consensus is forming in the General Assembly to raise the minimum wage statewide. Montgomery and Prince George’s counties both passed measures late last year to raise the minimum wage in those jurisdictions. Del. James W. Gilchrist (D) of Rockville said that last year, legislators introduced some bills to strengthen city stormwater fee regulations and some to weaken them, but all of them failed. Lawmakers also introduced legislation for and against speed camera programs, he said. Both stormwater fees and speed camera programs likely will come up again this session, Gilchrist said. A speed camera ticketing a stopped car in Baltimore fueled criticism of speed
camera programs, Gilchrist said, but Rockville having a good program can help increase support for speed camera programs. “As much as municipalities and the City of Rockville can prove that it’s working, that will be very important to the discussion,” he said. Del. Luiz R.S. Simmons (D) of Rockville said he wants to see the state link its databases of regulated firearms and criminal convictions so Maryland can enforce its law that requires people to give up their guns after violent crimes convictions. Simmons also said he wants to promote apprenticeships in Maryland that would provide job training for high school students who do not plan to go to college. He said the U.S. as a whole lags behind Europe and Canada in the number of apprenticeships for young people.
Sen. Forehand says she will not run again this year Lawmaker will end career after nine terms in General Assembly
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BY
KATE S. ALEXANDER STAFF WRITER
aspire to public office should admire. “I salute Jennie for her remarkable career in public office and congratulate her on her many accomplishments,” Kagan said. “Jennie is a true trailblazer, and we owe her our gratitude.” Simmons (D), who has served with Forehand in District 17, also lauded her. “Even though we may have different perspectives on different issues, I have always had a lot of affection for her,” he said. Forehand said she will serve the remainder of her current term. “I figure I’ve got something really good for this year,” she said. Among the bills she has pre-filed for the session is a bill to prohibit smoking in a vehicle with a young child.
Agency following leads TERRI HOGAN
BY
STAFF WRITER
In recent weeks, several people posted on the OlneyBrookeville Exchange Yahoo Group that they saw majestic bald eagles soaring over the area. That joy turned to sorrow and anger after Maryland Department of Natural Resources police reported that two bald eagles recently were killed in Montgomery County. An eagle was shot with a rifle at about 3 p.m. Christmas Day in a field at the intersection of Georgia Avenue and Bordly Drive in Brookeville, according to Candus Thomson, an agency spokeswoman. She said residents were out walking and taking photographs when they heard the shot and saw the eagle dead next to a deer carcass that it had been feeding on. Three days later, a mature eagle was found near a residence on Deakins Lane in Darnestown. The bird was found alive, but later died of its injuries. An X-ray revealed it had been hit by birdshot, a type of shotgun ammunition. The incidents are thought to be unrelated. Thomson said that as of
Monday afternoon, her agency had received several leads and is investigating them. “The public certainly took this to heart,” Thomson said. “We hope the information will lead to something.” Bald eagles are in their active courtship period right now, she said. In late February or early March, eagles along the upper Chesapeake Bay and inland lay eggs that hatch in April. She said that because eagles are fishing birds, it is not surprising to see them in the Brookeville area because of its proximity to the Tridelphia Reservoir, or in Darnestown, near the Potomac River. Thomson said she understands why people get excited about seeing them. “Even though they are no longer on the endangered species list, they are still protected by federal law,” she said. “They are our national bird and are just wonderful to look at.” Thomson said the eagle killed in Brookeville was still immature and did not yet have the complete white feathers on its head. “Someone probably thought it was a vulture because they didn’t see the white feathers, but the No. 1 rule when hunting is knowing what you are shooting, and what is behind it,” she said.
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One of the Maryland General Assembly’s longest-serving members, Sen. Jennie M. Forehand of Rockville, said this year will be her last as a lawmaker. After 36 years as a lawmaker, Forehand (D-Dist. 17) will not run for re-election in 2014. “I really have gotten so many really good things done and I really felt like maybe it was time,” she said Friday morning. Forehand, 78, served in the House of
Delegates from 1978 to 1994, according to state records. She has represented District 17 in the Senate since 1995. While she initially planned to wait to announce that she would not seek re-election, Forehand said others entering the race prompted her to make her plans known. Del. Luiz R.S. Simmons and former Del. Cheryl Kagan are running for Forehand’s Forehand seat. Kagan — who ran against Forehand in 2010 — said in a statement that Forehand has set an example of service that all who
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