Baltimore City Council President Zeke Cohen is calling for a hearing to examine the city’s crisis response systems after three Baltimore residents died or were killed during interactions with police officers “while experiencing behavioral health crises.”

“The City Council has fought for years to increase funding for Baltimore Crisis Response Inc because we know that law enforcement alone can not be expected to solve this problem,” he wrote in a statement.

On June 17, police shot 38 times at Bilal “BJ” Abdullah, killing the well-known arabber, near the Upton Metro station after Abdullah appeared to shoot at officers chasing him. A crowd of several hundred people gathered in West Baltimore to call for justice for Abdullah after his death, while family members and loved ones held a vigil and funeral for him.

The Attorney General’s office, which investigates police-involved fatalities in Maryland, announced on June 26 that it was investigating an incident from the night of June 24 in which a man who appeared to be having a mental health crisis was restrained by officers “for the man’s own safety” after he attempted to walk into the road several times. While in handcuffs and leg restraints, the man became unresponsive. When EMS didn’t arrive within the hour, officers took him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead several hours later.

On June 25, police shot and killed Pytorcarcha Brooks, a 70-year-old woman who was allegedly wielding a knife, while responding to calls about a behavioral health crisis on Mosher Street. They had responded to behavioral health calls at that address 20 times this year alone, Commissioner Richard Worley said. 

BPD has a single crisis response team for the entire city, which was in Remington the day of Brooks’ death for more than 16 hours responding to a man experiencing a behavioral crisis and threatening to jump from a 13th-floor balcony, spokesperson Lindsey Eldridge said in an email.

Eldridge said that when the crisis response team receives a call while they’re responding to another one, the team members “would be briefed on both situations and a determination would be made on where they would be most needed.”

A police department spokesperson did not respond to inquiries about whether the officers responding to Mosher Street were trained in crisis response, and it’s unclear whether the officers involved in the other incidents were, either.

“Our community is still dealing with the trauma of witnessing the tragic death of Bilal Abdullah in the Upton community. And now we also have to reckon with the loss of one of our village elders being killed when what she probably needed was help,” Aaron Maybin, chair of the Baltimore City Civilian Review Board, said in a statement. “I understand that police officers have one of the most difficult jobs there is, but they need to find a way to respond to these types of situations that doesn’t end with deadly force. A 70-year-old woman with a knife should be able to be disarmed and apprehended without shots being fired.” 

“The most frustrating thing about both of these situations over the past couple of weeks is that neither one of them had to end with our citizens being killed.”

In a 2019 report about gaps in BPD’s crisis response system after a federal consent decree named it a problem area for the department, the Human Services Research Institute noted the low rates of crisis intervention-trained officers responding to behavioral health calls. 

“It is critical that police officers be better prepared for such contacts, so that the individuals in crisis and the officers, family members, and other individuals responding to it are not at risk of further traumatization from the act of seeking help,” the report reads.

All incoming officers receive 24 hours of behavioral health training at the police academy and an annual eight hours or more of behavioral health work provided during in-service training, but CIT-trained officers become certified by attending a 40-hour specialized training in addition to an annual refresher training.

The report also noted that the city’s failure to adequately track data “hampered” the organization’s ability to thoroughly analyze responses to crises, though it was clear that the city needed to make a shift toward community-based solutions.

A February 2024 consent decree monitoring report recorded that approximately 10% of BPD patrol officers were crisis intervention trained, nowhere near the department’s goal of 30%.

In December 2024, the monitoring team reported that BPD reduced that goal to 20% of patrol officers and was meeting that, but the department was still not ensuring the presence of CIT-trained officers at behavioral crisis events. The report also found that BPD was not doing enough to interview and review potential CIT training candidates.

Police involvement in mental health crises has been heavily debated. The conversation in Baltimore comes as media reports show that, despite a decrease in violent crime nationwide, the number of people fatally shot by cops has increased every year since 2020. 

Though localized data was not immediately available, multiple studies have found that any police involvement in mental health crises can do far more harm than good. 

A  2021 study published in The New England Journal of Medicine found that “even when officers undergo training in these areas, research demonstrates that it is not effective.”

“In the United States, a police encounter with a civilian is 16 times as likely to result in that person’s death if they have an untreated mental illness as if they do not,” the study states. “Structural racism exacerbates this risk, placing Black men with mental illness at significant risk for dying from U.S. police violence. And each killing reinforces the link between Black racial identity and violent fates, worsening the mental health of Black Americans.”

BPD told the monitoring team ahead of the December report that the “deficiencies” had been addressed. The consent decree monitoring team planned a re-assessment for early 2025, but it’s unclear whether that’s been conducted. The team did not respond to requests for comment.

Because this portion of the consent decree requires collaboration with other entities, the city and the Department of Justice agreed to a set of guidelines in 2023 that outline the city’s specific obligations, which include “Auditing and reviewing significant behavioral health events that resulted or nearly resulted in serious negative outcomes.”

In 2021, Baltimore launched the Behavioral Health 9-1-1 Diversion Pilot Program, which aims to avoid police involvement in behavioral health crises by diverting calls to mental health professionals. 

Under the program, if a 911 operator deems that a caller is in a crisis, they can direct the caller to the 988 help line operated by trained mental health clinicians.

“The central mission of this pilot program is to match individuals to the most appropriate and available resources when they call for assistance and reduce unnecessary police encounters with people in behavioral crises,” according to the program’s website.

Available data shows that, between June 2021 and February 2025, there were 3,968 crisis calls, 18% of which were unable to be diverted. The data shows that police still had a visible presence in behavioral health matters, with police involved in 44% of all calls during this time.

Calls peaked in 2022, when there were more than 1,500 incidents reported. The number has been on the decline since, with 55 calls as of February this year.

The diversion program is ongoing, said Adrienne Breidenstine, the vice president for policy and communications at Behavioral Health System Baltimore, which partnered with the city on the program. Mobile crisis teams, which do not include police, can be deployed through the 988 help line.

Madeleine O’Neill contributed reporting.

The post City’s crisis response system under scrutiny after three police-involved deaths in eight days appeared first on Baltimore Beat.

In the past decade, Maryland state employee Chad Williams has been the subject of a federal investigation over his handling of sexual harassment complaints at a Nevada housing authority; has himself been accused of sexual harassment at two different workplaces; and was convicted of domestic violence while actively leading an agency in Baltimore.

Yet he still sits as executive director of the West North Avenue Development Authority (WNADA) as more allegations of workplace misconduct surface in Baltimore — a job he got despite numerous prior media reports about his alleged misconduct, sexual harassment allegations, and the Nevada housing authority ostensibly forcing him out of his position.

Members of the 20-person governing board overseeing WNADA have remained mum on the matter despite multiple requests for comment from Baltimore Beat. Those members include two state officials who sponsored the legislation to create the authority.

“What he has is … power, and what we’ve experienced is an extreme abuse of that power,” said Keyonna Penick, a former chief of staff and special assistant at WNADA who was with the organization for about 1 ½ years. “And if [he’s] left in that position, it will only get worse.”

Williams became the authority’s founding executive director in 2022, tasked with building the agency from the ground up, creating a redevelopment plan for the West North Avenue corridor, and overseeing millions of dollars in funding. 

In the roughly three years he has helmed the agency, public officials have lauded his work to redevelop an area that has experienced disinvestment for decades. In February, the Baltimore Sun named him a “Black Marylander to Watch,” highlighting his efforts coordinating state and city planning to benefit West Baltimore.

Before Baltimore knew his face, however, he faced a barrage of misconduct allegations at previous jobs.

In 2014, he was accused of sexual harassment “while serving as a board member for The Nonprofit Roundtable of Greater Washington in Washington, D.C.,” according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “The accusation cost him his seat, but Williams has said that an investigation launched by the nonprofit coalition eventually discredited the claims,” the outlet reported. 

Williams filed a civil suit against the woman who made the accusation, claiming she “falsely accused him of sexual harassment after she abruptly left the Roundtable last July,” the Washington Business Journal reported in 2015. A D.C. Superior Court judge dismissed most counts in the civil suit.

“Williams also claims he was wrongly ousted from the board a few months later by now-former chairman Russell Snyder. And Williams alleged that Snyder, CEO of Volunteers of America-Chesapeake, illegally terminated his consulting contract with that organization,” the article states.

