June 21

Ryan Cornell Mills, 23, was murdered (#127) in Southwest Baltimore, in view of four police officers.

Duane Elkerson was arrested for the murder of Antoinio Alford (N. Bentalou St., #118).

Just as I suspected... Baltimore's arrest rate is a complete anomaly, and "abated by arrest" is a new term, coined here. Also not just your imagination... Baltimore (with the exception of the Jewish community) is shrinking.

Linda Bullock, 41, has been missing for almost a month ... so why are we hearing about it now?

An officer shot a man in the stomach in Dundalk Monday night.

Victims June 13 to 18: Cynthia Riley (#119), Kevin Sewell (Towanda Avenue, 120), Trey Branch (E. Chase, 121), Donald Lewis (East Preston, 122), Said Sawab, 123, arson. Blackburn John (Ellicott Drive, 124) and an unidentified man (Smallwood, 125). I wonder what the extra number is. Julia Boussari, or someone else who is 'pending'?

Holy Gonzaga! A 15-year-old girl was found in Northwest Baltimore chained to a bed by her mom and mom's boyfriend. And a couple is in jail after leaving a handicapped five-year-old in a motel room.

Shit! The disappearance of newspaperman Phil Merrill was no accident!

yay, something new to arrest people for.

What an asshole. Not only is Kenneth Ellis' tag so shiteous other writers turned him in, he's also the wanker that drops chicken bones on the street! The Examiner also throws up a story.

The City will get $800,000 from a construction company that used a fake minority-owned firm to get contracts.

June 22

Harford County Police are wondering if there's a link between the Havre de Grace and Perryman murders ... think one Charles Burns (not left) may be involved.

HoCounty has acted against the Pack Shack.

Newspapers have no clue how to grow online (and I'm not telling).

That was quick: A Baltimore City jury convicted Joseph Omar Smith, 24, and Cyrus Lee Beads, 20, today of second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder respectively after five days of testimony and approximately five hours of deliberation over two days. Judge Allen L. Schwait will sentence Smith and Beads August 29. Says "The State":

The jury convicted Smith of the second-degree murder of Lawrence Johnson, attempted second-degree murder and assault of Ryan McCutcheon, attempted second-degree murder of Jeremy Drake, conspiracy to murder McCutcheon and Drake, three counts of use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence and illegal Possession of a regulated firearm.

The jury convicted Beads of the attempted second-degree murder of McCutcheon, attempted second-degree murder of Drake, conspiracy to murder McCutcheon and Drake, two counts of use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence and illegal possession of a regulated firearm.

On June 7, 2005 police responded to 3832 Roland View Avenue and found three males suffering from gunshot wounds inside the location. Investigation revealed that the victims had been on the front porch when individuals suddenly opened fire from across the street. Multiple 9mm casings were recovered from the scene and were matched to a Glock 9mm handgun recovered from Cyrus Beads on June 13, 2005 when he was arrested in the 2600 block Keyworth. Eyewitnesses encountered the defendants immediately after the shots were fired rushing into an apartment. Both had guns and both used the bathroom to wash up and change clothes.

Juneteenth

The Baltimore City Grand Jury indicted Ronnie Jones, 27, and Todd Mikal, 31, for 22 counts of armed robbery with a deadly weapon and attempted armed robbery. Jones and Mikal tried to rob Greektown playaz (including Prevas' brother) at an illicit poker game. Police responded while the alleged robbery was in progress and officially recovered $23,827 in U.S. currency from 20 victims.

Wouldn't that be wild: The Abell Foundation would like to buy the Sun from the Tribune. Says the foundation president: "it's important that the Sun aspire to its previous level of excellence." Word up there Bob.

Homicide #126 is a woman in an apartment east of Canton, dead from a gunshot wound to the head.

Today, a jury found Teon Hall guilty of the murder in the second degree of Craig Morris and first-degree assault of Stephen Kendall. Mr. Hall was convicted for shooting these two men outside of the Ritz Caberet in the early morning of February 18, 2005:

On the night of February 18, 2005, [before] Teon Hall shot and killed Craig Morris and seriously wounded Stephen Kendall, [Morris and Kendall] along with one of their friends were accosted by two Asian men outside of the Ritz. As a fight broke out between the men, Mr. Hall grabbed a .40 caliber Smith & Wesson semi-automatic hand gun and ran up to the fight and fired 6 shots at the victims striking each one 3 times. Mr. Morris, who stumbled into the club after being shot twice in the chest, was rushed to the hospital but died there. Mr. Kendall was struck in both legs and survived.

