December 28

Murder Ink notes that the man shot to death at Old Town Mall December 15 was identified as 32-year-old Stacy McDonald.

The Maryland Court of Appeals refused to take on the $691 million Allfirst (AIB) case and sent it to Ireland, ending all American involvement in the scandal.

A Baltimore City firefighter was critically injured by a bomb in Iraq.
Michael J. McMullen is a member of the Baltimore-based 243rd Engineering Company.

Police have released sketches of Al Jolson and Jimbo Jones, wanted in an Essex home invasion.

OpEd Watch:
Post: geographic disparities are much more significant than racial ones when it comes to crime, death penalty issues.
Sun: black men need hobbies, mentors.

Don't laugh coffee out of your nose as you check out your choices for the best of WJZ's Top Stories of 2005, an all-too brief overview of JZ's cream-of-the-crop investigative news stories. Some months the best story is obvious, but then there are months like June where there's so many to choose from...

January: Fish with human face, vs. it snowed vs. a woman had a baby vs. Marty Bass jumped in water
Feb: It snowed vs. police chase
March: Miss USA vs. police chase
April: Police chasing a car vs. police chasing a buffalo
May: Two county-music related features vs. an inmate was killed at central booking
June: A two-headed cat vs. a dolphin having a dolphin baby vs. Tom Cruise squirted with a watergun
July: Marlin Attack Of f Coast Of Panama!
August: Police chase!
September: 'Chico' The Dog Reunited With His Family!. vs. Howard County 'massage parlors' offer happy endings vs. a woman who had babies
October: Police chase #1 vs. police chase #2
November: Mammoth Manic Monday Meltdown!.
December: Too early to say...

Which rocked your world the hardest? Oh to be getting a happy ending on the Panamainian f Coast, away from this snowy, fertile, 'ho-hating town...

December 27

A 25-year-old suspect, Alvin Williams, left has been arrested in connection with the Nov. 12 murder of Brian Jones. Jones was 33, a father of three and a basketball coach at Cardinal Gibbons. Williams was a pro armed robber.

Corpsewatch: Shot hot cop Adam Vasquez returned to Brooklyn. The viewing of Leslie Holiday's 34-years-alive, six-days-dead body will be today from 4 p.m. until 8 p.m. at the William C. Brown Funeral Home in Abderdeen.

Jason Chen, 20, is charged with stabbing his father, Yun Sen, on Webbed Foot Way.

Worcester County police are looking for three men who assaulted a 40-year-old woman in her home for three days.

Liquor board corrupt!

O'Malley asks Ehrlich for $9.3 million to fight crime. That sounds like big money but is really not: it's about $6 million less than what the state spends on its stop-smoking campaign.

Editor & Publisher deems our gov. 2005's "Crybaby of the Year."

A fifth police dog has died, this one from a stomach tumor.

December 26

Howard County Dead Body

The main suspect in the homicides of officers Leslie Holliday and Adam Vazquez, Eugene Victor Perry Jr., had tried to apply to both the city and county police forces.

Annapolis police: crimes against Hispanic immigrants are rising.

Rodricks on the MD criminal justice system:
"[Ehrlich] has made a fix a priority." Read your own paper much?
Like the thing about the City having to sue our own State for witholding a public report about Central Booking... that tax dollars paid for? The one about when Ehrlich announced they'd closed down the Hickey school, leaving nowhere to send juvenile offenders but adult jail or shady group homes? Hey did we ever get those 9,800 treatment slots announced two years ago?

December 25

Top-10 Northern-district first-degree murder suspect Lester Lewis Talley Jr., 30, was arrested in Manchester, Pennsylvania. <-perfect AP style!.

Police are looking for clues as to who was set on fire on the shoulder of 83, and why.

A bullet in the hip and and a metal cane in the eye: popular Bmore Xmas gifts.

December 23

The 15-year-old girl who stabbed 15-year-old Kanisha Neal to death outside a MoCo football game in September was convicted of second-degree murder and weapons charges.

More on the case against and the arrest of alleged serial rapist Reginald Williams.

Who are the nine "gang members" arrested for "crimes"?

In Chase, Md. (wherever that is) a woman was shot in a home invasion.

Another "incident" at Towson Town Center! This time a man was robbed in the bathroom.

Michelle Dohm, a scary-looking Hagerstown middle school teacher, is accused of stalking and threatening students.

Yeech, a 44-year-old school administrator is charged with sending sexy text messages to a 17-year-old student.

A drug arrest, robbery etc from the blotter. From the CP archives: Blotteratio Dick Irwin enjoys mustard, puppets.

December 22

More information on the shooting of officers Leslie Holiday and Adam Vasquez. She was a mother of three, and he had a dog named Peanut. (Poor Gus et al must have been up all night...)

Offensive holiday greeting dept: 83 homeless people have died of hypothermia this year in the city!

BC: lynn, was this just in the city?
l: hi - that was only in the city. i hope this answers your question.
happy holidays! - lynn
BC: "happy holidays?" How awful! We can't spend what it takes as a city to keep these people in a heated room? That is repulsive! Don't we have a place for these people? We can't find them a gym somewhere?! Yikes!
lynn: i couldn't agree more. sorry if my holiday greeting offended you. it was not meant to.

Reginald Williams, the rape and robbery suspect who has been assaulting women in the Central, was shot by police.

An assault with a syringe, a rape on N. Port street, burglary, and an old man mugged at gunpoint at White Marsh in the Dick Irwin special.

Ai Papi: A Columbia (MD) man, Elmer Antonio Galvan-Giron, got 35 years for stabbing his roommate Rigoberto Zavala. Two other Honduran immigrants had been previously sentenced for their involvement.

Metro Digest: Baltimoreans, they loves some drugs.

BoCo police are looking for two guys who robbed a Royal Farms store.

Watch out, WMDs: 69-year-old Sister Ardeth Platte, right, is back on the streets.

Two newborn twins, a boy and girl, were found inside of North Austin Lutheran Church on the West side.

This guy is Blowing the Whistle on gansta culture. Unfortunately, though the word Sisyphean does come up a lot, not a story about the Down Low.

December 21

Two police officers, Adam Vasquez and Leslie Holliday, were shot and killed in Pikesville. A suspect, reportedly a male city employee who reportedly worked for the state Department of General Services (DGS) guarding state office buildings, surrendered in Woodlawn.

The man shot to death at Greenmount and 27th was a 50-year-old cab driver. The murder rate is now at 262.

The Ink is back, cataloguing the deaths of Rashard Thomas, 19; Talib Damon, 21; Timothy Ford Jr., 23; Damian Mitchell, 28; Brian Keith Jones, 18; Mohamed Abukar Barre, 26; Jonathan Coles, 23; Byron Lee Bell, 24; William Lowe, 43; and an unidentified person; but oddly, not Troy Marine or Raphael Grady.

