A $13 million mixed-use development in Upper Fells Point would not be financially viable without 38 percent more apartments, the developer says. And it will have less parking than required by zoning regulations, a situation City Councilman James Kraft (D-1st) pledged to oppose. "We basically won the right to redo this property right at the beginning of the worst financial crisis in this nation's history," says Daniel Henson, the former Baltimore City Housing Commissioner, who with partners stru ... [MORE]

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On Jan. 29, two of the doctors from our recent feature story on activism in the name of health-care reform, Margaret Flowers and Carol Paris, were arrested again in Baltimore. The two showed up in front of the Renaissance Harborplace Hotel in the Inner Harbor that day, where President Barack Obama was scheduled to address a group of House Republicans. The women, both of whom are supporters of a Medicare-like system called single-payer health care, held a sign that read "Letting You Know: Medicar ... [MORE]

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On Feb. 3, David Scott, director of the city's Department of Public Works, announced that midyear budget cuts by the city's Department of Finance is forcing the Baltimore Public Works Museum to close its doors. The museum will be closed immediately, but the historic Eastern Avenue Pumping Station (the almost century-old wastewater pumping station still responsible for pumping Baltimore's waste to the Backwater Waste Water Treatment Plant, where the museum resides) will remain open and functional ... [MORE]

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Retired assistant State's Attorney Page Croyder has an interesting blog post about a prospective raise for state judges. It's nearly $40,000 each, and could happen, she says, if state legislators do nothing to stop it. Omitted from the piece: existing salaries for District court judges. They make $127,000 now. How can anyone live on that? ... [MORE]

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Photo courtesy the Lacks family

The internet is blowing up these days over Henrietta Lacks, the woman whose cancer cells were used in the 1950s to produce culture media that allowed major scientific advancements ever since. The reason for the interest, presumably, is the release of a new book about Lacks and her scientific significance by Rebecca Skloot. Back in 2002, City Paper published a feature story about Henrietta Lacks, the person, a piece that gave readers a chance to consider the moral complexities of her story, which ... [MORE]

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The requirements of holding elected office are far from burdensome (and come with many rewards), so one would expect that incumbent officeholders would have the routine down: You raise and spend money to get elected, and you file timely reports that accurately reflect your campaign's accounting. But the campaigns of two members of the Baltimore City Council—Sharon Green Middleton (D-6th District) and Agnes Welch (D-9th District)—aren't complying with those rules at the moment, accord ... [MORE]

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Photos by Edward Erison Jr.

A long-planned redevelopment project in Upper Fells Point hit what may be another obstacle last week when city housing officials posted an "emergency condemnation and demolition notice" on the building. Yellow caution tape adorned the sidewalk near the front door of 1621 Bank St. on Thursday, Jan. 28. Several bricks and what looked like a piece of roofing paper were lying there as well. Neighbors were unsure what was happening, and a man who was working on the building was talking on his cell p ... [MORE]

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Citing the Supreme Court's Jan. 21 decision to allow unlimited corporate financing of political "issue ads," a Kensington-based public relations firm has announced its intention to run for Congress. Pledging to run a campaign that "puts people second, or even third," Murray Hill, Inc., which was founded in 2007 by Eric Hensal (who has worked for the DC Building Trades Council and the Federation of Teachers) and Patrick Mansino (whose background is also in labor union PR), posted this video anno ... [MORE]

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Last summer, cyclist Jack Yates was killed at the intersection of Maryland and Lafayette avenues. He was riding to the right of the right lane of Maryland as a truck passed him, also in the right lane. That is, both vehicles were smooshed into the right lane as the truck instigated a right turn onto Lafayette. The accident that resulted is a classic "right hook," one of the most dreaded occurrences in urban bicycling—and one of the most common. Whether the driver didn't see Yates or didn ... [MORE]

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It's hard out there for a simp. ... [MORE]

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When the storied Mount Royal Democratic Club (MRDC) announced its demise in December, one of its younger leaders, Kim Forsyth, said she planned to see what she could do to keep it alive. Forsyth recently shared with City Paper details of her plans, including a discussion, to be held at Alonso's, 415 W. Coldspring Lane., at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 31, about how best to organize Baltimore's Democrats, with or without the MRCD. "Leaders from the Mount Royal Democratic Club and the former New Democr ... [MORE]