Six years later in Las Vegas, sexual harassment and age discrimination complaints against Williams, then executive director of the Southern Nevada Regional Housing Authority, led to more than $125,000 in settlements with two women, the Review-Journal reported.

The housing authority’s board was one vote shy of firing Williams in July 2019 after an independent investigation found he violated personnel policy by engaging in a personal relationship with a subordinate that could appear as a conflict of interest, but did not find evidence of sexual harassment. He was put on a six-month probation and required to attend ethics training, the Review-Journal reported.

Still, board members were cautious after it was determined that Williams lied about the extent and duration of his relationship with the employee. 

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development also investigated the authority’s handling of sexual misconduct complaints against Theodore Tulle, the chief operating officer, under Williams’ tenure, the outlet reported. Williams told staff in an email he had known Tulle “personally and professionally” for 15 years before his hiring. In February 2021, six months before the Review-Journal reported the news of the federal investigation, Williams was put on administrative leave until his contract expired that June.

“One of the agency’s board members later said an investigator’s findings were critical of Executive Director Chad Williams, according to an email obtained by the Review-Journal,” the outlet reported.

The results of that investigation remain unknown.

Less than a year into his employment by the state of Maryland, court records show Williams was charged with misdemeanor and felony battery charges in Las Vegas after being arrested on New Year’s Day for “punching a sleeping woman, throwing her to the ground and kicking her in the ribs and face,” the Review-Journal reported. The woman was bruised and had dried blood on her face when police arrived after a 911 caller nearby reported hearing a woman crying and yelling “stop” inside the house, according to the article. The woman told police that Williams stopped her from calling 911.

The charges included misdemeanor battery constituting domestic violence and two felony charges: coercion constituting domestic violence and battery resulting in substantial bodily harm constituting domestic violence, according to court documents.

Court records show he pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge in March of this year, after initially pleading not guilty to all the charges. The other charges were later dropped. A court document signed by the judge on April 7 stated that she found him guilty of the misdemeanor, giving him a suspended sentence of 180 days in Clark County Detention Center and ordering him to fulfill 45 hours of community service and 26 weeks of domestic violence counseling.

The suspended sentence means he will not serve time in jail if he fulfills the requirements, which include probation.

Meanwhile, as he fought the Las Vegas court case over the last two years, several former WNADA employees in Baltimore — all women — allege he has harassed, stalked, and illegally retaliated against employees since at least 2023.

In the last month, these employees have accused Williams of targeting and humiliating women on the job, allegedly stalking one woman, and manipulating the grant process to favor certain entities. 

In an April 7 email sent to a long list of city and state officials, board members, former staff, and media, Penick, the former chief of staff and special assistant, detailed misconduct by Williams and called for his firing. The email has seemingly connected the women, who previously were not in regular contact with each other but found similarities in their treatment and were then emboldened to speak out.

Since then, Penick and three other former WNADA employees, all of whom are Black women with decades of experience in housing, government and related jobs, have told the Beat that Williams frequently engaged in inappropriate conduct on the job. In many cases, the women backed up each other’s stories and descriptions of Williams’ leadership. One woman filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and another woman is pursuing legal action.

Penick, who joined WNADA in 2023 and was fired last month because of alleged performance issues, sat in on multiple meetings with Williams and the women. 

She says that not only was she treated as incompetent — she vehemently denies being unable to do her job, as a state employee of almost 18 years, and instead blames Williams’ poor leadership — but she also witnessed weaponized terminations, abusive power dynamics and an increasingly hostile work culture. 

At a staff retreat in April 2024, Williams verbally berated an employee in front of other staff members, bringing her to tears, Penick said. She also alleged that Williams frequently talked down to employees, specifically women.

In addition, he allegedly made threats to employees, mentioning that Maryland was an “at-will” state and that he had the power to fire employees and change salaries.

In her April 7 email, Penick also warned of the steps the executive director would take to discredit her and the other women:

“Here’s how it will play out because it’s played out before:

• The Narrative Shift: I will be painted as unqualified, difficult, or insubordinate.
• Performative Moves: Sudden hiring or public gestures to ‘prove’ diversity and inclusion.
• The Silence Strategy: No one will openly discuss it, and leadership will move quickly to erase any mention of my work.
• The Next Target: Someone else will become the new scapegoat— the spotlight is on, but it’s only a matter of time.
• The Cycle Continues: The board remains complicit, and leadership remains unchecked.”

“I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge my own silence in the past. There were times when I saw the writing on the wall but convinced myself it wasn’t my fight. I needed my job. I justified my inaction, just as many of us do when survival takes precedence over principle. I won’t make that mistake again,” Penick wrote later in the email. 

Randi Williams, a contracted green space development and environmental health officer for WNADA, was the recipient of the director’s alleged verbal abuse at the April 2024 retreat. (She has no relation to Chad Williams.)

She worked for WNADA from August 2023 to June 2024. After she was fired, she filed a complaint with the EEOC last year and has also called for the director to resign, alleging she was “discriminated against because of my sex (female) and disability,” according to the complaint.

“The denial of my reasonable accommodation and the inconsistent treatment regarding PTO align with a broader pattern of disparate treatment of my time as a Female employee at WNADA,” the complaint reads. “I am preparing to present evidence and responses below, including patterns of decision-making and relevant personnel records, to demonstrate that as a Female employee I was subjected to less favorable terms and conditions of employment compared to Male employees within the company.”

The matter is currently under investigation. WNADA denied the allegations in its response to the EEOC complaint, according to documents obtained by the Beat. 

Randi Williams said Penick’s email helped validate her story and encouraged her to speak out. She not only alleged workplace harassment, but she also emphasized her concerns about the executive director appearing to have stalked her.

At the April 2024 staff retreat, Randi Williams inquired about H&H Realty Group, an eco-friendly housing company that received $750,000 in grant funding from WNADA, despite not meeting the scoring threshold used to determine whether entities are eligible for money.

Both Randi Williams and Penick separately told Baltimore Beat that Chad Williams called the question disingenuous and “out of line,” verbally attacking her for repeatedly bringing up the grant and potential issues with it. In tears, Randi Williams explained that she was never notified that she was ever acting inappropriately.

After the incident at the retreat, Randi Williams took approved time off for mental health reasons. Upon learning of this, the executive director allegedly called numerous people, including her friends, to learn where exactly she was staying during her time off. He also docked four days’ pay, totaling more than $1,000.

Later on, she said, she would see the executive director’s car in her neighborhood, even though he should not know where she lived.

“This is what happens when women get harassed and go unanswered,” Randi Williams said. “I fear for my life. And I can no longer walk around in fear because that man is out there existing, getting paid, and he’s gotten raises.”

Williams said she believed in the work that WNADA is tasked with. It’s what compelled her to join the organization and put her years of experience — which includes founding a company focusing on eco-friendly affordable housing — to work. As a PhD student at Morgan State University, where she studies architecture, urbanism and built environments, focusing on the environment and West Baltimore, WNADA felt like the perfect outlet for her to give back to the community.

Instead, the executive director ensured the spotlight was on him, she said.

“This is about West Baltimore,” Randi Williams said. “This ain’t about you.”

Shortly after the women shared their stories with the Beat, Randi Williams and Penick received a peace order filed by Chad Williams alleging they conspired to harm or kill him, based on the word of a man neither woman had heard of. Chad Williams did not appear at the April 16 hearing, so the case was dismissed. The women called the filing another one of his intimidation tactics.

In the peace order against Penick, Chad Williams claimed that a man “called petitioner to inform him that Randi Williams and another recent former employee (Keyonna Penick) are seeking to kill/harm petitioner.”

In the peace order against Randi Williams, it was alleged she “threatened to kill petitioner” in June 2024, after being terminated. It also claims she said she wanted to “shoot petitioner’s car up with the intent of killing him” in October of that year.

Finally, it alleges that both women were “seeking individuals to kill petitioner.”

After Chad Williams failed to attend the hearing, Randi Williams told the Beat she has filed her own peace order against him, saying she is “tired of living in fear and him abusing his power as a public official.” He has since been served with the peace order, a deputy confirmed to her.

In her April 7 email, Penick wrote about previous warnings board members and others received about Williams.

“Many of you recall the unsettling email we received on Wednesday, May 8, 2024, from a former colleague of the Executive Director (ED), warning us about the Executive Director’s behavior and past transgressions.” 