Judge Charlotte M. Cooksey ordered Raymont Hopewell held without bail this morning following a bail review hearing. Hopewell was charged with three counts of first-degree murder on Tuesday. The court set a preliminary hearing date of January 19, 2006 in Wabash District Court. The Sun reports that Hopewell is also now charged with the September 2 rape of a 63-year-old woman. Amelia Tabron, an elderly survivor of an (alleged) attack by Hopewell recounts her struggle in the Sun.

What the?! According to this CP story, plainclothes police broke into David Scheper's house without a warrant, ate three pizzas, left the boxes, took $1,440 and some antique guns that they later used as props in an unrealted case, did $3,700 of damage and arrested him and his female roommate for discharging a gun when they mistook the detectives for home invaders.

A traffic stop at North Chester and Lafayette ended with a 33-year-old suspect shot in the jaw and arm.

Following the Supreme Court decision, charges were officially dropped against Leeander Blake.

Girl-on-girl carjacking action in Lothian.

In Parkville, police raided the Let's Play arcade and removed 20 poker machines.

The blotter is rife with theft.

In an Op-Ed in the Post from Sunday, former Governor Parris Glendening discusses the racial and geographic disparities of Maryland's death penalty, and calls Ehrlich's reinstating of executions "simply wrong."

December 20

Mohamed Abukar Barre, 26, was shot in the head on E. Belvedere Avenue. Also a 13-year-old assaulted a woman in the Eastern.

Raymont Hopewell has been charged in the murders of five senior citizens between 1999 and August 2005: Sadie Mack, 78, Carlton Crawford, 82, Constance Willis, 60, Sarah Shannon, 88 and Lydia Wingfield, 78, are all believed to be his victims. Correction to the Sun report, he was charged with three counts of murder (not five) overnight (he was charged with two Friday). Hopewell appeared before a court commissioner and was held without bail today. A bail review hearing before a District Court judge is expected to be scheduled for tomorrow.

A 45-year-old man got 15 1/2 years in federal prison for selling harerwin.

A 14-year-old admitted to the murder of Jerrod Hamlett, 23, and will serve a seven-year-sentence. The victim was killed after complaining that the boy was throwing bottles. The boy was a member of the "Cutthroat" gang, selling crack out of the Oswego Mall apartments.

More info on the Johnanthan Luna case: apparently the federal prosecutor was asked to take a poygraph over some missing cash soon before he was found dead.

In Glen Burnie, a man was charged with traffic violations in an accident that cost an offier his leg.

Dude. More than 100 pot plants were found in the woods near Wheaton. Who knew they could even tolerate this clime? (Grammar school: when a paper gets stories from the AP, all an editor has to do is write a headline. Still, this WJZ headline contains two violations of AP style. Can you spot them?)

Thank God: Intelligent Design has been thrown out of PA biology classes.

Galt, I can't find anything about the Greemount & 27th shooting, let me know if you hear anything...

December 19

A hearing has been rescheduled for 8:30 tomorrow morning for Heather Mink, 22, at the District Court on Wabash Avenue. Court documents allege that on September 10 Mink did by corrupt means/threat/force, endeavor to influence/intimidate/impede a juror/witness/court officer, in the discharge of his duty. The witness reports that Mink threatened an officer with bodily harm if he testified in court in an assault case.

Shooting victims (of two separate incidents) were identified yesterday as Stacy McDonald, 32, and William Lowe, 43. Also, in Woodlwan, two men were stabbed outside the bowling alley.

In Germantown, 25-year-old nutjob Roxanna Benavides is charged with arson and reckless endangerment after getting pissed at her boyfriend and setting "personal items" on fire. Seventy-five people were displaced, it took 100 firefighters to extinguish the blaze and damages are estimated at $2.5 million.

Intriguing item among the usual stuff stolen in the Northern District, "sensitive papers were stolen from Johns Hopkins University." For what it's worth, JHU was recently declared the main Homeland Security Center of Excellence and given $15 million to study disaster readiness. The Quaker-founded U also develops missles and other WMDs (though not at the Homewood campus).

Citizens beware dept: pugalistic drunk Sidney Ponson is back on the streets after serving five days in protective custody for this third DUI. Also, the are cat burglar(s) on the loose in Howard County, particularly active in the Ellicott City area.

Nineteen-year-old Johnathan Myers was shot in the hand in Crofton, and in Annapolis, an iPod was stolen from a police car.

December 18

Two men were fatally shot last night: Byron Lee Bell, 24, and an as-yet-unidentified man who was shot at Belnord Avenue and Orleans Street.

Twenty-five-year-old Jermaine Bailey was shot to death in Laurel.

December 17

Matthew "Little Troy" Johnson, now 15, was acquitted for the December 2004 murder of 19-year-old Flenall Carter III.

Murder charges were dropped against Rodney Addison after he spent seven years in prison for the 1996 shooting of Lewis Jackson.

The Court of Appeals upheld the death sentence of drug kingpin Anthony Grandison, left. Grandison and Vernon L. Evans Jr. were convicted and sentenced to death for the April 1983 killing of David Scott Piechowicz and Susan Kennedy, who were witnesses in the drug case against him.

Nineteen-year-old David Ernesto Maradiaga was shot to death in Bladensburg, PG County.

It seemed like charges were dropped against everyone in that Owl's Nest poker raid, but turns out gambling-related changes were filed against co-managers Joseph A. Cary and Gerald C. Dickens, and 13 other suspects. All 15 defendants were summoned to appear at 1:30 p.m. Jan. 27 at the District Court at 700 E. Patapsco Ave.

Assistant Princeton U. lax coach Greg P. Raymond, 23, right, is charged with drunken driving after an accident on the Guilford exit of 83 that killed his passenger, Matthew Stoffel, left. I don't even want to think about what "massive puncture injury to [the] head" means, or why he was not charged with vehicular homicide a la Maricela Knight.

Wasn't that a John Cusak movie? The owner of a Baltimore County assisted living facility is charged with stealing $4,000 from a resident.

December 16

A man was shot and killed in East Baltimore on Preston street.

Baltimore police are investigating four suspicious deaths. The homicide rate is currently at 259 (or 260, unless the guy shot on Preston, above, was an accident).

Late yesterday afternoon, in the trial of David Ellerby, the jury returned not guilty verdicts on all counts, including first-degree murder and handgun violations. In July, Ellerby was also with felony narcotics counts and found not guilty. On April 14, 2003 Ellerby allegedly attempted to murder Jammar Jones, and in August he was found not guilty of that. This time, Ellerby allegedly shot and killed Reginald Tyler, 27, in the 300 block of E. Lafayette Avenue on September 10, 2002. And now he's a free man.

