Maryland Politics

Montgomery County’s top lawyer, Leon Rodriguez, is stepping down to become chief of staff in the Justice Department’s civil rights division.

Rodriguez, who has been Montgomery County attorney since 2007, told his staff of the move Monday. He starts the job Jan. 19, at a time when the division is rebuilding after a mass exodus of attorneys during the Bush administration. Turnover was about 70 percent, he said.

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He is being brought on by the new chief of the civil rights division, Tom Perez, a former Montgomery County Council member who was also briefly Rodriguez’s boss when the two worked in the civil rights division’s criminal section during the Clinton administration.

WBAL.com

Montgomery County says its detention center has turned over 325 suspected illegal immigrants to federal authorities so far this year.

Department of Correction and Rehabilitation Director Arthur Wallenstein says that’s a nearly 20 percent increase over all of 2008.

WJZ

Montgomery County police say a Silver Spring man stabbed his wife to death during an argument at their home.

Police and paramedics were called to the home in the 3600-block of Bel Pre Road for a report of a stabbing around 9:30 p.m. Monday.

Police say the 37-year-old woman was taken to Suburban Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

A breathless “exclusive” at Radar reports that the star of Jon & Kate Plus 8 is moving to Rockville:

Kate Gosselin is moving to Maryland, RadarOnline.com has learned exclusively.

She’s buying a condo in Rockville, a wealthy part of Montgomery County.

Oh, by the way, bodyguard Steve Neild also lives in Maryland. (Just thought we’d mention that.)

Kate and Jon are splitting parenting duties while splitting up. When one stays at the Pennsylvania house, the other takes off. Jon has a condo in New York.

They also have pictures of the building in Rockville at the above link. Last week we reported on other reports that she was looking in the area. Is this actual confirmation that she has bought a place by Radar or just a further permutation of the gossip since last week?

David Zurawik blogs about the latest report from US Magazine: that Kate Gosselin (of Jon & Kate Plus 8 fame) has been looking at condos in Rockville. He also points out that the one bodyguard Gosselin had been rumored to have an affair with lives in Rockville with his wife.