'Nearly 40'

"Nearly 40" shot.* I guess it's coming so fast and furious no one wants to commit a number to paper.

Meanwhile, revelations about the extent of the NSA's data collection and disregard for the law keep coming, but you wouldn't know it if you only read the Sun. If it's not spare assorted wire copy articles* about Edward Snowden's personal drama then it's how the NSA, FBI and CIA are like, so totally right and who cares about the government's secret courts because Snowden is like, such a hoser! So here, have some links about the secret court that compelled Yahoo and other technology companies to break the law, the new "secret body of law" the government created to justify its means, and the latest revelation that the NSA can store a billion phone calls a day, with 850,000 people having clearance to access said calls. And how about that apparent smear campaign going on against Glenn Greenwald, the reporter who wrote the story? 

Make that 36

Ginnie Shird, from Twitter

Last night three women were shot at Elmora and St. Cloud in front of 50-100 witnesses in what the commissioner calls a "neighborhood dispute." One Ginnie Shird, 21, has died. In an interview with Rodricks, Batts attributed some of the carnage to the BGF, implying that the takedown of Tavon White and co. has left a power vacuum. ("We believe there’s a connection at the jail that’s spilling out on the street. But I don’t want to get too much more into that"). And another murder in the 900 block of Bennett Place, where one Marcus Taylor was killed just last weekend. The 2013 toll is now up to 116. Police have now taken the usual step of shutting down the whole street. Here, have a video of a fire hose spraying down human blood.*

"Daniel McIntosh, the erstwhile co-owner of the erstwhile downtown nightclub Sonar and Hampden’s McCabe’s," is awaiting sentencing for his part in a massive pot conspiracy, and if he ever gets out will owe the government $6.3 million. Which sounds like a veritable crapton unless you take into account that the operation was estimated to rake in $150-$200 million a year.

Councilman Stokes has reached out & apologized for his comments & says he stands w/@BaltimorePolice. Let's stay focused on fighting crime.
— Baltimore City FOP (@FOP3) June 27, 2013

DJ Boys?

Batts' testimony last night hints at possible explanations for our recent wave of violence: "In that small block of Kenwood, we have the Bloods gang that has one block. On the other block, we have Black Guerrilla Family on the next block. Then we have another crew that has been coming in called the DJ Boys, who have started to come in." Really? Somebody named their gang that? Also "police said two to three of the shootings appear to be connected" and "the random stuff that takes place because you step on my toes or because you look at me wrong – that was some of the things that were taking place this weekend also."

UPDATE: Fenton reports DJ Boys = Jefferson and Decker, and notes the parallels (and connections) to the 2008-2009 bloody Blackwell feud.* Steven Blackwell is currently serving 20 years in federal prison for money laundering, but apparently still has minions. And Carl Stokes blames the bloodshed on corrupt police officers.

Speaking of corruption, Gary Maynard is appearing on a panel before legislators to help them figure out how to spend more money on prisons.*

Meanwhile the violence continues, with 32 people shot since Friday, three people shot (two killed) early this morning* on North Avenue and Poplar Grove Rd. and a man shot in the arm on Cherry Blossom Way last night.

Well, there's something new, a 17-year-old from St. Michael's, Matthew Mikowski, was indicted for strangling his peer while tripping on LSD.* (TIL a "bad trip" on LSD comes from the dose being tainted with an adulterant like a research chemical or PCP. Also, while lots of people have stuck babies in ovens, none of those people were hippie babysitters on acid.)

5 shootings in 5 hours

last night and another shooting today,* making 28 shot since Friday, helpfully mapped by Spotcrime.

Members of Special Enforcement Section just carried out raid in 600 block of N Kenwood, blk south of quintuple shooting; drugs, guns,arrests
— Justin Fenton (@justin_fenton) June 26, 2013

Meanwhile Anthony Gugliemi has been reassigned following his unsatisfying remarks after last weekend's record-breaking wave of violence. ("I can see how it looks bad" apparently not a sufficient apology/explanation). So who's the new flak? And police hit the streets ISO tips.*

Milton Tillman Jr.

