Author Archives: Shernay Williams

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 […]

City grocers urged Baltimore officials to repeal the two-cent bottle tax last week, saying the charge drive cash-strapped shoppers to county businesses. At a press conference Dec. 2, retailers said city stores had seen a 4-7 percent decrease in sales since the tax was enacted last July. Sandy Vary, co-owner of Bel-Garden Bi-Rite Supermarket in […]

Congregants of a local church held a protest for the second time Dec. 6, for what they call their landlord’s deliberate violation of state law. Pastor Mario Ogans and others from God’s Kingdom Builders Church of Jesus Christ on Bel Air Road are outraged because their landlord authorized a liquor shop to open in a […]

A charter amendment to create a city account designated for the restoration of deteriorating schools cleared the City Council Dec.6. The non-lapsing account redirects city council funds to renovation projects for existing schools as well as the construction of new facilities. Council President Bernard C. “Jack” Young and Councilman James Kraft, D-1, introduced the legislation […]

When Hattie Peartree of Pikesville received a call from the law office of Mark H. Klein last July, she thought she had found relief for her high mortgage payments. The representative told Peartree he would reduce her home loan if she paid $3,000. “I told the person I didn’t have it,” she said. “And he […]

In the wake of recent backlash against Four Loko and other caffeinated alcoholic drinks, Councilwoman Belinda Conaway, D-7, is demanding action from the Baltimore City Liquor Board. She plans to introduce a resolution at a Dec. 6 City Council meeting that would require the Liquor Board to report regulatory efforts to seize the drinks from […]

The Baltimore Branch of the NAACP has a new face, city housing official Tessa Hill-Aston. The Northwest Baltimore native was elected president Nov. 16, defeating longtime former head, G.I. Johnson, by 142 votes. While this was her first presidential run, she has served on the NAACP executive board for 15 years, most recently as second […]

After a month of town hall meetings, routine school visits and contract modifications, members of the Baltimore City Teachers Union voted in favor of what the city schools’ system calls a landmark contract negotiation. “Teachers are at the very heart of everything we as a school district do, and unlike any other agreement until now—here […]

For over 140 years, Baltimore has not acknowledged one of the city’s first school superintendents, John Nelson McJilton. That’s because the man who helped shape Baltimore’s school system, who was White, was ousted for establishing two schools for African-American children just years after the Civil War. Until earlier this month, remnants of his legacy were […]

After seven consecutive terms in the Baltimore City Council, Agnes Welch, D-9th district, has confirmed her retirement, saying she will leave her post within two weeks. Welch, 85, made the formal announcement Nov. 22 at a weekly city council meeting. Her last day will be Dec. 6, she said. The tiny but robust councilwoman has […]