Banner political notes: Effort continues to tax vacant homes; Cohen endorses Parker
Maryland lawmakers, for the fourth consecutive year, will consider a bill that would enable Baltimore’s mayor and City Council to set a higher property tax rate for vacant, blighted and abandoned properties.
Maryland, Baltimore City, Baltimore County politics
This subsidy has connected thousands in Baltimore to affordable internet. It runs out soon.
Since the start of the pandemic, Baltimore has quietly made headway towards closing its digital divide. But without action from Congress soon, nearly 80,000 households risk losing low-cost internet connections.
Darlene Lewis and John Lewis pose for a portrait inside of their home, in Baltimore, Thursday, December 7, 2023.
Dixon debuts crime plan: More cops, K-12 policing ‘curriculum,’ youth services
The priorities outlined by Dixon don’t differ widely from those of Scott, whom she hopes to unseat in the Democratic primary this May, and one leading expert on Baltimore crime questioned whether the former mayor’s strategy brings anything “truly new” to the table.
Surrounded by supporters, Sheila Dixon announces her official run for Mayor at Gold Street Community Park on Sept. 7, 2023. (Kaitlin Newman/The Baltimore Banner)
Internal emails reveal conflict within mayor’s team before affordable-housing vote
The documents show how Mayor Brandon Scott came to support Baltimore’s sweeping new inclusionary housing law despite 11th-hour changes and warnings from his agencies about the financial consequences.
Photo illustration shows Mayor Brandon Scott on left side of image, facing two groups of activists demonstrating, Council President Nick Mosby and Councilwoman Odette Ramos on right side of image, facing him. In between Mayor Scott and the others is one Baltimore row house in purple.
Ballot measure backed by Sinclair chair to shrink City Council has 25K+ signatures
The signature count is well above the 10,000 required for the proposal to appear on November’s general election ballot.
Baltimore City Hall
If Baltimore is fixing its water billing, why does the Angelos family owe $12.3 million?
The Baltimore Department of Public Works claimed a mostly vacant office tower in downtown Baltimore used more water than any other property owner in the city.
A downtown office building owned by Peter Angelos, left, owes a sizable water bill. The building, however, is mostly vacant. The owner of the tower next door, right, says his basement is flooding with 10 gallons of water every minute. There could be a large water leak in downtown Baltimore.
After LaPere killing, Moore backs limits on early release for some sex offenders
The first-term Democratic governor said he hopes to see passage of the legislation aimed at tightening release opportunities for some incarcerated people convicted of sexual assault, like the man charged in the September killing of Baltimore tech entrepreneur Pava LePere.
Pava LaPere of EcoMap Technologies
Banner political notes: Baltimore Co. picks acting economic director; Baltimore tax credit reform
Two months after Baltimore County’s new economic development director abruptly resigned, County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. has nominated a senior deputy administrator to temporarily lead the department.
Maryland, Baltimore City, Baltimore County politics
After redistricting clashes with mayor, Mosby proposes changing the process
In addition to reforming the timeline and public input requirements of the redistricting process, the council president’s proposed charter amendment would strip the ability of future mayors to veto the City Council’s plan.
Council President Nick Mosby, left, and Mayor Brandon Scott listen during a Baltimore City Board of Estimates meeting inside City Hall on 10/5/22.
With another winter here, city has no deal to purchase hotels to house homeless
Leaders in Baltimore’s homelessness office have indicated in recent weeks that the city is nearing a deal to acquire one or more hotels.
Attendees at Baltimore’s annual Homeless Persons' Memorial Day service sort through items provided for guests to take with them when they leave in December 2022.
No, Baltimore can’t just sell the Hilton Inner Harbor because it’s losing money
Baltimore is effectively stuck pumping millions of dollars into the Inner Harbor hotel and praying that its tourism industry takes off.
The Hilton Baltimore Inner Harbor has been losing money. Mayor Brandon Scott has floated the idea of selling, but any transaction would be complicated.
Baltimore finished 2023 with 263 homicides, a historic year-over-year drop
Homicides dropped 20% last year compared to 2022, bringing Baltimore below 300 total killings for the first time since Freddie Gray’s 2015 death.
Donna Bruce holds her hand in her hands and cries during the vigil. Bruce often hosts events for bereaved mothers in Baltimore. Her son Devon died in 2021. 

Mayor Brandon Scott hosted a vigil for the homicide victims of 2023 on January 3, 2024. The names of the victims were read aloud to a crowd of people holding candles at the War Memorial Plaza in front of City Hall.
How blockchain might help Baltimore solve its vacant housing crisis
Though blockchain is often considered the domain of Bitcoin bros and mega-rich fraudsters in the Bahamas, Baltimore thinks it can use the technology to put a dent in its inventory of thousands of vacant homes.
Eliana Wharton and brother Christopher Wharton play outside of a vacant home on West Saratoga street during a press conference hosted by Build One Baltimore on February 16, 2023.
Baltimore completes long-delayed drinking water projects, lifts crypto advisory
Completion of massive underground tanks at Northwest Baltimore’s Lake Ashburton and Druid Lake reservoirs brings the city into line with federal regulations first enacted in 2006.
A view of Druid Lake, with some sections of the reservoir under construction, on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023.
Baltimore approves $17 million extension for I-83 cameras after crashes plummet
The two cameras along the Jones Falls Expressway seem to have dissuaded reckless driving, though that’s also meant less revenue from speeding tickets for the city.
Weekend commuters zip past on of Baltimore’s speed camera on the the Jones Falls Expressway on Sunday, Oct. 1.
Maryland finally agrees with Curtis Bay residents: That’s coal dust on their homes
By backing the findings about the proliferation of coal dust in Curtis Bay, the Maryland Department of the Environment could face heightened pressure to tighten regulations on CSX.
Views of CSX facilities scene from the Curtis Bay neighborhood in Baltimore on Thursday, Aug. 3, 2023.
Baltimore could face $1.8B budget deficit over 10 years, finance officials project
Unlike other lean times of recent history, Baltimore's financial problems today are a result of climbing expenses, not falling revenues.
The exterior of Baltimore City Hall as seen on Monday, Feb. 13, 2023.
Baltimore’s light rail is long overdue for a rehab. How did we get here?
The suspension of light rail service has raised questions about why the state did not overhaul its older railcars sooner.
An empty Camden Station.
Call for Israel-Palestine ceasefire fails as Middle East conflict roils Baltimore Council
The resolution calling for a ceasefire comes days after the council rejected a separate, last-minute measure condemning the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel.
Hundreds of protestors marched in Baltimore in support of Gaza on November 1, 2023.
As Baltimore sends more money to city-owned hotel, mayor is ‘open’ to selling
Whether selling the city-owned Inner Harbor Hilton hotel is even an option, though, isn’t clear. If Baltimore were able to find a buyer, the sale would likely saddle the city with tremendous debt.
BALTIMORE, MD - JUNE 10: A general view of play as Brady Singer #51 of the Kansas City Royals pitches against the Baltimore Orioles during the fifth inning at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on June 10, 2023 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
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