NEED-TO-KNOW NEWS — For Friday April 11

[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:

•  REP. CUMMINGS ACCUSED OF OBSTRUCTION; EX-IRS OFFICIAL LERNER HELD IN CONTEMPT

House of Representatives Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) accused Maryland Rep. Elijah E. Cummings of obstructing an investigation and conspiring with the Internal Revenue Service to target a conservative voter-fraud prevention group.

In March, Cummings and Issa had a heated exchange following a committee hearing after Issa cut off committee microphones during questioning of retired IRS Director of Exempt Organizations Lois Lerner.

On Thursday afternoon Issa’s committee voted 21-12 to hold Lerner in contempt, stating that she waived her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination when, during a hearing last May, she gave a voluntary statement declaring her innocence.

Read More at:  WBAL-TV (Channel 11) | Fox News

•  BALTIMORE HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPAL RESIGNS AFTER PLEADING GUILTY TO THEFT OF NEARLY
$2M INTENDED FOR NEEDY CHILDREN IN GEORGIA

The principal of Baltimore’s Frederick Douglass High School resigned Thursday after pleading guilty in Georgia to stealing nearly $2 million in federal children’s nutrition funds.

Read More at:  WJZ-TV (Channel 13)

•  GANSLER LAUNCHES ATTACK AD ON RADIO

The Attorney General’s 30-second radio spot attacking the O’Malley-Brown Administration for the failed launch of the state’s health care insurance exchange is the first critical broadcast ad of the 2014 Democratic gubernatorial campaign.

Without mentioning Brown by name the ad repeats press coverage labeling the exchange’s launch a “debacle” and “one of the worst-performing in the country.”

Brown was tasked by O’Malley with overseeing the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (a/k/a “Obamacare”) in Maryland, making him a target for criticism over its failure, which the Governor has attempted to blame on the state’s contractor.

Read More at:  Baltimore Sun

•  WOMAN THROWS SHOE AT HILLARY CLINTON

It happened Thursday in Las Vegas as the former Secretary of State and First Lady was giving a speech before a recycling trade group.

Read More at:  CNN Politics

•  ‘BACHELOR’ TV SHOW HOLDS CASTING CALL AT MARYLAND LIVE! CASINO

The show’s producers were at the Hanover, Md. casino Thursday night interviewing potential male and female candidates, who were encouraged to bring a filled-out application and photographs.

Read More at:  The (Annapolis) Capital
 

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NEED-TO-KNOW NEWS — For Thursday April 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 Thursday:

•  BREWER’S ART ASKS BEER DRINKERS
TO ASSIST IN RENAMING ‘OZZY’ ALE

The popular Baltimore beer company recently received a cease and desist order from representatives of hard-rock singer Ozzy Osbourne demanding that the name be changed.

The Brewer’s Art ‘Ozzy’ Ale features a logo depicting a clenched fist with the letters O-Z-Z-Y spelled on the fingers, similar to the hard-rock singer’s own left hand. Bat imagery also appears, a likely reference to one of Osbourne’s most infamous onstage stunts.

Read More at:  Baltimore Business Journal

•  MLB INVESTIGATES O’S CENTER FIELDER ADAM JONES

The Orioles’ star reacted angrily regarding two fans who ran onto the field during the eighth inning of Tuesday’s game at Yankee Stadium in New York.

“They should let us have a shot to kick them with our metal spikes on,” Jones said. “Because it’s stupid, it’s just point-blank stupid. And anybody who does it, I wish the cops Tased the living s**t out of them. I wish that.”

Jones told reporters in New York late Wednesday that he’s not concerned with being disciplined for what he said and that he stands by his comments.

Read More at:  WJZ-TV (Channel 13)

•  BROTHERS CHARGED AFTER BLOODY BRAWL IN STATE DELEGATE’S OFFICE

The affray occurred hours before the end of the 2014 legislative session, in the Annapolis office of Cecil and Harford County Del. Mary-Dulany James.

