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City officials defer pay raise in favor of pay raise

March 25th, 2010 | Add a Comment

As reported yesterday by the Sun’s Julie Scharper, City Hall officials are reviewing automatic pay raises slated to be given to them in the upcoming fiscal year, raises which generated some controversy previously when then-mayor Sheila Dixon initially refused to donate her raise to charity, as others alternatively did at the time (“City Hall pay raises up for review today,” March 22, 2010). … Read entire article »

Filed under: Politics

Common sense washes over council member, citizens afraid

March 5th, 2010 | Add a Comment

Well kiss my grits and break out the fine plastic china. As reported by the Sun’s B’More Green blog, Tim Wheeler tells us this morning that Jim Kraft, long time advocate of the proposed ban on plastic bags in grocery stores has somewhat reversed his opinion and opted for a program of mutual cooperation between businesses and city community groups in an effort to educate the public (wha????) concerning the virtues of reusable grocery bags and litter reduction. HIGH FIVE, JIM KRAFT. Meanwhile, unfortunately, councilman Bill Henry is still opining for a fee on the plastic menace, while Mary Pat Clarke would like to see an “automatic trigger” put into effect in which a ban or fee would be implemented if certain reduction goals are not met. …and we all know … Read entire article »

Filed under: Politics

The Fort Avenue pub crawl stabbing – Backlash and fallout

March 3rd, 2010 | 6 Comments

In case you were not paying attention to the Baltimore area internet in the past few days, it was initially reported on Monday by Sun reporter Justin Fenton that during a pub crawl along Fort Avenue on Saturday (an overlapping pub crawl not associated with the one plugged a few days prior), an altercation broke out which eventually resulted in one man being stabbed in the back by another, the details of which unfolded during the day in the form of edits on the original post. The nature of the report and the individuals involved – for whatever reason – sparked what essentially amounts to a race war in the comments section within a few hours; truly some of the most vitriolic commentary I’ve seen in relation to Baltimore neighborhoods … Read entire article »

Filed under: Events, Politics

Twilight of the Plastic Bag Saga

February 16th, 2010 | 7 Comments

Well it would seem the city council’s long standing tradition of trying to tax literally anything and everything under the guise of environmental or safety concerns has come to a head this week, as the now nearly two year old issue (1, 2, 3) of the city’s efforts to ban/tax plastic bag usage at grocery stores has been brought to light again. Realistically there’s no way in the world the city council will end up banning them, for as we all know, there’s no money in that. The alternate intent is currently to issue a 25 cent surcharge on each and every plastic bag used, the aim being to “reduce litter” across the city. I modestly propose several reasons why this is horribly misguided. Again. For the third time in two … Read entire article »

Filed under: Politics

Obligatory Stephanie Rawlings Blake Suggestion Post – Pt. 2

January 27th, 2010 | 17 Comments

(part 1) More community gardens absolutely everywhere Remember those 30,000 vacant properties I mentioned earlier? Yeah they aren’t really helping the economy in Baltimore. But you know what would, while simultaneously raising morale/property values/a sense of community in the immediate area? Raze a few of them and convert the plots into community gardens. Obviously this strategy doesn’t apply to areas that are completely abandoned, but for those areas that are struggling to rebuild and/or feature a few certain properties that cannot be salvaged and have been remained idle for years, just do it. Flatten the property, put in some dirt and grass and charge people a tiny fee to grow whatever they want on 3×3′ plots. The fees would pay for maintenance, while boosting the immediate area’s worth on all fronts. Hell, … Read entire article »

Filed under: Politics