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Photos by Van Smith

These photos were taken today at about 1 p.m., two hours prior to the 3:05 p.m. scheduled high tide for Fells Point. The water taxi stop for the Frederick Douglass Isaac Myers Maritime Park is inaccessible due to the extremely high tidal waters in the Patapsco River in downtown Baltimore, and the pier that extends from the waterfront museum—usually well above the high-tide line—is awash. The phenomenon is likely a result of the high winds blowing water upriver on an incoming tide. ... [MORE]

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Alexander D. Mitchell IV

(HT Alexander Mitchell, who supplied the photograph) Neighbors say the city began demolishing this house several weeks ago, but stopped, supposedly to wait for gas and electric service to be cut off. This morning they heard a crash as the building collapsed amid 50 mph winds, and a near-simultaneous explosion that Mitchell says he took to be a power transformer. Electricity service to the neighborhood stopped. The home, which is just off Reisterstown Road, two blocks due east of Mondawmin Mal ... [MORE]

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Since Jan. 13, when City Paper mistakenly reported that the City of Baltimore awarded a $10,000, one-year contract to the online publication Bmore, new information has come to light about the deal, which was pulled from the Jan. 13 Board of Estimates agenda at the last minute. First Deputy Mayor Andrew Frank, answering questions as to how the proposal got on the board's agenda in the first place, explains that Bmore publisher Tracy Gosson pitched the idea. Gosson says that seeking public financi ... [MORE]

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On Jan. 11, the last of 10 bank-account seizure warrants filed in connection with the ongoing federal probe of online gambling were returned to U.S. District Court in Maryland. The latest returns—for three warrants, all seeking funds from accounts held by a payment-processing company called HMD, Inc.—brought in $1,547,559.33. Earlier, in late 2009, returns were filed for seven other warrants issued against accounts held by three other payment processors—Electracash (from which ... [MORE]

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Correction: According to the Baltimore City Comptroller's Office, the $10,000 one-year city contract with "Issue Media Group - Bmore," which we reported was awarded yesterday by the Board of Estimates, was in fact withdrawn from the board's agenda prior to the meeting. No further information about the contract—listed on page 60 of the board's agenda for Jan. 13—was available from the Comptroller's Office, which referred questions to the agency that sought the contract, the Department ... [MORE]

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Only two Baltimore City legislators—state Sen. Joan Carter Conway (D-43rd District) and state Del. Frank Conaway Jr. (D-40th District)—filed bills prior to the opening bell of the new state's legislative session, which starts tomorrow. Here's the rundown of their pre-filed legislation. Senate Bill 2, "Task Force on the Minority Business Enterprise Program and Equity Investment Capital," was filed last July by Conway. The bill would establish a task force to study and recommend how M ... [MORE]

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It looks like more bad press for—and in—Baltimore. The Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism released a study today on the news "ecosystem" of our fair city. It focuses on how the news is reported and who reports it, how it's disseminated, and the roles of new versus traditional media. The results are pretty chilling. Among other things, the Pew report found that local media outlets are more likely than they once were to parrot the official party line and base th ... [MORE]

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The community has no comment. This was the message—at least for reporters—at a Thursday, Jan. 7 meeting of the Greater Remington Improvement Association on a big-box retail development proposed at 25th and Howard streets. Developer Rick Walker, CEO of Detroit-based Walker Developments Inc., wants to erect a $65 million shopping and housing complex in lower Remington, including a Lowe's home-improvement store, a grocery store, and several other shops, like, possibly, Anna's Linens. Wa ... [MORE]

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A report released yesterday by the state Office of Legislative Audits revealed the results of an audit of the Rosewood Center, a state-run facility in Baltimore County that provided treatment to developmentally disabled individuals until it closed its doors in June 2009. The report notes that there were several deficiencies in record keeping as the center was winding down its operations. For instance, the center failed to do an inventory of equipment prior to closure, and could not account for ... [MORE]

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