Police were at the scene almost immediately after the shooting. A witness at the scene provided police with a description of Mr. Hall, including the car he drove away in and the direction in which he fled. Baltimore City Police apprehended Mr. Hall approximately 2 miles from the Ritz on Eastern Avenue with the murder weapon directly between his feet. Fingerprint analysis discovered his finger prints on the magazine of the murder weapon.

The case was tried over the past 6 days before the Honorable Paul Alpert and the jury began its deliberations yesterday afternoon at 2:15 p.m. After recessing for the evening, the jury returned this morning and delivered its verdict at approximately 10:45 a.m. Sentencing is set for Tuesday, August 18, 2006, 18 months to the day after the incident.

At a hearing today, Judge Roger Brown sentenced Tremaine Jenkins, 27, to 25 years. A Baltimore City jury convicted Gibson more than a year ago for attempted second-degree murder and robbery with a deadly weapon. On Christmas Eve 2004 at around 11:30 p.m. Jenkins stabbed a victim in the forehead with a knife. When the victim fell to the ground, Jenkins went through his pockets, taking $90. The man lost his right eye as a result of the stab wound; the knife severed his optic nerve.

Two homicides this weekend , #s 124 and 125.

One of the less-pushy customers at the Charles Street Eddie's.

Taking Love to the Streets Dept:
This week the city will be beseiged by Baptists and other screaming elephant circuses.

Rumor around the courthouse is that Robert Clay was the "boyfriend" of Delegate Jill Carter {D-41} ... isn't that always the rumor about bossy girls?

Bruce Miller, left, reports on some local screenwriters who're peddling a pilot for a show about Baltimore that's all about the real: "The tagline is 'There is a lot of love to be had on the street,'" Mason said. "It's really dealing with people out in the night and what can happen and it also enlightens about AIDS, epidemiology and addiction. Baltimore has a lot to say in those areas."

Web finds: a site for Jewish child abuse and sexual assault survivors. Sorry to have missed yesterday's rally ... "Get" In On It, Efraim!

June 18

Back to this story. Is "abated by arrest" a legal outcome for an incident? Either a citation is issued on the spot, like a ticket, or someone's arrested and the a verdict is settled by the court. It can't be legal that an individual police officer could decide the sentence for "loitering" is subjecting someone to a body-cavity search and 24 hours in jail, can it?

Corpses in sports: Former Ho-riole David Segui admits to injecting human pituitary juice (synthetic, we hope).
"Len Bias: 20 Years Later - Lesson not learned" explores the challenges of earning college credits after death.

Texas, Mt. Hebron ('00), Loyola College, Carribean medical school, the Last Stand: the Mujtaba Rabbani Jabbar story. And more details.

Motz: No bond for prank-calling Hagtown creepazoid Jeffrey Shifler.

In Upper Marlboro, a bank robbery suspect shot himself. Meanwhile, Dontae T. Jefferson, 28, and Robert A. Paniagua, 19, of Towson, Md., are in custody.

In Annapolis, Wendi Davis, 42, formerly with the state treasury, has been indicted for stealing more than $52k from the insurance trust fund.

Duncan used his new Charles Village perch to dis the mayor's crime numbers. And indeed, crime's way up in MoCo.

Dogfaceboy details the endless quest for graffiti removal in Herring Run Park.

June 17

McDonough grad, father of five, special ed teacher, pharmaceutical sales entrepreneur : BC nominates Martius Harding finalist for the Golden Get In On It Award, bestowed for the most quintessential, well-rounded Bmorean.

Bloomsday

Detective William King got 315 years.

The Sun adds details to the NAACP/ACLU vs. police lawsuit, and an Op-ed on how Bmore's policing strategies are unconstitutional, unhelpful and expensive. The story has gone international and is covered by more than 100 news sources today (so far).

Supreme Court: police don't have to knock.

Judge Kaye Allison sentenced Mohammed Biglari to life plus twenty years yesterday. On April 26, after his third trial, Biglari was found guilty of murder in the 1991 murder of his Charles Village neighbor, Barbara Halsey.

The death of 36-year-old Said Sawab has been ruled a homicide, #123. And the man shot on Towanda Avenue was identified as Kevin A. Sewell, 20.

A third suspect, Jermile N. Harvey, was charged for the murder of Randolph Terrance.

Darius Tyrone Jones, 35, who police say tried to run over two officers in his car in Rosedale, was charged with attempted first-degree murder. And Jamaal K. Abeokuto, killer of Marciana Ringo, 8, will be resentenced.