Yick, a probable murder-suicide in Anne Arundel County.

Tyree White, 23, was arrested for the murder of Tavon Antwan Granger, 20. Also in the blotter, a man stabbed in the arm with a knife, and plenty of stolen stuff, of course.

In Cambridge, a 14-year-old girl was stabbed in the stomach with a screwdriver.

Gregory Kane writes about Jeryl Anthony Singleterry Jr., who was kidnapped and killed even after family members paid $10,000 in ransom.

Police raided a meth lab in Millersville. A man was arrested and a Rottweiler was shot.

Itchy Man need Prozac to stay out the butt naked room. Tell me about it.

A 13-year-old in Annapolis got arrested after he tried to recruit other students to help him re-create Columbine.

In Chesapeake City, 17-year-old Jason Sweetman got 50 years for the murder of 22-year-old Ross Jones.

Obijah Bushae Robinson, the gap-toothed rapist, was arrested.

An Anne Arundel County science teacher pled guilty to possessing child pornography.

In Columbia, 31-year-old Maricela Knight was indicted for vehicular homicide for a drunk-driving accident that killed her husband, Andrew.

In Frostburg, an elementary-school principal is accused of stealing $18,000 from her school.

Kudos to the Sun for exceptional crime reporting today-- this is the first day since the blog started that they had all the major stories covered.

December 15

A Baltimore City jury convicted Brent Ross, 22, for the first-degree murder of Gwendolyn Boykins, 45. The jury also convicted Ross of attempted robbery with a deadly weapon, first-degree assault and use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence. Judge Paul E. Alpert scheduled sentencing for January 25, 2006. Shortly after midnight on July 11, 2004, Ross and Antonio Smith entered the home of Ms. Boykins, in the 100 block of North Ellwood Avenue, to rob her. Ross and Smith searched the home for money. When they did not find any money, Smith fled the scene and Ross forced Ms. Boykins into the basement of her home, where he shot her once in the back of the head. Ms. Boykins' three children were home at the time. Antonio Smith pled guilty on September 19 to second-degree murder. ED's note: if this was 50's Kansas, this story would be national news, followed by a true-crime novel, then a movie with Robert Blake and some other guys, and then 48 years later a tedious movie-about-a-book. But this story has appeared nowhere but here and the "Murder Ink." Why? Reporters from every network have so much spare time they can spend all day in front of the Royal Farm Store to inform the public it's snowing. Why is there not 15 seconds for such a tragic, horrible story as this?

In the blotter, Oman Hernandez of Honduras was arrested in Houston on a warrant charging him with first-degree murder in the stabbing of Blanca Dubon, 15, who was found with her throat slashed in a car on Loch Raven Boulevard September 12. Also an attempted murder arrest, a rape in the Southeastern, and plenty of robbery and burglary.

A shortish smallish black man has robbed and raped at least eight women in the Western and Central districts.

The murder conviction of Frederick Moore was upheld by the Court of Appeals. Moore was convicted of stabbing and strangling 14-year-old Ashley Mason behind a Pizza Hut in Columbia in 2000.

In Denton, two people have been arrested for the murder of Glenn Killen, 26, of Goldboro. Also on the Eastern shore, investigators believe that Jose Tellez, the 15-year-old stabbed in Crisfield, was armed and trying to break in to a house.

The gun incident on Saturday at Towson Town Center apparently began with a fight over a parking place.

Quote du jour: "Police officers should not be in the business of groping citizens." The Court of Appeals disagreed, as do I-- that would make a great fundraiser, especially if some of the younger, more strapping officers were involved.

Speaking of inappropriate touching, a second religious leader at the Redemption Christian Fellowship in Woodlawn has been charged with sexually abusing a teenager. Even weirder, the congregation raised the $600k for bail for the first groper, Gerald Griffith, who was arrested while attempting to flee to England.

December 14

A man was shot on Bayview and Eastern.

The City is now suing the state prison system to get an uncensored report about the problems at the state-run Central Booking facility. You'll recall that the report was submitted with half of the material redacted. A sentence they didn't censor: "No one was in charge."

Meanwhile, another detainee has died at Central Booking: James Pugh Jr., 41, was pronounced dead at Hopkins Hospital on Monday.

There's a rabbit-toothed rapist named Obijha Bushae Robinson (left) on the loose on the East side.

An arraignment hearing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. tomorrow for Afiba Roebuck, 27, before Judge Lynn Stewart. Court documents allege that on September 25 through October 20 of this year Roebuck engaged in a harassing course of conduct, repeatedly made threatening phone calls to several of the witnesses, their family members and friends in an endeavor to intimidate the witnesses in his pending 2nd-degree assault trial.

Two years later, the murder of federal prosecutor Johnathan Luna remains unsolved, and a PA representitive Mark Cohen is calling for Congressional hearings.

In the great Republican tradition of McCarthyism and the Enemies List, Ehrlich's administration is accused of not just firing employees for being Democrats, but making a "Death List" of Republicans who were friends with Democrats.

A Carroll County teacher was acquitted of second-degree assault. She was accused of abusing a student with Down's syndrome.

CP's Stephen Janis doesn't think it's worthwhile for the City Council to investigate adding State Troopers to the streets of Baltimore City, because "adding more police power to the streets doesn't address the underlying causes of crime."

December 13

Nakie Harris, 30, Richard Royal, 21, and Terrence Smith, 24, were found guilty of trying to kill Edna McAbier.

John Edward Kennedy Jr., 19, pled guilty to first-degree murder for shooting William A. Bassett at Towson Town Center.

Opening statements in the murder trial of David Ellerby, 32, of E. Lanvale Street began at 2 p.m. today before Judge John Glynn. The Baltimore City Grand Jury indicted Ellerby August 24, 2004 for first-degree murder and handgun violations. Court documents allege that on September 10, 2002, Ellerby shot and killed Reginald Tyler, 27, in the 300 block of E. Lafayette Avenue.

Damian Mitchell, 28, was fatally shot in the head in the Northeastern district.

Ameer Taylor, 31, was arrested and charged with the murder of Samuel Richardson (shown above, with his nephew).

More on the mysterious homicide of the Reverend Lorenzo Handy, whose body was found in Charles Village about a block from where Samuel Richardson was murdered in June.

The case of the firebombing of Edna McAbier's house goes to the jury today. Chilling revelation: the leader of the area Bloods initially wanted to shoot her in the head with a shotgun, but the gang dismissed the idea as not dramatic enough.

A 22-year-old man was carjacked and stabbed in Annapolis.

There was a second gun incident at Towson Town Center, and in spite of the mall having more than 200 security cameras, nothing was caught on tape.

A fourth police dog has now died under mysterious circumstances.

