March 29

At a hearing today, Judge Shirley Watts sentenced Martin Michael Morgan, 18, to life in prison plus 29 years. Judge Watts sentenced Morgan to life for the first-degree murder, 20 years for the handgun and nine years for first-degree assault. A Baltimore City jury convicted him February 8 for the murder of Wade Walker, 32. On March 12, 2004 Morgan shot to death Mr. Walker inside a carryout in the 3700 block of W. Belvedere Avenue. A co-defendant in this case, James Murphy, pled guilty January 10, 2005 to second-degree murder and is currently serving a 30-year prison sentence.

A Baltimore City jury convicted Montese L. Thompson, 23, today of second-degree murder following three hours of deliberation and one day of testimony. Judge Alfred Nance set sentencing for May 16, 2006 at which time Thompson could receive a maximum of 30 years in prison. On June 28, 2005 Thompson beat Verna Brown, 35, to death in the 1800 block of North Montford Avenue. Thompson assaulted Brown in a house and later followed her outside and beat Brown in the face with a shovel. Brown was transported to Johns Hopkins Hospital where she later succumbed to her injuries on July 3, 2005.

At a hearing today, Amanda Johnson, 23, of the 700 block of Berry Street, pled guilty to a single count of witness intimidation. You'll recall the Hampden lass is one of the first people to be charged under the new, tougher witness intimidation laws. Under terms of the plea agreement, announced in open court and objected to by the State, Judge Glynn will sentence her to five years in prison, suspending all but 90 days with three years probation. Sentencing is scheduled for April 26, 2006. In July 2005 police identified a witness in a pending attempted murder trial. The witness positively identified Timothy Meadows and Kenneth George as the individuals who attempted to murder a victim on June 26, 2005, in the 2600 block of Miles Ave. They were indicted for attempted first-degree murder and related charges and are awaiting trial on April 12. Say court documents:

"On October 14, 2005, Amanda Johnson went to the house of the witness and knocked on the door. Amanda Johnson asked, 'Why are you snitching on my family?' and then pulled out two photographic arrays with the identifying witness's signature and stated, 'I got these from discovery, and he is going to get it before he goes to court.' Amanda Johnson then left the area in her vehicle. She is the girlfriend of Kenneth George."

The Sun and I (Chuck) mis-identified two of last week's murder victims: According to "Murder Ink" and supported by BPD, Lenard Hawkins (not "Lennard") was the man killed on Lauretta Ave., and Darren Green (not "Derrick") was the man shot to death on Mapleleaf Ct. "Murder Ink" added one more name to the year's death toll: On March 23, the medical examiner ruled that the death of 41-year-old Gregory Rollins was murder, not suicide.

The sub-headline in the Sun really says it all: "King says he gave informants drugs to sell but insists he's not guilty of corruption."

The Blotter has everything from fake Louis Vuitton bags to a 20-year-old with a shotgun blast to the chest.

WYPR ran a two-part interview with Commissioner Hamm. (Part 1 and Part 2.)

In the nation's first case of a state taking over city-run schools under No Child Left Behind, Maryland State Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick is proposing to take control of 11 city middle and high schools in 18 months. Brian D. Morris, chairman of the city school board, was quoted in the Sun as saying, "This political [expletive] is eroding our ability to educate the children of our city." Funny. It seems like North Avenue's ability to educate the children of this city eroded a long time ago, but maybe that's just me being bitter.

Terrance Hawkins still hasn't refunded money to the majority of the people who paid him for a non-existant tour to see Oprah.

Benjamin Iloamuzo was indicted for identity theft and filing fake tax returns worth more than $220,000.

Laura Paolino-Moore pleaded guilty to operating a financial institution without a license, and was ordered to repay over $2,000 she stole from her debt-management clients.

In the "Heinous Crimes Against Underage College Students" department, Power Plant Live announced that they are ending their Thursday "College Night."

March 28

The trial of Wayne Bond -- Bloods member and alleged cabbie killer -- continues in Harford county.

Today's sensationalist headlines come from The WBAL: "Man At Large After Stabbing". Apparently, two men were arguing in a Linthicum store when one stabbed the other.

One reason why I like the Sun: A lack of sensationalist headlines. If today's Blotter were on a TV news site, it would read something like, "Two Shooters, A Stabber, and An Arsoner on the Loose."

In Westminster, seven adults and one juvenile were arrested for possession of heroin and crack after a five-month investigation.

A drug bust in Southwest Baltimore netted police 21 guns, $12,000 in cash, and 100 grand worth of the wacky tabacky.

A bill establishing crimes against homeless victims as hate crimes died in the Senate. Opponents claimed the bill would not address the problem of homelessness. If I'm understanding correctly, though, the bill wasn't trying to address the problem of homelessness, it was trying to address the problem of people beating and killing the homeless.

