Gov. Martin O’Malley and General Assembly leaders will discuss details of next week’s special session today in Annapolis.

Lawmakers are expected to come in with a compromise in place — raising some questions about how that can be done while staying within the constraints of the state’s Open Meetings Act.

Here’s a few other headlines from around the state:

• The Baltimore Sun reports that an environmental group is questioning O’Malley’s ties to the poultry industry.
• MarylandReporter.com reports that former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich isn’t talking state politics these days.
• The Herald-Mail reports that the Hagerstown City Council has approved up to $400,000 in annual spending for for a $30 million multipurpose stadium. O’Malley has said the state could kick in some money, too.
• The Frederick News-Post details the digital disclosure legislation that passed in the General Assembly, which allows lawmakers’ ethics filing to be viewed online.

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Gov. Martin O’Malley now must replace two open cabinet positions.

Alexander M. Sanchez, secretary of the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation since 2009, will become Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake’s chief of staff on June 16. Sanchez follows the departure of transportation secretary Beverley K. Swaim-Staley, who announced her resignation last week.

Here’s a few other headlines around the state:

• The Baltimore Sun reports that animal rights advocates want O’Malley to introduce legislation in a special session to overturn the Maryland Court of Appeals decision on pit bulls.
• The Frederick News-Post reports that Frederick is preparing for riots during the G-8 summit next weekend.
• The Washington Times reports that one problem between General Assembly Republicans and Democrats is that they don’t agree on the definition of a budget cut.
• The Washington Examiner reports that Metro is missing is target for on-time trains and buses.

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Gov. Martin O’Malley announced Friday that he will call the legislature back to Annapolis for a special session on May 14. O’Malley and the presiding officers of the General Assembly are slated to discuss details this week.

While anxiously waiting for those details, here’s a few headlines around the state to get you through:

• The Gazette reports that job security is an issue for economic development officials.
• The Washington Times reports that a special session is something of a lose-lose situation for some local jurisdictions.
• The Baltimore Sun reported that Baltimore has entered an application to make a part of downtown’s west side its third arts and entertainment district, a state designation that makes businesses within that district eligible for tax breaks.

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State Comptroller Peter Franchot (Photo: Maryland State Archives)

It’s something of an inside joke in the State House that the biweekly Board of Public Works meeting — scheduled every other Wednesday for 10 a.m. — starts on time if it begins by about 10:20.

For state Comptroller Peter Franchot, though, the joke must be getting old.

Sitting alone at his seat just after 10 a.m. Wednesday — with Gov. Martin O’Malley and Treasurer Nancy K. Kopp yet to arrive — Franchot said he had made attempts to get the board meetings to start on time, to no avail.

Franchot, who appeared to either be campaigning or trying out a stand-up comedy routine, then praised the Washington Capitals hockey team and its owner, Ted Leonsis, who the comptroller said recently moved to Maryland from Virginia.

“He said my accountant and my lawyer came in, got down on their hands and knees and begged me not to move to Maryland,” Franchot said. “Despite that, he’s here.”

When the crowd didn’t immediately laugh, Franchot said that was “an inside joke about high taxes” in Maryland. He did draw laughter when he said he wasn’t wearing a tie because he had “politician’s elbow” — a condition he said was brought on by shaking too many hands.

Franchot got in one last dig before ending his monologue, referencing potential special legislative sessions this summer and again noting that the board meetings should start at the scheduled time.

“Hopefully, the sessions will happen on time and this meeting will happen on time at some point,” Franchot said. “This government should be able to start on time.”

The meeting, by the way, began at 10:17 a.m.

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A spokeswoman for Gov. Martin O’Malley said Wednesday that the announcement of a special legislative session — likely the week of May 14 — could come in the next day or two.

Today is the second of those two days.

While you consider that, here’s a few other headlines from around the state:

• The Associated Press and others reported that Senate Democratic leader Rob Garagiola is being reprimanded for an ethics violation.
• The AP also reports that O’Malley is considering creating a commission to study gambling.
• The Baltimore Sun provides an itemized breakdown of daily costs if a special legislative session is called.
• Southern Maryland Online explores the cordial rivalry between O’Malley, a Democrat, and Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, a Republican.
• The Cecil Whig reports that two horses with Cecil County ties will run in the Kentucky Derby.

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Huevos rancheroes (Photo: Elchavobeer)

Though there was no official agreement on the start of a special legislative session Wednesday, there was some other big news out of the State House.