Milton Tillman III's notorious bail bond company 4 Aces may be put out of business by a new ruling that requires it to quit stalling and actually pay its bonds.* Don't hold your breath, though, the company is masterful at stalling and dodging. Tillman reports that the company has $300 million in liabilities (though the court is only asking for 1/300th of that for the moment). What's kind of amazing is that someone convicted of tax fraud is allowed to own a bail bonds company.

Employee of Charles Street GameStop threatened with death by robbers.

Thirteen years for accused hairron dealer Antonio Lamont "Tracey" Johnson

The Guardian (UK) revealed that the NSA has 850,000 analysts checking phone records, calls and emails. Meanwhile, Bradley Manning's trial is continuing in its 4th week down at Ft. Meade.

TIL in 1983 Johns Hopkins Hospital offered treatment for "severe pedophilia." Wonder what that entails? Also between 1960 and 1985 the Boy Scouts had 1,365 reports of "perversion" in its ranks.

27 shot since Friday

Chief of patrol to brief media. 27 shot since Friday. It's only 10 pm #baltimore
— Justin Fenton (@justin_fenton) June 26, 2013

Shooting: Gwynns Falls Parkway/N.Longwood St. Adult male reported to  be shot. District detectives investigating. Dispatch: 8:53pm #BPDNW
— Baltimore Police (@BaltimorePolice) June 26, 2013

Shooting:2000 block Northbourne Rd. Adult male reported to be shot in the leg. District detectives investigating. Dispatch time: 8:09pm #BPD
— Baltimore Police (@BaltimorePolice) June 26, 2013

Shooting: St.Lo Drive/Sinclair Lane. Male reported to be shot in the leg. District detectives investigating. Dispatch time: 7:12pm.
— Baltimore Police (@BaltimorePolice) June 25, 2013

Shooty shoot shoots!

If your expectations involved more shooting, your expectations have been satisfied.  Two guys on South Catherine Street were plugged in the side and the thigh, respectively.
Meanwhile the Police Union has gotten in on the blame game from last weekend's massacre, claiming their report for more effective policing from last July has been ignored by the department.
And Batts will be in city hall talking some words tomorrow night at 6.

Hashim Joseph, 27 arrested by BPD after robbing a McDonald's at gunpoint last night. Great police work by Northeast District. @FOP3
— Baltimore Police (@BaltimorePolice) June 25, 2013

Another kid mauled by a pit bull, this one Thursday night on Ramsay Street. I know most pit bulls are really sweet but the ones that aren't sure do get around, dayum.

Ed Ericsson reported on the city's biggest tax gives, and how they're performing. "Why should city taxpayers subsidize a billionaire developer building office space for huge corporations and high-end housing, protestors ask, while basic needs go unmet and ordinary taxpayers get socked with ever-increasing fees?" Indeed!

Remember after the Colorado shootings how down in PGC this fat pizza-faced guy called his workplace, claimed to be "the Joker" and threatening to shoot everyone? Well dude is off the hook and has "defective" court documents to thank.

Make that 20

and record-breaking shootings calls for epic platitudes, so where has the mayor been all weekend and all day? .... but was Justin Fenton ever caught slipping? Hell no!* Like a quickly congealing blood puddle, reports are dripping in about the 20 people shot* this past weekend and since SRB slipped off to the conference of mayors in Vegas his soothing Northeastern soft-palate tone will have to suffice:
"do you know any of the victims from the shooting?"

"my daughter-in-law Donyae Jones, my cousin we call her Shanky, her name Yolanda Herr, it was two girls down the street, we heard all the shooting then it sound like somebody was trying to get in my back door and when I come up it was like everybody like all up in my house.. I didn't even know Donyae was like upstairs and when she inside she was all curled up I guess she was trying to leave a message to my son and took her blood and make a heart on the wall and tried to write my son name, you know, Moe. I'm sorry y'all, the more I think about it..."

Geeze I dn't even have the will to talk about the guy hiding coke in his flip-flops.