The jury didn't buy Thurman Spencer, Jr.'s strategy of calling the woman he was accused of raping and then claiming his phone records established that they'd had a consensual sexual relationship.

The father of the 8-year-old girl who was shot by a boy at a Germantown day care center has filed a $1,000,000 lawsuit claiming negligence on behalf of the center's president, an employee, the boy's father, and the convicted felon who provided the gun to the boy's father.

March 27

(I apologize in advance for the bare-bones posting in the coming days. I'm swamped in school, especially with my statistics class that is teaching me how to twist numbers to fit my own devious purposes. -- Chuck)

Five murders since Cybrarian's last post: 17-year-old Shawnisha Biggus was stabbed repeatedly on Woodbourne Ave. (right across the street from where 15-year-old Vatell Murray lived before he was shot to death in a train tunnel back in January). Her murder received an atypical amount of coverage, including WJZ's piece on a candlelight vigil and this sensationalist bit titled "Murder Suspect Still On The Loose". (It might be more accurate to write "Hundreds of Murder Suspects Still On The Loose.")

Lennard Hawkins, 22, was shot outside his Lauretta Ave. home on March 12, and died at Shock Trauma on Wednesday, March 22.

73-year-old Lee Tatum was stabbed on Tuesday, March 21 after having a dispute with 51-year-old Dana White on E. 25th St. He died on Thursday, March 23.

The Sun article about Shawnisha Biggus mentions that 21-year-old Carlos Lewis was apparently the man who was shot in the head in South Baltimore near 295. Even though that WJZ article asked us to "Stay logged onto WJZ.COM for the latest updates on this story," they never actually bothered to report that he died at Shock Trauma early Thursday morning.

Derrick Green, 21, was found early Saturday morning with multiple gunshot wounds to his abdomen. He died at the scene.

In the Blotter, two teenage girls stabbed a 54-year-old employee of Royal Fried Chicken, a man was robbed, another man was robbed, and a man was hit over the head with a big piece of wood.

The case against three suspected East Baltimore drug dealers collapsed when Circuit Judge John N. Prevas ruled that defense attorneys could tell jurors about 46 internal affairs complaints filed against the two investigating police officers.

After the Dundalk precinct recorded 4,000 (???) calls to the York Park Apartments last year, Baltimore County is buying the crime-ridden complex. (I wonder if city officials could convince the county to buy Lauretta Ave., also?)

King took the stand for over four hours on Monday.

The Maryland House of Delegates approved legislation to veto the Constellation/FPL Group energy merger. Ehrlich and BG&E officials don't seem impressed.

March 24- April 5

The Cybrarian will be generally unavailable for the two weeks it takes Verizon to hook up a GD'd DSL connection.

Jury selection in the rape trial of Charles Carroll is expected to begin at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday before Judge Roger Brown, 636 Clarence Mitchell Courthouse.

Off the Record

Did you know? We do have a second daily newspaper in Baltimore, but no no one reads it. The The Economist should buy it and make me publisher. Here's Daniel Ostrovsky excerpted liberally from today's TDR: "Officer Next Door" seeks $20M after home search

"In a $20 million lawsuit, a Baltimore police officer claims at least four of his fellow officers used a search warrant obtained with a perjured affidavit to burst into his home and hold him and his wife at gunpoint. Officer Michael Callands and his wife claim a police officer falsely accused them of dealing drugs out of this Spelman Road home, where they were living as part of the federally funded 'Officer Next Door' crime deterrence program. Finding no narcotics, the four defendants scouted the neighborhood for drugs and paraphernalia and then attributed those drugs to Officer Michael Callands and his wife, the suit alleges. According to the complaint filed in Baltimore City Circuit Court, Michael and Margaret Callands moved into the Spelman Road home in Brooklyn as part of the federally funded "Officer Next Door" program, which provides financial incentives for law enforcement officers to live in high-crime areas.

"They made up a search and seizure warrant and when they realized it was a cop's house they were like, 'Oh my God, we messed up,' said Timothy M. Dixon, an attorney for Michael and Margaret Callands along with his law partner, Neal M. Janey Jr... In an affidavit filed to support a search and seizure warrant, the pleadings state, Detective Cassidy Kampfhammer falsely stated that she bought drugs at 2833 Spelman Road. At the time, she did not know it was the home of a police officer. On March 25, 2005, Kampfhammer and Officers Joseph Donato, Francis Ebberts Jr. and others executed the warrant, "destroying [the Callands'] front door." Because the officers had no uniforms or identification, Michael Callands assumed they were burglars and he drew his service weapon as he left the bedroom, the complaint alleges. Michael Callands eventually realized what was taking place and surrendered his gun, but was nonetheless thrown into a glass table by the police officers...When Margaret Callands came downstairs to check on her husband Kampfhammer and the other officers pointed their guns at her, told her to get on the floor and handcuffed her.

