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https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/crime/bs-md-ci-cr-trans-organization-vandalized-20220401-yrld4stm3fcj7cpyui6ff32tie-story.html | On the morning of International Transgender Day of Visibility — an occasion to celebrate trans people and acknowledge the discrimination many face — staff of the local outreach organization Baltimore Safe Haven arrived at work to discover a hateful, threatening message scrawled across their office door with purple spray paint.
“[Expletive] pride DIE,” was written in large, messy letters.
Baltimore police are investigating the vandalism as a potential hate crime, officials said. Officers responded to the North Charles Street building Thursday morning after organization staff called law enforcement.
Founded in 2018, Baltimore Safe Haven provides support services, including transitional housing and food distribution, for members of the trans community, particularly Black trans women.
The group recently announced plans for a 2022 trans-focused Pride celebration this spring. Organization leaders believe the vandalism was a reaction to that announcement.
“We’re devastated, afraid and traumatized,” said Safe Haven founder and executive director Iya Dammons. “But we are not going to cancel Pride. We’re going to stay vigilant and fight like hell. This is one of those moments.”
As a trans woman whose lived experience includes hardships like poverty and discrimination that are all too common within this vulnerable population, Dammons said, she has a clear message for anyone who doubts her resolve: “Every breath that a trans person takes is an act of revolution, both here in Baltimore and across the country. We’re here, and we’re not going anywhere.”
Nicole Wells, a caseworker for Baltimore Safe Haven, found the graffiti when she arrived at the office Thursday morning.
“I just started shaking. It was shocking,” she said. Wells alerted the rest of the team, and they briefly considered staying home Thursday for safety reasons. But ultimately, they decided to show up.
When reached by phone at their office that afternoon, organization leaders spoke out about the crime.
“Our community deals with violence on a regular basis, but our movement is much greater than the hate,” said Jamie Grace, policy coordinator for FreeState Justice, a statewide LGBTQ advocacy organization.
Breaking News Alerts
She described the challenge of distinguishing between empty threats and real danger — a question that members of the trans community face regularly.
In a statement posted on Facebook Thursday, Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby called the vandalism “doubly heartbreaking” because it was committed on International Transgender Day of Visibility.
“I am disgusted to learn about the transphobic and homophobic graffiti that was painted on the property of Baltimore Safe Haven,” she said. “Hate has no home in our city, and we will work with our partners to find the perpetrators and bring them to justice.”
Hours before the Baltimore trans community awoke to news of the vandalism, President Joe Biden issued a proclamation Wednesday evening officially recognizing the March 31 holiday and pledging more protections for transgender Americans. He also pointed to violence, harassment and persistent discrimination facing the community.
“Transgender people are some of the bravest Americans I know, and our Nation and the world are stronger, more vibrant, and more prosperous because of them,” the proclamation reads. “To transgender Americans of all ages, I want you to know that you are so brave. You belong. I have your back.”
Leaders of Baltimore Safe Haven said they plan to remove the graffiti and proceed with their plans for the upcoming Pride celebration. The organization refers to the TLGBQ community, a symbolic rearranging of letters to emphasize their focus on the experience of trans people.
Their Trans Pride event, which includes a grand march and block party, will take place June 4 at Charles and North 23rd streets. | true | true | both | www.baltimoresun | 20220401 |
https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/crime/bs-md-cr-brennan-house-arrest-20220401-63nd2wtg5rh7ddomtxhzffxsty-story.html | PHILADELPHIA — An 84-year-old defrocked priest was sentenced to five years of probation for lying to the FBI about whether he knew a former altar boy and his family.
Robert Brennan of Perryville in Cecil County was ordered to spend the first two years on house arrest. Under a plea agreement, he admitted he lied to the FBI when agents visited his home in 2019 as part of a broader federal probe of priest abuse in Pennsylvania.
Brennan had been named in more than 20 abuse complaints during his long church career, and Philadelphia prosecutors charged him in 2013 with raping former altar boy Sean McIlmail in 1998. However, those charges were dropped when the 26-year-old McIlmail died of a drug overdose before trial.
His family instead filed a civil lawsuit against the Archdiocese after his death, and settled for an undisclosed amount.
When federal investigators examined the issue, and visited Brennan, he said he did not know McIlmail despite pictures of them together.
The McIlmails, who attended Thursday’s sentencing, said they were disappointed but not surprised given the plea agreement that Brennan reached with prosecutors last year.
“I’m disappointed because it just continues to show how the church and the courts ... are not in favor of the victim,” said Debbie McIlmail of Willow Grove, Sean’s mother, who hoped Brennan would get at least some jail time.
Still, she said, “it was the first time we had an opportunity to face him and read an impact statement.”
A public defender representing Brennan did not immediately return messages seeking comment Thursday.
In Pennsylvania alone, at least four prosecutors have conducted sweeping investigations into child sexual abuse within the Roman Catholic church, only to find most complaints too old to lead to charges.
The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they are the victims of sexual assault without their permission, which Debbie McIlmail granted on her son’s behalf. | true | true | both | www.baltimoresun | 20220401 |
https://www.baltimoresun.com/education/bs-md-hbcu-advisory-board-20220401-22qlhd7nczamjbb6klbpriswtq-story.html | A 20-year-old junior at Bowie State University student was appointed by President Joe Biden to the President’s Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, the White House announced Thursday.
Paige Blake, a Prince George’s County native, is majoring in biology is on a pre-med track. She plans to attend medical school and study neurology to help others with spina bifida and other neurological conditions, according to a biography on the White House website. When Blake was 4, she was diagnosed with sacral agenesis, a form of spina bifida.
Blake uses her personal experience to help advocate for others, according to her bio, by organizing donation drives with her Girl Scout troop to send medical supplies to countries overseas and working with the Congressional Black Caucus and former President Barack Obama’s White House Initiative on African American Excellence to advocate for disabled students.
[ Maryland's HBCUs beckon to students of color today as a ‘safe space’ in a racially tense nation ]
Blake is among the nine men and nine women Biden is appointing to the advisory board on historically Black colleges and universities. Several HBCU presidents, the president of United Airlines, actor Taraji P. Henson,NBA player Chris Paul and the first Black woman to become administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency are among Biden’s selections.
The board will advance the goal of the HBCU Initiative, established by the Carter administration, to increase the capacity of HBCUs to provide the highest-quality education to its students and continue serving as engines of opportunity.
The White House said the administration has committed $5.8 billion in support to these historically Black colleges and universities through a combination of pandemic relief funding, grants and forgiving capital improvement debt.
Javaune Adams-Gaston, the president of Norfolk State University, Virginia’s largest HCBU, was also named to the board. Adams-Gaston previously worked at the University of Maryland in various positions, including psychologist, associate dean in academic affairs, assistant athletic director, equity administrator and graduate faculty member.
HBCUs in Maryland in addition to Bowie State are Morgan State University and Coppin State University in Baltimore and University of Maryland Eastern Shore in Princess Anne in Somerset County. | true | true | both | www.baltimoresun | 20220401 |
https://www.baltimoresun.com/features/ask-amy/ct-aud-ask-amy-0401-20220401-m3xjikstznfkzizl43fm26ikma-story.html | Dear Amy: I met “Shari” through other friends. We got along well, and always had a great time. I thought we had an amazing bond.
However, once the pandemic hit, I started to see a different side of her.
She is very anti-vaxx and has refused to acknowledge the seriousness of the pandemic. She has ramped up the anti-vaxx posts on social media.
I did send her a message about one post, stating that it wasn’t true, and she sent a tirade back at me, rehashing a number of points about COVID-19 and the vaccine that are all untrue.
I don’t make friends easily. I have serious trust issues, but I don’t see being able to maintain a friendship with someone who is so diametrically opposed to my values and views.
I am willing to accept her being against vaccinations, but she is posting pure falsehoods, and is argumentative when called out with facts, stating that anyone who disagrees with her or counters her arguments is brainwashed by the government and media.
I keep thinking that once we get past the pandemic, maybe things will be better.
I try not to bring it up, but when I see some of the posts, and when we are together with other friends, it comes up.
I put my head down and keep quiet, but this is eating me up.
My challenge is – how do I end the friendship? I am afraid to end it, as we are part of a group of friends, and if I need to pull my friendship away from her, I will lose those friends, who are my only friends right now.
But I wonder if being alone would be better than this.
– Stuck
Dear Stuck: You see this as an “all or nothing” situation, where because of this person’s behavior, all of your other friendships are at risk, but she is not in charge of your other relationships. You are.
You should completely disengage from her on social media. She is not reasonable and does not want to engage in an exchange of ideas, so remove your access to her on this platform. Quietly “hide,” “block,” or “unfriend.”
Change the channel.
There is no need to abruptly end the friendship by declaring it to be over.
You simply need to back away from the relationship. Detach from her.
Don’t gossip about her with others. If she asks you why you are distant, you can truthfully tell her that you’ve become exhausted by her declarations and tirades, which run counter to your own values.
Dear Amy: My mother-in-law is a smoker. Her own house is permeated with the smell of cigarettes. Even though I don’t like it, I can handle this when we’re visiting.
I know it is her house and she has the right to do what she wants when she’s at home, but I cannot stand it when she lights up at our place.
We have a balcony, and I am fine with her smoking on the balcony if she wants to, but – please – not in our townhouse.
My husband doesn’t want to say anything to her, but I do.
Do you have any ideas?
– Puffed-Out
Dear Puffed-Out: Smoking anywhere indoors has become so rare that at this point it is almost taboo.
Many rental units and condo associations ban smoking – even inside units – because of the risks associated with second-hand smoke. You should check to see if there are any rules within your townhouse development, and if even smoking on a balcony is permitted (balconies are sometimes considered “common areas”).
If smoking is banned inside units where you live, you should notify your mother-in-law.
Otherwise, even if your husband won’t say anything to his mother, you should.