James’ legislative aide Luke Horah, 25, and his brother, Jacob Horah, 19, were both charged by the Maryland Capitol Police with second-degree assault, disorderly intoxication, disorderly conduct, malicious destruction of property, and affray.

Read More at:  Baltimore Sun

•  HOPKINS HOSPITAL WORKERS HIT THE PICKET LINE

Approximately 2,000 service, maintenance and technical employees of the East Baltimore medical institution began a protest over wages at 6 a.m. Wednesday, vowing to continue nonstop until 6 p.m. Friday.

According to a hospital official, Hopkins can’t raise their wages very much without eliminating other jobs. “You can only give so much if you want to preserve jobs,” said Bonnie Windsor, the hospital’s vice president of human resources, adding, “There is a finite amount of money.”

According to workers, the hospital failed to offer at least $14 per hour for every worker. Union officials want to establish a $15 an hour minimum wage for employees who have been with Hopkins at least 15 years.

Read More at:  WBAL-TV (Channel 11)

•  1ST MARINER GOES ON AUCTION BLOCK

Stalking-horse bidder RKJS Bank, which has said it plans to pay $4.75 million for the bank, will compete Thursday with one other qualified bidder, according to court documents filed Wednesday announcing the auction.

Read More at:  Maryland Daily Record
 

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NEED-TO-KNOW NEWS — For Wednesday April 9
 

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:

• BILL CLINTON SPEAKS AT ANNAPOLIS, ENDORSES BROWN FOR GOVERNOR

The former president delivered the annual Forrestal Lecture at the U.S. Naval Academy Tuesday, then endorsed Anthony Brown in his race for Governor of Maryland.

Clinton said his wife’s 2012 speech at the Academy was better than his 51-minute version.

According to Brown’s campaign, Clinton will make an appearance in Maryland on behalf of the lieutenant governor during the second week of May. The Democratic primary is scheduled for June 24th.

Read More at:  Washington Post | Balto. Sun

•  NEW MARIJUANA LAWS, MINIMUM-WAGE HIKE APPROVED AS SESSION ENDS WITHOUT FILM TAX CREDIT DEAL

The General Assembly adjourned at midnight Monday after considering more than 2,600 bills during its 434th legislative session.

Read More at:  WBAL-Radio (1090AM)

•  CARIBOU COFFEE TO REOPEN AS ‘PEET’S’

Peet’s Coffee & Tea is rebranding 23 former Caribou Coffee shops nationwide, including five in Maryland. Local shops include one in downtown Baltimore and another in Hunt Valley Towne Centre.

Read More at:  Baltimore Sun

•  CARROLL CO. TO COMPLY WITH JUDGE’S PRAYER ORDER

For the time being at least, the five Republican commissioners voted 3-2 Tuesday to reluctantly obey a federal judge’s order barring them from starting their public meetings with sectarian prayers.

Read More at:  WBFF Fox45-TV

•  MD. CONTRACTOR IMPRISONED IN CUBA GOES ON HUNGER STRIKE

Alan Gross, 64, who illegally set up Internet access in Cuba and has been jailed there for more than four years on a 15-year sentence, said his hunger strike was in protest of his treatment by the governments of Cuba and the United States.

Gross grew up in Baltimore, attended Baltimore County Public Schools and the University of Maryland, then lived in the Washington, D.C. suburb of Potomac, Md. prior to being arrested and imprisoned in Cuba in 2009.

Read More at:  Maryland Daily Record
 

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NEED-TO-KNOW NEWS — For Tuesday April 8

 
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:

•  MD. CAPITOL POLICE ARREST 2 IN HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING BRAWL ON LAST NIGHT OF 2014 SESSION

The men are brothers, one of whom works as an aide to Cecil and Harford County Del. Mary-Dulany James, in whose office — across the street from where lawmakers were finishing work on the legislative session — the fight took place.

James, a Democrat who is running this year for State Senate, was not in the office at the time.

