Unfrickinbelieveable Waste & Sloppiness at DJS

Bykowicz reports an audit found the Dept of Juvenile Services lost $3 million due to "improper documentation" (yeah right) and ps., "The agency's failure to submit contracts to the state Board of Public Works on time, meanwhile, forced the spending panel to approve nearly $150 million in agreements after work had already begun."
And pps., says the dept spokesman, it's all Ehrlich's fault.

For a little backgrounder on leadership at the DJS, see the CP's "Juvenile Disservices"

Omar's comin

Michael Kenneth Williams to give a free talk tonight at Morgan State, reports the Brew

Jury in Ken Harris case deadlocked, ordered to keep deliberating

BPD Tweets: "HOMICIDE - 2354 SIDNEY AVE/ADULT MALE VICTIM FOUND INSIDE OF LOCATION"


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And a man and a woman shot last night on Claflin Ct. in Cherry Hill, the woman was shot in the back and died at Shock Trauma


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Albert Snyder vs. Westboro Baptist Church Inc. et al.

Albert Snyder vs. Westboro Baptist Church Inc., et al. to be heard by the Supreme Court of the U.S. tomorrow morning

Harris jury asks about guns

Second day of deliberations ends with note from jury asking about the gun used to kill Councilman Harris.

HALLELUJAH!

Helen Holton pled "no contest" to a campaign finance violation this morning, a deal that will let her run for re-election next year. HALLELUJAH! HALLELUJAH! HALLELUJAH! Apparently God would rather have Carl Stokes heading the finance committee.

.. in other news
a report says trying juveniles as adults is counterproductive; an 18-year-old charged with killing a 16-year-old father-to-be in Edgewood (HarfCo); "Weekend without any killings ends with school police officer shooting"; and a fatal shooting in Fredneck; fingerprints ID a homicide victim found in Landover.

Council special...

Reduced rate for double parking, maybe

Alibi

A post-trial analysis of the defense of the alleged Harris killers.


.. also see Fenton's "Conspiracy theories swirl in closing arguments of Harris trial"

It's for real! Loopy septuagenarian Frank "Papa Bear" Conaway is running for mayor a 3rd time. Comment: "I can see lots of bear cubs getting no-bid contracts in Baltimore's future."

Enhancing skills to get an edge

Suspects and victim in the stabbing at Security Square Mall are students at the North American Trade School there. Wonder what they were studying?

TDR: Ken Harris case is to the jury

speaking of mental

What is going on with all of these teen suicides?
Is 50 cent behind this?

Mario Goes Mental!

R&B one-hit wonder Mario arrested after going crazy on his mama

Teardrop tattoo

Did accused killer Jerome Williams get a teardrop tattoo after councilman Harris was shot to death?

A-holes du jour

Closing arguments in Harris case ... and it's to the jury

Five indicted in Hopkins identity theft scheme

Smirking dude linked to 2007 murder by DNA

Officer Patrick Dotson got 10 years (all but 18 months suspended) for firing his handgun at a bar fight

New anti-perv laws take effect

Butterfingers Bureaucrats Bungle Bank Payments

TDR's Brendan Kearney uncovered a banking mistake that cost the city $600,000

Despicable them

Roommates Manuel Guttierez and Jaime Calderon charged in Cockeysville murder of Jose Ramirez

Soon the fill the next cell: store clerks who shamelessly flaunt flagrant violations of the no-plastic-bag law

Better late than never Dept. Washington Monthly's: Too Weird for The Wire: How black Baltimore drug dealers are using white supremacist legal theories to confound the Feds

Anne Arundel guy gets church volunteerism as part of drunk-driving sentence

Hebrew Wooed Negro Vote

Data shows a lot of voters crossed racial lines in the State's Attorney's election, including white people who voted for Jessamy

Dropped charge in Harris case

Prosecutors want to drop the most serious murder charge in Harris case.

Life without parole for Bloods gang leader Timothy E. Rawlings Jr., who ordered a hit on an 18-year-old fellow gang member Steven Parrish because he thought was gay

and an uniD'd woman found stabbed to death in east Baltimore

Hangman's Noose, Favored Fan, White Flight Pattern

Someone really ought to run a "Red Line" tour

Serial killer?

