Thursday, January 30, 2014

Horse Gaslighted, Meek Slaughtered, Documents Uploaded, Nap Needed

This is Baltimore, so you've heard some crazy. You've seen some incompetence. You've been party to some stupid. But you've never heard stupid crazy like this:
   SRB claiming that she didn't keep secret the audit done for $287,000 by the engineering firm URS secret because of Xerox's non-disclosure agreement after all, but instead because the 90-page document was "incomplete," and because URS Corp.--  a $10.9 billion firm with offices in 50 countries in business since 1951-- was "not sufficiently qualified" to do the audit.
   Oh, and by the way, she added, she didn't even read the audit, completed in April, until last week. You know, the audit prepared by that unqualified firm that the city just hired again last month for $237,000 to monitor speed and red light cameras that aren't even operational any more.
  Tuesday she added for good measure that the media is  "beating a dead horse" by questioning such things, the media's interest is "for headlines and for ratings," and threw in some gaslighting for good measure: the City Council "can use a subpoena [to see all the speed camera data the mayor's office and DOT have refused to release for months], but all they have to do is ask." Gorsh, why didn't you think of that, Carl Stokes?!
  There's another speed camera hearing of some variety next Tuesday at the city council as well, so.. see you next Tuesday!
  Oh, and in other SRB news, she has to re-shoot all of the city's tourist videos because she's lost so much weight. As my mother might say, "I think that woman might be ON DRUGS." But seriously, even for a crazy town, this is a whole new level.

Now to the sad: a man and a woman found dead in a car on Cole St. in the southwest are probably the city's 23rd and 24th homicide victims.

Two women, Shameka Davis, 29, and Candice Newkirk, were arrested for kidnapping and sexually torturing a woman on Reservoir Hill.*

Sherrell Ferguson
Remember Eric Pendergrass, whose body was found in the Patapsco near the Hanover Street Bridge in 2009? Donta Vaughn and Darryl Nichols were convicted of his abduction and murder.* Both are already in jail* on other charges. The third conspirator, Sherell Ferguson, pleaded guilty last month.

Cham Green has obtained a full list of Baltimore City homicides from 2001-2006 and helpfully placed it online via Google Docs.

In the county, Anthony Paul Rutherford, 41, was charged with first-degree murder* and arson after allegedly killing his wife Kendra and then burning down their house last month.

And in Essex a man attacked his 72-year-old wife with a hammer.

In HarfCo at around 5 a.m. today police arrested Isaac Ojiabo Jr., 20,* who they suspect stabbed his own mother to death.

There was a police-involved shooting in Cockeysville today on Wellingborough Way. And in court yesterday, more details on a no-knock raid last August in the county that ended with the deaths of veteran officer Jason Schneider and 25-year-old Tevon Smith* on Roberts Avenue in Catonsville.
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Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Settle Down, Towson Town

The Ink details last week's two murders and ID's the victim from Jan. 12 as Dalontae Harper.

Smith
King
Yet another armed robbery in Towson Town Center, this one with three guys and a knife in the parking garage behind the Cheesecake Factory. The most recent robbery was a man robbed by two guys with a knife in the mens' room near the food court, Malik Smith and Damon King were arrested and charged for that one.
Other TTC incidents: a guy shot in the hand at the Trader Joe's parking lot in 2012 after a riot at the Recher, teenage boys mugged next to Macy's, Rodney Pridget shot and killed in 2011, St. Paul's science teacher William Bassett shot and killed* in 2005 by a teenager named John Kennedy, a catfight caught on phone camera.

Police seized five guns and several dogs in the 1100 block of N. Carrollton, a 57-year-old man was arrested.

Carl Stokes blasted City Council members  who voted against a resolution that would have let his committee on the Council subpoena documents in the speed camera scandal (Kraft, Cole, Holton, Spector, Welsh and Reisinger, namely) calling the vote a "whitewash." Even Jack Young is mbarzd. Never heard City Council members so mad, actually. And OMG, SRB, NOT HELPING YOURSELF: she characterizes the scandal as "for ratings and for headlines" and adds, "they can use a subpoena, but all they have to do is ask to get the information." !!!

"Draft of legalized pot bill calls for taxes, potency ratings*"

Data collection on gang members, higher penalties for assaulting meter maids and for illegal dumping and withholding tax refunds from fugitives are part of SRB's legislative agenda.

