February 21

Andre S. Jones was shot to death at Jusgos deli on the West side, and an unid'd man was found dead in the 1500 block of N. Bradford St.
Gus says they're 40 and 41, so who was 39?

Evil Carolyn Redd, 41, and Lawrence Gee, 33, were arrested Tuesday and charged with first-degree murder in the death of Redd's mother, 63-year-old Mary Page. Fox reported that Gee also raped Page.

More on Thomas D. Morten, who stabbed Donald Henderson "through 'every vital organ you can think of '" and "so hard that the tip of the knife broke off in the man's skull."

The Sun reports on the Clay Court apartments, a former open-air drug market where two men were murdered within 24 hours.

Forestville dentist Derek Curtis, 63, was sentenced to more than five years in prison for distributing cocaine and painkillers from his office.

A Cecil County grand jury indicted Loren Jennifer Love, 26, for assaulting a 75-year-old man inside his Conowingo home and giving him a "kiss of death" before stealing his pickup.

James Douglas allegedly tried to rob a Frederick liquor store and instead allegedly burned to death.

An off-duty cop working security at a Wachovia branch in the Northeast shot a wannabe bank robber.

Carroll County won't reduce the bail for Randy Humple, who allegedly shot a 17-year-old girl who was napping then ran away and hid.

WJZ reports that police shot a man in the 2100 block of Broadway in Fells Point, and the man then ran into a McDonalds. Interestingly, that address would place the man, the police, and the McDonalds smack in the middle of the Inner Harbor. Perhaps the editors at WJZ decided that a Fells Point shooting is more interesting than a South Clifton Park / Darley Park / East Baltimore Midway shooting. (Looks like they fixed their mistake. Hooray!)

Three teenagers were hit in a drive-by shooting in Annapolis

A plethora of well-read hoodlums in Harford County.

Rajah the poodle is dead, and his groomer claims, "He bite me. He’s not behaving very well and there’s no excuse for that."

February 20 Evening

At a hearing today, Judge David Mitchell sentenced Iletha Murdaugh, 42, of the 520 block of North Mosher Street, to 20 years in prison for second degree murder and a consecutive 10 years in prison for use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence. On January 7, 2007 a Baltimore City jury convicted Murdaugh of second degree murder and use of a handgun counts. The dirt:

On March 7, 2006 police responded to 525 N. Mosher Street for a shooting. Upon arrival the officers found Gregory Rollins suffering from a single gun shot wound to the head. The victim later died from his injuries. Further investigation revealed that Rollins' girlfriend, Murdaugh, and Rollins had gotten into a heated argument over an ex-girlfriend. During the argument the defendant grabbed the victim's gun from the nightstand and shot the victim one time in the head.

At a hearing today, Judge John M. Glynn sentenced Thomas D. Morten, Jr., 18, of the 2500 block of West Belvedere Avenue, to 30 years in prison with all but 15 suspended plus five years' probation for the second-degree murder of Donald Henderson. On November 16, 2006, Morten pled guilty to second-degree murder use of a deadly weapon. On February 13, 2006, Morten, who was 17 at the time, stabbed Henderson multiple times in the torso and stomach during the course of an argument. Henderson died soonafter in an apartment building in the 3000 block of Thorndale Avenue.

Gross! Rookie AAC officer Joseph F. Mosmiller is accused of groping a woman's breast during a traffic stop ... and taking a cellphone picture of his hand on said boob.

February 20

An unidentified man [38] was shot to death on the same block as David Frasier [35].

County police: three fatal shootings so far this year were all, like, totally justified.

U of M student Nicole Shiffman was murdered in Arizona.

Robert "Sam" Slater, 21, a sociology major at Trinity College, Connecticut, was stabbed in the cheek at a frat party.

Bleeding internally and short a kidney, A. Robert Kaufman still refuses to kiss up to the fat cats.

Mary Lou Shifflet, 46, was killed in a hit-and-run accident in Pasadena on Friday night. The fleeing jackass was ID'd as one Jose Santos Toledo.

Pervertito del giorno: Registered offender Robert Paul Layton, 48, at left, who allegedly sexually abused a 13-year-old boy at his home and solicited a 14-year-old boy, luring them with booze, weed and a pool table. Police also found nude pictures of boys, and are asking other victims and witnesses to come forward.

