Free Republic

Protesters tore down a statue of Christopher Columbus and threw it the Inner Harbor Saturday in Baltimore. A witness said a group pulled the statue down during protests and pulled it into the harbor.

Another brazen assault, and another mother left in awe. It’s a story that is only being shared with WJZ. “These attacks, these assaults, someone is going to get killed,” said Kia Martin, whose daughter was attacked at the Inner Harbor on Halloween. For the third time in just days, a group of teens strike yet again at the Inner Harbor.

It’s the heart of Baltimore’s tourism industry, but the Inner Harbor turned into a nightmare for a visiting family of 10 earlier this month. Out of nowhere, they were swarmed and beaten by a large number of teenagers. While the family that was attacked does not want to be identified, they do want their story to be heard. They told their story to WJZ off-camera. “They swarmed us,” said Stacey. “They hit my husband in the head. They knocked him out… and then it was just complete bedlam.” It happened on the day of the Baltimore Marathon, Oct. 21. The...

Americans' expanding waistlines were a factor in the capsizing of a Baltimore water taxi that killed five persons in 2004, a trend that has led to other deadly transportation accidents, the National Transportation Safety Board said yesterday. The board said the water taxi tipped over because excessive passenger weight made the boat too unstable to withstand a sudden gust of wind. The NTSB said the Coast Guard underestimated the "tippiness" of the 36-foot Lady D pontoon boat because it used the results of a stability test designed for a different type of vessel.

Md. Officials Celebrate End of 8-Year Fight to Build Complex Developer Milton Peterson joined elected officials from across Maryland yesterday to mark the culmination of an eight-year political fight to begin transforming 220 acres of shrubs and dirt on the banks of the Potomac River into National Harbor, a $2 billion complex of hotels, shops and restaurants. The groundbreaking ceremony also signaled the beginning for construction crews preparing to build the project's centerpiece, Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center, which alone is expected to cost $565 million. Described by some as the largest single commercial venture in state history, National...

Recently, in Baltimore's Inner Harbor, ground was broken for a new, $33 million monument to Maryland's African Americans…the largest of its kind on the East Coast. Named for the late billionaire, Reginald F. Lewis, the new museum will concentrate on the history and culture of Maryland's African Americans. On East North Avenue, not far from the place where Reginald Lewis grew up, is the Great Blacks in Wax Museum, the first museum of its kind in the country. Founded 20 years ago by Dr. Joanne Martin and her husband, Dr. Elmer Martin (now deceased), this museum is the fruition of...