Mayor: We Need To Save $120 Million. Say, How Much Does That Candy Jar In My Office Cost? $35/Yr? ELIMINATE THE CANDY JAR.

God knows it's hard to find $600,000 in cuts for a $2.2 BILLION city-wide budget. But, bless her heart, Mayor Rawlings-Blake managed to find a way. Now, only $119 million and change to go before we close that budget shortfall.

The Baltimore City Council Hates Poor People

City Council goes to work on important legislative work -- like enacting highly regressive taxes used to punish poor people. Keep up the good work assholes!

Baltimore City Council is scheduled to take another run Tuesday at reducing the proliferation of plastic bag litter around the city.

The council will have a hearing and work session on bills aimed at banning plastic carryout bags altogether or imposing a 25-cent fee on each. The hearing begins at 10 a.m. before the Judiciary and Legislative Investigations Committee, 4th floor of City H all.

One bill, introduced by Council members James B. Kraft, Mary Pat Clarke and Bill Henry, would bar grocery stores and "formula retail establishments" (aka convenience stores and fast-food chains) from giving customers their merchandise in plastic bags.

Merchants would only be able to put merchandise in recyclable paper bags or reusable bags. Violators would be fined $250 for a first offense up to $1,000 for three or more offenses in a six-month period.

The other bill, inroduced by Council members Henry, William H. Cole IV, Kraft and Clarke, would require merchants to levy a 25-cent fee on every plastic bag dispensed at carryout. Exceptions would be granted for bagging up fresh fish and meat, candy, cooked foods, dairy products, fruits and nuts and ice.

Fucking retarded. When I accused a supporter of the tax via twitter, of hating poor people he requested the data that shows poor people use more plastic bags than other economic brackets. As I told him, it doesn't matter. If we assume everyone is using the same number of plastic bags (and I'm willing to bet that poor people DO use more plastic bags) a greater percentage of the poor consumers' income is going towards a stupid plastic bag tax. At 25 cents a pop that's a pretty stiff tax on a grocery trip.

The exceptions make even less sense. How does that work? The cashier at the store is tasked with keeping track of what items are exempt, and making sure they all go in the same bag? Can you mix exempt and non-exempt goods in the same bag? Does the bag get taxed or no? It's the very definition of an unfair bureaucratic burden on commerce. It's stifling and punitive. Not a very good idea in a poor city.

Poe Toaster Is a No Show; Papers Get To Break Out the 'Nevermore' Headlines

Interesting story in Baltimore, as the mysterious Poe toaster doesn't show up at the famous grave for the first time in 50 years.

A longtime tribute to Edgar Allan Poe may have come to an end with the absence of the "Poe Toaster," who for more than half a century has marked the poet's birthday by laying roses and a bottle of cognac at his original grave site.

This is the first time since Jan. 19, 1949 that the person, whose identity is unknown, failed to arrive, said Jeff Jerome, curator of the Edgar Allan Poe House.

If it's been the same guy for the past 50 years, odds are the guy finally died. That thought somehow doesn't occur to the curator of the Poe house:

"I was very annoyed," he said.

"I've been doing this since 1977, and there was no indication he wasn't going to show up," Jerome said.

Full story here.

Plan To End Homelessness Foiled By Homeless People

Way back in the optimistic year of 2008 when it seemed like nothing was out of our collective reach, Baltimore's esteemed, and not-yet-convicted mayor debuted a 10 year plan to end homelessness in Charm City. Tens of millions of dollars and two years later, the Baltimore Sun reports on city efforts to close a tent city under a major highway leading to this statistic:

Early last year, Mayor Sheila Dixon announced a 10-year plan to end homelessness in Baltimore. A June study showed Baltimore's homeless population had increased by 12 percent, to about 3,500 individuals.

It's progress. Not forward progress, but the statistic is moving. And that's definitely progress...in some way.

THE INTERNET IS OUTRAGED!!!

Rings, open-bar holiday parties, snow..It was a busy weekend for me. But I show up to work this morning to find that THE TUBES NEVER REST.

The Great Snowball Fight/Gun Play Incident of the Great Snow Storm of '09 occurred in DC over the weekend and the internet is all a twitter with the happenings. Like everything else that happens in DC, the rest the nation had to hear about it whether we cared or not.

I briefly saw something on my twitter feed about a cop pulling a gun during a twitter organized snowball fight down in DC. [Side Note: They had one of these twitter snowball fight things in Baltimore too. No I wasn't there. I was too busy having sex. But my point is that there was no such gun waving incident in Baltimore. No, our cops are too busy actually shooting and killing people to be bothered with scaring yuppies throwing snowballs.]

So I saw the quick take on the incident and like anyone else it sounded to me like some stupid cop did something stupid with a gun. But reading the accounts and watching the videos this morning, I'm not so sure that those "kids" (couple of the accounts on reason and Washington City Paper interestingly referred to what looked like a group of 20 and 30-somethings as kids) didn't find themselves in a predictable situation that they really could have, and should have avoided.

These douches were throwing snowballs at unsuspecting motorists, no? What fucking adult does that? The off duty cop overreacted, but it appeared that he was overreacting as a pissed off motorist, not a pissed off cop. You wouldn't find me on the corner of Baltimore and Bentalou throwing snowballs at passing cars because a) I'm not a fucking douche b) I might get the shit beat out me.

I'm certainly not defending dirty cops. I blog about it as much as I can stand, and read about it daily. I hear stories from co-workers who live in bad sections of the city about cops taking liberties in just about every regard possible. There are truly tragic stories like this one. A kid who is trying to do something with his life and has no criminal record is mysteriously shot dead by cops. That shit sucks. It sucks a lot. But sorry...I don't see the snowball drama to be anywhere in the ballpark of what I should be outraged about.

P.S. The comments at the City Paper prove to be real classy.

Only In Baltimore

Stuck to the back of a city contruction sign downtown on Charles St. In case you are having trouble making it out it says: DC IS FOR FUCKERS.

Corrupt Cop Proves a Blessing To Drug Dealers

The City Paper follows up on the case of the corrupt Baltimore cop who was detailed to a DEA task force and the difficulties that it's caused for prosecuting certain drug cases where the cop was involved.

The NAACP Doesn't Want An Irishman To Become Mayor of Baltimore. I'm Glad We Cleared That Up

In the annals of weird things the NAACP says and does, this ranks high up there:

Leaders of the Maryland NAACP, worried that a Baltimore mayor's criminal conviction could result in the appointment of a white or Republican leader who may not fully represent the majority black and Democratic city, are asking state lawmakers to strip the governor of authority to permanently fill the office.

OK. Fair enough. I hate white politicians too. But unlike the NAACP I haven't been kept up at night with worry of that happening anytime soon, because in this city the City Council President is a black female who also happens to be a Democrat. And even though I've never voted in a city election and spend most of my time blogging about boobies, I know that in Baltimore when there is a Mayoral vacancy, the line of succession leads straight to the City Council President. How do I know this? Because it happened 2 years ago in this fucking city.

Still, it is not clear that the resolution or a law change is warranted. According to Dan Friedman, an assistant attorney general who is counsel to the General Assembly, the governor does not have the authority to make an appointment.

Instead, the state constitution defers to the city's charter, he said, which elevates the city council president to be mayor in case of a vacancy. That's how Dixon became mayor in 2007 after Martin O'Malley, her predecessor, was elected governor.

It gets better:

Marvin L. Cheatham, the president of the Baltimore Chapter of the NAACP, introduced the resolution because he heard an attorney on a radio program discussing a lack of clarity on succession if Dixon were to be convicted and sentenced.

"Our concern is who would the governor appoint?" Cheatham said. "Here you have a predominantly African-American city. What if the governor appointed somebody white? ... Would he appoint someone Irish to be the mayor?"

Wow. Breathtakingly stupid and tone-deaf. From one "I can't believe I just said that" person to another, how the fuck do you say that out loud? I'd like to meet the guys working in the local NAACP's communication department. I betcha they have fancy degrees from places like University of Phoenix and Walden University. Christ, what a bunch of fucking idiots.

But seriously, I'm wondering --- Can they really be that stupid? First, they have the facts of succession so horribly wrong that it leads you to believe that they were blinded by scoring some cheap political points. But that doesn't even make sense. It seems like a Hey, look at us! We're still here! type of thing. But as a Baltimore Sun editorial points out, for the NAACP to be talking how a black mayor is essential to running a majority black city 9 months after we elected a black president to run a majority white country...well I don't know, it just seems really stupid. That's not to say the NAACP is incapable of doing really stupid things, just that this seems really, really fucking stupid. Even for them.

Heard at a Bar

Said to me by semi-drunk/senile old man: You could be twin brother of this guy i know name David.

Me: Well, I don't have any brothers.

