Tag Archives: Maryland

Rosewood brings mental anguish for those still there

Source: by Jaime Malarkey, The Examiner (MD), March 25, 2008

…… This residence hall is the “worst” at the Rosewood Center, the state-run center for the developmentally disabled in Owings Mills, Facilities Director Robert Day says on a recent tour. Day is approaching his final days on the job. After years of reports of abuse and neglect — from razor blades on the lawn to residents taking the wrong prescriptions to violent assaults — the center is slated for closure in 16 months.

Rosewood’s remaining 156 residents will move to group homes in the community, a decision advocates for the developmentally disabled call long overdue.

…… Employees, who have been directed by three different facility managers in the past year, said the center took a turn for the worse when the state began court-ordering criminals, including murderers, to Rosewood, but didn’t provide training in how to handle violent patients.

…… “State employees have always been providing quality care,” said Barry Chapman, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 422, a union that represents Rosewood employees. “But the state has not given this facility the resources to function.”

Click, browse, follow the money / Database would monitor spending

Source: By Bradley Olson, Baltimore Sun (MD), March 20, 2008

With a few clicks of a mouse, Marylanders could soon be able to search an online database to find out exactly how much the state is spending to construct the Intercounty Connector in suburban Washington or on Chesapeake Bay restoration projects or even what taxpayers are coughing up for the “King Barn Dairy Mooseum.”

The proposed database, which was approved in the House of Delegates and saw no opposition in a key Senate committee yesterday, also would allow anyone with a computer and an Internet connection to find out where the money is coming from, who was awarded the contracts and how much they received from the state for anything else.

Privatization Of Bridge Drive-Overs Has Worked

Source: Associated Press (MD), January 8, 2008

The Maryland Transportation Authority says it is seeing the benefits it expected when it privatized its Bay Bridge drive-over service.

Until last summer, the agency’s vehicle recovery technicians drove nervous motorists across the bridge at no charge.

The service was privatized last spring to allow the workers to focus on their primary job, responding to disabled vehicles and other emergencies.

…….. Kent Island Coach of Stevensville says it has handled more than 1,700 drive-overs since last May. The fee is $25 for motorists and $30 to transport bicycles.