Category: Baltimore News

Safe havens for young people, cultural diversity training for law enforcement officers and accountability at all levels of criminal justice and social service infrastructure were the recurring themes as youth leaders, community organizers and Baltimore City police officers met on April 15 at the Academy of Success in West Baltimore for the First Annual Youth […]

(Updated 4/15/2013) Baltimore City is in a state of heightened security awareness until tomorrow evening following two bomb explosions during the Boston Marathon around 3 p.m., Baltimore City Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts said April 15. “In response to today’s incident and in consultation with Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, I have raised the security awareness level […]

In the latest in a series of controversies swirling around Dr. Ben Carson, the famed Johns Hopkins pediatric neurosurgeon has withdrawn as the speaker at next month’s medical school commencement program. Carson, known around the world for the unparalleled success he earned in medicine after pulling himself up from poverty, recently drew criticism—AGAIN—after he made […]

A string of unrelated shootings, over a nearly 8-hour span from the evening of April 10 to the morning hours of April 11, left eight people injured, according to the Baltimore City Police Department. Detective Vernon Davis told the AFRO that police will continue to search for the shooters. “We have detectives and officers patrolling […]

(Updated 4/13/2013) Deontae Smith, 15, will never learn how to drive. He will never go to a prom. He will never vote. While thousands of Baltimoreans gathered in downtown Baltimore to celebrate the return of the 2012 Super Bowl Champions, the Ravens, Deontae was stabbed near the parade route, later pronounced dead at a nearby […]

(Updated 4/17/1013) The Baltimore City Board of Estimates approved the purchase of 72 new speed cameras for $2.2 million April 10 by a four to one vote. The purchase is to replace equipment that was the subject of a massive malfunction in January. The cameras are used to snare motorists who violate speed laws. The […]

The Baltimore City Police, in an effort to forge solid police-community relations in a crime-plagued section of West Baltimore, will stage a series of police-citizen neighborhood events in the Fulton Heights neighborhood over the next seven weeks, police officials said April 11. Beginning April 12, Police Commissioner Anthony Batts and officers from the western police […]

Maryland’s congressional lawmakers are lobbying hard to make Prince Georges’ County the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s next home. Led by Sen. Ben Cardin, the entire Maryland congressional delegation, including Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski, Reps. Steny H. Hoyer, Elijah E. Cummings, Chris Van Hollen, C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, John P. Sarbanes, Donna F. Edwards, John Delaney and […]

The Municipal Employees Credit Union of Baltimore (MECU), which services people who “live, work, worship or go to school in Baltimore,” according to its advertising slogan, is set to expand at the end of the 2013 fiscal year as it acquires Baltimore-based, Black-founded Advance Bank. The credit union and the bank on April 4 signed […]

Baltimore City Fire Chief Kevin Cartwright, who for a decade was the connection between the department and the public, has moved on. He departed April 1, exchanging his uniform for a suit, tie and private sector job. As the spokesman for the fire department since 2002, Cartwright was a common sight at the scene of […]

Anthony McCarthy, activist and host of the “Anthony McCarthy Show” on WEAA FM, will honor six civil rights leaders with the Anthony McCarthy Civil Rights Awards at the La Fontaine Bleue in Glen Burnie, Md. on May 10. According to a news release, McCarthy created the award to honor people who exemplify the principles of […]

We hadn’t been sure how long Gainor Hackney worked for the AFRO; for most of us she came with the brick and mortar and was part of the framework that continues to support the 120-year-old, family owned and operated newspaper, probably the oldest of its kind in the country. Executive assistant to every editor in […]