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Nick Thieme

Nick

Nick Thieme created rigorous data journalism with the goal of exposing and undoing systemic inequities by using the tools of statistics to discover reliable information about Baltimore. He grew up in the D.C. area, moving to Baltimore in the 2010s. After a time creating data journalism for Atlanta at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, he returned home to use his work to make the city a more equitable place.

Latest content by Nick Thieme

Almost 6,000 people have died from overdoses in the last six years in Baltimore, the worst drug crisis ever seen in a major American city.
Baltimore’s lawsuit against opioid companies can proceed to trial, judge rules
Baltimore Circuit Judge Lawrence P. Fletcher-Hill said he's confident that the case will eventually reach the Maryland Supreme Court.
Members of the BRIDGES Coalition hold a demonstration in front of City Hall in Baltimore, Wednesday, July 10, 2024.
A councilman wanted to hold a hearing about overdoses. He got shut down.
A hearing to examine Baltimore’s opioid overdose crisis was abruptly canceled Wednesday morning as a dispute between Mayor Brandon Scott and the City Council member who’d called the meeting boiled over and became public.
Flowers laid by Mona Setherley at the rowhome where her son, Bruce Setherley, was discovered deceased from an overdose in Baltimore on February 15, 2024.
Banner analysis: Inequality central to Baltimore’s unprecedented overdose crisis
Baltimore’s unprecedented overdose crisis has not been suffered equally. Neighborhoods with the highest overdose rates were often the same ones with the highest rates of poverty, a Banner analysis found.
Nearly 6,000 people have died from overdoses in the last six years, the worst drug crisis ever seen in a major American city. (Ryan Little/The Baltimore Banner. Original photo by Jessica Gallagher/The Baltimore Banner.)
An unprecedented epidemic: This is where people die of overdoses in Baltimore
A yearlong investigation recently published by The Baltimore Banner and The New York Times revealed an unprecedented overdose crisis gripping Baltimore.
The exterior of Baltimore City Hall.
Council will hold four hearings examining city’s response to overdoses
The Baltimore City Council will hold at least four oversight hearings examining the city’s response to its unprecedented overdose epidemic.
Baltimore City Councilman Mark Conway listens during a hearing with members of the Baltimore City Council’s Public Safety and Government Operations Committee inside Baltimore City Hall on Wednesday, Aug. 23.
City Council to examine city’s overdose response after Banner/Times report
Councilman Mark Conway plans to introduce legislation on Monday to convene a hearing in late June.
A person in Baltimore receives Narcan, an overdose antidote.
Seniors in Baltimore are being devastated by drugs: 5 takeaways
The city has become the U.S. overdose capital, and older Black men are dying at higher rates than anyone else.
A horrific number of older Black men are dying from overdoses in Baltimore
Many are dying from fentanyl and other drugs. The hardest-hit are Black men in their 50s to 70s, a group that Baltimore’s changing economy left behind.
Cassidy Fredrick, 6, sits on the headstone of her father, Devon Wellington, at Woodlawn Cemetery in Baltimore, MD on April 7, 2024.
‘I love you in the sky, daddy’: Stories from Baltimore’s overdose crisis
Unprecedented overdose rates from fentanyl and other drugs have left signs of loss across the city.
Doni Smith sits at the grave of her fiancé, Jaylon Ferguson, with their children Jrea and Jyce Ferguson at St. Paul No. 1 Cemetery in St. Francisville, Louisiana, on June 21, 2023. Smith crafted items to leave at Ferguson's grave on the one-year anniversary of his passing.
Jaylon Ferguson made it from Louisiana to the Ravens. An overdose cut his legacy short.
The same drug that Jackie Ferguson had used to ease her mother’s pain had also taken her son Jaylon’s life.
Almost 6,000 dead in 6 years: How Baltimore became the U.S. overdose capital
The city was once hailed for its response to addiction. But as fentanyl flooded the streets and officials shifted priorities, deaths hit unprecedented heights.
The synthetic opioid fentanyl, up to 50 times more potent than heroin, has taken over Baltimore’s illegal drug supply, contributing to more and more deaths.
Baltimore’s unprecedented overdose crisis: 5 takeaways
Nearly 6,000 people have died over the past six years — an unparalleled number among U.S. cities.
Overhead footage of crash on I-695 that killed six highway workers.
I-695 crash that killed six workers among deadliest since 1980
Life as a highway construction worker: We ‘don’t know who’s gonna go home that day’
Mount Vernon Records on Read St. Adam Galaxy Vintage Showroom also pictured
A Black business renaissance is blooming on Mount Vernon’s Read Street
Read Street has become a vibrant community of Black-owned residences, buildings, and businesses with five Black-owned stores opening in just the two years since pandemic lockdowns abated.
Boxes of Narcan in a bowl on a table.
Tell us about your drug overdose story
Reporters with The Baltimore Banner and The New York Times are investigating the problem of drug overdoses and we want to hear from those with personal experiences.

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