NEED-TO-KNOW NEWS — For Friday March 14
[Scroll down for full week’s compendia]
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY — IN BRIEF
A Voice of Baltimore compendium, local and beyond. Your weekday morning look (with links) at late-breaking news, current events, and what will be talked about wherever you may go on Friday:
Maryland Del. Michael Smigiel is frisked by Wicomico County Cpl. Hal Phillips after being stopped for openly carrying a rifle on a public street to dramatize need for new gun laws.
FILMS PRO-GUN VIDEO
Upper Shore Republican Del. Michael D. Smigiel was filmed debating the right to openly carry long guns in Maryland with a Wicomico County police officer and Sheriff Michael A. Lewis.
Common Cause Maryland questioned the ethics of Smigiel’s use of two on-duty law enforcement officers to make the video, saying, “It seems like this might be crossing a line.”
Read More at:
Maryland Daily Record
• LEGISLATION TO LEGALIZE POT IN MARYLAND FAILS
Neither the House nor Senate committee considering proposed bills to legalize the recreational use of marijuana has enough votes to get them to the floor for a vote.
Read More at: WBAL-TV (Channel 11)
• ‘BIKE BELTWAY’ SCHEDULES TOWSON OPENING
The designated bicycle lanes along 4.2 miles of roads around downtown Towson are scheduled to be completed by June.
Read More at: Baltimore Sun
• VOLTAGE NIGHTCLUB LOSES LIQUOR LICENSE
After 16 months in operation at the O’Donnell Street travel plaza, Baltimore’s biggest nightclub got its liquor license revoked Thursday.
Read More at: WBFF Fox45-TV
• BWI WORKERS PROTEST IN ANNAPOLIS
Fourteen were arrested Thursday as the concession workers at BWI Marshall Airport staged a march and rally against the company that operates the airport’s restaurants.
Read More at: WBAL-Radio
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NEED-TO-KNOW NEWS — For Thursday March 13
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY — IN BRIEF
A Voice of Baltimore compendium, local and beyond. Your weekday morning look (with links) at late-breaking news, current events, and what will be talked about wherever you may go on Thursday:
Jazz pianist Jose Antonio Bowen was named Wednesday to be Goucher College’s 11th president, succeeding Sanford J. Ungar.
NAMED NEW GOUCHER PRESIDENT
Jose Antonio Bowen, a 52-year-old jazz pianist who has been dean of Southern Methodist University’s Meadows School of the Arts since 2006, Wednesday was named to be the 11th President of Goucher College. He will succeed former journalist Sanford J. Ungar on July 1.
Read More at: Baltimore Sun
• MARYLAND SENATE APPROVES
$39B STATE BUDGET
Gov. Martin O’Malley’s budget proposal received preliminary approval Wednesday from the State Senate.
Read More at: WBAL-TV (Channel 11)
• HIGH WINDS, HEAVY RAIN CAUSE BALTIMORE-AREA POWER OUTAGES
As of late Wednesday, 20,000 people, mostly in Baltimore County, had lost power.
Read More at: WBAL-Radio (1090AM)
• DOG OWNERS TO BE HELD LIABLE FOR BITES; PIT BULL LABEL DROPPED
Overturning a 2012 court decision that designated pit bulls as “inherently dangerous,” the Maryland House of Delegates passed the compromise measure on dog-bite liability Wednesday. The House or Senate must now adopt the other’s bill so that it can go to the governor for signature.
Read More at: The (Annapolis) Capital
• CITY SELLS $2M CALVERT ST. PROPERTY FOR MIXED-USE DEVELOPMENT
Baltimore’s intent in selling the $2.2 million property to a Philadelphia developer is “to spur investment in the Central Business District, to revitalize a key downtown intersection at Lombard and Pratt streets, and to further the mayor’s goal of attracting 10,000 new families to Baltimore through the creation of market rate apartments downtown,” a spokeswoman for Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said Wednesday.
Read More at: Maryland Daily Record
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NEED-TO-KNOW NEWS — For Wednesday March 12
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY — IN BRIEF
A Voice of Baltimore compendium, local and beyond. Your weekday morning look (with links) at late- breaking news, current events, and what will be talked about wherever you may go on Wednesday:
Bloomberg first reported the Bank-Men’s Wearhouse merger early Tuesday.
Bank found the fourth offer from Houston-based Men’s Wearhouse — $65 per share in cash — too good to pass up. But the deal could mean more job losses in Maryland, where Bank originated in 1905.
Combining the nation’s two largest men’s apparel chains will create a $3.5 billion retail conglomerate with 23,000 employees and 1,700 stores across the country, and end months of acrimonious dealings between the two companies that started in September when Bank made a surprise offer to acquire the larger Men’s Wearhouse for $2.3 billion.