Old drunk/senile man: He lives with his mom in Carroll County and he's a developmental retard. It's hard for me to understand him. Obviously you aren't a retard (meaning me), but you have the same glasses, mustache, beard and glasses.

So count it folks. I'm a spitting image of a "developmental retard" named David. Good company.

Protecting the Pooches

Via City Paper's invaluable Councilmania (which details the coming and goings of the Baltimore City Council, a yeoman's job to say the least):

On the resolutions front, Conaway [ed-Councilwoman Belinda Conaway] introduced 09-0150R Police Actions--Treatment of Dogs, which asks Baltimore Police Commissioner Frederick Bealefeld to tell the council what happens to dogs residing at a house when cops are called to the address, whether it be a call for assistance, an arrest warrant, or a drug raid.

Of course it doesn't do anything to stop the dangerous raids from happening, or dogs (or worse living, breathing people) from being shot. But it's a nice gesture I suppose.

(We are however, talking about *a police department that doesn't release the name of officers who shoot citizens. So good luck on getting them to release information about dogs involved in raids.)

*Mind you that same policy doesn't doesn't apply when it is a citizen involved in a shooting (or slashing)of an accused criminal intruder. Apparently they don't worry about retribution crimes...unless it's a cop who could be the victim.

Murky Indeed

A great piece over the weekend by the Sun's crime reporter Peter Hermann on the shadowy world of criminal informants. We're talking about criminal informants in Baltimore because of this BPD Detective who was detailed to the DEA and was recently indicted for all doing all kinds of illegal things that a cop shouldn't do.

Cop Steals In Baltimore. Today's Other Surprising News, Rob Was Drunk Last Night.

Par for the course in our fair city. Baltimore Detective who was detailed to a DEA task force was charged in federal court with lying and embezzlement. City Paper details the charges:

According to the criminal complaint and search warrant for Lunsford's Sykesville home, his DEA work space, and his official vehicle, filed by U.S. Attorney Jonathan Biran and based on a 16-page affidavit written by FBI special agent Brian Fitzell, the case against Lunsford began in June as a result of information developed from a "confidential human source" that Lunsford was handling in the course of doing DEA investigations. That source provided the FBI with "information regarding the criminal conduct of Lunsford to include Lunsford's theft of clothing and jewelry from crime scenes (including searches and arrests) and Lunsford's receiving 'kickbacks' of source payment money,"according to Fitzell's affidavit. As recently as Sept. 22, the day the charges were filed, the affidavit says, Lunsford was observed participating in such a "kickback," in which the source he handled was paid, but then later split the proceeds with Lunsford. Items Lunsford allegedly stole include watches, clothing, and Playstation video games.

What can you say? Seems like every couple weeks another one of these stories breaks in Baltimore. This one is particularly stinky because it involves a corrupt relationship between drug informants and police. I would hope that the US attorney in Baltimore takes the time to review all cases involving Lunsford and his sources.

Baltimore Police: Preventing Spatula Crimes Before They Can Happen

In the wrong hands a spatula can be quite deadly. Just ask the poor guy that the BPD shot:

City police responding to a call for a possibly suicidal person shot a man early Wednesday in Northeast Baltimore after he waved what appeared to be an edged weapon at officers, but it turned out to be a spatula, according to department officials.

Now That's Social Work!

ACORN, a liberal activist group that receives millions in federal funding, was punk'd by a couple of young conservative activists posing as a prostitute and her pimp. The two pretended that they were trying to set up a brothel and needed legal and tax advice. The ACORN folks not only provided it, but didn't flinch when the pranksters said they intended to bring in 13 girls "about 15" years old from El Salvador. ACORN employee: "You know what? You can always claim them as dependents."

She adds later: "If they're making money and they're underage, you shouldn't be letting nobody know anyway."

Also amusing: The ACORN activist's advice to the "prostitute" that she can write off her "special clothes" from her taxes.

Hate's On the Rise...Because We Say It Is

Baltimore is a violent city. Pretty simple. I'd have thought that the local daily would be aware of this. Turns out not so much...Or perhaps they are using one isolated instance of white, neo-nazi thugs assaulting an elderly black man as evidence for a easy-to-write scare piece about hate crime on the rise. That wouldn't be possible...would it? Baltimore Sun piece titled Hate Rise?:

When people pack assault rifles at presidential forums and town-hall meetings dissolve into shouting matches, it's easy to imagine such anger spilling over into the nation's simmering stew of racial prejudice.

A day after a self-proclaimed white supremacist was arrested in Baltimore for attempted murder in an assault on a 76-year-old black man, law enforcement officials and politicians expressed concern Wednesday that the tenor of current politics could prompt an increase in hate crimes.

"I think that for people who may be on the fringes already, the mood right now in the country might just be the little push they need to act on their feelings," said Baltimore County State's Attorney Scott D. Shellenberger. "Fortunately, we're not seeing that just yet."

Actually, it is pretty hard to imagine honest -- but passionate disagreement on a huge national policy issue "spilling over into the nation's simmering stew of racial prejudice." What I can imagine is a couple of thugs who happen to be white, senselessly beating the shit out of an elderly black man for no other reason than they didn't like the way he looked. You know why I can imagine it? Because pointless violent crime happens all the fucking time in this city -- And it has nothing to do with a national debate on health care! The Sun disagrees though...I think:

There is no telling whether Calvin E. Lockner, 28, the man charged in the beating early Tuesday, was inspired by the national brawl over health care reform, but he told police officers that he "did not like people who were different from him."

Lockner goes by the nickname "Hitler," a name ascribed also to President Barack Obama by some of his more virulent critics.

Wait -- So there's no telling if the neo-nazis beat up the black guy because they don't like the public option being back on the table? Great reporting. What other assumptions are you going to throw out there with the caveat that there is "no telling" if it's true or not? Why not just report what you actually know about the case instead of further stoking racial tensions? Not sexy enough? Doesn't draw the same amount of page hits?

Related: Nick Gillespie takes on the subject (though not the Sun article in particular.)

Here's An Idea -- Hide the Ring In the Mouth of a Lion and Tie Steaks To Her Body

Fresh from my blog sabbatical (both reading and writing) I get handed this meaty piece of material from a Baltimore County politician/nephew of an US Senator, and an all-around walking, talking, giant douche bag. Everyone, meet Baltimore County Delegate Jon Cardin. Oh and ladies -- sorry, but he's taken.

City police are investigating why on-duty marine and helicopter officers helped a Baltimore County state delegate propose to his girlfriend by pretending to raid a boat the couple were aboard, a department spokesman said Monday.

Officers boarded the boat, owned by a friend of Del. Jon S. Cardin, on Aug. 7 in the Inner Harbor. As the helicopter Foxtrot hovered overhead, adding to the sense of tension, one report says officers pretended to search the vessel and even had the woman thinking she was about to be handcuffed before the delegate got on one knee and proposed.

Megan Homer said "yes."

Baltimore police officials did not find the account of the pretend raid amusing or charming.

Because nothing says "I love you sweetie, will you marry me?" like hand-cuffs, guns, and a police helicopter. How could you say no?

This gives me an idea for my special lady's birthday coming up next Tuesday. Surprise Swat Team Party. Now, unfortunately I have no police contacts like Del. Cardin so I'll have to make my own Swat Team. Get a dozen friends or so, dress in black, outfit them with pepper spray and tazers. Then we "raid" her apartment, render her incapacitated with the pepper spray, then stun her with the tazer gun. After she has stopped crying and quivering from 50,000 volts of electricity we yell "SURPRISE! Happy Birthday!". Best birthday ever.

On a more serious note (although the swat team party might be cheaper than the dinner I'll have to buy) the marine unit who helped Cardin out with his proposal is the same Baltimore City marine unit that went to the media a couple months back complaining about a lack of funding. Point, set, match fellas.

Baltimore Dispatches from the Drug War. 19 Shot.

Over the course of 6 hours on 7/27-7/28, 19 people were shot in Baltimore City. 12 were shot during a retaliatory ambush (including a pregnant woman and a 2 year old child) at a cookout/memorial to a murder victim. About four hours later 2 more were shot during what police describe as a "running gun battle" that was most likely related to the cookout shooting. Two hours after that shooting 2 more young males were found shot in East Baltimore.

The bulk of these shootings, including the cookout mass-shooting, were directly related to an ongoing feud between rival drug gangs that stretches back over a year and brings with it kidnappings, shootings and murders.

You might have missed this news if you don't live in the Baltimore area. It would have been easy to -- I didn't see much national coverage in the few places I checked. Nor did I see anything on the spattering of libertarian and drug blogs I checked. That bothers me. It's always bothered me. This should be headline news followed up with commentary by anti-prohibitionists, but rarely do you see that.