The man shot to death inside the Valley Center 9 Cinema was identified as 62-year-old Paul Schrum. The shooter was Mujtaba Rabbani Jabbar, 24.

Three men have been indicted for the 2004 murder of 16-year-old Renard Graves in the county.

Fifteen-year-old Kelly Franklin was arrested for killing 16-year-old Vernell Streams yesterday.

Yow: Lee Boyd Malvo admitted to four more killings, in California, Texas, Louisiana and Florida. This brings the snipers' total victim count to 27.

The body of a woman found in Bel Air was identified as Shiela Ann Turner, 42, of Aberdeen, who had been missing for a week. And the body found in Havre de Grace was identified as that of Lillian Abramowicz Phelps, 43.

County police are looking for Anthony Derrell Guy, who resisted arrest and injured an officer in the process.

Deals on wheels: two Baltimoreans and about 20 Westminsterers were arrested for dealing drugs out of Meals on Wheels vans.

More on the Eddie's purse-snatching.

Lots of stolen cars, a few muggings and a creepy guy climbing in a bedroom window in the Northern.

Weed's popping up all over: someone's been stashing their cache in the vanities of Massachusetts Home Depots. (Not Baltimore, but irresistable.)

In honor of Pride Week, the governor fired his Catholic appointee to the Metro transit authority board for saying he believes that homosexuality is "deviant." We love us some gays, but isn't it illegal to fire someone for their religious beliefs?

June 15

Cedrick Bowman, 24, pled guilty to using explosives and conspiracy to commit witness tampering in the Jan. 15, 2005 attack on Edna McAbier's home.

Have you seen this sex offender? If so, do please call 410-838-6600. Thanks.

A 60-year-old man was shot during a showing of X-Men II at the Reisterstown Lowes.

Three more homicides: Trey Branch, 21, was shot on the 2700 Block of East Chase Street; an indentified man was shot on E. Preston Street; an unidentified man on the 2900 block of Towanda Ave. Total killings #122.

A man was shot in Middle River.

A woman's body was found near Route 40 in Havre De Grace.

Baltimore truck driver Stephen Harlee will be arraigned in Camden County NJ for vehicular homicide in death of Dirk Dudek, 49. Dudek was in a Turnpike Authority truck when a coked-up Harlee hit the guardrail, then rammed his vehicle, fracturing Dudek's spine and setting the pickup on fire.

Carjacking, burglary, robbery in the blotter.

City Council's Helen Holton: arrest quotas are real. Matt Jablow: no, they're not. Meanwhile, the ACLU and NAACP have filed a class-action lawsuit.

Rey Rivera's window: there was no suicide note.

Hey cutie: former Homeland Security press aide Brian Doyle says he's no pedo-sex predator, he just sent dirty movies to a fake teen because it was "kind of a power trip." Oh, ok then. Meanwhile, MD legislators have approved laws that allow for stricter penalties and better monitoring for sex offenders.

Note to drug dealers: buckle up for safety. And in Jessup, Chester Griffiths, 43, was driving around with 400 pounds of 'pot.'

Baltimorean Dejuan Carrol, aka Donte Brown, was arrested in a Cecil County motel for possession of heroin, cocaine and marijuana with intent to distribute.

Attoney General Curran is cracking down on the purveyor of illegal Yam Cream.

Do you know someone who likes to dump ink? Dump ink in the ground and not the sink? You should call the police then, I think.

Flag Day

Don't worry, though the number of homicides may be down, Charm City retains the "Bodymore" title, with the highest per capita large-city murder rate.

Fucked. Up. From Dan Ostrovsky in today's Duly Wretched:
"Take a deep breath. Have a good day"

Firefighters, police officers, postal inspectors and sheriff's deputies descended upon a room in Baltimore's Courthouse East yesterday, after an employee of the clerk's office discovered white powder inside an envelope addressed to the circuit court. The incident left some courthouse employees uneasy -- not just about the scare, but about the response to it.

"Take a deep breath. Have a good day," was the message written in ballpoint pen on a loose-leaf sheet of paper Francis R. "Frank" Sherry found in a letter-sized envelope. The paper was folded into a square held together with tape, and Sherry said the powder became visible only after he removed the tape.
"This white powder fell out on my lap and in my hands," he said.
The return address on the envelope indicated it was sent by an inmate at the Maryland Correctional Adjustment Center ... A hazmat team determined that the substance was likely foot or baby powder and was not hazardous, according to Baltimore City Fire Department spokesman Kevin Cartwright ... When he found the powder, Sherry notified his colleagues in those divisions, one of whom, Pat Smith, called the sheriff's office ... Sheriff's deputies arrived in about 10 minutes and called the fire department, which responded in another 15 minutes; the hazmat team arrived approximately 15 minutes after that, Gillis said. Margaret Biuk, who works in foreclosures, said Gillis told her to leave the area around 9:20 a.m. -- nearly an hour after the powder was first found.
"I didn't like it," Biuk said. "The minute something was found, we should have been evacuated."