December 12

A Catonsville special-ed student, Steven Andrew Cearfoss, 17, and his adult minder Anthony Vernon Creek, 25 (who was assigned by the school to keep the boy out of trouble), have been arrested for illegal handgun posession and other felonies related to a burglary at the boy's grandfather's house. Turns out that Creek was convicted in 1999 of armed robbery, assault and the use of a handgun during a felony.

Two Baltimoreans, Kim M. Douglas and Darryl Edward Lomax, are in jail in PA for trying to steal a safe from a turnpike service station.

Former Orioles pitcher Sidney Ponson got five days in jail and a $500 fine for drunk driving.

This mind-blowing WJZ story contains only one sentence without a grammatical error. (Also, a 15-year-old stole a Ford Explorer.)

A man was shot in the side on Loyola Northway.

Walker Gladden III is trying to stop the killing, one cemetary tour at a time.

Armed robbery in Dundalk, stolen Christmas decorations in Essex and hot sauce squirted on a wall after a party in the blotter.

Gregory Kane gives Snoop Dogg the "Negro, please" award in this article about Crips founder Tookie Smith.

December 11

A 13-year-old girl has been cleared of all charges for the beating death of a four-year-old boy.

Reginald Graves, 42, of Glen Burnie is accused of assaulting his "girlfriend" Syretha Johnson, 24, with a lug wrench, then setting a car on fire with her inside.

Are city police falsifying crime statistics?

An alert citizen stopped a robbery at the Rent-A-Center.

A Baltimore County public school employee, David Lukes, 34, faces trial in PA for six counts related to using the Internet to solicit sex from someone whom he thought was a 13-year-old girl.

In Westminster, police are seeking one Shawn Anthony Jones, 27, for the murder of Donnie Bowman.

Someone left their gun at Towson Town Center.

Maryland schools have seized 63 percent more weapons from students since five years ago.

Finally, an answer to every city resident's question, What're all those damn police helicopters up to? Says the commander of the Aviation unit, "We look for guys with shopping carts in alleys."

A Timonium church has redecorated a room at the Mitchell courthouse to be comfortable for children who are crime victims or witnesses.

You Can't Make This Stuff Up Dept.: the head of the task force for the new Baltimore slogan is a Princeton-educated scholar of Byzantine art, and the San Francisco agency working on the project has successfully convinced lots of people that BP is a group of enviromental activists and that it's hip to suck on revolting little mints. Punch line of the story: "officials worry the promotion may become a punch line."

December 9

A West Baltimore grandmother was tied up, her son stabbed and her Christmas tree set on fire by three home invaders.

James Dinkins, 33, was arrested for the murder of Michael Bryant, 22, on Tudor Arms Avenue. Also two attempted murder arrests and lots of the usual thievery in the blotter.

Baltimore City, County and Feredal Courts were closed to today on account of two inches of wet snow.

The MD Court of Appeals yesterday threw out the conviction of Erik Stoddard, convicted in the 2002 killing of three-year-old Calen Dirubbo.

A Florida consultant submitted a report on the problems at central booking, but when prison official submitted the report to Judge Glynn and the Sun, five of its 10 pages were censored, making it impossible to see what the recommendations were.

A 15-year-old boy was stabbed to death in bucolic Crisfield. And a double shooting in Carroll County made Donnie Bowman the county's first homicide victim in more than two years.

In PG County, Wei Shu of Clinton was arrested for fatally stabbing his wife Jin Shi Chen, 28, on December 1st.

Federal prosecutors rested their case yesterday in the McAbier firebombing trial.

Two Baltimore men were arrested for stealing almost $1 million worth of jewelry when the wife of police officer David A. Williamson tried to sell the booty to a pawn shop. What was she doing with it? Good question...

In the County, a third police dog has died under mysterious circumstances.

Black & Decker is being sued by a shareholder for giving company funds to a Mormon temple.

December 8

A 15-year-old boy was stabbed a block from Southwestern high school.

The Justice Department has returned to the city jail three years after their "scathing" report to see if improvements have been made in jail conditions.

Burglary, robbery, and six bundles of wacky tabacky in the blotter.

Robert C. Griffin, 71, is scheduled for a Circuit Court bail review and a preliminary motions hearing 9:30 tomorrow morning, before Circuit Judge Gale E. Rasin (231 Clarence Mitchell Courthouse). Griffin was found guilty in 1986 of stabbing and strangling 20-year-old Annie Cruse and leaving her body in Druid Hill Park. Last Month, Judge Raisin granted a motion for new trial due to the results from a recent DNA test.

The trial of Matthew Craighead, 22, of the 1900 block Walbrook Avenue, scheduled for yesterday, was postponed due to a witness' failure to appear. It is rescheduled for January 18, 2006.

The trial of Myron Merrill Gladney, 19, is scheduled to begin 9 tomorrow morning before Judge John Glynn. The BC Grand jury indicted Gladney on June 1 on charges of attempted first-degree murder, assault and intimidating a witness. Court documents allege that on April 6 Gladney approached the victim, who was scheduled to testify in the homicide trial of his brother, at E. 25th Street and Harford Road and shot him in the stomach.

In the arraignment hearing held Monday, December 5, 2005 Amanda Johnson, 23, failed to appear and a re-arraignment date of January 4, 2006 was chosen. Clyde Meadows was arraigned on Monday. His trial date is January 20, 2006 in Pt. 6 (Judge Hargadon). Kenneth A. George, also charged with intimidating the same witness is currently in BCDC's infirmary and was not transported. He too has a re-arraignment date of 1/4/06.

The theft trial of Samuel Terrell Mercer, 29, is scheduled to begin 9:30 tomorrow morning before Judge John M. Glynn. A Baltimore City Grand Jury indicted Mercer on May 24, 2004 for continuing theft. Court documents allege Mercer stole $323,836.10 from the Baltimore Museum of Industry. If convicted, Mercer faces a maximum possible prison term of 15 years.

Sign O the Times: Some members of the AA County police narcotics unit are training at Quantico to learn how to dismantle meth labs.

December 7

The man fatally shot in Endor Gardens was identified as Thaddeus Riley. Also in the ink: Charles Massey, shot in 1987, who died of his injuries; Eric Smith, 39; Torrey Garland, 36; Troy Marine, 30; Antonie Grandy, 18. All of the murders this week were black men killed by gunfire.

CSA: to white people, black people really do all look alike.

An Eastern shore lawyer, J. Christopher Llinas, who served as an assistant state's attorney and an assistant public defender, was indicted in federal court in a cocaine and heroin distribution conspiracy case. He may face life in prison and a $4 million fine.

Oprah is offering a $100,000 reward for helping to caputre Edward Claire Reisch, left, an 11-year-veteran of the Baltimore police force wanted for raping and sodomizing a young female relative.