When a Baltimore city councilman introduces a bill to decriminalize marijuana I read blog posts, articles, and op-eds about the news. When a 5 year old is shot in the middle afternoon by a stray bullet while playing in street where is the outrage from drug war critics? When 12 are shot, many of them innocent, who's condemning the drug war for the violence?

This is Mexico folks. Some parts of this city make the scariest parts of the middle east look like a campground. Kids are exposed to some of the most heinous things that me and you couldn't even imagine and we expect them to function like contributing members of society. Many have no families to rely upon, no real chance for a job or a future. It's possible for them to get out of it, but it's much harder than it should be. The drug war is responsible for this. It isn't difficult to figure out or prove. It shouldn't be difficult for people with influence to take these violent examples from our cities to the public and make the case for real reform. A pregnant woman and a 2 year old shot should invoke empathy just like a guy in wheelchair who needs medical marijuana.

Former Baltimore Homicide Cop: Legalize It

A local crime website, Investigative Voice, has been running an interview conducted with a recently retired Baltimore homicide cop. It makes for good reading all around, but I'll just just share his opinions on the drug war.

What percentage of your murder cases are drug-related?

I’m willing to say at least 75 drug-related or dispute over something, or disrespect. I had one guy who shot someone, and I asked why did you shoot him? And he said “he gave me a hard look. He disrespected me.' How’s that..he gave me a hard look.

I just shook my head. A man murdered for a hard look.

It’s almost like you can't look at somebody. Even now, I see it when I’m in my truck, I am at a light, four or five people have rap on and are looking hard, and I say, how are you doing? And they don’t know what to think. They think I’m going to look back hard. They don’t know what to do.[...]

So there is a limit to what police can do? What do you think should change?

We need to take the profit out of the drug game.

Legalize drugs?

They made alcohol legal and look what happened. You take the profit out of drugs and think of what would happen with the crime rate. You can legalize certain drugs and if you want it you can go to Hopkins or University of Maryland Hospital to get it, you sign a waiver. Most people say crime will pick up elsewhere, there will be more robberies or whatever, but if you take the profit out of drugs you will see a drop in crime.

I think taking the profit motive out of drugs should be seriously considered, and I think they should look into it and do a study. When you look into it and do a study it’s alright to have people with Ph.D’s but you’re going to need some grassroots people too, you’re going to people from the street, you’re going to need to get everybody in on this study to make this decision.

We know drugs have destroyed this city, but we’ve haven’t changed how we fight crime, so it hasn’t gotten any better, not since I’ve been here. I talk to new officers and they ask me an important question, 'Let me ask you, Bradley, has it gotten any better since you started? And I say, 'No, it has not. '

Communities have just been ripped down by drugs, torn down bit by bit until all you have is a vacant lot. A city of empty lots, that what’s the drug war has bought us. Pennsylvania Avenue used to be a vibrant place. And now, after all these communities have been destroyed, people say, look at all these kids coming down to the Inner Harbor doing this and doing that. But they're just looking for something to do, where are they supposed to go? Can’t sit on the stoop in your neighborhood because you’ll get locked up, so they come downtown.

If we place a somewhat agreed-upon and most likely conservative figure on the Baltimore drug economy, we end up in the neighborhood just shy of $1 billion. Somewhere around $900 million. As the City Paper says in a recent piece about the drug economy, Shadow Players:

The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that in 2002 "accommodation and food service sales" in Baltimore were worth about $1 billion.

In other words, the drug trade generates a revenue stream comparable to the city's hotels and restaurants, an industry so important politically that the city government pledged $305 million in revenue bonds to build a downtown hotel that opened last year.

That's a lot of money to fight over and accounts for the single most dangerous part of the drug war in Baltimore. We can change policing and tactics that we use to fight drug crime; but until we address the $1 billion dollar question we'll still have a culture of violence and crime that has destroyed cities like Baltimore.

Jenna Bush Has the Fist Pump of a Challenged 5 Year Old

I happened to score some very nice, (and some very free) tickets for the big Matt Wieters debut on Friday night at Camden Yards. It was a lovely night -- perfect weather, Orioles win and post-game fireworks to boot. Wonderful time had by all -- including Jenna Bush who happened to be sitting a few suites over. I don't have much of a spy report other than I can say Coors Light and Miller Lite cans appeared to be the beers of choice, and she looked fuckable in white pants, black tank top (though I must say, I'm partial to her sister). She looked like she'd had a few, but take that observation for what it's worth because I was half in the bag by that point.

I will say that she has no concept how to cheer. I didn't notice her rooting much during the game, but she was enthralled by the fireworks, giving the loud blasts a somewhat confused and half-retarded version of a fist-pump in the air. Kinda like a Tiger Woods fist-pump at a rock concert. That or a celebration for Jello Day at Melwood. And just to clarify -- I'm not making fun of the "developmentally challenged" folks at Melwood, I'm making fun of the developmentally challenged Bush daughter.

Original TtP coverage of the Bushes moving to Baltimore, here.

Preakness Round-Up

As Archibald noted the Preakness was missing one crucial component to the infield party -- people...I want to offer some quick thoughts because I've got a blog and can. I promise no more Preakness blogging after this.

To clarify: I don't think that banning BYOB was/is a necessarily bad idea. Nor do I think that it is necessarily the correct idea. I agree that the infield was getting beyond dangerous to a level that I've never seen anything like it before or after, and most attendees will repeat the same sentiments. That being said, there were other options to consider; like an increased security presence, selling fewer tickets, creating a separate area in the infield without the BYOB'ers, etc. Any combination of these might have been worth a try for a year before taking the drastic step they ended up doing.

Add in the curious marketing and communication blunders and you have one poorly executed event, which if it wasn't one of the biggest sporting events of the year, and on the verge of leaving the state of Maryland, wouldn't be a big deal. A couple of examples. They announced the BYOB change within 6 months of the event and handled the media roll out of the news as though they had no idea that the reaction would be overwhelmingly negative. Why not keep it BYOB for this year and one week after the race announce the change? Why do it so close to race? Makes no sense.

They also had no idea how to market the infield "party". They claim they are banning outside booze to increase the experience for infield attendees while classing up the event. Then they make it a concert, add a bikini bash and run TV spots and print ads that clearly are supposed to appeal to the college age market. Scantily clad women and reminders that there will be no limit of alcohol purchases. $1 drafts in the first 3 hours! Cheap beer for the rest of the day! If you want that crowd and their $60 dollars then don't ban the BYOB. If you want a older more sedate crowd that might gamble more and buy your alcohol then fine, appeal to them. But someone figure out what the goal is.

I think that the banning outside beer was merely a revenue play, and until the numbers come out we will have to see if they failed or succeeded with their bottom line. I read/heard reports from beer vendors that beer sales were actually slower than in previous years. Previous years when people where bringing their own beer in. To repeat -- They were doing less volume in beer sales even though they had zero competition. Not good. On a positive note, betting was reportedly up, so time will tell how the exact revenue numbers shape up. I wouldn't be optimistic if I was the Maryland Jockey Club or Pimlico.

Prepare Yourself for the Preakness Debauchery That Is....ZZ Top??

We're getting close to annual and death-defying tradition that is Preakness. It may be on it's last leg as the 2nd leg of the Triple Crown, but that hasn't stopped the Maryland Jockey Club from doing its best to keep ticket sales and attendee enthusiasm down to a minimum. [Ticket sales are down 15% from last year] The general buzz surrounding the event is poor to negative; which -- IMHO -- might not be a positive while you are fighting to keep the historic race in Maryland.

First they ban the BYOB policy that comes part-and-parcel with the infield ticket. Then, to compensate for the only reason anyone goes (the ability to bring coolers of cheap beer) they book supposed "added value" entertainment acts...like ZZ Top. No fucking joke. Because we all know that 20 year old college kids will spend $60 to pay $3.50/beer and listen to ZZ Top, right? As this guy who was quoted in the New York Times article says:

“I’m definitely not going this year, and I don’t know anyone who is,” said James Reiter, 28, of Baltimore. “ZZ Top seems lame to me. Maybe they’re trying to calm things down, but the older people who come to enjoy themselves go to the grandstands, not the infield.”

I concur. Mind you, I wouldn't be caught dead at Preakness this year or any other year, because as I said last year around this time -- " I plan on finding just about anything else to do. Golf, yard work, rounding up feral cats at the dump, you name it -- I'd rather be doing it. Preakness is something to be done once, maybe twice, but only if you're lucky enough to survive the first one."

However, just because I have enough sense to not put myself in that situation, doesn't mean that the idiots who are willing should be deprived of that chance. As a Squishy conservative, (and I do mean Squishy with a capital S) I believe in tradition and institutions. This goes double for traditions that involve: nudity, drugs, people running across urinals, people running across urinals AND getting pelted with beer cans, more nudity, and gambling.


