The first-term mayor has doubled down on plans to enforce a youth curfew despite concerns from criminal justice researchers and advocates that it could criminalize kids.
City officials called on the environmental agency to reconsider its mandate to finish the Lake Ashburton and Druid Lake reservoir projects by the end of the year, calling the order “much harsher and more burdensome” than the agreement the two sides had been negotiating.
The EPA cited last September’s E. coli scare in West Baltimore as among its justifications for the end-of-year deadline and required the city to complete monthly tests for bacterial contamination.
The departure of Director Shantay Jackson, who has led an office with tens of millions in federal funds for alternative approaches to violent crime, marks the latest in a string of high-profile departures from the mayor’s administration.
Wednesday’s discussion touched on unsolved homicides, staffing issues, youth gun violence, the Group Violence Reduction Strategy and a newly proposed arsonist registry.
At a bill signing ceremony this week, Gov. Wes Moore highlighted one of the measures receiving his signature: the Maryland Sign Language Interpreters Act.
The bills, which follow the expiration of a city moratorium on facial recognition technology, would grant City Council authority to approve agency purchases of surveillance tech and impose strict regulations on their use by both the government and the private sector.
A meeting of the city’s Board of Estimates on Wednesday offered the first public forum for other elected officials to weigh in on the mayor’s spending plan for the budget year beginning July 1.
Assessments shared with agencies and nonprofits give a glimpse at the risk Baltimore could run into problems or miss deadlines for spending pandemic relief, but also the ambition of the city's plans for the money.
The shooting occurred around 9 p.m. on Easter evening in the 400 block of East Pratt Street near Shake Shack, as police were arresting an individual they said was involved in a large fight.
Archbishop William Lori's homily at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen came just four days after the release of the Attorney General's years-long investigation into sexual abuse and cover-up in Maryland churches.
City officials voiced concern about the financial impact of ending tax sales after learning that Baltimore faced a $79 million increase in education spending — an unanticipated cost that Mayor Brandon Scott likened to a ”gut punch.”
A state investigation into the Fleischmann’s Vinegar plant in North Baltimore was prompted by complaints from Blue Water Baltimore, which also filed a lawsuit against the company this week.
Tensions between the mayor’s public safety office and Roca had delayed a new agreement and cast a shadow over plans to expand the city’s promising anti-violence strategy.