Clerk's office employees have been trained for emergencies, but not specifically suspicious powders, Conaway said.
That point was underscored by Adonis Johnson of the civil division, who said he found powder in an envelope he opened approximately a month ago. "I threw it away and kept on slicing the mail open," Johnson said yesterday.

A 52-year-old woman was killed on the west side, and yesterday 22-year-old Anthony Hill was shot in the face but survived, bringing the # to 119.

Trial of "Itchy Man" is starting and... ten tons of marijuana? Former employees of Central Booking? Twenty-eight defendants? Jayzis H!

Tragic: 400 pounds of high-quality chronic is going stale in an evidence room somewhere.

The Ink reports murders to #118. Wayne Matthews, Marlow Hill, Darryl Duppins and an unidentified man have joined the shadowy ranks of the Baltimore dead.

Trial has been delayed for Liquor Board Commissioner Edward Smith Jr., who threatened his babymomma and her special friend with an ax.

Psychiatrist Roman Ostrovsky pled guilty to defrauding Medicaid of $200,000.

An AAC man got three years for slitting a dog's throat to intimidate his ex-girlfriend.

Robbing the Family Dollar, setting fire to a Ford, stealing bikes... that's how we roll in Bumberg, dawg.

Five hundred words might make an editorial. Or 300. But 95? Why bother?

Edward Thatcher, a Howard County police officer, has been suspended for showing a female employee his indecent parts.

Speaking of editorials, happy pride week!

June 13

The first-degree murder and attempted murder trial of Corey McMillon, 29, began today before Judge Wanda K. Heard. The Baltimore City Grand Jury indicted McMillon September 26, 2005 for first-degree murder and handgun counts for the shooting death of Jamel Jermaine St. Clair, 17 (left). Court documents allege that on April 1, 2005 McMillon approached St. Clair in the 2000 block of East North Avenue and started to go through his pockets. When St. Clair attempted to run, McMillon pulled out a gun and allegedly shot him multiple times. McMillon remains held without bail in the Baltimore City Detention Center. He also faces trial is separate charges of attempted murder and escape.

The evidence shows that on June 12, JZ's Mike Schuh did knowingly commit Gross and Willful fashion violations against the Dignity of the State while riding along on an East Side drug raid; to wit, sterilizingly tight acid-washed jeans, white sneakers, and a dress shirt sandwiched between a beer gut and Kevlar® vest.

Hamm thumbs nose at number-conspiracy theorists: "We're very pleased that we were able to have the numbers trimmed as we wanted in 2005."

Raymond Leemare Burris, a Hampdenizen who'd robbed a lady in the Rotunda parking lot on June 4, and a woman on the 3300 block of N. Charles on June 6, was arrested. Also two stabbings, a shooting, and boys dropping rocks from an overpass.

Baltimore County Police in Wilkens, Essex, White Marsh and Woodlawn are holding community-relations meetings tonight at 7, various locations.

June 12

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that death-row prisoners may contest the humaneness of lethal injection. This permits the appeals of death-row inmate Vernon Evans Jr. to continue.

Judge Wanda K. Heard sentenced Leroy Mayo, 47, of N. Patterson Park Avenue, to 25 years in prison. A city jury convicted Mayo of first-degree assault on February 13 and acquitted him of attempted first and second-degree murder counts. On December 6, 2003, say court docs, Leroy Mayo and his wife, Sherelle, were arguing in their home when he became enraged and took a knife from the kitchen and attacked her. During the attack Sherelle Mayo was stabbed several times.

Trial of serial killer Raymont Hopewell has been postponed until September.

