Theft of Baltimore traffic signal batteries under investigation

Someone's been making off with the big industrial batteries that provide backup power at traffic signals in Baltimore, and now the thefts are being investigated by the city inspector general's office, which looks into allegations of waste, fraud and abuse in municipal government.

Inquiry leads to full correction page in city schools budget

It started with a simple question on Tuesday, May 14: Why is the line item for "Summer Learning" in the Baltimore City school system's budget blank? The Sun had published several stories about the program and its successes over the years, so to see that it had no number attached naturally piqued our interest.

FBI document shows start of corrections corruption probe

Federal and state law enforcement agencies have been working since 2011 to take on corruption in prisons — their efforts recently resulted in the indictment of more than two dozen in an alleged smuggling scheme — and a document the FBI released last week provides new details on the partnership.

County councilman hasn't disclosed outside jobs for years

A Baltimore County councilman did not disclose his outside employment over the past several years, including his work with a painting and drywall company that has a $3.1 million contract at a new high school being built in his district.

Behind the scenes of a decision to shut down speed cameras

The emailed directive went out midmorning April 16 from a Baltimore City traffic engineer: No more speed camera tickets are to be issued from the camera in the 3900 block of The Alameda. Less than five hours later, an engineering supervisor wrote another email, stating that the city's entire speed and red-light camera network was being suspended.

Officials' phone records show political, personal contacts

Days before last November’s election, Gov. Martin O’Malley used his cellphone to call Jim Murren, the chief executive of MGM Resorts International in Las Vegas.

Why doesn't Baltimore's schools chief need teaching experience?

Why doesn’t Baltimore’s schools CEO need teaching experience, like other superintendents in the state?

Balto. Co. won't release developer plans for public-owned sites

Baltimore County is preparing to sell three taxpayer-owned properties to private developers, but members of the public won't know all the details of what they're planning until officials make a decision.

Baltimore Behavioral Health must repay retirement money

A federal judge has ordered a West Pratt Street clinic and its former chief executive to repay more than 60 current and former employees nearly $50,000 that the private company never deposited into their retirement accounts as required.

Police still investigating background of College Park shooter

Authorities say they are continuing to investigate a student murder-suicide this year just off the University of Maryland, College Park campus, a revelation that comes a month after the case was declared closed.

City issued 16,000 speed camera tickets in six weeks

Baltimore issued more than 16,000 speed camera tickets in less than two months this year before shutting the troubled program down over a programming error, according to figures posted by the city.

OpenBaltimore parking ticket, speed camera data updated

After a three-month delay, Baltimore has resumed posting parking ticket data on OpenBaltimore, the city government's transparency website.

Illicit drug prices in Baltimore fluctuate under DEA estimates

A group of alleged Black Guerrilla Family members met last December to discuss a robbery with a confidential source, who, unbeknownst to them, was working with the Drug Enforcement Administration. The price of cocaine in Baltimore City at that moment was "high" at $40,000 per kilogram, agents wrote in court documents, making the proposed robbery "especially lucrative."

Food for reptiles, condoms among quirky city purchases

Last year Baltimore City paid vendors more than $800 million, much of it for construction projects, gas and electricity, trash and recycling services, transportation and the like, according to monthly figures posted on a city website.

Authorities used a 'no-knock' before fatal Balto. Co. shooting

Authorities from Baltimore and Howard counties entered a Reisterstown home using a "no-knock" warrant before a resident attacked an officer with a sword last year, according to newly released police records. An officer fought back, fatally shooting the man.

City suspends speed camera tickets amid new mistakes

Baltimore officials announced Tuesday that they have suspended the city's troubled speed camera program amid fresh reports of erroneous tickets, this time involving a new multimillion-dollar camera network.

Maryland Live dominates on slots, but has little competition

Maryland Live officials often tout the Hanover facility's standing as the highest-grossing casino in the Mid-Atlantic when only slots revenue is taken into account.

Bill would toughen Maryland Open Meetings law enforcement

New laws passed by the Maryland General Assembly late last week would put stricter penalties and an element of public shaming behind the state's open-meetings laws.

Some in Congress from Md. take pay cuts in sequester solidarity

Given the federal government's presence in Maryland, the state's congressional members tend to be among the most ardent supporters of the federal workforce on Capitol Hill. So last week, when President Barack Obama and members of his Cabinet said they would give up part of their salaries to stand in solidarity with federal employees being furloughed under the $85 billion in budget cuts known as sequestration, the delegation faced a potentially uncomfortable question: Would they do likewise? Giving back pay is a symbolic gesture. But in this case, it was symbolism promoted by the president -- who will return 5 percent of his $400,000 annual salary to the Treasury Department -- and several lawmakers of both parties. Lawmakers earn $174,000 a year. As many as 1 million federal workers could be furloughed nationwide. In Maryland, the most significant impact could come from the Pentagon, which plans to require furloughs of civilian employees, including as many as 45,000 in the state. The Baltimore Sun contacted Maryland's congressional delegation -- who together represent more than 300,000 federal workers -- to ask if they would take the president's lead. The answers were mixed.

Open meetings complaint filed against speed camera panel

Three members of an anti-speed camera group have filed an open-meetings complaint against a task force appointed by Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake to study Baltimore's troubled automated enforcement system.

Baltimore delegates rebuke city over speed camera woes

Baltimore-bashing is nothing new in Annapolis, whether from representatives of rural counties or the Washington suburbs who believe the city gets more than its fair share of state resources. But when it comes to the city’s well-publicized speed camera problems, some of the sharpest criticism has been meted out by Baltimore’s own House of Delegates contingent.

Some scholarly journals charge author fees

A Denver-based scholarly librarian leveled plagiarism allegations against a Towson University professor after doing research for his watchdog blog and alerting university officials, journals and The Baltimore Sun.

Accidentally released text messages give peek at O'Malley discussions

The text messages were pinging to and from Gov. Martin O'Malley's BlackBerry. It was the latter part of October, and Election Day was just around the corner.