social issues

Thanksgiving is a time to start thinking about giving to organizations and advocacy groups that help the less fortunate during the holiday season.

Recent efforts in Baltimore city and county hearken back to "ugly laws" that once banned people with disabilities and deformities from begging in public.

Baltimore's top politicians are set to receive automatic 2.5 percent pay raises, following a years-old decision by an independent body. The salary hikes — which would increase the mayor's $159,380 salary to $163,365 — are tied to raises that city union workers receive each year, according to a 2010 decision by the Compensation Commission for Elected Officials.

Although bitcoin was initially touted as an anonymous system, law enforcement is generally able to track breadcrumbs left behind by the currency. You'd normally expect criminals to adapt once law enforcement figured this out, and they likely did. But you don't expect professors of computer science at Johns Hopkins University to be doing them a favor.

Standing in the center of downtown Baltimore's economic hub, amid blocks of hotels that house tourists, about 100 advocates called Saturday for adequate and affordable housing for the homeless.

Leaders in the Maryland Republican Party are promoting the recent win in the Annapolis mayoral race as evidence the GOP can secure victories in Democratic strongholds.

Mixed-income housing is a better alternative for Rosedale's poor

MD SPCA opens satellite center in White Marsh

Emotional stories of loss and recovery choked up those who spoke from experience about being homeless and those who advocate for them at a student forum held Tuesday at Howard Community College.

In the slightly chilly Mount Vernon church, close to 100 people gathered to mourn, but also to remember and honor the transgender victims of Baltimore crime. They lit candles and sang, they laughed at common experiences and promised to hold on to their community bond through the violence.

Baltimore County Council members chose to ignore reality by voting to block construction of affordable housing units

Advocates and healthcare providers for LGBT and HIV-positive residents in Maryland have been scrambling for months to gather information on how the Affordable Care Act will impact their clients -- and now they're looking to share the information.

Baltimore was among just 25 cities in the country to receive a top score for LGBT equality in a new study of municipalities released by the Human Rights Campaign on Tuesday.

The investiture of Yolanda L. Curtin on Friday afternoon to the bench of the Harford County Circuit Court on Friday afternoon turned a tide in the county. Curtin will forever be an integral part of the history of Harford County.

With blocked Obama nominations stacked up like cord wood, it's time to reform Senate rules

The Baltimore County Council is poised to block a low-income housing project planned in Rosedale by turning down state funding, citing fears the development would lead to increased crime and crowd the local elementary school.

Hampden Column

The poor need homes, not handcuffs

Del. James Malone Jr. hosts candidate forum for nine District 12 candidates

Still, we're accustomed to acting in certain ways, and may not even recognize when we do something that's tinged with the unacceptable behaviors of an earlier generation.

Groups meeting regularly in Howard County

Senator deserves harsh criticism for what he's said, not just for plagiarism

Maryland, like 34 other states, lacks laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of gender identity – laws that would protect transgender people and others who transgress traditional notions of male and female.

Del. Heather R. Mizeur said Wednesday that she has chosen the Rev. Delman Coates — the pastor of a large church in Prince George's County — as her running mate in the race for the Democratic nomination for governor.

The nation's Roman Catholic bishops on Tuesday took a step toward aligning themselves with Pope Francis, selecting as their next president Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Ky — a man who built a career on a foundation of personal faith and service to the poor.

The GLCCB, Baltimore's LGBT community center, will begin providing LGBT-specific recovery support services in December.

Vidia Dhanraj's self-described nosiness led her to fight poverty in Howard County.

Hospitals often provide extraordinary care for a variety of complex medical and surgical problems. Yet, they struggle to care for people with chronic psychiatric and medical ailments that result from environmental circumstances: homelessness, domestic and community violence, substance abuse, insecurity and loneliness.

The nation's top Catholic bishops will convene this week in Baltimore to choose a new leader, a decision that will help set the course for an American church striving to build its appeal while grappling with stances on immigration and contraception coverage.

Baltimore's Archbishop Lori says that for politicians both nationally and locally, poverty and hunger are "out of sight, out of mind."

Bipartisan effort to ban workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity reflects changing public attitudes

A bill that would ban hiring and employment discrimination against LGBT individuals, will move forward in the Senate after a cloture vote.

The City Council on Monday postponed a vote on the ban at the request of the legislation's sponsor, Councilwoman Rochelle "Rikki" Spector, who said proponents want to target the ban within 10 feet of outdoor dining — rather than entire commercial districts — and within five feet of a parking meter or kiosk and on pedestrian bridge or at the entrance to a stairwell.

George W. McManus Jr., a retired attorney and philanthropist who gave millions to assist schools and defended the indigent through the Legal Aid Bureau of Maryland, died of congestive heart failure Sunday at his Guilford home.

Poverty and school reform

The Employment Non-Discrimination Act receives bursts of media attentions that punctuate long waiting periods. If you haven't been following closely, here's what you may have missed.

After progress on ENDA stalled, the Senate Majority Leader has promised to bring a bill that would prevent LGBT discrimination in hiring to the Senate floor.

Tea party conservatives have been proven right about Obamacare's failings

The lives of the Baltimore teens are among the thousands influenced by George Soros, a billionaire philanthropist who decided 15 years ago that the city, with severe crime and poverty and just enough potential, was ripe for an experiment unlike any other. The Open Society Institute field office in Baltimore was designed as a social justice laboratory to keep students engaged in school, confront drug addiction, reduce incarceration and grow an army of advocates.

First Generation College Bound was named one of the best community-based charities in the Greater Washington area in the 2013-14 Catalogue for Philanthropy.

Junior varsity player NaQuan Wilds helped plan group outing to aid homeless in the city

Former Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo has channeled his early support for same-sex marriage and other gay-rights issues as a player into a post-retirement mission to raise awareness about LGBT equality — from high schools to colleges to corporate board rooms.

In '12 Years a Slave,' actor Chiwetel Ejiofor takes on the biggest film role of his career, one that many critics believe will yield him a best-actor Oscar nomination. It is also a role that he wasn't quite sure he was up for.

Carson's comparison of slavery to health care reform is shameful and so are defenders

Ellie Feaga will hold her fifth annual bake sale to raise money for charity on Saturday, Nov. 2, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Feaga home, 15211 Frederick Road, in Woodbine.