Keep your tone neutral, and simply say: “I hope you won’t mind standing outside to smoke.”
If she says, “Why yes, I do mind,” you’ll have to say – “Well, smoke really bothers me, so I’d appreciate it if you could do that for me.”
Weekend Watch
Dear Amy: The writer signing her question: “Just Say: Get Well Soon!” said she had shared the fact that she was getting surgery on Facebook, but she didn’t like the fact that one friend queried her about the details.
Thank you for pointing out the obvious: When you post personal news on social media, you don’t get to control how people respond!
– Aggravated
Dear Aggravated: My own life without a personal Facebook presence (I maintain a professional page) has been a little less colorful, but a lot less aggravating.
Got a question for Amy? Enter it here and we’ll send it to her.
Sign up here to receive the Ask Amy newsletter to get advice e-mailed to your inbox every morning, and for a limited time — get the book "Ask Amy: Essential Wisdom from America’s Favorite Advice Columnist" for $5.
©2021 Amy Dickinson. | true | true | both | www.baltimoresun | 20220401 |
https://www.baltimoresun.com/horoscopes/sns-daily-horoscopes-04012022-20220401-7jpkryjitjeslp636wejbmkk44-story.html | General Daily Insight for April 1, 2022
New beginnings can soothe our old wounds. The bold Aries New Moon gives us a fresh start to the month at 2:24 am EDT. The Moon then moves to sextile powerful Mars in Aquarius, sparking our drive to be creative with our everyday actions, while Luna sextile steadfast Saturn lends us the strength to commit to our innovations. Finally, the Moon conjoins The Wounded Healer, asteroid Chiron, encouraging us to move forward from our past emotional wounds. Let the healing in!
Get your FREE cosmic profile at Tarot.com.
Aries
March 21-April 19
They're playing your song, Aries! You're no stranger to the power of being creative and thinking quickly on your feet, and today you can use your innate boldness to your benefit. You have cosmic permission to work energetically on your own or lead a team confidently, and you can find great success when you're being creative and original. Don't try to imitate when it's your turn to step up, because your best, most genuine self perfectly fits the energy of the day.
Taurus
April 20-May 20
Your stamina could be put to the test today. The tasks that you have to complete before the day is done may be piling up, even if you don't feel your peppiest. Whether you didn't get enough sleep last night or you're just not feeling it, don't try to do more than you're able. Overcommitting is an easy trap to fall into, and saying no won't make you a bad person. Being honest about what you can accomplish should make things easier for everyone.
Gemini
May 21-June 20
You can get by with a little help from your friends. An upcoming trip or project might be looming overwhelmingly in your mind, and asking a friend for advice or even calling someone up for their companionship can help. Once you hear yourself explaining your circumstances to another person, there's a good chance that you'll realize it's not as scary as you think. There's really no need to travel fast today, so if you want to go far, take time to go together!
Cancer
June 21-July 22
Now is not the time to let anyone hold you back! While you've likely got enough momentum to make a good-sized dent in the tasks that you have before you, you may also want to keep a few of your plans a secret. Letting everyone know your business could end up delaying you, and your plans are too good to share with everyone. Make sure that the most important business stays on a need-to-know basis. Not everyone needs to know!
Leo
July 23-August 22
Nature is calling your name! It may not feel like the right time to take a spontaneous break, but adventure is out there, even if it's only a little jaunt. Your routine may be creating stagnancy for you, and your heart probably wants to break out of the mold today. Whether you feel led to plan a trip on foreign shores or to drive out on a simple day trip, take some friends and catch up. Breathe the fresh air -- you deserve it!
Virgo
August 23-September 22
Transformation often doesn't happen overnight. You may feel a new burst of momentum toward improving your health or breaking a bad habit, but you could still feel like you aren't seeing enough of a result for your efforts. Progress is much easier said than done, and often, we don't immediately see the end product that we're dreaming of. Use your meticulous skills to figure out a plan of action, and once you're in a rhythm, you might not even notice the good habits naturally forming.
Libra
September 23-October 22
Creativity is currently at your doorstep, asking you to let it in! You have an opportunity to express yourself creatively now, and it's a bonus if you make something meaningful for someone that you love. Whether you want to get a jump on crafting a friend's birthday card DIYing a toy for a beloved pet, use your unique skills to tangibly show your appreciation of someone special in your life. You have a lot of love to give, and it should be fun!
Scorpio
October 23-November 21
Everyday life can be a chore sometimes, but it can also be comforting. Your routine is likely to go by faster and with fewer bumps in the road today, making productivity a smooth process. It may not be shiny and exciting, but your routine is reliable, and you could be coming out of a hectic time, making you particularly thankful that life is going back to normal. Don't be afraid to romanticize your daily life -- consider adding a fun treat to your day!
Sagittarius
November 22-December 21
It's time to let the sunshine in, literally and metaphorically. This is a great time to have fun, express yourself, and connect with your friends. A video chat with someone who really gets you might be all you need to fill the day with laughter and intrigue. However, you can be prone to distraction. If there's something that absolutely needs to get done, don't wait until the last second. Go ahead and get it out of the way early for future you!
Capricorn
December 22-January 19
Home is where your heart is, and your surroundings should reflect that. That room that you've been hesitating to clean or that decorating that you've been procrastinating? It's time to get into them. Even if you only have a few minutes to spare, reevaluating and refreshing the energy flow in your home can make all the difference in your mood. It's an atmosphere that you spend quite a bit of time in, so it's worth it to make it comfortable.
Aquarius
January 20-February 18
The electricity of today is palpable -- for better or for worse. You may be feeling extra excitable, and without providing an outlet for that energy, you could end up feeling anxious. Going for a run, cleaning your house, or just dancing in your room can help you release any jitters. Impatience could cause you to make mistakes that force you to go back and redo what you've already done, so take your time with decisions. Channel that energy and watch it carry you higher!
Pisces
February 19-March 20
An emotionally charged day might be in store for you. A loved one might be the cause of these strong feelings -- you can be their shoulder to cry on, the person celebrating a win with them, or someone who can laugh and cry as they tell you everything that's happened since they last saw you. Try not to attach yourself too strongly to your feelings! Just let them flow through you and be present for your friend. Your emotional intelligence can serve you well. | true | true | both | www.baltimoresun | 20220401 |
https://www.baltimoresun.com/business/ac-cn-sea-dog-pet-boutique-20220330-20220401-3zbxkbttvbeffgv4tt2ychreuu-story.html | It’s been Karen Komisar’s dream for three decades to run her own business.
For years, the Ellicott City resident worked with Animal Advocates of Howard County, helping the organization raise funds for pet adoptions. Meanwhile, she rescued her own dogs and cats.
In September, Komisar left her job of 25 years in health care sales with plans to open Sea Dog Pet Boutique. The business opened its doors Monday at 172 Main St., in Annapolis.
Sea Dog isn’t just any old pet supplies store.
Yes, Komisar offers a range of treats, colorful collars and leashes and stuffed toys with punny names based on alcoholic beverages like “White Paw” and “Barker’s Mark.” But she seeks items that are made locally or are sourced from small businesses that are woman owned or ethically produced, or both, Komisar said.
“Everything has a story behind it,” she said, pointing to Timberdoodles, a brand of natural dog treats, made by an Irish butcher from New England. Nearby is a rack of greeting cards that feature paintings from a mother-daughter company based in Howard County called Wet Nose Greetings. Another brand of treats, Sweet Piggy Bakery, is based in Millersville.
“I have always loved animals. We have two rescue dogs and a rescue cat. We have two geckos, a guinea pig and fish,” Komisar said. “It was just important to me to provide things that were healthy and safe for our pets. Not a lot of preservatives or dyes and things like that.”
To fill out her inventory, Komisar spends hours researching products, scouring social media pages of other boutiques and popping into brick and mortar stores when she travels to see what kind of merchandise they carry. She specifically seeks out companies owned by women or that employ women. For instance, some of the collars from a company called Puddle Jumper Pups are made by stay-at-home moms, military wives and young women just starting their careers in business, according to the company’s website.
Komisar makes sure that even the products from other countries meet her standards, such as The Paws, a company based in Bali that hires women to hand-make bandannas. Many of the proceeds go to rescue dogs.
“People told me I was crazy. Obviously, I can’t avoid some things that show up on Amazon,” Komisar said. “But I really did my best.”
In her work with Animal Advocates of Howard County, Komisar helped establish the fundraising event Walk for Paws, which became a key moneymaker for the organization. Komisar hopes to bring similar philanthropic work to Annapolis with fundraisers and other events.
She purchased a claw machine that sits next to the register and filled it with stuffed dog toys. The game, branded with the Sea Dog logo, costs $1 to play, with all proceeds going to the ASPCA of Annapolis and Senior Dog Sanctuary. The store had its first winner on Tuesday, a couple from North Carolina, Komisar said.
The Evening Sun
Komisar chose Annapolis because of her love for the historic city on the water. Though she and her fiance are still based in Howard County, she recently purchased a property in Annapolis and plans to move here full time soon, she said. She will bring with her two rescue dogs, Oshie, a 2-year-old black lab and pit bull mix, and Bentley, a 9-year-old Australian shepherd.
Bentley is the inspiration for the Sea Dog logo, a smiling cartoon dog with red fur on a blue background.
They also have a 14-year-old cat named Colby. One nook of the business is set aside for cat supplies, including collars, treats and toys.
Unfortunately, neither of Komisar’s pups will be making an appearance at the store because they’re a little skittish, but customers are encouraged to bring their pets inside, she said.
On Tuesday, the store had its first “dog theft,” when a furry friend came into the store with her owner and swiped a low-hanging treat from a display. Komisar said she didn’t sweat the loss of revenue. After all, she could still be answering emails from doctors and sales reps at her old job.
“One of these days, I’m going to work with puppies,” she recalled saying to herself. “And now I’m finally getting to do that.”
