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Charles W. Bowser, 79, en seg förespråkare av ras rättvisa och en inflytelserik medborgerlig ledare vars två kampanjer för Philadelphia borgmästare inspirerat en generation av afroamerikanska politiska ledare, dog måndag från komplikationer av Alzheimers sjukdom vid HCR Manor Care i King of Prussia.

För nästan 40 år från mitten av 1960-talet på var han Bowser en kraft i stadens medborgerliga livet medan mentorskap och uppmunt Ging princip alla större svart förtroendevald som har vuxit fram under de senaste 25 år.

Från kämpar till slutet bärandet av blackface av mimare att tjäna på T han provision som undersökte MOVE bombningen, Bowser visade Mr en bestämd och intellektuellt begåvade politiska advokat och statstjänsteman.

Men hans mest slut nder arv kan hittas på kontoret var han aldrig kunnat uppnå för sig själv .

Medan Mr Bowser var inte den första afroamerikanska att bli borgmästare i Philad elphia, hans kampanjer 1975 och 1979 den första att sporra svarta väljare. På så sätt utmanade de föreställningen om att en svart kandidat inte kan vinna.

"Charlie Bowser övertygad om den afrikanska amerikanska samhället vi kunde göra detta, säger John F. Street, stadens näst svart ma yor.

W. Wilson Goode, Philadelphias första svarta borgmästare, delade denna uppfattning.

"Charles Bowser banat väg för mig, sade han. "Det faktum att han kunde springa och göra så bra gav människor absolut säker på att jag c Ould vara framgångsrik i mitt 1983 kampanj. "

Mr Bowser's kampanjer lärt grunderna i politiken i klassen unga svarta ledare som följde. Goode utbildade volontärer för Bowser kampanjer. Street var en volontär, som var statligt Rep Dwight Evan s, nu ordförande för det statliga huset Anslag kommittén, och US Rep Chaka Fattah, tillsammans med medlemmar i stadsfullmäktige och innehavare av andra valda kontor .

"Han var den ledande oberoende politisk kraft i staden," Fattah sagt. Under årens lopp, inte ens som numerou är svart politiker kom till makten i staden förblev Mr Bowser en av de stora arkitekterna African American empowerment, sade han. "Han var en kraft att räkna med under hela livstiden för fem eller sex borgmästare. "

Gov Rendell kallade honom "den mest effektiva African American politiker och ledare som aldrig hållit kontor. "

"Vi har förlorat en stor ledare och en moralisk kompass för Philadelphia, någon som kämpade för andra, "Rendell sagt.

Han sade att även deras förhållande sprang varmt och kallt över åren var han Bowser en av hans starkaste anhängare i 2002 gubernato rial ras.

"Han har aldrig sålt slut, han aldrig äventyras sin ställning," Rendell sagt. "Han kämpade hårt och otroligt effectivel y för människor. Hans moraliska ledarskap kommer att saknas. "

Henry Nicholas, ordförande för National Unionen av hälso-och sjukvården Anställda Lokala 1199, var en livslång vän av Mr Bowser's.

"Philadelphia förlorade en ikon, en visionär, en ledare som älskade rättvisan mer än livet självt, sade han. "Han tillbringade större p konst av sitt liv att försöka flytta en social agenda som omfattar alla. "

Våldsamt konkur TIVA

Mr Bowser växte upp fattiga i North Philadelphia. En starkt konkurrensutsatt man, han spelade fotboll på Central High School, där han var en stjärna FÖRSVARSSPELARE.

Mellan grundutbildning och juridik vid Temple University arbetade han två år i armén under Koreakriget. En "ammunitionsröjning expert" Han röjde minfälten och desarmerat bomber.

Afte r examen från juristlinjen 1957, gjorde Mr Bowser sin väg i en värld nästan oigenkännlig med dagens mått. Afro-amerikaner hade en liten roll i offentliga angelägenheter, den yrken, och definitivt politik.