Interesting details from William Brown's interview with police, a man who killed two women and nearly murdered another.

Wire Creator Wins MacArthur 'Genius' Award

poses mournfully in front of rowhouse

Quality reading

If you haven't read Antero Pietila's Not in My Neighborhood, you really must. Finally got my copy on Saturday and couldn't put it down all weekend. Full of fascinating facts, not just about how housing segregation and blockbusting, but crazy tidbits, like before 1904, Baltimore didn't have an underground sewage system, just massive cesspools. Also MLK Jr. apparently actively avoided Baltimore, for reasons unknown. And apparently Pennsylvania Ave used to be main street!

Charges dropped againt helmet cam man

Judge tossed wire tap charges against the motorcyclist who caught a State Trooper behaving oddly, then posted it on Youtube.

White supremacist Calvin E. Lockner received a 31-year prison sentence today for assaulting an elderly black fisherman at Fort Armistead.

Lots of shootings this weekend. The current tally is five wounded and one dead.

The family of Sarah Foxwell have asked that outgoing Wicomico County State's Attorney Davis Ruark stay on as lead prosecutor in Thomas Leggs's capital murder trial.

AAAAAAAiiieee!

"Piece of tongue key evidence against killer" at the Perkins hospital

Aieee!

Fill in the blank: the "Preppy burglar" looks a lot more ______ up close!

... and the weekends' shootings spawns more of the same-old discussion.

Slashing

Weird tire slashing spree in Frederick targets only "light colored" vehicles.

A guilty verdict for Karl Marshall Walker Jr., a teacher who wrote a 8-year-old sexually explicit "love" letters is MD's first conviction for sex abuse without evidence of physical contact & sets precedent for pervs of the future

Dead witness in Harris case

Witness in Harris case who was killed last year made a contrary ID in ATM video

Gentlemen on the verge of a nervous breakdown

A guilty plea for assault, a hate crime and an attack on a corrections officer from Calvin Lockner, accused of a racially motivated attack on a septuagenarian fisherman last year. Enjoy what may be one of your last quotes from Jessamy's Deputy Division Chief of Communications & Governmental Affairs, Joe Sviatko (who is not an attorney, WBAL fact checkers): "It's safe to say that this is a plea agreement that we feel really good about because were going to get this person off the streets for 31 years."
We'll miss you Joe!

A new commander for the sex offense unit, one who "doesn't have experience with sex offense investigations," but "officials believe that may be a plus given the past problems in the unit." heh heh, sex unit.

HoCo police will buy 7 pairs of Blucher mocs for whomever finds the "Preppy Burglar".
UPDATE! He was nabbed and named as Jeremy Matthew Hall, 30, and Fenton & Hermann are "doing some background checking to see who this man is what he does for a living." Yes, do tell!

Sweeping away drug dealers

After they clean up the damn playground, they're going right back home to their fancy clothes and fancy cars. They’re just trying to look good for the cameras.

Oh, Jesus, there's some new bail bondsmen in town (thanks CP, and thanks readers for voting us Baltimore's 3rd-most-beloved blog!)

more on the raid

Hopkins shooter discussed killing himself a week before shooting.

Sounds like somebody has a case of the Mondays

Five people got shot on Monday night. It sounds like none of them were fatal.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner got a fancy new building.

A new start for police after Jessamy?

Wicomico County needs to figure out who will try the death penalty case against sex offender/alleged kidnapper and murderer Thomas Leggs after Davis Ruark lost his re-election bid.

Hopkins shooter

Police are searching the home of the Hopkins shooter in VA. Looking for suicide notes. etc.

Media Blabber

The Johns Hopkins News-Letter steps in it big time, garnering national press for two lovely pieces: one by Managing Editor Greg Sgammato on how much he hates to see "fat chicks at a Hopkins party," another by one Javier Avitia on the advantages of "Banging Under the Influence," topped it off with half-assed non-apology. Grooming some real charmers over there!