Taylor Pepe and Desmick Lewis,
alleged Laurel shooters
Four men were arrested for their alleged roles in the death of Russell Rowe, a man who was shot multiple times then crashed his car into a tree and died in Laurel.

Legg Mason agreed to pay $21 million to settle claims of neglecting to report losses (without admitting to any culpability, natch).

The House Judiciary Committee held hearings about the "Revenge Porn" bill. Meanwhile "revenge porn" kingpin and "professional life ruiner" Hunter Moore was arrested in California, though for hacking, not for posting non-consensual nudes online.
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Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Delegate Has Idea

A 19-year-old man was shot to death in Waverly last night in the 600 block of 38th Street.* A double shooting today killed a guy* in the 5200 block of Denmore Avenue, which runs parallel to Park Heights next to the racetrack. If Denmore Avenue sounds familiar, in April 2010 36-year-old Anthony Walker was killed in the 5300 block; in March 2009 Anthony Underwood was killed in the 5000 block by one Farron Tates, aged 16; in December 2008 another shooting at 5016, in 2007 Damon Smith, 40, was found killed in an alley behind the 5000 block.


View Larger Map 

Also notable: Fenton says that only two of the year's 22 murders so far have been solved.

Six life sentences plus 100 years for Robert G. Moore, whose greatest hits include threatening a pregnant prosecutor*, calling himself a sovereign citizen, murder conspiracy* and shooting people to avenge the murder of wrestler Darian Kress.

The city will pay $200,000 to the wife of Tyrone Brown, shot 12 times by off-duty officer Gahiji A. Tshamba behind the Red Maple. The Brew reports that the judge said that there was evidence of "deliberate indifference" by the police department.

Del. Frank M Conaway Jr. has sponsored a bill to put cameras on police. If it passed that would be so great I'd even quit bringing up Baptist Gnostic Christian Eubonic Kundalinion Spiritual Ki Do Hermeneutic Metaphysics: The Word: Hermeneutics every time his name comes up.

The City Council approved a speed-camera audit investigation last night, in spite of objections from Kraft, Cole, Holton, Spector, Welsh and Reisinger. You can also read the $278,000 audit yourself online.* And note the city will also pay another firm $237k going ahead to monitor "engineering services, documents and preparing of standard operating procedures and business rules" for a program that no longer exists. 
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Monday, January 27, 2014

Who's Zooming Who?

A 16-year-old, Lavar Crawford, was murdered in CHUM on Saturday* at 28th and Hugo, also where rapper Kevin 'Kev the President' Green was killed last September (that Kev link is muy NSFW, BTW).

There were supposedly two other murders this weekend if WBAL is to be believed, but WBAL might be confused: they're claiming an additional man was shot in the head Saturday (location not reported and nothing reported by the BPD) and Kendrick Andrew Martin, 41, was stabbed to death on Payson St* on Saturday.  ... Not to be confused with victim Arrington Michael Sydnor who was stabbed on Wheeler Street last Saturday. ... As someone asked on the Twitters, "If there was roof over #Balto and we called the entire city a mall, would the 19 homicides get more coverage?"
Kevea Muldrow

A girl named Kevea Muldrow has gone missing, call police if you see her.

 Today in speed-camera rants, the Sun editorial board blasts the SRB administration* for its sketchy-ass secretiveness and questions its very credibility (but are you tired of hearing/bitching about speed cameras? Not me!), and the City Paper's Ed Ericson Jr. proffers a hefty list of various attempts at auditing and transparency that the SRB admin has stonewalled. Rodricks beats the war drum* for the unseemly public-private partnerships that are fertile ground for this bullshit, and Fox45 reports that city council members are being taciturn about Carl Stokes' proposal to investigate said bullshit, which the council will reportedly take up at their meeting tonight.

And in mall coverage, the shooter as ID'd as Darion Aguilar, 19, described by all as a pleasant and quiet kid. The 'love triangle' angle Tweeted by WBAL's @JohnVPatti hasn't held up-- the shooter and his victims weren't even Facebook friends and HoCo police have so far turned up no connections between them. WBAL reports that Saturday Aguilar's mom had reported him missing and police tracked his cell phone to the mall.

 Two brothers are in custody after vandalizing a Presbyterian church in Perry Hall.

Here, have a collection of city police mug shots.






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