Adrion Howell, en politisk advokat och ägare till en regering konsultföretag, tror hans karriär erfarenhet kommer att hjälpa honom att förbättra office-verksamhet om han är elektro Ted kontorist av Circuit Court i Prince George's County.

"Jag vill verkligen skapa en professionell och effici ent arbetsmiljö som kommer att leverera kvalitet kundservice till CI tizens av länet, "Howell sagt.

Howell föreslår utnyttja frivilliga och väcka bland nship programmet ge extra arbetskraft för att hantera eftersläpningar vid anmälningar medan ke eping kostnader inom budget.

Howell, 40, av Glenn Dale sprang utan framgång mot Marilynn Bland för District 9 landstinget plats 2002 och mot Andrea Harrison i det speciella valet till District 5 Landstinget säte i 썘 .

Hellre än att springa igen till rådets säte, sade Howell han trodde att han kunde Bett er satte sin erfarenhet som politisk advokat som ska användas som kontorist i kretsen C ourt.

Som en lobbyist, har Howell representerade länet och företag genom att gå att därför länet projekteringsarbete.

Han sa att hans erfarenhet i Annapolis och Övre Ma rlboro ber lagstiftare om stöd och pengar kommer att vara till nytta i sökandet efter en större budget för expediten kontor.

Sänkning eftersläpningen av fall anmälningar, vilket gör anmälningar acc essible online och minska användningen av papper på kontoret är bland Howell mål.

Pensionerad C ircuit Domaren James Taylor, en vän till familjen, sade Howell erfarenhet som politisk lawy er kommer att sätta honom i synk med de behov som kontorist kontor.

"Han är kvalificerad akademiskt för tjänsten," Taylor sa. "Med juridisk utbildning: e på har han, skulle han gå in i jobbet och inte känner mig som en främling. "

Innan han grundade Howell and Associates 2007 sa Howell han också arbetat på den lagstiftande personal för USA Reps Charles Rangel (DN.Y.) och Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), arbetat som juridisk redaktör f eller skatt Notes Magazine, som ges ut av den ideella organisationen Tax Anal ysts, internerade i Vita huset under Clinton-administrationen, och arbetade som tingsnotarie i Alexandria, Virginia, medan i juridik.

Adrion Howell

Position eftersträvas, tillhörighet :

Tävlingsledare Circuit Court, demokratiska

Hemort: Glenn Dale

Tid i samarbete avbundit: 25 år

Ålder: 40

Födelseort: Washington, DC

Nuvarande sysselsättning: Foundation der av och lobbyist för Howell and Associates, en regering Relations Consulting företaget.

Utbildning: Norfolk State University, kandidatexamen i statsvetenskap, Howard University School of Lag i Washington, DC

Lokala föreningar: Grundande medlem av den afrikanska Amerikanska demokratiska Club of Prince George's County, medlem i NAACP, ledamot i Norfolk staten U niversity och Howard University alumniföreningar, medlem av Omega Psi Phi Fra ternity, medlem av unionen Bethel AME Church i Brandywine.

Familj: Fru, Sharon, och dotter, Aaliyah.

Kampanj kontor adress och telefonnummer: 52ǩ Ashleigh Glen Domstolen, VD Glenn Dale 20.769; 202-684-1098

Webbplats: www.adrionhowell.com

anoble@gazette.net

W OBURN — Defense attorney Robert LeBlanc has been ordered by a judge to write an apology letter to fellow attorney Pamela Saia-Rogers for giving her a bearhug in a courthouse nea rly two years ago.

LeBlanc, a 65-year-old former Methuen town manager who is wel l known in civic circles, was charged with a single count of assault and battery for the Nov. 18, 2008, hug.

Saia-Rogers told Lawrence police Officer Kevin Schi avone that she was chatting with three other attorneys in the lobby of Lawrence District Court at 8:45 a.m. that day, when LeBlanc grabbed her from behind, “wrapped his arms around her midsection just below her breast and pulled her tightly to him pressi ng his pelvis against her backside” in a bearhug, according to Schiavone's report.