P.S. -- Micheal Phelps stripper update: Apparently the stripper in question was from Scores. Not surprising. On a surprising but not really related note: There is a great farmer's market on Sundays, about a block or so down from the Scores in Baltimore. Strippers and organic greens...mmmmm

Can You Believe It?!?!

Shocking news out of Baltimore:

British paper News of the World has an explosive interview with a Baltimore, Maryland stripper who claims she's been having a six-month affair with the Olympian, complete with sex, drugs and emotional outbursts.

Theresa White, a Latina exotic dancer in Phelps' hometown, sat down with the News to discuss his supposed insatiable sexual appetite and hard partying ways.[...]

White says he was certainly adept at finding comfort, however. He first encountered the dancer on a celebratory trip to her adult club, after claiming 8 gold medals in Beijing. He invited White and two other girls back to his waterfront pad where she propositioned him with a threesome.

"I was pretty drunk and I went up to Michael and said, 'If you were to have a threesome tonight, who would you like it to be with?'...The sex lasted for about three hours. Michael should get another Olympic gold for marathon love-making!"

Holy shit..You mean a drunk stripper asked a 21 yr old guy to have sex with her and another stripper and he said yes? This seems too far-fetched to be true. I just can't believe that a 21 yr old guy with millions of dollars and no day job would be fucking strippers. Doesn't add up.

On another note I think I know where Phelps met this stripper at...Latin Palace on Broadway anyone? Dance club yes, strip club no -- but it's close to his place, pretty low-key and has a ton of dirty latina women on the weekends.

Via Inside Charm City. Link goes to Radar.

Moving, etc

Pardon the infrequent posting as I complete a move (still in Baltimore) and dig myself out from work of the paying variety. Even when you're moving a total of 1.5 miles to a new spot it is still a tedious and time-consuming activity that I would wish on only a few select souls.

BTW, as I was searching for information from the Baltimore Parking Authority via the Baltimore City website, I came across a government program with the usual modesty:

Baltimore City's Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness

Baltimore Beat

Local hacker and extra for The Wire, Homicide, The Corner, as well as movies including Ladder 49, Head of State, and Oceans 11, was fatally shot in the head. Peter Hermann in the Sun:

He died April 15 like too many others in Baltimore - by homicide. He was shot in the head while sitting in a car in East Baltimore, and police said they believe he was working as an unlicensed cabdriver, a "hack," scraping up a few dollars here and there delivering people who can't afford taxis in the city.

Probably more to this murder than a simple robbery. But it brings about a question I've had since I moved to Baltimore --- Do most cities have the number of "hackers" that Baltimore does? On most corners on the west side of downtown you can always find someone signaling for a hacker. I don't think I've noticed it as much in other cities...

Family barbecue, Baltimore style:

A 20-year-old with the intelligence of a middle-schooler was sentenced Wednesday to 6 1/2 years in prison for the voluntary manslaughter of another man during a brawl at a family barbecue that began over a PlayStation video game.

Like I did when I first read this opening paragraph of the article, you're probably thinking two things. 1) The convicted murderer is mentally retarded; being as how the Sun reporter described him as "A 20-year-old with the intelligence of a middle-schooler". And 2) The fight must have been over a stolen or lost video game. Both good guesses, both wrong.

We'll first start with the fight:

Wherley said that shortly before midnight on July 3, 2006, Reginald Dorsey and Keon Dorsey got in a fight with their cousin, Roger Burks, over allegations of cheating on the video game. Guests made several efforts to break up the fight, including throwing ice water on Burks, who was drunk.


At some point, one relative, a woman, was thrown through a window. Another relative, Brandon Gray, intervened, choking Burks until he nearly lost consciousness. Burks then stabbed Gray several times in the stomach. When Conley moved to intervene, Burks fatally stabbed him four times, hitting the carotid artery.

That's quite the backyard brawl. I'm guessing they weren't playing Tiger Woods '09...

More on the killer and all around dumb guy:

Burks' multiple lies and behavior also helped build the case. In one interview with police, Burks denied knowing his own mother. And on the night of the killing, he took off his blood-soaked jeans in the back of a patrol car and threw them out the window.

Judge Rasin, who accepted Wednesday's plea, said she did so relying on several medical evaluations, the contents of which are sealed. But Rasin said a doctor concluded that Burks suffered from a long list of behavioral disorders, including "borderline intellectual functioning," though he was not mentally ill.

So not clinically retarded, just plain old retarded. I don't really have anything to add to this, other than to take the opportunity to say that if Obama has his way he wants to create even more black inner-city youths that have the intelligence of middle schoolers. Way to be brave and not kick the tough decisions down the road for future generations Obama.

We Didn't LOSE $40 Mil, We Just Misplaced It For a Few Years

Baltimore City to taxpayers: Hey look what we found!

Cash-strapped Baltimore has unearthed a nearly $40 million windfall, after auditors realized that an obscure account had been accumulating tax payments for about a decade.

Finance Department employees were supposed to manually transfer money from partial tax payments into the city's operating budget. But because of staff turnover and poor communication, no transfers had taken place for years, city officials acknowledged Wednesday in disclosing the results of an annual audit.

City Finance Director Edward Gallagher said he was "embarrassed" when he learned of the oversight.

"It is my department. It is my responsibility," Gallagher said. "It is good that we found it."

I'm pretty sure "staff turnover" and "poor communication" is code for "really fucking lazy government employees who didn't feel like doing their job."

Utz and Uzis

You really can get anything at Lexington Market:

The owner of Lexington Market’s Utz Potato Chip stand illegally sold guns out of the market for years, according to federal authorities. The stand’s owner, 53-year-old Michael Papantonakis, and a woman described as his 21-year-old girlfriend, Sharon Jeanette Heberle, were charged March 31 in U.S. District Court in Baltimore with being unlicensed gun sellers. In addition to detailing six transactions involving 13 guns since 2007, the nine-page complaint describes Papantonakis’ attempts to have someone beat up the market’s general manager Casper Genco, who also heads the Baltimore Public Markets Corporation.

Stories like this put the Charm in Charm City...

Other quick hits from Baltimore on this busy Tuesday...O's drill CC for Opening Day win against Yankees. Baltimore Police Department hasn't gotten the tweeting down yet.

_______Shoots 3rd Person. _______ Placed on Administrative Leave Until Investigation Is Concluded

Baltimore, City of Accountability:

A Baltimore police officer shot a suspect in the upper body about 8 p.m. Friday during a narcotics investigation in Northwest Baltimore, police said.

The shooting occurred at Pimlico Road and Garrison Avenue after two people got into a car and drove into an officer at the scene, said Anthony Gugliemi, a police spokesman. The officer was treated at a hospital and released.

A second officer fired at one of the suspects with a service revolver, Gugliemi said.

Police do not release the names of officers involved in shootings, under a policy adopted in January. The officer, 28, is being placed on administrative leave, pending the outcome of the investigation.[...]

The officer involved in the shooting has been on the police force since 2005 and had previously shot two others, said Detective Nicole Monroe, a police spokeswoman. In both cases, the shootings "were deemed justified," she said.

Via Baltimore Crime.

Pre no name law thoughts from me about why Baltimore residents don't trust cops. Needless to say, not telling us who the cops are that shoot at citizens hasn't helped much.

Civil Disobedience, Burglary...When You Work for Acorn, There's No Difference

Activist Criminal turns himself in after breaking into home in Baltimore:

Louis Beverly, an activist with the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) who has tried to call attention to foreclosures in the city, turned himself in to police this morning to face a burglary charge, authorities said.

He is being accused of breaking the padlock on a home so that the homeowner could reclaim the dwelling as part of a protest effort, according to city police.

While It May Save a Life or Two, It's Still a Bad Idea

No more beer grenades in the infield during Preakness.

As a Preakness tradition, it may not rank with the singing of " Maryland My Maryland" but the longstanding practice of infield spectators bringing their own beer into the second jewel of racing's Triple Crown will be no more, the Maryland Jockey Club announced today.

In fact, no beverages of any kind -- including soft drinks and water -- will be permitted to be brought into the infield for the 134th running of the Preakness on May 16.

The Jockey Club's press announcement said:

"No beverage of any kind (cans or bottles), including alcohol, soft drinks and water will be allowed to be brought into the public infield.

Gay.

Personally, it doesn't much affect me. I've had my Preakness fun and trust me those days are long behind me. But I fear that Preakness classics like the Running of the Urinals will be but a memory now.

Some TtP Preakness blogging from 2008 here.

$872 Million

The size of Baltimore's "informal economy". Plus, some other really fascinating stuff in this City Paper article that connects some dots for Baltimore's drug markets. Read the whole thing but here are some of the more interesting tidbits pulled from the piece (direct quotes):

• The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that in 2002 "accommodation and food service sales" in Baltimore were worth about $1 billion.
  
