And just like that..

Reports Fox, "The Maryland House of Delegates has sent the same sex marriage bill back to committee, effectively killing its chances of being passed in the House. There were not enough votes to pass the measure, so Del. Joe Vallario entered a motion to return the measure to committee."
More from the WaPo and Sun
Gawker: "last-minute pressure from church groups and the National Organization for Marriage apparently scared a few new, sensitive delegates"

Elsewhere, hundreds of people denuded the Rhode Island state house, where same-sex marriage hearings are being held, and on Wednesday, a U.S. House panel "voted 3-2 along party lines to direct the House counsel to come up with a legal defense" of DOMA

Gayest. Legislature. Ever.

One Charles County closet just got a little cleaner-- Delegate Peter Murphy is here, queer, and says his constituents are already used to it. This œuvre makes the MD legislature the nation's gayest, says the Washington Blade.
.. and I hadn't heard of Maggie Gallagher before yesterday, but I get the feeling we're all going to become very familiar with her tuberrific form, given the $1 million bounty her group has posted for the defeat of pro-equality legislators.

In other big gay news, WBAL has a clip of Snoop's perp walk posted and filed under "entertainment." Say what you will, she always has a flawless complexion. Here's David Simon's statement, and his notorious "jury nullification" essay from Time.

Oh, Snoop!

Felicia "Snoop" Pearson (& 29+ others) arrested for running a drug ring

Huh? "The city's no. 2 top prosecutor — appointed late last year by Baltimore State's Attorney Gregg L. Bernstein — isn't licensed to practice law in Maryland."

FBI suspects home-invasion robbers got some help from the MVA

Documentary exposes sex abuse in Baltimore’s Orthodox Jewish community. (Oh, CP. "'I didn’t know that I was going to become the molestation writer of Jewish Baltimore,' [Phil Jacobs] said. It was more or less thrust upon him ...")

This will Illinois you Pp -- the state just chucked their death penalty

Same-sex marriage bill goes forth with an official vote scheduled for tomorrow (or so says TDR, the WaPo only calls it "likely"). Thanks Cham for the "House Republicans & DOMA" video... that Brian Moulton just needs to meet the right girl. Love the people having smoke breaks in the background.

Web finds: the blog of Ehrlich's former "Prince of Darkness" Joe Steffan, who apparently enjoys puns, making up nicknames and white-on-black type (two out of three things I like in a blog). Shame he hasn't updated in a while.

30

Charles Hopsan, 22, stabbed in 2010 in the 1100 block of Cooks Lane and recently deceased, was posthumously awarded the title of the city's 30th homicide victim.

One Terrance Sims, 30, was arrested for the murder of 17-year-old Olympic hopeful Ronald Gibbs.

Tiffany Bolner, 21, pled guilty in federal court to sexually abusing a minor to produce child pornography; surely one of the most barfulent stories in BCrime history.

And a guy named Derwin declared himself guilty of pimping

Ten years for Rosedale home-invasion robber Antowan Bell, 25

Crack and guns confiscated on the East side

"Bathroom Bandits" nabbed, and Hermann has pictures of one of the alleged perps and her nappy-azz fur coats

Pawn star gets 46 months for money laundering

Lawyers for Policarpio Espinoza Perez and Adan Espinoza Canela have asked the Court of Appeals to grant them a third trial. In 2006, the childrens' parents told an AP reporter that they don't believe police arrested the right guys, though DNA allegedly linked Canela to the killings. Here is the Sun's guide to the epic mystery and related stories on the case.

Fertilizer control: All kinds of issues being rassled over down in A-town this week, including, of course, the melee that is the same-sex marriage debate. Oh Brooke Murdock, why did you have to wuss out and stay your opinion? .. and here's an article on what all those National Organization for Marriage polls were about.

Dixon's doughy swain is out, but the State Center project goes on.

More suspensions in tow case?

Police say there may be more cops suspended as the result of the feds investigation, but won't give a number.

Well that's odd..

I just got a letter in the mail from Talmadge Branch thanking me for my e-mail regarding "House Bill's #175 & #55, "Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act". Which is odd because I haven't sent anyone an e-mail -- I'm not even in the 45th district.
Could supporters or opponents be sending fraudulent letters? Anyone else get a letter like this?

Four times in the back?

The family of Dennis Gregory, a police informant shot by officers four times in the back in February of last year, is not getting any answers from the department about what happened.

County police are ISO two children, Tyquan and Shani’ya Wiggins, abducted from their foster mom by their bio-mom, Dannelle, shown left and here on her Facebook page (maybe her friend PrettyLaydee ButtButt knows where to find her?). Update: Hermann posted pictures of the kids, too. The JIS says Wiggins was arrested in '06 on narcotics charges & received a PBJ.

Capitol News Service tweeted that "The House of Delegates has delayed debate on the same-sex marriage bill until Wednesday," the Post is saying the vote will be Friday. Said Bishop Paul Wells, "you are either against God's word or for God's word. There is no in-between." Which is why I never shake hands with a menstruating woman and keep my adulterer-stoning arm limber at all times.

Baltimore hosted the U.S. House committee on oversight & reform this morning. Tweeted TDR's Danny Jacobs, "Behind Cummings is yellow map of city with green marks where foreclosures are. Looks like mold spreading."

The House just passed a bill that will force the governor to make parole decisions within 90 days. And you can watch the Justice Policy Institute's documentary on the parole process on their new YouTube channel. If you're into that kind of thing.