“‘I can’t understand how this clown does all this and still finds ways to be employed in the same environment … Go do your research on his tenure at the housing authority in Las Vegas.  He gave allllllll them girls raises that were not justified and fired a couple brothas, unwarranted terminations too,’” Penick quoted from the email.

Chad Williams did not respond to multiple requests for comment about the women’s allegations. Teresa Stephens, WNADA’s public affairs officer, initially indicated the authority, including Williams, planned to comment on the matter. Following the peace order, she declined to comment, calling it a personnel matter.

The Beat asked all of WNADA’s 20 governing board members whether they knew about the prior sexual misconduct allegations against Williams, the federal investigation in Nevada, and the battery charges. The Beat also asked whether those allegations, in addition to ongoing reports of misconduct and calls to resign, would lead to any disciplinary action.

Governor Wes Moore and Mayor Brandon Scott, who sit on the board, declined to comment. The remaining board members either declined to comment or did not respond to requests for comment. 

Those on the board who did not respond include Senator Antonio Hayes and Delegate Marlon Amprey, who sponsored state legislation that would benefit WNADA by allowing it to avoid regular procurement rules in 2023. The bill was signed into law by Moore.

Meanwhile, as they remain silent, the authority is overseeing tens of millions of dollars in funds. 

WNADA is a state agency created in 2021 by bills sponsored by Amprey and Hayes, both West Baltimore Democrats, to revitalize the West North Avenue corridor, which has seen decades of disinvestment. At a June 2023 funding announcement, Moore, Amprey, Hayes, and former City Council President Nick Mosby were exuberant about the work WNADA could do. 

“You aren’t just looking at housing, you aren’t just looking at transportation, you aren’t just looking at economic development, you are looking at all three at once, and that’s how we achieve a societal build-up. That’s how we transform communities,” Moore said. “By saying, ‘We don’t have to pick — we can do it all.’ That’s how we build communities.”

Hayes added that the agency would serve as a vehicle of “fundamental change” in West Baltimore.

“There’s a lot happening, and this is a good time for West Baltimore, whether it’s the redevelopment of TouchPoint over at Mondawmin by Tim Regan, the transformational change that we’re going to see in Druid Hill Park and a $15 million investment that we made over there, or the 40-something-million-dollar brand new business school that we’re doing right here at Coppin State University, the West North Avenue authority was an idea to bring all of that together under one vision,” Hayes said.

In a press release last month, WNADA boasted that it has invested $12.2 million in the area through numerous grants so far this year. In the past two years, it has invested $21.2 million to develop the corridor.

Despite these controversies playing out behind the scenes, the authority itself has been lauded as a crucial organization in West Baltimore. Legislation that the governor signed on April 22 establishes the authority as a permanent entity and sets a goal for it to be self-sustaining by 2028. Dozens of individuals testified in favor of the bill and in support of the organization’s work in hearings, including representatives from local nonprofits and universities.

“Having lived in the greater neighborhood and having worked for two Baltimore Mayors, I have seen West Baltimore neighborhoods suffer the impact of neglect. The Bolton Hill, Marble Hill and Madison Park neighborhoods have been divided historically and socially by the Eutaw Place Median (the ‘Red Line’ which ran from North Avenue to Dolphin). We view our work with the West North Avenue Development Authority as helping to bridge that divide,” Lee Tawney, president of the Bolton Hill Community Association, wrote.

Daniel Ellis, CEO of Neighborhood Housing Services of Baltimore, echoed the importance of WNADA in supporting the organization’s mission to remove barriers of access to homeownership. 

“We have had the privilege of working with the West North Avenue Development Authority (WNADA) over the past 3 years. It has been extremely helpful to have a unified plan for West North Avenue that considers all the previously developed plans and to also have coordinated funding needed to implement those plans,” Ellis wrote.

Anthony Jenkins, president of Coppin State University and a WNADA board member, wrote in his testimony that WNADA has made “major” investments in the West North Avenue corridor, commending Williams by name. 

“Under the leadership of Executive Director Chad Williams, funding support from Governor Wes Moore, and Senator Antonio Hayes’s vision, the West North Avenue Development Authority’s efforts are making a meaningful impact on the targeted communities between educational anchor institutions, Coppin State University (CSU) and the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA),” Jenkins wrote.

The praise is a stark contrast to the allegations made against Williams. 

Two other women who spoke to the Beat requested anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the subject. One of them said she feared for her life.

“Jane” was one of the first employees at WNADA, hired in 2022. She was working with Williams when he was arrested on the battery charges in January 2023. 

She felt uncomfortable working under Williams, knowing he was charged with battery against his girlfriend at the time, a concern shared by at least one other employee, she said. Williams called her from Las Vegas to tell her he was locked up after she hadn’t heard from him, she said.

At a staff orientation event in 2023, Williams addressed the allegations against him in Las Vegas, allegedly bragging that he had good lawyers who could get him off, she said.

Still, she had to pick up Williams’ slack, she said. After the incident, he was difficult to reach for months. Yet Williams downplayed her work and was repeatedly hostile and condescending toward her, eventually firing her for alleged performance issues in November 2023, Jane said. 

She denied any assertions she couldn’t do her job, telling the Beat she has more than 20 years of experience in her field.

Williams threatened to fire her on the spot rather than give her a final two weeks at the job if she went to the board about it, she said. If she spoke out, she feared that he would attempt to sabotage her unemployment benefits.

“I see so many things he got away with for that entire year,” Jane said. It didn’t help that to her knowledge, no one on the board or in the community fought for her. 

“I just thought that he was invincible. Nothing’s going to happen to him. I was out of a job after that for about six months.”

The other woman, “Doe,” who fears retaliation by Williams, said she is attempting to pursue legal action after being told an EEOC complaint was not an option. In a tense situation between herself and Williams that left her perplexed, she was forced to resign after being told they planned to fire her because of poor job performance, even though she argued she went “above and beyond” to ensure the organization got what it needed.

Doe joined WNADA in 2023, coming into the job with more than five years of experience in state and city government roles, where she received “excellent” performance reviews, she said.

While she was employed between 2023 and 2024, Doe alleged she witnessed Williams make inappropriate comments to a Hispanic woman on staff regarding her heritage, singling her out amid a group of employees.

On one occasion, Williams allegedly commented on Doe sitting with her legs crossed, claiming that the style in which she was sitting indicated she was promiscuous. The comment made her feel “disgusted,” she said. 

In a whistleblower complaint filed to the Maryland Department of Budget and Management and copied in a letter to WNADA by Doe’s lawyer, she also alleged that Williams manipulated the grant process to favor some entities. 

On November 30, 2023, Williams “explicitly indicated that certain applicants were pre-determined to receive funding. This statement was made in the presence of multiple staff members, including [Redacted]. [Redacted] perceived these remarks as unethical and indicative of predetermined outcomes which could potentially manipulate the grant process.”

On January 12, 2024, “Mr. Williams allegedly manipulated the scoring of applicants to favor certain entities, specifically emphasizing the inclusion of [Baltimore Arts Realty Corp]. [Redacted] reported this incident as a misuse of authority and a potential violation of procurement ethics. This manipulation was directly observed by [redacted] during a meeting where applicant scores were discussed and altered.”

Randi Williams, who was also at that meeting, told the Beat the executive director was “always saying shit like that to me.”

BARCO did not respond to requests for comment about whether the organization has a relationship with Chad Williams outside of his role as director of WNADA.

On February 1, 2024, Doe emailed Gov. Moore, “outlining her observations and concerns about potential unethical practices and pressures related to job security contingent on compliance with these practices.” 

“During a conversation with Randi Williams, Mr. Chad Williams stated, ‘If you want your job, then BARCO must be added.’ This statement, which I perceive as a threat to job security, is related to the scoring of applicants for funding to complete projects in West Baltimore. I believe this behavior contravenes state policy,” the email read. 

“I am making this statement in good faith and out of a sense of duty as an employee of the State of Maryland. I trust that this matter will be handled with the seriousness it deserves.”

Moore’s office did not respond, she said. 

Shortly after Doe raised concerns about the incidents, Williams filed a negative employee evaluation about her, and she was put on a performance improvement plan, she said. She appealed the disciplinary measures to no avail. 

The situation ended with Doe forced out of the agency, with her pleas seemingly ignored. The fact that she was forced to either resign or be fired was not just an abuse of power, she said. It was a decisive action that upended her life.