Sea Dogs is open daily, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. | true | true | both | www.baltimoresun | 20220401 |
https://www.baltimoresun.com/obituaries/bs-md-ob-elinor-bell-20220401-qzxdwty4mba25pc2t3uhzs3hty-story.html | Elinor P. Bell, a longtime Baltimore City Public Schools educator who specialized in teaching special education students and earned a law degree, died of heart failure March 22 at Union Memorial Hospital. The Northwest Baltimore resident was 79.
“Elinor was kind, gracious and committed to her work and devoted to her family,” said her first cousin, Rep. Kweisi Mfume. “She was built for motherhood and had honed her matriarchal spirit a longtime as a girl who wanted to have a family and see them succeed her. She earned the right to be the matriarch of our family.
“She was brilliant in her own right, was very studious, and had a sharp mind. She clearly was a lot smarter than me. Stuff came to her easy whereas I had to work at it.”
“She was a trailblazer and matriarch of our family,” said a son, Lawrence A. Bell III, former City Council president and councilman, who lives in Northwest Baltimore. “She was active in politics and impacted a lot of lives. She was well liked and had a certain quiet spirit about her.”
Marshall C. Bell, who is her younger son and lives in West Baltimore, said his mother always carried herself with a “certain dignity and respect.”
“She had respect for herself and respect and dignity for others,” said Mr. Bell, a Baltimore businessman, political consultant and author. “She had a queenly demeanor, and was certainly a woman of class and dignity.”
Former City Council President and Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke was a friend of Mrs. Bell’s.
“She was a wonderful combination of mother and family, and was the boss of it, too,” Ms. Clarke said. “Whether it was politics or business, she steered the way and everyone loved her for it. She was very friendly, down-to-earth, and very smart. Everything she did, was to make a better world.
“Every group she found herself a part of — she didn’t want to run it — but she wanted to help steer it.”
The former Elinor Pecora Willis, daughter of Randolph W. Willis, a Calvert Distillery worker, and his wife, Corinna S. Willis, an associate pastor at New Creative Christian Church, and a homemaker, was born in Baltimore and raised in West Baltimore on Madison Avenue and later Appleton Street.
Mrs. Bell attended city public schools, and after skipping a grade in grade school where she was a straight-A student, family members said, she enrolled at Booker T. Washington Junior High School.
“She was a member of the very first class of Black young women to matriculate at Western High School, from which she graduated in 1959,” said Mr. Bell, who was City Council president from 1995 to 1999.
During her teenage years, Mrs. Bell started her first job working as a salesclerk at Tommy Tucker’s Five and Dime Store on Pennsylvania Avenue, family members said.
She began her college studies at what was then Morgan State College and met and fell in love with a fellow student, Lawrence A. Bell Jr., whom she met while attending an ROTC dance. The couple married in 1961.
After the birth of her first son, Lawrence, she returned to Morgan, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in 1964 in home economics. While a new mother and student, Mrs. Bell worked nights at the Federal Reserve Bank on North Calvert Street.
“She was one of the first African American clerks at the bank,” Lawrence A. Bell III said.
“She loved her family and husband and had the ability to go from being a teenager to a woman who contributed so much to our community,” Mr. Mfume said.
Mrs. Bell began her city public schools career in 1964 teaching home economics at Calverton Junior High School, and later at Gwynns Falls Junior High School, where she was a senior teacher. Because she found teaching special education students rewarding, she later joined the faculty of Claremont School, which is the city public school for special needs students.
Mrs. Bell retired in 2000 from Claremont, where she had spent the majority of her career.
As a person who respected and understood the power of education, she earned a master’s degree in the early 1970s from what is now Coppin State University, and her law degree in 1986 from the University of Maryland School of Law.
When her husband attended dental school at the University of Maryland in the early 1970s, she became the family breadwinner. After her husband graduated from dental school in 1974, she assisted him when he established his first practice on Duvall Avenue, and later when he moved to an office in 1979 at Auchentoroly Terrace and Gwynns Falls Parkway, across from Druid Hill Park.
Politics was a family affair for Mrs. Bell.
“Mom was a very, very smart woman, and when it came to politics when we were growing up, we’d have discussions around the table and she had her opinions and wasn’t afraid to express them,” Marshall C. Bell said. “She was both a compassionate and passionate person who cared for people, and we had the ability to give back and give people an arm up. And she felt it was important to give back to the community.”
When her son Lawrence ran for City Council in 1987, Mrs. Bell served as his campaign treasurer, while his brother, who was an 18-year-old Howard University freshman, managed his campaign.
“Campaigning was brand new to us, but we made a great team,” Marshall C. Bell recalled. “We leaned on her for guidance and keeping the books straight.”
When Mr. Mfume, former City Council member from 1978 to 1986, ran in 1987 for the House seat representing Maryland’s 7th Congressional District, he turned to the Bell family.
“Kweisi used one of our properties on Auchentoroly Terrace as his campaign headquarters,” Marshall C. Bell said.
The Morning Sun
If Mrs. Bell was fascinated with politics, she was equally fascinated in editing — she served as editor when her son Marshall wrote two novels, “The Darkest Secret” and “Baltimore Blues: Harm City.”
[ Charles E. Baublitz Jr., retired Anne Arundel County firefighter, dies ]
Mrs. Bell had been an active and proud member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority. She enjoyed watching “It’s Academic” with her husband, and “Jeopardy!” with her son Marshall, and shopping at the Druid Hill Park Farmer’s Market. A world traveler, she visited Europe, South America, Africa and the Holy Land, and took many cruises with her husband.
“When her husband died in 2018, it took something out of her,” Mr. Mfume said.
“She provided selfless love, support and encouragement to both her children and her three grandchildren in the pursuit of their dreams, and would do anything to see them happy, healthy and successful,” Marshall C. Bell wrote in a biographical profile of his mother.
“She was a quiet woman full of love, strength, warmth, character, and dignity. She was the quiet strength and foundation behind the success of her family,” he wrote. “Elinor lifted up her husband and children. She was the bright shining light to all who met and knew her.”
Funeral services for Mrs. Bell will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at the United House of Prayer for All People at 3401 Edgewood Road in Baltimore.
In addition to her two sons, Mrs. Bell is survived by her mother, Corinna S. Willis of Woodberry; three grandchildren; a niece; a nephew; and many cousins. | true | true | both | www.baltimoresun | 20220401 |
https://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/college/football/ac-cs-navy-football-pro-day-20220401-szfk3btpyfee5fhpm4aife7ufa-story.html | Diego Fagot performed the shuttle drill perfectly — shuffling laterally to his left and reaching down to touch the line, then shuffling laterally to his right and doing the same before turning and running straight ahead toward the middle of the course where he had started in a three-point stance.
A large contingent of Navy football players, coaches and support personnel roared its approval and shouted words of encouragement.
Fagot did nothing to hurt his stock during the Navy football Pro Day. The 6-foot-3, 240-pound inside linebacker posted impressive numbers in most of the testing elements in front of a dozen NFL scouts at the academy Wednesday afternoon.
Cornerback Michael McMorris along with slotbacks Carlinos Acie and Chance Warren joined Fagot for the two-hour audition. Delaware State wide receiver Trey Gross, an Annapolis High graduate, also participated.
The evaluation session began in the Navy weight room on the first floor of Ricketts Hall with each of the players being measured for height, weight and wingspan. Then came strength testing with the prospects trying to bench press 225 pounds as many times as possible.
After vertical jump measurements were taken, the action moved outside to Rip Miller Field for testing in the broad jump, 40-yard dash, short shuttle and three-cone drills. That was followed by some position drills that incorporated catching passes from Navy quarterback Tai Lavatai.
Fagot put up 225 pounds 22 times, a number better than all but three linebackers at the NFL Combine. He posted a 36-inch vertical leap, which would tie for 12th at the NFL Combine.
Broad jump measures explosiveness and Fagot launched himself 9 feet, 5 inches, a respectable distance. He was not thrilled with a 40-yard dash time of 4.68 seconds because he has run faster in previous evaluations. However, the 40 times were not helped by the fact the players were running outside while buffeted by a significant crosswind coming off the Severn River.
“I was fairly pleased with how I performed. I pretty much hit the numbers I expected to, more or less,” Fagot said afterward. “It’s a competitive environment and that’s what I thrive on.”
Fagot shook his head when asked if he was nervous about performing on command for a group of NFL scouts watching his every movement closely.
“Not at all. I’ve been working toward this for three months. I felt fully prepared because I knew I’d put in the work,” he said.
Most mock NFL Drafts have Fagot as a mid- to late-round pick. The three-time All-American Athletic Conference honoree dramatically improved his stock by being named Defensive Most Valuable Player of the East-West Shrine Bowl.
Fagot, who led Navy in tackles for three straight seasons, has been working out regularly with Hunt Valley-based sports performance coach Anschel Maile-Moskowitz. Much of their training has focused on the typical testing drills NFL scouts rely on.
Maile-Moskowitz was in attendance Wednesday to provide Fagot with advice on form and technique. Each player was allowed two attempts on each drill with the best result being recorded.
Also on hand to support Fagot was his agent – Adam Heller of Vantage Management Group. Heller, who has been in contact with NFL executives and scouts, sounded confident his client would get drafted.
[ Navy's Diego Fagot was honored by the Touchdown Club of Annapolis. ]
“Since the end of the season, Diego has done everything the right way. He’s been training very hard here on campus on a daily basis,” Heller said.
Heller has been contacted by several NFL franchises that want to bring Fagot to their facilities for private workouts and interviews between now and the draft.
“Diego has taken advantage of every opportunity to impress the pro scouts and a lot of teams are taking notice,” Heller said. “There is a lot of film out there on Diego. If people do their homework, they don’t have to dig too deep to find out the type of player and person he is.”
Fagot, who started 35 games dating back to the end of his freshman season, amassed 282 career tackles. He ranks sixth on Navy’s all-time chart with 35½ career tackles for loss.