... kind of like my girlfriend who lives in Canada

Prosecutors' "Do Not Call" list officially abolished, but Bernstein evidently has a list of his own, and Tricia Bishop is on it: "[Bernstein] declined to be interviewed, saying in the 500-word message sent a week ago that his 'schedule is a bit tight' and he was not 'able to meet … or talk on the phone'."

Take-home car solution

BPD commander's predicament with a take-home car could have been easily solved, if city taxpayers were willing to provide some roadside assistance.

Taking it to the streets

The Baltimore Police Dept is henceforth posting regular online YouTube updates for concerned citizens. Here's the first of many, they say. Gun seizures up! ... meanwhile, three months in, the State's Attorney's office remains invisible, with nary a TV appearance from anyone in the office and no web presence whatsoever, other than two-month-old swearing-in photos posted on his Facebook page yesterday. What's going on up there?

Mysteries

The boy fatally stabbed yesterday was ID'd as Ronald Taijon Gibbs. The Sun reports that he was trying to defend his sister.

The mysterious case of two girls abducted near the Dollar Store and rescued by police

Mug shot of the day: Ellerson Carter, arrested for the murder of George Marshall

East Coast Rapist headed to court today. But I don't understand how keeping his mug shot "under wraps" will encourage more victims to come forward.

A two-week hearing starts today in Delaware for creditors of the Tribune Co.

Towson U police are ISO a "person of interest" following a campus assault

The bad part of getting arrested in the county: you may actually do some time. The bright side: adjudication in these spankin' new courtrooms!

Can you ID the police officers or reporter in these charming old photos?

Can't help but ask...

Six hundred and twenty-eight words in the Sun for George Marshall. Wonder how that word count compares to the word counts of the year's 28 other victims?
Update: a reader points out that Marshall did get "less than Hezikah Wilson (1,023) and Tyra Trent (898)." Duly noted.

Could this really happen?

Councilman wants us, city residents, to vote for a 50 percent cut in the property tax rate

29- @?$#!

what is going on this weekend? February was so peaceful!
The weekend's 3rd murder victim is a 17-year-old boy who was stabbed during an argument.

28

At 244 North Hilton Street, 23-year-old Paul Simons III was killed during a home invasion (the Deuce has the victim's age wrong).

27

A man was killed in the 2700 block of Hollins Ferry Road when a fleeing suspect ran over him

Weaves a-flying

Check out this crazy video of a girlfight at Towson Town Center:

Bad men

Police are looking for a dark-colored SUV with a tan stripe, driven by a tubby Hispanic man who tried to abduct a teenager last night on the east side.

A man shot in the stomach on Edmondson Ave

No smizing at the vigil to remember Tyra Trent.

Fifteen-year-old Deondre M. Pedersen arrested and charged with home invasion

A crazy melee in HarfCo: 25 people involved in an altercation and an 18-year-old stabbed in the back, shades of the 50-person brawl of '07 (unfortunately all of those links have expired)

A man in Pikesville arrested after holding up the Bank of America with a fake bomb.

Alleged Marley Station Mall mugger arrested, and JZ readers have plenty of elevated, enlightened comments. Also arrested in AAC, a pimp and his human traffic

Shreky-looking-guy arrested for involvement in a county stolen-auto-parts ring

In Fredneck, the "Sheriff's Office has charged a man with assault and harassment after he allegedly yelled racial epithets at a black man and pointed a gun at him."

WaPo: Digital billboards-> tip -> cigarette butt -> DNA match -> arrest of Aaron Thomas, alleged East Coast Rapist

The NYT publishes a positive police story: "An Angry Man Is Met by a Smart, Experienced Police Team"

Pass!

The Judiciary Committee has passed the same-sex marriage bill, with the help of Jill Carter but without the help of Tiffany Alston (and with a crude sideshow from Neil Parrott). Then Samir Arora, who was elected with lots of gay old dollars and a promise to support equality, backtracked before coming around.
... But you know what, no matter what happens in MD, eventually the Supreme Court will rule what even those against same-sex marriage already know: in this country church and state are separate and the state has no compelling interest in denying these people their civil rights. And time doesn't favor old bigots, who are going to keep dying off or changing their minds as they realize gay people are not freaks from another planet but friends, neighbors and family. There may be some honor in saying "my constituents are against this and I was elected to represent what they want." But there is no honor in being a backstabbing bigot or a waffler. /end rant

And don't mess with people with low body fat and tight shorts! Police now say that a spokesman's statement that charges were unlikely to be filed was premature, and that the investigation is still pending.

Breaking news: The "East Coast Rapist" was arrested in Connecticut

Gun toting deputies

Update: The City deputy arrested over the weekend pointed his gun at the employee of a downtown homeless shelter. Oh, and he was off-duty and intoxicated.

Delayed again

because Jill Carter was out sick today, says the WaPo. Said Tiffany Alston on Wednesday, "I don't think anyone should hold any of our decisions against us, because this is a very difficult decision."

26

James Fields, Jr., 47, who was shot in 1992.

Hey, wait, child neglect is legal? What the heck am I doing here? Laters, kids!

It's not your fault

State Delegate Jill Carter takes the house leadership to task over same sex marriage legislation.

Lady troubles

A double-shooting yesterday in Woodlawn

Posted Fox 45 at around 10 last night: "Baltimore County Police are on the scene of a serious stabbing near the City/County line. Police found a 25-year-old man who'd been stabbed in the neck in the 600 block of Walker Ave. He has been taken to Shock Trauma, no word on his condition. Police are investigating the crime as a possible robbery."

Jill Carter told IV she "didn't block the vote .. we didn't have the votes ... I know we were at least two votes short" and added, "the truth is, I saved the bill."