“I was stressed out. I was at that time facing my lease ending,” Doe said. “I didn’t have a job. It was my worst nightmare. I literally wound up homeless — I’ve never been homeless in my entire life. It was so bad, but I’m so glad [Penick] spoke out in this way.”

“Everyone turned a blind eye to this stuff,” Doe added. “What about accountability? What about the lives he ruined?” 

Penick’s email spoke to the women’s aspirations to revitalize West Baltimore — a mission that felt futile under Williams’ leadership, they alleged. 

For decades, the corridor has experienced debilitating disinvestment and neglect, leaving communities in dire need of resources. Jane said the employees were excited to bring change to the community and better the lives of its residents.

Yet Williams’ alleged intimidation tactics and ability to avoid consequences in the past created an environment where they feared retaliation if they spoke out publicly, even when board members and others failed to address their concerns.

“I know this may sound like the usual complaints from a former employee or something easy to dismiss. But I urge you to pay attention. If you turn a blind eye now, understand that the next time— and there will be a next time— it will fall at your feet,” Penick wrote in her April 7 email.

“It will be your complicity, and it will confirm every cynical belief the public holds about government: that you do not care, that accountability is just a talking point, and that the people you serve are an afterthought.”

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The morning his book tour was to launch in Baltimore, New York Senator Senator Chuck Schumer indefinitely postponed his public appearances this week amid a wave of backlash over his support for a Republican budget bill to avoid a government shutdown.

Schumer was scheduled to speak at the Enoch Pratt Library Central Branch at 7 p.m. on March 17 about his book “Antisemitism in America.” Pratt Library announced on social media at 10 a.m. that Schumer’s book tour events for the week of March 17 were being postponed for “security reasons.”

The Baltimore chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace planned to protest outside the library to assert that criticizing Israel is not antisemitic. JVP is a Jewish group committed to fighting antisemitism and supporting Palestinian liberation.

A demonstration organized by Jewish activists will continue, JVP confirmed to Baltimore Beat.

“Senator Schumer works with organizations like the ADL and AIPAC who support white supremacists like Trump and Elon Musk and Jewish supremacists like Netanyahu. If the Senator really cares about fighting antisemitism, it’s time to cut ties with these complicit organizations,” Baltimore resident Dr. Zackary Berger said in a JVP press release.

Schumer has also drawn the ire of many fellow Democratic lawmakers who saw rejecting the Republican budget bill as one of the few ways to leverage their power in Congress where Republicans control both chambers and refused to negotiate.

Schumer’s decision has been widely criticized as a strategic blunder, with some House Democrats reportedly supporting a primary challenge against him and some senators questioning whether he should remain in leadership. 

Before the vote, House Democrats urged Schumer to vote against the bill, writing that the “American people sent Democrats to Congress to fight against Republican dysfunction and chaos” and that the party should not be “capitulating to their obstruction.”

Over the weekend, plans to protest Schumer’s book talk in Baltimore grew beyond JVP as progressive and liberal organizations in Baltimore and nationally, like Baltimore Artists Against Apartheid and Indivisible, encouraged members to join in.

JVP’s rally and town hall is scheduled for 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on March 17 in coordination with Baltimore Artists Against Apartheid and Greater Baltimore DSA.

The group is demanding Schumer publicly oppose President Trump’s Executive Order 14188, or Additional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism, which calls for the deportation of students deemed antisemitic.

Additionally, they are urging him to withdraw support for Antisemitism Awareness Act, which directs the Department of Education to adopt the controversial International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism when investigating alleged antisemitic acts on campus. The American Civil Liberties Union and other critics argue the bill is designed to suppress legitimate criticism of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories, which is considered illegal under international law. 

JVP is also calling on Schumer to sever ties with groups like the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a civil rights group that praised the detention of Columbia student and U.S. permanent resident Mahmoud Khalil but defended Elon Musk after his Nazi-salute-like hand gesture.

Activists say Schumer’s portrayal of pro-Palestine protests as antisemitic has helped legitimize the Trump administration’s crackdown on student activism — which is widely seen as an attack on First Amendment rights.

The post U.S. Senator Schumer’s Baltimore book talk indefinitely postponed after planned protests appeared first on Baltimore Beat.

It is a treasure to be able to trace the lines of a family tree, to watch a child become a teenager, a teenager become a self-sufficient adult, a self-sufficient adult become a parent with a blooming child of their own. 

It’s what stays with Alicia Copeland, director of youth programming at Parks & People, a nonprofit that creates green spaces in Baltimore’s Black Butterfly — majority Black neighborhoods in the eastern and western parts of the city — and puts on environmentally-focused youth programming. 

In her more than 20 years with the organization, Copeland has seen children and young adults she’s mentored become teachers, doctors, and even state delegates. And oftentimes she gets to pour her love into their children as well. 

“I hope that once they move forward, they take what they’ve learned and do the same thing and they impart it on somebody else,” Copeland said. 

Parks & People marked their 40th anniversary last year, celebrating their growth from a support organization to the city’s Recreation and Parks department to a standalone operation with a small but mighty staff, a nine-acre campus in West Baltimore, and a $6 million budget.

The nonprofit organizes summer camps for elementary school students, coordinates paid workforce development opportunities for high schoolers, and hopes to revive a middle school-focused program after shelving their sports league in 2021.

The goal is what CEO Frank Lance refers to as “continuity of care,” supporting children throughout their entire childhood.

“There’s an old colloquialism that people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care,” Lance said. “It’s out of that source of care, that sense of care, that we build these programs.”

While their larger focus is on environmental programming, Parks & People works on improving literacy, emotional regulation, college readiness, and workforce development. 

Copeland first got involved with Parks & People as a summer counselor with their SuperKids Camp, a STEAM summer camp program to help elementary school students maintain and grow their knowledge over the summer months, when learning loss is common. 

As a middle and high school teacher, she found the change of pace with elementary schoolers to be refreshing. Copeland could see how students were progressing as they got older and it helped her understand why students may be acting or learning in a certain way.

She loved the work, but she didn’t expect to stay this long. People are always surprised that Copeland is still at the same organization after more than two decades.

“I’m just doing my job. I really like my job,” Copeland said. “I don’t know any other job where I would be able to do what I do and the way that I do it and still feel the difference that I’m making.”

The work Parks & People does goes beyond the tangibles of parks and programming, said Kimberly Vasquez, a former participant in the organization’s middle school soccer league and an intern this winter with them.

Vasquez, a senior at Goucher College who was part of the student advocacy group SOMOS as a high schooler at Baltimore City College, credits Copeland and her time with Parks & People as a jumping off point for her organizing work. 

In middle school, the soccer league connected her with middle schoolers around the city. As a high schooler, Vasquez wanted to foster that connection among immigrant middle schoolers and provide them with resources about the city’s high school application process. 

With guidance from Copeland, Vasquez and her classmates coordinated a soccer tournament and resource fair in Patterson Park.

“I knew that soccer created community, despite whatever culture, background, or language that you speak,” she said. 

“I learned that through when I was in middle school where I met other middle schoolers who maybe are recent to the country and maybe they don’t know much English… but soccer, it doesn’t require language. You understand even though you might have a different culture.”

On the surface, the mission behind the organization is straightforward: develop green spaces in Baltimore’s Black Butterfly and invest in the city’s youth. 

But Lance sees their mission as something deeper. 

Baltimore’s history of segregation, redlining, disinvestment, and outright destruction of its Black neighborhoods have left their scars.

“Reparations means to repair, right?” Lance said. “We have created these enclaves of oppressed communities, poor communities, undereducated communities, failing schools, and then we wanna say, ‘What’s wrong with them?’ It’s not that they’re damaged, it’s that your policies have created this and you don’t want to own up to it.”

“We have an opportunity, in our way, to do some repairing. And so we can repair the psyche, if we can repair the hope, if we can repair the dreams, if we can get rid of a building and show you something beautiful instead of blight, we are in a way repairing.”

To that end, Parks & People focuses on developing smaller green spaces within neighborhoods in east and west Baltimore so residents have easier access to parks. These often include playground equipment, walking trails, or urban farms. Above all, it’s about bringing assets to residents in a city where they’re often cut off from larger green spaces, said Darius White, director of park projects.

“It’s a space to clear your mind, it’s a place where your kids can play safely, and just having these amenities within your community just creates a well-balanced neighborhood where residents take ownership,” White said.

With Baltimore’s high stock of vacant houses, the organization creates pocket parks by demolishing blighted rowhomes or finding lots where rowhomes have been demolished and building out parks on those lots. 

