Because utilities are not typically able to earn a return on investment from assets like the conduit that they don’t own, David Lapp with the Office of the People’s Counsel called the arrangement a “monopoly company’s gambit” to benefit its investors at the expense of its customers.

Mayor Brandon Scott and agency leaders accepted blame and promised to hold people accountable for the July 2 shooting that killed two and injured 28.

The report includes some new details on the presence of the city’s flagship violence intervention group, Safe Streets, and highlights policy changes aimed at better preparing city agencies for large events that could erupt into violence.

The office tower at the corner of Redwood and Light streets was appraised last month at $10 million.

Maryland Capitol Police charged the group with refusal to leave public grounds and misdemeanor failure to obey an order. Anne Arundel County District Court Judge Danielle Mosley dismissed all the charges at the request of the county’s state’s attorney, CASA announced this week.

In many cases, pools have a dire need for repairs that built up over a half-century of deferred maintenance, parks Director Reginald Moore told council members.

Land banks function as a middle-man that acquires large swaths of vacant properties, clears their debts and title issues and then puts them into the hands of responsible developers, often by selling them below market value. But Mayor Scott and his housing department have questioned the idea.

The season has always brought a sense of nervousness for city leaders, and this year Baltimore is grappling with an alarming surge in teen gun violence — the most dangerous year for teenagers since at least 2015.

Part of Mayor Scott’s broader investment in alternative approaches to violent crime, the reentry program was originally billed to serve 3,000 people. The city now aims to enroll just over 1,000.

Marylanders approve of the job Moore is doing, but not his push to eventually ban the sale of new gas-powered vehicles by 2035, according to a new poll.

The specialized unit charged with implementing the city’s flagship strategy has struggled with high-profile departures and simmering morale problems.

Since 2020, when city voters overwhelmingly passed a charter amendment designed to weaken the strong mayor system by granting the council expanded financial powers, some council members and aides have waited with bated breath for this year.

Federal deadlines could mean rerouting money from agencies or projects that have already been promised funds, Mayor’s Office of Recovery Programs Director Shamiah Kerney told council members over two budget hearings in recent weeks.

Baltimore’s Department of Human Resources said the elevated salary is commensurate with other cities, arguing that the existing compensation made it “extremely difficult” to recruit and retain attorneys.

Mayor Brandon Scott will nominate Richard Worley, the deputy commissioner for operations, as interim commissioner and intends to nominate him to the position permanently.

While Mayor Brandon Scott has faced criticism from advocates and researchers about the effectiveness of the controversial youth curfew, he has pushed ahead with an approach that emphasizes social services while aiming to minimize teen interactions with police.

Public works officials said the city is on track to meet Mayor Brandon Scott’s pledge to reinstate weekly recycling pick-up by early 2024.

The status update on spending of Baltimore’s $641 million in COVID-19 recovery aid comes as the city’s spending has chugged along gradually but as looming federal deadlines could prompt the city to reassess parts of its spending plan.

Messaging from Mayor Brandon Scott’s administration in the days leading up to Memorial Day weekend — when enforcement of the city’s long-standing curfew kicks off again — has been muddled and at times misleading.

Mayor Brandon Scott’s controversial decision to reinstate curfew enforcement on weekends and holidays this summer comes in response to the city’s recent surge in teen gun violence.