What the?! "The minority development partnership that has co-headed the $1.8 billion redevelopment in East Baltimore has been barred from doing business in Maryland by the State Department of Assessments and Taxation because of unpaid taxes."

Look out for Earleen Denah Cottman, 49, last seen on W. Pratt St

Geeze, Louise! PGC police have charged seven "sorority sisters" (including two 26-year-olds) of U of MD's Zeta Phi Beta with assault related to the alleged beating of a pledge in October. The U has suspended the sorority pending investigation.

Afro: "Police vs Community = Shaky"

"Abortion opponents want tighter regulations" -- story says the state has 41 abortion providers. (I only count 21 on the "American Death Camps" web site-- maybe the 41 includes hospitals?)

Stolen cigars, an ex-boyfriend trying to choke a woman in her sleep and a teenager shot in the face with a paint gun in the Baltimore Guide blotter.

Wine lovers are set to "make their case" Friday in Annapolis, though it sounds like "the whole cow" was already deboned in private meetings earlier this month.

Tonight at 6 at 1505 Eutaw Street is the screening of "Blocking the Exit," "an exploration of the current "life means life" policy on parole in Maryland." The JPI claims that there are 2,657 people serving parole-eligible life sentences in Maryland. (Don't do the math on how much that costs. Your face will melt off and your children will weep over your exploded body.)

I'm Ready to Vote Now

Jill Carter tells David Collins.

Westboro wins

The Supreme Court has ruled that the First Amendment protects the speech of Westboro Baptist Church.

Best month ever

"February '11 had one of the lowest monthly murder tallies ever," and the Ink recaps last week's only murder. The murder of Edgar Wilson (allegedly at the hand of his own grandson) is horrible and tragic, but still, wow.

Nineteen years for "career criminal" Glenn Plato Brooks, 42, convicted of feloniously possessing a firearm.

White House Report on women reveals that while fewer women are crime victims, "the imprisonment rate for females quadrupled between 1985 and 2008"

Base! How low can you go...

Del. Tiffany T. Alston (D-PGC) says she's ready to vote on the same-sex marriage bill, and that her no-show was because she needed "a little more time to weigh my final decision." And, says Julie B., Jill Carter "predicted the Judiciary Committee would not vote on gay marriage until House leadership has appeased her." The Sun Op-Ed page predicts the opposite (the puzzle-- what does the Judiciary Committee have to do with school funding?)... the grab for attention has apparently worked, you can now follow FauxJillCarter.
WBAL has audio of Jill Carter and others talking about their issues.
And says Jill Carter on her Facebook page:

Andy green at the Sun was obviously spoon fed by someone-my money is on Maggie ... Andy Green's editorial is not only dishonest, it is scathing, character assasinating, and suspiciously, mean-spirited. If you followed my mayoral campaign, you should recall the Sun's consistent non-coverage, under coverage, and disparate coverage. I am NOT the reason the bill wasn't voted. The chairman knows it, speaker knows it , and a number of others.

The WaPo's Dana Milbank sees how many drug references he can freebase into one piece

Carter Holds Marriage Bill Hostage

not showing up this morning was apparently no coincidence: Jill Carter, D-41, is apparently holding up the same-sex marriage bill to draw attention to the horribly misguided "equal time" child custody bill.

Indecent Exposures

The grandson of Edgar Waylan Wilson was arrested for his murder.

Baltimore bikers' shorts in twist after police refuse to charge the octogenarian who mowed down a Hopkins student

Two months and still no sign of Phylicia Barnes. JZ commentor: "I would hall of the People who were in and out of the apt , take them all to jail and starve the hell out of them"

Your tax $ at work: bungling bureaucrats cost city $4 million in federal lead-paint-abatement money

DEA bans sales & possession of five types of faux marijuana, including "K2" and "Spice"

PA company fesses up to releasing 40 times the allowed amount of ammonia into the air at Sparrows Point. And if you flew from Baltimore to Denver on the 22nd, you may have been exposed to measles.

"High-end restaurant owners want corkage law"- would you pay $25 to BYOB?

Supreme court argues definition of "cocaine base" vs. powder, decides that corporations have no right to personal privacy

Same-sex marriage vote delayed when two members of the Judiciary Committee, Jill Carter and Tiffany Alston, didn't show. Meanwhile Sun publishes letter opining that "gay marriage is not a civil rights issue"

State health secretary, governor against medical marijuana

Naked & Tased®

How much would you charge to be strip-searched on a public street and Tased® while in handcuffs?

The FBI and local police are ISO the "East Coast Rapist"

"Judge Upholds 'Skateboard Cop' Firing," dude.

County police arrested Clinton Austin Bradley Jr. in the murder of 18-year-old Brandon Jackson

County police are ISO a woman named "Tre" with a bite mark on her hand who allegedly robbed a teacher

Sun "Second Opinion":"a sentence of life without the possibility of parole provides peace and certainty that the death penalty rarely can." (Bored? Lonely? Check out a screening of the documentary "Blocking the Exit" this Thursday with the Justice Policy Institute)

Medical marijuana hearing in the House today. "Good concept, convoluted bill," says the Sun's Andy Green. Heh.

Hey look, the Liquor Board docket is online

Huh? Wha? Eighth Naval Academy midshipman expelled for using "spice". Is that what Miley Cyrus smoked?

25

Police Tweet: "FATAL STABBING: 2800 Blk Clifton Ave., Western District, 1:21pm, adult male found deceased in a house. Homicide detectives handling."
Update: he was ID'd as 62-year-old Edgar Waylan Wilson.