Feel bad for li'l bastard Dannilynn Hogan-Stern-Smith?
Stephanie Coontz explains why you shouldn't.

February 19

David Frasier, 26, was shot to death in East Baltimore [35]. George Baskerville, 28, was shot to death in the Northwest [36].

Youngsters found a burnt body in a field in South Baltimore [37?].

Blotter lowlights: A 29-year-old man survived being shot in the head on S. Payson St.; a man was hit over the head with a shovel in a fight about a phone bill; a 44-year-old man was stabbed outside of a bar in the Southeastern.

Doug Gansler wants to create a new unit to investigate cold cases from the Civil Rights era.

County police shot a man after a standoff yesterday. (Again?)

If you missed "Five Things I Have To Have Now" with Stephanie Galling-Flake ... consider yourself lucky. (Is she paid to endorse those products?)

February 16

Eugene Parker, 31, was arrested for the murder of Harold Robinson, a security guard at Club International.

District Judge Blake ordered Jermarl A. Jones held in custody, instead of allowing him to be released to a halfway house (customary soon after a heroin-dealing arrest, I gather)

Pedophile of the day: Kirsten Ann Kinley of HoCo, left, who had sex with a 15-year-old and sent him "inappropriate" photos and text messages.
Runner up: Mark Bartles, who used peer-to-peer networking software to download and share images of child pornography with his peers. The FBI found him by his ISP.

Nathan R. Chapman, sentenced to seven and a half years in prison for defrauding the Maryland pension system of millions of dollars and stealing from his public companies, had his jail time reduced by a third by a federal judge Friday. Booo.

A couple of cocaine-filled guitars were found at BWI.
"Drugs and rock ’n’ roll have always gone together — but not quite like this." HAW!!

From last week's NYT: "The Needle and the Damage Done," about how grody lethal injection can be, and American discomfort with the Death Penalty. ("the twitching, the moaning, we can't even tolerate that.")

February 15

Sheila D. is looking at merging the school police with the city police. (WBAL has some oddly capitalized "man on the street" interviews with local denizens.)
Olesker: Hop off the trash truck and get in a police car already!

Remember the tragic Remington halfway-house triple murder of Nathan Gulliver, Antwon Arthur, and Steven Matthews? Prosecutors say it was all over a $125 debt.

Two people pled guilty to a gun battle that ended at a Dundalk supermarket.

AAC police are looking for 17-year-old "Zel" Tuell for the murder of Terrance A. Powell. Powell's 15-year-old brother was also a murder victim in Annapolis six years ago.

Dr. Nelson H. Hendler of the Mensana clinic pleaded guilty to a drug distribution charge in the County and got 150 hours of community service and 18 months of supervised probation.

Pervertito del giorno: HoCo officials finally tracked down Gilbert Blackman in Arizona. Blackman, a convicted child abuser, disappeared 10 years ago after violating probation.

A teddy bear vendor was beaten and robbed in the Southern.

Our city's fine bail bondsmen can get your loved ones out of the slammer for as low as $500.

Politics Corner
Annapolis Alderwoman Julie Stankivic is "living in a community that has been besieged." She is, of course, referring to cab drivers who honk their horns.

It looks as if Olesker shamed O'Malley's brother into taking down the sign, and shoveling the walk.

Ten candidates shall now commence clawing their way into Stephanie R Blake's District 6 City Council seat. Also leaving: Paula Johnson Branch of the 13th (and Keiffer Mitchell of the 11th).

February 14

In fiscal 2006, the department spent $29 million on overtime.
The department remains short about 160 officers -- or an average of nearly 18 officers per district.
... I declare, someone really needs to mail 160 bags of dog doo to HQ every day. Or dead rats. Or perhaps a melange of surprises!

Justin Fenton: "In his first court appearance, Charles Eugene Burns, the 35-year-old Harford County man charged with killing one of four women whose bodies were found in remote areas, lashed out yesterday at a judge and his attorneys, saying he has been 'kept in the dark' about his trial."

The CSA remanded the case of Maouloud Baby vs. MD back to the circuit court for another trial on account of the confusing instructions given to the jury after they asked, "If a female consents to sex initially and, during the course of the sex act to which she consented, for whatever reason, she changes her mind and the ... man continues until climax, does the result constitute rape?" (Very long story short: the answer is "no.")

