LARRY HOGAN - I ENDORSE FOR 2018 MD GOV RE-ELECT, HE IS FOR ALL (HIGH POLL NUMBERS)

LARRY HOGAN - I ENDORSE FOR 2018 MARYLAND GOV RE-ELECT (POLL NUMBERS):

I DON'T RUBBER STAMP ALL HIS POLICIES BUT I TRUST HIM.

HOGAN APPEARS TO BE MOST BI-PARTISAN GOVERNOR CANDIDATE RUNNING TO LEAD MARYLAND.

MOST BLACK DEMOCRATS IN MARYLAND APPEAR TO ONLY CARE ABOUT WEALTHY BLACK PEOPLE.

HOGAN APPEARS TO CARE ABOUT ALL PEOPLE, INCLUDING YOUNG BLACK MEN.

BLACK DEMOCRAT POLITICIANS NEED TO SHOW THEY CARE ABOUT ALL INCOME LEVELS & YOUNG BLACK MEN.

LARRY HOGAN FOR MARYLAND GOVERNOR, AGAIN.


Post Sources: Washington Post, WTOP, Goucher Poll, 98 Rock Baltimore, WBAL-TV, Youtube


****** Poll: Hogan’s approval ratings sky-high; Democrats stronger among women, millennials


Gov. Larry Hogan remains highly popular in Maryland, according to a new poll, despite being a Republican in an overwhelmingly blue state in an election year when Democrats hope to capi­tal­ize on opposition to President Trump.

Sixty-nine percent of Marylanders approve of the way Hogan is handling his job, an increase from 61 percent in February, according to a Goucher College poll released Tuesday. It’s his highest approval rating in the Goucher poll since fall 2016.

He receives praise across party lines: from 65 percent of registered Democrats, 64 percent of independents and 81 percent of Republicans.

Hogan is vying to become the second GOP governor in 60 years to be reelected in Maryland, where registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans 2 to 1. He has tried hard to avoid a partisan label and has repeatedly distanced himself from Trump and Republicans in Congress.

So far, the strategy seems to have worked. Seventy percent of Marylanders disapprove of Trump, nearly the opposite of Hogan’s approval rating, according to the Goucher poll. But 47 percent of Marylanders polled say Hogan has distanced himself “about the right amount” from Trump. Twenty-seven percent say he’s distanced himself too little, and 9 percent say too much.

A 53 percent majority think the state is heading in the right direction; 28 percent say the state is on the wrong track.

“If I were Larry Hogan, I’d probably be doing somersaults,” Todd Eberly, a political scientist at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, said after looking at the poll results. “If there’s going to be a blue wave, I think Hogan is in the best position he could be in a Democratic state if you were going to withstand that wave.”

Mileah Kromer, director of the Goucher polling team, cautioned that there remain plenty of un­decided voters and — with the wide-open Democratic gubernatorial primary still nine weeks away — a long road to November.

“What probably concerns them is the fact that approval isn’t necessarily the same thing as support for reelection,” Kromer said. “We’re really far out. It’s not like he can pack it in.”

If Hogan were pitted now against one of the contenders in June’s Democratic primary, between 44 and 47 percent of likely voters say they would choose Hogan, according to the poll. Between 22 and 27 percent of likely voters say they are undecided.

Hogan holds a 44 percent to 31 percent lead against Prince George’s County Executive Rushern L. Baker III, the Democratic front-runner in other recent polls. He leads by an identical margin against former NAACP president Ben Jealous, who narrowly trailed Baker and former Michelle Obama policy aide Krishanti Vignarajah in this weekend’s Western Maryland Democratic straw poll .

A February Mason-Dixon poll found Hogan leading Baker by 15 points in a general-election matchup, while a Gonzalez poll released in January gave Hogan a 10-point advantage.

The governor performed well in the Goucher poll on the question of whether Marylanders trust him or Democratic leaders on several specific issues. Fifty-five percent of Maryland adults say they have more confidence in Hogan to deal with the state’s budget and finances, vs. 28 percent who had more confidence in Democrats. He is more trusted on crime (48 percent to 32 percent), taxes (47 percent to 35 percent), economic development (49 percent to 35 percent) and transportation and infrastructure (45 percent to 36 percent).

Democrats have a double-digit advantage only on the environment (47 percent to 34 percent). They have a narrower edge on education (44 percent to 37 percent).

The poll revealed age and gender gaps that show that it is crucial for Democrats to get millennials and women to the polls.