Gun toting deputies

Another deputy sheriff arrested for pointing his gun in public, looks like this guy was drunk

Love and marriage ...

Seven weeks after the shootings of Sean Gamble and Officer William Torbit, SRB has assembled a kind-of-independent review board.

Brian Lee Wonsom, accused of killing teacher Hannah Wheeling at Cheltenham when he was 13, will be tried as an adult.

A man shot in the chest at Coldspring Lane and Marble Hill Road drove himself to the hospital.

More on the Williams guilty verdict. (Witness on Williams: "he's a bug I'd like to squash"). Also on Friday, another conviction

in a killing that had also been preceded by a woman's request for protection. Gregory Tooson, 46, who was accused of strangling his girlfriend, Melonie Smith, in April 2009, was found guilty by a jury of second-degree murder. Days before her death, Smith had been granted a temporary protective order against Tooson, who prosecutors said was sending her threatening e-mails. Smith was found dead in her home in the 700 block of Yale Ave. after she had failed to show up for work.

And in AAC, Patrick Rhys gets 23 years of hots and cots for killing his 'girlfriend' by stabbing her 27 times

WBAL has your Friday same-sex-marriage-debate recap. Intriguing: Anne Arundel County Republican Delegate Don Dwyer "has sent out mailings ... [that] include samples of school curriculum that Dwyer feels will be taught in schools if same sex marriage is legalized. One lawmaker who received the mailings told Collins the mailings were 'graphic.'"

Williams guilty of 1st-degree murder

way to work it out, long-suffering jury

Pervy Thursday

Cleaven Williams' poor jury is still deliberating away after four days

From the Women's Law Center, some major changes to family law legislation being mulled over in the House, including a shorter separation period for divorce, a judicial preference for "equal parenting time" child custody (a horrible, horrible idea) and allowing court-ordered grandparent visitation.

Ten years for "Sonny" the crack dealer

Robbers who targeted pizza & video-game stores busted in the county, confessed to 19 robberies. (Aleks Katz, you really oughter wear a hairnet)

An insperminated Glen Arm hairron addict charged with burglarizing her own parents

O.C. man indicted on child porn charges for four images, Essex's Gary Lee Walden gets 70 months after his taking pictures of kids at the pool led detectives to his pornful computer; a guilty plea from "predatormike1203," no bail for CA woman charged with raping a 13-year-old Bel Air boy she met via Xbox game

Infrared cameras: not just for finding pot plants any more. AAC police used them to track down an elderly man.

More illegal rockfish nets. Mmm, PCB-a-licious.

In the Baltimore Guide blotter, a man who shot at a car, lots of domestic violence and barfights and a woman's purse stolen while she was in labor at Bayview.

In case you were wondering, it's not legal to stand on the courthouse steps passing out pamphlets that say jurors should ignore the law if they don't agree with it. (And in this town it's also not necessary)

Not crime, but annoying: if you can't make transportation or parking workable or safe in this town, there is no point to building anything new, much less $100 million worth of projects to be funded by future taxes. (No point for citizens, anyway-- plenty for SRB & the city council's developer buddies to like.)

Update on semen squirter sentencing

"Law-abiding and churchgoing member of the community" (and part-time DNA spreader) Michael Wayne Edwards Jr. gets 3 years probation. Apparently, "Edwards' actions were the result of misplaced anger after breaking up with a girlfriend." Ya think?

Although maybe he was just trying to spread good cheer (as well as his seeed).

Cheers!

"Senate Passes Gay Marriage Bill"

Thugs with badges

An arrest in the bus-stop murder of Joshua Matthews (#22)

In 1956, it was a very good year, a year for city cops and private lots with kick-back shops, to which the tow-truck driver would drive... also in 1965...

Also "Towing leader says she was arrested after complaining about accused company" and dirty cops called themselves "untouchables" & their filthy lucre = "coffee"

On the blog, still a lot of interest in the Erik Stoddard case.

Pastor Joel Kurz: "too many of our city's police officers are simply thugs with badges."

Have you seen this elementary-school burglar?

Oh JZ, I love you. Baltimore's cutest station reports that the same-sex marriage debate has been "hot and longer than expected". And Nancy Jacobs' piehole, the gift that keeps on giving: "Love between a man and woman that may lead to children is the only love that government has the right to recognize." Good for you, giving up all claims to your husband's 401k when your eggs dry up.

The Supreme Court heard a case yesterday on whether revised federal crack cocaine sentencing guidelines should affect binding plea agreements.

The question arises again, who should own public information?

City paid sex offender says no to pay back

The DPW employee who collected sick pay from the city while serving out a brief stint in jail for abusing a minor says he's not going to pay the city back...period

Duck and cover!

Semen squirter sentenced soon.

17 officers charged with extortion

and are facing 20 years for allegations of taking kickbacks from dirty towing company.
Jayne Miller: "one source said it's not the crime of the century, but it's not pretty."

Senate approves same-sex marriage

a 3rd and final vote is scheduled for tomorrow.
Also, "The Obama administration says it will no longer defend the constitutionality of a federal law that bans recognition of same-sex marriage."

BPD and the feds

R-rod has scheduled a press conference to discuss BPD corruption.

.. does this have something to do with the impound lot? Here's a link to WBAL's stream if you want to listen live to the press conference at 3. Officers arrested, oh my!-- MB

Birth, school, work, death

Relatives mourn Anthony "Tyra" Trent

Relatives mourn Brandon Jackson

Dead body found near county elementary school ID'd as that of 20-year-old Vincent I. Thomas

The Ink details last week's five murders and notes that four homicides have been closed by arrest so far this year.

