Ehrlich lightens up on ‘Junkies’ appearances

Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. wants Marylanders to know he’s happy that Terrell Owens is not coming to Baltimore.

At least, he wanted 18- to 34-year-old Marylanders listening to the radio during morning rush hour to know his feelings about the NFL wide receiver. Mr. Owens wound up with the Philadelphia Eagles after a deal failed to trade him from the San Francisco 49ers to the Baltimore Ravens.

Sports, pop culture and politics all are topics during the governor’s monthly appearances on the “Junkies in the Morning” radio show on WHFS-FM (99.1).

His discussions on the entertainment talk show, which competes against the syndicated Howard Stern show, are a departure from stiff political analyses you might expect from a governor.

“He’s a Ravens-type profile? What’s that?” Mr. Ehrlich said on a show late last month, criticizing the deal and Mr. Owens’ notorious attitude in casual banter with the show’s four hosts — J.P. Flaim, Eric Bickel, Jason Bishop and John Auville.

Mr. Ehrlich’s press schedule has always been radio-heavy. He appears on WBAL every other Thursday and is a frequent guest on WTOP Radio, WMAL-AM and WCBM-AM.

Radio, particularly the informal style of “Junkies in the Morning,” also suits politicians with Mr. Ehrlich’s charisma and approachable style.

“He definitely has a preference when it comes to broadcast media,” said his spokeswoman, Shareese DeLeaver.

Although he has scheduled availability every Tuesday so traditional news media easily can reach him, his appearance on the “Junkies” show lets the governor appeal to the varied interests of his constituency and reach out to a more elusive group — young voters.

“’HFS is seen as a hip station,” Mr. Auville said. For the governor to reach out to the station’s young audience, Mr. Auville said, “adds to his image somehow.”

Mr. Ehrlich makes an extra effort to talk with the “Junkies” because he’s been a fan of the show since he was a congressman, when he listened to it on his commute from Timonium, Miss DeLeaver said.

“There’s not many outlets he’d get up that early in the morning for,” she said.

• Van Hollen fined

U.S. Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland is one of three Democrats whose campaigns have been fined for accepting excessive contributions from political action committees affiliated with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California.

The Federal Election Commission said Mr. Van Hollen — who represents the 8th District, which includes much of Montgomery County — was fined $2,500 and has paid $5,000 from his campaign fund to the U.S. Treasury.

PAC to the Future and Team Majority — both of which are associated with Mrs. Pelosi — were fined $21,000 for making excessive contributions to Mr. Van Hollen’s 2002 campaign and the congressional campaigns of two other Democrats — Julie Thomas of Iowa and Joe Turnham of Alabama.

The Thomas and Turnham campaigns also were fined and ordered to pay $5,000 to the Treasury.

Mr. Van Hollen’s fine was first reported in February by Roll Call.

• Praising Taylor

Maryland’s most powerful political leaders from both parties gathered Tuesday to honor Casper R. Taylor Jr. at a ceremony for the hanging of his portrait in the House of Delegates chamber, where he presided as House speaker for nine years.

Mr. Taylor was praised by Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. as a “very thoughtful, incredibly well-respected” leader.

Fellow Democrat Michael E. Busch, who succeeded Mr. Taylor as the presiding officer in the House, said Mr. Taylor was the most patient man he had ever known and had a way of bringing people together when tempers flared and legislators started to yell and scream at each other.

Mr. Taylor was a member of the House from Allegany County for 28 years before losing a very close race to Republican LeRoy E. Myers Jr. two years ago.

The House chamber was jammed for the portrait hanging with legislators and friends of Mr. Taylor, including three former governors — Parris N. Glendening, William Donald Schaefer and Marvin Mandel.

• Guilty of bribery

Richmond City Council member Gwendolyn C. Hedgepeth was convicted Friday by a federal jury on a litany of bribery charges.

Hedgepeth was convicted of bribery, bribery conspiracy, attempted bribery and lying to the FBI. She was found not guilty of mail fraud.

An indictment in January said Hedgepeth conspired with Robert Evans to fraudulently spend money from her “Paygo” account, a city spending account for council members’ expenses.

Evans, who since has been fired as assistant to the city manager, pleaded guilty to mail fraud and lying to a federal agent for sending money from another city account to his company as payment for work that was never done.

Hedgepeth was arrested in July and accused of taking $2,000 to support a candidate vying to fill a vacant council seat. She also was accused of lying to federal authorities about $500 she received to support a candidate in the mayoral election in January 2003. The Richmond mayor is elected by council members.

On Friday, Hedgepeth’s attorney, David P. Baugh, declined to answer reporters’ request for comment.

“I’m sorry. I’m going to go home and get some sleep,” he said. “There’s a lot to do still.”

The jury received the case Friday and deliberated for more than four hours. The trial started last Monday.

Hedgepeth was ushered away while reporters waited outside U.S. District Court.

• Investigation over

The FBI has apparently ended its investigation into accusations that a member of U.S. Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest’s staff sent disparaging e-mails about a political opponent.

State Sen. Andrew P. Harris, Baltimore County Republican, had said someone on Mr. Gilchrest’s staff opened an account in Mr. Harris’ name to send fake e-mails in which Mr. Harris appeared to disparage state Sen. Richard F. Colburn, Dorchester Republican and Mr. Gilchrest’s opponent in the March 2 primary.

The e-mail accused Mr. Colburn of “a long history of sexual harassment of interns in the Maryland General Assembly.” Mr. Colburn’s staff traced the e-mail to a U.S. House of Representatives computer server in Washington.

Mr. Colburn has denied the harassment charges. No charges ever have been filed against him in the Joint Committee on Legislative Ethics, which investigates complaints against state legislators. Mr. Gilchrest and his staff repeatedly have denied responsibility for opening the account.

Kevin Reigrut, Mr. Harris’ chief of staff, said Thursday that the FBI ended its investigation after not finding sufficient evidence for prosecution. Mr. Colburn also said Thursday that the FBI wasn’t interested in pursuing the case.

FBI officials declined to comment.

Sending a political e-mail from a congressional computer could violate federal laws and House ethics rules that prohibit the use of government resources for campaign work.

“My guess is that if they really wanted to look for something, there was plenty of smoke that would have led them to the fire,” Mr. Reigrut said.

• Quotable

Virginia Delegate James M. “Jim” Scott turned his eyes west last week when opining about the prolonged budget debate in the General Assembly.

“Who are we, and what are we doing here in California?” asked an exasperated Mr. Scott, Fairfax County Democrat, likening Virginia’s fiscal woes to another state’s famous budget mess after House Republicans proposed extending the current budget for a year.

“I guess he thinks the governor’s a movie star,” replied House Speaker William J. Howell, Stafford Republican, referring to California’s chief executive, Arnold Schwarzenegger.

• Norton proud

D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton last week called her proposal to crack down on racial profiling, which overwhelmingly passed the U.S. House as part of a larger $275 billion transportation bill, a civil rights victory.

The measure would earmark $60 million for states to develop racial-profiling laws and collect racial statistics on traffic stops.

Mrs. Norton’s proposal is aimed at helping states develop laws banning the use of race in making traffic stops.

Although the measure easily passed in the House, it now must get by at least two more obstacles.

The transportation bill passed by the Senate does not contain the racial-profiling language.

And the White House is threatening to veto the entire transportation bill for other reasons.