In Upton, the newly opened Harlem Avenue Pocket Park on a formerly vacant lot has created a space for pet owners in the neighborhood to walk their dogs and spend time outdoors with their neighbors. 

“It’s just aesthetically pleasing to actually put green spaces around homeowners,” said Wanda Best, executive director of the Upton Planning Committee, one of the neighborhood organizations Parks & People partnered with on this project. 

The neighborhood is seeing significant reinvestment in its housing stock and welcoming in new residents. The park provides a place for old and new homeowners to meet.

State delegate Caylin Young, who worked at Parks & People with Copeland as a summer counselor in college, said it’s essential for families in Baltimore to feel like they have places to “play, learn, live, love.”

“I think it’s transformative when we think about public safety, when we think about livability, folks want to be able — and need to be able — to have that access, because we know where there are more green spaces, it has a positive impact on people’s holistic wellness as well,” Young said. 

On the 1500 block of McKean Avenue in Sandtown-Winchester, Parks & People transformed a space known for its homicide rate into a gathering space for the community for cookouts and choir competitions. 

“In a place where once kids were running for their lives, they’re now running to this community gathering space,” Lance said. They refer to the project as “Miracle on McKean Street.”

Park by park, the organization wants to continue helping revive a strong sense of community in Baltimore’s neighborhoods.

“I’m trained as an architect, so a lot of my career was focused on the actual buildings,” White, the director of park projects, said.

“But it’s the space in between buildings that are probably more important.”

The post Nature and Nurture: For more than 40 years, Parks & People has done both appeared first on Baltimore Beat.

Just hours after taking office on January 20, President Donald Trump issued a series of executive orders targeting undocumented immigrants and trying to remove birthright citizenship, a constitutional right granted to all born in the United States by the 14th Amendment.

A federal judge temporarily blocked the birthright citizenship order on January 23 after at least five lawsuits were brought forward by 22 states and several immigration rights organizations. One of those lawsuits was filed by CASA, an organization working to protect and build upon the rights of immigrant communities.

“The 14th amendment is clear, it’s very clearly talking about who is a citizen — anyone that is born here — and President Trump believes that that is not the case and he, in one executive order, can undo the Constitution, and that’s a mistake,” Jossie Flor Sapunar, national communications director for CASA.

CASA has also launched a hotline at 1-888- 214-6016 for people to call in suspected U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (I.C.E.) raids as Trump threatens mass deportations. Since the inauguration, immigrant communities have faced heightened fear and confusion about when I.C.E. raids may begin and where federal agents may try to arrest undocumented residents.

Sapunar said CASA has trained thousands of people at constituent meetings, schools, and churches to be aware of their rights if they come into contact with I.C.E. She hopes those people are able to further spread resources in their own communities to keep people safe.

“Unity is what is going to get us through this moment,” she said.

Maryland is considered a safe haven for undocumented residents, and while Baltimore is not formally a “sanctuary city“ because its jails are state-controlled, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said on January 22 that the city will not proactively assist I.C.E.

Baltimore Police Department officers are not allowed to ask residents about their immigration status, the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Services noted in a resource guide published after the election.

English

https://wearecasa.org/know-your-rights/

You have the right to:

• Remain silent
• Deny access to your home (unless the police or ICE have a warrant signed by a judge)

If you are arrested, you have the right to: 

• Speak to a lawyer
• Make a phone call

If you are stopped on the street or in a public place:

Police or ICE agents may stop you in a public place and ask you questions. You do not have to answer their questions. If they do not have a warrant, the authorities MAY NOT arrest you unless they have evidence you have committed a crime or are not authorized in the United States.

Never provide the officer with fake documents or with any type of foreign identification. This may be used against you in future deportation proceedings. Never lie to a police officer or immigration officer, because this can also be used against you. Instead, remember to remain silent.

If immigration or the police come to your home: 

You have the right to see a valid warrant. Ask the officer to slip the warrant under the door — DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR! If you open the door, this can be considered a consent to search, even if they don’t have a valid warrant. 

A warrant is a paper signed by a judge giving the officer permission to enter your home. It needs to say 

1. The areas that need to be searched and/or
2. The individual(s) and/or objects to be seized

If immigration or police come to your workplace: 

You have the same basic rights at work as you do in a public space: 

• You have the RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT (DO NOT say anything about where you were born)
• You have the right to REFUSE A SEARCH (unless they have a warrant or cause to think you committed a crime)
• You have the RIGHT TO REQUEST AN ATTORNEY

If you are arrested by immigration you should: 

1. Find out who arrested you. Ask for the name and agency of the person who arrested you and get their badge number and license plate. 
2. Ask to see your lawyer. You always have the right to speak with a lawyer. If you don’t have a lawyer yet, you still have the right to obtain one.
3. Assert your right to remain silent. Do not give any information to the police or ICE without talking to your lawyer first. 
4. Do not sign anything before consulting with your lawyer. You may be signing away your right to a hearing before an immigration judge.
5. Contact lawyer or family member. You have the right to make a telephone call after you are arrested. Memorize the telephone number of your attorney, family member, friend or union spokesperson, and contact him/her immediately.
6. Contact your consulate. If you are a foreign national arrested in the U.S., you have the right to call your consulate or to have the deportation officer inform the consulate of your arrest. Memorize their phone number or ask a family member to call.
7. Ask for bond. Even if immigration says you are not eligible. Bond is paying a certain amount of money to be released from jail. In exchange, you then promise to return for your court date. You have to show that you are not a flight risk or a danger to the community. 

Keep a list of organizations and private attorneys who might be able to help you with your immigration case. CASA has a referral list we can provide you with, or you use one of these websites to search for immigration attorneys and organizations:

CASA

301-431-4185

www.wearecasa.org

Immigration Advocates Network

Immigration Legal Services Directory:

https://www.immigrationadvocates.org/nonprofit/legaldirectory

American Immigration Lawyers Association

http://www.ailalawyer.org/

Spanish

https://wearecasa.org/conozca-sus-derechos/ 

Usted tiene derecho a:

• Guardar silencio
• Negar el acceso a su casa (a menos que la policía o ICE tengan una orden judicial firmada por un juez)

Si usted es arrestado, usted tiene derecho a:

• Hablar con un abogado
• Hacer una llamada

Si usted es detenido en la calle o en un espacio público:

Los agentes de la policía o ICE lo pueden detener en un espacio público y hacerle preguntas.

Usted no tiene que responder sus preguntas. Si ellos no tienen una orden judicial, las autoridades NO PODRÁN arrestarlo a menos que exista evidencia que usted ha cometido un crimen o que no esté autorizado a estar en los Estados Unidos. 

Nunca proporcione a un oficial documentos falsos o algún tipo de identificación extranjera pues esto puede ser utilizado en su contra durante procedimientos de deportación futuros. Nunca mienta a un oficial de la policía o a un agente de inmigración, pues esto puede ser utilizado en su contra. Mejor, recuerde guardar silencio.

Si inmigracíon o la policía viene a su casa:

Usted tiene derecho a ver una orden judicial válida. Pregunte al oficial pasar la orden judicial debajo de la puerta. ¡NO ABRA LA PUERTA! Si usted abre la puerta, se podría considerarse que usted está dando su consentimiento para búsqueda, inclusive si ellos no tienen una orden judicial.