"The state Senate has just one bill on its agenda Wednesday: the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Act." The Post is live-blogging it and the CP has a same-sex marriage infographic.
(Mind-bogglingly assholic quote from Republican Nancy Jacobs, who opposes the bill: "We all love our gay friends in the House and the Senate ... I hope and pray that this does not get personal and does not get taken personally." )

"Prosecutors have dropped all charges against Douglas A. Hicks-Bey, the chief executive of a faith-based mentoring program, who was accused last month of raping a 15-year-old girl." And in HoCo charges dropped against Charles Ray Moore, accused of rape, tried in November but jurors were deadlocked.

CP on the state of Maryland's animal cruelty laws

A PBJ for gun-toting Edwin Hale

Tax evader with cancer sent back to jail

Bullets are bad for ya health! Client at Bally's in White Marsh robbed, shot at

Edgemere arson suspect arrested

Armed with babies and dogs, "Pigtown neighbors beat back Bohager-linked bar" (Bar's lawyer to residents: "What else do you want? Blood?")

Still searching

NPR joins the search for Phylicia Barnes

Williams case to jury

says Tricia Bishop

WMAR's cold case files: The Jeffersons

Fenton follies:
"City police say a 25-year-old transgender woman was found dead in a vacant building over the weekend"

"A 16-year-old boy killed last June in Reservoir Hill was shot by a friend in a dispute over a dice game"

and G-Black was arrested for killing Kevin "Chuck" Anderson with a shot in the back.

Really, JZ?

Man shot on Cliftview Ave Id'd as Mark Saunders, 23

County homicide victim ID'd as 18-year-old high school student Brandon Jackson.

Page Croyder takes on Dan Rodricks' "life means life" column

Yesterday family members of William Torbit Jr., plus talk show host Daren Muhammad, marched from the Select Lounge to city hall ("Almost 100 people," really, JZ?). Here's some shaky-camera'd video of people shouting the same thing over and over, and an Examiner post by Hassan Giordano reports that "The Fraternal Order of Police President Robert Cherry has taken a more criticle approach to the matter"

"Baltimore taken to task over police beard ban"

And a hearing today in Annapolis on decriminalizing small amounts of marijuanica

"Searching for Details Online, Lawyers Facebook the Jury." Would you "friend" the DA's office in exchange for free access to the court's wi-fi network?

AAC police arrested two winners for a shooting outside of a 16-year-old's birthday party in Glen Burnie

ps., watch out for that "whether mix" out there!

Fractured families

One murder in the city this weekend and six shootings, and two murders in the county

Judge allows lawsuit from inmate who claims he was attacked on orders from a gang-tied correctional officer

Have you ever heard of Dead Men Inc.? That Perry "Rocky" Roark certainly has an intense gaze....

"New daddy" goes to jail ... 30 years for Brian Savage, accused of beating his girlfriend's toddler son to death.

Readers gag as Dan Rodricks reports that Parris Glendening now regrets his "life means life" stance.

Lt. Col. Michael J. Andrew, who leaked a memo to the Sun, retired with "no regrets"

The aunt of murder victim Warren Wilmer writes about their fractured family

Irate letters dept: "Sun misleads in sensationalized Werdesheim coverage" and other screeds opinions
Related: WSJ's Robbie Whelan: "Past in Crown Heights Is Baltimore’s Present"

Ponzi schemers convicted of fraud conspiracy and money laundering; they ripped off victims to ride around in chauffeured luxury cars and attend sporting events

Public defender Nancy Forster's wrongful-termination lawsuit was dismissed. More about this here, though still no dirt on what really happened...

WTF?! Poll of Americans says Ronald Reagan was the best president ever, and they admire George W. Bush more than Thomas Jefferson. Related: "Md. gets a C for teaching of U.S. history"

Motorcyclists give city sherriff the finger

Mayhem, and charges ensue (maybe not mayhem, just a some gun pointing)

$10 million lawsuit

Marlow Humbert (I know, right?) former suspect in a series of Charles Village rapes, is suing the police department

Babies and dogs

Things are indeed seldom what they seem in this burg. Remember William Bozman (or Bozeman), 68, who shot muy gordo armed intruder Marvin Cook Jr. last year, then Cook bled all over Bozamn's bed? Apparently Cook was conspiring with Bozman's own son, who was arrested in Florida. "Fun" fact, Cook also once tried to rob and shoot FOP spokesman Bob Cherry and had been sentenced to 10 years for attempted murder, but "good time" had him sprung sooner. He was also arrested "for two misdemeanors after his release ... but a judge decided not to order Cook to serve the remainder of that 2001 attempted murder sentence."

WTF? "A Baltimore City Circuit Court jury convicted Anita M. Jones, 39, of Baltimore of first-degree child abuse, second-degree child abuse, and second-degree assault for attacking an 18-day-old infant."
In other child-abuse news, "Shaken-Baby Syndrome Faces New Questions in Court"

WBAL has more video of the Werdesheim rally/protest. (Whoa, Susan Green, Huggy Bear wants his coat back. And hey look, at 2:11 it's the first tv appearance of Bernstein's new communications director Mark Cheshire.)

Man shot in head at Catonsville gas station

Stats be darned, septuagenarian spitfire Helen Vello really likes Ellwood Park

Have you seen a white Ford Econoline van with the imprint of 29-year-old Jason Cheslik in the front grill? Call crimestoppers...

O'Malley nominates his wife for a 2nd term as judge

More teens in trouble for animal abuse-- is there an epidemic, or are we just hearing more about this lately? Now two 16-year-olds from Severn are facing animal cruelty charges after they were busted at a dogfight.

