Author Archives: Shernay Williams

The city’s new top prosecutor Gregg Bernstein, who proposed tougher legal treatment of violent offenders while on the campaign trail, was sworn in Jan. 3 during a private official event. Bernstein, who is White, won the city’s state’s attorney position after unseating longtime Black incumbent Patricia Jessemy in the heated Democratic primary. He went unopposed […]

Members of a local Black grassroots organization say Marylanders need a new type of political party that advocates for the working class. The “community-controlled” Ujima People’s Progressive Party supports a living wage, the reregulation of electricity and other laws that support poor, working residents, says director Nnamdi Lumumba. Lumumba, 40, and a solid core of […]

The city will continue testing biofuels as a way to heat municipal buildings in a bid community leaders hope will lead to a cleaner and cheaper alternative to heating oil for residents. The Board of Estimates approved an agreement to spend up to $1.32 million for a second phase of burn tests in three city […]

From an historic blizzard, a convicted mayor, taunting robocalls, the 2010 census and a string of fires, the year culminating the first decade of the 2000s was a memorable one in Baltimore. January brought the political fall of Baltimore’s first Black female mayor Sheila Dixon, who resigned after a two-month trial resulted in her conviction […]

Two men are expected to speak at City Hall Jan. 4 in a showdown to claim the Baltimore City Council’s empty 9th District seat. William “Pete” Welch and Michael Eugene Johnson will vie for the position vacated by councilwoman veteran Agnes Welch after her recent retirement. The chosen candidate will serve the remainder of her […]

The city declared two ‘Code Blue’ weather alerts as the first winter snow fell last week. But before meteorologists even predicted the frigid temperatures, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake was already preparing for a third blizzard. She held a joint news conference with various city agencies late last month to announce “Baltimore is ready for winter.” Her […]

Effective Jan. 1, 2011, a new state law will change how drivers with traffic tickets handle the violations. Today drivers who receive tickets for minor offenses, such as speeding or running a red light, are issued a fine and an automatic trial date to dispute the ticket. Under the new law effective Jan. 1, drivers […]

As she prepares for her first three-day bus tour of the state, Del.-elect Mary Washington is openly ecstatic. “I’m really looking forward to this,” she said, after rubbing her hands together for warmth in the back seat of a large commuter bus. On the near-freezing Monday morning, Washington greets the two other new delegates for […]

Six people died in a two-alarm house fire in East Baltimore early Dec. 14. The incident continues a string of large fires in Baltimore City over the last eight days. According to fire officials, the blaze began just before 5 a.m. in the 2300 block of Homewood Avenue. Three children and three adults, all family […]

The Baltimore City school board held two public forums last week, garnering input about proposals that would lead to another year of drastic school-by-school ratifications. Based on recommendations from a recent city schools report, the plan would close one high school and incorporate career preparatory or international student programs at four other city schools. School […]