“She states he stated a loud to the colleagues standing there, 'Isn €™t she a beautiful Republican?'” the report s aid. “Saia-Rogers stated she felt embarrassed and violated, but kept her composure due to the work setting she was in.”

The incident happened 14 days after Democrat Barack Obama defeated R epublican John McCain in the 2008 presidential election. LeBlanc is a member of the Massachusetts Democratic Party, according to his resume.

LeBlanc and Saia-Ro gers both practice law locally. Cases that involve people who work in local cour ts are typically moved to a court they don €™t normally work in, and this case w as transferred to Woburn District Court. Middlesex County District Attorney Gerr y Leone's office prosecuted the case.

At a hearing last Friday, Judge Timothy Gailey placed LeBlanc on pretrial probation for six months, according to Cara Oâ ™Brien, a spokeswoman for Leone.

“If the defendant violates the terms of his probation, the c ommonwealth can bring the case back to the trial list,” O'Brien said.

The terms of LeBlanc € ™s probation call for him to write an apology letter to Saia-Rogers and “refrain from speaking to the media regarding the case,” O'Brien said.

Neither LeBlanc nor Saia-Rogers returned a call seeking comment.

The case will be disposed of if LeBlanc successfully compl etes his probation, O'Brien said.

LeBlanc was Methuen's town manager from 19 76 to 1981, serving as a town councilor afterward. He's a familiar face at pol itical and charitable events, and he is involved with many community groups.

His involvement includes being a past president of the Holy Family Men's Guild, a member of the Merrimack Valley Workforce Investment Board, and deputy legal cou nsel for the Massachusetts Democratic Party.

To see more of The Eagle-Tribun e or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.eagletribune.com/.

IF Gobind Singh wasn't also a politician, the picture of him storming out of the coroner's chamber last Monday, enraged by what he saw as the untiimely introduction at the inquest into Teoh Beng Hock's death of a documen t many have come to believe to be a suicide note, might have been convincing to a lot more people.

But because he is a politician and quite a controversial one, too, the question had to crop up – was that the politician playing to the gallery?

Gobind isn't the only po litician in Malaysia who is a political lawyer by profession or training, but he is a fairly prominent one by virtue of who daddy is and, unfortunately, by a st unt he threw in Parliament in March last year.

His father, Karpal Singh, is the DAP strongman and has been the driving force behind the Opposition for decades.

Gobind is a first-term Member of Parliament, having won the Puchong seat in a bl aze of glory in the 20Ǩ general election. Unfortunately — for the electorate that voted him, especially – Gobind was suspended a year from Parliament for calling a Deputy Prime Minister a “murderer” when the House was in session on March 12 last year.

It was the kind of act a ro okie MP might pull off in the hope that it would turn him into an instant hero.

Again, unfortunately, it was the memory of this stunt by Gobind the politician t hat came gushing back when you read about Gobind the political lawyer storming o ut of the inquest last Monday.

Gobind's frustration, or anger, with his counterparts represent ing the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) is easy enough to understand .

The introduction of the “mystery” note, as the newspapers called it in their headlines, caught him unaware . The note, he insisted, should have been tendered at the start of the inquest.

The police were said to have found the note in Teoh's bag in October (there are two versions â ” the other is that the police found it in July, the month Teoh died), so why i ntroduce it now?

Most people following the inquest are asking the same question. The investigating officer who found the note will take the stand next Wednesday and he is the best person to answer this and other questions being asked about the note. So let's wait.

In the meantime, Gobind has called on Attorney-General (AG) Tan Sri Gani Patail to step down for holding back evidence.

In an interview, he reminded the AG that “we would not bow to any sort of pressure” and “if necessary we will file an application to ask the AG to e xplain his conduct”.