McMorris was also a four-year standout for the Midshipmen, making 32 career starts and amassing 155 tackles. The 5-foot-9, 173-pound Georgia native also totaled 21 pass breakups and six forced fumbles.
McMorris posted impressive numbers in both the vertical leap (38.5 inches) and broad jump (10-9) before clocking 4.5 seconds in the 40. He prepared for Pro Day by training regularly with Bryan Miller, Navy’s associate strength and conditioning coach.
“I think I performed pretty well. Obviously, there’s always room to improve. You’ll always have that feeling you could have done better,” said McMorris, who likened the Pro Day session to a gameday setting.
“You always feel a little nervous, a little pressure,” he said. “Once you get started, it’s like another game and all the butterflies go away. You just go out there and do what you have been doing your whole life.”
McMorris was Navy’s top cover corner as a junior and senior and routinely matched up against wide receivers from various American Athletic Conference schools and Notre Dame that went on to play in the NFL. That list includes the likes of James Proche (SMU, Baltimore Ravens), Marquez Stevenson (Houston, Buffalo Bills) Antonio Gibson (Memphis, Washington Commanders) and Gabriel Davis (Central Florida, Bills).
A scout from the Commanders spent several minutes talking to McMorris following the testing. Washington and the Atlanta Falcons confirmed private workouts with the Navy defender.
“I’ve never had a doubt that I have the ability to play in the league. I’m just excited about the opportunity and hope I get a shot,” McMorris said.
Gross was named first team All-Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference as a senior after leading the Hornets with 48 receptions for 625 yards and 13 touchdowns. He ranks third in Delaware State history with 29 receiving touchdowns, fifth in receptions (146) and sixth in receiving yards (2,120).
Gross, who was selected to play in the HBCU Legacy Bowl postseason all-star game, improved on the numbers he posted at the Delaware Pro Day last week. He benched 225 pounds 14 times, ran the 40 in 4.6 seconds and landed a broad jump of 9-11.
“I really appreciate Navy allowing me to participate today. It felt good to be home and I was proud of how I performed out there,” said Gross, who is training with Myron Flowers of Top Tier Fitness in Columbia in hopes of getting drafted or signed as a free agent.
“I think I have a shot. I think if the scouts evaluate my film and really drill down on what I’ve done, they will realize I could be a real steal.” | true | true | both | www.baltimoresun | 20220401 |
https://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/high-school/bs-sp-va-spalding-boys-lacrosse-michael-weisshaar-wants-miaa-title-20220401-cw3gpy5br5cudic5v2fr3gt2ea-story.html | When Michael Weisshaar enrolled at Archbishop Spalding as a freshman in 2018, the lacrosse star brought a hefty goal: Fulfilling his longstanding dream of winning a coveted Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference championship.
Back then, most would have deemed it unrealistic as the Cavaliers had never won a league playoff game, let alone a championship.
But now? Behind Weisshaar, a dynamic two-way midfielder and last year’s C. Markland Kelly Award winner, and the special senior class he’s part of, the No. 4 Cavaliers are fresh off a breakthrough 2021 season and looking for much more. After winning the program’s first playoff game and reaching last year’s title game — falling to perennial league power Boys’ Latin, 9-8 — they firmly believe they’re prepared to take the final step.
Weisshaar, who has 28 goals and nine assists in the team’s 5-1 start, knows it takes a special bond and he sees it every day. Six players in the senior class played on varsity as freshmen and a talented group of underclassmen are doing their share under coach Brian Phipps.
“I think the biggest part about it is we just all love being around each other,” Weisshaar said. “I know for me and a lot of the guys on the team, coming to practice and being with each other is the best part of the day. So I think that’s going to be a key for our success and it will really help us in the long run.”
Weisshaar’s impact is made all over the field, evidenced by his breakthrough junior year. The left-handed Towson commit did a lot of everything in leading the Cavaliers to a 12-3 mark. In becoming the program’s first C. Markland Kelly Award winner honoring Maryland’s top high school player, he scored 48 goals, dished out 23 assists, totaled 53 ground balls and played a big role in the clearing game.
“The one thing with Michael is he’ll never take a play off — he’ll go until his tank hits empty,” Phipps said. “He can make something out of nothing, which is the impressive thing. There can be a ball on the ground and the next thing you know, it’s in the back of the net after he scoops it up, dodges two guys and finishes.”
Weisshaar had a lacrosse stick in his hand when he was 3 years old and he grew up also playing football and basketball. One thing stood out: his outstanding speed.
It was the first indicator that he was a special talent.
“I’ve just always been fast and so that’s always been an advantage. When I was little, I was always running — that’s all I knew,” he said. “Returning the football, in basketball getting up and down the court, coaches would tell me I need to slow down.”
With his speed and athleticism laying the foundation, Weisshaar locked in on lacrosse and consistently honed his skills that were accompanied by fierce competitiveness and winning game sense.
“It’s been great to see his game elevate as an athlete and competitor — really impressive to watch,” said senior attackman Race Ripley, who has played alongside Weisshaar since fifth grade. “One of the main things that separates Michael having played with him for so long is definitely the confidence he brings when he’s having a good game. He’s unguardable. You can try to lock him off, but he’ll find ways to make plays off the ball or open up opportunities for other players. So whatever your game plan is for Michael, he’ll find a way to continue to make big plays and help us come away with a win.”
Spalding went 7-10 the season before this year’s senior class came aboard. After a 9-9 campaign in 2019 followed by the lost season in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Cavaliers made significant strides last year. A 14-7 win over Severn in the quarterfinals was the first playoff win for the Cavaliers in the A Conference. They followed with a 9-8 win over then three-time defending champion Calvert Hall to reach the championship game.
What Phipps was impressed with most was how, all along, his team believed it belonged. The Cavaliers showed that in the title game’s last minute when they scored twice to pull within one goal of Boys’ Latin.
Varsity Highlights
“Losing in the championship last year, it’s a lesson that I feel like we’ve learned from and we’re going to take it moving forward and use it to our advantage. In the past, we didn’t have that experience. But because of last year, we have a feel for it now,” Weisshaar said. “We understand what it takes to be a championship-caliber team and I feel like everyone on this roster is all for it and it’s the only thing we’re thinking about.”
Boys’ Latin coach Brian Farrell, who has won the league title as a player and coach for the Lakers, understands the importance of experience. He said Weisshaar has taken full advantage in developing into a complete player and leader that brings confidence to his team.
“He makes his teammates better, which is really what offensive players should be doing,” Farrell said. “They have a unique offense that allows guys to play free and they allow him to make decisions, which he’s a very good decision-maker. He really does it all.”
After last year’s close call and the overwhelming desire to bring home the program’s first league title, Weisshaar is making sure to not look too far ahead. Every practice in this senior year — and the extra work he often puts in after them — is cherished.
Asked what the feeling would be like should the Cavaliers get the ultimate job done, he said: “It would be so surreal, a great experience.”
For Weisshaar, the work is just as rewarding.
“I feel like we have some great talent and great coaches, and it will take just staying together throughout the season and having some fun,” he said. | true | true | both | www.baltimoresun | 20220401 |
https://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/high-school/lacrosse-insider/cng-bs-coleman-lacrosse-pnc-insider-0330-20220401-o4bu65cubzbt7kyj7lbrmam23m-story.html | When Luke Coleman plays for Franklin lacrosse team, he puts on a show for fans with his dazzling moves and high-scoring potential.
In the offseason, he puts on a different kind of performance.
When he’s out of school during the summer and not playing for his Koopers club lacrosse team, he likes to show off the lawns he has groomed for neighbors through his landscaping business.
“I started one when I was a little younger,” Coleman said. “It wasn’t too much, it was just like older people around my community, but I did a lot of advertising. I have a couple shirts, business cards. It was just Luke’s Lawn Service.”
Coleman, who will play lacrosse at Division I Jacksonville University next season where he plans to major in business finance, has put his landscaping business on hold, but he won’t forget about it.
“I have truly built a love for landscaping and when I get older I would hopefully like to own my own company along those lines,” he said. “I’ve always just loved being outside and cutting grass and looking back at the final job. It’s always interested me and it’s a little different from the other jobs my friends have.”
His job on the lacrosse field is not unlike any other standout attackman and he has fulfilled the role admirably.
Franklin is off to a 4-0 start and Coleman leads the team in scoring with 19 goals and 11 assists to go along with more than 20 ground balls.
“He’s just such a dynamic player,” coach Anthony Burgos said. “He can just create so much offense, he’s just so unique with his stick skills and he’s playing like a college student playing in high school.”
Coleman started playing lacrosse for Reisterstown recreation when he was 5 years old, and he played for a club team in the sixth grade before moving on to play for Koopers.
“I really fell in love with it,” he said. “I had a coach that said I was never going to be any good, and that stuck with me. So I really turned it on and left that club team, and I found Koopers and they welcomed me and it went uphill ever since.”
His coach said Coleman has intangibles that go beyond his on-the-field play and benefits the Franklin program as a whole.
“He’s just an all-around great kid, he has a great attitude,” Burgos said. “He wanted to accomplish all his goals being a public school kid and he’s done that and I’m very, very proud of the kid.”
Coleman knew he belonged at Franklin during the postseason of his freshman year, as he recalled one of the most memorable games of his career.
“It was to put us in the second round of playoffs and we beat Howard by two goals,” he said. “I remember it very distinctly because in warmups I had broken my main stick and it was like all in my head, and I turned it back around and I didn’t have a ton of goals, but we all came together and it was a gritty game and we all fought hard and we walked away with a win.”
Assistant coach and offensive coordinator Keith Reitenbach has seen tremendous growth in Coleman since 2019.
“When he was a freshman, he was a raw athlete with a great shot and we encouraged him to develop all of the skills that go into making a great attackman. And the last two years he’s really been everything that we have asked of him,” Reitenbach said.
