Free Republic

President Biden vowed Tuesday to rebuild Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge after it collapsed into the water when a cargo ship rammed into it, echoing what some Maryland officials said earlier but adding that he expects the federal government to foot the bill. “It’s my intention that the federal government will pay for the entire cost of reconstructing that bridge, and I expect the Congress to support my effort,” Biden said in remarks at the White House. “This is going to take some time, but the people of Baltimore can count on us though to stick with them at every...

BALTIMORE – Some parents fear sending their children to school as Charm City faces a surge in youth homicides and shootings. "The school-to-prison pipeline — or really the school-to-grave pipeline — is really real in Baltimore City," Jovani Patterson, who has two young children, told Fox News. Baltimore City Public Schools held a ceremony last week remembering the 19 students shot and killed within the past year. The youngest victim was 8 years old. The previous year, gunfire claimed the lives of 12 students.

Baltimore, Maryland, is ushering in an indoor mask mandate months after Gov. Larry Hogan (R) lifted the statewide requirement. The order goes into effect Monday and applies to both the vaccinated and unvaccinated. “This pandemic is not over and we must all do our due diligence to protect ourselves and our neighbors,” Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott (D) said this week. “While we know that masking is a sure way to slow the spread of COVID-19, we cannot stress enough the importance and urgency of getting vaccinated so that we can beat COVID-19 for good,” he added, explaining that the number...

Baltimore,Dec.11(UP)- A Baltimore city grand jury recommended today that Franklin D. Roosevelt D'Alesandro, son of Baltimore's Mayor, be prosecuted for lying during his recent rape trial. The grand jury also recommended that an indictment be drawn against James Pollack, long-time Democratic political leader, for trying to obstruct justice during the trial in which the youth won acquittal. The grand jury made its recommendations in which presentments, which in this state precede the issuance of indictments. D'Alesandro, 20-year-old son of Mayor Thomas D'Alesandro, was charged, with more than a dozen other youths, of moral charges in two girls, ages 11 and...

Charges against the remaining three Baltimore Police Officers in the Freddie Gray case were dropped Wednesday morning.

<p>Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said Friday that she will not seek re-election, nearly five months after the city erupted in rioting following the death of a man injured in police custody.</p> <p>Rawlings-Blake made the announcement at a news conference called only 90 minutes earlier, a move that comes just days after officials said the city would pay Freddie Gray's family $6.4 million to settle civil claims over his spinal injury.</p>

During the last city council meeting for 2013, Councilman Nick Mosby (D-District 7) introduced “Ban the Box,” a bill that would bar prospective employers from asking, in the initial job interview, if a job applicant has a record of criminal arrests or convictions. On Dec. 5, Mosby said omitting the criminal conviction-check for applications and interviews would help more Marylanders obtain employment and give them the opportunity to re-enter the workforce. “This legislation will provide a level playing field for people who have experienced criminal convictions in the past,” Mosby told the AFRO. “Many of our citizens have been convicted...

A Baltimore City police officer has pleaded guilty to extorting car accident victims. According to the plea agreement, Reeping said he would contact fellow Officer Alexis Moreno Mejia, who would then arrive at a crash scene to arrange to tow the vehicle to Majestic. The court document indicated that Moreno would then pay Reeping up to $300 for each vehicle taken to Majestic.

Baltimore County has one of the most diverse political constituencies of any jurisdiction in Maryland. This growing county of 800,000 has a staunch conservative area in the north with some other pockets in the east and southwest. There is a large black population on the west side which votes overwhelmingly Democrat. There is a strong community of Reagan Democrats in the east, and an area of Jewish liberal Democrats in the northwest. BC used to lean Republican, but in the past two decades there has been an influx of Democrat voters that has tipped the balance of power in local...