Yes, I know, not a crime, stick to crime reports, etc etc.

Sunday morning death

Two fatal shootings early Sunday morning.

Rage against the machine

Maybe Berstein's win will put a dent in the city's political machine?

Saturday crime news

State Senator Ulysses Currie pleaded not guilty to federal corruption charges.

Triple stabbing on an MTA bus in West Baltimore.

Gregg Bernstein will be holding a press conference in the 300 Block of 26th Street (between Calvert and Guilford) at 4pm.

A Concession to Dignity

Short and sweet, good for her. Golf claps. She's put in a long career as a public servant and ought to jet off to St. Bart's and go put her toes in the sand.
More from the Sun.

How wonderful to imagine this blog played a small part in such a golden moment!

ps., what an interesting coincidence, our first Jewish State's Attorney, immediately before Yom Kippur.

Lonely?

chat live with Justin Fenton at 12:30, then then bitch to Dan Rodericks at 1

Congratulations, taxpayers, you paid Margaret Burns $52 an hour to stand on the courthouse steps and talk smack about the ballot count.

More from Hermann

Friends like these...

WTF?! County police say a Reisterstown couple locked a woman in a bathroom for a year (a "friend"? Are you sure that's the word you're looking for, Jeff Hager?)

Murder/suicide at Hopkins Hospital

The son of patient killed his mother than shot himself after he shot a Hopkins doctor in the stomach.

Doctor shot at Johns Hopkins

A physician at Johns Hopkins is in critical condition after being shot by a man who was unhappy with his mother's medical treatment.

Doctor shot at Hopkins

Shooter still inside the hospital.

Give it up, lady!

Thousands of missing votes, sheesh! Lawsuit, I am like so shur. File it right next to that ethics complaint about Bealefeld's sign!

UPDATE: after a day of counting ballots, Bernstein's lead widened .

"It's unclear if [Jessamy]'s now satisfied with the integrity of the election, but [head of the elections board] reiterated that all votes were in except for the remaining absentee ballots left to count and the provisional votes."

The mask

Witnesses didn't know the color of the mask worn by the gunman who killed Councilman Harris.

The Tweet Trail

[at around 10 a.m.] "So I was told late late last night that the missing disks aren't scanfalous like it sounds. The results of those places were tallied.... And publicly posted in the window of each place. The only issue would be that they didn't make it into the tally... So bottom line as its been explained to me, is its not like the totals are unknown and could be manipulated. While Bernstein's lead isn't huge, based on the outstanding votes it seems insurmountable at this point"

... how nice of that Fenton to stay up all night and then go back in the next morning. Ah, youth.
Pat is right, they should count all the votes!
..also there was some kind of robbery/shooting situation near Mercy High.

.. here we go

Tweets Fenton: UPDATE: Tricia Bishop reports that Jessamy camp claiming that 6 to 10,000 votes are unaccounted for.. more to come

... Tricia Bishop says Jessamy claims cards are missing for six districts

Julie Bykowicz and some other smart people talking about the primaries on WYPR

Insert "Fat Lady Sings" joke here

"We are not conceding" says Jessamy's campaign spokeswoman.

City Primary Results 2010

Here's the official results of all city races

It's morning in Baltimore

Way to call it, readers, accurately predicting the teeny tiny margin in the State's Attorney's race. (Two points! What is up with that? And the turnout-- 13 percent! Tsk!
But all's well that ends well, right? (Or all's well that's statistically extremely unlikely)
So stuff it, racists and cynics!



"Good morning Baltimore .... The rats on the street all dance around my feet... There's the flasher who lives next door, there's the bum on his barroom stool, they wish me good luck on my way to school..."

Looking Like Bernstein by a Hair

Tweeted Fenton after midnight from board of elections HQ on scenic Baltimore Street:
"Latest update w 71.38 percent: bernstein 17304, Jessamy 16665, lansey 1351"

Club owner testfies

Recounts Councilman Harris' last words.

Historic "apathy" for city election

Election turn-out "low" and getting lower.