At a hearing today, Judge Wanda K. Heard sentenced Martinez Brown, 26, to life in prison for the first-degree murder of Kelvin Knight, 18, and an additional 20 years consecutive for use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence. A city jury convicted Brown November 3, 2005. Members of Knight's family presented emotional testimony to the court prior to Brown's sentencing. Say court documents,

In the early morning hours of December 7, 2003 the victim, Kelvin Knight, was ordering take-out from New Land Chinese Carry Out at the corner of Montford and Biddle Streets in East Baltimore when he observed Brown arguing with a woman. Upon hearing the victim laugh, Brown turned to the victim and said, "Do you think I am playing?" He then pulled out a handgun, put it to the victim's forehead, and shot him three times in the head and once in the chest. As Brown ran from the scene after the murder, an eyewitness disabled him by striking him with his car, thereby allowing police to arrest him at the scene. Another eyewitness identified him at the scene.

The trial of Cyrus Lee Beads and Joseph Omar Smith starts today. Beads is accused of shooting Lawrence Johnson, 44, Ronald McCutcheon, 19, and Jeremy Drake, 17, on the 3800 block of Roland View Avenue with a 9mm Glock in June 2005. Johnson died of his wounds and McCutcheon was paralyzed. Beads is charged with first-degree murder, two counts of attempted first-degree murder and assault and weapons charges.

Three homicides this weekend bring the total to 119. A man was shot last night on the west side, Antonio Alford, 22, was shot in Woodlawn, and Larry A. Thompson was killed on the east side.

A carjacking, a stabbing and lots of robbery and burglary in the blotter.

Baltimorean Matthew Oliphant was stabbed in the parking lot of the OC Denny's.

Bizjournal: Bmore accounting firm Ellin & Tucker critical in case against Enron.

Why are abortion-clinic bombers always male vigins? (See Robert Weiler Jr., left).

Old news, but what the hey: In Greektown, 21 people at an illegal poker game (including Judge Prevas' brother) were robbed of 15k.

June 10

Examiner: as of Friday, 37 percent of homicides have been solved. (I count 116, police say 115... either way, not much to speak "glowingly" of.)

Julie B. reports on yesterday's sentence of Reginald Coppage, who robbed, attacked and nearly killed special-ed teacher Cicely Simpson, who lived in the same apartment building.

Should a seven-year-old have been arrested for throwing chemicals on a playmate?

Three people were arrested for running a meth lab in a room at the Super 8 motel.

Andrew Klepper, 19, of Walt Whitman High in Bethesda, is charged with pandering.

June 9

Reginald Markquel Coppage, 22, of the 2500 block of N. Edgecombe Circle, pled guilty Wednesday to attempted first-degree murder of his neighbor and to wearing/carrying/transporting a deadly weapon (a knife). Judge Alfred Nance sentenced Coppage to 25 years in prison and five years probation. Coppage pled guilty just before his jury trial was scheduled to begin. Say court docs,

On June 25, 2005 Coppage forced his way inside the victim's apartment located in the 2500 block of Edgecombe Circle and announced a robbery. He proceeded to slash the victim's throat and stab the victim several times in the stomach and chest. Before leaving the apartment, Coppage poured bleach on the victim's body. The victim played dead, waiting for Coppage to leave, and then called police. The victim survived but has permanent scars and has been unable to return to work since the attack.

A drive-by shooting in the Northeastern hit a man in the face and a boy in the foot. And in the Southeastern, a man shot in the shoulder refused to cooperate with police.

Lajuan Davis, 23, got life plus 120 months federal for killing Baltimore cab driver Sean Powell in 2000.

Three lawyers agree: charges should not have been dropped against Davon D. Temple, alleged killer of 2 white people.

Robert Wesley Heier, 39, was arrested and charged with attempted first-degree murder for stabbing newspaper deliveryman William Shull.

BalCo police are wondering if the body found in Owings Mills was that of missing Nina Tarovskaya.

In Kent County, Raymond S. Ward, 41, and Trevor Moncrief, 32, were shot by 19-year-old David Hamilton and buried in shallow graves in Goldsboro, MD.

Marcus Brown was on WBAL, defending the arrest of Greg Faherty, taken to Central Booking for sitting on a park bench.

Robert Weiler of PGC is charged with building a bomb that he planned to use on an attack on a Greenbelt abortion clinic.

Teresa Hodge, 43, of Upper Marlboro, with a co-conspirator from Michigan, swindled churches out of more than $1.3 million.

The Post strives to answer the question, "what does it mean to be a black man?" in their new series, "Being a Black Man."

June 8

The man police shot in Waverly on Tuesday was named as Darryl Haskins, 24.

The un-meaning of life: a reader sent the link to the mysterious, creepy myspace profile of Anuradha Ramasamy.

The CP recounts 12 murders from May 27-June 4. Darnell Spearman, Derrick Taylor, Donye Blackston, Odell Wagner, Donte Hudson, Marlo Lomax and Oumar Bah.

