May 17

Another murder early this morning in the Dunbar-Broadway neighborhood in East Baltimore, and last night's murder victim was ID'd as Earl Sonny Cornish III.

Wow, a teeny fleck of hope ... City Council Vice President Robert W. Curran is trying to stop the killing with a bill that calls for "heightened police enforcement" in "declared emergency areas," a proposal based on Philadelphia's successful plan.
The mayor's response was "lukewarm."

SA's office: Police Officer Jemini Jones is being qualified to plea (as in, agreeing to certain facts presented to the Court by the State, asserting that his plea is both knowing and voluntary and that he knows his rights, right to trial, right to confront etc.) on the handgun violation indictment.

In Baltimore County, three people were shot outside of Coco's Bar and Grill early this morning, and one man was shot in the first block of Dundalk Ave. In recent city shootings, a man was shot on Wednesday morning while cutting through the Clifton Park golf course, and a 43-year-old man was shot in the Southeastern "for no apparent reason."

Two homicide ID's in the Blotter, one erroneous (second link above): 30-year-old Nathaniel Hicks was killed on Monday morning in the 2500 block of Garrett Ave., and 19-year-old Deandre Salmond (not "Almond") was fatally shot in the head in the 500 block of S. Smallwood St. on Tuesday night.

Howard High School counselor Alan Silberman was arrested and charged after HoCo police found crack in his car.

The Wachovia Bank on Merritt Ave. in Dundalk was robbed by a man who stuck his hand in his shirt. Police are seeking a mustachioed white man with a penchant for colorful stripes.

The house where Antown Arthur, Nathan Gulliver, and Steven Matthews were murdered in 2005 caught on fire on Tuesday.

Gross incompetence at the Maryland Division of Corrections led to alleged murderer James Burton's release and subsequent re-arrest on "escape" charges.

It took less than four hours for a BaltCo jury to sentence Gaumer to life in prison.

The death of Rey Rivera remains a mystery.

A vandal in Parkville seems to think that racism = peace.

Crime tip of the day: If you get hit with paying a customer $17,000 that you stole from him, don't try to get the money by threatening your local bank manager.

Crime tip of the day, #2: If you're going to flee the scene of an accident, make sure your license plate number isn't embedded in the filth of the car that you hit.

The demolition of 30 apartment buildings in Hillbilly Heights began this morning.