Perv du jour: A guy in a white van driving around Annapolis trying to abduct children.

Runner up: Peter Urbanowicz, charged with four counts related to the improper touching of his four-year-old step-granddaughter.

Morgan State men's basketball coach Todd Bozeman surrendered to authorities in Farmville, VA yesterday afternoon. The MSU basketball coach was wanted for "Class 1 assault and battery and Class 3 curse and abuse."

Former O'Malley supporter: please take your giant gdd'd sign back, Gov!

February 13

Alusine Kamara, 26, was fatally shot early Sunday [33]. His brother, Ansumana, 24, and one Mustapha Aruna, 26, were wounded in the incident in an alley in the 1800 block of W. Baltimore St.
Ansumana the younger is in critical condition at Shock Trauma.
"Police said Aruna was shot in a leg, but keys in his pants pocket took the brunt of the bullet."
The older Kamara brother Alusine was a musician who'd studied production at London CM.

Also, Conswelo Walker, 28, of the 2600 block of E. "Northwern" Parkway, was arrested for attempted murder.

A Baltimore City jury convicted Ricardo Watson, 35, of the 1000 block of East Hoffman Street, of first degree murder and use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence today. First degree murder carries a maximum prison term of life. The handgun count carries a maximum prison term of 20 years. Judge M. Brooke Murdock scheduled sentencing for April 17, 2007. Say court docs, "On March 25, 2006 Watson and the victim, Darren Green, 21, were attending a party at a house in the 1200 block of Maple Leaf Court [in the Oldtown neighborhood]. Watson shot Green eight times at point blank range in the torso."

Late yesterday a Baltimore City jury convicted Davon Jones, 19, of the 2400 block of Keyworth Avenue, of attempted first degree murder, use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence and conspiracy to use a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence. The jury convicted Derrick Gardner, 20, of the 4500 block of Gardner Road of attempted second degree murder, use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence and conspiracy to use a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence. Jurors heard three days of testimony and deliberated approximately two-and-a-half hours before reaching a verdict. Attempted first degree murder carries a maximum prison term of life. Attempted second degree murder carries a maximum prison term of 30 years. The handgun counts carry maximum prison terms of 20 years. Judge David Mitchell scheduled sentencing for March 27, 2007. Details:

On January 10, 2006, the victim, Jerome Smith, was walking in the 2500 block of Druid Park Drive when he was confronted by Gardner who asked Smith about $70 he owed their drug boss. Jones joined Gardner. Smith did not have the money and turned to flee. Gardner pulled out a silver revolver and shot Smith in the back. Smith stumbled across the street and fell down in the woods. Jones and Gardner followed and Jones took the handgun from Gardner and shot Smith himself. Lying prone, Smith held his arms up to defend himself and was hit on the inside of his upper forearm. Police responded minutes after the shooting and Smith was transported to Sinai Hospital were he was treated and released the next day. Smith was subsequently found guilty of violating his probation for drug distribution and is currently serving a two year sentence.

Harold Robinson [34] was the man who was killed at Club International on Sunday. Robinson was working security when two men who had been thrown out for peeing on the floor returned with a gun and opened fire on the security guards.

Police serving a warrant to a murder suspect in a home on Eastern Ave. in Dundalk shot and killed the suspect's father as he reached for a gun.

Whoa-Co Judge Neil E. Axel gave two days of jail time to Timothy Cerny, 47, caught on tape spitting on a neighbor during an arguement about the placement of grass-clipping bags during the course of an eight-year family feud.
Hope they put him next to Jack Carl "Bacon Grease and Antifreeze" Schroeder!

Aberdeen is following in O'Malley's footsteps and implementing a scaled-down version of CitiStat, complete with three crime cameras. Meanwhile, Marty O' is developing StateStat, "a shining example of government efficiency realized."

St. Mary's Hopsital: Whoops, we "lost" some patient data too!
(Don't they sell it all to Pfizer, Proctor & Gamble and Enfamil et al. anyway?)

News We Can Use (but will more likely ignore) Dept:
a nonprofit is going to conduct an in-depth study (at cost, we presume) to create a "baseline of economic indicators" for the city.

