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BALTIMORE -- Overnight, Imamu Baraka was walking past a Baltimore hospital when he noticed something he says he'll never forget. The hospital's security guards had just wheeled a patient to a bus stop, and in the freezing temperatures they left her there. The only thing she had on was a hospital gown. "It's about 30 degrees out here right now," Baraka says in a recording of the encounter. "Are you OK, ma'am? Do you need me to call the police?" he asks. It's called "patient dumping" and it doesn't just happen in Baltimore. In 2007, "60 Minutes" investigated the practice...

Overnight, Imamu Baraka was walking past a Baltimore hospital when he noticed something he says he'll never forget. The hospital's security guards had just wheeled a patient to a bus stop, and in the freezing temperatures they left her there. The only thing she had on was a hospital gown. "It's about 30 degrees out here right now," Baraka says in a recording of the encounter. "Are you OK, ma'am? Do you need me to call the police?" he asks.

**SNIP** Harold Martin is scheduled to plead guilty to one count of willful retention of national defense information on January 22 in a federal court in Baltimore, according to court filings, Reuters reported. Prosecutors said that the ex-NSA contractor spent two decades taking classified government information from the U.S. intelligence community and hoarded the secrets at his home in Maryland. The Justice Department accused Martin in 2016 of a “breathtaking” theft of government secrets. During a raid of his home, authorities seized dozens of laptops and digital devices in addition to six full bankers’ boxes worth of documents.

Baltimore public schools spend more than $15,000 per student per year, but Democrats Bill Ferguson and Zeke Cohen say they can’t afford to heat the classrooms in January NPR just published this article about how students at Baltimore’s public schools are freezing because the classrooms do not have any heat.One student said she couldn’t feel her feet.Another student said he was wearing four shirts, two hoodies, and a jacket.The same article also says that Democratic State Senator Bill Ferguson and Democratic City Councilman Zeke Cohen both said that the city’s public schools did not have enough money.But like all people who...

Baltimore students and teachers returned back to school from holiday break on Tuesday, expecting to start the new year with a bang, but that was an overly optimistic assumption for a collapsing school system, as they found their classrooms flooded and indoor temperatures barely above freezing. Starting off on the wrong foot, Baltimore’s school system could be on track for a turbulent year, in conjunction with a widespread cheating scandal. The recent cold snap in Maryland has sent temperatures across the state plunging. For instance, on Wednesday morning, Baltimore printed at 11 degrees. On Tuesday, the cold weather parazyled...

I remember a time in the not so distant past. The year was 2016, and racial tensions were running high. Freddie Gray was a resident of Baltimore, Maryland. He was arrested and notoriously died while in police custody. Soon afterward, Black Lives Matter and other activists became enraged. They began to protest the police department's presence in their neighborhoods over alleged brutality. Let's fast-forward a couple of years later to present day. Now we see over 300 murders in the City of Baltimore this past year. When I saw the number of murders, I was shocked. All of the intellectuals...

Baltimore has set a new per-capita homicide record as gunmen killed for drugs, cash, payback - or no apparent reason at all. A surge of homicides in the starkly divided city resulted in 343 killings in 2017, bringing the annual homicide rate to its highest ever – roughly 56 killings per 100,000 people. Baltimore, which has shrunk over decades, currently has about 615,000 inhabitants. [Snip] The main reasons are the subject of endless interpretation. Some attribute the increase to more illegal guns, the fallout of the opioid epidemic, or systemic failures like unequal justice and a scarcity of decent opportunities...

For the third year in a row, Baltimore, Md., has had more than 300 murders, reaching a new record of murders per number of residents in 2017. Some residents attribute the high murder rate to relaxed police patrols in the city following high-profile cases of police brutality. Officers have backed off in neighborhoods, like the one where Freddie Gray was arrested.

In an alley where a teenager became one of Baltimore’s latest bodies to fall, Erricka Bridgeford whispered prayers and directed smoke from burning sage in a gathering intended to transform spots where people are slain into a kind of sacred ground. The spiritually minded activist began to cry, letting her tears fall on asphalt where the 17-year-old boy she didn’t know was fatally shot the night before. She called out “You matter! You matter!” in a raw voice that came from somewhere deep inside her 5-foot-2 (155-centimeter) frame. Over the past year, the African-American woman from West Baltimore has become...

A negligence lawsuit claiming Spirit Airlines fed alcohol to rowdy female passengers and then failed to defuse a subsequent cabin brawl has crashed and burned. After a 12-day trial that ended Thursday in Los Angeles, a jury decided the carrier was not responsible for the violent March 2016 clash that was caught on video and quickly went viral. The lawsuit, announced in New York last year by three Delaware women and their plaintiff's lawyer Gloria Allred, claimed Spirit's flight attendants had an obligation to act when the problem passengers exhibited aggressive behavior such as blasting music and waving a boom...