His unique skills included a behind-the-back goal in a 17-1 win over Loch Raven on Monday and Reitenbach wasn’t surprised.
Varsity Highlights
“We encourage Luke to be creative in his shooting,” Reitenbach said.
He is also getting more opportunities off the ball to score and feed his teammates.
“There is no doubt that we have a great group this year and Luke is being a great leader,” Reitenbach said. “It’s a really exciting attack unit we’ve got going with Luke — the senior — sophomore Adam Komenski and the freshman Emerson Manser.”
Franklin opened the season by outscoring its first four opponents 66-25, and Coleman is optimistic as the season unfolds.
“We’ve really been coming together,” he said. “I’m really looking to go really far in the playoffs and hopefully get a championship.”
The schedule ramps up for Franklin in the coming weeks. The Indians will face their toughest stretch with games at Catonsville on Thursday, at Towson on April 19 and home against Dulaney on April 21.
“We are really excited about playing the traditional county powers,” Reitenbach said. | true | true | both | www.baltimoresun | 20220401 |
https://www.baltimoresun.com/politics/elections/bs-md-pol-gerrymandering-q-and-a-20220401-tp3muzozgfap3pzijmruyx7w4y-story.html | With a primary election scheduled for July 19, the boundary lines of Maryland’s eight congressional districts are in flux. A map adopted in December to account for population changes determined by the 2020 census was struck down by a judge on March 25 as too partisan. Now, the Democratic state lawmakers who approved it are waiting to see if a newer map — their attempted fix — will meet judicial muster.
A hearing on the new map’s adequacy is scheduled for 9 a.m. Friday in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court.
Even if it does, their substitute map may be vetoed by Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, but Democrats hold veto-proof majorities in the state House of Delegates and Senate and could override him.
Complicating matters further: Maryland’s attorney general has challenged the judicial order rejecting the first map. If that appeal is successful, the original map — which Republicans dislike even more than the second one — would be back on the table.
The simultaneous legislative debates and legal wrangling have created confusion among voters, elected officials and candidates just two weeks before an April 15 candidate filing deadline. Here are some questions and answers on where things stand:
What congressional district lines are in effect right now?
As of now, the boundaries are the same as they’ve been for the past decade. Unless you’ve moved, the person who represents you in the U.S. House remains unchanged, as does your congressional district.
When might that change?
There will be new districts in effect before the July 19 primary, but we don’t yet know what the new map will look like or when it will be finalized. District lines must be adjusted every 10 years after the U.S. census. The Democratic-controlled General Assembly made its first attempt at a new map in December, but that version was challenged by Republicans and rejected on March 25 by Judge Lynne Battaglia in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court as too partisan. The legislature then redrew the map and sent it to Battaglia, who must approve it before it can take effect. If she accepts it, she would then determine when it would be implemented.
Would the newest map make many changes in the Baltimore area?
Yes. For example, Dundalk and Essex would be split into districts. Dundalk would be represented by Democratic Rep. Kweisi Mfume in the 7th Congressional District, while Essex would land in Baltimore County Democratic Rep C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger’s 2nd Congressional District.
Under the new lines, Ruppersberger would represent much of Carroll County for the first time, while 8th Congressional District Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin would no longer represent part of Carroll. Ruppersberger’s district would also include some of Baltimore City, which would mostly be Mfume’s territory. But Mfume would lose a chunk of his current district, which includes Howard County. That section would become part of Democratic Rep. John Sarbanes’ new 3rd Congressional District.
But isn’t the state appealing to try to preserve the initial map?
Yes, and that could slow the process of straightening this out. The appeals court had not issued a briefing schedule or timeline as of Thursday evening. While the state has filed no motion for a stay to temporarily halt the judge’s ruling, Battaglia could not make any boundaries final if an appeal was ongoing.
The new map will take effect if Battaglia approves it and either of two things happen: The state’s appeal is dismissed, or the appeals court upholds her March 25 ruling. Democrats would also need to override any veto of the map by the governor.
How might the new map affect future elections?
Maryland Policy & Politics
Democrats hold a 7-1 advantage over the GOP in the state’s eight U.S. House seats. In a state in which Democrats hold a 2-1 voter registration advantage, Republicans say they would likely win more seats if the district map were fairer.
Maryland’s lone Republican congressman, Andy Harris, represents the 1st Congressional District, which includes the Eastern Shore. Analysts say Harris would continue to have the edge under the newest map, but that Democratic Rep. David Trone would have a more challenging time getting reelected in his reconfigured Central and Western Maryland district.
“My race just got a lot more competitive,” Trone said Thursday in an email to supporters. “We don’t yet have confirmation of what the Sixth District will look like in this election, but we know that we’ll have much less of an advantage than we did two years ago.”
Which appeals court is hearing the case?
The Circuit Court concluded that Attorney General Brian Frosh had the right to appeal directly to the Maryland Court of Appeals, the highest state court. Frosh and the office’s lawyers filed a notice of appeal Wednesday with that court. They also filed with a second tribunal — the Maryland Special Court of Appeals — to be certain their appeal is heard in the proper place.
What are the grounds for the appeal?
Frosh’s office said Thursday that it would be premature to speculate on the state’s argument before filing its brief. But Battaglia’s ruling hinged in part on an interpretation of the Maryland Constitution that the state may challenge.
A 1972 constitutional amendment laid out criteria for Maryland’s legislative districts, including that they must be “compact in form” and respect natural boundaries and the borders of political subdivisions like counties and cities. In defending the first map, lawyers for Frosh argued that the constitution doesn’t specifically apply the same rules for congressional districts. But the Republican plaintiffs, including elected officials and voters, said the constitution’s allusion to “legislative districts” was meant to be generic and to cover congressional districts as well as state legislative maps.
Could the primary election be delayed again?
It could. The July 19 primary was already pushed back once by the Maryland Court of Appeals because court challenges were still unresolved. The election will include nominating races for all eight congressional districts as well as governor, a U.S. Senate seat, and a number of state and local races. The candidate filing deadline is looming on April 15. | true | true | both | www.baltimoresun | 20220401 |
https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/carroll/news/cc-free-tax-assistance-20220401-wc55ndovyjhzlj7ntrujcsvehi-story.html | With the April 18 deadline to file income taxes with the Internal Revenue Service looming, Carroll County residents can take advantage of free assistance programs, if they can get an appointment.
Human Service Programs of Carroll County, Inc is offering free tax preparation services for low to moderate income households through its IRS-certified, Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program.
The VITA program generally offers free tax help to people who make $57,000 or less and need assistance in preparing tax returns. IRS-certified volunteers provide free basic income tax return preparation with electronic filing to qualified individuals in local communities, according to the IRS website.
According to Courtney Kingan, director of development at HSP, appointments should be made. Although all appointment slots are currently booked, those interested in the service should still call, in case of cancellations.
Participants are asked to bring a photo ID, Social Security card, last year’s tax return, all W-2 and 1099 forms, any estimated tax payments, Social Security cards for all dependents, dependent care provider information, proof of health insurance and purchase dates, and purchase cost for all stock sales occurring in the tax year.
HSP is now offering the VITA program year-round.
“We’re Carroll County’s best-kept secret,” Kingan said. “This is the best year yet, with yearlong services.”
Last year, more than 1,000 tax returns were completed through the program and this year, the organization anticipates completing even more.
Free tax return assistance is also being provided at Carroll senior and community centers by AARP representatives through the Tax-Aide program.
Tax-Aide is the nation’s largest free, volunteer-based tax assistance and preparation program and has helped more than 68 million taxpayers since 1968. It is offered in conjunction with the IRS, and AARP membership is not required.
Carroll County Breaking News
Program volunteers provide taxpayers in communities nationwide with free tax preparation and filing services. Volunteers are trained and IRS-certified every year to ensure they understand the latest changes to the U.S. Tax Code.
Assistance will be available at the Westminster Senior and Community Center on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Staff strongly encouraged attendees to make an appointment by calling the center. This service pays special attention to those age 60 and older.
Rich Ottone, community services supervisor with the county’s Bureau of Aging and Disabilities, said this year the program has been very popular and at this time, all appointments are filled. Those looking to walk in will have to hope for a cancellation.
Ottone said the tax assistance program was canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, the program was available on a limited basis at the Carroll County Agriculture Center in Westminster. | true | true | both | www.baltimoresun | 20220401 |
https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/harford/aegis/cng-ag-11th-annual-nmtc-visionary-awards-gala-20220401-qb47rt6s7beklodwbmwi2k42dy-story.html | Twelve Marylanders will be honored for STEM-educated workforce development and advancing our technology and innovation base to grow the economy and protect national security at the 11th annual Northeastern Maryland Technology Council Visionary Awards Gala on April 20, a virtual event this year.
“The combination of a highly educated workforce and expanding technology growth provides rewarding careers for our children, boosts our regional economy, and protects our national security,” the organization said on its website.
Larry Muzzelo, deputy to the commanding general, Communications-Electronics Command (CECOM) at Aberdeen Proving Grounds will be honored as the 2022 Visionary of the Year.
This awards gala, the largest of its kind in Maryland, is now in its 11th year. Supporting this gala are leaders and contributors from industry, government and education.
Honorees are nominated by previous their forebears who are now members of the Academy of Visionary Awards.
The 2022 Visionary Award honorees are:
Visionary: Larry Muzzelo, deputy to the commanding general, CECOM, APG
Leader: Dr. Christy Dryer, vice president of Academic Programs, Cecil College
Leader: Jaclyn (Jackie) Madden, professor of Biology, Harford Community College
Leader: Adam Bogner, Chief Signals Intelligence, U.S. Army C5ISR Center
Innovator: Dr. Eoin O’Driscoll, director Critical Infrastructure Protection: DSA, Inc.