21, 22

A man stabbed to death in the neck at the bus stop at E. North and Greenmount Avenues

Martez Anthony Hall, 22, was found shot to death in a home in the 1600 block of 31st Street at about 11 p.m. last night

Cleaven Williams, accused of stabbing his wife after she filed a restraining order against him, testified in his own defense and couldn't stand to look at the autopsy pictures. And srsly? "four days before the killing, Williams had tried to turn himself in at the Eastern District precinct in response to a warrant charging him with assaulting his wife, but the warrant could not be located and Williams was told to leave." And the witness who cradled Veronica Williams as she died testified that Cleaven was trying to commit "suicide by cop." And the Sun has creepy pictures of the knives and notes.

More on the Shomrim protest/rally by Nick Madigan... don't miss the awesome video. Looks like the vast majority were Shomrim supporters.

Shomrim protest outside of court

Two sides clash outside court appearance by Shomrim defendants

20

Unidentified man, 1100 block of W. Cross Street.
So far only three of this year's 20 homicides have led to an arrest, says Fenton.

"Opponents file new bills to abolish death penalty in Maryland"

Police are ISO a suspect, one Kedric Lamont Seay, 22, for the stabbing last Saturday at Reisterstown and Seven Mile

Crazy-driving carjackers caught on tape by Sky Eye Chopper 13

Early spring in the city! A floater pulled out of the Harbor near the Museum of Industry

Are you there, God? It's me, Joan Carter Conway

Cleaven L. Williams, accused of stabbing his wife to death in front of the circuit court on North Avenue after she got a restraining order against him, says he's "not criminally responsible" and that it was a spur-of-the-moment act he doesn't remember. Unfortunately for his defense, he left a note found in the family car "in which he talks about killing his wife and describes how he wants their three children raised." Today Judge Doory is to decide if said letter was legally obtained.

Fenton has bloody video of the aftermath of the BP double-stabbing; police say the victims may have been related and police are ISO a man with long dreadlocks.

In the Messenger blotter, a party host robbed by a guest, and in Hampden a pedestrian told to go back to "the ghetto." In the Baltimore Guide blotter, a woman set a mattress on fire, a lesbian chases her girlfriend with a knife over some marijuana and a stolen Snickers bar and doughnut.

PG county's Jack "put it in your bra" Johnson indicted yesterday

PG County Democrat Jim Rosapepe targeted by pro-ss-marriage U of MD student lobbyists, and Joan Carter Conway is "praying" to know how to vote (guess she didn't get the memo r.e. the separation of church & state?).

No more police

Mayoral candidate says we've spent too much on police in the past and too little on schools. He also wants to slash the property tax rate by 50 percent.

Good old traditional values

Sen. Joan Carter Conway talks to Len Lazarick. She wants you to know she didn't kill the wine shipping bill, and she's "conflicted" on same-sex marriage. "I'm kind of hung up between the constitutionality of what's going on and good old traditional.. my Christian upbringing." .. and another Senator has come out in support of marriage, one Edward J. Kasemeyer of the 12th district.

A unid'd 20-year-old man in critical condition after being shot in the chest in the 2900 block of Edgecombe Circle South

A double stabbing at the intersection of Liberty Heights and Gwynn Oak Aves

What's going on in Cumberland? An inmate found dead in his cell yesterday. Another inmate was killed there on the 2nd.

"Fun" MD legal fact alluded to in this article on what might be the nation's oldest Mikvah/Mikveh: until the charmingly named "Jew Bill" of 1825 (enacted the following year), Jewish people in MD could not hold office, vote, work as lawyers, and if the Sun article is to be believed, couldn't incorporate to own property until 1828.

"From brides to freelance photographers, Darien Small became known for a rip off," now "the stuttering con man" faces fraud charges in the city. His online trackers claim he was still at work in the city as of last August, operating under the name "Daniel Craig" at "Studio 51" or "Great Studio."

Extra-legal liasons

Keep an eye out for missing octogenarian James MacKinnon (or is it McKinnon?), left, who has Alzheimer's
Update: Fox reports he was found, no details on when, where, by whom.

The man shot Friday on Shirley Ave. has died and was ID'd as Jose Estrella, 19

"Death penalty moratorium leaves survivors, convicts in limbo" -- why would O'Malley risk the controversy of pushing for a legal solution if there's a grey-area quasi-legal place to haunt? That would be unOmalleyful!

Altercation at the impound lot leads to man shot in the elbow in a "road rage" incident. "Both the suspect and victim had been at the same nightclub [and] from the club were still intoxicated Sunday morning." I wanner partay at dat club!

Greasy-lookin "Canton Burglar Caught By Craigslist Sting," more from the Sun

Students picketed the former site of Read's drug store, and Sun commentors don't like it one bit.

Starting March 1, you can put two mommies on a birth certificate in MD. (Why not two dads, you may wonder? And how is this biologically possible? In MD whoever is married to mom is legally presumed to be the parent of children born in the marriage-- no matter if the inseminator is the milkman or a turkey baster.)

Structurally unsound

Two men shot last night, not counting the suspect shot on Harwood Ave.
(Gawd that soda lady is annoying-- soda is not "groceries" you "feed your family," fatty!)

A man stabbed early this morning in Pikesville at Seven Mile & Reisterstown Rd

Slumlord Watch notes that an X painted on a vacant building means it's structurally unsound (not that a body is stashed there, necessarily).

Students plan to picket this morning at Lexington & Howard, former site of the Read's drug store and the famous 1955 sit-in, now boarded up and "poetic in its misery". More from Preservation Magazine on the Read's building (orchids and onions, who knew?)