Make that 19

people shot the past weekend*-- 20 if you include a shooting in the 4700 block of Alhambra Ave at 12:45 a.m. and 21 if you trust the Deuce. After being MIA all weekend (another lobbyist's beach house?) SRB resurfaced today to issue a statement blaming illegal guns. Not satisfying, but still an improvement on Gugliemi's wet beer fart of a comment:

"This is a little bit of a spike in terms of the weekend, but all in all, we're pretty satisfied with the way the city is headed, violence-wise. These incidents are going to happen, so we want to set realistic expectations."

Then Batts walked around Hanover Street in large glasses, and Nick Mosby's wife blamed everything on Gregg Bernstein.

Go home liquor board, you are drunk

The latest booze news post uncovers a hazy limbo in which 'preliminary approvals' are granted before a liquor license is issued, during which time allowed to be open as they work to establish proper legal documentation. The problem is that the Liquor Board apparently never checks to make sure legal requirements-- like proper zoning-- are met, so that reportedly 28 of 30 establishments granted licenses didn't actually meet legal requirements. This led to, for instance, the Touch Down bar of Pigtown (formerly Carl's Little House) getting a liquor license even though it's zoned in a residential area.

Street, Avenue ... 18 shootings and 8 murders this weekend

A veritable spate* this weekend. And if Fenton is to be believed it looks like that 4:42 a.m. shooting was in the 5200 block of St. Charles Avenue, not N. Charles Street (and not to be confused with Charles Street Avenue in Towson), though the BPD has not corrected this on their Twitter feed or removed the Tweet that places the fatal shooting on the steps of the Hutzlers' Cathedral.

The man shot on 26th street was ID'd as one Danquel Darden,

Victim Danquel Darden, 37, was a registered gun offender; had 36 charges including attempted murder dropped in Baltimore Co. last year
— Justin Fenton (@justin_fenton) June 23, 2013

Oh, and

Thought we might get through the day. RT @BaltimorePolice Shooting: 900 block of Bennett Pl. Male shot. Homicide Detectives notified. #BPDWD
— Justin Fenton (@justin_fenton) June 24, 2013

Oh, and BALT CITY | MAJOR TRAUMA | 2500 BLK W LAFAYETTE ST | FEMALE W 2 GSW TO THE BACK OF THE HEAD |

Seriously, what the hell, this weekend? ... Sun reports 18 shootings and eight murders,* the highest number on a weekend since at least 2006. Batts and SRB both have their phones off the hook, so the bon mots of their minion will have to suffice: "This is a little bit of a spike in terms of the weekend, but all in all, we're pretty satisfied with the way the city is headed, violence-wise." Keep up the good work there, Satan!

In other news,

Single pot seed prompts Baltimore County arrest, seizure of $105,000 in cash http://t.co/3NKUP6K6zB
— Baltimore City Paper (@city_paper) June 21, 2013

15 shootings this weekend

Says Fenton... obvs not all are reported by the media quite yet, but if so 15 would be a record.

By my count, 15 people have been shot in Baltimore so far this weekend, including a quintuple shooting, a triple, and a double
— Justin Fenton (@justin_fenton) June 23, 2013

Fatal Shooting: 5200 block of N.Charles St. @ 4:42 AM Adult male shot. Homicide Detectives Investigating #BPDND
— Baltimore Police (@BaltimorePolice) June 23, 2013

Overnight Fatal Shootings: 1400 block of Pennsylvania Ave. @ 11:56PM Adult Male & Female shot. Homicide Detectives Investigating #BPDCD
— Baltimore Police (@BaltimorePolice) June 23, 2013

E or W? RT @BaltimorePolice: Shooting: 500 block of 26 St. Adult male Shot. Homicide Detectives notified #BPDND
— Justin Fenton (@justin_fenton) June 23, 2013

FELLS POINT | BALT CITY | SHOOTING | 48 S BROADWAY | 20 Y/O MALE SHOT AT LOCATION |
— Baltimore Metro News (@BaltMetroNews) June 22, 2013

NW MT @BaltimorePolice: Shooting: 5200 block of Cuthbert Ave. Adult male shot multiple times. Homicide Detectives are responding
— Justin Fenton (@justin_fenton) June 22, 2013

Also the 200 block of Mason Court