Innovator: Mark Butkiewicz, vice president, Applied Technology Operation, SURVICE Engineering
Innovator: Dr. Vishnu Marla, material scientist, multiple patent holder, W.L. Gore
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Mentor: Brande Biddy, assistant professor Of mathematics · Cecil College
Mentor: Dr. Chi-Chin Wu, materials scientist, U.S. Army Research Laboratory
Mentor: Dr. Edward Schmidt, senior Science Society, U.S. ARL (Ret.)
Rising Star: Sarah Patrick, Information Science student at University of Maryland
Rising Star: Olivia Webster, biomedical engineer, U.S. Army Public Health APG
The event will be on April 20, 5:30-8:00 p.m. at the Waters Edge Event Center in Belcamp. To register or sponsor, visit: nmtc.org/nmtc-visionary-awards/.
NMTC connects collaborative leaders in academia, industry and the federal government to build a STEM-educated workforce that will advance the technology and innovation needed to expand our economy and protect national security. | true | true | both | www.baltimoresun | 20220401 |
https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/harford/aegis/cng-ag-hcc-ptk-organization-and-student-honored-20220401-5gdgfvnit5ez3jkm2qg7btfkfu-story.html | Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, the International Honor Society of two-year colleges, recognized Harford Community College’s Rho Beta Chapter for its efforts to bring opportunities of PTK membership to even more students on their campuses in 2021 and gave an award to a Harford student.
“As the pandemic lingered in 2021, celebrating student success became more important than ever,” Phi Theta Kappa President and CEO Dr. Lynn Tincher-Ladner said. “PTK membership creates higher self-efficacy, fosters a sense of belonging, and provides a supportive community for learning and self-expression. Our work leads to increased student engagement which is what causes higher rates of student success. I am so proud of our Reach Chapters; they worked exceptionally hard to create spaces where students could connect and support one another, even amid a global pandemic.”
Olivia Borkowski-Johnson, a Harford Community College student majoring in nursing, has been named a 2022 New Century Transfer Scholar, an award sponsored by the honor society, and will receive a $2,250 scholarship.
New Century Transfer Scholars are selected based on their academic accomplishments, leadership, activities and how they extend their intellectual talents pass the classroom. Over 2,200 students were nominated from more than 1,200 college campuses across the country, but there was only one New Century Transfer Scholar selected from each state.
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The Coca-Cola Foundation, the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation, Phi Theta Kappa and the American Association of Community Colleges sponsor the program.
“We congratulate Olivia for receiving this prestigious scholarship and we are honored to partner with The Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation, The Coca-Cola Foundation and the AACC to recognize these outstanding achievements,” said Tincher-Ladner. “Scholarship programs like this are integral for creating opportunities for two-year college students to succeed and for putting college completion within reach.”
Phi Theta Kappa is an honor society recognizing the academic achievement of students at associate degree-granting colleges and helping them grow as scholars and leaders. The society is made up of more than 3.8 million members and nearly 1,300 chapters in 11 countries with about 240,000 active members in the nation’s colleges.
Additionally, Phi Theta Kappa designed a rewards program for chapters focused on Recognizing Excellence in Acceptance and Completion with Honors – REACH Rewards.
The REACH Rewards program encourages membership by rewarding chapters that achieve or exceed 15 percent for their membership acceptance rate. Harford’s chapter is one of the REACH chapters that will be rewarded with free graduation stoles for their members.
Phi Theta Kappa National Honor Society recognizes and encourages scholarship among two-year college students. To qualify for membership, students must earn at least 12 credits at Harford Community College and maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.50. PTK members are recognized at the College’s annual commencement ceremony.
The Rho Beta chapter was founded in 1967 and is Harford Community College’s oldest honor society. | true | true | both | www.baltimoresun | 20220401 |
https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/harford/aegis/cng-ag-hcso-pathfinders-autism-mock-traffic-stop-20220401-z4vycqfhqjbf5idh6jz5m7hdlu-story.html | Harford County Sheriff's Office Senior Deputy Mark Pilachowski makes the traffic stop on one of the participants in the Pathfinders for Autism mock traffic stop event at Leidos Field at Ripken Stadium in Aberdeen Wednesday, March 30, 2022. (Matt Button / The Aegis/Baltimore Sun Media)
The Harford County Sheriff’s Office held an event Wednesday to simulate practice traffic stops for drivers or car passengers with developmental disabilities, who may become anxious during traffic stops.
The event was held at Ripken Stadium in partnership with Pathfinders for Autism, a Hunt Valley-based nonprofit dedicated to supporting and improving the lives of people affected by autism.
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Four traffic lanes were set up with four different types of police vehicles. Participants were invited to go through the practice police stops as many times as they felt comfortable.
Information packets also were given out, and included laminated instructions for what to do at a traffic stop, as well as written instructions to hand to a police officer on how to effectively help the car occupant with developmental disabilities.
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“It’s an opportunity for both parties to be educated,” said Senior Deputy Janelle Myers, who called the event a “good opportunity for them in a non-threatening, less-scary environment to get some experience.”
According to Kyle Andersen, the Sheriff’s Office’s public information officer, 12 groups participated in the event, including 17 individuals with developmental disabilities.
This is the first time the Sheriff’s Office and Pathfinders for Autism have conducted simulated traffic stops, although they’ve done similar events with the Baltimore County Police Department and the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office, according to Rebecca Rienzi, executive director for Pathfinders for Autism.
“Our goal is to make sure everybody has the information they need to have a safe interaction,” Rienzi said.
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Sgt. Gerald Eaton, who helped organize the event, said the benefits were not just for the participants but police officers as well.
“It’s also good for the police to learn exactly what they’re dealing with,” Eaton said. Officers “may not ever be [with] someone with a developmental disability in the course of their duties.”
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The Harford Sheriff’s has mandated training for dealing with people with developmental disabilities, but Eaton said that’s more of a classroom setting, and Wednesday’s event was more of a “real-world scenario.”
Jay Larson and his son Eric came all the way from Rockville to take part.
“We’ve had an experience where he got pulled over,” Jay Larson said, “and he was a little confused about what was going on.”
Eric Larson noted the event provided helpful information “in case something bad happens.” | true | true | both | www.baltimoresun | 20220401 |
https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/harford/aegis/cng-ag-humane-society-2021-report-20220401-ohslfhfo4fe5dlubged5hyntqi-story.html | The Human Society of Harford County had a 22% increase in pet adoptions in 2021, according to its annual report released to the public this week. The animal shelter had 1,048 animals adopted, which is 231 more adoptions than in 2020.
The organization, which celebrated its 75th year in 2021, remained open for adoption by appointment only for most of the year.
“We took in 711 dogs, 1,091 cats and kittens, and 394 other animals last year,” Executive Director Jen Swanson said. “That averages out to about six needy animals arriving here every day.”
Cat adoptions were up 14% last year, with 750 cats and kittens getting adopted. Dog adoptions were also up 17%, while adoptions of all other animals like rabbits, reptiles and farm animals increased by 27%.
A majority of animals (55%) entered the shelter as strays with very little information on their backgrounds, while 27% were turned over by their owners. The other 18% were abandoned at the shelter, born at the shelter, seized by the Animal Control Services Division of the Harford County Sheriff’s Office or by other means. Additionally, cats were sheltered most often, representing 50% of the shelter’s total intake, followed by dogs at 32% and all others at 18%.
The shelter’s ultimate goal is to finding placement for the animals which includes adopting them into loving homes, reuniting them with their owners, or releasing them into the care of rescue groups. In 2021, 40 lost animals were reclaimed by their families, which was 5% more than the previous year.
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Most of the reclaimed animals were microchipped by the shelter at no charge for their owners so if they go missing in the future, a quick scan of the chip will help the animal find its way home, according to the organization. Implanting and keeping microchips updated as well as using ID tags are still vitally important tools to get animals home, according to the organization.
The Humane Society partners with several shelters and rescue organizations to give animals another opportunity to find a home and open up kennel and cage space at the shelter for new daily arrivals. In 2021, HSHC transferred 398 animals to these partners.
During the last five years, HSHC’s intake has decreased by 34% because of its effective shelter intervention programs like the pet food pantry, free behavioral consultations, community outreach and education and low-cost training classes which reduce the number of pets entering the shelter system.
“Another factor that contributes to less animals entering the facility is spaying and neutering animals in the shelter prior to adoption,” Swanson said. “Last year our veterinarian spayed or neutered 841 cats and kittens, dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs, and even rats. They also performed other life-improving surgical procedures including hernia repairs, mass removals, tooth extractions, eye removals, and limb amputations.”
By the end of the year, 88.5% of the 2,196 homeless animals that came through the shelter found placement, which the Humane Society attributes to its diligent, mostly volunteer staff.
The pandemic left the organization with a core team of 28 volunteers. This team helped walk and train dogs, visited with the cats and small critters, washed laundry and other housekeeping chores, and supported staff outreach events. This group gave 4,019 hours of service.
The Humane Society of Harford County is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) charitable organization dedicated to the welfare and well-being of about 2,500-3,000 animals that come in each year. On Feb. 5, 1946, HSHC officially began helping people and their pets. To celebrate 75 years, HSHC kicked off a series of free, virtual “Lunch & Learn” presentations that are offered on the last Wednesday of each month. Upcoming topics include helping wildlife, humane education for children, caring for exotic animals and legislation and advocacy. More information can be found at https://www.harfordshelter.org/lunch-learns. | true | true | both | www.baltimoresun | 20220401 |
https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/harford/aegis/cng-ag-senator-gallion-harford-mga-ems-reimbursement-medicaid-20220401-w5g4huaiczgt7k7l7op5plx55u-story.html | A bill by state Sen. Jason Gallion of Harford County that would correct underfunding of EMS providers under the Medicaid reimbursement rate, has passed unanimously in the Senate, according to Gallion’s office.