A teacher who served three years for molesting a 12-year-old student in MoCo is in court fighting for custody of her own children.

Curran: we've got ourselves 2900 totally unsupervised sex offenders in Maryland.

Continuing the Baltimore holiday tradition of robbing the less fortunate, someone stole $4,000 worth of tools from volunteers building apartments to house children traveling to Hopkins with their families for bone marrow treatment.

In Annapolis, two women fought off a would-be purse snatcher (warning: don't try this at home).

State police to Carroll County: get your own force!

Gregory Kane: City Council has plenty to say about Iraq, but not so much about the war at home. (Thanks Galt)

December 6

Four murders over the weekend brough the city's toll to 254. Rashard Thomas, 19, Troy Marine, 30, Raphael Grady, 18, and an unnamed 43-year-old man are the latest victims.

Edna McAbier came out of hiding yesterday to testify in federal court about the firebombing of her home.

Twenty-two-year-old Aaron M. Brown got 15 years for killing his 20-year-old cousin Kevin Moulden last year after an argument about a ten-dollar debt.

The manslaughter conviction of Anthony Skidmore was upheld by the CSA. Baldwin's car struck and killed the driver of an oncoming car, Kelley Guckert, 20, of Jarrettsville, and Skidmore admitted to police he'd been nodding off at the wheel.

Anthony A. Garbutt, 22, got ten years for the June 17 robbery of five teenagers behind the York Road Plaza shopping center.

The trial of Matthew Craighead, 22, is scheduled for 9:00 a.m. tomorrow before Judge Shirley Watts. Court documents allege that on June 21, 2004 Craighead attempted to threaten a witness in a homicide investigation. The victim reported that Craighead assaulted and threatened her with a shotgun.

Motorcycles, a laptop, purses, cameras= stuff stolen in the Northern of late.

Ehrlich: deciding to play God and put a man down like a dog wasn't easy.

The death of a newborn found in a Dumpster in AA County has been deemed "suspicious."

The MoCo mom who filed a false kidnapping report on Nov. 27 has been charged with making a false statement to police.

In a case that could impact the Hoey defense, the Supreme Court has agreed to consider a case from Arizona involving the insanity plea.

December 5

We the people executed Wesley Baker. He was pronounced dead at 9:18 p.m.

A couple shot and burned in West Baltimore November 18 are believed to be Michael E. Wright and Thomasine Evans.

Juanita Long, 46, was charged with stabbing Dumont Jones to death in White Marsh.

The murder trial of David Ellerby, 32, is scheduled for 9:30 tomorrow morning before Judge John Glynn. The Baltimore City Grand Jury indicted Ellerby August 24, 2004 for first-degree murder and handgun violations. Court documents allege that on September 10, 2002, Ellerby shot and killed Reginald Tyler, 27, in the 300 block of E. Lafayette Avenue.

Jury selection is supposed to start today in the case of the firebombing of Miss Edna's house.

Down in St. Michael's, six kids were charged with holding an underage drinking party that ended with a 15-year-old being sent to the hospital.

U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein will reorganize the Maryland office to clarify the chain of command and group prosecutors by focus.

Who's who on death row? A rundown of Maryland's Dead Men Sitting.

The Sun ran a correction re. their John Booth-El story from last week.

"As If" Dept: TV news reporter wants Ben Cardin's job. If he gets elected I am like so totally moving.

December 4

Wesley E. Baker's death warrant goes into effect at midnight.

There was a quadruple shooting in Cherry Hill last night. The most seriously injured victim was a 14-year-old girl.

DNA testing has been ordered in a 20-year-old rape and murder case. Robert Griffin, now 71, was convicted for the 1985 murder of Annie Cruse.

There will be a public hearing January 4 re. alledged Baltimore police "Gestapo" tactics. (How is it that the city's stats and the FBI stats disagree so significantly? Also odd: finding out about the meeting from a DC paper.)

Baltimore's stop n' frisk method did help catch a(n alledged) murderer wanted in Hendersonville, NC.

An article on the difficulty felons face in finding jobs.

December 3

Eighteen-year-old Karl Sowers is now the sixth person arrested for the Owings Mills murders of Dante and Howard Thacker.

A 14-year-old girl was shot in the leg on her way home from Mervo.

Danielle Riley is out on $50,000 bail.

Information about Jane Tyson, the murder victim of next week's death penalty recipient Wesley Eugene Baker.

December 2

A body found in an alley near Charles and 25th streets has been identified as that of 67-year-old pastor Dr. Lorenzo Handy.

The murder trial of Michael Johnson, 15, of the 1600 block of West Franklin Street, is scheduled to begin 9:30 Monday morning December 5 before Judge Lynn K. Stewart. The Baltimore City Grand Jury indicted Johnson for first-degree murder and handgun counts May 18. Court documents allege that on December 1, 2004 Johnson shot and killed Flenall Carter, III, 19, in the 4100 block of 10th Street. Johnson is currently being held without bail.

An arraignment is scheduled for 9:30 Monday morning December 5 for Amanda Johnson, 23, of Abingdon, Maryland and Clyde Meadows, 26 of the 2000 block Huntington Avenue, before Judge Lynn Stewart. Court documents allege that on or about October 14 Amanda Johnson and Clyde Meadows knocked on the front door of a witness in a pending attempted murder investigation. It is also alleged the two threatened the parent of the witness in an effort to persuade the testimony in the investigation.

Riley: "I didn't do what they said."

A shooting and a lot of robberies, burglaries and thefts in the blotter. (I think I've finally figured out the difference: robbery is when someone steps right up to your face and takes your shit, burglary is when they break in somewhere and take your shit, and theft is when they steal just one thing.)

Two witnesses, a mystery individual and some guy called "Skip," (not to be confused with campaign manager "Chip") will be supoenaed to testify about Ehrlich's so-called "Shadow Government" December 13.

Freaky pervs dept: A parking valet at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring copied the housekey of a nurse who worked there and broke in to her house with condoms and a video camera.

Bwahahaha! Poseurs Creed and 311 got into a fight at the Explorers Lounge of the Harbor Court Hotel. Apparently groupie action was so nonexistent for the wussy has-beens that the Creed singer was reduced to hitting on the 311 bassist's wife.

The tag "Oracl" is suspected of being the handiwork of one Kenneth D. Ellis, 25.

December 1

Two murders and one arrest in Baltimore on Tuesday: Eric Smith was found shot in a car in West Baltimore at 9:00 Tuesday night, and Torrey Darling was fatally shot 30 minutes later Tuesday in the Northwest. Farrakhhan Jenkins was arrested for the Sunday murder of Antwon Torain in West Baltimore.