The Jos. A. Bank brand will survive, and the company will terminate its recent agreement to acquire outdoor apparel retailer Eddie Bauer.
Read More at: Bloomberg | Maryland Daily Record | Wall Street Journal
• TERPS RUNNING BACK ADMITS DRIVING CAR INVOLVED IN DRIVE-BY SHOOTING
On the heels of three Baltimore Ravens players being arrested this month, court documents Tuesday revealed that University of Maryland running back Wes Brown, who was suspended last year without explanation, admitted to police officers that he drove a vehicle that was involved in the nonfatal drive-by shooting last June of an alleged high-ranking Black Guerrilla Family gang member.
Read More at: Baltimore Sun
• BALTIMORE CO. SCHOOLS TO SPEND $205M ON LAPTOPS
The county’s plan is the first in Maryland to provide every student and teacher with a combination laptop and tablet.
Read More at: WJZ-TV (Channel 13)
• ARUNDEL SUPERINTENDENT SEARCH NARROWED TO SEVEN
Fifty-five candidates applied to succeed Kevin Maxwell, who resigned last year to head the school system in Prince George’s County. A replacement for Maxwell is expected to be named at the Anne Arundel school board’s April 23 meeting.
Read More at: The (Annapolis) Capital
• D.C. MAYOR GRAY DENIES WRONGDOING, REFUSES TO RESIGN
He’s accused by prosecutors of being aware of illegal fundraising on his behalf and helping to cover it up. However the U.S. Attorney’s office has so far not filed any charges.
Read More at: WBAL-TV (Channel 11)
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NEED-TO-KNOW NEWS — For Tuesday March 11
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY — IN BRIEF
A Voice of Baltimore compendium, local and beyond. Your weekday morning look (with links) at late-breaking news, current events, and what will be talked about wherever you may go on Tuesday:
The mayor and commissioners of Rehoboth Beach voted Monday to restrict smoking in the Delaware resort town beginning May 15th.
ON BOARDWALK AND CITY PARKS
The popular Delaware resort town will also limit smoking to designated areas of the beach and prohibit lighting up of tobacco products in city parks. The ban will not include e-cigarettes.
Read More at: WBAL-Radio (1090AM)
• FEDS TO AUDIT MARYLAND HEALTH EXCHANGE
The state’s version of President Obama’s Affordable Care Act will be investigated by a U.S. inspector general to determine how millions of dollars in federal money was spent.
Read More at: WBAL-TV (Channel 11)
• HOLOCAUST BILL TARGETS FRENCH RAIL COMPANY
Some Maryland legislators want SNCF America to pay reparations to Holocaust survivors before being allowed to bid on billions of dollars in contracts related to the proposed Metro Purple Line.
Read More at: Maryland Daily Record
• ARUNDEL PUBLIC LIBRARY GETS $30K GIFT
Donated by the Severn Town Club, the funds are designated for the purchase of all-in-one digital learning stations to be installed in county libraries.
Read More at: The (Annapolis) Capital
• FIRE CHIEF CHALLENGES FIRING
BWI Fire Chief Gregory Lawrence said Monday he will appeal the state’s decision last week to fire him for what he alleges is racial discrimination.
Read More at: Baltimore Sun
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NEED-TO-KNOW NEWS — For Monday March 10
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY — IN BRIEF
A Voice of Baltimore compendium, local and beyond. Your weekday morning look (with links) at late-breaking news, current events, and what will be talked about wherever you may go on Monday:
The Ravens’ Jah Reid was charged with battery following an altercation at strip club in Key West.
AT STRIP CLUB IN KEY WEST
Jah Reid became the third member of the Baltimore NFL team to be arrested this month. The other two are running back Ray Rice and wide receiver Deonte Thompson.
Read More at: WBAL-Radio (1090AM)
• FACEBOOK POST LEADS TO RESCUE OF MISSING TWIN
The 11-year-old was found and her father was arrested this past weekend in South Carolina for the murder of the girl’s mother in Dundalk.
Read More at: CBS News
• AUCTION OF 1st MARINER BANK MOVES FORWARD
A bankruptcy court judge at week’s end approved First Mariner Bancorp’s plan to auction its failing bank.
Read More at: Maryland Daily Record
• POLAR BEAR PLUNGE AT SANDY POINT
The 18th annual event took place Saturday, after having been canceled in January for the first time because of dangerous weather.
Read More at: Baltimore Sun
• FIREWORKS AT ARUNDEL MILLS MOVIE THEATER
Police evacuated the Cinemark Theater Saturday night after reports of gunfire, which turned out to have been fireworks.
Read More at: WBAL-TV (Channel 11)