Hogan has a 24-point advantage over Baker among likely voters age 55 and older, a higher-turnout group in a nonpresidential election year, when fewer than half of voters typically cast ballots. He trails his top Democratic rivals by roughly 20 points among likely voters under 35. Hogan leads by about 2 to 1 among men, but is tied with the Democrats among women, who made up 54 percent of voters in the 2014 gubernatorial election, according to the Census Bureau.

The Goucher poll was conducted April 14-19 among a random sample of 617 residents of Maryland, including landline and cellphone respondents. Full results have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points. The margin of error was 4.6 points among the subset of 449 likely voters.

Bloomberg Shuts Down Nation's Largest Mass Transit System For Irene; Evacuates Sick & Elderly

N.Y.C. to Shut Mass Transit for Storm

With Hurricane Irene pushing relentlessly toward the East Coast, officials made plans to shut down New York City’s sprawling subway and bus system beginning at noon on Saturday, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said.

The commuter rail lines that serve Long Island, Westchester County and Connecticut will also be shut down.

Officials decided to go ahead with the transit shutdown, which they had first mentioned on Thursday as a possibility at a City Hall briefing on Thursday, as the city was evacuating hospitals and nursing homes in low-lying areas. Sstate officials continued arrangements for coordinating emergency services and restoring electricity if the storm does the kind of damage many fear.

Some Atlantic City casinos made plans to stop rolling the dice and turn off the slot machines by 8 p.m. Friday. The naval submarine base in Groton, Conn., sent four submarines out to ride out the storm deep in the Atlantic Ocean. And Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey said that all lanes of 28-mile stretch of a major highway in Ocean County would go in only one direction — westward — beginning at 6 p.m. on Friday to help speed the trip away from Long Beach Island.

Those preparations came as states of emergency remained in effect in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Homeowners scrambled to cover windows with plywood and boaters struggled to get their vessels away from docks.

In New York, apartment dwellers with balconies and terraces hauled in patio furniture and potted plants, and stores ran short on staples like batteries, flashlights and bottled water. In shore towns on Long Island and in New Jersey, vacationers waited in lines at gasoline stations and watched as emergency crews piled sandbags on low-lying beach roads.

The hurricane watch for the city was a formal indication that forecasters saw a potential threat within 24 to 36 hours. It was issued 14 hours after Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said the city was ready with “evacuation contingencies” for low-lying places like Coney Island in Brooklyn, Battery Park City in Lower Manhattan and parts of Staten Island and the Rockaways in Queens — areas that are home to 250,000 people.

The mayor said Thursday that the city was ordering nursing homes and hospitals in those areas to evacuate residents and patients beginning at 8 a.m. Friday unless they receive special permission from state and city health officials, among them the city’s health commissioner, Dr. Thomas A. Farley, who, the mayor noted, was chairman of the community health sciences department at Tulane University when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005.

The evacuation order covered 22 hospitals, nursing homes and other facilities for older people.

The city also ordered construction work halted until 7 a.m. Monday. With the worst of the storm expected on a weekend, a time when relatively few construction crews would normally be on the job, the Buildings Department said Friday that its inspectors were checking construction sites to see that equipment had been secured. The department said it would check over the weekend that builders complied with the no-work order.

Anticipation of the hurricane disrupted other rituals of late summer. New York University postponed its move-in day for undergraduates, which had been scheduled for Sunday, James Devitt, a university spokesman, said. Students will not be able to move into university housing until Monday.

Columbia University also shifted its move-in day from from Sunday to Monday and Tuesday, according to an e-mail from Brian Connolly, a university spokesman. He also said that campus events on Sunday and Monday, including a welcome reception and a convocation ceremony, had been cancelled and would be rescheduled.

At a City Hall briefing on Thursday evening, the mayor said the five hospitals in the low-lying areas were reducing their caseloads and canceling elective surgeries on Friday to be ready for emergencies over the weekend. One, Coney Island Hospital, is to begin moving patients to vacant beds in other parts of the city on Friday, he said.

Mr. Bloomberg said he would decide by Saturday morning whether to order a general evacuation of the low-lying areas.

He also said he was revoking permits for events in the city on Sunday and in the low-lying areas on Saturday. The Sunday cancellations apparently included a concert on Governors Island by the Dave Matthews Band. A statement on the band’s Web site said people with tickets for that show should attend the Friday or Saturday performance. But the Web site said to check for updates on Friday.

The mayor said 300 street fairs over the weekend “would have to be curtailed” to keep streets clear for hurricane-related transportation — ambulances carrying patients to nursing homes or hospitals on higher ground, buses and city-owned trucks moving to where they would be ready for duty once the hurricane had swept by.

Mr. Bloomberg said people should stay out of parks because high winds could bring down trees. “And incidentally,” he said, “it’s a good idea to stay out of your own backyard if you have trees there.”

