james b kraft

Without federal, state or local regulations, vaping rules are in flux

The Rawlings-Blake administration is set to give $200,000 to help H&S Bakery move its Harbor East distribution center to an industrial area of East Baltimore — sparking discussion of whether subsidies should be needed to help a successful business expand.

Controversial legislation intended to help ex-convicts find jobs is headed to Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake for her expected signature after the City Council gave the measure final approval Monday.

Man fatally stabbed in Fells Point marina

The Greater Baltimore Committee is waging a last-minute effort to derail legislation aimed at helping ex-offenders find work in Baltimore, arguing that the measure would drive jobs from the city.

The power couple of Lisa Harris Jones and Sean Malone once again topped lobbying totals in Baltimore last year, bringing in $285,000 for their work in the city ¬— nearly double what businesses paid them a year before.

A City Council committee considering new regulations for Baltimore's growing food truck industry plans to hold work sessions as members evaluate more than 50 proposed amendments.

A development group backed by Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank wants to build a 128-room hotel on the crumbling Recreation Pier in Fells Point.

Those of us who have been in the brownfields trenches for 15 or more years see the Harbor Point redevelopment as an example of the best brownfields and smart growth practices, developed through the carefully prescribed progression of site assessments, cleanup and redevelopment construction methods that eliminate exposure pathways. The cleanup objective was always to get beyond a fenced­ off lot, and redevelop the site as a prominent and extraordinary asset to the city and the neighborhood.

Baltimore Inspector General Robert H. Pearre Jr. said Friday he is launching an investigation into the city's troubled speed camera program, weeks after a City Council committee began its own inquiry.

It took the Baltimore Police crime lab well over a year to link a Southeast Baltimore man to a 2012 rape due to a backlog in DNA analysis. Before officers could arrest him, police say he attacked again.

Maryland speed camera programs came under scrutiny in Annapolis and Baltimore Tuesday, with the General Assembly considering reforms ranging from a ban of the so-called "bounty system" to levying heavy fines against operators that issue erroneous tickets. Meanwhile, a city councilman leading an investigation into a secret audit of Baltimore's speed camera system said the administration has agreed to turn over hundreds of pages of documents..

Food truck operators packed into Baltimore City Council chambers on Tuesday to testify on an administration bill that would change the way food trucks operate in the city. The food-truck vendors told the committee they are concerned about new parking restrictions and other provisions in the bill, which would turn over turn over the supervision of food trucks to the city¿s department of general services.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said Monday she wants to make a tax credit that has been used to spur apartment development in the downtown available city-wide.

A City Council committee investigating a confidential audit of Baltimore's speed camera program on Monday delivered a letter to Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake seeking 31 batches of documents involving nearly all aspects of the once-lucrative program.

Baltimore will open several year-round, 24-hour centers to enforce the city's curfew for children and teens and connect the troubled youths to services under a plan Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake unveiled Monday in her fourth State of the City address.

The chairman of the City Council committee that is investigating a confidential audit of the city's speed camera program says the devices should remain offline until he finishes the "thorough" probe.

Leto's killing has frustrated neighborhood leaders, who say it shows police must step up enforcement efforts in the relatively affluent area.

Baltimore Police arrested two teenagers Sunday in the murder of a 51-year-old Highlandtown woman who was found dead inside her home Friday.

Police Saturday identified a woman found dead in a Highlandtown row house Friday as 51-year-old Kimberly Leto.

Baltimore police say a woman was found dead in her Highlandtown home overlooking Patterson Park on Friday morning.

The judiciary committee will meet at 11 a.m. next Tuesday to determine how to proceed, officials said. Chairman James Kraft said it was too early to say whether Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake or other top City Hall officials would be called to testify.

The City Council decided Monday to launch an investigation into the secret audit of Baltimore's speed camera system that found error rates much higher than officials have claimed publicly.

Baltimore should not impose a 10-cent tax on shopping bags

Customers at most stores in Baltimore would have to pay 10 cents for almost every bag they accept — whether paper or plastic — under legislation headed to City Council for a vote next week.