Free Republic

Incredible video of today's Baltimore street landslide. Car owners were milling about, wondering what to do with their cars sunk 8-12 inches below street level....until....WOW...all we can say is watch the last 15 seconds... WATCH:

(Reuters) - A U.S. food safety summit in Maryland earlier this month has become a cautionary tale after more than 100 attendees came down with suspected food poisoning. Most of those affected complained of diarrhea, the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene said in a statement. Local health officials have heard from about 400 of the 1,300 attendees and are at a loss as to the exact cause of their illness. The April 8-10 meeting at the Baltimore Convention Center included representatives from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and food...

<p>Controversial legislation intended to help ex-convicts find jobs is headed to Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake for her expected signature after the City Council gave the measure final approval Monday.</p> <p>The "Ban the Box" bill will force Baltimore employers to wait to ask about a job candidate's criminal history until a conditional offer has been extended. The bill passed despite an intense lobbying effort from business leaders, who said they should have the right to vet prospective employees early in the process.</p>

The American Center for Law and Justice is suing a Maryland community college after a student was denied admittance into a program because he said God is the most important thing in his life. Brandon Jenkins, a prospective student in the radiation therapy program at the Community College of Baltimore County, exceeded the minimum requirements for entry into the program, but after completing his exam and interview process, he received a notice informing him that he was not selected for the fall 2013 term. When Jenkins followed up with members of the CCBC staff to find out why he was...

On New Year’s Day, 48-year-old Frank Turner and his son, Anthony, 21, were shot and killed on a street in Southwest Baltimore. The murders struck at the heart of Sharon Rock, a parishioner of St. Bernardine in West Baltimore. The victims were her relatives. “I just pray every day that things and times will change,” said Rock, 55, who suspects that the Turners were murdered as retaliation over an alleged physical altercation. Nineteen days after her family members died, Rock turned her pain into action and attended a prayer walk at St. Bernardine Church. Prayer walks, which are held across...

Dressed in bakers’ whites, Carminantonio Iannaccone sat down at a table as the lunch crowd filtered out of Piedigrotta, the bakery he owns in Baltimore’s Little Italy. He took a sip of coffee from a white cup, clearly spent from his morning in the kitchen. His day typically starts around 4 a.m. Asked his age, he replied 68 in August, then leaned in and added: “But I feel like I’m in my 20s.” That’s a remarkable statement from a man who has lived quite the life. He was born in 1946 in Avellino, Italy, when the country was economically depressed...

Late yesterday afternoon, ACLJ filed a lawsuit on behalf of Brandon Jenkins against officials of The Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC) in Maryland for denying Brandon admission to its Radiation Therapy Program in part due to his expression of religious beliefs. As one faculty member explained to Brandon, on behalf of CCBC, the “field [of radiation therapy] is not the place for religion." Brandon first applied for admission to the Radiation Therapy Program in April 2013. He met the standards of a competitive candidate and scored the maximum points allowed during his observation. During the interview process, college officials asked Brandon,...

Bowman posted the video, taken on a helmet-mounted camera, to YouTube, leading cyclists around the city to recount on social media similar experiences they had in the area. "I thought I'd just outrun the attackers," he wrote. "Wrong. Unless you're going downhill or already have some major speed, they will block your escape routes and grab any part of your bike or clothing to try to bring you down."

Agents In FBI Shooting Working On Drug Investigation April 12, 2014 10:43 PM OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) — Baltimore County police say a man is dead after FBI agents opened fire on the person in a busy shopping area in Owings Mills. The agents confronted the man in an SUV late Friday afternoon on an access road near a Wal-Mart store and Sam’s Club near Reisterstown Road. Officials released little information about the incident and did not identify the man who died.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore and Archbishop Curley High School have received an allegation involving Mrs. Lynette Trotta, 33. Ms. Trotta has been a science teacher at Archbishop Curley High School since January 2007. Ms. Trotta is alleged to have engaged in a sexual relationship with a current student during the current school year. A number of weeks ago, Annette Goodman, the school’s librarian, learned about the allegation. Maryland law and the policies of the Archdiocese and Archbishop Curley High School require that allegations of child abuse be reported to civil authorities and to the head of the school as soon...