It's going down

On Harwood ave at York Rd (500 block)-- five police cars, one ambulance and the whole street blocked off w/police tape across the road.
UPDATE: The deuce reports an off-duty officer shot a guy, and insinuates guy tried to rob the officer as he pitched woo to his girlfriend in a parked car. But things in this town seldom turn out to be how they seem at first, do they?

ps. love this Google maps picture of city workers relaxing next to a pothole

El Dooce also reports that a thief is targeting gym lockers throughout the state. Says somebody, "We take the safety of our members very why we have all of the cameras installed throughout the parking and within the gym and makes sure that its well light and we patrol it pretty often."

Try, try again

Travers and Tremayne Johnson will be retried in May.

Homicide detectives called to Park Hgts and Shirley Ave in the NW following a shooting in the parking lot of the Food City

Trial begins for Cleaven Williams Jr., accused of stabbing his pregnant wife Veronica to death outside of the North Ave District courthouse

More than 20 pounds of cocaine found in a shipping container at the Baltimore seaport.

Gold fillings stolen in Essex

47-year-old woman from Baltimore arrested for carjacking in Cumberland

Illegal flier backlash part II, no go to Pigtown nightclub

Housing officials blast Fells Prospect resident as a "pit bull" after she demanded an apology for a snafu that resulted in a lien notice being attached to her home for an unpaid fine for illegal fliers she reported.

Liquor board say no to proposed Pigtown nightclub

Death penalty moratorium extended

"Gov. Martin O'Malley's administration announced Thursday that it is withdrawing regulations that are needed for executions to resume in Maryland, effectively extending a four-year moratorium on the death penalty" and Del. Sandy Rosenberg, a Democrat repping the 41st, said he submitted a DP repeal bill today.

And 10 years for Zachary D. Watson, the final defendant accused of beating and robbing septuagenarian fisherman James Privott, and the one who admitted to driving Privott's stolen, LoJack'd truck.

That sucks

Save the Moshers!! Bolton Hill's On the Hill cafe robbed after closing.

18

Unidentified man, 21, killed in a drive-by at the bus stop in the 6600 block of Alta Ave.

Murder Ink (barely) covers last week's murder of Warren Wilmer, 36, and has some updates-- arrests for the 2011 murders of David Jones (#1) and Jeffrey Purnell (#15), and a conviction for the murder of Mark Johnson in 2009.

After debate raged in the Senate yesterday, Mike Miller set odds of same-sex marriage passing at 60-70 percent. Unexcited by the prospect is one Victor Kirk of Lanham, "What if a father wants to marry his daughter? Or a brother and sister want to marry each other?" And Senator repping the the county, Jim Brochin, has swung his stance from civil unions to full-frontal civil marriage rights.

"Md. hands keys to Baltimore detention facility" to the feds. (Really? Actual literal keys?) Hey wonder whatever happened to that cell-phone-jamming idea? I know they tested the jamming system last year, but did they ever implement it anywhere?

... btw here's a picture of the alleged burglar who left his cell phone charging at a crime scene in MoCo. He looks so sensitive!

And a man arrested in Annapolis after faking "distress", then robbing the woman who stopped to help him.

And a missing person: Mark Cheshire, Gregg Bernstein's new Communications guy. After one single press release (announcing the arrest of Avi Werdesheim), nothing-- no press releases, TV appearances, answers to questions... total flatline. What do they have him doing over there?
Update: apparently he's sent out a few things but hasn't added me to the e-mail list. So much for transparency.

Beware of reporting illegal ad fliers

This upper Fells Point resident did and ended up with a $300 fine for her trouble...

More on Duane SHORTY Davis, Sr, alleged toilet bomber

According to his Myspace page, Duane Davis Sr. has previous experience with the whole bomb threat thing:

"People of the State of Illinois County of Lake vs. Duane G. Davis Sr. Case # 07CF4988 Defendant was charged with Bomb Threat ( Terrorist Activity)"

He is apparently making a movie about racism in the judicial system.

Oh, and he's had some other charges, too...

Also, photos of "Shorty's Underground Toilet tour"

17

Craig Manuel, 19, shot to death in the 2700 block of Polk St.

Speaking of death, I hear this is good: PBS' "Postmortem: Death Investigation in America."

Yet another police-misconduct award, $75,000 for David Harris, 21, who spent 29 days in jail for assault and burglary even though the victim said he wasn't involved. The Record reports that the city has shelled out more than $688,000 in awards against the police so far this year.

$200,000 bond for terlit artist Duane G. Davis

What the? Man on the beltway tried to strangle his girlfriend and run over his friends, then crashed the car and was pinned down by his friends until help arrived. I think.

"A 16-year-old boy was hospitalized with serious neck and back injuries after being struck with a Taser® by a Baltimore police officer in a struggle on the roof of his North Baltimore home"

Mistrial in Dog-Burning Case

Will it be tried again? One of the twins, Travers, was due to be arraigned on attempted murder charges in another case on the 27th, don't know what happened with that.

and a "South River senior admits beating younger student unconscious"

Double-murder defendant Kenneth Perry took the stand and didn't do himself any favors

Save the puppehs!

City council committee supports extending in-state tuition for undocumented residents. (& I support extending one's skirt a little farther below your crack if you are addressing a city council committee. I know it's not the Vatican but geeze.)

That poor dog-burning jury is still a-deliberating. Says JZ, "the case spewed the creation of the city’s Animal Abuse Task Force."

Two freaky-looking chicks arrested for burglarizing a Glen Burnie pet store

Really? Owner of the Wine Source says 10-fold hike in hooch taxes is a good idea because it could curb alcohol abuse.