February 12

A Baltimore City jury convicted Paul Spriggs, 23 of attempted second degree murder, first degree assault and handgun counts on Friday. Attempted second-degree murder carries a maximum prison term of 30 years. Judge Alfred Nance scheduled sentencing for February 16. The report:

In the early morning hours of March 25, 2006 Spriggs arrived in the 1000 block of Cameron Avenue in a vehicle. Upon arrival, he exited and approached the victim, asking "where’s the green?" The victim started running and Spriggs fired at least nine shots – striking the victim four times. Spriggs then ran back to his car and fled the scene. An officer in the area heard the shots and was able to pull the vehicle over in the immediate area. A .38 caliber handgun was recovered from Spriggs' person. Assistant State's Attorney David M. Grzechowiak [Grr Shizh O wee ack?] of the Firearms Investigation Violence Enforcement (FIVE) Division prosecuted this case.

Four victims were shot, chased by police from Club International on West Baltimore Street. One may be dead [34?]

Murder 32 was ID'd as Dwight Evans, 32, and an unidentified man [33] was killed in the 1800 block of W. Baltimore St. early Sunday morning. (That's six blocks and 20 hours from the quadruple shooting at Club International.)

County police shot and killed an armed man while attempting to serve a warrant to the suspected murderer of Joseph Francis Hoffman, 51, found dead on Woodwell Road in Dundalk last Saturday (Feb 10).

Domestic disturbances:
E: Mount de Sales and St. Agnes parish "Cathohlics" are rallying around Father Tim.

Perv de hoy: Dean Trout, 52, of Keymar, Carroll County, in the bathtub, 1970-80 (hence, new poll question).

The Box n Save robbers have been apprehended!

Don't Trash It!

ThnxsGd glorious BOTTLE and CAN day has arrived! (Don't stop Believe-ing, Hold on to that Feeling!)

Bag up your rinsed salsa jars, Bud Lite bottles, Bud Lite cans, Spaghettio cans, plastic kitty litter & laundry jugs and all your empty cans of anti-stink-spray.

NOT allowed: recycling bags full of dirty kitty litter, dead vermin and/or dog poo!

thanks,
The Lēad VJJ

February 11

A street vendor [32] was shot to death behind the East Baltimore church where he sold "everything from jackets to snacks." Neighbors and police tried to understand why anyone would kill the man.


Family members still have a lot of questions about the death of Army Sgt. Juwan Johnson, apparently killed during a "jumping in" for the Gangster Disciples in Kaiserslautern, Germany.

Eric Hartley of The Capital recounts the "depressingly familiar tale" of the Tolbert brothers.

PCG: Slain 22-year-old furniture deliveryman Brandon D. Clark of Oxon Hill had a showing of 500+ at his funeral.

AAC police officers "'acted appropriately' when they stood by and watched two Siberian huskies maul three pet goats in Severn, county police said."

WIFI is a boon to kiddie-porn enthusiasts.

Wild times at the 'Deener's Riviera Beach Volunteer Fire Company, what with underage drinking, Maxim magazine, etc.

Job seekers are being targeted by phishing scams. (has anyone ever found an actual job on Monster.com anyway?)

Good reading: Supreme details the extent of JHH's non-tax-paying suckage.

February 10

It's life without parole for Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff for two murders in Queens. McGriff is "credited" with bringing crack to Baltimore from Queens in the 80's, and doing plenty of money laundering in our fair city.

Baltimoreans stole jewelry, CDs, sunglasses, a pool cue, a DVD player, a VCR, a bunch of TVs, a Mazda, tools, a sleeping bag, a Chevy Caprice, a chainsaw, watches, coins, computers, a handgun, a Cadillac and good old-fashioned cash to feed their starving families.*

The Long family settled a civil suit with the city for $100,000. Homer Long died of a heart attck whilst in police custody in 2003.

The precedent for finding abuse or neglect of a minor child in a custody case has just been upped by the CSA from "reasonable grounds to believe" to "preponderance of the evidence."

Another wig lady! Though two bitches are in jail, there's now word of a third scammer who pickpockets checks and ID's from middle-aged women, then dons the appropriate wig to impersonate them and withdraw money from the victim's account. So warn your moms!