  In other words, the drug trade generates a revenue stream comparable to the city's hotels and restaurants, an industry so important politically that the city government pledged $305 million in revenue bonds to build a downtown hotel that opened last year.
  
  
• For years Baltimore Police and city officials have contended that loosely grouped street-corner crews drive to New York City to buy drugs for resale here. Yet recent federal court cases have tied Baltimore defendants to drug trafficking organizations stretching to Florida, Texas, California, and Mexico, suggesting that a few well-connected Baltimoreans orchestrate shipments of pot, cocaine, and heroin purchased from Mexican middlemen who work for (or are part of) international drug cartels.
  
  
• The DEA's Heroin Domestic Monitor Program reports that Baltimore heroin is, on average, about 45 percent pure. High purity suggests Baltimore is a distribution hub for the drug, according to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the nation's primary keeper of illegal drug statistics.
  
  
• Charitable foundations and the federal government spend $1 million per week in Baltimore on drug treatment programs, creating hundreds of additional jobs--many of them for recovering addicts--which depend on an amorphous, uncountable addict population. City police draw overtime and seize millions of dollars worth of cars, real estate, and cash every year, leaching wealth from the city's drug economy but never really wounding it.
  
  From an economic perspective, Baltimore's relationship to its shadow economy at first appears schizophrenic: politicians dress the "informal economy" in bows and present it in reports like the DrillDown as evidence of "strong markets," then wrap it in rags for presentation to the federal government in applications for aid. But Baltimore's informal economy exists, like underworlds everywhere, in symbiosis with official institutions.
  

It's a magnificent piece of journalism and does much to connect the scattered (not meant in a pejorative way) reporting that the City Paper has done on the local drug trade in recent years. There's a lot to digest in the article, and even more when you include previous pieces, but even if you don't care about the implications of drug prohibition on place like Baltimore the reporting (esp this piece) that the City Paper has done on the matter makes for a great read.

Hopefully this piece makes it around the web.

Disclaimer: Despite my gushing I know no one (that comes to mind) that works at the City Paper.

"They don't know how to steal your car, but they can still put a gun to your head"

You might have seen news stories in recent days about car thefts decreasing as overall car purchases decrease, with Baltimore as an example of the phenomenon. It makes sense. And is true...to a point. Baltimore Sun:

In Baltimore, the number of cars stolen has gone from 6,662 in 2006 to 5,686 in 2007 to just over 5,100 last year. And through Jan. 10, car theft dropped 35 percent this year, compared with the same period in 2008, from 131 to 85. The trend is similar in Baltimore County, where just over 3,000 cars are stolen each year.

There are two reasons for this, Baltimore County Police Sgt. Robert Jagoe told me during a morning spent with the Regional Auto Theft Task Force.

First, electronic transponders in keys, common in most cars since 2002, have virtually eliminated stealing cars for the sheer fun of it. To start, the car's ignition system must match a code on the key; hot-wiring doesn't work anymore on any but the older model cars, and while it's possible to bypass the new safety systems, it can't be done quickly or on the street.

The bad news is that armed carjackings are up. "They don't know how to steal your car, but they can still put a gun to your head," Jagoe said.

The number of juveniles arrested on car theft charges in the city and county has dropped from a high of 311 in 1995 to 138 last year, while the number of adults arrested on the same charges has risen from 376 in 1995 to 772 in 2008. In 1995, juveniles made up nearly half all auto theft arrests; they now make up only about 15 percent of lockups.

We can't even get a fucking silver lining in this deal? Why can't car thefts just decrease without armed carjackings increasing? Is that too much to ask?

Full story here, it's worth a read.

Bonus Baltimore related story: I've never known anyone who has been involved in a car jacking; however I worked in a bar with a burly lesbian who fought off a potential scooter jacking. Scooter jacking is actually pretty common in the city because it's pretty easy to knock someone off a scooter at a red light or stop sign, plus scooters have the added benefit of probably not being registered. All this makes them an attractive target for young thugs who can either use them for running drugs between corners, or just sell them for cash.

Anyways, the burly lesbian was in her car behind a women on a scooter when a rather lazy scooter jacker walked up to the scooter and told the lady to get the fuck off her scooter. The burly lesbian got out of her car with her auto club and threatened to beat the shit out of the guy if he didn't walk away. The guy was smart and didn't want to fuck with a burly, South African lesbian. End of story.

If You Need to Kill...

do it in Baltimore. 67% of 2008 murders are still open.

Via Baltimore Crime.

Now, If Only These Kids Could Live Past Their 20th Birthday We Might Have an Anti-Smoking Strategy On Our Hands

Silly:

Saying she wants to put cigars out of the reach of young adults, Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon announced a new city rule that inexpensive cigars must be sold in packets of five or more.

"Single cheap cigars are becoming quite popular," Dixon said at a City Hall news conference. "These products are addictive and deadly."

Single cigars often cost as little as 50 cents at city corner stores, and people often empty them and refill them with marijuana. The new regulation, which will go effect Oct. 1, includes cigars that cost $2.50 each or less. Violators could receive a warning and then a fine of up to $1,000.

If you put the question to these "young adults" -- name me the 5 most deadly things in Baltimore -- I would be confident that Swisher Sweets would not be present. Bullets, yes. Knives, yes. Easily available cigars, not so much. More:

Young adults in the city are "sensitive to price," Dixon said, and requiring the cigars be sold in packets would drive up the consumer cost of the product, putting it beyond their means.

Bruce C. Bereano, a lobbyist for the Maryland Association of Tobacco and Candy Manufacturers, questioned the mayor's motives, saying he believes she is really trying to ban all smoking in the city. He said that only the General Assembly, which has twice failed to pass bans on selling individual cigars, has the authority to make such rules.

"Sensitive to price" is code for poor. So much like all tobacco and alcohol taxes what we end up doing is punishing the poor disproportionally more than any other socio-economic class, and making it harder for them to enjoy one of the few pleasures in an otherwise dreary life. Have you ever tried to live in Baltimore without smoking? It's miserable.

Btw, a helpful tip to the fellows over at the Maryland Association of Tobacco and Candy Manufacturers...It might be time to separate the Tobacco guys from the Candy guys. It might have made sense way-back-when to combine lobbying forces, but I would hope that you could see how in our present climate the Maryland Association of Tobacco and Candy Manufacturers could pose some logistical problems for both the candy interests and the tobacco interests. Just a thought.

Baltimore Mayor Not as Corrupt as Everyone Thought

The basic outline of the indictment, including some real grimy details like stealing gift cards from needy families:

Baltimore Mayor Sheila A. Dixon was charged today with 12 counts of felony theft, perjury, fraud and misconduct in office, becoming the city's first sitting mayor to be criminally indicted.

The case stems in part from at least $15,348 in gifts Dixon allegedly received from her former boyfriend, prominent city developer Ronald H. Lipscomb, while she was City Council president. She also is accused of using as much as $3,400 in gift cards, some donated to her office for distribution to "needy families," to purchase Best Buy electronics and other items for herself and her staff.

Lipscomb was not indicted in the Dixon case, but he and City Councilwoman Helen L. Holton were charged this week in a separate $12,500 bribery scheme. Both cases grew out of a nearly three-year probe by the state prosecutor into City Hall corruption.

I don't have much to say about this; everyone knew she was corrupt and when you have one party running the show for 100 years on a municipal level these charges are pretty tame in comparison to what could be coming out of City Hall. Still though, that's no excuse for her behavior and she deserves to be thrown out of office and into prison. This is the best take that I've read on the story.

More Mayor related news. From this weekend:

Things don’t go smoothly for mayor

The misfortunes of indicted Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon continued Saturday as a boxing ring collapsed when she and a dozen other people were jumping on it during a workout to publicize physical fitness. No one was hurt. Everyone climbed out and continued the workout on the gym floor. A day earlier, Dixon was indicted on theft and perjury charges and accused of accepting illegal gifts, including travel, fur coats and gift cards intended for the poor. Dixon, a 55-year-old Democrat, said she is innocent of the charges.

Ouch.

The award for my favorite non-local news outlet coverage goes to the AP. The opening paragraph in their story:

BALTIMORE (AP) — It's difficult enough to lead a city plagued by rampant violent crime, failing schools, widespread poverty and drug addiction. For Mayor Sheila Dixon, the job figures to get tougher this year — and not just because of the sagging economy.

Double ouch.

Battling the Flu and Urban Violence

I'm working on the former, Baltimore is working on the latter. The Baltimore Sun recaps the significant drop in murders in 2008:

Baltimore will end 2008 tonight with its fewest homicides in two decades, fighting through a late-year spike to mark one of its biggest year-to-year drops.