"The suit says no drugs were found during the search. When the officers learned they had entered the home of a colleague, Dixon and Janey said yesterday, Kampfhammer called her husband, Lt. Sean Kampfhammer, who soon arrived at the house.
The two 'collectively contrived a plan to plant illegal drugs' to 'cover-up [sic] the fabrication in the affidavit of the search and seizure warrant"... "The officers canvassed the neighborhood for drugs, then told the department's Internal Affairs Division that those drugs belonged to the Callands.Dixon and Janey said an investigation by that division exonerated their client of any misconduct." .... "A false report about the Callands' was also made to the Housing Authority of Baltimore City. As a result of that report, the Callands no longer reside in the Spelman Road home" ... "Cassidy Kampfhammer and Donato serve in the Southern District, Ebberts serves in the narcotics section of the organized crime division and Sean Kampfhammer is with a special enforcement unit. All are listed as defendants in the suit."

Fesity, feisty

Statement of State's Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy regarding the City Council Budget and Appropriations Committee approval of $1.9 million in city funding for FY'2006 [emphasis ed.]:

I am pleased that the Budget Committee chaired by Councilwoman Blake has approved critical funding that provides immediate relief for the loss of expired federal and state grant positions and continued prosecution of criminal cases in Baltimore. I am hopeful that the full Council will approve the funding with equal fervor.

Our citizens support the necessity of this funding. They recognize that funding the State's Attorney's Office at an adequate level is in the best interest of public safety.

As an elected prosecutor managing an independent office, I will not submit to a management audit of the State's Attorney's Office by the City Council. The City Council continues to insinuate and insist that they have the authority to require such an audit. This is not negotiable, and I have publicly stated my position on this several times. The State's Attorney's Office is an independent office and the Council has no authority to review management practices. This will remain my position on this matter.

I do recognize that the City Council has responsibility for fiscal oversight and I operate a transparent office. The city auditor has the authority to conduct an audit on any fiscal matter related to office operations and is welcome to do so at any time. The State's Attorney's Office remains committed to providing the Council with information requested in a timely manner, and is interested in keeping the Council and citizens informed regarding activities of the State's Attorney's Office.

March 23

Late yesterday afternoon a Baltimore City jury convicted Emanuel Young, 27, of the 800 block of Avondale Road, of second-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder and handgun counts. Judge Paul Alpert scheduled sentencing for April 14, 2006. On April 13, 2003 Young murdered Marcus Gordon, 20, in the 3000 block of Oakley Avenue. A second victim was also wounded in that shooting.

At a hearing late yesterday afternoon, Julius Freeman, 20, of the 2300 block of Cloville Road, pled guilty to second-degree murder and got 20 years. On May 19, 2005 Freeman was arguing with his girlfriend in the 5600 block of Laurelton Avenue when the victim, Darrell Holland, II, 21, was walking by. Freeman pulled out a 9 MM handgun and shot Holland once in the chest.

A man was shot in the head in the South Baltimore near 295.

Eze Rankin Inyama, 34, is accused of impersonating a pharmacist and selling Xanax and Clonodine without a prescription.

March 22

Ink: There were three murders last week, of Kacife Parker, Kiam Moody and Aaron Godbolt, and at least one justified homicide (this is the first time the Ink has covered one of those, wonder if that'll be a new thing). The Sun covered them all!

'BAL's got another "WTF?!?!" story: Winnie Watts, a city auxiliary police officer (whatever that is), says city police came into her house without a warrant, refused to give badge numbers, arrested her 15-year-old son for loitering on his own porch and charged her daughter with disturbing the peace.

Blotter: Patrick Byers, 20, was arrested for the murder of Larry Haynes. Kenneth Oakley, 20, was arrested for attempted murder, as was Lenise Edmonds, 23, the year's first female attempted-murder suspect, accused of shooting Monica McCante, 35.

A man who was not Dre was shot in the leg on Montpelier Street. Someone fired five shots through the windows of a house in Waverly. Also three men fired four or five shots at a woman's house on Sheridan Avenue.

Van Smith dares a suspect's wife to sue him in the story of the arraignment of Anthony Jerome Miller for the double murders of Jason Convertino, 31, and Sean Wisniewski, 22, the so-called "Redwood Trust" killings.

CP: there were four drug overdose deaths in MD prisons last year.

In AAC, sixteen-year-old Deante Littlejohn of Severn was indicted for first-degree murder for shooting Keisha Lane, 15, of Hagerstown.