Read More at:  WBFF Fox45-TV

•  GENERAL ASSEMBLY DECRIMINALIZES POT,
RAISES MINIMUM WAGE

When Gov. Martin O’Malley signs the bills, possession of small amounts of marijuana will no longer be a crime in Maryland, and the state’s minimum wage will increase to $10.10 an hour by July 2018.

Read More at:  WBAL-TV (Channel 11)
| Baltimore Sun | Baltimore Sun

•  MD. LIVE! SETS NEW RECORD, TOPS $61M IN MARCH REVENUE

The state’s largest casino had $61.7 million in revenue from slot machines and table games in March, the first month it has topped the $60 million mark.

In total, Maryland’s four casinos brought in nearly $78 million during the year’s third month.

Read More at:  The (Annapolis) Capital | Associated Press

•  $37M SETTLEMENT IN MIDEI/ST. JOSEPH’S STENT CASE

Catholic Health Initiatives, the former owner of St. Joseph Medical Center, agreed Monday to pay up to $37 million to resolve allegations that cardiologist Mark G. Midei put hundreds of patients through unnecessary heart stent procedures.

Read More at:  Baltimore Sun

•  SINGER CHRIS BROWN TO STAND TRIAL IN WASHINGTON

The R&B rapper, who famously punched out his former fiancée, singer Rihanna, in 2009 and was jailed in mid-March in California after violating an anger management treatment facility’s rules, will be tried in Washington, D.C. for what his lawyer termed “the most investigated misdemeanor of all time.”

The U.S. Marshals Service is in the process of transporting Brown from Los Angeles to Washington for trial. His bodyguard will be tried separately on a similar assault charge.

Read More at:  WBAL-Radio (1090AM)
 

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NEED-TO-KNOW NEWS — For Monday April 7
 

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:

•  NATION OF ISLAM LEADER FARRAKHAN MAY SPEAK AT MORGAN STATE IN FALL

The Baltimore-based state university is working with a local Nation of Islam chapter, the Student Government Association and the Collegiate 100 of Morgan State University to organize the event, planned as a two-day affair with panels and lectures with Louis Farrakhan as the keynote speaker.

The organizers are working to re-set a date for the event — which was previously planned for this month — in the fall, leading to false rumors the university had prevented Farrakhan’s planned appearance.

In 1983 Farrakhan said in a speech at Morgan that homosexuality among black men was the result of incarceration and a lack of positive male role models; and in 1985 he told a Morgan audience that Judaism was a “dirty religion.”

The Nation of Islam teaches that white people are a race of devils created by an evil scientist named Yakub.

Read More at:  Baltimore Sun

•  MARIJUANA DECRIMINALIZATION TO BE VOTED ON MONDAY

Maryland lawmakers reached a deal over the weekend to bring the controversial legislation to a final vote before the legislature adjourns for the year on Monday.

Read More at:  WBAL-Radio (1090AM)

•  FELD ENTERTAINMENT BUILDS NEW JESSUP DISTRIBUTION HUB

The Florida company that produces Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus, along with motorbike and Disney on Ice shows, is building a new national distribution center in Jessup for the stuffed animals, memorabilia and other merchandise sold at performances.

Read More at:  Maryland Daily Record

•  GEORGE HUGUELY: STILL TRYING TO GET OUT OF JAIL

The latest: The former University of Virginia lacrosse player who killed his former Maryland UVA lacrosse-playing girlfriend has been denied a rehearing on his appeal. Huguely’s conviction was upheld in March.

Read More at:  WBAL-TV (Channel 11)

•  NOTRE DAME WOMEN SQUASH TERPS IN FINAL FOUR

The undefeated (37-0) Notre Dame team stunned the Lady Terps, overwhelming the Atlantic Coast Conference rebounding champs with their own rebounding — 50 to Maryland’s 21 —and winning by a lopsided score of 87-61.

Read More at:  WJZ-TV (Channel 13)
 
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