Speaking of swindlers, Mark E. Phillips, alias Mark Le Roy Aaron, will spend 121 months in the can and has to pay restitution of $688k. Phillips bilked investors, including his own elderly parents, into "investing" cash money in his "company" which he then day-traded away or spent on himself, all the while sending out phony monthly statements and even fake tax forms. He also opened a credit card account in his dad's name and bought a hot tub, among other crap. No worries jerky, it'll be plenty hot where you're going (by which we mean the men's showers in the pen, then the flames of hell).

No Frednecks need apply: "In office barely a month, Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler has ousted the state's independent monitor of juvenile detention programs and replaced her with a politically connected lawyer from his home county of Montgomery."

"But Mommy, this necklace is really heavy!"
The health department issued notices to three city stores selling lead jewelry for kids.

* We're working on getting opinions from local "moral authorities" on this question. If you know (or are) a reasonably articulate priest, rabbi, ethicist, Mormon missionary, imam, etc. who would care to weigh in with a "professional opinion," please write care of the address at the bottom of your screen before next Friday.

February 9

Basketball coach Darnell Gaither, 34, was shot to death last night as he was leaving the Walter P. Carter Recreation Center on East 43rd Street [31].

Damned honor system! Convicted murderer Henry Bryant was working outside of the state Metropolitan Transition Center in East Baltimore when he walked away.

Abduction and a shootout in Salisbury.

In District Court, three PGC men, Lionel D. Gilliam, Sean A. Simpson and Norberto Quinones were convicted of all sorts of godawful crimes, including gunning down a man with an AK-47, killing a guy for not buying enough crack, carjacking and drug conspiracy.

MoCo police are looking for Kim Jones, a veteran with paranoid schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder who disappeared in Silver Spring.

Today's pervert is ... the zip code 21224!
Runner up #1: Alan Meade Beier, a 52-year-old chemistry and physics teacher at the Clarksville school accused of abusing three students, two boys and a girl, and photographing one of them nude in his classroom.
Runner up #2: Joseph Samuel Ellis, 25, "accused of exposing himself to one student, persuading a second to meet him at a park with the promise of alcohol and sending a third suggestive computer messages."
And Runner up #3: Ernie Hancock, 48, who will serve 14 years in prison for having more than 100 child-pornography images on his hard drive, and who admitted to molesting a 13-year-old boy.

February 8 nite

Word on the street is City Council members are using the transitional time between Dixon and Blake to "pass a lot of nonsense," including Keiffer Mitchell subverting long-established historic preservation laws to lax the one-year waiting-period rules for historic properties for the benefit of Mercy Hospital. Also on the agenda: a city-wide smoking ban.

...but CSA saved the Magnet Bar.

A new bill would require the state to oversee the training of the staff of residential programs for juvenile offenders.


Baltimore County police are looking for two suspects (above) in the attempted burglary of the Box and Save grocery store on Dundalk Avenue Jan. 28., the High's in the 6800 block of Broening Highway, the Blue Claw Crab House in the 3400 block of Dundalk Ave. and the B & K Carryout in the 7900 block of Dundalk Avenue.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore and the St. Agnes Parish will make a statement to address the "sexual allegations" of two adulteresses involving the local associate pastor, the formerly reverend Timothy Fell.

Jack Schroeder of Laurel, HoCo is charged with poisioning a noisy dog by placing a mix of "chicken bones, bacon grease and anti-freeze" on or near his side of the property line.

Former Randallstown High football star Melvin Alaeze was indicted by a Baltimore County grand jury on charges of attempted first-degree murder and related offenses Feb. 5 based on a Dec. 24 shooting and alleged robbery at the Brookhaven apartment complex in Randallstown.

Robert Scott Targan of MoCo (allegedy) treated Bell's palsy victims for 20 years without a license.

February 8

Acurtiss Grimes got off scot-free for allegedly shaking his two-month-old daughter to death.

Nelsene Hattie Burnette's alleged killer called the woman's family from jail and told them where to find the body.

Suspects were arrested in the murders of Stephanie Stevens and Joseph C. Simms.

David Helms pleaded guilty to manslaughter for the drunk-driving accident that killed a MoCo art teacher.