Bernstein vs. Jessamy Poll

What Do You Think? Who's going to win this thing? Bernstein by 70%+ Bernstein by 60%+ Bernstein by 59% or less Bernstein by less than 5% Jessamy by 60%+ Jessamy by 59% or less Jessamy by less than 5% Jessamy by 70%+ Current Results

more on the Harris trial...

So much for the crime decrease

Reported rapes are up 20% in Baltimore since the under-reporting scandal broke.

Northwood gothic

Ken Harris trial today: the mystery woman, Monica Foreman-Robinson, revealed she met the victim in a bank line whilst married to a city officer, a student testified to pools of blood and a mystery man with a match.

Harris trial begins

A jury has been seated and opening statements are today, says WBAL.

Fenton is Tweeting about it:

Def atty Jerome Bivens says 'somebody had to be arrested, guilty or not.' 'When govt wants to charge you, they can charge you'
Prosecutors: 'rent-a-cop' provided tip that led to identification of suspects, whose dna was found in discarded items near crime scene
Robbery in New Haven Lounge captured on video and will be played for jury; shooting not captured.

And at noon today on Rodericks, FHB III

From Farm to Tabled

Tricia Bishop writes an obituary for the Jessamy administration

and reveals that Bernsteins's son has had addiction problems in a glowing profile.

Also prolific this week: is CP's best PIO of 2006, "Wizard777"?
"Mr. Bernstein should consider spending less time in court and more time at home"-- if so, low blow, Joe!

Some non-Jessamy/Bernstein news

A 15-year old was shot near Pigtown this morning.

Two dead shooting victims in Ellicott City. Sounds like it might be a murder-suicide.

Motorcyclist is killed in a hit and run on Saturday night.

Gang member and murderer Dajuan Marshall had his recent conviction overturned because of juror misconduct. It sounds like at least one juror looked him up on MD Judiciary Case Search.

Billy Murphy will blow your mind

.. with his big brass ones! The celebutorney, who appeared on The Wire as himself and whose great-grandpa founded the Afro, told Justin Fenton "he gave incumbent State's Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy 'a 15-year pass just because she was a black woman'" says his past support was a "failure of leadership" on his part .. and it gets more intense from there. Wowz.
Ok, maybe it doesn't really take brass ones to jump off a sinking ship, but still, those are some sentiments you don't hear every day, no?

Bald stabber on the loose

Keep an eye out for this freaky-looking stabbing suspect who weaseled out of flex cuffs to escape from police

.. and more State's Attorneyiana:
Fenton's story about the "set us back 60 years" remark has generated a giant, steaming pile of comments, about 99% overtly hostile to Jessamy. Except for one Jessamy hired flak true believer in the talk forums. Some nuggets:

"FOR THEM TO HARP ON THE REAL AFFLICTIONS OF THE AFRICAN AMERICAN PAST TO JUSTIFY THE NONSENSE THAT HAPPENS TODAY IS SHAMEFUL"

"Let social workers work out the issues in people's lives. That's not the job of the State's Attorney. I'm a computer programmer. If I went around telling my coworkers that I think computers should be abolished and used that as an excuse for not writing any programs, I'd get fired."

"She should at least have the courage to stand up and say what she wants people to infer from her statement: "There'll be german shepherds and fire hoses and white policemen beating poor innocent black folk with billy clubs! And black people will be forced to eat in separate restaurants, use separate bathrooms, ride in the back of the bus!!" You know, instead of being a word coward."

and Dan Rodericks is piling it on, quoting an Innocence Project co-director who says Baltimore's State's Attorney's office is currently "the extreme end of obstruction" when it comes to introducing DNA evidence that exonerates a convict (you'd think the wrongfully convicted would be the "not everybody" of "not everybody needs to be in jail" fame... but apparently, everybody, they are not).

.. and, finally, if you really, really can't get enough of this race, the Daily Record subjects the candidates for State's Attorney to a written exam, with predictably dull results.

Inmate found dead in his cell at CB.

Nooooooooo!