The State plans to seek the death penalty in the case of Brandon Morris, who shot prison guard Jeffery Wroten.

The driver of a stolen Ford Focus was injured when he crashed the car at Calvert and 23rd street.

Paunchy pitcher Sidney Ponson had the last charge against him, knowingly making a false statement on a Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration application, dropped. (Puzzling: "prosecutors said they could not prove it beyond a reasonable doubt.")

The claim: Monumental Life Insuarance Co. paid $25k to Maryland to settle claims of race-based policy pricing. Republicans gave the money to certain charities, which in turn donated an 18 percent "tip" to Steele's campaign.

March 21

James Earl Murphy, 30, was indicted for contempt of court for his refusal to testify in a murder trial. Murphy and Martin Morgan, 18, were indicted for the murder of Wade Walker on March 12, 2004. In January of last year, Murphy pled guilty to second-degree murder and received a 30-year sentence from Judge David Mitchell. On February 3, Murphy refused to testify in Morgan's trial and was held in Direct Contempt of Court by Judge Shirley Watts. Nevertheless, the jury convicted Morgan of first-degree murder and he will be sentenced next week. Murphy is scheduled for arraignment on April 20 before Judge Welch.

The trial of officers King and Murray grinds on. Sounds like the pair was sleazy and lazy: "King told [the informant] that the officers didn't want information about ... young people who would be apt to run from the detectives and require a chase."

Blotter: A woman was shot in the chest by her fiancee and lived. James Best, who was arrested and charged with attempted murder. Two men were arrested for attempted murder and armed robbery in the northeastern. The man shot near Reisterstown Road was identified as Aaron Godbolt, 23.

Sisters are doing it for themselves: robbing sick and old people, that is.

The Mars grocery store in Reisterstown was robbed.

Kenneth Hankins, a big greasy-looking fat guy, flashed a boy and a girl at Glen Ridge apartments in Glen Burnie.

Greg Raymond, former JHU lax Blue Jay and now the assistant men's coach at Princeton, pled guilty on February 10 to Driving Under the Influence as a result of the gory drunk-driving accident that killed his friend Matthew "Stoff" Stoffel (left) Dec. 11. He will be sentenced Thursday the 23rd at 2 p.m. at Wabash district court. He faces a maximum penalty of one-year in jail and/or $1,000 fine. Some excerpts from the charging documents:

Officers recieved a call to respond ... the accident was located at I83 North and the Charles Street Bridge ... officers found a green/black Jeep Sahara on the right shoulder with damage to the same ... found the driver a Mr. Gregory P. Raymond in the driver seat holding/stabilizing the passenger a Mr. Matthew C. Stoffel. The passenger had a pole impaled to his face through his mouth and throat area. The pole was approx. 3 feet in length. The pole extend (sic) through the windshield. Mr. Raymond stated that they had been drinking... that he had five beers and two shots. Raymond also stated that he was not the driver of the Jeep ... later he recanted ... Raymond agreed to take the brethilizer test. Mr. Raymond blew a .20 ....

So boozehounds, take note: contrary to what I thought, driving drunk and killing someone is not enough to be charged with vehicular manslaughter. Said my source, "you ALSO need more negligence, such as reckless driving, speeding, etc IN ADDITION to the drinking. And that evidence was not there, hence the decision to not go forward. Also, the victim's family's wishes were also taken into consideration."

Speaking of drunks, students at Towson U. are fighting for their right to party... "your out of you mind if you think banning (college) nights would help anyone." Meanwhile, the JHU News-Letter bemoans that the school can't stop CV residents from calling the police with noise complaints.

March 20

Charles Knott, the guy who beat the other guy to death with a cane in front of schoolchildren on 36th street September 16 of last year, pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter last Monday. He will be sentenced May 15.

A man was shot to death Saturday night near Reisterstown road, south of Pimlico and north of Coldspring.

Malbon Bolden Jr. of Glenmont (near Towson) allegedly beat his girlfriend to death in a Rhode Island Motel 6.
[login: king@aol.com pwd: connor]

Police are seeking a third suspect in the case of the Waverly pot patch. There were also two busts for the drogas blancas.

International insurance co. Zurich will pay about $2.8 million to Maryland companies after allegations of price-fixing and bid-rigging.

Hagerstown inmate Delreece Headspeth got 23 years added to his life sentence for shanking another inmate.

In Crisfield, two 12-year-olds were charged with arson.

Dept of Disheartening Statstics: for Baltimore city's black men, "finishing high school is the exception, legal work is scarcer than ever and prison is almost routine." Baltimore's also featured in the video, which will be running on the Discovery Channel in perpetuity. (Pennsylvania avenue is in the NW between Mondawmin mall and North Avenue).