A convicted rapist's name was removed from the sex offender's registry, and the victim feels "like I'm being raped by the state all over again."

"Do these clear heels match my sheet?" KKK leader George Young is in big trouble for convincing an underage girl to strip, touch Grand Dragon Junior to join Klavern.

Chun-Hua Liu will be imprisoned separately from his co-defendants, all of whom he testified against. The four men pleaded guilty in a Timonium home-invasion in 2006.

Former BPD officer Frances Hamilton claims she was fired for reporting overtime fraud in her unit, but the police say it was due to falsified paperwork.

Apparently, the state of downtown Baltimore is "mostly upbeat."
Kirby "Get In On It" Fowler: "The prosperity is spreading from the heart of downtown outward."

Agg. assaults w/ gun

Jan. 28th - Feb. 3rd (plus one from Jan. 23rd that didn't make the last update)

Northwestern District:

None

Northern District:

None

Northeastern District:

1/28 - 2400 block Southern Ave, 21214
1/28 - 5700 block Perring Pky, 21239
1/29 - 2200 block Pinewood Ave, 21214
2/3 - 4200 block Nicholas Ave, 21206

Western District:

1/28 - 2300 block Druid Hill Ave, 21217

Central District:

None

Eastern District:

1/23 - 2800 block E Monument St, 21205
1/30 - 1600 block N Durham St, 21213 (three victims)

Southwestern District:

None

Southern District:

None

Southeastern District:

2/2 - 3300 block Noble St, 21224

February 7

At a hearing today, Judge Allen L. Schwait sentenced Hasan Howard, 22, of the 1900 block of Fayette Street, to 15 years in prison for the December 17, 2005 attack of a 22-year-old city woman. A Baltimore City jury convicted Howard of second-degree assault and possession of a regulated firearm December 7, 2006. Judge Schwait sentenced Howard to 10 years for the assault and five years without the possibility of parole for the handgun count with the sentences to run consecutively. The facts:

On December 17, 2005, Howard got into an argument with his girlfriend, the victim, at her Pennsylvania Avenue apartment and started choking her. She escaped Howard's grasp and ran into the kitchen to call 911. Howard came after her with a handgun tucked into his waistband. As Howard approached the victim, he started to reach for the gun. Instead of reaching for the telephone, she grabbed a knife and stabbed Howard in the arm. She then called 911 but Howard grabbed the phone from her and hung it up. The victim left the apartment, taking her seven year old daughter with her and when the police arrived, no one was home. Six days later, detectives executed a search and seizure warrant at Howard's grandmother's house and recovered a handgun. The victim had filed six prior complaints against Howard during the year of their relationship. Howard is currently serving two consecutive three year sentences for violating his probation from 2003 convictions of two counts of possessing regulated firearms. Today's 15-year prison term will run concurrently to this previous sentence.

Four murders this week: Sintia Mesa, Stephanie Stevens, an unidentified man (who the Sun reported was Ryan Holliman), and Desmond Tucker.

Jurors began deliberating the case against Acurtiss Grimes, 26, accused of shaking his two-month-old daughter Kaitlyn to death.

James E. Darnell was sentenced to 10 years for attempted robbery, or maybe attempted rape.

County police are looking for two men who robbed the owners of Wilkens Liquors in the parking lot of the Wilkens Avenue Provident Bank Jan. 23.

A hit-and-run suspect died after crashing into a tree while fleeing police in Howard County.

Two suspects in a Frederick home invasion were arrested in North Dakota while crossing the U.S./Canada border.

Karen Ann Malinowsky was charged with embezzling $250,000 from her dead employer's estate.

A suspect spent an hour browsing the Reisterstown Road Payless Shoe Source before robbing it.

Kevin Adams, 20, Jonathan Mathews, 20, and a 17-year-old boy, all from Arnold, face 55 counts of destruction of property after (allegedly) going on a roving BB-shooting-spree.

Sounds like the family of the 22-year-old furniture deliveryman shot by a PCG Homeland Security official will be a-suing.

A stolen cell phone, drunken shopping-cart driving and a fake ID in the Greyhound Blotter.

David Simon's speech last night at Loyola was incredibly interesting. One recurring theme was that we can't change the institutional malaise that has taken over the city (and the country). As for the people who suffer the worst due to the system and their lack of response: "they're not rioting anymore; they're high." I'm cynical, but I felt like an optimist in comparison to Simon.

