Lee O. Sanderlin - The Baltimore Banner
Baltimore gave out developer tax breaks. Is the city seeing the benefits?
Baltimore’s TIF-backed developments are, slowly but surely, making money, a new report finds.
A view of Harbor Point, which received a tax break in the form of a TIF.
Ghost gun in Mangione case highlights growing use of 3D-printed firearms
The ghost gun in the Luigi Mangione case — a pistol with 3D-printed parts and a 3D-printed silencer — has highlighted the growing use of 3D-printed firearms.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams touches a gun on a table full of confiscated guns.
The new Baltimore City Council’s first debate? Prayer.
It didn’t take long for the members of the 74th Baltimore City Council — they took their oaths of office 5 hours before Thursday night’s meeting, their first — to have a big debate.
The new Baltimore City Council's first contested vote? A pastor proposing to do away with prayers.
Zeke Cohen says it’s Baltimore’s moment. It might be his, too.
For the most part Zeke Cohen and Mayor Brandon Scott are aligned, sharing a common political coalition and similar goals. But tension is inevitable.
Councilman Zeke Cohen at his last council session before being sworn in as council president.
Prosecutors nearing criminal charges in Key Bridge collapse
Prosecutors are weighing whether to bring criminal charges against the Singapore-based companies who own and operate the Dali cargo ship that hit the Key Bridge.
The Dali, a massive container ship from Singapore,  still sits in the wreckage and collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in the Baltimore port on April 1, 2024. It has been a week since it lost power and struck the bridge , causing it to topple in seconds, taking several roadway workers and their cars with it. The once giant frame of the bridge now sits in the water and large cranes have arrived to untangle the mess.
Baltimore City Council’s new blood wants to do ‘really dope stuff’
These four freshmen say they’re here to shake up the status quo.
Incoming city council members, from left, Mark Parker, Jermaine Jones, Zac Blanchard, and Paris Gray.
Nick Mosby, head held high, leaves City Hall
On Monday, Mosby smacked his gavel and said his customary “Baltimore, we love you,” putting a bow on the the legislative session for the 73rd Baltimore City Council and this chapter of his political career.
Maryland Del. Regina Boyce, left, applauds while Del. Stephanie Smith embraces outgoing Baltimore City Council President Nick Mosby as he chairs the council for the last time in Baltimore City Hall on Monday, December 2, 2024.
BOPA votes to oust CEO as arts group faces financial peril
Graham’s departure is “effective immediately,” BOPA interim Chair and CEO Robyn Murphy said at the close of a special meeting Wednesday. Murphy was temporarily appointed to both roles while the board searches for new leadership.
The Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts has removed CEO Rachel Graham after just seven months on the job.
O’Malley resigns from Social Security Administration to run for DNC chair
O’Malley’s candidacy to lead the Democratic National Committee comes at a time of soul-searching and finger-pointing in the wake of Donald Trump’s presidential victory.
WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 02: Former Gov. Martin O'Malley (D-MD), President Biden's nominee to be the next Commissioner of Social Security, testifies during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on November 02, 2023 in Washington, DC. If confirmed O'Malley would replace former Commissioner Andrew Saul who was fired from office by President Joe Biden in 2021.
Baltimore schools settle lawsuit backed by Sinclair executive David Smith
The settlement doesn’t involve the exchange of money and required Jovani Patterson, the lone remaining plaintiff, to acknowledge the school system hadn’t broken any laws or violated any rules.
The school system also agreed to perform an audit of grade changes at three randomly selected schools for the next three years.
Former Gov. Martin O’Malley exploring run for DNC chair
Former Maryland governor and Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley is among the names being floated to lead the Democratic National Committee after latest Trump victory.
WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 11: Social Security Commissioner Martin O'Malley testifies before the Senate Committee on the Budget at the U.S. Capitol on September 11, 2024 in Washington, DC. The hearing was entitled "Social Security Forever: Delivering Benefits and Protecting Retirement Security"
Sources: Public Works employee died due to ‘driver error’
The driver of the garbage truck backed into the sanitation worker, pinning him against a wooden light pole, the sources said.
DPW worker Timothy Cartwell was fatally struck by a garbage truck while working in this alley in the 1800 block of Baker Street on Friday.
David Smith wanted to cut Baltimore City Council. He united it instead.
“It was kind of a gift that David Smith and the proponents of the bill gave this city,” said Zac Blanchard, who unseated a Smith-backed candidate in May.
David Smith is the sole funder of the group working to shrink city council.
4 things we learned from election night results in Maryland
Being popular doesn’t guarantee victory, and other lessons from Tuesdays election results.
Voters cast their ballots for the 2024 general election at Wise High School in Upper Marlboro.
Brandon Scott gets a second term and a chance at a legacy
Baltimore gets four more years of Scott and his progressive, if not incremental, agenda.
Mayor Brandon Scott is seen ahead of a community walk around the Four by Four neighborhood on May 7, 2024.
Baltimore rejects smaller City Council — and Sinclair’s David Smith
City officials had made a late push against Question H, warning residents that approving the measure, which sought to cut the City Council to eight members from 14, would reduce representation and mean poorer constituent services.
The ballot measure would have reduced Baltimore the City Council’s size by six members.
Who signed the petition to shrink Baltimore City Council? It’s not who you think
Critics have said the ballot measure to shrink the Baltimore City Council will disenfranchise majority-Black neighborhoods. A Banner analysis found the vast majority of signers live in those neighborhoods and are Democrats. But why did they sign?
A view of the Baltimore City Council chamber where the president conducts business inside Baltimore City Hall on September 11, 2024.
In Maryland’s smallest county, the politics of change take center stage
High property values and relative population density have given the town an outsized importance in the county’s economic picture.
Albert Nickerson, a county commissioner in Kent County is pictured on his in-law's farm on October 18, 2024.
Owner, operator of ship that hit Key Bridge settle with DOJ for $100 million
The owner and the manager of the container ship that caused the Key Bridge collapse, killing six bridge workers, have agreed to pay more than $100 million to settle a lawsuit brought by the Justice Department. DOJ blamed the Singapore-based companies for a “cascading series of failures.”
The Dali cargo ship begins to move from the Key Bridge wreckage site on the morning of May 20, 2024, in Baltimore.
City still searching for cause of underground fires: ‘Can’t guarantee safety’
“We don’t have a sense of when it may happen again, we don’t have a sense of what to do differently,” Councilman Mark Conway said.
The interior of Viva Books in downtown Baltimore was badly damaged in a fire that officials say started underground.
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