Rey Rivera's widow doesn't believe that her husband's death was suicide.

Death of Herman E. Bullock: tragic, yet "very justified."

Nina Tarkovskaya is mysteriously missing from Pikesville.

"2 white people"= illegal info.

Ink reports on murders from May 22-30.

Stinky human remains were found in Owings Mills.

Darrell Miller got 45 years for his part in killing cab driver Derald Guess.

Christopher O'Brien is charged with strangling Katherine White in Maryland City, AAC.

William Shull, a 64-year-old newspaper deliveryman, was stabbed in the line of duty in Essex.

Examiner publisher Michael Phelps (not the gawky-hot swimmer) apophasises, prolepses and paralipses that the reason the paper's so hard to find is because Sun circulators are stealing his papers out of the box.

Wicked retahded: "The plea means Jenny Parks, the public defender for Delcarlos Johnnie Jacobs, said he believes he did not have the mental capacity to understand his actions of Feb. 1, when five different police officers say they either heard or saw Jacobs shoot an assault rifle at them."

Finally good PR re. Maryland men: Britney's hairy godmother is from MD, attended Naval Academy, played lax.

A lady's purse was snatched in front of the Roland Avenue Eddie's.

I love you, Officer Bazzle of the Northern! I came home from an errand and my neighbor gave me an officer's name and phone number and said that the Northern had my stolen bicycle. I didn't even know my bike had been stolen-- turned out, in the two hours I'd been gone, three teenagers pried open my garage door and took the bike (and broke into a few other garages as well). The police caught them more than a mile away, and the officers managed somehow to convince one of the kids to tell him where the bicycle came from, drove them around until they recognized the garage, figured out my name from my mail, talked to my neighbor and took the bike to the station. He even put it in the trunk!

June 7

Delaka Danielle Augins, 22, pled guilty today to voluntary manslaughter and carrying a deadly weapon. Judge Wanda K. Heard scheduled sentencing for July 21, 2006. Court documents allege that on July 22, 2005, an altercation between two neighbors, Angel Simms and Delaka Danielle Augins, in the 4800 block of Lorelly Avenue started over the destruction of a candle belonging to Simms. As a result, Augins fatally stabbed Simms, 23, with a knife multiple times and then fled the scene. Ms. Simms died later that day at Bayview hospital.

Councilman Kenneth Harris met with Hamm, said it was "productive."

MD's other police to Baltimore City cops: we would never leave someone stranded.

Terry Cooks of Severn, who killed a nurse when he was 17, got life in prison without parole.

June 6

Health Commish: OD deaths are down thanks to Narcan.

MD Court of Appeals: car insurance doesn't have to pay for injuries incurred if one is shot while being carjacked.

Councilman Kenneth Harris wants answers about why the city's arresting baseball fans and clergy, decries "insulting", "childish" tone of letter from the mayor's body double Marcus Brown.

Next on Judge Judy, cunty daughter Ruvette Miller is accused of stealing her father Rufus' identity, going on shopping spree.

Lock up the Mauviel: Theft of copper materials in up since the price of the metal rose earlier this year.

HowCo Hell: a 14-year-old was arrested for robbing a pizza-delivery man. And smoking in bars and restaurants is now illegal.

What the?! Ken Taylor, an armed security guard, was arrested after ranting and cursing at EMTs and police at the site of a fatal crash on 495.

Dept. of Crap Reporting: In spite of a recent spate of murders, the Sun serves the public good by reporting on birds that live in Home Depot. There's a special hell for fluff reporters, one in which they're forced to stay up all night, isolated in a building near the Holland Tunnel, fighting like jackals for baby pictures.

June 5

"I fired many shots." It's a WBAL exclusive interview with the "Cross Keys Shooter" Mark Beckwith, who describes the incident and blasts the Sun for publishing his identity and home address in the paper (!) following the St. Patrick's Day incident.

The May death of Anuradha Ramasamy, 25, of Remington, has been ruled a homicide. #= 115.

In Frederick, Ralph Brown Jr. got probation for the neglect/roasting of his 5-month-old son.

The trial of Myron Merrill Gladney, 20, is scheduled to begin 9 a.m. tomorrow before Judge Allen L. Schwait. On June 1, 2005 a Baltimore City grand jury indicted Gladney on charges of attempted first-degree murder and intimidating a witness. Court documents allege that on April 6, 2005 Gladney approached the victim, Brian Griffin, 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.

