Mobtown Beat Stories

858 stories found. Showing page 1 of 43.

Beans and Dread: A long-planned homeless center’s expansion got underway last week. Then, a Beans and Bread employee stabbed a client.

Mobtown Beat | 11/20/2009 | By Edward Ericson Jr.

When the demolition contractor fenced the warehouse behind Beans and Bread’s Bond Street homeless-services center on Nov. 16, it was to be the start of a long-planned expansion of the facility, an occ...[MORE]

Behind That Sign: A real-estate agent with bad credit offers financial advice and legal services

Mobtown Beat | 11/18/2009 | By Edward Ericson Jr.

The sign is like thousands of others posted illegally on lawns, vacant houses, and utility poles across the city. This one was plucked from a pole near the Burger King at 29th and Sisson three weeks ...[MORE]

Costly Charges: Drug prosecutions suffer after detective is accused of embezzlement

Mobtown Beat | 11/11/2009 | By Van Smith

On Aug. 3, Ira Jimmy Martin was arrested for armed drug dealing in Baltimore City. "Lots of cash [was] recovered in this case," Baltimore City State's Attorney's Office spokeswoman Margaret Burns says...[MORE]

"A Big No-No": Judge sets $1 million bail for prison guard indicted for misconduct

Mobtown Beat | 11/4/2009 | By Van Smith

Lynae Chapman, a 21-year-old correctional officer for the Baltimore City Detention Center (BCDC), is obviously pregnant as she stands before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge John Prevas on Oct. 27....[MORE]

Boaters World: Aboard the schooner Farewell during the 20th anniversary run of the Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race

Mobtown Beat | 10/28/2009 |

Linda Gunn is standing at the chart table at the bottom of a short, steep ladder on her schooner-a two-masted traditional sailboat-the Farewell. It's night, and it's cold and dark. The wind is blowing...[MORE]

Ganging Up: Inmate's lawsuit shows prison officials knew for years of guards' suspected gang ties

Mobtown Beat | 10/21/2009 | By Van Smith

In 2008, 31-year-old prison inmate Tashma McFadden filed suit against 23-year-old correctional officer Antonia Allison. On Oct. 9, that suit survived Allison's attempt to have it dismissed. McFadden,...[MORE]

Hoop Dreams: Sustainable agriculture comes to Lake Clifton Park

Mobtown Beat | 10/21/2009 | By Joe Tropea

"This is a great day for city schools," says Tyler Brown, the 24-year-old project manager of Real Food Farm, a new agricultural endeavor located in Lake Clifton Park. On a recent fall day, Brown is w...[MORE]

Emergency Rooms: McElderry House lodges families during medical crises

Mobtown Beat | 10/14/2009 | By Erin Sullivan

Najwa Gadaheldan and her husband, Ewkehart Naumann, arrived in Baltimore from Vienna late in the evening in mid August. Gadaheldan, who lives in Europe and works for the United Nations, says she was...[MORE]

Food Fighter?: Alleged past haunts would-be caterer at Maryland Governor's Mansion

Mobtown Beat | 10/7/2009 | By Van Smith

"He's not a criminal," Shazia Maqbool says of her husband, Mohammad Ashfaq, after she opens her apartment door to a reporter on Sept 30. On Sept. 4, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ag...[MORE]

Civil Slight: Jury commissioner asks potential juror with a service dog to prove his disability

Mobtown Beat | 9/30/2009 | By Erin Sullivan

On Sept. 14, Ned Humphrey loaded his dog Haku into his car, drove downtown, and reported in for jury duty. Humphrey, a Charles Village resident, has worked with Haku, a 6-year-old Korean jindo, as...[MORE]

Family Matters: Black Guerrilla Family prison-gang case nets four guilty pleas

Mobtown Beat | 9/30/2009 | By Van Smith

Four of the two-dozen alleged Black Guerrilla Family (BGF) prison-gang members indicted in Maryland federal court in April pleaded guilty recently before U.S. District Court Judge William Quarles. La...[MORE]

Walk for Drug Recovery: Baltimore celebrates national recovery month

Mobtown Beat | 9/23/2009 | By Edward Ericson Jr.

City drug-treatment officials are hoping to attract more than 1,000 people to the third annual "Recovery Walk and Rally" on Saturday, Sept. 26. "It's a really big deal," says Saundra Flowers, proje...[MORE]

Red Line Fever: Behind the hype and hysteria surrounding the proposed new light-rail project

Mobtown Beat | 9/23/2009 | By Michael Byrne

This past summer, Gov. Martin O'Malley selected what's known as alternative "4C" as the preferred route for the planned Red Line, MTA's long overdue extension of Baltimore's stunted public rail-trans...[MORE]

Feds in Maryland Seize Bank Accounts Tied to On-Line Gambling

Mobtown Beat | 9/11/2009 | By Van Smith

Update: Accused Money-Launderer's Lawyer Says His Client No Longer Owns Payment-Processor Electracash The years-long, Maryland-based federal investigation into money-laundering tied to Internet gam...[MORE]

The Wire Meets Baltimore Reality, Redux

Mobtown Beat | 9/10/2009 | By Van Smith

Fans of The Wire know Savino Bratton as the character played by Christopher Clanton, the Baltimore actor who was stabbed last year at an Overlea party. Clanton’s character in Season One was a dreadloc...[MORE]

Path of Destruction: Emergency demolitions in the city are down, but costs for those demolitions are up

Mobtown Beat | 9/9/2009 | By Edward Ericson Jr.

On June 24, 2008, two calls came into the city's 311 system describing the rowhouse at 1226 Argyle Ave. The back wall had collapsed, both callers said. The owner of the occupied house at 1224 told th...[MORE]

Pay no Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain: Who are the people behind health-care reform opposition?

Mobtown Beat | 9/2/2009 | By Enrique Lopetegui

Despite a fast and bold start out of the gate, it looks like whatever health-care reform plan passes, it will be a far cry from President Barack Obama's original idea: publicly funded health care fo...[MORE]

Reading The Bills: Health-care reform--not made of people

Mobtown Beat | 9/2/2009 | By Chris Landers

The government of the United States is not trying to kill your grandmother. Or at least, if it is, no one saw fit to include that detail in the broad proposals for the reform of the American health-...[MORE]

Stuck in the Middle: Hollywood in a Bottle defendant is convicted on co-defendants' testimony

Mobtown Beat | 8/26/2009 | By Edward Ericson Jr.

In the course of his cocaine career, William Leonardo Graham has endured a 30-foot plunge off the Jones Falls Expressway and a debt-collection visit from a 6-foot-7, 350-pound gang member. Suffering f...[MORE]

Unjust Enrichment?: Prominent realtor Vito Simone faces fraud charges

Mobtown Beat | 8/19/2009 | By Edward Ericson Jr.

Five creditors in the bankruptcy case of former Greater Baltimore Board of Realtors President Vito Simone filed lawsuits alleging Simone defrauded them of $1.1 million. One of the claims relies on...[MORE]