Governor O'Malley's Redistricting Map Passes 91-46 in Maryland House // Plus, What Happens If Your House is Split?

UPDATE: Below the fold, we ask a question and provide a link to Maryland's online Redistricting tool. One reader responded with the following comment about the (cracked) ICC: "I followed your link to the Gov's redistricting page, but when I searched my house, I found there was no ICC on the map.  (I live a few feet away from the ICC)  Interesting..."

Governor Martin O'Malley's redistricting plan (below) has passed the Maryland House with 91 yes votes and 46 no votes. According to the Washington Times, "Five Democrats also voted against the plan: Delegates Tiffany Alston and Aisha Braveboy from Prince George’s County, and Delegates Alfred C. Carr Jr., Ana Sol Gutierrez and Luiz Simmons from Montgomery County." Following on the heels of Senate approval earlier this week, the Governor's map appears to have prevailed. There still appear to be procedural votes, and the House will reconvene tomorrow at 10:30 am. But this appears to be a formality.

Rep. Donna Edwards Launches Online Petition for Alternative Redistricting Plan // BREAKING: Alternative Map Voted Down

UPDATE: The Fannie Lou Hamer map amendment was just shot down with 0 Democratic votes. Note, this is different than the Rep. Edwards plan.  Now, the Edwards Alternative map just failed as an amendment with 26 Yea's and 107 Nay's. In the meantime, one source just flagged that there may be a remaining technical amendment: "Technical amendment? Jeez, that means we have to go back to the Senate." Details soon....

Ahead of the Maryland House of Delegates' looming debate on Governor O'Malley's redistricting plan, Rep. Donna Edwards has launched an online petition to support her alternative map. See her alert below, and note that her map is likely to be debated today in the Maryland House:

Dear Friends,

The Maryland Senate passed the redistricting plan Monday night, and the House of Delegates is expected to vote today.  It is important to make your voice heard.

Hairline Cracks! Maryland to Rebuild Parts of ICC? // Plus, Leggett Calls for Private Purple Line Funding, ACT Responds

Oh boy. Just when you thought the Inter-County Connector (ICC) was finally winding down as an issue, the Washington Post drops this bomb:

Inspectors have found hairline cracks in three newly built overpasses on the Intercounty Connector, requiring that parts of their concrete piers be reinforced immediately and perhaps rebuilt, ICC officials said Tuesday.

Maryland Senate Approves Gov. O'Malley's Redistricting Plan // House Status Still Unclear

UPDATE: The AP is reporting that the Maryland Senate approved Governor O'Malley's redistricting plan on a 33-13 vote. All GOP members voted against the plan, and one Democrat joined them: Prince George's Sen. Anthony Muse, an African American minister. Notably, Mr. Muse is weighing a Primary Election challenge to U.S. Senator Ben Cardin. Meanwhile, according to an anonymous Delegate, this will now send the plan to the House. Our source earlier in the day gave Maryland Juice the following insights into the timing and process in the House: 

The amendment for Donna Edwards' alternative is drafted. No decisions yet. The time to offer amendments and debate will be on the house floor tomorrow. Its all on the Senate side today. Supposedly the Senate had to pull it back one step to 2nd reader to make a technical correction. The plan will come to the house at 5pm. We will "special order" it until tomorrow as a courtesy to anyone who wants to offer amendments. 

Here's the latest in the ongoing saga concerning Congressional redistricting in Maryland. After talking to a random assortment of area politicos, the State Senate appears ready to approve Governor O'Malley's proposed redistricting plan, but the status in the Maryland House of Delegates is murky. Indeed, Maryland Reporter today had this coverage of yesterday's redistricting deliberations in the State Assembly:

Montgomery County Spends $67,408 a Year to Censor Internet // Plus, Amtrak Blocks LGBT Newspapers on WiFi Soft-Launch

UPDATE: A Montgomery County employee has sent word of Chairman MoCo's Iron Firewall blocking more LGBT websites. Our source sends notice of the following blocked sites: Seattle Gay News (sgn.org), GayCityNews.com, LesbianNews.com, etc. Once again, all have been listed as porn.

Amazingly, Maryland Juice is on an Amtrak train right now and was trying to verify that Seattle Gay News was not a porn site (it is not), and I stumbled across the following amazing development. Amtrak also appears to be blocking LGBT news sites from its WiFi connections! WTF. The sgn.org site contains offensive articles, like this recent headline: "Youth suicide prevention funds on WA state's chopping block". 

But apparently an equally big story is that Maryland Juice stumbled upon the soft-launch of Wifi service on its Northeast Regional Line. I just spoke to a subcontractor of Amtrak who wanted to know how my connection was acting. I am running on a fairly stable connection from NYC to Washington. 

Even still, my excitement is now dampened.  A Maryland Juice Facebook reader also noted, "I repeatedly got the same msg when I tried to access Guardian UK last month." The Guardian is a mainstream liberal British newspaper. Amtrak, shame on you:

Free Event WED: Mike McCurry (Clinton Press Secretary) on Clinton & Obama @ Politics & Prose

Free event supported by the Montgomery County Bar Association:

Bill Clinton and Barack Obama--a timely discussion of their presidencies by those that worked with them. Mike McCurry, Pres. Clinton's former press secretary, Lissa Muscatine, served in both the Clinton and Obama administrations, reporter for the Washington Post and new co owner of Politics and Prose,  and Michael Takiff , author of   A Complicated Man – the Life of Bill Clinton as Told by those Who Know Him,(Yale University Press). And, there is a good chance that C-Span will cover this event! 

Wednesday, October 19th beginning at 4:30 p.m., to 6 pm.    this meeting will take place at the Politics and Prose Bookstore, located at 5015 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20008. 

202-364-1919 •  800-722-0790
202-966-7532 (fax)
books@politics-prose.com

Occupy Sesame Street: Subversive Messages from Slovenia to DC

Maryland Juice decided to take a break from politics and check out some subversive art this week. I caught populist musical Les Misérables in DC, as well as the psychedelic dance-cirque Fuerza Bruta in NYC. Les Mis is running at the Kennedy Center through the end of the month, and for those who are unfamiliar with the plot, it kicks off with a man serving years in prison for stealing a loaf of bread. Not a bad time for this story to roll through Washington....

Fuerza Bruta, on the other hand, has no words but still manages to condemn worker-exploitation in NYC's fashion industry (check out their Youtube trailer at the bottom of this post). It is hard for me to avoid noticing these subversive themes in current pop culture, given the waves of protest seemingly sweeping the globe. Indeed, Les Mis itself is a tale of class oppression in France, by way of a British musical that spread around the globe. Fuerza Bruta was developed by Argentinians, before making its way to New York.

Today, protestors are gravitating toward a new icon of subversion: Sesame Street. I caught the photo below on a certain former Maryland blogger's Facebook page:

Image Source: http://imgur.com/e2CgR?tags