Scary stat: every month in Baltimore an average 795 ex-offenders get out of jail.

March 18

Police are seeking James Dorsey, 29, for the murder of Curtis Lomax.

Daniel Ryan Ernst, 22, was indicted for manslaughter and DUI for an accident near Crownsville that killed his passenger, Patrick Riordan, 20.

Incident reports, charging documents, arrest logs and dispatch logs are a matter of public record. But in a survey by the Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Press Association, 19 of 46 police agencies surveyed refused to provide them, other officers were "confused" and "unsure" of how to handle the request, and some were downright rude.

The Washington Post localizes a NYT article of about a month ago: impulse-driven and anger-fueled killings are all the rage. While in 2000 five slayings in PGC were motivated by an "argument," last year 43 were.

In Howard County, violent crime is at the highest level in five years.

The U.S. Attorney's Office of Maryland has started its own blog. I see that career criminal David Burnside, age 38, got 188 months in prison. And remember 70-year-old Alan Kotz, who pled guilty to running a gambling operation at Timpano's Italian Chop House restaurant?
Three more old men have been indicted.

Today is the 3rd anniversary of the war in Iraq. Thirty-five Marylanders, including eight Baltimoreans, have been killed.

March 17

Ironic: A man shot and killed one of three suspects who attacked him in the Cross Keys parking lot. (Cross Keys was Baltimore's first gated community, so-named because it was supposed to be the epitome of security. Oh well.)

Nine months after her death, homicide detectives are asking the public's help to solve the murder of 64-year-old Shirley Chisley.

What a relief: Irvin Merritt, who stabbed his girlfriend to death, was apprehended, as was Daniel Blackston, wanted for shooting Mitchell Briggs Jr.

Two police officers stumbled upon a patch of pot in Waverly.

Teen Norman Hairston, 17, was arrested for bringing a .22 to Glen Burnie High.

A great story about Liz and her blog.

March 16

The I-Team interview of a former police officer about how the force handles carjackings has "Federal Civil Rights Case" written all over it:

"If somebody reported being carjacked, depending on who they were, they'd be taken back to the district and be questioned about the events leading up to the carjacking and be accused of either picking up a hack -- an unlicensed taxicab to drive around and pick people up who standing on the side of the road waving their hand -- or picking up a prostitute and being carjacked from that ... instead of taking that report, they'd basically be browbeat into not reporting it."

Amazing: officers King and Murray are on trial thanks to the tip of an 18-year-old informant who wanted to get out the game. He called the FBI and wore a wire in a sting involving macadamia nuts in a McDonald's bag.

The suspicious death of Ernest Miller, 58, is being investigated in the Southeastern. Also, two rapes, an assaulted 51-year-old woman, a loaf of raisin bread stuffed with hypodermic needles.

A 25-year-old felon, Wallace White, faces 10 federal years for firearm possession.

In Montgomery County, a wife told a judge that her husband was driven to disguise his face with duct tape and rape teenagers on account of her overbearing personality.

In PG county a teen broke out of juvie by crashing a van through a fence. And he's still on the run.

Christine Jones, an employee of Parkville High, was arrested for stealing equipment from the science department.

A Baltimore and an Allegheny County Sheriff learned about the joys of living in a police state on a visit to Israel. Another thing the Israelis do: make bizarro anti-violence ads.

Now a grand jury is involved in the Dixon ethics probe and handing out subpoenas.

March 15

Detective work is not all "tea and crumpets," said the attorney for alleged crooked cop William King as the corruption trial of his and fellow officer Antonio Murray kicked off. The pair are accused of robbing addicts of drugs and money, then reselling the drugs on the street.

Rose Peterson, the mollycoddling-yet-felonious mom who's charged with witness intimidation, assault and misconduct in office, pled not guilty at an arraignment this morning. The court scheduled a jury trial for May 25 before Judge Althea Handy, 464 Mitchell Courthouse.

The murder trial of Inshalla "Lisa" Owens and Derrick Taylor, originally scheduled to begin Monday, was postponed today at the request of the State following two days of pre-trial motions. The defense subpoenaed the lead prosecutor as a witness in this case. A new Assistant State's Attorney will take over the case. The defendants are accused of killing three men in a Remington halfway house.

A 37-year-old man, Kian Moody, was stabbed to death in East Baltimore. The man shot Monday was identified as Kacife Parker, 28. (By my count) the current 2006 homicide number is 52.

CP reports that police have closed 16 of 49 of the year's homicides (32 percent).

Anthony Conaway, a 41-year-old inmate who was stabbed at the City Detention Center by another inmate has died of his injuries.

A stabbing in the Southeast and (ewwwwww) a crypt opened at a cemetery in Essex in the Blotter.

