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The city of Baltimore took down some Confederate statues on Wednesday morning. Similar statues have divided opinion throughout the country, with those supporting their retention stating that they mark US civil war history. Those against say they are racist symbols that celebrate slavery.

BALTIMORE - Contractors in Baltimore have removed several of the city's Confederate statues overnight. The Robert E. Lee and “Stonewall” Jackson monument in Wyman Park Dell was removed early Wednesday morning. The Confederate Women's Monument on West University Parkway was removed overnight as was the Roger Taney Monument from Mount Vernon Place. Taney was a Supreme Court justice who ruled African-Americans could not be considered citizens of the U.S. It is unclear if and when the city’s remaining Confederate statue - the Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument on Mount Royal Avenue - is scheduled for removal. A commission appointed by...

The Higher Education Establishment insists that its mission is just that. Academic insiders know better. "Activism in this broad sense rules the day in contemporary higher education," Zena Hitz, a tutor at St. John’s College in Annapolis, writes in the summer 2017 issue of Modern Age. "The core purpose of the University of Texas, according to its mission statement, is 'to transform lives for the benefit of society.'" "Education is for the sake of 'social transformation,' says Harvard College--or 'the improvement of the world today,' according to Yale University." Yet and still, conservatives ready to high five each other and...

In the wake of a violent white supremacist rally in neighboring Virginia, House Speaker Michael E. Busch said Monday it’s time to take down Maryland’s most prominent Confederate-era monument. Busch said the statue of former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Roger B. Taney — author of the infamous 1857 Dred Scott decision that upheld slavery and denied citizenship to black people — should no longer preside over the front lawn of the Maryland State House.“It certainly doesn’t belong there,” said Busch, an Anne Arundel County Democrat.“It's the appropriate time to remove it,” he said. Leaving it in place after white supremacists...

Four Confederate monuments were removed from New Orleans earlier this month following complaints that they celebrate racism, and now the city of Baltimore has plans to follow suit. But most voters oppose taking away these remnants of the past even if they are unpopular with some. While proposals have been made to get rid of monuments such as the Jefferson Memorial and the carving on Stone Mountain in Georgia because they honor men who practiced or defended slavery, just 19% of Likely U.S. Voters think the United States should erase symbols of its past history that are out of line...

Krishanti Vignarajah, a onetime policy director for former first lady Michelle Obama, announced Wednesday that she plans to enter the race for Maryland governor, becoming the first woman to join the crowded field for the 2018 Democratic nomination. Vignarajah plans an official campaign announcement next month. “I am running for governor because I am worried my daughter will not have the same opportunities my parents gave me when they brought our family here when I was a baby girl,” she said in a statement. “I hope Marylanders will agree the best man for the job is a woman.” Vignarajah, 37,...

Gov. Larry Hogan plans to hold a meeting this month with representatives of Baltimore judges, prosecutors and politicians to discuss why more violent offenders aren’t being held in jail longer. The governor called it “outrageous” that 60 percent of gun offenders convicted in Baltimore have more than half their sentences suspended — a frequent complaint of the police department. In 2016, 245 people convicted in gun cases in Baltimore were sentenced to less than a year in jail, according to data on convictions shared by police. That’s 43 percent of all cases. Defendants in 33 cases were sentenced to no...

Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh announced a violent crime plan and appointed a new criminal justice director Wednesday, just days after the city failed to go 72 hours without a murder in the "nobody kill anybody" weekend campaign. ... Her policy plan addresses three areas she believes are the root cause of violent crime: poorly trained police, poor drug policy, and an under-educated populace. [Snip] Pugh’s plan also addresses a criminal justice reform topic that has enjoyed wide bipartisan support across the country, which is lowering sentences for drug crimes. Her plan calls for increased investment in drug treatment programs and...

Public defenders in Baltimore say hundreds of criminal cases could be tossed out after two incidents discovered on police body cameras this summer show officers allegedly planting drug evidence. So far some 40 criminal cases have been dropped, mostly involving drug and weapons-related felonies. But lawyers there say that's just the beginning. "I would say there are hundreds and hundreds of cases directly affected between the two cases," Debbie Katz Levi, director of special litigation for Baltimore's Office of the Public Defender tells NPR. "I think it's safe to say if you included all of the officers, you're probably at...