Dick Irwin officially retired

Sun endorses Bernstein

FYI.

while Cummings & Mfume lead a Jessamy rally

And the Afro-American endorses Jessamy: "In the race for Baltimore City state's attorney, Gregg Bernstein has distinguished himself as the main opponent of incumbent Patricia Jessamy. In part, he has done this by saying the state's attorney's job is 'to prosecute and convict people who commit a criminal offense.' We believe this is too narrow a definition. Another would be the ways the state's attorney's office impacts at-risk communities before a court appearance in [sic] needed."

Page Croyder: ... Jessamy, Jessamy, Jessamy!

Intervene and treat!

Justin Fenton covers Jessamy's "set us back 60 years" remark.
Hello, the 50s were not exactly a kind time for Jews, either. But the big WTF?! = Jessamy saying Bernstein "doesn't think a prosecutor's office should have anything to do with prevention, intervention and treatment." No sugar, Sherlock, it's the prosecutor's office! The job description is to prosecute people! And sending someone to treatment instead of jail is a judge's call anyway, not a prosecutor's! Ay yi yi, oy vey and lawdy lawdy, no wonder this town is in such a mess.

Speaking of, a report from the board of elections says early voting is a big snooze, fewer than 2 percent of Maryland voters showed during the first 5 days. Shameful!target="_blank">official site to watch on Tuesday night

One way to get back at the boss

is remote accessing his computer and causing porn to appear during a company power point presentation. The only problem is, you may get indicted.

probably

Adam Meister asks, "Are these Frank Conaway Sr. comments anti-Semitic?"

This is how it works

Pawnshop owner pleads guilty to stealing a whole lot of stuff...maybe from your car.

Man from WVA killed in Edmondson Village in what police call a drug deal gone bad

So, what's new at City Hall?

How about drug busts in the park out front? Hint: look at the bottom right.
(Taken Wednesday at around 3pm.)

Pigtown fuming

Pigtown residents not happy after assault charges are dropped in a case that drove a former neighbor all the way to Oregon.

Bad Doctors

Dr. George Shepard has had his medical license suspended after a woman was critically injured during a botched abortion at his clinic. One of the other doctors in this case was not licensed to practice medicine in Maryland.

Baltimore to revert to 1950?

Jessamy: Bernstein will "set us back 60 years".

The 1950s had the lowest crime rates of any decade in the 20th century and the city had a population of 950,000 vs 630,000 today. Gwynn Oak and Ashburton were known not for crime but massive amusement parks. Of course all of this was built on the backs of a violently subjugated underclass and most people didn't have air conditioning, but still.. it's amazing to imagine what it must have looked like!

UGH -- another murdered baby

Spotcrime reports that a 10-month-old murder victim arrived DOA at Shock Trauma at 2:42 this afternoon from 1921 W. North Avenue.

Grabassing

An undergrad groped in Homewood

One thing about early voting-- candidates in hot races sure have to keep up a relentless marathon of gab. Gregg Bernstein's on WYPR right now (but no Jessamy-- she must have worn out her vocal chords at UB last night).
..it's nice to listen to smart people talk!

Drug dealers, take a hike

The East Oliver community plans to walk drug dealers away...

¡diablos minúsculos!

The Deuce has pix of the very young looking teens accused of trying to rob then stabbing a guy in the back in front of the UB library

A month in jail for 18-year-old Demonte Jones, who assaulted a deputy after being told to quit texting in court

... if you see a man in a blue Division of Corrections shirt and pants .. run the other way and be grateful he's wearing pants.

In el mundo de politics, Baltimore Slumlord Watch gets a loony toon e-mail purportedly from candidate for sheriff Mike Schaefer. Apparently his son knows Pauly Shore, and munchkins are involved. Living ones. (Hey, isn't Adam Meister a supporter of his?)
Also, the CP tracks down Sarah Matthews, and has info on other more obscure names on the ballot. And there's endorsements: Gregg Bernstein for SA and Deborah Claridy for sheriff.