A hit-and-run vehicular homicide killed Charles Arbogast in AA County. Police are seeking a Chevy Trailblazer with a missing grill. Also in AAC a girl was sexually assaulted in the bathroom at High Point Elementary School.

Ronald Stewart, 31, got two years and three months for attempting to defraud CitiFinancial of <$400k.

DIS! OW! Schaefer called Ehrlich "Glendening Jr."

O'Malley at the Forum

Whoever said there's no such thing as a stupid question never visited Baltimore. Poor O'Malley.
"Are you running for governor?"
"Do you have any control as far as decisions in your administration?" (moderator Harold Robbins: "Could you be a little more specific?") and "You're Catholic, do you support the terrorist activities of the Vatican?" I must hand it the the Mayor, he handled the lamest of questions with respect and aplomb. There's no denying that he radiates Clintonian charisma. He even has Bill's slow, back-of-the-throat gravelly delivery. His ease (and, let's face it, his undeniable hotness and baby-holding style, above) makes Duncan look like a circus bear in a tutu.

Anyway-- there were a smattering of protestors outside carrying signs along the lines of "200 illegal arrests a month" and and many with giant photos of Robert Clay and more cryptically "$800 million $$$ ???" But inside, amazingly, the theater wasn't full, no one had any signs, there wasn't any heckling... it was pretty boring, really.

He repeated the "40 percent reduction in crime" figure (ballsy!), and said that the city had experienced the second-largest reduction in drug-related trips to the ER in the country, added five new rehab centers and were recieving the third-largest federal investment in Ryan White dollars (which appears to be some kind of cash reward for being a smacked-out and disease-ridden city. Oh well, money is money).

O'M said the state was suffering from the Ehrlich administration having "no goals and no leadership" beyond putting "a slot machine in every garage," and he wants to make sure "we never forget that we are the people that Frederick Douglass and Johnny Unitas loved."

Then after his intro Harold Robbins interivewed him for a bit. "I'm not asking questions in any order," he said. "It's going to be a bit like whacking a beaver with a stick." (I think he was referring to Whac-a-Mole).

The smoking ban: "I'm open."
Education: "Full funding of Thornton," higher teacher salaries and pensions (he said MD is 50th, as in second-worst, in funding teacher pensions).

School closings: Ehrlich administration cut funding by 75 percent of capital funding and withheld the rest until the city closed five schools. He said that capital improvements to schools had "taken us longer than I would like."

BGE prices: Blame Ehrlich for letting the foxes guard the henhouse, appointing corporate cronies instead of public servants to head the Public Service Commission.

'borshun: We all want fewer of them and fewer unplanned pregnancies, and the job of the government is to work towards that and give individuals responsibility to make their own decisions.

Crime numbers and corrupt police: "We do not have a perfect police department. Sometimes police make mistakes. But if you don't trust police numbers there are others you can look at: paramedics have to fill out run sheets, also doctors at shock trauma, and they also report a 40 percent drop."

Then there were the stupid questions. Then a girl in argyle socks asked about police corruption. He was very good. "Wherever it rears its head, we will beat it down! There have been eight officers killed in the line of duty in the past years, and we will beat it out ... not just for the citizens of Baltimore, but for the honor of police and their families..." or something like that, etc. etc.

March 14

A man was fatally shot yesterday on East Biddle Street near Broadway.

MAcbier firebomber and Bloods gang leader Terrance A. Smith, 24, had first-degree murder charges dropped against him. He was accused of ordering Coketa Diggins to kill Reshawn Myers. Diggins got 10 years(!) for the murder. Myers was found shot in the head on Chinquapin Parkway by a dog walker.

It's Tuesday, which means Irwin's got your weekend news. Anthony Canthrone, 38, is in serious condition after being shot in the neck in the southern district last Sunday. A man with a rifle was arrested, and a man who assaulted a police officer last March was caught.

Way to go, officers Shantel and Lisa! The lady metro cops busted a ring of thieves who were sawing catalytic converters out of cars at metro stations in the city, Owings Mills, Anne Arundel County, Baltimore County and Howard County, and selling them for scrap.

The Kawasaki three were indicted and face a maximum of 20 years and six months in jail.

Did you know? The governor has custody of 836 children, from babies to teenagers: 773 children in state care (where facilities are so pathetic one child had to live in the Social Services office for 21 days). And 63 crazy kids in jail.

Probably already posted this but it's worth putting up again: WBAL says crime is shooting up in '06 like a giant pink arrow on a plank.

They prosecute them bank fraud and identity theft cases down Greenbelt.

Yes indeed, the Year-and-a-Day rule is alive in Maryland.

Your Custom Horoscope:
Do not order the rockfish. If your house is heated by natural gas, shop around and lock in a rate. In the '08, Jessamy will be mayor. Plan accordingly. Foolish is the boy who looks at MySpace at school or porn in the library.