February 6

The last of the "Jugs," aka the Lexington Terrace Boys, Gregory Parker (at age 27 a boy no more) was sentenced to 20 years for conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine.

Six Baltimore police officers from the Eastern District were suspended as part of an internal affairs investigation into possible 'irregularities' with their overtime pay.

Tanea Bullock, 22, was sentenced today to 30 years in prison, all but 20 years suspended, to be served at the Patuxent Institution. A co-defendant, Lawrence Watson, 26, pled guilty to reckless endangerment and was sentenced to time served.

A man was shot on South Street and is in critical condition.
Friday's murder victim, shot to death at the Sugar Hill Tavern, was ID'd as Desmond G. Tucker, 52.

The Rachels wrote poems, killed themselves with carbon monoxide.

Former Senator Thomas Bromwell's lawyers get scrappy, invoke Juvenal/ classic graphic novel in attempt to save the boss's severance package.

Dixon: "We have to get back to the days when officers knew the people who lived in the communities they patrolled, and the people in the community knew and trusted the officers that worked in their neighborhood."
Said Hamm, "at an unusual, impromptu press conference held in the mayor's office after [Dixon's] speech: 'I believe, and the mayor believes, that you cannot just enforce, enforce, enforce without providing some hope for the community.'"

Bethesda, MoCo: A bummer year for the "Whitman Five," a quint of numnuts charged with robbing a Smoothie King for the fun of it, among other crimes.

Me fail English? That non-possible Dept: "Disciplining students is no about setting rules and consequences."

Registered sex offender Allen Spencer attacked two female paramedics who were taking him to the hospital.

Five men in Aberdeen were snagged after trying to provide the world some good lovin' at a reasonable price.

It's now illegal to post campaign signs more than 45 days before a primary election in Baltimore County, and the ACLU isn't very happy.

Don't ever, ever give Morgan State coach Todd Bozeman the wrong sandwiches.

February 5

Arkia L. Douglas of Glen Burnie got 12 years for beating her 13-day-old daughter to death. Reports Andrea Siegel, "Doctors at Johns Hopkins Hospital stopped cataloguing her injuries because there were too many."

And, a sentencing hearing for Tanea Bullock, 22, of the 4800 block of Liberty Heights Avenue is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. tomorrow before Judge Schwait. Bullock pled guilty November 28, 2006 to manslaughter and child abuse resulting in death.  Under terms of the plea agreement announced in open court she faces a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison suspend all but 20 years. A co-defendant, Lawrence Watson, 26, pled guilty to reckless endangerment and was sentenced to time served. The heinous facts:

On January 5, 2005 at their residence in the 4800 block of Liberty Heights Avenue, Bullock and Watson awakened at 5 a.m. and found their son, Joshua Watson, one month old, cold and not breathing. They went back to bed. Several hours later they awakened and found Joshua cold and unresponsive.  Watson called 911. Emergency operators performed CPR and transported Joshua to Sinai Hospital where he was pronounced dead. The medical examiner found loop shaped scars and signs of blunt force trauma to the right side of Joshua’s body, skull fractures, hemorrhaging and contusions of the brain and 27 healing fractures to his torso.

Is it really possible that we had no murders over the weekend?

A robbery in Canton and a couple of stabbings over the weekend.

Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler wants to take on violent street gangs.

The Harford County Sheriff is tightening security after Terrance Washington's fourth successful escape.

A ewe was decapitated in Frederick County.

A truckload of TVs was stolen and recovered in Anne Arundel County.

Oh, goody. Sheila's going to talk about the State of the City.

Perv du Jour: Parris James McGhee-Bey, 57, former teacher at Woodlawn High School, was arrested for assaulting a 14-year-old student.

February 4

How did Garnell Moore, age 7, simply vanish?

Rozza Alston (accused of robbing and stabbing an 80-year-old-woman at the Norf Abenue KFC) was tracked down by a signal from the woman's cell phone.

What does that mean? "Federal prosecutors said the circumstances of Mesa's death and the demeaning way in which her body was found suggest a link to drugs."

Kim Barnes, 50, was arrested for pretending to work at the MVA.