The decline - a drop of almost 50 killings, from 282 to 234 as of midnight - continues a trend that began in late 2007 when Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III took command of the Police Department. It restores the city's homicide total to levels not seen since the late 1980s, before an infusion of crack cocaine routinely drove the annual body count above 300.

But the improvement has been tempered by several confounding factors. While homicides and nonfatal shootings are down, violent crime overall is largely unchanged and Baltimore remains one of the most violent large cities in the country. The killing of a former city councilman also served as a sobering reminder that while the majority of the victims are involved in the drug trade, the city's crime problem touches all corners.

I'm about as pessimistic as anyone could be about turning around Baltimore (I firmly believe that until you deal with the war on drugs, or find another economic driver for the city besides the drug trade, the city can only make incremental progress), but credit is deserved for drastic reduction in violent crime over the last year or so; even with increases in other crimes. Reducing the stigma of an astronomically high murder rate is an important step for the city to make, I just question whether it lasts or not.

Full story here.

Rivalry Recap

That’s me to the right bundled up at the Ravens-Redskins game on Sunday night. I’d love to say it was a great time, but honestly it was just really fucking cold, and as a quasi-Redskins fan it was disappointing to see them perform…well, like the Redskins. But it was another opportunity to witness the undying and quite irrational hatred that Baltimore (and I use this term loosely) natives have for just about anything that isn’t from Baltimore...especially anything from 30 min south of Baltimore.

There’s a lot to tackle in that above paragraph and I’m not going to do that now; but I will say that Baltimoreans have an uncanny ability to hold onto grudges and resentments more so than anyone else I've ever witnessed. I’m not sure if it is the Irish roots in the city or what, but it’s there.

It's Days Like this that Make One Happy to Be Working for a Non-Profit

Today there are some awful long faces in the building that we share with Constellation Energy. One of the two remaining Fortune 500 companies based in Baltimore is sold to an Iowa based energy company after Constellation had lost 60% of its share value and was in danger of having it's credit rating slashed by S&P.

DES MOINES, Iowa - Iowa-based MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company has reached a tentative agreement with Constellation Energy to purchase outstanding shares of Constellation for $4.7 billion, or $26.50 per share, Constellation announced today.

The two companies plan to sign a definitive merger agreement by the end of business Friday.

After the deal is signed, Constellation will issue $1 billion in preferred stock to MidAmerican, the companies said.

The deal was unanimously approved by both companies' boards, but still requires approval from shareholders and governmental officials and is expected to close within nine months.

Baltimore Police & DEA Shutdown Major Heroin Distribution Ring; Drug Problem Solved in City

Last week a large joint operation between the DEA and Baltimore City culminated with 18 raids and 9 arrests city-wide. Putting aside all the groundbreaking reporting that the Sun does in this article, like the fact that drug dealers like to buy really expensive cars (whew knew?) that football players might have at one point owned, it's always interesting to see how these large-scale urban drug organizations essentially become a big business:

Here is how the operation is alleged to have worked, according to Collins' affidavits:

• Butler, aided by Calvin Wright, 36, and suspected money launderer Walter Horton, is alleged to have supplied large amounts of heroin to and maintained control of a group of drug-dealing shops throughout Baltimore.

• Alleged "managers" of the shops include Daron Ashe, 21; Geraldmain Wilkerson, 34, and his brother, Leon Wilkerson, 35; Akeem Yarberough, 31; Antoine Boston, 35; and Adrian Aulton, 36. Yarberough is at large.

• The ninth defendant, Shawn Moore, 22, is incarcerated in Jessup and accused of arranging to purchase heroin for distribution in jail.

The affidavit outlines multiple conversations involving drug-dealing operations and claims that Butler had also taken control of the city's "Red Dot" drug ring, which authorities allege distributes heroin throughout the city, obtaining up to 5 kilograms a week from a Queens, N.Y., supplier and making about $100,000 a week in profit.

What Politicians Want, Politicians Get

Baltimore (and the state), a city with no professional hockey or basketball team, is planning on building a brand-new, 18,500 seat arena with a tax-payer subsidised price tag of about 300 million. Mind you, this comes at a time when MD Gov Martin O'Malley has raised just about every tax he could because of the 'tough budget concerns' the state faces. But apparently building a 300+million arena with no commitment as to a tenant is a necessity. The Baltimore Sun:

State and city leaders unveiled plans yesterday to tear down the aging 1st Mariner Arena and replace it with a new venue big enough to attract a professional basketball or hockey team to Baltimore - an idea that drew a skeptical response from the sports world.

Calling the 46-year-old 1st Mariner Arena "functionally obsolete," officials said a new 18,500-seat facility would draw the biggest concerts and acts to Baltimore and could play host to major events such as the NCAA basketball tournament. A new arena would probably cost $300million or more, paid for largely with public money, and could open as soon as 2012.[...]

We need a state-of-the-art arena because whether we have a major-league team in Baltimore playing basketball or shooting hockey pucks, this is a major-league city and it deserves a major-league arena," said M.J. "Jay" Brodie, president of the Baltimore Development Corp. and head of a panel formed to evaluate arena options. The panel issued its recommendations yesterday with the support of the mayor and the governor.

That's right, Baltimore is a "major-leagues city" that deserves a major-league arena. It doesn't matter if it needs one - (and really, does a city ever need a tax-payer funded arena? No, probably not, but it certainly doesn't need one when it doesn't have a team to fill it. Getting one extra Hannah Montana concert doesn't equal a NBA team) - some d-bags in City Hall and Annapolis just think the city deserves one. That and they all want some really sweet contracts to dish out to relatives and friends for the construction of this monstrosity. Excellent.

Full stroy here.

There are Lots of Factors Contributing to the Stench, But High Property Taxes is Certainly One

Stephen Walters and Steve Hanke in the WSJ on Baltimore:

If you've seen HBO's "The Wire," you know why those of us who live in Baltimore are often asked whether our city really is the hellhole it is portrayed to be on TV.

Our answer is, well, yes. Baltimore deserves the Third-World profile it has developed because it has expanses of crumbling, crime-riddled neighborhoods populated by low-income renters, an absent middle class, and just a few enclaves of high-income gentry near the Inner Harbor or in suburbs. [...]

How did this happen?

Most people think of cities as dense concentrations of people. They are that, of course. But they are also dense concentrations of capital – homes, offices, factories, theaters and roads. All of these assets are attractive to people because, when they are in close proximity to each other, they offer the chance of a more prosperous life.

The problem is that once capital is built, it can become a target for tax-and-spend politicians who bank on the fact that physical capital will continue to draw people, even as it is taxed more heavily. This is what has happened in Baltimore. The city has waged a war on capital for more than 50 years, raising property taxes an astonishing 21 times from 1950 to 1985.

I don't own in this city, I rent (mostly to allow for a quick escape when the restless natives completely take over), but if I did own this would be my number one complaint with Baltimore. Even before high crime, lackluster public services, non-existent public transportation and high income tax. I'm always surprised at the number of people who live outside of the city that think property taxes within Baltimore are low. Only because in their mind they would have to be; otherwise why would anyone live in Baltimore? It's a good questionm that the political leadership in the city might want to ask themselves.

Civil Rights Crusading -- NAACP Style

BALTIMORE (Map, News) - At Baltimore’s Lexington Market, cold beer is poured fresh from the tap — but there’s a catch.

To buy a cup of suds, patrons must also purchase food — a policy some customers call a “rip-off” and the NAACP alleges is “possible discrimination.”

“I think it’s extortion,” said Rodney Orange, the fifth past president of the Baltimore branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. “Why should someone have to buy food if all they want is a cup of beer?”

See, Rodney wanted a beer only -- no food -- and was told it was against market policy and he would have to buy food. Then, instead of worrying about things like the murder rate in Baltimore among young black males, or the unemployment rate, or any number of real problems in the black community; or just going to any other market in the city, he decided to protest the possible discrimination of Lexington Market for only selling beer to patrons who buy food. Makes sense. Or I guess I should say in Baltimore this makes sense.

See here, here for more proud and pointless moments (respectively) in recent Baltimore NAACP history.

Full story here. Via Baltimore Crime.

Nothing To See Here; Move Along People

I dunno but if I were representing a fairly prominent politico whose home had just been raided by state investigators, I think I'd try to proclaim my client's innocence of any wrong-doing instead issuing of a weaselly evasion -- if I could. But hey, that's just me. What do I know?

State prosecutors searched Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon's house for several hours in the morning, apparently continuing a two-year probe of her financial dealings as City Council president.

The investigators removed documents from Mrs. Dixon's Southwest Baltimore home, but would not confirm the focus of the investigation.
***
"The public should be aware of the State Prosecutor's reports for the last couple of years, which disclose that the State Prosecutor has spent hundreds of thousands on investigations which went nowhere," said Dale P. Kelberman, a white-collar criminal defense attorney representing Mrs. Dixon.

