Baltimore Brew

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Independent reporting and informed commentary about greater Baltimore. News tips editors@baltimorebrew.com

Cost to Baltimore taxpayers of civil settlements from the misconduct of members of the now-disbanded Gun Trace Task Force. (Comptroller’s Office)
Flora Howard at Baltimore's Public Safety Training Facility polling place 3500 West Northern Pkwy.
LEFT: A woman carrying a yellow recycling bin to a dumpster at Baltimore DPW's facility at 2840 Sisson Street. RIGHT: Thibault Manekin, the developer who has wanted to acquire this property for a mixed use development planned by his company, Seawall.
Front entrance of the Hampden MOM's Organic Market. (Fern Shen)
Broadcast tower owned by three Baltimore television stations that shed lead paint flakes on the neighborhood in 2022. (Fern Shen)
MOM's Market in Hampden.
Three photos by Jennifer Bishop from yesterday's anti-ICE protest in Baltimore showing people holding signs. "I was a stranger, and you welcomed me. . ." Jesus (Matthew 25) "The people will defeat Trump's extreme right agenda." "Nurses against CRUELTY."
Julian Jones and Izzy Patoka.
Councilman Ryan Dorsey, chairing the Dec. 1 hearing on Bill 25-0066 in the Baltimore City Council's Land Use and Transportation Committee. (Charm TV)
Baltimore City Councilman Jermaine Jones (left) and Councilwoman Phylicia Porter (right) address the 10 27 25 meeting of the B
Councilman James Torrence speaking at last night's City Council meeting. (Fern Shen)
First meeting of the Sisson Street trash facility task force. (Fern Shen)
Carson Ward and Keondra Prier in their Reservoir Hill neighborhood in Baltimore. (Corky Ward)
Mark Washington stands with Coldstream Homestead Montebello resident Betty Lee as she speaks against a bill to permit property owners to extend structures closer to the property line. (Charm TV)
A page on the city’s redesigned website, which began beta testing yesterday. (baltimorecity.gov)
Fistfights, parking lot scuffles, disputed union elections. Check out the colorful history of AFSCME Maryland, which was quietly reeling from a $1 million phishing scam when it took over the more solvent Council 67/Local 44, which represented Baltimore sanitation workers https://tinyurl.com/3y32dhtp
The building may be named after him, but there’s little left of Glen Middleton’s legacy as the iron-fisted boss of AFSCME Council 67. (Mark Reutter)
Sign on a Baltimore business' door today: "Patients that mention last night's Ravens game will kindly be asked to reschedule. We appreciate you cooperation during this time. - Roland Park Vision
Sign in parking lot says “AFSCME members only, private property.”
G.L.O.M. Global offers this rendition of “The Palisades,” which it claims will break ground next year on the 600 block of West North Avenue with retail, restaurant and office accommodations. (glomglobal.com)
Marilyn Mosby
“Eaddy asserts that the properties bordering her home include vacated and demolished homes, but does not plausibly allege that this ‘emptiness’ has interfered with her own use or enjoyment of her property in any substantial way,”
Top left: Poe Homes, vacant and awaiting demolition, with hopes for promised redevelopment currently very hazy. At right, one of many empty lots in Poppleton where there once were houses where people lived. This one has a target practice sheet from a gun range lying in the grass. Bottom right, ribbon-cutting ceremony for the brightly painted and recently reopened Poppleton Recreation Center. Bottom left, a boarded building with a red marker denoting a potentially hazardous structure. (Fern Shen)
Replying to The Brew's query about the program, HABC said it has been in effect at Douglass Homes since late 2020, that currently 40% of residents there do not exceed their electricity allowance and that participation in the program is included in lease agreements. Spokeswoman Ingrid Antonio said residents who do not pay the excess utility charges over a period of time are informed about their accrued balances. Explaining the letters demanding payment that some residents have recently received, she pointed to new efforts to get delinquent residents to pay up. "HABC has recently implemented additional means to collect the overdue amounts, including a collection company," Antonio wrote. "The balances you’re referring to typically reflect long-term non-payment, not sudden charges." "We understand some households face financial hardship, and we’re committed to working with them through payment plans and support services where possible," she continued.
Baltimore County Executive Kathy Klausmeier. (Wikipedia)
Councilman Pat Young statement supporting Kelly Madigan. (Facebook)
Former Maryland governor Larry Hogan. (Wikipedia)
The front of Autumn Lake Post Acute Care Center in northeast Baltimore. AT RIGHT - Daughter holding the photo of Ellsworth Johnson-Bey who was pushed down by a geriatric nursing aide at that facility in 2022. Johnson-Bey, whose hip was broken in the fall, died four months later at a nearby hospital.
