Charm City Circulator free shuttle buses roll today
The Charm City Circulator, Baltimore's long-awaited and long-delayed free downtown shuttle bus system, will make its debut today. The Baltimore Transportation Department will launch the Circulator by beginning service on its east-west Orange Route between Hollins Market and Harbor East via the Inner Harbor. It plans to start two other routes - a north-south route between Penn Station and Federal Hill and a route connecting Johns Hopkins Hospital with Harbor East and City Hall - in the spring. Buses on the routes are scheduled to arrive at 10-minute intervals. One of the key initiatives of Mayor Sheila Dixon's transportation-minded administration, the Circulator will hit the streets just five days after the announcement that the mayor would step down from office next month as part of a plea bargain of in her public corruption case. Dixon spokesman Scott Peterson said the mayor is expected to show up for today's start. "She's still the mayor, and the Circulator was an accomplishment of this administration, so I hope she does," he said. "It's a big deal for the city."
- Michael Dresser
City police investigate two fatal shootings
Two men were fatally shot Sunday night in separate and apparently unrelated incidents in the city, police said. No arrests had been made in either shooting, and police knew of no motives. The victims' names were being withheld pending notification of family members. About 9:30 p.m., an Eastern District officer responding to a call in the 900 block of N. Glover St. in the Madison-Eastend neighborhood for a suspicious condition found a man fatally shot inside a vehicle. About 30 minutes later, a man was shot in the street in the 3900 block of Eierman Ave. in the Belair-Parkside community and died a short time later at Johns Hopkins Hospital.
- Richard Irwin
MTA names Gavrilis to head its 240 officers
The Maryland Transit Administration has appointed John E. Gavrilis as its new chief of police, overseeing 240 officers responsible for patrolling the state's public transit vehicles and stations. Gavrilis joined the MTA force in 2004 and has been the acting chief since July. Crime is down during his tenure, according to the MTA, which attributes the decrease to a program through which law enforcement analyzes crime trend data to determine how best to deploy officers. Gavrilis said his "primary goal" is to keep rising to the "security challenges posed in a post 9/11 world, while meeting the service needs of our patrons." Before joining the MTA, Gavrilis had a long career with the Baltimore Police Department, retiring in 2000 as colonel and former interim commissioner.
- Tricia Bishop
UM gets federal grant to build advanced physics lab
COLLEGE PARK - The University of Maryland has received a $10.3 million federal grant to build an advanced physics lab. The university plans to use the money to build a 21,000-square-foot Laboratory for Advanced Quantum Science. The underground lab space will be part of the Physical Sciences Complex, set for completion in 2013. Officials say Maryland was among 11 universities and one nonprofit research group to receive the construction grants for new research facilities.
- Associated Press