Former Black Panther leader Marshall "Eddie" Conway walked free Tuesday after spending four decades behind bars for killing a Baltimore police officer — making his one of the highest-profile cases affected by a high court decision that has cut short prison sentences for dozens of felons in recent years. ... Sager's son, who was 7 at the time of his father's death, said he was devastated. David Sager said he was warned of the outcome more than a month ago ... "My mother passed away two years ago, and in a way I'm glad that she's not around to see...

A chilling video of Maryland police silencing an innocent student who was recording the arrests of two other people has civil libertarians outraged. The arrests were made at night on the streets of Towson, Maryland. A University of Maryland-Baltimore County student who witnessed the arrests decided to record them using his cell phone. The student, 21-year-old Sergio Gutierrez, was soon approached by officers who objected — wrongly — to his actions. Gutierrez repeatedly told the officers that he knew he had the right to film them, but the cops were prepared to use any excuse to shut him down. First...

A representative of the Archdiocese of Baltimore voiced concerns Feb. 26 at a Baltimore City Council hearing about a controversial bill that could make it more difficult for employers to know if job applicants have been accused or convicted of sexual abuse. Known as “Ban the Box,” City Council Bill 13-0301 primarily seeks to remove barriers to employment for job seekers with criminal histories. The ordinance would prohibit a hiring employer from conducting a criminal background check or inquiring about an applicant’s criminal history before extending a “conditional offer of employment.” The prohibition includes any checkbox a job seeker must...

Years ago, members of my extended family were gangsters connected with the Genovese crime family. They had the ability, which they used, to place people in favored positions within the New York City Police Department. I know this, because my father was offered one of those slots. --SNIP-- It's the old problem of "Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?"—"Who watches the watchmen?"

A sheet of plastic laid over a clothesline. A mini-fortress of milk crates stacked under a tree. A thin mattress on a flimsy crate lying in a dark tunnel. On the edge of Baltimore's woodlands, dozens of the city's transients live in makeshift homes which they consider safer than homeless shelters. Photographer Ben Marcin has captured some of the shanties in his thought-provoking photo essay, 'The Camps', documenting the struggle, loneliness and ingenuity of Maryland's people of the woods.

The road most traveled: Most of the settlements Marcin photographed were by waterways, railway tracks, Walmarts, gas stations and liquor stores. (Daily Mail) As America suffers through its worse recovery on record, a homeless camp has cropped up on the outskirts of Baltimore. Daily Mail reported: A sheet of plastic laid over a clothesline. A mini-fortress of milk crates stacked under a tree. A thin mattress on a flimsy crate lying in a dark tunnel. On the edge of Baltimore’s woodlands, dozens of the city’s transients live in makeshift homes which they consider safer than homeless shelters. Photographer Ben...

Notre Dame of Maryland University has announced the names of the three finalists who are vying to lead the Baltimore institution. The finalists are Dr. Andrea Chapdelaine, provost and vice president for academic affairs at Albright College in Reading, Pa.; Dr. Sara Thompson, associate provost for new program initiatives and dean of the Metropolitan School of Professional Studies at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.; and Dr. Marylou Yam, provost and vice president for academic affairs at St. Peter’s University (formerly St. Peter’s College) in Jersey City, N.J. The Feb. 19 announcement follows a comprehensive nationwide search and...

Letter upsets city's Black History Month Black History Month in Baltimore is a busy, busy time. Every aspect of black life in this city is remembered and celebrated: Black schools. Black music. Black movies. Black churches. Black literature. Black clothing. Black politicians. Even black trains. Then Tracey Halvorsen had to go and spoil it all: She wrote an article about crime in Baltimore. How she and her mostly white neighbors live in fear. And no one seems to care. Or worse, lots of people think it is normal. “Baltimore City,You Are Breaking My Heart,” is going viral for an on-line...

BALTIMORE (WJZ) — A Baltimore man faces murder charges after shooting three people in two separate incidents. The first happened in the 2100-block of W. North Avenue. Police say Ricky Horton fatally shot a man in the head and torso and then fled the scene in a getaway car. A friend of the victim also suffered gunshot wounds. He survived. Investigators say Horton then shot a woman six blocks away on Presbury Street, declaring “if you’re not blood, you die.” Horton, who also goes by the name “Purple,” faces a maximum of two life terms plus 88 years if convicted.

I’m tired of hearing about 12 year old girls being held up at gun-point while they walk to school. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/blog/bs-md-ci-12-year-old-girl-robbed-20140206,0,5595591.story I’m tired of saying “Oh Baltimore’s great! It’s just got some crime problems.” http://baltimorecrime.blogspot.com/