BALTIMORE — In September, Governor Larry Hogan announced a massive plan to ease congestion on the D.C. Beltway. Tuesday, it was Baltimore's turn. Hogan and his transportation team unveiled a multipronged approach that could cut commute times for millions of Marylanders. Maryland has the second longest commuting times in the nation. Six of the 15 most congested spots in our state are on the Baltimore Beltway. Hogan announced a $461 million traffic-relief plan for Interstates 695 and 95 north. The plan "will benefit the lives of millions of drivers throughout the Baltimore region," Hogan said. There are four components to...

With two fatal shootings Tuesday night, the recent reclassification of a decades-old shooting as a killing and another homicide Wednesday evening, Baltimore has hit 343 homicides in 2017, and a new record for killings per capita.

Baltimore Ravens team president Dick Cass sent a letter to season-ticket holders, suite holders, and sponsors about the noticeable dip in attendance at games this season, and cited the team’s protest during the national anthem as one reason. "The numbers [of no-shows] are higher, and it is noticeable," Cass wrote. "There are a number of reasons for the no-shows, but surely the one-time protest in London has been a factor." [Snip] The NFL's ratings have fallen by nearly 20 percent since players started protesting during the national anthem two years ago.

PALM BEACH COUNTY, FL---Our news partners at the Sun Sentinel report: U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, who represents Broward and Palm Beach counties, plans to resign from Congress. He plans to announce his plans at a news conference Wednesday at 10 a.m. in Boca Raton. A Democratic source with knowledge of Wexler's plans said he is likely to take a public policy job that deals with the Middle East. Wexler, a senior member of the House Foreign Relations Committee, has long been involved in issues involving Israel and Turkey.

While this story takes place in Baltimore, it could just as well be unfolding anywhere in the United States. A few years ago there was a deal cut in Charm City through the office of Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby. Between 2012 and 2015 more than 170 inmates convicted of violent crimes were released early because previous sentencing guidelines and court procedures were considered too “unfair” for modern sensibilities. Among those set free was one Wendell Beard, who had been serving a life sentence for the murder of real estate broker Beryl Friedrick back in the seventies.And why not,...

Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh said Wednesday that recent crime figures are “trending in the right direction,” hopeful of achieving a turnaround in a city where the number of homicides this year is nearing the all-time high set in 2015. The city of roughly 620,000 people has recorded more than 320 killings so far this year, nearing the record 344 slayings in all of 2015. In comparison, New York City, a city of some 8.5 million, is projected to have fewer than 300 homicides this year. At her weekly press briefing, Pugh said a new city initiative is chipping away at...

It seems paradoxical: The Ravens, who have sold out every home game since they arrived in Baltimore in 1996, are advertising tickets for Sunday’s contest at M&T Bank Stadium. But this is where the Ravens find themselves in 2017: Contemplating the prospect of empty seats, and appealing to fans to “Win Together. Purchase your tickets today!” even as the team is contending for what would be its first playoff berth since 2014. Thousands of fans are trying to resell their tickets to the sold-out game Sunday against the Detroit Lions at 71,000-seat M&T Bank Stadium via Ticketmaster, the team’s official...

The six Baltimore police officers who where charged and then later acquitted in the 2015 death of Freddie Gray were all back at work Thursday. None are patrolling the streets, but are working jobs in other departments, the Baltimore Sun reported.

Drivers in 14 state highway corridors in Maryland will see their travel times cut over the next year as a result of a $50 million upgrade to traffic signals, Gov. Larry Hogan said Wednesday. The new system, billed as the second phase of Hogan’s program to relieve highway traffic congestion, will use artificial intelligence to better synchronize signals and improve traffic flow, officials said. The governor said the adaptive signal control system replaces technology that is more than 20 years old. “Nearly 700,000 Marylanders will benefit every day from these transformational improvements,” Hogan said during a news conference at the...

Carroll County Public Schools have halted field trips to Baltimore, a decision based on a recommendation from the county Sheriff’s Department due to “escalating violence,” a school system spokeswoman said Monday. “In light of recent violence in the traditional tourist areas of the City, the Sheriff agrees that the best course of action is to temporarily suspend travel to Baltimore City venues,” Sheriff’s Department spokesman Cpl. Jonathan Light wrote in the statement. Several assaults and robberies were reported over the Halloween weekend, and an employee of a Federal Hill bar was robbed and killed outside a convenience store near Key...