Friday, January 11, 2008

January 11

18-year-old Zachariah Hallback is the name of the man who was shot in the head on Wednesday while waiting for a safe and reliable bus at E. 33rd St. and The Alameda. From the way it sounds, things aren't looking so good for Mr. Hallback.

In other Blotter news (link above), a 30-year-old man was shot in the back, and a 45-year-old man got knocked off his bicycle.

An unidentified man was fatally shot in one of the hoity-toity neighborhoods next to Arundel Mills mall.

A man and woman were stabbed this morning in the 2300 block of E. Preston St., and to quote ABC2's brilliant editorial staff, "This morning police care..."

Police have identified the man who is accused of molesting a sixth-grader at Perry Hall Middle School, but they have not arrested him.

Hopefully, Gerard Damon was as tired of being free as he was of being locked up.

In bank robbery news, BaltCo police released a photo of the man who robbed the 1st Mariner Bank on Joppa Rd. in Towson on January 4th, and a clever robber at a Wachovia bank in DC got away with $100G without anyone at the bank knowing they'd been robbed.

17-year-old hammer-beater Tierra Lashawn Powell got 18 months for her violent attack on an 18-year-old woman who gave her and her friends a ride. Good to know that all the wuss judges aren't in the city.

Michael Gagnon, the alleged drunk douchebag who wiped out a Parkville family, was indicted on five counts of aggravated vehicular homicide and two counts of aggravated vehicular assault. He faces up to 50 years.

In other drunk douchebag news, drunken crackhead Fontaine Pridgett pleaded guilty to killing three people who were on their way to receive kidney dialysis treatments in 2006.

The rapist in a 1992 case got nine years after his DNA was matched to evidence.

The trial of Brandon T. Morris begins today. Morris is charged with killing corrections officer Jeffery Wroten during a botched escape.

19 comments:

ppatin said...

Brandon Morris had better get the death penalty. He is the perfect example of an inmate who will be a threat to others as long as he is alive.

non said...

A friend of mine used to live near Arundel Mills Mall, and some of those older neighborhoods and developments are surprisingly gritty and downscale and not so "hoity-toity", contrary to popular perception.

non said...

Whoops, I stand corrected: the article states that they guy was shot in "an exclusive neighborhood" near the mall.

John Galt said...

About that whole Perry Hall Middle sexual thing.... (in the immortal words of Gilda Radner) ...never mind.

John Galt said...

Oh, look! Just what we've needed,.. another Initiative.

If you want middle-class blacks to stay in Charm City, hire cops to make the streets safe and nonunion teachers to make the schools competitive. Gee, why hasn't anyone recommended that before ???

Oh, that's right; we've been saying it for 40 years. As a consolation prize, however, we get Diane Bell's new committee. We need more of those here, right ?

ppatin said...

Lower property taxes would also help...

ppatin said...

Galt, union teachers are not the problem with the school system, it's the students and parents who are the problem. Do you know anyone who teaches in the city public school system? I know several people who do, and they're all dedicated and hard working. There's a saying in computer science though, "garbage in - garbage out." You can't expect good results from a school system in a city where many parents think it's acceptable to feed their children Doritos for breakfast.

ppatin said...

Ambulance stolen from Westminster hospital

John Galt said...

Patin, I grew up in a union-free school district and teachers were there to teach. Only.

When the issue with a student was nonacademic, he/she was referred to a principal. After querying the student for signs of a medical/legal problem, the persistent offender was sent home to a parent who was obligated to 'fix whatever's broken' and then notify the school when the kid's ready for academics.

Noncompliant parents were truly rare, but were subject to incarceration for negligence.

Teachers should not be babysitting, and unions should avoid advocating for wasteful uses of instructional time.

Maybe if you send noncompliant parents to jail, they won't reproduce so rapidly.

John Galt said...

The union here is less interested in productive work conditions for its hard workers than with influencing elections and creating a soft landing for the less hard-working members.

John Galt said...

Oh, and the municipal government rocket scientists in Cleveland have climbed onboard Dixon's attempt to blame her population's outrageous criminality on the Banks.

ppatin said...

Galt, I am not a huge fan of organized labor, however any problems that are caused by the teachers union in Baltimore are extremely minor compared to those caused by crappy students and parents. Increasing the number of cops by say 25% would almost certainly have a significant measurable impact on crime in this city, whereas eliminating the teachers union would change almost nothing.

John Galt said...

Did I excuse the parents? I thought I'd referred to incarceration for those who will not parent.

It comes down to the same issue as the crime: is Baltimore willing to punish those who don't play by the societal rulebook, including responsibility for one's minor offspring.

Once you imprison the habitual hoodlums/hoodlettes and the negligent parents and put the children into enclosed residential military academy as wards of the State, the corridor from Downtown to Towson is probably adequate to house the residual population, and the rest of Baltimore can be demolished and composted.

John Galt said...

Anyone see this workplace shooting in South Balto. this a.m. ?

John Galt said...

Alonso says the bus violence is an anomaly, but Del. Conaway says bureaucrats are having a loving discussion.

John Galt said...

Question: are the accomplices at 90? Arlington being charged with harboring a fugitive ?

John Galt said...

Oh, and good ol' O.J. did it again! Violated his bail by approaching witnesses in his case.


Say, is he from Baltimore or something ???

Anonymous said...

Sad to report, Mr. Hallback passed on Friday afternoon at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He was in my mentoring program

Anonymous said...

Dear galt....

As a Baltimore City Teacher, I have to agree with ppatin. Every single city teacher I've ever met works harder then most people ever will in their lives. We are held 10x more accountable then most counties as far as following curriulum, standards, using best practices and documentation. Each school has an 'academic dean' that randomly visits classrooms to make sure that content is being taught to highest standards.

Problem.....I have 20 students on roll for my 6th period class, usually I get around 5 that show up. The attendance rates are terrible. Its hard to teach students that don't show up! Letters and calls home don't do anything to remedy the situation. Again, I must agree with ppatin, that ill parenting is playing a HUGE role in the failure of BCPSS. On parent/teacher nights I only see maybe 2 parents out of 100 students. Sad.