Jennifer Lee, the 21-year-old daughter of a Baltimore County firefighter, was killed in White Marsh on Monday night when a drunk driver crossed the center line and hit her car head-on. According to the article, the drunk driver was taken to Shock Trauma, charged, and "released on citations."

Suspicious: the body of David Ross, 55, found November 19 at the bottom of an elevator shaft in the Dundalk/Canton area.

In keeping in the Baltimore holiday tradition of robbing the less fortunate, two collection bins containing Christmas toys were set afire in Towson.

Former Villa Julie student Danielle Eboni Riley of PG County, 22, turned herself in yesterday and was charged with first-degree murder in the October death of her newborn daughter. The Medical Examiner ruled that the child' s death was a homicide, caused by asphyxia, blunt force, head injury and environmental exposure.

Still no leads on the murder of Jeryl Singleterry, the kidnapping victim who was found dead after his family paid over $10,000 in ranson. Singleterry was unemployed, had no criminal record, and was not apparently involved in drug use or other illegal acts.

A 16-year-old Annapolis honor student who wanted to "catch a body" got a 40 year sentence for murdering another teen and attempting to murder two women. Anthony Deyonko Switzer fired a shotgun randomly at a motorist. Not knowing he had just killed 18-year-old Doray D. Jones, he later shot at another car and narrowly missed the two women.

A 42-year-old East Baltimore dealer named Darrell Alston received a life sentence on Wednesday. His comrade-in-arms, Anthony Chandler, received 24 years. In an unrelated sentencing, Kenneth Butler was handed a 10-year sentence for attempting to deliver a half-kilo of heroin to a city dealer. (How is it that the drug trade seems to be the only entity in America on the metic system? -BVderC)

November 30

A homicide on Presbury Street in the Western, and a 17-year-old was shot.

Last week's five murders brought 2005's body count to 247.

A 23-year-old guy was found suspiciously dead in College Park.

Maryland inmate Ralph Manna got 20 more years for trying to hire an undercover officer to kill his ex-wife and their son. He was already serving two "life" sentences.

A motions hearing in the matter of John Booth-El, 52, is scheduled for 1:30 tomorrow afternoon before Judge Kaye Allison, 451 Mitchell Courthouse. A Baltimore city jury convicted Booth-El in 1984 of first-degree murder for the 1983 stabbing death of Irvin Bronstein and sentenced him to death. The death sentence has been vacated, and reinstated, four times since. Booth is being represented pro bono by five lawyers and a legal assistant from the firm of Arent Fox, who will presumably be challenging the court's failure to consider mitigating factors that were permitted under Maryland sentencing law at the time.

Charges were dropped against 17-year-old Antonio Newsome, accused of firebombing Miss Edna's house. So let's review: three guys, Jackie Brewington, 18, Isaac Smith and Andre Wilkins, 31, copped a deal with Federal prosecutors (snitches!) to plead guilty to witness tampering and use of an explosive device. Trial will begin for Terrance "Buck" Smith, 24, of the 7 Deuce 1 Bloods, Shakia Watkins, 19, Richard Royal, 21, and head snowman Nakie Harris, 30 on December 5. Edna McAbier is alive and hiding in an undisclosed location.

Three old people, Deborah Henry, 46, Kevin Musser, 42, and Robert Shallcross, 50, were busted for operating a portable meth lab.

The prosecution has rested in the Irv Lorenzo money-laundering thing. Says the defense, Lorenzo just hung out with "Supreme" the drug kingpin because he "provided a certain street credibility." The "poet" is also said to have be involved in a plot to kill 50 Cent.

A lot of to-the-point two-word headlines out of Annapolis, including "Teen Beaten" and "Shoplifter Sprayed".

Ehrlich: closing the Hickey School with nowhere to send juvenile offenders was a good idea. (The election race might get interesting after all: gov has announced he endorses Bush's military policies and linked the Iraq war with the 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Great $10K idea, Chip. Read much?)

November 29

The murder trial of Shane Burton, 20, Ronald Sturgiss, 21, and Dominic Warren, 21, originally scheduled for 9:30 tomorrow morning before Judge Shirley M. Watts, has been postponed until January 11, 2006. Earlier this year, a Baltimore City Grand Jury indicted all three men for first-degree murder and conspiracy to first-degree murder in connection with the fatal shooting of Jerry Evans. If convicted, the maximum sentence the defendants could face is life in prison. Court documents allege that on June 16 police officers responded to the 1100 block of McAleer Court for a shooting. Evans was later pronounced dead at Johns Hopkins Hospital. The defendants were identified through eyewitness accounts.

A Baltimore City Grand Jury indicted Davi Ralph, 17, in connection with the shooting of a uniformed Baltimore City Police Officer, Robert Hayes, 30. The indictment charges Ralph with the non-fatal shooting of Officer Hayes that occurred on November 12 in the 1700 block of Montpelier Street.

Shooting, robbery, robbery, shooting in the Blotter.

November 28

Two more murders in Baltimore City: 22-year-old Ronald Gervin was shot to death at the Cedonia Inn in Northeast Baltimore on Saturday night, and an unidentified man was fatally shot in the head on N. Payson St. in West Baltimore early Sunday morning.

A 22-year-old woman and her 5-year-old son were abducted by an ex-boyfriend at the Wheaton Metro station in Montgomery County. The ex-boyfriend was driving a red 2003 Dodge Ram with a red cap on the back and the words "Red Scorpion" across the top of the windshield. It has Maryland Chesapeake Bay plates 49914B/Y. He also owns a 1996 Toyota T-100 pickup with Maryland tags 1EG807.

Uh, yeah... About that last item... she was, uh, fibbing a wee bit because she didn't want her family to know she was still with her boyfriend. She's a real winner, that one. (Thanks for the heads-up, John.)

51-year-old Tony Campbell and 27-year-old Christino Purisima were the two men killed last week in the adjacent Furrow St. rowhouses in Southwest Baltimore.

The Police Blotter has a 43-year-old man being beaten in his West Baltimore home with a metal pipe, a pizza deliveryman being robbed by two young men with a knife, and a whole lot of theft (including a handicapped parking permit from a 1998 Pontiac).

Sex offender Karen Diane Hammond cannot be found by Howard County police. The 49-year-old heroin addict pleaded guilty to having sex with her then 17-year-old son three years ago. She is the only sex offender in Howard that cannot be accounted for.

A gunman in a double shooting in Hyattsville is still at large. In an unrelated incident, a Hyattsville teenager was shot in the face and stomach after giving up his North Face jacket with no resistance.

Mayor O'Malley is looking into opening a free boarding school after watching a The Boys of Baraka, a documentary about Baltimore students who moved to a boarding school in Kenya. That school then closed, forcing the boys back to the Baltimore school where they had been failing. WJZ writes, "O'Malley says city kids shouldn't have to be shipped overseas in order for them to get the breathing space they need to learn and grow."