Una orden judicial es un papel firmado por un juez dándole al oficial permiso de entrar a su hogar. Ésta necesita indicar: 

1. Las áreas que serán buscadas; y/o

2. El o los individuo(s) y/o objeto(s) a ser confiscados.

Si inmigracíon o la policía viene a su lugar de trabajo:

Usted tiene los mismos derechos básicos en el trabajo, así como en los espacios públicos:

• Usted tiene el DERECHO A GUARDAR SILENCIO
• NO mencione el lugar donde nació
• Usted tiene el derecho a RECHAZAR UNA BÚSQUEDA (a menos que tengan una orden de búsqueda o que piensen que usted ha cometido un crimen)
• Usted tiene el DERECHO A PEDIR UN ABOGADO

Si usted es arrestado por inmigracíon, usted debe: 

1. Averiguar quién lo arrestó. Pregunte el nombre y la agencia de la persona quien lo arrestó. Obtenga su número de placa y su matrícula vehicular, los que se encuentran en el uniforme del oficial y en su carro.
2. Pida ver a su abogado. Usted siempre tiene el derecho a hablar con un abogado.  Si usted no tiene un abogado aún, usted todavía tiene el derecho de obtener uno.
3. Mantenga su derecho a guardar silencio. No proporcione ninguna información a la policía o ICE sin hablar con su abogado primero.
4. No firme nada antes de consultar con su abogado. Al firmar, usted podría estar negando su derecho a una audiencia ante un juez de inmigración.
5. Contacte a un abogado o a un familiar. Usted tiene el derecho a hacer una llamada telefónica si es arrestado. Memorice el número telefónico de su abogado, el de su familiar, o portavoz de su sindicato, y contáctelo(a) inmediatamente.
6. Contacte a su consulado.  Si usted es extranjero y es arrestado en los Estados Unidos, tiene derecho a llamar a su consulado o de hacer que el oficial de deportación informe al consulado de su arresto. MEMORICE EL NÚMERO o pida a un familiar que lo llame.
7. Pida una fianza. Inclusive si inmigración dice que usted no es elegible. La fianza es el pago de una cierta cantidad de dinero que se realiza para poder ser soltado. A cambio, usted promete regresar a su fecha de corte.

Mantenga una lista de organizaciones y abogados privados quienes podrían ayudarlo con su caso de inmigración. CASA tiene una lista de abogados referidos que le puede proporcionar, o usted puede usar uno de los siguientes sitios web para buscar abogados de inmigración u organizaciones:

CASA

301-431-4185

www.wearecasa.org

Immigration Advocates Network

Immigration Legal Services Directory:

https://www.immigrationadvocates.org/nonprofit/legaldirectory

American Immigration Lawyers Association

http://www.ailalawyer.org/

French

https://wearecasa.org/connaissez-vos-droits/ 

Si vous êtes interrogé(e) par la police, vous avez le droit de:

• Garder le silence
• De parler à un avocat
• Passer un coup de téléphone si vous êtes arrêté(e)

Si la police ou l’immigration vous arrête dans la rue ou dans un lieu public:

Si la police ou l’officier de l’immigration vous arrête dans la rue et n’a pas de mandat, il (ou elle) ne peut pas VOUS arrêter, à moins qu’elle est la preuve que vous n’êtes pas citoyen américain. Souvenez-vous que vous avez le droit de garder le silence et de refuser une fouille. Ne dites rien à propos de votre statut d’immigration ou l’endroit où vous êtes nés. Ne gardez sur vous aucun document de votre pays d’origine ou aucun fauxpapiers. Si vous avez des papiers prouvant que vous êtes légalement sur le territoire américain, montrez-les.

Si la police ou l’immigration vient chez vous: 

N’ouvrez pas la porte. Demandez à l’officier de glisser le mandat sous la porte. Si vous ouvrez la porte et autorisez l’officier à rentrer chez vous, cela peut être considéré comme consentir à son entrée chez vous. Vous avez le droit de voir un mandat si la police, le FBI ou l’immigration essayent de rentrer chez vous. Un mandat est un papier signé par un juge donnant à l’officier le droit d’entrer dans votre maison. Le mandat doit préciser les endroits que le policier a le droit de fouiller et les personnes qu’il a le droit de fouiller et dont il peut saisir les biens.

Si la police ou l’immigration vient sur votre lieu de travail: 

Vous avez le droit de garder le silence. L’immigration doit avoir un mandat signé par un juge ou la permission de l’employeur pour entrer sur votre lieu de travail. Si c’est un lieu public, ils n’ont pas besoin de mandat. Cependant, vous avez le droit de garder le silence peu importe les moyens qu’ont utilisés les officiers pour rentrer sur votre lieu de travail.

Si vous êtes arrêté(e), vous devez: 

1. Reconnaitre qui vous a arrêté. Ecrivez le nom des officiers et de leur agence (Département de la police, FBI, Immigration, Sheriff du conté) ainsi que leurs numéros d’identification et leurs plaques d’immatriculation. Vous pouvez trouver ces informations sur leurs uniformes ou sur leurs cars. 
2. Ne signer aucun document avant de parler à votre avocat. Vous avez toujours le droit de parler à un avocat. Les représentants du Gouvernement peuvent tenter de vous intimider ou de vous pousser à signer. Vous pourriez être poussé(e) à signer pour abandonner votre droit à être entendu(e) par un juge de l’immigration.
3. Contactez votre avocat ou un membre de votre famille. Vous avez le droit de passer un coup de téléphone après avoir été arrêté(e). Apprenez par cœur le numéro de votre avocat, d’un membre de votre famille, d’un ami ou d’un représentant syndical et contactez-le (ou la) immédiatement. 
4. Contactez votre ambassade. Si vous êtes de nationalité étrangère et vous êtes arrêté(e) aux Etats Unis, vous avez le droit d’appeler votre consulat ou de demander à l’officier de l’immigration d’informer le consulat de votre arrestation. Demandez à voir la liste des ambassades et écrivez le numéro de téléphone. Le consul peut vous aider pour trouver un avocat ou pour contacter votre famille. 
5. Demandez à être libéré(e) sous caution. Une fois que vous êtes en garde à vue, demandez à être libéré(e) sous « caution » (même si l’immigration dit que vous n’y êtes pas éligible). Une caution est une somme d’argent en l’échange duquel vous pouvez être libéré(e) de prison. En échange, vous promettez de revenir devant la cour le jour convenu.

Trouvez un avocat spécialisé dans la défense contre les reconduites à la frontière capable de vous représenter si vous êtes en garde à vue. Apprenez par cœur le nom et le numéro de cet avocat. Gardez les noms et les numéros de téléphone de plusieurs bons avocats en droit de l’immigration affichés à côté du téléphone à la maison de façon à ce que les membres de votre famille puissent contacter un avocat si vous êtes en détention. 

CASA

301-431-4185

www.wearecasa.org

Immigration Advocates Network

Immigration Legal Services Directory:

https://www.immigrationadvocates.org/nonprofit/legaldirectory

American Immigration Lawyers Association

http://www.ailalawyer.org/

The post Know your rights: In English, Spanish, and French appeared first on Baltimore Beat.

No promises, no commitments, no concessions. 

That’s what Baltimore Gas & Electric representatives offered to a room of more than 70 Harwood residents who have faced lengthy recurring power outages this summer that cost them several hundreds of dollars in spoiled groceries, medication, and pet food; interfered with their internet access and ability to work from home; and left them without air conditioning during one of the hottest summers in recent memory. 

In July and August, residents recorded more than five power outages of at least one hour but up to 12 hours. The outages occurred around a week or two apart, meaning residents often had groceries spoil just as soon as they replaced them.

“We have a lot of elderly people in the neighborhood. We also have a lot of people who telework in the neighborhood. We have a lot of houses that don’t have air conditioning to begin with,” Isaac Morrison, president of the Harwood Community Association, said in an interview. 

“It’s unlike any previous year.”

In the short term, BGE said that they have now addressed the load issue that was causing the repeated outages by redistributing it to other parts of the circuit. But over the course of several months, they never communicated with residents that there was a known problem behind the outages, and that there could be an end in sight. 

“It goes out, and it’s out for however long…and then we just have to wait and see,” said Leta Davis, a Harwood resident. “We’ll see Xfinity trucks come out, we’ll see BGE trucks come out and we just wait.”

And when residents and elected officials asked BGE representatives how they were going to be compensated for the financial impacts of the outages, they didn’t have much to offer. 

Chris Hitch, senior claims case manager, repeatedly pointed residents to the claim filing process online. But that claims form says that BGE specifically will not reimburse claims due to “service interruptions,” citing Maryland Public Service Commission regulations. 

The only instance in which BGE would accept damage claims for loss of power is due to “willful default or neglect on its part.” BGE did not respond to questions asking if the Harwood outages would fall into that category.

“We’re not interested in filing a claim. This is our claim. You guys see the evidence of the claim. It’s evident in that we did not have power. You guys have talked about that you could see that,” one resident said.

“It’s literally a drop in the ocean for BGE to make this right,” another resident said. “I can’t believe you guys are standing up here and saying, bureautically, ‘We can’t do this.’”

To residents who have already attempted to pursue the claims process, Hitch’s words felt like running into yet another wall. 

Harwood resident Melissa Schober said in an interview that when she had looked into the claims process after the third or fourth power outage, a BGE representative told her over the phone that they rarely paid them. 