March 13

"I was told to make it a destruction of property... but it was obvious he was trying to break into the house." Love that Janye and her very credible report on the numbers game.

Motions hearings are scheduled for 11:00 tomorrow morning before Judge Paul E. Alpert (339 Courthouse East) in the case of Tyrone Beane. Beane is charged with killing Taharka McCoy, an East Baltimore man, on January 17, 2002. Defense counsel is scheduled to argue that the case be dismissed due to a defective indictment and ineffective previous counsel. Beane has been charged with 11 felonies, but the only charge that's stuck is the one he's in jail for-- 75 years in prison for an unrelated robbery and shooting.

Messenger Crime log: A man stabbed in the chest and arm on W. 40th by the Rotunda, a phone-mugging in Homeland, mugging in Waverly, burglary in Radnor, stolen cars.

Blotter: a 38-year-old man is at large after cutting his "girlfriend"'s throat . A man and a woman are being sought after shooting a 35-year-old woman during an attempted robbery on N. Carey Street. Two young men were arrested after they attempted to rob a man at knifepoint in view of an officer. And a man was robbed of $50 by a group of guys weilding sticks.

Why did Lt. Gov. Michael Steele get $250,000 from the Monumental Life Insurance Company?

Molto umiliando: Don Dwyer's attempt to "carry the ball to the end" by impeaching Judge Murdock has hit the international newswire.

In Owings Mills, martial arts instructor Jacob Davis has been arrested for sexually abusing a 9-year-old girl.

A Towson University student, Anthony Taylor, was charged with assaulting his girlfriend and stealing her cell phone.

Indeed I do say, whatever did happen to the "Report on the Police Performance Enhancement Program and Recommendations to Improve the Process for Expungement of Arrest When No Charges Are Filed" that Jim Kraft was going to submit last September? Here's one reason charges might not have panned out: they were from the Southwest and illegal to begin with. But whatever-- it's all politics.

Speaking of, if you have any questions for the Mayor, don't forget tomorrow night: O'Malley at the ABC/Afro forum at 7 p.m. It's free, open to the public and the museum validates parking at the Staples lot across the street!

Web finds: a history of Jim Crow laws in Maryland.

March 12

Jamie Dicapua, 21, was shot in the back and hip in the Chinquapin Park/ Belvedere neighborhood.

A drug suspect was shot in the chest at N. Lindwood and McElderry by an officer on Friday.

Erin Loube, a 16-year-old-student at School for the Arts, disappeared a week ago the from the Morgan State University campus.

Speaking of arresting dealers, this Messenger story never answers its own question, but does note: "in November 2004 that the number of marijuana arrests in Maryland had reached a five-year high ... much of the rise was in Baltimore." (I guess The Pot is a narcotic, I'd always just assumed the bacon was after the White Drugs. Maybe that's the substory with all the "abated by arrest" arrests: the prosecutors are declining to prosecute the MJ)

The president of the City Council once again appears to be linked to a fishy deal.

This just in: Sailors like to drink.

March 11

How Could Anyone Oppose This Bill?

Late Friday afternoon House Judiciary Chariman Joseph Vallario called for a vote on House Bill 320 that would strenghthen Witness Intimidation Reforms for the most vulnerable victims of crime, women and children victims of felony sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse.

The Committee (mostly defense attorneys) voted to kill the bill despite statewide support by family advocates and prosecutors.

Last year, State's Attorney Jessamy referred to the passage of the Witness Intimidation Bill (House Bill 188), as a "toothless tiger" noting that victims of first-degree child abuse, including instances of physical abuse such burning and starvation, were not included and had no better protections against intmidation. She cited many high-profile child abuse cases in Baltimore that would not be included in the new law. In addition she noted that intimidation, as against the Dawson family, was also not covered by the new law and therefore the law did not go far enought to protect all victims in cases of threats and intimidation.

Counting Ghosts

There were really 293 homicides in Baltimore City in 2005, if you include "justified," vehicular manslaughter deaths (Though not victims like Matt Stoffel, who was killed when his head was impaled on a pole by his drunk friend's driving, an offense that would be charged as vehicular manslaughter anywhere else) and cases of death in state custody, a la Raymond Smoot.

A remarkable 47 of 2005's homicides are John Does, and one (actually 15-year-old Blanca Dubon) is listed as a Jane. But most of the unnamed 48 were black, male and shot to death, age uncertain. Oddly, 19 people were charged with murdering an unidentified victim.

Twenty-seven of the murder or attempted murder victims were white, five were Hispanic (two Does), two were Asian, five were of unknown or unlisted race. 254 victims were black.