Read the whole thing here.

I Could Think of Worse Ways to Wage the War on Drugs

No parking here has helped drive down business in one of the largest open-air drug markets in city...but drug dealers aren't the only business being hurt:

Every day, Derek Kang used to chase 20 to 30 people he suspected of dealing drugs out of the vestibule of Sweet Sixteen, a women's clothing store he manages on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Now it's down to just one or two, he said, after Baltimore police began a new strategy to eradicate one of the city's largest open-air drug markets: Take away the parking.

Business has been down since late fall, when orange "No Stopping" bags first appeared on the meters lining four blocks of the West Baltimore commercial district, and Kang and other merchants along the strip have felt the impact on their bottom line. But Baltimore police officials said that calls for service are also down there and that they are monitoring the effects of the initiative to determine whether it might be applied elsewhere.[...]

The city's strategy is an example of what is called "situational crime prevention" - changing the environment to deter criminal activity, said Jean M. McGloin, a criminologist at the University of Maryland.

Interesting. Of course what usually ends up happening in situations like this is that the drug dealers merely get pushed to another area, it's not as though people want to stop getting high in Baltimore. But as far as tactics go in the War on Drugs, we could do a lot worse.

Baltimore to Remove 'Blue Light' Cameras

Arguing that the technology requires too much manpower to be effective, Baltimore police are phasing out the first generation of blue-light cameras -- among the city's most visible crime-fighting tools.

Baltimore City Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III said the portable cameras, which represent about 18 percent of all crime cameras in the city, will slowly be replaced with more sophisticated closed-circuit units.

The blue light cameras were always more symbolic instead of a crime-fighting tool, and about the only good they served was was to warn you to not get too close to the block with the blinking blue light. That being said, I would much rather have the ineffective blue light cameras over effective CCTV government cameras.

If they are going to watch me, I'd rather it be a heavy burden on the state, rather than just punching up a television screen in some central viewing area.

Full article here.

Deadly Night in the City

8 men shot, 2 fatally during a busy night in Baltimore.

Preakness vs Derby

Looking at my calender I see that the annual Baltimore tradition -- and second leg of the Triple Crown -- is coming up this Saturday. I plan on finding just about anything else to do. Golf, yard work, rounding up feral cats at the dump, you name it -- I'd rather be doing it. Preakness is something to be done once, maybe twice, but only if you're lucky enough to survive the fist one. The infield is a virtual death trap between beer grenades and flying ice chests, and enough pools of urine, feces and vomit to breed both mosquitoes and hepatitis.

On that note, the Sun's Kevin Van Valkenburg compares the Kentucky Derby to the Preakness and ends on this:

RACING FIELD AND OVERALL AESTHETIC

Derby: The best 3-year-olds in the world, most of whom are anonymous, unless you are the kind of guy who hangs out at the track all day, every day, smoking cigars, drinking bourbon and studying a racing sheet, in which case you are awesome.

Preakness: Say what you want about the Preakness, but it always has the Kentucky Derby winner, and the possibility for a Triple Crown is still alive. C'mon, Big Brown, momma needs a new pair of shoes!

Comment: OK, so one time at the Preakness, a guy ran on the track and tried to punch a horse. And we still don't have slots to play while you wait. And, yeah, Barbaro ran his last race here. And the grandstand looks like a shuttered steel mill. Did we mention you can bring your own beer?

Advantage: Preakness.

OVERALL WINNER: Preakness.

The Kentucky Derby is like a cross between the circus and the opera for rich people, only with more drinking and less-tasteful nudity.

The Preakness is more like a working-class celebration, something out of a Damon Runyon short story. It's the people's horse racing event, and it's as exciting as it is unpredictable.

You never know whether the power is going to fail or whether you're going to find true love at the bottom of an inflatable pool that's filled with warm beer. Plus, who knows how many more years the Preakness will be in Maryland?

It almost makes me want to go...Just almost.

Full article here.

Headline Tells the Tale

In the Baltimore Sun:

Shooting victims had poor attendance, system's data show

There's a little more to the story, but even the revelation that kids who are shot have poor school attendance before the shooting is pretty worthless.

1st Quarter Homicide Rate Lowest Since 1985

Give credit where credit is due:

Something has changed. Compared to the same time last year, homicides were down 30 percent in the first three months of 2008 and shootings declined 31 percent. Last year began as the most violent in more than a decade, but the first quarter of 2008 was Baltimore's least deadly since 1985.

City and state officials caution that it's too early to extrapolate much, but they say the trends are encouraging and point to a host of factors that they believe have made a difference.

IMO the new police chief, Fredrick Bealefeld deserves most of the praise. He's prioritized community involvement with his department, put foot patrols back on the street where they belong and moved away from the zero-tolerence policing that had zero impact on the murder rate.

Time will tell though, (and I'd like to see the numbers on non-fatal shootings) but improvement is improvement.

Full story here.

Breaking News: Two People May Move to Baltimore

Is there a chance that Jenna Bush and her soon-to-be husband are moving to Baltimore? Via Wonkette, Washington Post's Reliable Source reports:

In barely more than six weeks, Henry Hager will have a new wife -- Jenna Bush, as you may have heard -- and a brand-new graduate degree in business. So presumably a new job is on the horizon?

According to a student at the University of Virginia's Darden School, where Hager is in the final weeks of MBA study, Hager's friends are buzzing that President Bush's future son-in-law will be going to work for Baltimore-based Constellation Energy.[..]

Also: The betrothed couple has reportedly house-hunted in the Baltimore area, according to People. They'll get hitched at the Bush family ranch in Crawford, Tex., on May 10.

Fantastic! Just the other night -- when walking back home from a lovely meal out with my lady friend I was thinking, "Why don't more wealthy, upper-class white couples move into this city?"

Of course, during that same walk a black man with a large penis yelled at us:

"I'll fuck your whore. I have a big dick. I'll face-fuck your whore and snuff you mother-fucker."

Ah...Well, that answers that.

Savino Escapes His Second Death; This Time From A Knife

Christopher Clanton, the Baltimore based actor who played Savino Bratton on The Wire, was stabbed in the buttocks and chest at a social hall in Baltimore County. He's reportely doing well.

About 2 a.m., Baltimore County police rushed to Overlea Caterers Inc., in the 6800 block of Belair Road, and used pepper spray to disperse a crowd of about 30 people, several of whom were fighting, a police spokesman said.[...]

The actor, who lives in Northeast Baltimore, has had his own encounters with the law.

In August 2006, Clanton pleaded guilty in Baltimore Circuit Court to manufacturing, distributing and dispensing a controlled dangerous substance and other drug-related charges.

Brief reminder: Savino was killed by Omar outside the club during episode 7 of this final season. Full article here.

In other Baltimore-violence-related-news, it was a bloody weekend in the city with two murders and 3 other non-fatal shootings over the holiday weekend.

In a Bar in Baltimore and Need a Smoke? Walk to Pennsylvania

150 feet is a long ways away. Contrast 150 feet to the standard 15 feet distance that some smoke-free municipalities demand in their bans.

BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Banished smokers taking nicotine breaks outside bars in one of Baltimore City’s trendy neighborhoods are being told to move or face fines and arrest for loitering, bar owners said.

Hampden bar owners said they were shocked last week when police began warning patrons to move 150 feet away from the entrance of bars they were patronizing or face loitering charges.

“Loitering has always been a legitimate problem in the neighborhood that we couldn’t get police to deal with,” said Benn Ray, owner of Atomic Books and head of the Hampden Village Merchants Association.

“So why all of sudden is the Police Department being aggressive with smokers when they haven’t been enforcing loitering laws for 10 years?”

Maybe not in Hampden, but in the grimier neighborhoods of Baltimore, police in the past have had little problem in strictly enforcing the loitering laws. More:

At Frazier’s, a popular Hampden hangout, day manager Tabrina Sherman said the message police gave to patrons smoking outside her bar was clear.

“They were told they need to move 150 feet away or they will be fined first and arrested the second time.”

City officials said enforcing loitering laws has grown trickier since the statewide smoking ban went into effect Feb. 1.

“Particularly in front of bars where there have been a history of problems, we have asked patrols to be aggressive to enforce the loitering laws; however, the smoking ban changes the dynamic,” said Sterling Clifford, spokesman for the Police Department.

“This is an unintended consequence of two well-intentioned laws.”

Predictable. Every single bit of it. And it will only get worse has smokers adjust their habits and began to smoke as much as they were pre-ban once they get used to going outside for a smoke. Residents will start complaining about the increased noise in the early morning hours, and before you know it I'll be forced to smoke on a barge in the Patapsco River. Which minus the fish-kills and dead bodies, I'm sure would be a lovely experience.