Gobind went on to call for the setting up of a Royal Commission of Inquir y, claiming the inquest had been compromised by Gani's failuire to tender the note at its star t. Was this Gobind the politician talking? Sometimes it is hard to tell if it's the politician or the political lawyer that's talking. Perhaps one day we'll have to seriously consider the need for separ ation of political lawyers and politics.

The Teoh Beng Hock case had politics wr itten all over it from the start.

Teoh was a witness in the MACC's investigation of corruption in the DAP, Gobind's own party. The DAP has held the MACC responsible for the death of Teoh, who was political secretary to a DAP assemblyman.

It did not help that the exper t hired by the Selangor government, in which the DAP is a powerful partner, had ruled that Teoh's death was 80 per cent homicide by just looking at some pictures from the fii rst post-mortem.

Now, if that note is indeed a suicide note, we can imagine why Gobind is angry. But let's for a moment consider the possibility that it is NOT a suicide note . The handwriting forensics may find the document to be fake or not genuine.

Den AG himself has said that he had not been convinced of the authencity of the no te at first. In fact, there is talk that Gani still has misgivings about tenderi ng the note as evidence.

The truth is, the AG simply has no choice but to offer the note as evidence. If he fails to tender the note before the inquest is comp leted, he can and will be charged for withholding evidence.

The coroner of the o n-going inquest is also left with no choice, really. He has to admit the note as evidence. Failure to do so will deny all of us the truth.

The coroner should ta ke Gobind's father's advice and engage the services of an internationally-reputed expert in handwriting to h elp him deal with the note. “What is important,” said Karpal, ” is the family of Teoh gets justice and the spirit of Teoh is appeased.”

When Meg Whitman went on the air last week with two red-meat-conservative talk show hosts, they mercilessly grilled her on what they characterized as inexcusable shifts on illegal immigration and the state's landmark global warming bill.

The drubbing was s o bad that many listeners of “The John & Ken Show” pronounced that they'd never vote for such a namby-pamby candidate.

Less than three mon ths before the general election, the Republican Whitman is experiencing the peri ls of what nearly every major party candidate for California governor must endur e during the fall campaign: the risks associated with dancing toward the politic al center.

It's a necessary gamble in a state where about one-third of voters say they are “middle-of-the-ro ad” and one in five people decline to state a political allegiance when they register to vote, political experts say.

Still, as Whitman and — to a lesser extent her Democratic opponent, Je rry Brown — woo voters in the middle, they are discovering just how far they can go to grab as much from the center before they start alienating their more partisan bases.

En d in the age of often-ideological 24-hour cable news, bloviating bloggers, radio broadcasts that live forever in digital form and smartphones recording a candid ate's every word, “what's different is that there are just so many ways to catch you doing that dance,” said Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, a vet eran political analyst at the University

of Southern California.

Radio showdown

Last week in their Burbank studio on KFI-AM, John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou used their 50,000-watt megaphone to interrogate Whitman on illegal immigration and AB 32, California's global warming law. AB 32 was heavily criticized in the Republican primary, and many conservatives support Proposition 23, a November ballot initiative that would suspend the law indefinitely. But recent polls by the Field Research Corp . and the Public Policy Institute of California show most voters like the law an d plan to vote against the proposition.

Pressed by her hosts, Whitman said she w ould “in all likelihood” vote no on the measure, a position that drew swift condemnation from her radio host s. In the primary, they noted, both Whitman and her opponent, Steve Poizner, had attacked the law as a “job killer.”

Discussing Arizona's new law aimed at deporting illegal immigrants who have run-ins w ith police, the hosts chastised the eBay billionaire again for trying to have it both ways. They noted that Whitman has run a Spanish-language ad saying she opp oses the Arizona law but recently told another conservative talk show that the f eds should let the law stand.

“States' rights have to preside here,” Whitman told Kobylt and Chiampou.

Brown, the attorney general, also has drawn criticism from his base as he steers toward the center.

In San Francisco in late July, Latino activists protested outside the attorney general's office, calling on Brown to renounce his support of a federal program that has led t o the deportation of thousands of immigrants.