The mayor cautioned that forecasts were not always accurate and that the hurricane, a sprawling storm still far away, could become weaker.

“We’re talking about something that is a long time away in meteorological terms,” he said, “so what we have to do is assume the worst, prepare for that, and hope for the best.”

That seemed to be the official mantra from South Jersey to coastal Connecticut on Thursday. In East Hampton, N.Y., crews removed sidewalk benches so they would not blow away if Hurricane Irene howled through. In Long Beach, N.Y., maintenance crews used a different kind of defensive maneuver, building up berms that they hoped would block the waves.

In New Jersey, Gov. Chris Christie told shore-area residents hoping to sit out the storm that “it is not the smart thing to do.” He said people who were thinking about a weekend along the coast should think again.

“Do not go,” he said.

Mr. Christie also urged people on barrier islands to leave. “Right now, I’m asking people to do this voluntarily,” he said. “I am actively considering a mandatory evacuation, but I’m not there yet.”

Officials elsewhere echoed his concern about areas closest to the Atlantic Ocean. On Long Island, the Islip town supervisor, Phil Nolan, called for a voluntary evacuation of Fire Island “to avoid a rush of people as the storm nears Long Island.”

Cape May County, N.J., went a step further, ordering everyone out. Evacuations of its barrier islands began on Thursday afternoon. People on the mainland were told to leave beginning at 8 a.m. on Friday, said Lenora Boninfante, the county communications director.

In the northern part of the state, the Jets-Giants game at MetLife Stadium was changed to 2 p.m. Saturday from 7 p.m. because of concerns about the weather.

Back in the city, Mr. Bloomberg, along with Joseph F. Bruno, the commissioner of the city’s Office of Emergency Management, instructed residents to take preliminary steps: stock up on basic supplies, identify an alternative place to sleep in the event of an evacuation and prepare a “go bag” of essentials to allow for a rapid departure, if necessary.

As for a transit shutdown, Jay H. Walder, the chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said his agency could not guarantee the safety of passengers if winds remained above 39 miles per hour for a sustained period. He said it could take up to eight hours to shut down the system, meaning that transit planners may have to make a judgment call on Saturday, well before the full force of the storm is felt.

And because it takes the agency several hours to restart trains and buses, a shutdown could last through early Monday, if not longer. “It’s hard to predict when it will come back,” Mr. Walder said, “because I can’t really predict for you exactly what will happen in the storm.”

In the event of a shutdown, Mr. Walder said, the transportation authority will aid in evacuation efforts.

Mr. Bloomberg warned New Yorkers to heed any evacuation call as quickly as possible, in case mass-transit options were unavailable.

Certain low-lying areas of the subway system are particularly susceptible to flooding, in Lower Manhattan and on exposed tracks in parts of Brooklyn. Overhead catenary cables, which provide power to commuter rail lines in the suburbs north and east of the city, can be knocked down by winds, and stations on elevated routes could be dangerous for the trains and for passengers waiting to catch them.

Still, against the drumbeat of plans and announcements from officials on Thursday, some all but disregarded the hurricane talk. Dave Merklin of Freeport, N.Y., said he was doing “practically nothing, because I’ve been through so many of these storms.”

“I’ve lived in this house for 40 years,” he said. “I wait until the storm is gone, and then I clean up the mess. I don’t do much in the way of preparation except make sure the doors are closed.”


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Sources: AP, CNN, Euronews, NY Times, Youtube, Google Maps

Charlotte "CATS" Receives More Funding & Opens New Transportation Center (Clean Air Project)

RENOVATED NORTH DAVIDSON BUS FACILITY REOPENS ITS DOORS
Charlotte, N.C., July 26, 2011 — Construction is almost complete and you are invited to come take a look inside the Charlotte Area Transit System’s (CATS) North DavidsonBus Facility Renovation and Expansion Project on Thursday, July 28 at 10 a.m. at 901 North Davidson Street.

Join Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx, CATS CEO Carolyn Flowers, District 1 City Council Member Patsy Kinsey and Director of the Governor’s Piedmont Regional Office Bud Berro to see the refurbished facility that will improve the efficiency of bus operations and maintenance for up to 200 buses. Attendees can park in CATS Bus Lots 5 and 6 on McGill Garden Way. Signs will be posted.

The renovation and expansion project is the recipient of $20.7 million of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) stimulus funds through the Transit Capital Assistance Urbanized Program.

“CATS ridership has increased 100 percent within the past decade; this facility will be key in sustaining operations now and well into the future,” Mayor Anthony Foxx said. “This project was a bright spot during a time when we needed it most, it has helped put Charlotte businesses and citizens to work. Approximately 150 jobs were created throughout the last two years at this facility.