Of 2005's murders, about half are open. There are 110 victims with cases pending. Overall, 26 of 2005's murder cases (about 7 percent) have been cleared, if you define that as ending in any kind of conviction, or the death being found justified or by the death of the main suspect. Three were cleared by the Year and a day rule (and we all thought it was just an urban legend).

Here are the 141 identified victims of open homicides, the rest are unidentified with no suspect:

Melanie Davis, 54; Louise Blanding, 76; William Brown, 50; Andre Dyer, 37; Anthony Lewis, 36; D'Onte Hopkins, 20; Devon Richardson, 18; Lamont Reid, 43; Ricco McKinney, 29; Theodore Burrell, 21; Eric Pinkney, 19; Lynwood McCaffity, 28; Larry Jackson, 38; Keith Smith, 24; Antwan Taylor, 20; Janerio Richardson, 47; Janice Ruffin, 41; William Brown, 50; Maurice Collick, 43; Travis Coles, 37; Darryl Smith, 19; Raymond Sakievich (W), 46; Everette Owens, 29; Emmanuel Wheele, 20; Leonard Betts, 26; Harold Giddings, (another white guy) 48; Lornell Williams, 31; Michael Goodwin, 20; Jessie Peay, 19; Roman Paige, 16; Sonti Hayes, 30; Steven Ray Kaham, 40; Gary McFadden, 27; Davon Atkinson, 25; Kwesi Owens, 22; Shadrick Woah-Tee, 39; Brandon Allison, 24; Garnett Vinson, 16; Robert Litlle, 88; Nachia Carter, 23; Anthony Warren, 36; Yavonnie Dowell, 20; Deonte Brown, 19; Deonte Pettiford, 19; Montez Gibson, 22; Jabril Jasin, 21; Ralph Arrington, 27; Mark Gardner, 24; John Kendrick, 55; Antonio Fox, 20; Mustafa Aleem, 21; Kevin Dozier, 19; Garry Berrie, 21; Anthony Boyce, 19; Michael Grimes, 27; Bobby Anderson, 35; Kevin Carmody, 36; Caprice Jackson, 31; Tanisha Hawkins, 26; Michael Guy, 20; Antwoine Mclain, 22; Ffloyd Harp,26; Samuel Umstead, 39 (WG #3) Charles Harris, 43; Jamie Parker, 27; Marvin Raines, 18; Lamar Robinson, 26; Donyae Bogues, 30; Roy McCray, 46; Eugene Carr, 23; Desean Dorsey, 28; Clinton Young, 43; Damon Wilder, 21; Tyler Hope, 3; Dante Jordan, 26; Aaron Benefield, 19; Melvin Pretlow, 25; Anthony Jackson, 26, J-Trimae Hyman, 16; Devril Burrell; David Howard, 19, Craig Crowder, 34; Gary Robinson, 28; George Buggs, 31; Dulani Watkins, 22; Donta Chandler, 29; Willie Hubbard, 36; Richard Boroughs, 25; Harry Johnson, 34; Leamon Tyrone, 39; Earl Tilman, 19; William Craig, 58; Darryl Outlaw, 32; Shannon Jemmison, 30; Brandon Lee, 25; Ruthie Melvin, 46; Charles Duvall, 69; Kevin Baylor, 20; Darrius Brown, 21; Anthony McCray, 33; Samuel Shufford, 48; Jerrod Byers, 22; Andrew Faison, 27; Sandy Crawford, 39; Bruce Turner, 36; Shanika Pretlow, 26; Bradley Giddins, 19; Vernon Carter, 24; Andre Grice, 19; Dominic King, 20; Daryl Davis, 28; Kenneth Thomas, 32; Davon Eady, 30; Sherman Downing, 32; Corey Wyatt, 28; Willie Capers, 45; Thomasine Evans, Spencer Penn, 22; Christino Purisima, 27 (Hispanic); Tony Campbell, 51; Raphael Grandy, 18; Don Johnson, 18; Troy Marine, 30; Eric Smith, 39; Ronald Gervin, 22; Byron Bell, 24; Mohamed Barre, 26; Talib Damon, 21; Timothy Ford, 23; Lorenzo Handy, 67, Thaddeus Riley, 43; Michael Dredden, 19; Raynard Thames, 19; Nigel Tyson, 19; Anthony Scott, 50; Adrian Outten, 19; Shanica Artis, 16; Johnathan Coles, 23; Dahuan Jones, 20.

Nine percent of 2005's cases involving a white victim and 56 percent of cases involving a black victim are open.

So where did the Magic Homicide number of '05, 269 (or 272), come from? Anyway, there's the difference of the 19 homicides between what the Medical Examiner and the prosecutor's office say and what the BPolice reported. Who's to say what's true?