In the "crime against art" department, the Dime Museum will be closing at year's end unless the money fairy pays it a visit.

November 26

Along with two armed robberies, the Sun's Police Blotter reports that a 79-year-old man was arrested for attempted murder.

Police are still puzzled by those pesky light pole thieves. And thanks to John for pointing out that our missing light poles are now receiving national coverage on CNN.

Civil disobedience is alive and well, unless you try it at the mall.

November 25

More about Jeryl Anthony Singleterry, the kidnapping victim who was murdered despite the fact that his ransom was paid.

Updates on the double homicide in West Baltimore and the shooting at the Glen Burnie restaurant supply company in the Metro Digest.

More on witness intimidation in the Sun: Baltimore County police have spent over a year looking for witness Ronald Patrick Johnson, Jr., but he can't be found.

Speaking of witness intimidation, John posted some interesting comments under yesterday's post.

A newly launched campaign to stop human trafficking in Montgomery County this week.

A bank robbery in White Marsh lurks amidst the theft and burglary in the Sun's Police Blotter

There must be something in our fine city that is more deserving of an In Depth Investigative Report than a dirty bathroom in a Wal-Mart...

November 24

Two men in two adjacent rowhouses were shot to death in West Baltimore.

35-year-old John Lewis escaped from PG Corrections officials who were transporting him between facilities. Lewis jumped out of the van while it was stopped at a traffic light. Maybe it's just me, but doesn't it seem as if the Corrections officers might have been prepared for something like that?

Dissent in the legal system over the fact that victims aren't being called to testify at their attackers' trials. Circuit Judge Alfred Nance said, "The state has a responsibility not simply to seek and obtain a conviction, but to seek justice." Does getting killed or having your house torched because of your testimoney now qualify as justice?

Judge John M. Glynn declared a hung trial for William Crudup yesterday. One of the jurors apparently made up her mind at the beginning of the trial and refused to consider any evidence. Crudup is accused of attempting to kill to police officers in March.

The Sun's Police Blotter tells of stolen money from St. Frances Academy (a private school that primarily serves inner city kids who are dealing with extreme family/personal difficulties) and stolen money from an 84-year-old woman who was shoved to the ground during the theft.

A Cecil County robber has expanded her territory into Pennsylvania.

Jeremy Justin Lepone is facing state and federal charges after his Harford County carjacking stunt, which included stealing a car from an elementary school staff member and then crashing through the gates of a military facility.

Ehrlich has agreed to pardon 12 prisoners, including two women who were convicted on charges of theft and/or shoplifting, and one man who has served 44 years for murder.

Harvey Edward Brown, a man who attacked one woman and pursued four others on the Baltimore & Annapolis Trail, was sentenced to life in prison.

The yet-to-be-determined fate of the Charm City Church gives a microscopic glance into the ongoing class struggle in Baltimore.

Ten police officers were required to restore order (if not sanity) to a throng of unruly shoppers at an Elkton Wal-Mart who were waiting to buy the Xbox 360.

Biffy will be away until November 30. Please leave stories of interest.

November 23

Four murders last week brought the total '05 body count to 242.

Kidnapped 26-year-old Anthony Singleterry was found dead after his family paid ransom. Detectives have no suspects or motive.

Three people were shot at the Glen Burnie food distribution company Wagner & Sons, including the gunman.

A fight between two off-duty Baltimore police officers ended with one guy going to shock trauma for stab wounds.

An attempted murder arrest for the Sunday shooting of William Delrio, robberies, shootings and arson in the blotter.

A former Towson police officer, Samuel Chambers, will serve five years for sexually abusing a young girl.

Future voter on the hot-button juvenile civil rights issue of today: "curfews are so gay." Speaking of juvenile rights &tc, there are 15 Marylanders serving life-without-parole sentences who committed their crimes as juveniles. And chilling stat (which I would like a source on because I just don't buy it, but I'm sure the real number is no great comfort either): "reports show that 92 percent of cases filed in adult criminal courts in Baltimore City involve minority juveniles."

A CP story traces the retelling of the Steele Oreo Urban Legend.

Mayor to Councilman Keiffer Mitchell: the help of state troopers would not do much good. Also re: local politics, Councilmania really caputres the feel of the slow grind of government. That would be great if they abolished ground rents ... but you get the feeling it would take a quarter-century for anything that ambitious to happen.

November 22

Ellis Lee Hickman, Jr., 33, was arrested in Palm Beach, Florida for the murder of his neighbor, Rakiyya States.

How many macabre claims to fame can one city have? Now it turns out the nerve gas and mustard gas used on the Kurds by Saddam's regime came from Baltimore.

A 14-year-old, Haymond Burton, was arrested and charged as an adult on two counts of attempted murder for shooting Lewis Jefferson, 18, and Mark Smith, 25. Also, two teenage boys were shot on Hillen Road.

PG County has set a new murder record with 155 killings so far this year.

25-year-old Dale Brown of Easton is charged with abuse and assault for allegedly shaking his five-month old son to death.

Corey Grant of the North Avenue Boys pled guilty in Federal court to gun charges.

Hopkins freshman: an e-mail about Michael Bryant's body in Wyman Park "would have been nice."

I'm so bored of hearing about cameras.

University of Maryland students protested against rascism following the Nov. 13 violent arrests of two students living off-campus.

In Laurel, 15-year-old David Jahangiri was arrested for wearing a "Stop Snitching" shirt to school. He's suing, of course.

Wow, remember that 90's ecoterrorist group, ELF? Someone repping them claimed responsibility for burning down townhomes in Hagerstown. Other retro institution apparently still alive in the area: the gay bathhouse.

November 22-- Promoted from Comments

We [ED: The people of the Park Heights Community Meeting? Baltimoreans in the last election?] had such an outpouring of homeowner sentiment for basic crime control. Martin O'Malley took up the charge and became Mayor promising to impose 'zero tolerance' upon the criminals here. That's a direct quote.

He later turned around and claimed that we all 'misunderstood' what zero tolerance is.

The first step in politically organizing is.. to sack O'Malley for the lying politician he is. Not Governor. Not even Mayor.

The platform is Safety First. All other considerations take a back seat until Baltimore is no longer in the top ten most dangerous major cities. No junket to Rome for Agnes Welch. No raise for City Councilmembers. No municipal hotels. No below-market city land deals. No grants to nonprofits. Mandatory across-the-board cuts in total payroll for DPW and DHCD.

Within the police department:

• 311/911 operators must be dedicated dispatchers, not disgruntled officers being punished by having to answer calls for service.