James Poggi, press secretary for rapid response and research, and Olivia Eggers, speechwriter. (LinkedIn)
Woman in a wheelchair in her room in a nursing home is shown facing the window.
The Wednesday Movement, started by Roland Park Place residents, is a street protest every Wednesday from 4:30 to 5 pm at the intersection of Baltimore's 40th Street and Roland Avenue. (Photos Fern Shen Baltimore Brew.
Baltimore Police tactical vehicle used by its SWAT team. (YouTube)
Kenard Wallace and Stancil McNair outside the AFSCME union hall on Saturday. (Fern Shen)
Baltimore Inspector General Isabel Cumming and City Councilman Ryan Dorsey at March 20 City Council hearing.
John Planas and the dog’s unidentified owner try to pry the pit bull’s mouth from the right arm of Cyndi Tensley, who is on the ground and not visible. (Evan Mickel)
Lloyd Saunders, a participant in Saturday's Hands Off protest in Baltimore.
A solar field in Worton in Kent County Maryland. (Not specifcally what's discussed in the story) (Dave Harp photo for Bay Journal)
Boycott Whole Foods + Amazon: Don't give your money to Trump's billionaire Bezos." One of the signs protesters held up outside the Whole Foods in the Mount Washington neighborhood in Baltimore yesterday. "Bezos bullies journalists," said another sign held up by a woman calling for a boycott also of the Bezos-owned Washington Post.
Baltimore city Bureau of Solid Waste truck collecting trash and recycling.
David Smith, majority owner of the Baltimore Sun and executive chairman of Sinclair Broadcast Group
Two weeks ago, top officials pledged to crack down on businesses and institutions that don’t pay their water bills before going on to approve a sharp hike in residential rates that started on February 1. “There has been a big effort around collection, especially from folks that never pay a water bill,” Mayor Brandon Scott said in defense of the rate increase. Yesterday it was revealed that, until recently, one of the biggest scofflaws was Baltimore City itself.
BGE rates (in blue) have more than tripled since 2010, according to The Office of the People’s Counsel. The yellow line marks the overall rate of inflation.
AT LEFT: A photo of Ballard Spahr's Jon Laria at a Baltimore Planning Commission meeting speaking with the Port Covington developer in 2016. AT RIGHT: A quote frm the story: “He’ll be smooth and respectful to citizens. But that’s not going to change what happens. He’s pro-development. Period.”
Former State Senator, now Baltimore County Executive, Katherine A. Klausmeier.
BALTIMORE, MD (Friday, December 20, 2024) — Today, the City of Baltimore announced the following update on ongoing building water quality concerns in Baltimore City facilities. Precautionary testing in three Baltimore City courthouses indicated elevated levels of legionella bacteria in the Baltimore City District (People's) Courthouse at 501 E. Fayette Street, Clarence M. Mitchell, Jr. Courthouse at 100 N. Calvert Street, and Elijah E. Cummings Courthouse, at 111 N Calvert Street. This proactive testing was ordered on December 2, 2024. Testing in the People’s Courthouse and Mitchell Courthouse was conducted on December 9, 2024, and results were received in the afternoon of Thursday, December 19, 2024. Testing for the Cummings Courthouse was conducted on December 12, 2024 and results were received today, December 20, 2024. Due to the elevated levels of bacteria found, the City is recommending the immediate closure of the impacted facilities in order to conduct cleaning, system maintenance, and other mitigation efforts to address the presence of legionella bacteria in the buildings.
Inspector General Kelly Madigan and County Executive Johnny Olszewski speaking in 2023 in favor of a bill that placed the inspector general’s office in the county charter. (YouTube)
Legal fees paid out with Baltimore County tax dollars - $339,494 of them - to fight a public information request about the secret payment to a retired firefighter with business&personal ties to County Executive Johnny Olszewski. At right, the recipient of the $83,675 settlement, Philip Tirabassi.
Phil Tirabassi and Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski at a 2019 event. (Facebook)
Nick Mosby on his last day in office. (Charm TV)
One of the State Center buildings in Baltimore, 1100 North Eutaw Street, that officials say now has acceptable levels of the Legionella bacteria. (Fern Shen)
“Thank you for the opportunity to partner.” ABC members, including CEO Chrissy Thornton (holding plaque), meet with Nick Mosby at City Hall last December during a Christmas toy drive. (Instagram)
Houston Street, the main drag in Levelland, features a jumbo-sized boot over Malouf’s J-M Western Wear. (Google Streetview)
Old Baltimore Sun and Evening Sun news clippings with these headlines: "New road is more than diverting," by Gwen Ifill, "White man's road in the black man's neighborhood," City's boulevard and I-395 network is debated in day-long session" and "Volpe might delay city's expressway."