Full article here.

The Coming War on Dirt Bikes

It's already illegal to ride a dirt bike in Charm City. Next up: Proposed legislation that would force owners to install ignition locks or wheel clamps on dirt bikes at all times. If the vehicles were not immobilized the city would be allowed to steal seize the property, and the owner would not be allowed to purchase the vehicle back from the city. The bike's former owner would also be castrated, then shot, after which his/her dead body would be thrown to the pigs for supper as punishment for the unforgivable offense of leaving their dirt bike drivable in the World's Safest City.

Full article here, complete with shake-your-head stupidity like:

“What typically happens when the police seize these bikes [particularly from drug runners] is that the people who forfeited the bikes show up at auction and just buy it right back. This law outlaws that practice,” said Shaun Adamec, spokesman for City Council President Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, who also supports the bill.

Get it? People who have "forfeited" -- which is nice talk for the government stealing your property -- their bikes have the audacity to try and buy back their once-owned property. The nerve of some people!

Dirt bikes are annoying and loud. Possibly even dangerous. Some are even used by drug dealers. Still, does this mean that we should go to such drastic, and seemingly unconstitutional lengths to prevent their use within city limits? A rational, and liberty-loving individual who believes in property rights would say no. Power hungry, and all-knowing politicians and bureaucrats say yes.

2 Dead, 3 Others Wounded Overnight

If this headline was about a shooting at a mall in an Ohio suburb it would be front-page news across the country. However, this occurred on the streets (and homes) of east and west Baltimore in 4 separate incidents, and the story hardly gets any play on the Sun's web site, let alone any where else in the media world. If nothing else, can't we get a story on how this is a bad night, in an otherwise sorta' good year for crime? [OK -- so far, a sorta' good year. But you take the good when you get it.]

Hey, but if nothing else people like to watch The Wire. Or should I say they used to...

Armed with Video Cameras

Good article in the Baltimore Sun today on citizens video taping police officers.

Drive though some Baltimore neighborhoods at night and it quickly becomes obvious: The blinking blue-light cameras show the police are watching.

But the police also are being watched.

Citizens armed with cameras - even in their cell phones - are filming officers in action, sometimes with unflattering results.

That's a fair point when talking about the supposed controversy surrounding the act of taping police officers. If I leave my house and walk west on Washington Blvd, I am guaranteed to be on film for more than 8 blocks. No doubts about it, every time I do it, I'll be captured on film by the city. I'm not a criminal*, but the camera captures you whether you are committing a crime or not, or whether you have the intent to commit a crime or not.

The logic is that the blue-light cameras will prevent crime from happening, or allow police to solve more crimes that do occur. The cameras don't actually accomplish those goals, but nonetheless that's why they are there. Plus, if you aren't doing anything illegal, what do you have to fear? It's fucked up. That logic shouldn't apply to innocent citizens who, for perfectly reasonable reasons, feel uncomfortable about being filmed by their frequently abusive government. But that logic should be applied to government agents, who are given immense amounts of power and responsibilities, and -- last time I checked -- supposedly worked for the taxpayers.

Some police officers don't like the new reality that they can be under surveillance by the citizenry.

"I think that cops are terrified of video cameras," said Peter Moskos, a former Baltimore police officer who is now a sociologist at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. "I think the end result is cops will police a little more carefully.

Uh, this is a good thing, right? 'Cause, if cops are more careful with their power that's a net positive for everyone, right? Better community relations, less complaints and lawsuits, and most importantly -- fewer people getting the shit kicked out of them.

But officers do have some reasons to fear the lens. Recently retired Lt. Frederick V. Roussey said that in his 29 years on the force he used to encounter suspected gang members who would walk up to his officers and take pictures of them with their cell phones.

"If I had someone doing it, I would go over and grab the phone," he said. "It would be like, 'No way.'" Roussey said he feared that gangs were compiling electronic hit lists of officers.

Bullshit. To the best of my knowledge one police officer was killed in all of 2007. He wasn't even on-duty, he was robbed, and shot to death while returning home from work. Just like other innocent Baltimore residents who aren't adequately protected by our failing city services. According the Baltimore Police Department's website, the last officer killed on-duty, in a non-traffic related accident, was in 2004. Almost 4 years ago. If thugs in west Baltimore are compiling electronic hit lists of cops, they aren't making much headway on them. Which is surprising, because if there is one thing Baltimore criminals are good at, it's killing people. Most likely, criminals understand that killing a cop is bad for business, so they tend to avoid it. But forget about logic; let's look at the facts. In the same period that one police officer was shot to death, on-duty, we've had 49 fatalities at the hands of police officers. 49. 49-1. With that ratio, who needs to be filmed?


*I use the term "criminal" and "not" loosely. I do not consider the occasional Pigtown tranny pick-up to be a crime. I hardly ever pay; most time I just trade them drugs for oral sex**

**ATTN Baltimore PD: This is not a confession of illegal acts (although I'm not sure I want to live in a country where trading crack for a blow job is illegal), this web site is merely for entertainment purpose only and should not be taken seriously.

Baltimore Cop Objects to the 'Dude' Label

Making the rounds today on the web. Baltimore police officer (one that I recgonize as a regular patrol in that area) roughs up skateborder at the Inner Harbor.

Best part is the very end as the video is being cut off the cop asks the kid if he is filiming the confrontation and begins to say, "If I end up on you tube..". Too late. The cop in question has been suspended pending an internal affairs investigation.

When Bad Cops Stay Bad

I thought I had blogged on this (involving the same cop as below) story a few weeks back, but checking our archives I was proven wrong. In fact, I thought I had written a bunch of quality posts that turn out not to exist. What a bummer.

This will make up for my oversight:

A police officer and the City of Baltimore face a $100 million lawsuit filed by a man who says he was sexually assaulted.

Adam May reports Steven Vernarelli claims he was walking to Johns Hopkins Hospital in October, when he was stopped for no reason and sodomized with his own paper money by a Baltimore City police officer.

Vernarelli filed a $100 million lawsuit against Officer Jerome Hill.

"He took the money, ripped it and then reached behind me and shoved the twisted pieces," said Vernarelli.

Good to know my tax dollars are going to something useful. Like paying $100 million for a city employee to sodomize a citizen with a dollar bills. At least give me a buzz next time so I can catch this on video and get a front-page hit on you tube or break.

There's more to this officer's problems. The story I mentioned at the top of this post, the one that I'd thought I'd blogged on, involved Officer Hill and an integrity-testing sting about a month back. Here's how dirty this cop is, or I guess I should say was:

BPD receive multiple complaints, including a "serious allegation" made in district court about Officer Hill. The integrity testing unit sets up a sting involving a couple of undercover officers planted as suspected drug dealers. Officer Hill is dispatched to the corner where the undercover officer/suspect is and he properly drills the guy in the face with his fist. No provocation, no reason to do it, he just smashes the undercover officer in the face. Back up comes out to pull Hill off the undercover officer and arrest him. It took ONE sting to get this guy. The very first time he just shows up and punches the guy in the face. I mean Christ, give us some hope that you weren't beating the shit out of everyone EVERYTIME you had an opportunity.

So that story made front pages, he was charged with assault and placed on unpaid leave. Now the stories start flooding out, as well as the lawsuits. I blame the individual officers, but I also blame the city for poor management and oversight of a police department that everyone knows is both corrupt and dangerous.

The Wire Blows Its Last Season

The first four seasons of The Wire were the best that television could offer. This season creator David Simon got too close to home and had too many bones to pick. He featured the Baltimore Sun, his former paper, and his anger toward the state of newspapers caused him to screw up the whole damn thing.

The Washington City Paper has the best critique of the show.

Season 5’s mistakes—clunky plotting, false parallels, confused motivations—are violations of the realism the show promised. And without a solid rooting in truth, The Wire doesn’t just have a bad season—it betrays its own intentions. David Simon broke a contract, changed the rules without warning. In his world, that’s something only the Wire-bad are supposed to do.

The Last Gasp of Freedom

I know we have a few Baltimore readers out there.... Wherever you are in city, be sure to take advantage of your last night (until midnight) to light up in bars. As of Feb 1st, Baltimore begins to lose the Charm in Charm City, and joins the crowd of non-smoking cities. I may be overly emotional in this time of mourning, but to my mind I can't think of a smokier city in our country than Baltimore. Any nominations for a smokier city? Maybe Savannah? I'll even take pre-ban nominations...

Anyways, I'll probably be at Mick O'Shea's in 3 hours time enjoying my last few hours of freedom. I'll be the guy with a cigar in one hand and a cigarette in the other, wondering how I'm going to explain to my kids that you were once able to smoke in bars...