The bill, SB 295, would institute a $25 increase in the reimbursement rate for Medicaid patient transports each fiscal year starting in 2023 until it reaches $300; allow for the reimbursement of “treat and release” or “treat but not the transport” of Medicaid patients; and allow Mobile Integrated Health reimbursement. MIH allows EMS services to make on-site treatment referrals and engage in telemedicine with local providers so that on-site care can be administered. This can result in a reduction of costly emergency room visits and ensure that the patient receives treatment at the best location.
According to Gallion’s office, the rate has remained at $100 per transport since 1999.
“We have these these fire/EMS companies that are providing a service and transport a lot of Medicaid patients for $100,” Gallion said Tuesday, noting that’s not a successful business model. “It’s important for our first responders and this is a statewide issue.”
Gallion said in a news release that this bill could lead to reduced emergency room wait times by allowing EMS providers to consult with health care providers and transport patients to other locations. The Senate approved the bill March 21.
The current law states that if an emergency service provider requests reimbursement for its services from Medicaid, they are paid by the Maryland Department of Health. The $100 rate is standard whether advanced life support or basic life support is provided.
The bill was the subject of a hearing Wednesday by the House of Delegates’ health and government operations committee. Jordan Glassman, Gallion’s chief of staff, said the hearing went well, and the next step for the bill is a committee vote.
Gallion is a longtime member of the Level Volunteer Fire Company in Havre de Grace, where he’s served as chief and president of the company. | true | true | both | www.baltimoresun | 20220401 |
https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/harford/aegis/opinion/cng-ag-jennings-commentary-20220401-outqpczeuzfp5n6zvvfu67eama-story.html | There are certain things one can count on each year with regard to the Maryland General Assembly. The legislative session will convene at noon on the second Wednesday in January, and the session will adjourn 90 days later at midnight on a Monday in April. During the time in between, the members of the General Assembly will consider an array of legislative proposals on a variety of issues that ultimately will impact the lives of all Marylanders.
With more than 2,000 legislative bills introduced during this session and adjournment just around the corner, it would be remiss to ignore the major issue driving much of the legislative conversation in Annapolis this year — Maryland’s unprecedented budget surplus.
In an ideal world one would expect the General Assembly to return to Maryland taxpayers the $7.5 billion budget surplus, which was created by higher than expected Maryland tax revenues and a massive infusion of federal funds created by taxpayer dollars. Unfortunately, reversing the majority party’s will to spend is an unrealistic expectation.
In reality, the only option left is to work to ensure the surplus is allocated in such a way as to advance legislative proposals that strengthen our communities without launching new programs that will require future tax or fee increases on Maryland residents in order to sustain them.
With this in mind, I support a combination of legislative priorities that incorporate tax relief through a reduction in state sales and retirement taxes while at the same time tirelessly defending Maryland’s small businesses against onerous legislative proposals that may financially devastate these businesses as they continue to recover from post COVID-19.
Moreover, I continue to support public safety measures that impose stricter penalties against violent offenders, while supporting legislative opportunities to make a difference in the lives of Marylanders on issues, such as mental health, that have been exacerbated by the nearly two years of shut downs, school closures and quarantines caused by COVID-19 restrictions.
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As the ranking Republican member on the Senate Finance Committee, I am keenly aware of the mental health crisis in Maryland.
According to testimony provided by the Mental Health Association of Maryland before this committee, “nearly 40 percent of Marylanders reported symptoms of anxiety or depression last year, and yet a third of those individuals were unable to get needed counseling or therapy; over 45 percent of Maryland youths aged 12 to 17 who reported symptoms of depression over the last year did not receive any mental health care; nearly 3,000 Marylanders died from a drug overdose last year and another 650 lost their lives to suicide.”
This is why I am particularly proud to announce that I, with my fellow Harford County senators, were able to secure $2 million in funding that was allocated in this year’s state budget for the Klein Family Harford Crisis Center. Founded in 2018, this community crisis center operates a public/private partnership with the University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health and provides three levels of care regardless of insurance or ability to pay to those struggling with addiction and/or mental health issues: urgent care walk-ins, residential crisis beds, and an outpatient mental health center. The Klein center is open 24 hours, 7 days a week and provides county residents a more effective alternative to a hospital emergency room. Without this funding 24-hour urgent care would not be possible.
I continue to be awed at the resilience and strength of residents of Baltimore and Harford counties as well as all over the state. Over the past few years, the pandemic has drastically changed each and every one of our lives either personally or indirectly.
While so much has changed, my priorities as your elected state Senator remain the same: to advance common-sense legislative initiatives that make our community a safe and affordable place to live, work, raise a family and retire.
In closing, I want to encourage all to stay engaged in the legislative process and to reach out to me anytime with your comments, concerns and ideas — by phone (410) 841-3706 or via email jb.jennings@senate.state.md.us. It’s an honor to serve you.
Jennings is Republican senator for District 7 representing Harford and Baltimore counties. | true | true | both | www.baltimoresun | 20220401 |
https://www.baltimoresun.com/opinion/op-ed/bs-ed-op-0403-out-to-vote-20220401-2tlgtzbmcrgynmccxgvwr6tatm-story.html | I am 37 years old. Bobby Perkins spent 37 years in prison. The math was not lost on me as I got to know Mr. Perkins over the weeks I spent with him in Baltimore.
In October of 2020, I went to Maryland with the goal of making a documentary about how the state was experiencing the 2020 presidential election. The project was part of my film work with the Bertelsmann Foundation, a non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C. The idea was to compare the urban and rural experience in a (quasi) swing state. But I met Bobby on the first day of filming, and the project took an unexpected turn.
Bobby is part of a group of formerly incarcerated activists who fought to regain the right to vote after leaving prison. Having won, these activists are now community advocates, dedicating their lives to bringing marginalized people and communities into the democratic process. What our documentary found is that it is not just the individuals who benefit from rebuilding access to the democratic system. Rather, there are tangible spillover effects that benefit the city, state and country.
Bobby was one of three formerly incarcerated activists profiled in the resulting documentary, “Out to Vote.” Also featured were Nicole Hanson-Mundell, executive director at Out for Justice, a nonprofit dedicated to helping those impacted by the criminal justice system, and the pair’s close confidant, Monica Cooper, executive director of the Maryland Justice Project.
Out to Vote from Bertelsmann Foundation on Vimeo.
In the weeks leading up to the election, I followed Bobby as he marched through Baltimore’s streets, knocking on doors and stopping strangers to ensure everyone was registered to vote and that everyone had a way to get to the polls. Where none was had, Bobby would offer a lift.
The work appeared to have given a new meaning to his life. One beautiful fall day, Bobby was reflective about the meaning of being able to vote. “That’s why I go out and pound these sidewalks, to register people,” he said between puffs of a Newport cigarette. “Because I believe in it. I believe in the democracy.”
He added that when he went to jail, he was “angry at the guy who told on me, angry about getting locked up for the bank robberies. I was angry with the world. But then, as time went on, I started realizing that when you have your mind focused on something positive, nothing can stop you. If you’re sincere.”
As he spoke, I realized that this emotional transition that had only taken him a few seconds to explain had probably taken him decades in prison to accomplish. I could feel the weight of those decades and see the optimism he felt about this one final opportunity on the horizon.
How many other people in the United State currently view democratic participation as that one final opportunity on the horizon? I suspect few. Many Americans increasingly view democracy as rigged for elites. That disconnection and disassociation fuels a retreat from civic participation — or worse. Some who’ve lost faith in the system will actively work against it, supporting extreme candidates who improvise their own rules.
But the thing I found most captivating while filming “Out to Vote” was the knock-on impact of bringing just one person into the democratic fold. In one scene, Monica Cooper drives a man in his mid-30s to the polls. Thanks to her prodding, he is voting for the first time. On the way, he is affable but generally apathetic about his choices. He speaks of the process as if it were for others, as if democracy is not his.
He is a different person upon emerging from the voting booth, however. He is overcome with joy. The simple act of voting has, at least for a moment, transformed his perspective. Turning to the camera, he speaks authoritatively, offering advice to skeptics. “Cast your vote! It matters! Come show up! If you have a question, show up and ask the question! The best thing you can do is show up.”
Suddenly, a man who had been disengaged was not only a voter, but was encouraging others to get involved. It was a thrilling moment to be an American, and I was honored to have a chance to film it. It’s a moment that likely would have never occurred if Monica had not previously been given her own pathway to reengage with the democracy.
In the film, the young man turns and walks away with Monica, yet we can still hear him. “I feel so great. And who knows? Maybe someday you will be voting for me!”
Samuel George (Samuel.george@bfna.org; Twitter: twitter, @SamuelGeorge76) is a documentary filmmaker and analyst for the Bertelsmann Foundation, a non-profit, non-partisan organization. To watch the 32-minute documentary, “Out to Vote: A Story of Redemption. A Story of Democracy,” go to https://bfnadocs.org/out-to-vote. | true | true | both | www.baltimoresun | 20220401 |
https://www.baltimoresun.com/opinion/op-ed/bs-ed-op-0403-sun-black-press-lessons-20220401-7qvhdwhduzezphkmkff47jaury-story.html | Editor’s note: The Baltimore Sun is committed to making amends for a history of failing Black communities in its coverage and, as part of a public apology, has asked area leaders and scholars to suggest a path forward. We will run the responses as an occasional series.
On Tuesday, as President Biden signed the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act — an act that took more than 100 years to become law — I began to reflect upon the necessity of the work of historians as we traverse this current phase of the Black freedom struggle in the United States.
At some point, it becomes necessary for historians to become salvaging experts, understanding that we must first review the existing story, literature and research to determine what is missing. In reading The Baltimore Sun’s recent editorial apology regarding the newspaper’s role in perpetuating white supremacy and anti-Blackness, I began to reflect on the paper’s coverage concerning the lynching of Matthew Williams, specifically what was missing.