No lapses here

An ethics complaint against commish Bealefeld apparently over police politicking has been withdrawn

Unethical Credibility Stealing!

cries The Sun, over a Bernstein ad:

a recent attack ad by Gregg Bernstein, a Democratic candidate for Baltimore state's attorney, unethically stole the credibility of this newspaper to back up his claim that the incumbent, Patricia C. Jessamy, was putting violent offenders back on the street. The actual source of that supposed "fact" was an unscientific sampling of callers to Ron Smith's radio show, which Mr. Smith alluded to in an opinion column on the op-ed page. It was not the judgment of The Sun's editorial page, nor was it a fact uncovered by The Sun's reporters.

State investigates rape at nursing home

State investigating the rape of a 90 year old woman at a nursing home.

Fun times

Can't get enough Bernstein/Jessamy drama? You can check out the live show tomorrow at 5 at the UB school of law.

Daylight robbery/stabbing

Three juveniles have been arrested in connection with the stabbing of a man on St. Paul Street around 3:30 this afternoon. The victim is expected to survive.

Never a dull moment in Baltimore Politics!

... just got a press release and "table of contents" (in .pdf format.. who does that?) from "the Committee to Elect Sarah L. Matthews"-- allegations Frank Conaway's nickname = Poppa Bear

Feds and the squeeze

A delightful letter from Rod Rosenstein.

A NJ gang member films inside the belly of the beast

And "Benjamin L. “Bennie” King Jr,""The former chief financial officer of the Maryland Legal Aid Bureau formally confessed Thursday to stealing more than $1 million from the organization over the course of a decade — money he admitted spending on high-stakes poker and at strip clubs."

And another thing

... all of this political-establishment "support" voters think they're seeing for Jessamy-- the "Unity Ticket," the Cummings ad and O'Malley's "endorsement"-- has zero to do with fellow politicians sincerely believing Jessamy is the best person to manage the State's Attorney's office, and everything to do with politicians not wanting to be the first chicken to stick their neck out of the henhouse and risk incurring the imaginary wrath of the racist stereotype of the Older Black Woman Voter. To paraphrase what one legislator told me, "I don't like Jessamy, she throws tantrums in meetings instead of coming prepared. But my constituents would never vote for a Jewish person, and what's Bernstein going to do for me to make it worth me taking the heat?"
.. and that's just really depressing.

SA's race not about race?

Bernstein visited Perkins Homes over the weekend, perhaps poking some holes in the conventional wisdom that race will be the deciding factor in how people vote.

Jessamy Bashing?!

A comment from "Wendy" the other day:

I really enjoy reading your articles. However you are really irritating me w/ all this pro-Bernstein & Jessamy bashing. The State's Attorney cannot get convictions 100% of the time and with the lying, sneaky underhanded police who screws up the cases before the State's Attorney ever touches them, they're lucky for the convictions they do get. If Bernstein should win, I really hope that he will be the savior that you and his fellow endorsers believe he is. But when he is NOT, be sure not to forget that either!!!!!!!

Dear "Wendy",
For the past five years, no media outlet on the planet has been more supportive of the State's Attorney's office than this one. We have dutifully reprinted almost every single press release they've put out. During the Zach Sowers epic drama, we didn't take sides. Gleefully mocking her many costume changes is not really bashing in my book. But you're right in noticing that my opinions have changed, and since you brought it up, here's some reasons why:

