Infant mortality is a silent killer among African-American babies in Baltimore City; it is a widespread problem that took the lives of 14.3 of every 1,000 Black babies born in 2008. To get the word out, Baltimore City Healthy Start hosted its third annual Cradle of Hope luncheon to underscore the importance of comprehensive health […]
Author Archives: MelanieR.Holmes
AFROStaffWriter
Posted inNational News
HIV/AIDS Rises Among Girls and Women
“You know she got AIDS.” Vernetta Gibson hadn’t even been tested before her peers diagnosed her. They assumed she was infected because her husband died of autoimmune deficiency syndrome. But their judgment was eventually proven correct. At 27 years old, Gibson tested positive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus that causes AIDS. It wasn’t […]
Posted inBaltimore News
BCPS Settles Lawsuit
Baltimore City Public Schools (BCPS) reached a settlement agreement with the Maryland Disability Law Center (MDLC) on Monday after 26 years of litigation. Filed in 1984, MDLC claimed city schools were failing to meet the needs of and provide adequate services to special education students, who comprise 15 percent of the system’s population. The agreement […]
Posted inBaltimore News
Carl Stokes Returns to City Council
After reviewing the qualifications of the seven candidates who interviewed for the 12th District City Council seat, Council members voted in Carl Stokes on Monday. With a $121 million budget deficit, the Council felt Stokes’ experience as a former councilman was best for the city at this time. He represented the 2nd District from 1987-1995. […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
Tourism Industry Climbs Despite Recession
MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica — The international tourism industry has been traveling full-speed ahead as one of the fastest growing economic sectors in the world despite the fact that bank accounts have been going in the opposite direction just as quickly. To discuss the state of the industry within the current global economic landscape, Jamaica’s Ministry […]
Posted inWashington D.C. News
D.C. Named Finalist for Federal Education Funding
Washington, D.C. was named on March 4, a finalist in Race to the Top, a competition for a portion of the $4.35 billion President Obama has dedicated to fund education. The nation’s capital faces 15 states nationwide for the funds. District Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee and D.C. charter school leaders plan to reduce the […]
Posted inBaltimore News
ACLU Rallies for City’s Education Budget
Around 600 students, parents and advocates rallied for education funding in Annapolis on March 1. Led by the Baltimore Education Coalition, protesters demonstrated against a proposed $60 million cut to Baltimore City’s education budget as well as a drop in the amount of money allocated by the state to individual schools based on student enrollment. […]
Posted inBaltimore News
Mayor Initiates New Era of Ethics
The last bill Stephanie Rawlings-Blake signed as City Council president has become one of her first priorities as mayor — restoring trust in city government. By introducing what she calls “some of the most sweeping ethics legislation in two decades,” Rawlings-Blake said taxpayers can expect their elected officials to be held accountable. She began the […]
Posted inBaltimore News
Healthy Start Creates Hope for Infants
Actors Nicole Ari Parker and Boris Kodjoe were applauded for sharing the story of their daughter’s battle with spina bifida, a birth defect, at the third annual Cradle of Hope luncheon on Friday. But the real star of the show was infant mortality, which has not received enough credit for the leading role it plays […]
Posted inBaltimore News
State of the City: Baltimore Buried in $120 Million Deficit
The mayor saved the worst for last at the 11th annual State of the City Address on Monday. After touting the improvements, accomplishments and points of pride within Baltimore in assurance that the city is “strong” despite its challenges, the meat of Stephanie Rawlings-Blake’s speech supported her declaration that, “This $120 million deficit is brutal […]
Posted inBaltimore News
Baltimore City Council to Vote on New Member
City Hall completed its power shift on Thursday when the City Council voted on a new District 12 representative. Seven candidates – Frank W. Richardson, Arron Keith Wilkes, Rev. Rasheed Q. Ray, Charles U. Smith, Ertha Harris, Carl Stokes and Mike Schaefer– were interviewed during a public hearing Tuesday evening so Council members can fill […]
Posted inBaltimore News
Baltimore Churches Promote Census
Where Baltimore City officials have received some of the blame for 2000’s census failure is where local NAACP president Marvin Cheatham says faith-based organizations can make a difference. Many underserved communities were not reached in the prior census, leaving thousands of residents uncounted and millions of dollars missing from the city over a 10-year period. […]