Sade Alvarez-Gibson, 15, raps into a studio microphone in a makeshift booth made of blankets, while Oladele Kiambu, 17, records: “Keeping my mind focused / I’m controlling my reality / My grind’s an everyday thing / It’s something that I do casually,” she raps. Just feet away, Kamal Muhammad — wearing headphones and a face full of determination — sits in front of a computer monitor, rhythmically tapping on a keyboard, eliciting sounds of a synth and a drum kick. “This is my first time making a beat,” the 12-year-old said proudly. All three are hoping to break into the...

A D.C. suburb in Maryland is considering a plan that would give undocumented immigrants the right to vote, making their city the largest in the Old Line State to do so. The city, which is home of the University of Maryland’s main campus and nearly 30,000 residents, is weighing approval of the new measure to let noncitizens cast ballots for mayor and City Council, The Baltimore Sun reported Sunday.

Erricka Bridgeford received a standing ovation from the congregation at Kingdom Life Church Sunday. Bridgeford, a special guest at the church in West Baltimore, and others had called for a 72-hour halt to the violence that has claimed the lives of more than 200 people in Baltimore so far this year — the fastest pace of violence in modern Baltimore history through July. Groups took the message to the streets, hosting dozens of events, staying out all night and offering food and services. The ceasefire was to end at midnight. Despite their efforts, four people were shot, two of them...

Officials in College Park are weighing a plan that would make their city the largest in Maryland to give undocumented immigrants a right to vote in local elections, a long-standing practice elsewhere in the state that has drawn new scrutiny amid the simmering national debate over immigration...

Baltimore activists' attempt for a murder-free weekend proved to be too much to ask of the city, with at least three people shot, two of them killed, in less than 72 hours since guns were ordered to be put down.  Activist Erricka Bridgeford promoted the campaign as a "Baltimore ceasefire" and "Nobody kill anybody" weekend that began on Friday and ends Sunday night, garnering the support of thousands on social media since May. The city made it through Friday with no shootings reported, drawing hope from participants the campaign might see some success. But by Saturday, two men -- ages...

Baltimore is now averaging more than a murder a day, so a group of activists urged Baltimore residents to rally together for a ceasefire. This message encourages shooters to put down their guns for three days.This anti-violence effort began at midnight on Thursday with residents desperately hoping to prove peace is possible. Unfortunately, Baltimore Police have reported they’re investigating two homicides and one shooting since the ceasefire began.

Erricka Bridgeford was 12 when she first saw a man die because he found himself at the wrong end of a bullet on Baltimore's streets. More than 30 years later, she’s pursuing a city-wide 72-hour ceasefire that began midnight Thursday to end a recent wave of violence that's taken hold of her Chesapeake Bay home. Although it has less than a tenth of New York City's population, Baltimore has suffered 48 more homicides in 2017, according to police statistics. The Maryland city's murder rate is also on the rise, 20 percent higher compared to the same period last year. Hoping...

BALTIMORE (WJZ) — During a social media campaign to derail HBO’s planned modern-day Southern slavery drama, one Twitter user’s posts about the history of the Maryland flag got a lot of attention. “What a lot of people don’t know is that the Maryland flag is half confederate,” @benjancewicz wrote, using the hashtag #NoConfederate. And, he’s kind of right. Yes, even though Maryland was a Union state, the flag — which is featured on the state’s license plate and is a popular adornment for clothing and accessories — does contain some Confederate symbolism. The flag’s older history is tied to George...

The Baltimore Police Department suspended seven officers after body camera video emerged that the city's public defender said appeared to show them planting drugs in a car during a traffic stop, the second such episode in the city in two weeks.

OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) — Joe Flacco’s health. The salary cap. And of course, potential negative fan reaction. The Baltimore Raves are weighing all these factors — and then some — as they continue to wrestle with the decision whether to sign free agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick. It’s been a week since Ravens coach John Harbaugh floated the idea of adding Kaepernick, a veteran with Super Bowl experience and the baggage that comes from his decision last year to literally sit out the national anthem on game day. The topic of Kaepernick came up on the first day of training...

President Trump will return to West Virginia next week for a campaign-style rally, his re-election campaign announced Friday. The event will be held at the Big Sandy Superstore Arena in Huntington, West Virginia, on Thursday. Trump has attended a number of campaign-style rallies so far this year, speaking to supporters in Florida, Iowa, Pennsylvania, and, most recently Ohio. The president and first lady Melania Trump appeared at the Make America Great Again Rally in Youngstown, Ohio, on Tuesday.