Interestingly, the item here that received the most attention of any over the last few days was about the workers who clean Camden Yards and M&T Bank Stadium. They've been getting paid about $7 an hour and wanted a raise that would put them more in line with the so-called "living wage" that the state requires government contractors in the Baltimore-Washington corridor to pay ($11.30).

Yesterday, the Maryland Stadium Authority voted to give the clean-up folks a healthy raise, lifting them all the way up to what the state requires of the outside employers -- the $11.30 an hour figure. The authority technically didn't have to do it -- the law applies to workers who work 13 consecutive weeks -- but believed that it should operate within the spirit of the law. The clean-up people would never meet the 13-consecutive week threshold since neither team plays at home for 13 straight weeks. The stadium authority pays the clean-up fees for Camden Yards, and the Ravens pay directly.

But here's the rub. The contract with the current clean-up vendor ends in January. If a new vendor is chosen (the current one is in Michigan and uses subcontractors to recruit the actual temporary clean-up folks), the hiring practices could change. So there's a concern that the people who have been working for $7 an hour may not be the ones to see the bigger paychecks. Advocates on behalf of the workers are trying to make sure that doesn't happen.