Category: Baltimore News

ANNAPOLIS – In 2005, Rebecca Swope gave birth to her only child, but her experience with childbirth was very different from that of most mothers. Swope had to give birth while chained to her hospital bed. “I delivered my only child, Hannah, eight years ago in Laurel, Md., shackled to a bed, chained like an […]

ANNAPOLIS – Gov. Martin O’Malley is one step closer to achieving his goal of strengthening Maryland’s gun control laws thanks to a vote of approval in the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee Thursday. The committee approved SB 281, known as the Firearm Safety Act of 2013, by a 7 to 4 vote. The legislation will move […]

Dozens of admirers filled the New Shiloh Baptist Church on Feb. 21 to pay their respects to Baltimore DJ and promoter Warren Billy Taylor. Taylor, 74, passed away in the early morning hours of Feb. 10 according to a friend, Tim Watts of the radio station MAGIC 95.9. Taylor had a stroke and was hospitalized […]

As a gun debate rages at the national, state, and local levels, a Baltimore man with two previous felony convictions was sentenced on Feb. 19 to 15 years for unlawfully possessing ammunition. Local law enforcement agents executed a search warrant at the Baltimore home of Robert Hubbard, 37, after an informant purchased drugs from Hubbard […]

Steven Pearson hasn’t spoken for two months. He also hasn’t worked, kissed his wife, hugged his brother, called his mother or played pool with his friends. Since mid-December, Pearson, 57, of Pikesville, has spent his days lying on his back—first in a hospital and later in a nursing home—breathing through a tube inserted into his […]

Goucher College will host Baltimore’s 2013 African Film Festival on Feb. 22-24. Screenings of seven critically acclaimed short and feature-length films that represent Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, the Republic of Congo, South Africa, and Sudan will be presented with English subtitles in this year’s selections. Post-film receptions and discussions will be held on Feb. 23 from […]

Pi Omega Chapter, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity held its 62nd Annual Mardi Gras Celebration at the Baltimore Hilton on Feb 8. Continuing to offer a full weekend of activities, the Friday night “Jump Off” party boasted more than 400 guests, many arriving from out of town. By Saturday evening, more than 1,000 Omega men and […]

BALTIMORE, Md.–The arrest of Jamar Marvin Simmons, a/k/a “Mar,” age 30, of Baltimore, was ordered Feb. 13 on sex trafficking charges after a federal grand jury indicted him and Franklin Roosevelt Coit, a/k/a “Frank,” and “Nitty,” age 34, of Baltimore who is already in police custody. According to the six-count indictment, from July 2009 through […]

Former Coppin State Lady Eagles basketball player Jennifer Martin was 24 when she learned that she was waging a battle for her life against a rare form of cancer called Rhabdomyosarcoma. She died on March 11, 2012—her 26th birthday. Partnering with the American Cancer Society, the Coppin Lady Eagles recently hosted Hampton University’s Lady Pirates […]

WASHINGTON–Maryland’s lawmakers urged Congress Wednesday to pass legislation to create two national parks honoring the legacy of Underground Railroad leader Harriet Ross Tubman. Rep. John Sarbanes, D-Towson, and Maryland Democratic Sens. Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin, joined senators from New York and leaders from national civil rights organizations in calling for immediate congressional action on […]

Paul W. Gardner II, one of Baltimore’s leading entertainment lawyers, was disbarred Feb. 11 after the state’s court of appeals upheld a ruling that he had overbilled clients and misused money he had received as a retainer. Gardner, whose clients have included Obama White House party crashers Tareq and Michaele Salahi and “The Wire” actress […]

Do you know these women and little girls? If so, I need to hear from you. For many years, I’ve been interested in the story of the desegregation of Gwynn Oak Amusement Park. As a news cameraman in Baltimore for more than a decade, I periodically ran across the story and began researching events surrounding […]