“So I decided not to pursue it, because the claim asks you to itemize every item in your refrigerator or freezer that was lost and estimate a cost, and then they want you to attach pictures. And by the time I had gotten the claim form, we had already had a couple of power outages and tossed my food long ago,” Schober said. 

“The whole process of assembling photos and itemized lists of everything I had lost in my fridge for the fourth and then eventually fifth time just did not seem worth it to me knowing that a representative on the phone said it’s very very unlikely that I would get any money from this process.”

Councilwoman Odette Ramos, who represents Harwood, continued to push BGE representatives to compensate residents in some way, whether it was a credit on their energy bill or gift cards to grocery stores.

“There are over 2000 residents that were impacted by this,” Ramos said at the meeting. “Every single one has an address. Every single one is one of your customers. I think you can do the math based on the amount of power that they did not get, and be able to put it back on their bill.” 

“It is not fair to put 2000 residents through the process of filling out a form that is not going to be taken into consideration into later on.”

In an interview, she expressed frustration that BGE knew the load issue was going to continue to be a problem and didn’t take steps to prevent outages. 

“I think everybody understands weather-related outages, right? Trees fall, wind happens, those are acts of nature that nobody can control,” she said.

“But in this case, it seemed like it could very much be controlled, especially since BGE actually noticed the increased load over time and didn’t do anything about it.”

State Delegate Regina T. Boyce, who represents parts of north Baltimore, said she would be following up with the Public Service Commission to force a stronger conversation about what BGE could do for residents affected by the repeated outages. 

Boyce noted that the commission’s regulations on utility companies don’t prevent them from compensating residents — it just limits their liability.

“This is not about everybody trying to get rich off of BGE. But sometimes a gesture is just nice, to say ‘You know what? We messed up,’’ Boyce said.

The lack of proactive communication or compensation from BGE has highlighted the inequitable relationship between the company and the city’s residents, who have no other option for their energy source. 

Ramos pointed out that when the city’s Department of Public Works is doing work, they place fliers on houses impacted to give them notice. BGE doesn’t do the same. 

“This is true for other institutions that are here, they’re not leaving, that feel like we need them more than they need us — [you] just can’t treat people this way,” she said. 

Residents don’t feel like the company respects them as customers. Many of them said they didn’t even hear back from BGE about the outages until Ramos’s office intervened.

“We would have to actually get together and actually take action against BGE in order for something to happen. Because they hold no liability and they’re such a large corporation that they’re not listening to us,” Davis said.

“It’s like David fighting Goliath. We’re not going to get anywhere.”

The post After a summer of power outages, what does BGE owe its customers? appeared first on Baltimore Beat.

After more than a year of silence about plans for a West Baltimore trail connecting two of the city’s biggest parks, city transportation officials presented a new proposal on August 22 that would circumvent Gwynns Falls Parkway altogether and instead utilize bike lanes and bus-bike lanes on Liberty Heights Avenue, North Dukeland Street and West North Avenue. 

But the proposal doesn’t meet the city’s own Complete Streets requirements for shared-use pathways — particularly the portions requiring trails to have some kind of separation from the roadway that would protect pedestrians, bicyclists and people using mobility devices from vehicular traffic.

Several parts of the proposal are also only designed for bicyclists and would not accommodate foot traffic.

“Do we really think it’s safe for somebody’s grandmother or a young parent pushing a stroller to be walking in the bus lane on North Avenue because we’ve called that a multi-use trail? That’s not a good idea,” said Kate Foster, mid-Atlantic director of trail development for Rails-to-Trails Conservancy.

“Do we really think it’s safe for somebody’s grandmother or a young parent pushing a stroller to be walking in the bus lane on North Avenue because we’ve called that a multi-use trail? That’s not a good idea.”

Kate Foster, mid-Atlantic director of trail development for Rails-to-Trails Conservancy

When asked about the lack of adherence to the Complete Streets requirements for shared-use paths, Department of Transportation officials appeared to be moving away from describing the planned pathway between Druid Hill Park and Leakin Park as a trail, despite years of outreach, advocacy, and planning for it as one.

“The vision of the Greenway Network Plan includes a 35-mile loop, connecting Baltimore’s existing stream valley trails and the waterfront promenade,” Stuart Sirota, deputy director for planning and sustainable transportation, wrote in a statement to Baltimore Beat. 

“There may be portions of the 35-mile loop that do not meet the literal definition of ‘trail’ or ‘multi-use path’ as described in the Complete Streets Manual, but still provide a high-quality connection between the city’s existing greenway assets.”

A key part of the Complete Streets Manual is emphasizing equity in redesigning Baltimore’s streets to ensure that Black neighborhoods that have been disinvested in and often have lower rates of car ownership are prioritized for safer, more walkable streets. 

​​”Baltimore’s history in transportation decisions negatively impacted Black and African American Communities. Not only were communities cut apart with high-speed roadways to prioritize the movement of cars, but these communities did not receive the same access to the services received by other wealthier neighborhoods throughout the city,” Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott wrote in the introduction to the manual in 2021. 

It’s unclear which portions of the trail network will end up as trails, providing multiple modes of access for residents and adhering to those equity requirements, and which portions will not.  

The August 22 meeting was advertised as a Greenway Trail Network meeting connecting the two parks, and the Department of Transportation still describes the connection as a trail network on its website. 

Sirota added that DOT would upgrade pedestrian infrastructure, particularly to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, in the segments where the pedestrian access would be separate from the bicycle access. 

Foster, whose organization led advocacy for the Greenway Trail Network before handing the project over to DOT, pushed back on DOT’s new description of the trail network.

“The planned trail segment between Leakin Park and Druid Hill Park is not simply a “connection.” It represents a critical segment of a city-sponsored trail network that will provide access to the trail network for thousands of residents of West Baltimore,” Foster wrote in a text.

“Multi-use trails, which is what the Baltimore Greenway Trails are intended to be, are by definition off-road and built to accommodate all ages and abilities of walkers, rollerbladers and bicyclists.”

At the August 22 meeting, residents and advocates also raised concerns about the safety of mixed bike-bus lanes and the indirectness of the route compared to the previously proposed Gwynns Falls Parkway route. Poster boards set up around the room to describe different parts of the route and encourage direct feedback were covered in Post-it notes asking the department to revisit the Gwynns Falls version. 

“This isn’t safe for adults, much less kids! The greenway is supposed to be all ages & all abilities,” one attendee wrote on one poster board.

“How is the pressure of an entire bus behind someone biking better than the pressure of being in car traffic?… What about wheelchair mobility users?” another commented.

Arica Gonzalez, a Hanlon resident who works with young adults through her community-building organization The Urban Oasis, noted that there seemed to be very few of her neighbors in attendance on August 22, a sign that the city may not have done enough to get the proposal in front of West Baltimore residents. 

Of the 43 in-person attendees, only eight said they were from neighborhoods that the trail would connect — Greater Mondawmin, Panway and Hanlon, per DOT. The department did not collect neighborhood data from an additional 49 online attendees. 

Gonzalez also felt that it wasn’t clear whether the proposal was open to tweaks or whether they were expected to veto or approve it as is. She hopes to see transportation officials redouble their efforts to engage with West Baltimore residents, particularly young adults who are looking for easier ways to navigate their neighborhoods.

“I think there is a much bigger opportunity for collaboration and ingenuity in the design,” Gonzalez said. “We’re gonna miss out on a lot of great ideas if we’re not having that conversation with the people impacted by the space.”

The new route would connect to Baltimore City Community College, the transit hub at Mondawmin Mall, and two schools along North Dukeland Street, which advocates pointed to as an upside. 

Jed Weeks, interim executive director of Bikemore, is in favor of bike lanes on Liberty Heights Avenue and North Dukeland Street, which he said should have been built years ago.

But without the separated infrastructure to protect pedestrians and bikers from car traffic, the proposed route will not fulfill the goals of the Greenway Trail Network, Weeks said.

“The trail network is designed to connect families, essentially, to amenities across the city. And if you get to any part of that trail and it’s not safe for a family to ride on, it undermines the entire corridor,” Weeks said.

He echoed the criticisms of attendees at the meeting who said the indirect route between Druid Hill Park and Leakin Park would make it more difficult for people to use the trail, adding that there were elevation changes on the new route that didn’t exist on the Gwynns Falls Parkway route.