The murder trial of Teon Hall, 28, of Annapolis, is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. tomorrow before Judge Paul E. Alpert. The Baltimore City Grand jury indicted Hall March 14, 2005 for first-degree murder in connection with the fatal shooting of Craig Morris, 32. Court documents allege Hall shot and killed Mr. Morris February 18, 2005 in front of the Ritz Cabaret on South Broadway. Hall was also indicted for the attempted first-degree murder of a second victim who survived the shooting. Police said at the time that they believe the murders were a case of mistaken identity.

Classes are going on as scheduled at Woodlawn High, though the body of a man was found on the school track early this morning.

A body was found near the train tracks in Perryman, Harford County, gender, age, race undetermined.

Yes indeed, they're even arresting the clergy now. Yet not the crackheads at 3508 Elm Avenue. Go figure.

If having a gun's a crime, then only criminals will have guns. Criminals and deer hunters. And deer-hunting criminals.

Unsolved Mysteries:
Did Friends of Martin off businessmanRobert Clay? Why are major parts of the police report blacked out?

Was Sister Catherine Ann Cesnik, teacher at Keough High School, murdered by a priest who wanted to keep her from telling what she knew about his sexual abuse of students?

What hit-and-run driver struck five gals sitting in a parked car in Reiserstown?.

June 4

Crimefightery:
Though federal gun-crime prosecutions are up, that doesn't mean crime goes down, poopoo'd Bourgeois intellectuals r.e. Project Get-a-Room. Meanwhile, city cops are starting a new weightloss and endurance program. And the Brooklyn DA's office has a 90-percent conviction rate in its special gun court.

Livery:
Friends of cab driver Omar Ba, shot to death by 15-year old Damon Holmes, are trying to traise money to have him buried in his native Mali.

In Harford County, 18-year-old Wayne Bond got life plus 60 years for the gang-initiation killing of cab driver Derald Guess.

Fugitives:
Keep your eyes peeled for fugitives Ricardo Jones and Joesph Leaks, who escaped a DC jail and caught a Metro shuttle bus. Oh, wait, they caught Leakes. Well, Ricardo (left) is still on the lam. And now arsonist Robert Whetzel of Bel Air has escaped from the Eastern Shore pre-release unit after serving seven out of 10 of his years.

Domestic Horror:
Roger Hargrave, still not taking responsibility for the vicious burning of his own wife, got life in prison.

Around Town:
What really epitomizes Charles Village: shaking hands with Doug Duncan, then two minutes later having a high-ranking member of the Bloods walk by, following the Edmonson Village Steppers.

Are O'Malley's mayor pals trying to tell him something? There's a major conference of mayors and health officials coming to town Wednesday and Thursday. Topic: Building Public Drug Treatment Systems.

This just in:
black men are a diverse group.

June 2

A Baltimore City jury convicted (how rarely are those three words together?) William Langley, 48, of the 2440 block of Pickerming Drive, Parkville, Maryland of first-degree murder and use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence today. The jury deliberated for approximately seven hours yesterday and today after hearing two days of testimony this week. Judge Roger W. Brown set sentencing for September 6, 2006. Says the office of the big J,

On October 3, 2005 in the 600 block of Cherry Hill Road, Langley and Nae Chun Pak, 46, got into an altercation about a food order that Langley had placed in the victim's carry out store. Pak returned Langley's money and he left the store, only to return a short time later and fatally shoot Pak in the head.

Evil Keith M. Garrett got 20 years for murdering 7-year-old Timothy Washington in 1992.

TG it's Fryday: Baltimorean Andre Staton was sentenced to death for killing Beverly Yohn, 26, in front of her children in PA. Staton has a 20-year, tremendously long, "how the hell did he ever see the light of day"-style criminal recond in Baltimore City and was on parole for a stabbing when the murder took place.

After paperwork went missing, a jury aquitted Terry Darrell Jones for the murder of 15-year-old Anatania Delicia Mills.

A 15-year-old boy was charged with yesterday's shooting of cab driver Oumar Bah, 28.

A woman was arrested for vehicular manslaughter, a 90-year-old woman was assaulted, and Derrick Taylor, 26, was identified as Satuday's murder victim (#112) in the Blotter.

Roger Hargrave, the man who set his estranged wife Yvette Cade on fire, will be sentenced today.

In Anne Arundel County, Joseph Charles Cortina Jr., 49, was found dead from a blow to the chest.

U.S. Marshals ("Operation Nemesis") arrested an incredible 182 PG county fugitives this month.

Police are seeking a scary-looking man who's robbed 16 convenience stores.

