Sun Investigates

A record number of self-banned gamblers have been slipping into Maryland's casinos during the coronavirus pandemic, risking arrest and having their winnings stripped, according to state and criminal records.

Five years after Freddie Gray died in police custody, the Maryland Transit Administration has finally allowed the public to view to scenes of unrest captured by a dozen surveillance cameras throughout the Mondawmin Mall transit hub.

Several former employees and Black would-be patrons at Atlas restaurants say the incident captured on viral video was not an isolated case at the restaurant group. They say it is part of a longstanding pattern of discrimination against African Americans.

Maryland health officials have never provided a full list of nursing homes where outbreaks have been confirmed, even to the administrators working to protect residents.

Documents obtained by The Baltimore Sun in a public records request reveal the Maryland Health Department's limited ability to keep CBD-infused products off the shelves.

State-run buses in Baltimore break down about six times more frequently than buses in St. Louis or Denver. A state-run subway through the city fails five times more often those in Cleveland or D.C. And, Baltimore’s light rail system breaks down three times more than Pittsburgh’s or Salt Lake City’s. Maryland Transit Administration vehicles fail or break down far more often than most other comparable cities, according to the most recent Federal Transit Administration data.

Every workday, thousands of people make the hour-long trek by car or train to work in the nation’s capital, but since last year Baltimore has approved spending more than $10,000 for city officials to stay in Washington hotels.

Maryland’s child support system, which is supposed to sustain children, is actually hurting some of the state’s neediest families — especially in Baltimore, an investigation by The Baltimore Sun has found. A dysfunctional system has decided that parents in struggling city neighborhoods owe tens of millions of dollars in back child support — a whopping $23 million in one West Baltimore ZIP code alone.

An investigation by The Baltimore Sun has found short-sighted policies hurt families and their communities. Over 20% of the $1 billion in child support debt owed in Maryland — much of it uncollectable — is concentrated in 10 struggling Baltimore communities, and thousands of dads, moms and kids are paying the price.

Buyouts are among Maryland football's largest expenses, even as officials struggle to reverse the program's fortunes.

A squabble over the recording of Baltimore police officers during training sessions — and whether it improves outcomes or stifles honest learning — played out this week between Commissioner Michael Harrison and the union that represents rank-and-file officers, further exposing their frayed relationship at a time of great violence in the city.

Following former Baltimore Del. Cheryl Glenn’s guilty plea to taking bribes in exchange for introducing legislation, it remains unknown to the public who made the payments that have Glenn facing a likely federal prison sentence.

Drug deaths and homicides have increased the burden on medical examiners, who are leaving their posts in Maryland and elsewhere.

A Baltimore Sun analysis of every hour of overtime paid over the past two fiscal years shows for the first time the outsize workloads logged by individual officers, often with little oversight from supervisors. But police insist things are improving.

Dozens of additional businesses in Baltimore have contacted city officials to report issues with their water bills — or lack thereof — since revelations last fall that wealthy waterfront condominium owners at the Ritz Carlton Residences hadn’t paid for their water service in over a decade, Baltimore officials said.

Almost a dozen Democrats have filed to run in the primary election for Baltimore’s next mayor, but even that large number doesn’t reflect just how crowded the field is in this deep-blue city. Several of the best-known candidates have yet to formally submit their paperwork — including Mayor Bernard C. “Jack”, City Council President Brandon Scott and former Mayor Sheila Dixon — ahead of the Jan. 24 deadline.

Maryland police departments destroyed 270 rape kits over the past two years, according to new data released by the Maryland Attorney General’s Office.

Definitions of mass shootings vary, but by one count Baltimore suffered 18 of them last year, more than in any recent year.

The Maryland Department of Health filled a crucial leadership job after an advertisement for the post drew controversy for offering an unusually high salary for such a position.

The proposal to build a $10 billion high-speed maglev train route between Baltimore and Washington has been put on hold amid an environmental review of historic properties along the proposed 36-mile line that could be affected, according to the federal government.

Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot is about to launch a new website, and he’s worried that some taxpayers might think it’s fake because he says it looks so good.

An audit is faulting the Governor’s Office of Crime Control and Prevention for not having clear guidelines for awarding crime grants and not always following up to ensure that the money was spent properly.

More than 100 Marylanders now have their gender listed as “X” or “unspecified” on their driver’s licenses and identification cards under a law that went into effect on Oct. 1.

The stewards of Maryland’s public records law are seeking greater authority to adjudicate disputes between government agencies and individuals who seek public records from them, without sending the matters to court.

For six minutes after the mass shooting, killer Jarrod Ramos hid from police in the Capital Gazette newsroom. Experts say first responders face tough decisions.

Maryland’s Handgun Permit Review Board was found in violation of the state’s open meetings law after going into a closed session this summer.

Service on the MTA’s light rail, the Penn-Camden Shuttle or Metro Subway was disrupted on all but one weekday in September, according to a tally of the agency’s service alerts by the Central Maryland Transportation Alliance, a rider advocacy group.

Baltimore struggles to maintain and update Open Baltimore, its website for sharing data with the public about everything from crime to city salaries. Officials say it's a matter of resources.