
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, February 12, 1991                   TAG: 9102120374
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: B6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ANNAPOLIS, MD.                                LENGTH: Short

MD. GOVERNOR APOLOGIZES FOR REMARK

Residents angered by the governor's vulgar description of Maryland's Eastern Shore circled the State House in a convoy Monday weighed down with three outhouses and a stuffed bear perched on a potty.

Later, Gov. William Donald Schaefer made a surprise appearance before the House of Delegates and apologized for his remark.

"I do this in all honesty," he said. "I made a terrible mistake. I said something entirely in jest and it was taken out of context. And I'm sorry.

On Feb. 1, Schaefer used a synonym for outhouse - substituting a four-letter word for "out" - to describe Eastern Shore as he walked past a group of legislators from the rural region on Chesapeake Bay.

"The governor needs the Eastern Shore and the Eastern Shore needs the governor," Schaefer said. "It's time for the governor to say he made a mistake and I did."

After his remarks, Schaefer turned and embraced House Speaker Clayton Mitchell, the unofficial leader of Eastern Shore lawmakers.

House members rose from their chairs and cheered Schaefer as he hastily left the chamber.

"It took a big person to apologize," Mitchell said. "We appreciate his apology. His speech said it all."

by CNB