Gangwatch: Bloods are #1, with (at least) 14 posses in the city and 140 members in sleepy Harford County alone. Crips are #2 with five crews (or wait, is it the Black Guerrilla Family?); the Gang that Saves Trout is distant third. (Could a gang summit please happen without somebody referring to "West Side Story"?) Other gangs in town: the Tiny Rascal Gangsters (aww!), Street Thug Criminals, Drop Bitches Quick, los Vatos Locos, the Pagans (their other car is a broom!).

Random Celebrity Web Finds: Britney Spears' wedding invitation (and shideous candle!) for sale on eBay-- thank jesus the divorce is happening, and Jew Watch News, which comapres Dustin Hoffman to Stalin.

June 1

At arraignment today, Jamal "Sweet 16" Charles and Dwayne Drake, charged with murder, pled not guilty. The court set a trial date of October 2 before Judge Shirley Watts.

A cab driver was robbed and fatally shot in the Northeast.

The Sun reports a homicide on the 1400 block of Federal Street Tuesday, which makes 114 homicides for the year by my count, 111 according to the police. One of the unidentified men shot over the weekend was named as Odell Lamont Wagner, 36.

Coleman Washington beat a woman with a car seat, a truck driver was assaulted with a knife, a woman was abducted and raped, ovens were stolen, plus petty theft and "ranssacking" in the Northern.

Odd choice of words dept:
Police Major to 11-year-olds: guns and jail aren't "sexy."
"...and gangs are not romantic at all," added the prosecutor.

Mrs. J has refiled assault charges against two officers, Jack H. Odom Jr. and Michael D. Brassell, who were accused of assaulting Akhenaton R. Bonaparte IV outside of Maria D's but had their case dismissed.

Tragic: The Dawson family lawsuit vs. the city = dismissed.

Hey y'all, watch this: A 14-year-old boy was shot to death in Elkton while playing with a rifle in a mobile home. His two dumbass friends were arrested.

Why did Michael Simmons kill Patrick Walter in Bel Air? Charging docs say Walter cut Simmons off in traffic.

Maryland's worst judge (left) says that dismissing Yvette Cade's protective order was an 'administrative error.'

Ron Meroney of Tennessee told a judge he'll turn himself in to MD authorities for raping a 14-year-old 32 years ago.

Thomas Gibbons of Forest Hill pled guilty to bank fraud after stealing more than $1.6 million from investment clients.

The story is just that good: Baltimore's most eccentric lawn litter ran the sixth piece in a row about private-school drug flushing.

Blind item: what governor was spotted cozying up to a war criminal for money?

County police get new radios, Roland Park to get a Starbuck's.

May 31

In Hargerstown, a 17-year-old got two years' probation for shooting a mother of three.

WBAL reports the 10-day-old story of gas-jacker Joseph Boulware.

Though the Inspector General pooh-poohs Project Exile (source of the billboard on the jail), local officials say the Feds have been taking over gun prosecutions successfully, upping them by 82 percent in the past quarter.

From the SA's office:

[BC State's Attorney Mrs. J] will join law enforcement partners, community leaders and guests at The Maryland Gang Summit, Sheraton Hotel Columbia, 10207 Wincopin Circle, Columbia, Maryland at 9:30 AM Thursday. Jessamy's participation in The Maryland Gang Summit continues public education and awareness efforts underway by Baltimore prosecutors and community coordinators. Citizens, neighborhood leaders and school officials have expressed interest in knowing more about gang activity in their communities. In response to this high level of community interest, the State's Attorney's Office sponsored a Gang Awareness Summit at the University of Maryland in April. The SAO is also promoting gang awareness and positive decision making skills at city schools through the G.R.E.A.T. (Gang Resistance Education and Training) program, a cooperative effort begun by the SAO and City School Police.

Donte Hudson, 28, was shot to death in East Baltimore and a potential witness is clinging to life. Hudson was homicide #112. There have been six murders in the past five days.

The CP reports on the city's homicides between May 15 and 26. Aaron Wilson, 23, was identified as one of the two men shot in Maple Glen Apartments.

One of the "Sweet 16" killers, Jamal Charles, 16, has an arraigment scheduled for 9:30 tomorrow morning before Judge Glynn. The Baltimore City Grand Jury indicted Charles and Drake May 4, 2006 for first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder and handgun counts.

The rape trial of Jemini Jones, Steven Hatley, and Brian Shaffer, originally scheduled to begin today, was postponed until August 21 before Judge Wanda K. Heard.

..and Sophia Coppola is pregnant, and it isn't Spike's!