Brown had rejected the county of S an Francisco's request to opt out of the program, called Secure Communities, which requires st ate and local law enforcement authorities to inform US immigration enforcement agents when illegal immigrants are booked into local jails. Brown also has crit icized San Francisco for calling itself a “sanctuary” for illegal immigrants.

“It could be that he's taking the (Latino) community for g ranted,” said Renee Saucedo, a political lawyer with La Raza Centro Legal in Oakland. “He has to be held acc ountable for what he's instituting.”

Still, the “dance” is a lot tougher for Whitman, simply “because she had a competitive primary and Jerry Brown di dn't,” said John Pitney, a politics and government professor at Claremont McKenna College. That meant she ha d to ensure victory in the primary by taking hard-line conservative positions th at now need finessing.

In addition, analysts say, Whitman may be dealing with a less forgiving base, determined to push its candidate beyond the “post-partisan pragmatism” of Republican Go v. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Whitman faces another problem that Brown doesn't — talk radio, where conservative hosts rule the airwaves.

“Their goal is not electing people to office — their goal is ratings,” said John Fleischman, Sout hern California vice chairman of the state Republican Party.

Some political insi ders say Whitman should never have gone on “John & Ken” to be exposed to the in-your-face rants. Others, however, said it ma y have served her overriding purpose: to come across as the sane one, someone wh o is not such a threat to moderate independents.

Empty threat

In addition, analy sts and GOP officials say that much of the threat from the right to abandon Whit man is hot air — that hard-core conservatives will hold their noses and return to the fold in November, particularly since Brown is the alternative.

But if Whitman, who is mo derate on social issues such as abortion and gay rights, continues to anger red- meat conservatives, the GOP could see fewer foot soldiers willing to walk precin cts or work the phones on Election Day, Fleischman said.

Mark DiCamillo, directo r of the Field Poll, and Mark Baldassare, president of the PPIC, say California's independents in recent years have consistently told pollsters that they lean Democratic.

“And therein lies the challenge for the Republican in the race,” Baldassare said.

USC's Jeffe said that Whitman can keep her base energized by continuing to stress her fiscal conservatism and holding the l ine on taxes.

“She's not talking about abortion. She's not talking about guns or same-sex marriage — only if asked,” Jeffe said.

Brown also irked libe rals by refusing to support Proposition 19, the ballot measure to legalize marij uana. And his pension reform proposal — which includes requiring larger employee contributions and boosting retirement ages — also has triggered some griping from another core constituency — labor. But any backlash won't amount to much more than grumbling, said Dave Low, a lobbyist for the Calif ornia School Employees Association and chairman of a coalition of labor groups s tudying pension reform.

“Even if we are somewhat unhappy, what are we going to do?” Low said, “Rush into Meg Whitman's arms?”

Contact Ken McLaughlin k mclaughlin@mercurynews.com or 408-920-5552.

STATEMENT BY MARK WHITE, ATTORNEY FOR VICTORYLAND

Today the Alabama Supreme Court, denied the attempt by John Tys on and theGovernor to circumvent Alabama law and procedure. Mr. Tyson and the Go vernor onceagain attempted to avoid proper legal remedies in this matter in an e ffort to pursue animmediate illegal raid on VictoryLand and its electronic bingo operations. Circuit JudgeTom Young had the courage and intellectual honesty to stand up to the Governor and Mr.Tyson. The correctness of this decision was conf irmed today by the unanimous vote ofthe Alabama Supreme Court.

No court in our State has ever ruled electronic bingo operations at VictoryLandillegal. The Gove rnor and Mr. Tyson continue to threaten raids at the great expense of thetaxpaye rs of this State and at the greater expense of the almost 2,000 individuals that donot presently have ajob at VictoryLand because of these continued threats. Ev ery citizenof Alabama, looks forward to the day when there is an end to the poli tical show put on bythe Governor and Mr. Tyson. We commend the Alabama Supreme C ourt for making Mr.Tyson and the Governor comply with the laws of our great Stat e. Victory land will makean additional statement Thursday morning regarding the 5:PM Thursday reopening.