“To me, it seems silly to just forfeit a route that literally has been studied for, at this point, 100 years, as a route that should have a trail on it,” Weeks said. “The original design of that road was a road with a trail down the median, and it was designed that way because it was a good idea then, and it’s a good idea now.”

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For 15 months, teachers with the Maryland Child Alliance spoke with Baltimore residents about the importance of a $1,000 payment to parents after the birth or adoption of a child — money that could be used to pay rent, buy diapers or baby food, and provide parents with a small financial cushion during a stressful time. 

They were able to convince nearly 14,000 city residents to sign their petition to put the creation of the Baby Bonus Fund on the ballot this fall.

On July 1, the Maryland Child Alliance received word from the Baltimore City Board of Elections that 10,000 of the signatures they submitted had been certified by the agency and the amendment to the city charter would be voted on by residents in November.

But, less than two weeks later, organizers behind the Baby Bonus Fund were informed that Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott and the City Council had filed a lawsuit to remove the question from the ballot, arguing that the amendment is unconstitutional and that “citizens cannot legislate by charter amendment.”

“This attempt to remove us from the ballot is a grave disservice to Baltimore’s families and children,” organizers wrote in a social media statement on July 12. 

They noted that the language for the Baby Bonus Fund mirrored the Baltimore Children and Youth Fund, a charter amendment that Scott sponsored as a city councilman in 2016. 

“In reality, this is about power and taking away city voters’ opportunity to enact the Baby Bonus Fund,” the statement continued. The alliance said they plan to fight the lawsuit in court.

Nate Golden, president of the Maryland Child Alliance, said at a press conference on July 12 that the alliance had been trying to meet with the mayor for more than a year, and that they had reached out to city council members and other lawmakers about their mission without much luck. 

“While Mayor Scott is supportive of the proposed amendment’s objectives, charter amendments that effectively commandeer the role of the legislature go against Maryland law and the City’s charter,” Bryan Doherty, spokesperson for the mayor’s office, said in an email.

Scott’s office also said that the city did not have the resources for a permanent guaranteed income program like the Baby Bonus Fund, which is estimated to cost the city $7 million a year, despite their “sympathies toward the underlying policy.” 

One of the five pillars of Scott’s $4.1 billion fiscal year 2025 budget is “prioritizing our youth.”

Scott spoke last week at Netroots Nation, a progressive conference held in Baltimore this year, to laud the guaranteed income movement and express the difference it makes in the lives of residents. 

“Again, the numbers support it. Not just in Baltimore’s GI program, but in the ones all around the country, supports this being something that one, is impactful, obviously, that the data is there. Two, it’s very fiscally responsible, right. And three, changes lives and communities which is what we’re supposed to do in these jobs in the first place,” Scott said at the conference. 

“The data doesn’t lie, guaranteed income works and should be a part of the solution to end poverty for good in the country. But we need to do it the right way,” Scott added on social media. 

Scott piloted a two-year guaranteed income program for young parents in 2022 using $4.8 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding. A June 2024 report just before the last monthly payments were sent out in July found that participants in the program were able to increase their household income, move into more independent living situations, pursue further education, and increase their employment.

“The initial findings suggest that [Baltimore Young Families Success Fund] families are doing better than control group families one year into the pilot in three key areas: income, housing, and mental health. These results suggest progress towards the program’s goal to help stabilize young parents facing economic challenges and improve their overall household well-being,” the report reads.

At the press conference, Golden argued that if Scott and other city officials really did support the Baby Bonus Fund but found the proposed charter amendment unconstitutional, that they could still put the fund in the city’s budget themselves. 

“We have a strong mayor system here in Baltimore. Brandon Scott already has outsized power on shaping the budget, and now he’s attempting an undemocratic power move to take more power and strip the power of people to shape how the city spends its money,” Golden said. 

The post Mayor, city council file lawsuit to remove Baby Bonus Fund from November ballot appeared first on Baltimore Beat.

There is a new, year-round, weekday farmers market Pearlstone Park in Mount Vernon.  

The market began on June 27. It was conceived after Eddie’s of Mount Vernon, the only grocery store in the neighborhood, closed last summer and car-free residents in the neighborhood began asking questions about how they would access groceries.

Pearlstone Market manager Joseph Colona was one of those residents. Even with the grocery store planning its return this summer, he believes the farmers market will fill a necessary gap for residents in and near Mount Vernon.

“I realized how weak our access to food was in the neighborhood,” Colona said. 

“’Cause if we’re dependent on one grocery store … then people with wealth, people with access to cars, the people who could afford delivery services don’t notice, and then people at the bottom, people who are struggling, do notice, but wouldn’t be able to put on a market demand.”

With the light rail stopping right next to Pearlstone Park and a number of bus lines going through Mount Vernon, Colona said he hopes the weekly market can serve residents from beyond the neighborhood as well. 

He plans to start out with a produce vendor, a butcher, and a creamery for essentials, in addition to coffee, food, clothing and jewelry vendors that will help offset costs for the grocery vendors and make the farmers market more of an experience.

In addition to providing basic grocery access, the goal of the market is to make Pearlstone Park, one of the few green spaces in dense Mount Vernon, a more functional and active space. 

Colona was first encouraged to pursue the farmers market by city councilman-elect

Zac Blanchard in Blanchard’s role as vice president of economic development for the Midtown Community Benefits District, an advocacy organization that represents Bolton Hill, Charles North, Madison Park, and Mount Vernon. 

Blanchard said he had been in conversations with stakeholders at MICA, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the Lyric about how to draw more residents into Pearlstone Park when the idea of a farmers market came up. 

Colona, who has a food service and event coordination background, coincidentally reached out to him the same week about putting on a farmers market, and the Midtown Community Benefits District offered its support via its trash pick-up program.

“Outside of Mount Vernon Place, like the Washington Monument, there’s really basically no green space in all of Mount Vernon except for Pearlstone Park,” Blanchard said.

“Finding a way to use the farmers market to activate that space was more the driving thing, though food security is obviously huge.”

Stakeholders at the BSO and MICA have echoed their support for the activation of Pearlstone Park as well.

“The vision for the new farmers market at Pearlstone Park complements our event days perfectly, providing fresh, local food and beverage options for our musicians, staff, and patrons,” Whitney Clemmons Brown, director of communications for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, said in an email. 

“This initiative, part of broader investments in the park, supports the cultural and community engagement goals shared by the BSO, the Lyric, and our Midtown partners. We value the collaboration with the Pearlstone family and others dedicated to revitalizing this key neighborhood space.” 

“MICA is proud to see the continued growth of Midtown and Pearlstone Park as a social hub. As a community-oriented institution, we believe access to affordable and healthy food is essential for a thriving Baltimore. The Pearlstone Market is a very welcome addition to our neighborhood,” Kevin Moreno, special assistant to the president at MICA, wrote in an email.

The post New year-round farmers market coming to Mount Vernon on Thursdays appeared first on Baltimore Beat.

Baltimore City is under an extreme heat alert from Friday, June 21, through Monday, June 24, as temperatures are expected to hit a high of 101 degrees this weekend. With humidity, it could feel as hot as 109 degrees.

The National Weather Service has issued an excessive heat watch on June 22 from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. The agency recommends drinking lots of fluids, staying in air-conditioned rooms and staying out of the sun.

The city is opening its air-conditioned cooling centers and providing cold water to residents on Friday and Monday at these locations: 

• Harford Senior Center, 4920 Harford Road from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
• Oliver Senior Center, 1700 N. Gay Street from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
• Zeta Center for Healthy and Actively Aging, 4501 Reisterstown Road from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
• Hatton Senior Center, 2825 Fait Avenue from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
• Cherry Hill Homes, 2700 Spelman Road from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. 
• Brooklyn Homes, 4140 10th Street from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
• ShopRite of Howard Park, 4601 Liberty Heights Avenue from 6:00 a.m. to 10 p.m.
• Beans & Bread, 400 S. Bond Street from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Manna House, 435 E. 25th Street from 11:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
• Franciscan Center, 101 W. 23rd Street from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

My Sister’s Place Women’s Center at 17 W. Franklin St.  will be open to women and children every day from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Weinberg Housing & Resource Center at 620 Fallsway will also be open every day from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Pratt library locations are also open to residents looking to stay out of the heat.

The Baltimore City Health Department recommends keeping an eye out for signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke, which include confusion, lightheadedness and nausea, and hot dry, flushed skin or cool and clammy skin.

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