When Gov. Martin O’Malley, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. and House Speaker Michael E. Busch met for breakfast last week, the trio had huevos rancheros, a Mexican breakfast dish that includes fried eggs on lightly fried corn tortillas, topped with tomato-chili sauce.

Fresh fruit and granola were also on the menu, an O’Malley spokeswoman said.

Now that the big news is out of the way, here’s a few other headlines from around the state:

• Patch.com reports that two Baltimore County senators have filed suit to overturn the state’s legislative redistricting plan.
• The Washington Examiner details Maryland’s new social media privacy law, signed yesterday by O’Malley.
• MarylandReporter.com details a $600 million contract award to provide health care to the state’s 26,000 prison inmates.
• The Herald-Mail reported that the Washington County Commissioners have agreed to contribute $400,000 per year to a new downtown Hagerstown Stadium. It was previously reported that the state could kick in some cash, too.

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Gov. Martin O’Malley and the presiding officers of the General Assembly will get together at 2 p.m. Wednesday for the second bill signing ceremony since adjournment of the 2012 regular session.

It will be just the second time the three men have been together publicly since the assembly’s chaotic final day. O’Malley has not yet called for a special legislative session to prevent some $500 million in spending cuts to programs and services.

Here’s a few other headlines around the state:

• The governor’s website provides a list and synopsis of the bills to be signed today.
• The Washington Times reports that one bill would lower penalties for marijuana possession.
• The Washington Post reported that Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and Prince George’s County Executive Rushern L. Baker III met behind closed doors with House Speaker Michael E. Busch Wednesday. The discussion topic was gambling.
• The Baltimore Sun reported that Senate Democrats met in Annapolis at 8 a.m. Wednesday to discuss their willingness to return for a special legislative session, or two.

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After presiding over the opening of the long-delayed Inter-County Connector and guiding the state into a lauded public-private partnership deal with Ports America Chesapeake, which runs day-to-day operations at the Seagirt Marine Terminal at the Port of Baltimore, state transportation Secretary Beverley K. Swaim-Staley is stepping down on July 1, The Daily Record and others reported.

Patch.com reported that former Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith could be in the running to be a transportation secretary in the future.

Here’s a few other headlines around the state:

• MarylandReporter.com reports that Maryland Transportation Authority employees are attempting to unionize.
• The Herald-Mail reports that Hagerstown and Washington County officials will meet Tuesday afternoon to discuss funding options for a $30 million multipurpose stadium, where the Hagerstown Suns would play.
• The Washington Post reports that a $112 million transit hub in Silver Spring is costing more and taking longer to complete than planned.

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Gov. Martin O’Malley said this week that the state could help pay for a new stadum in Hagerstown where the Suns, the Washington Nationals‘ minor league baseball affiliate, would play.

But the town may be ready for some football, too.

The Herald-Mail reports that a professional football team in Chambersburg, Pa., could play in a new multipurpose stadium across the state line. The towns are only about 25 minutes apart.

The Chambersburg Cardinals play at Chambersburg Area Senior High School now, but the team’s business director told the Herald-Mail that moving to a private facility would allow the team to sell alcohol and conduct more pre- and post-game activities.

O’Malley suggested earlier this week that the state could help pay for the new stadium. State Comptroller Peter Franchot also showed support for building a new stadium this month.

Keeping the Suns in Hagerstown — and maybe attracting the Cardinals — are not the only professional sports interests of the state.

An item in the fiscal 2013 budget gives $175,000 to the Maryland Stadium Authority so it can study building a stadium for the D.C. United professional soccer team in Baltimore.

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The occasional tour group still comes through the security checkpoint in the basement of the State House in Annapolis, and a few legislative staffers — dressed in jeans for the first time in 90 days — roam the halls.

But for the most part, Annapolis has gone silent since the General Assembly limped across the finish line on midnight Monday with a “doomsday” budget in place.

Most lawmakers have gone home to their districts or on vacation, and are awaiting word from the legislature’s presiding officers or Gov. Martin O’Malley on whether a special legislative session will be called in order to prevent more than $500 million in spending cuts.

Del. Michael E. Busch, speaker of the House of Delegates, said there was still no word on when a special session might take place, but the Anne Arundel County Democrat conceded Wednesday afternoon one was likely.

O’Malley has yet to speak directly to Busch and Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, Jr. about a special session, and has not once let the phrase slip from his lips in public in the day-and-a-half since the legislature adjourned its regular session.

In the meantime, we wait.

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