Cell phone taped terlit near courthouse

Officers find a toilet with a cell phone taped to it near the Towson courthouse. Reports Fox, "At this time, no evacuations have taken place." Uh, TMI, Fox!

UPdate: that's some toilet. The Brew reports that a similar "art can" has been parked in front of the schools HQ on North Avenue for "weeks". Quote of the day from Cp editor Tim Hill, "'I figured it was one of those memorials to a kid who had died,' Hill said, noting that, when he shot the picture, the assemblage included a stuffed 'Kenny' doll from the South Park animated television show."

Big bux awarded in police-misconduct lawsuit

$170,000 for Salahudeen Abdulaziz, who claimed police handcuffed him and punched him in the face while he was on the way to the store to get a bag of potato chips.

Sneaking and leaking

"Md.'s wine shipment laws create smuggling routes from D.C. and Va." Fun fact: MD became known as the "Free State" because the state did not allot any funds or pass an enforcement act to support Prohibition. Ironically, we now have the most jackassed liquor laws in the country.

And speaking of free, we'll believe in you when we see some hot document action, Baltileaks!

Super Sunday Crime Round-up

What do rapper Lil' Wayne, career criminal Joel Ugah, and Baltimore Blast owner Edwin Hale Sr. have in common? A weapons charge on their record.

Court Watch is back. Concerned citizens are bringing back the program due to the repeated breaks that the accused murderers of Stephen Pitcairn received.

Maryland and California both suspend their "Scared Straight" programs, a few weeks after the premier of the show "Beyond Scared Straight."

Federal officer Curtis Anthony Warren is convicted of killing his brother back in April of 2009.

63-year-old school teacher Myra Elizabeth Cason was shot to death last Friday.

Robert "Seattle" Jones gets 15 years for a bungled home invasion.

Interstate traveling stoner Travis Bielaski arrested in Nebraska with 33 pounds of grass.

Finally, Latin Kings enforcer Brandon Smith pleads guilty to Racketeering and attempted murder.

Fate of gay marriage hangs on six undecided senators

"Two men stabbed, one shot in 3 nonfatal incidents"

Four people stabbed at the Cheer's (sic) Bar and Grill in Parkville

PG county to seek the death penalty for a man who shot four people in Lanham

Shoulda, coulda, woulda

WJZ has an interview with Emmanuel Miller, the stringy-shtached teen charged in the beating of elderly black fisherman James Privott. "I wish I would have done something to try to help the guy."

Your tax dollars at work vol. II

The two DPW workers who spent hours at S & J's Deli drinking a gambling while on the clock get to keep their jobs!!!

People, animals, opiates

A second trial concluding for Kenneth D. Perry, found guilty in 2001 of killing pregnant Kelly Bunn and his former girlfriend, LaShawn Jordan, as Jordan's 4-year-old watched, then "stayed in the apartment with the bodies for two days, caring for her 1-year-old brother and trying to treat her mother's wounds with toilet paper and a toy stethoscope."

HarfCo man arrested for raping a 5-year-old girl

Jury begins deliberations in twin brothers' dog-burning trial.

Scene killed at Select Lounge

Suleiman Zakaria, 27, of Pikesville, got 10 years for hiding 6 pounds of Ghanian heroin in his luggage

WBAL: Baltimore has a high police-to-citizen ratio

That movie sounds hilarious!

"Mexican cartel on trial in Baltimore drug case: Informant describes driving cross-country with cocaine-filled mobile home"

13 years

for serial drunken driver Thomas Lee Meighan Jr., who fatally plowed into Hopkins undergrad Miriam Frankl as the tried to cross St. Paul St.
The Sun has posted the 911 calls made by drivers

Wieners aplenty

Demetrius Arrington arrested for murder of Jeffrey R. Purnell, 51

CP's Van Smith "A recent California drug-trafficking and money-laundering case [showed] how hundreds of pounds of cocaine allegedly reached Baltimore’s streets last year thanks to Hollywood-based traffickers, and how millions in drug proceeds left town: by private jet"

Fifteen years in prison for Joseph Lawhorn, 35, convicted of taking "sexually explicit" pictures of little boys with his iPhone

Burning dog trial: Sgt. Jarron Jackson "can't testify as to whether [Tremayne] can fly or not," today, jurors nodding off

The Daily Record asks, "Wrecking buildings or lives in Middle East?" (Fumes "Prez Jack" Young, "What if I become governor and they want me to show them where I lived? I will have nothing to show them.")

Howard County senator Allan H. Kittleman becomes first Republican to jump on the big gay senate bandwagon. Kittleman's civil-unions bill was withdrawn, and he stepped down as Senate minority leader soonafter. Yesterday Republicans closeted themselves to privately vote to officially oppose the bill. And the the National Organization for Marriage is robo-calling.

History corner: 10 years ago last week, then-mayor O'Malley told a Sun reporter re. the dropped case against officer Brian Sewell: [State's Attorney Pat Jessamy] "doesn't even have the goddamn guts to get off her ass and go in and try this case, and I'm tired of it... If she doesn't have respect for the police, if she doesn't have respect for the people of this city, maybe she should get the hell out and let somebody else in who's not afraid to do the goddamn job."

You booze, you lose?

Serial drunk-driver Thomas Meighan will be sentenced today after pleading guilty to charges stemming from the death of Miriam Frankl.

Dead body in a field in Northeast Baltimore.

Counterfeiting arrest on the Eastern Shore.

Two people are in serious trouble for helping an inmate escape from theWashington County jail last week.