Author Archives: Roberto Alejandro

Gregory Megginson, an intern with YouthWorks, looks on as Lisa Franklin surveys the lettuce crop. On a formerly vacant lot in the Sandtown-Winchester area of Baltimore City, a series of greenhouses have sprung up, growing over 10 types of lettuce and providing jobs to residents of an area more notable for its vacant housing stock […]

The 2100 block of Presbury Street is now adorned with a sign that reads ‘Gwen Shelton Way.’ This is a fitting tribute to a woman whose most enduring legacy is a lifetime of community activism and service. Friends and family recalled the “Gwen Shelton way,” defined by selflessness and a tenacious drive to leave the […]

Sumaiyah Yates paints in the gallery. (Photo by Stephanie ‘Turtlebery’ Chapman) In 2012, the last year for which complete data are available, there were 17,615 reported domestic violence crimes, and 1,236 reported forcible rapes in the state of Maryland. These statistics were compiled by the Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence, and the Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault. At […]

Community leaders gathered to discuss initiative. Worried about the impact of the stricter youth curfew law passed by the Baltimore City Council, the Baltimore City Branch of the NAACP decided to take action. The NAACP Branch is building a coalition of community organizations and businesses to create a “database of the resources” that provide mentorships, […]

Residents of the Sandtown Winchester neighborhood of West Baltimore have heard rumblings that an important supermarket serving their community, the Stop, Shop, and Save Food Market at North Monroe and Pressman streets, may close. The physical appearances of empty store shelves seem to suggest that the belief in such rumors held by some may be […]

After unionizing in 2004, employees for the Hudson News stands in BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport gained employer sponsored healthcare and a pension. The Hudson employees union, which has been without a new contract since October 2013, are now in negotiations with Hudson, fighting to preserve the benefits won against the company’s efforts to roll them […]

Chief Gregory Lawrence is suing the BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport Fire Department for the second time. He alleges he was wrongfully terminated by the department in March. In March, acting Fire Chief Gregory Lawrence was fired from the BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport Fire Department. The termination came after a state audit found irregularities with items […]

Marilyn Mosby and supporters after winning the Democratic Primary election. One of the biggest upsets of the June 24 Maryland Gubernatorial Primary, a total shock for some, was the victory of relative newcomer, Marilyn Mosby, over one-term City State’s Attorney Gregg Bernstein. Mosby was ahead with 54.7 percent of the vote at press time. Not […]

Nelson Hayes with neighbors Kelly Lennox and Anthony Wiebking. When Nelson Hayes moved to the 300 block of West 28th Street in Remington in April 2014, he was greeted by an unwanted neighbor in the city-owned alley that ran adjacent to his backyard: rats.  Hayes decided to act, and after encountering some initial resistance from […]

St. James Episcopal Church. Photo by Eli Pousson/Friends of West Baltimore Squares St. James Episcopal Church, located next to Lafayette Square Park in West Baltimore, is the third oldest Black Episcopal church in the United States, and the oldest below the Mason-Dixon line. On June 20, St. James celebrated its 190th anniversary, marking almost two […]