Baltimore County will resume enforcement of rules limiting the size of temporary political campaign signs, after a federal judge rejected Wednesday a Towson 's man's request that officials be barred f rom applying the restrictions before his claims of constitutional violations wer e resolved.

County Attorney John E. Beverungen said yesterday that “there's no legal reason” why the rules cannot be enfo rced. “We feel are on very solid grounds,” he said

The county had suspended enforcement in the spring after Stephen V. Kolbe of Dulaney Valley Road filed suit. He claimed that his free-sp eech and equal-protection rights were violated by an county order that he remove a sign supporting former Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.

The county cited Kolbe for putting up a 32-square-foot sig n in a zone where onlyň-square-foot signs are allowed. Kolbe claimed that the r ules inhibit political debate and discriminate against homeowners, because large r signs are allowed on vacant land.

In a six-page decision denying Kolbe's request for a prel iminary injunction, US District Judge Catherine C. Blake — who heard oral ar guments on the request last Friday in Baltimore — ruled that Kolbe “has not yet shown he is likely to succeed on the merits of his constitutional claim.”

She rejected arguments made by Kolbe's political lawyer, Michael J. Pappas of Towson, that the sign regulations specifically target the content of political signs. Blake wrote that the size limit “applies regardless of the content of the temporary sign.” She added that courts have upheld limits on the size of si gns that did not target content and said that Kolbe had not cited any case in wh ich a “content-neutral” size limit had been struck down.

Judge Blake set Aug. 31 as a date for a conference call among the parties to decide next steps on the case.

Kolbe and Pappas coul d not be reached for comment on the decision. They have the option to appeal the ruling to the Circuit Court of Appeals.

arthur.hisch@baltsun.com

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This gerrymandered district includes St. Petersburg, a portion of Hillsborough County and a narrow strip of Manatee County through downtown Palmetto and Brad enton into north Sarasota.

To his credit, Rouson, a St. Petersburg resident and past president of the St. Petersburg NAACP, is a regular visitor here and mainta ins a district office in Bradenton.

His priorities are broadening the tax base, fighting illegal drugs and encouraging job creation.

During his service on the T ax & Budget Reform Commission, he advocated the enforcement and collection of Florida's sales tax on Internet purchases and the elimination of some sales tax exemptions — b oth of which rob the state of sorely needed revenue.

During the Legislature’s spring session, Rouson steered his bill restricting the retail sales of drug par aphernalia to passage â ” this after his so-called “bong bill” had previousl y failed.

He also secured $1 million in state Department of Juvenile Justice fun ds for a pilot program creating summer jobs program for at-risk youth in the Tam pa Bay area. Workforce Florida then matched that amount.

Rouson's other legisl ative victories include a bill promoting faith- and character-based prison progr ams and a strong stand on funding for substance abuse treatment that resulted in the Senate acquiescing to the House's higher spending level.

He's rightfull y proud of his success during the session, and says he now knows how to maneuver legislation through the process. If he's correct about gaining political capi tal with powerful legislators, we can look forward to additional victories durin ga new term.

He cast the lone Democratic vote in favor of the state budget, cra fted largely at the hands of the majority Republicans, but he favors a bipartisa n approach to governance and dislikes partisan politics.

A former member of the Republican Party, Rouson maintains some laudable conservative values — smaller , less intrusive government and tax incentives to spur job creation among those. He maintains close ties to Gov. Charlie Crist as well, having served on his tra nsition team and vowing support for Crist's independent US Senate campaign.

This year, Rouson sponsored trips to Tallahassee for groups of local youth and f aith leaders so they could shadow his legislative work for a day, observe the Le gislature in session and meet with Crist and other state officials.

Kudos to th at and his vow to continue the trips in the future.

Rouson has earned a return t o Tallahassee. We recommend Darryl Rouson in the Democratic Party primary for st ate House District 55.