There are currently 21 Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) contracts in the amount of over $1.4 million awarded as part of this project, which is extremely important for the sustainability of small businesses in our city,” said Foxx.

The renovations allow operational and maintenance improvements for up to 200 transit buses. Updated facility conditions include mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems as well as bus maintenance equipment. CATS Special Transportation Service, which operates 83 vehicles, will move its administration and operations to the North Davidson campus to provide more consolidated operations. A new, multi-level parking garage will provide ample space for employees working out of this facility.

“We are very excited to provide transit employees a more efficient building with added environmental benefits such as passive lighting and dual bus usage,” said Carolyn Flowers, CATS CEO. “The exterior changes also allow the buildings to better blend into the fabric of the nearby communities. None of this would have been possible at this time without the support and assistance received by this stimulus grant through the Federal Transit Administration.”

Exterior panels on the buildings, designed by North Carolina artist Jimmy O’Neal, depict the visual translations of actual sounds recorded at the facility. The maintenance building includes images from the sound of a bus operator’s announcement to passengers, a worker’s tool, the message heard by CATS bus operators when they start up a bus and the sound of bus brakes. The administration building images are from the sounds of a bus horn and wheel.

The CATS North Davidson Bus Facility is expected to resume full operations in late summer 2011. The facility was originally constructed in 1981 and includes a two-story administration/operations building, a three-level maintenance building and a fuel and wash facility.

To learn more about CATS and its services, please call 704-336-7433 or visit us on the web at www.ridetransit.org.

Jean Leier (704) 432-0496



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Sources: CATS, Charmeck.org, WCNC, Google Maps

Charlotte CATS Receives $28M Federal Funds For What?? More Gov't Waste!

CHARLOTTE CATS SYSTEM RECEIVES TWO ADDITIONAL FEDERAL GRANTS


Charlotte, N.C., November 3, 2010 -

The Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) just received two additional federal grants that will help save money and protect the environment.

“We are constantly seeking grants and other revenue sources to leverage the investment Mecklenburg County citizens make to Public Transit through the dedicated sales tax,” said Carolyn Flowers, CATS CEO. “These two grants will assist us in reducing operational expenses.” CATS has been awarded over $28.5 million this year in state and Federal Grants.

Click here to learn how this money is being put to use to improve your transit system.

The Bus Canopy Solar PVS/Charging Project is part of the Transit Investments for Greenhouse Gas and Energy Reduction (TIGGER II) program. The $1.0 million award will be used at the CATS South Tryon Bus Facility which includes nine bus canopies in the middle of the lot that provide shade for the vehicles and allow the buses to cool quicker when going into service.

These canopies will be the site of 2,268 solar PV panels which could generate up to 50.5 megawatt hours of power each month and approximately 12 percent of the annual electric use at this facility.

CATS also received $421,580 for the Clean Fuels Bus and Bus Facilities Program. This grant award will be used to purchase more efficient and light weight Special Transportation Service (STS) vehicles as identified as part of CATS’ 2007-2012 Countywide Transit Services Plan.

CATS will replace five older, less efficient STS vehicles in the fleet with five new vehicles that emit 56 percent less carbon dioxide, get more miles per gallon, only require preventative maintenance every 10,000 miles and have an increased lifespan up to 7 years and 200,000 miles.

To learn more about CATS and its services, call 704-336-RIDE or visit us on the web at www.ridetransit.org.




Charlotte City Council Narrowly Approves Federal Streetcar Money


The Charlotte City Council narrowly agreed Monday night to take $25 million in federal money to begin the first 1.5 miles of its planned streetcar route.

The 6-5 council vote came after more than three hours of passionate debate from residents and the council. It also survived a last-minute effort to defer the issue until a later meeting.

Supporters said the streetcar would spur development along its eventual 10 miles and would provide another transportation option.

But opponents argued the city can't afford the project now, and that the streetcar would eat up money that could be used on other community needs.

Voting in favor of accepting the federal grant were Democrats Jason Burgess, Patrick Cannon, Nancy Carter, David Howard, Patsy Kinsey and James Mitchell.

Voting no were Republicans Warren Cooksey, Andy Dulin and Edwin Peacock, plus Democrats Michael Barnes and Warren Turner.

The first $37 million, 1.5-mile segment would run from Time Warner Cable Arena in uptown to Presbyterian Hospital in the Elizabeth area, with six stops or stations along the way. Construction will start within 18 months, and the city wants to have the streetcar up and running by 2014.

In addition to the federal money, the city will spend $12 million from three of its capital funds for the streetcar.