• The State's Attorney's office employs at least three people full-time in communications, but only two people to coordinate witness protection for the entire city.
• Excuses and blame whenever things go wrong. Dropped cases, a bad relationship with police.. it's always somebody else's fault. Have you ever heard the State's Attorney's office say something like, "the prosecutor came to court unprepared, and that person's been fired," or "we're sorry Carl Lackl didn't get the form letter offering witness protection. In the future we'll try to do better." Or even, "we're sorry things didn't turn out as we'd hoped." Never! Doesn't some buck have to stop somewhere? Why would you want someone with nothing but excuses and blame as your employee?
• Where's the numbers? The SAO "doesn't do conviction rates"? First of all, the SAO does track the outcome of cases, (homicides, at least, I've seen the files), they just don't release those numbers to the public, apparently. But anyway, is she really saying it's okay to not attempt to define or measure success? What a cop-out, especially considering prosecutors already can-- and do-- drop cases all the time for lack of evidence and are able to opt to prosecute only the cases where there's a chance of winning.
• And what about those "rules"? The "do not call" list, which not only makes the office judge, jury and executioner for an officer's career, but imagine how much that must bone to be the victim who happens to be responded to by a "bad" officer.
• And the "one witness" rule. Isn't it a cornerstone of the American judicial system to try a case based on its individual merits? Blanket rules and policies subvert the judicial process.
• John Alexander Wagner. The man accused of stabbing Hopkins researcher Steven Pitcairn was arrested numerous times for violent crimes and probation violations without ever serving significant time. It could be (and was) argued by the SAO that police brought weak cases numerous times. But there's no excuse for prosecutors dropping charges when Wagner was caught on videotape beating and robbing a guy, and if they hadn't, Pitcairn would likely be alive today. ... And that is completely excusable as a lot of peoples' fault. BUT

... we could go on. The "sleeping baby." Using taxpayer's time to grandstand about Bealefeld's stupid sign. ... I don't think anyone expects one person to be the "savior" of the clusterfudge that is Baltimore crime. But at the very least, after 15 years of fussing, blame and excuses, isn't it time to give someone else a chance?

ps. Early voting locations are not open today but they will be open tomorrow from 10-8. You can go to any of the locations in the city. You don't need your voter registration card, though you do need ID. And you don't have to vote for all races, like if you have no idea who's running for the Orphan's Court. I went to the one at Reisterstown Rd. & Northern Parkway yesterday & it was safe with plenty of parking.

Kicking & screaming

A study of child abductions shows the best defense is a fast-thinking kid who makes a ruckus

Neck in neck

A man was fatally shot in the 2000 block of Baker St. in West Baltimore, bringing the murder total to 147. Last year's homicide total as of September 4 was 151.

Deputy commsioner feels it

Barksdale talks about his "feel" for the streets.

40 Years for 1st-Degree Murder & Handgun Charges

For a guy who shot his girlfriend's daughter's boyfriend. Says a SAO press release:

At a hearing yesterday Judge John N. Prevas sentenced Demetry AKA Frank Jenkins, 37, of the 1700 block of N. Washington Avenue to life suspend all but 40 years in prison and five years probation for murder and a concurrent five years without parole sentence for handgun use.

Jenkins pled guilty July 20, 2010 to first-degree murder and use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence after a jury had been seated and the state had presented its opening statement.

The victim’s grandmother delivered a victim impact statement to the court in which she described her grandson as a good son, grandson, brother and father noting he was not a troublemaker and that he would be dearly missed.

On February 4, 2009 at approximately 3:00AM police responded to 1724 N. Washington Avenue for a reported shooting and upon arrival found Demetrius Saulsbury, 22, lying on the sidewalk in front of the address shot once in the head. Investigation revealed that Mr. Saulsbury had been visiting his girlfriend at the home helping to take care of her because she was sick with the flu.

Jenkins was upstairs with his girlfriend, the mother of the girl, and became upset that Mr. Saulsbury was there so late and told his girlfriend to tell Mr. Saulsbury to leave, which she did. While Mr. Saulsbury was waiting for a cab a few minutes later Jenkins came downstairs and became upset seeing Mr. Saulsbury still in the house. Enraged, Jenkins ranted about how he's the man of the house and that no one respects him. Jenkins and his girlfriend's daughter argued, the sound drawing a few family members out of their bedrooms.

Meanwhile, the cab arrived and as Mr. Saulsbury was heading out the front door Jenkins said to his girlfriend's daughter, “You're gonna’ respect me now!” Jenkins walked up behind Mr. Saulsbury and shot him once in the head. Family members who saw the incident asked Jenkins why he did that and Jenkins responded, “That’s what I do,” then fled the location.

Jenkins was eventually arrested in Kinston, NC on February 17, 2009 and waived extradition. Assistant State’s Attorney Robin Wherley of the Homicide Division prosecuted this case.