• Responding officers must be charged with filing accurate incident reports. If the victim disagrees with the report, the officer should automatically be required to appear before an independently appointed quasimunicipal board, which will determine whether the report was incorrectly filed. If so, (maybe at least x number of times) the officer will be dismissed. Wherever the officer's write-up is materially at odds with the victim's recollection of facts, the officer must refer it to the Board, with written notice to the victim. Failure to comply will result in dismissal.



• The State's Attorney should refuse consent to supervised probation where the terms of probation do not provide for a nightime curfew barring supervised probationers from being in the public easement after dark except en route to a verifiable job, a meeting with a parole officer, or a verifiable medical emergency (including drug treatment).



• The State Legislature should eliminate the distinction in penalties between misdemeanor Breaking & Entering and felony Home Invasion. If you're caught in another's property unlawfully, you go to jail. If you think you 'might' be Breaking & Entering, you probably are. Stay out or go to jail.



• The State Legislature should adopt a provision doubling the penalty otherwise applicable to a felony if the offender is under the influence of drugs or is found by a court of law to have been engaged in a drug offense at the time of the felony, including simple possession. The same should apply wherever a felony is accompanied by a high-speed automotive chase.



• Any drug conviction or factually proven possession or distribution on or within 100 feet of a subsidized housing unit by any person who has been granted access by the tenant should disqualify the tenant from the program henceforth.




• Any offenses committed on the premises of a public school which would otherwise constitute a felony if committed by an adult should necessarily require immediate removal of the juvenile from the school.



• Maximum sentences for both misdemeanors and felonies should be ratchetted up in proportion to the number of offenses adjudicated to have been committed. You want judges motivated to treat career offenders more harshly than very occasional offenders. This invokes the law of seven and seventy.



• The State's Attorney and Judiciary should be forbidden to take into account resource constraints at Dept. of Corrections when seeking a just penalty.



• City Council should adopt a resolution each year fixing the number of officers necessary to Adequately Provide for the Public Safety. The appropriation for the police department should be created a Fund, whose contents do not revert to the General Fund of Baltimore City. Thus, the Mayor's Office would no longer have any incentive to undersupply policing so as to fund pet projects, such as economic development.



• Contributions to the local police district's coffers should constitute a tax credit against a taxpayer's tax bill to the City. This ensures that City government cannot divert taxes which taxpayers intend should provide public safety.



• Baltimore City council should be obligated by resolution to refuse any requests for industrial revenue bonds (other than water treatment/pollution control) while public safety benchmarks are unattained.



• Baltimore City Health Dept. should provide a single, lifetime treatment slot for drug abuse. Once used, the relapsed offender should be denied terms of probation unless he can provide for his own treatment.

-- JG

And Dan Rodericks would like to add, it's time to get serious about repeat offenders by using any tools that work.

November 21

Our Nation's President Geroge W. Bush will be at M&T Bank Stadium on November 30th for a fund-raiser for himself and Oreo-battered Tom-called Mike Steele. If you truly believe in Republican principles you'll be there with $5,000, by God.

The murder trial of Michael Johnson, 15, of West Franklin Street, is scheduled to begin at 9:30 tomorrow morning before Judge Edward R.K. Hargadon, 509 Courthouse East. The Baltimore City Grand Jury indicted Johnson for first-degree murder and handgun counts May 18. Court documents allege that on December 1, 2004 Johnson shot and killed Flenall Carter III, 19, in the 4100 block of 10th Street.

At a recent meeting the residents of Park Heights were all like, "we're so fartik with the shvartzers and farshlugginer slow police response times and the farshtunken unreported incidents" and the police were, all like, "what are you gonna do, sue somebody?"

The Court of Appeals struck down MD's prisoner-treatment laws. The problem was not legal content but the procedure of filing appropriate paperwork.

November 20

Secret plea agreements for three of seven men in a drug-dealing gang in the Northern that tried to burn down Edna McAbier's rowhouse. Miss Edna, Harwood Community Association President, ran afoul of the local Bloods.

Dogs picked up the scent of flammible liquid at the building at the 2100 Garrison Boulevard apartment-building site where two people, including Thomasina Evans, died on Friday. Oddly, the building is owned by a company that appears to consist of a single New Jersey man.

Since Friday, eight people have died in fires in the city, most recently a mysterious rowhouse fire that killed three. Check those smoke-detector batteries and think about your escape plan, it's that time of year.

Justice will be delayed at the trial of Wayne Lavon Bond, accused of shooting Edgewood cab driver Derald Howard Guess, a 37-year-old father of nine, as part of a gang-initiation rite.

The conviction in the shooting death of Marcellus Maddox (also in a cab) is under Appeal in Wicomico County. The ruling could potentially help define assault sentences in the state.

In Carroll County, 40-year-old Anthony Hughes pled guilty to assaulting ex-wife Ellen Redifer with a claw hammer in 2002.

Another great date opportunity from the State's Attorney's office: a concert tonight at 6:30 p.m, in which the Baltimore City Police Choir will be singing with the Northwood-Appold United Methodist Church Choir at the New Metropolitan Baptist Church at 501 McCulloh Street. The free concert that will also involve eulogizing the state's fallen police officers. The most recent Baltimore City death was the July 3, 2004 shooting of Officer Brian D. Winder.

Life's bitter irony dept: the most recent MD police fatality, Grant Turner, had a heart attack while running a 5K in honor of fallen hot officer Duke G. Aaron III.

November 19

A methadone addict in Dundalk is charged with murder in the death of her methadone-addicted 2-month-old daughter.

Arson in West Baltimore left two people dead and 27 people homeless. One of the dead is a 41-year-old woman who was homeless until a few months ago.

Alleged corrupt former senator Thomas Bromwell was taped by the FBI in a building downtown. JHU was apparently one of many victims in a kickback scheme.

Accusations of an ineffective police investigation have been raised in the Canton murder of Brian Jones.

Steven R. Chamberlain, CEO of Lanham-based Integral Systems, Inc., is charged with liking little girls way too much.

The Baltimore pastor who is charged with liking little boys and little girls way too much is also being investigated by police in Minnesota and Barbados.

Unlike Baltimore City's Northern District, Carroll County doesn't put up with home invasions. Great story by Sheridon Lyons.

Four Maryland convenience stores have been robbed of "cash, cigarettes, and cheap liquor" by a woman in her late 20s.

Drunk driver Rudi Vasquez of PG County will serve eight years for two counts of involuntary manslaughter for the crash that killed Juan Valle, 26, and Audelino Valle, 30.

Bea Gaddy's legacy is in bad trouble this year. To help with the shortage, the center at 425 N. Chester St. in East Baltimore will be open 24/7 until Thanksgiving to accept donations. The phone number is 410-563-2749.