But that only covers construction. The first leg is also expected to carry a $1.5 million annual operating bill.

The Charlotte Area Transit System has said it can't cover the tab, pushing the costs to the city. Officials there haven't said how they would pay for the operating costs, only that the money would likely come from the city's general fund.

The lack of operating money fueled some of Monday's opposition to the streetcar. Many speakers said the community has more pressing needs, including crime-fighting and schools.

"Just because ... you vote against accepting that grant, it doesn't mean you don't believe in mass transportation," said Tariq Bokhari. "It just might mean that this expenditure doesn't make sense with our current priorities."

But other speakers said investing in the streetcar will pave the way for more development in the future, particularly in east and west Charlotte.

The city has proposed building a 10-mile streetcar line from the Rosa Parks Transit Center on Beatties Ford Road near Interstate 85 to Eastland Mall, via Trade Street uptown.

Malcolm Graham, a special assistant to the president of Johnson C. Smith University and a state senator, urged the council to "not make a decision for today, but to make a decision for tomorrow."

"Invest in our community the same way many on council who sat in those chairs before invested in our community," he said.

Comments from council largely mirrored that of citizens who packed the chamber.

Many council members who voted against the grant money lamented that the city had not identified a way to pay for the operating costs.

They also worried that moving ahead with the streetcar meant the city was pushing aside previously announced plans to extend the Lynx light rail line to the University City area, as well as commuter rail to the northern Mecklenburg towns.

Other council members argued they weren't sidestepping those projects but were taking advantage of federal money that's become available.

Under the Bush administration, federal transit money wasn't available for streetcars. That changed under the Obama administration, and earlier this month, Charlotte was among the cities awarded $130 million in streetcar grants.

Leaders have said they plan to keep looking for more money to help pay for the rest of the project, though they said they likely would only be able to build 2- or 3-mile segments at a time.

The entire 10-mile stretch could cost about $500 million.


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Sources: McClatchy Newspapers, WCNC, Wikipedia, Google Maps

Carolyn Flowers: CATS' New Chief Named (Recently From California)...Congratulations!

New CATS chief named: Carolyn Flowers


Carolyn Flowers has been hired as the new chief executive at Charlotte Area Transit System. The announcement will be made at 10 a.m. this morning at the Government Center. Flowers takes over in January.

She replaces Keith Parker, who left earlier this year to run the transit system in San Antonio. CATS deputy director John Muth served as interim CEO after Parker left in May and made himself a candidate for the full-time job.

Instead, City Manager Curt Walton, working with County Manager Harry Jones, Matthews Town Manager Hazen Blodgett and Davidson Mayor John Woods, who was the Metropolitan Transit Commission member representative, selected Flowers.

She comes to town after serving as Chief Operations Officer for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, where she has presided over a $900 million operating budget and 6,000 employees. Her duties there include bus service and freeway-service patrol.

Parker was the third-highest paid city employee, earning just under $198,000 per year, when he left CATS. Flowers will earn almost the exact same amount, with a salary of $197,500. Flowers' experience also includes stints as budget director for the city of Beverly Hills and as financial manager at Wang Laboratories.

"I look forward to leading CATS and working with our experienced staff to continue building one of the finest transit systems in the country," Flowers says in a prepared statement. "The people in the Charlotte region can count on my experience and commitment to continue to provide service and make our system world-class."

At CATS, Flowers inherits a big job. She will preside over a bus and rail system with ambitious expansion plans — and declining revenue. In fiscal 2009, which ended June 30, the designated half-cent transit tax generated $61.8 million, or 18.7% less than the $76 million expected. Budgeted tax revenue for the current fiscal year is anticipated to rise only slightly, to $62.7 million. Those shrinking taxes have already rendered the 2030 transit plan unreachable without delays or reshuffling. During the next decade, the transit system projects a $286 million gap in tax revenue.

Several major projects are in preliminary phases or under consideration. These include a $1 billion light-rail extension running through University City and a $375 million commuter-rail line to Huntersville and, perhaps, Iredell County. Earlier this year, City Council approved a $4.5 million engineering study for a proposed 10-mile, $457 million streetcar system running from Eastland Mall through uptown and out to Beatties Ford Road. All of the projects are counting heavily on federal and state funding, with much of those hopes dependent on a forthcoming overhaul of transportation funding by Congress next year. Even if the federal grants are made more accessible for streetcars, CATS can’t pay for the line, leaving construction costs in the city’s hands.

Seventy candidates were considered for the job, with sevcn finalists interviewed.



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Sources: Charlotte Biz Journals, Charmeck.org, LA City, Passenger Transport, Youtube, Google Maps