Matthew Williams Handy was a 23-year-old Black man who was lynched and set ablaze on Dec. 4, 1931, by a mob of white men in Salisbury, Maryland. His gruesome murder was part of a wave of white terrorism in the wake of the stock market crash of 1929, which exposed Black laborers to white rage in response to economic anxieties.
For more than five years, I have devoted my life to investigating this case, which culminates in my recent publication, “Silent Shore: The Lynching of Matthew Williams and the Politics of Racism in the Free State” and documentary series, “Hidden in Full View: A Story of Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation.”
As a historian and civil rights activist, I confront white supremacy by salvaging the narratives of the oppressed, in this case, the 91-year-old narrative of a 23-year-old young man and the impact of his murder on the Black community of Salisbury and Maryland’s Eastern Shore.
In recovering these narratives, I have come to understand that archival institutions were not designed to preserve oppressed people’s stories and memories.
What I have found missing, then, is the lack of humanity in the treatment of the victims of anti-Black violence, including Matthew Williams.
Throughout the history of racial terror lynching in the United States, the press has played a significant role in shaping public perception concerning anti-Black violence. Much of what we know about the more than 6,400 documented cases of racial terror lynchings in the United States between 1865 and 1950 is because of newspapers — the vast majority of which were published by the white press.
In Maryland, The Baltimore Sun represented the white press, and its coverage reflected white-centered racist and paternalist attitudes that pervaded the majority of white media across the United States at the time.
When we think about the lessons that can be learned from the failures of the past, we must recognize and come to terms with how systemic racism and white supremacy appear within the practices and approaches that we take to narrative construction. In the case of The Baltimore Sun, its coverage throughout the years has given life to the lie of white supremacy by suppressing the narratives of Black and brown people, reducing them to their alleged crimes — to stereotypes — and all but erasing their humanity.
This failure is made plain when viewing the coverage regarding the lynching of Matthew Williams in The Baltimore Sun side by side with coverage that appeared in The Afro-American, and other Black newspapers throughout the nation. Like most white newspapers of the era, The Baltimore Sun printed cover stories that perpetuated myths of black criminality, identifying black victims of lynching only by their alleged crime. On the other hand, the Afro centered the victim’s humanity, reporting on both the spectacle and the lynching while conducting interviews with members of Williams’ family and his co-workers.
In the recent apology editorial, the authors write:
“In the 1930s, as the Democratic and Republican parties began the slow philosophy swap that would come to represent them today, it appeared as if The Sun had a moral awakening. It gave front-page news coverage to two horrific lynchings on the Eastern Shore, and took strong positions against them in editorials.”
But “strong” only applies if the measure is the paper’s previous coverage, which at times went so far as to endorse and encourage lynching.
Put simply, The Baltimore Sun should look back and learn from the editorial leadership and the human and justice-centered journalism of Ida B. Wells-Barnett, of the Memphis Free Speech and of John Mitchell Jr. of the Richmond Planet.
The editors should learn from the examples set by brave Black journalists of The Afro-American, such as Levi H. Jolley, who took the time to interview members of Matthew Williams’ family and friends in 1931, salvaging their memories of him. Or Paul Henderson, the photojournalist, on the scene of the lynching of Matthew Williams, risking his life to bear witness to the truth of the Black experience in America. He chose to memorialize that moment for the sake of humanity, knowing that, in his day and time the truth of the Black experience, the truth concerning our trauma and triumphs would be reduced if not entirely eradicated.
Amid unrelenting attacks on radical truth-telling, The Baltimore Sun must look back and learn from such noble practitioners, center the humanity of Black people and be unafraid of the stance that they take pertaining to issues of racial injustice.
The next 90 years should be different from the last 90 years, so that after 180 years this society will face another direction — one that will experience transformation in how we discuss, understand and respond to injustice. Let us not take this moment of racial reckoning for granted; take this opportunity to bequeath a different legacy for future generations than the one we have inherited.
Charles L. Chavis Jr. (Twitter: @Chavis4Change; web: charleschavis.org) leads the John Mitchell Jr. Program for History, Justice and Race at George Mason University, where he is also an assistant professor of History and Conflict Resolution at The Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution and director of African and African American Studies. | true | true | both | www.baltimoresun | 20220401 |
https://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/college/lacrosse/bs-sp-college-lacrosse-games-to-watch-duke-north-carolina-20220401-vugwm76aa5dnxhzonewvrkb63i-story.html | A pair of extended droughts in women’s lacrosse ended last Saturday.
No. 12 James Madison’s 13-8 upset of then-No. 3 Maryland was the Dukes’ first against the Terps since April 5, 2003, when that squad left College Park with a 9-8 decision. And Yale’s 11-10 win against Penn was the Bulldogs’ first against the Quakers since March 20, 2004, when that team waltzed to a 14-7 thrashing in New Haven, Connecticut.
Arguing that the sport is witnessing more parity based on those two results might be a stretch, but it certainly is a visible reminder that no team can afford to sleep on its opponent — no matter the historical baggage in their series.
Could more streaks be broken this weekend? We’ll see. As for now, here are some upcoming games of interest on the men’s and women’s sides.
Men
No. 3 Georgetown (7-1, 0-0 Big East) at No. 17 Denver (5-4, 0-0), Saturday, 2 p.m.
There may be no splashier way to open conference play than to pit the Hoyas, winners of the last three league tournament crowns, against the Pioneers, winners of tournament championships in 2014 and 2015. Georgetown ranks 11th in the country in scoring at 14.5 goals per game but has relied on its defense, surrendering an NCAA-low 8.5 goals per game. That unit is headed by graduate student defenseman and North Carolina transfer Will Bowen (tied for 11th nationally at 2.0 caused turnovers per game) and graduate student goalkeeper Owen McElroy (first with an 8.3 goals-against average and second with a .627 save percentage).
It will be up to a Denver offense that ranks 21st at 13.4 goals to solve the Hoyas, and a strong outing from junior faceoff specialist Alec Stathakis (12th at .594 on 148-of-249) would certainly help. Then again, Georgetown may have a counter in senior James Reilly (seventh at .618 on 110-of-178).
No. 16 Duke (8-4, 0-1 ACC) at No. 9 North Carolina (7-2, 0-1), Saturday, 2 p.m.
Before Duke and North Carolina mix it up in a NCAA men’s basketball tournament semifinal Saturday night, the Tobacco Road archrivals offer up this appetizer. Both sides are seeking their first league victory. The Blue Devils, who have dropped two of their last three games, are one of only two teams in the country with a pair of 30-goal scorers — Jacksonville is the other — in sophomore attackman Brennan O’Neill (35) and junior attackman Dyson Williams (31).
The offense for the Tar Heels, who have won two in a row, begins and ends with graduate student attackman Chris Gray, who ranks second in the nation in points per game (6.3). Determining which side will get more opportunities to inflate their numbers could depend largely on faceoff units headed by Blue Devils sophomore Jake Naso, who ranks 11th at .596 on 165-of-277, and senior Zachary Tucci, who ranks 19th at .574 on 97-of-169. Naso has the advantage in ground balls per game, as he ranks fifth at 8.3. Tucci ranks 35th at 5.2.
No. 4 Penn (4-2, 1-1 Ivy League) at No. 8 Yale (4-2, 1-1), Saturday, 3:30 p.m.
Both teams enjoyed pivotal wins on Saturday with the Quakers upsetting then-No. 4 Cornell, 15-11, and the Bulldogs upending then-No. 2 Princeton, 14-12. They still lag behind No. 10 Harvard in the conference standings, but a win in this matchup would be a step towards challenging the Crimson for league supremacy.
Through six games, both offenses are nearly identical with Yale totaling 78 goals and Penn amassing 75. Both units also have clear leaders in Quakers senior midfielder Sam Handley (13 goals and 18 assists) and Bulldogs junior attackman and Boys’ Latin graduate Matt Brandau (21 goals and 13 assists). If there is an edge here, it may rest in the cage where Yale sophomore goalkeeper Jared Paquette boasts a .562 save percentage compared to Penn senior Patrick Burkinshaw’s .525.
Women
No. 16 Virginia (6-6, 2-3 ACC) at No. 7 Duke (12-1, 3-1), Saturday, 1 p.m.
The Cavaliers have alternated wins and losses in their last eight games, while the Blue Devils have won five straight since an 18-16 setback at No. 4 Syracuse on March 6 and are off to their best start since the 2015 squad also went 11-1.
Freshman midfielder Rachel Clark leads Virginia in goals (42) and points (50) and has been especially productive with 13 free-position goals that rank as the fifth-highest total in the nation. A pair of attackers for Duke in senior Catriona Barry and sophomore Katie DeSimone are the only pair of teammates in the country with at least 40 goals as Barry has scored 49 and DeSimone 40.
For an enticing matchup, watch the draw circle. Cavaliers sophomore midfielder Aubrey Williams is tied for seventh among all NCAA players in draw controls per game at 8.3, while Blue Devils senior attacker Maddie Jenner, an Annapolis resident and McDonogh graduate, leads the country in that department at 12.8.
No. 14 Rutgers (9-1, 1-1 Big Ten) at No. 3 Northwestern (8-2, 2-0), Thursday, 8:30 p.m.
The Scarlet Knights have defeated No. 12 James Madison (12-5 on March 13) and No. 20 Johns Hopkins (12-11 on Saturday) and lost to No. 8 Maryland. They will get arguably their toughest matchup of the season when they visit the reigning conference champion Wildcats, who are riding a four-game winning streak that includes victories over Big Ten foes Ohio State (22-14 on March 19) and No. 13 Michigan (12-9 on Saturday).
Rutgers’ offense has been sparked by graduate student attackers Stephanie Kelly (a St. Joseph’s transfer with 16 goals and 28 assists) and Taralyn Naslonski (32 goals and eight assists). Northwestern has its own catalysts in graduate student attacker Lauren Gilbert (37 goals and 17 assists) and junior attacker Erin Coykendall (25 goals and 19 assists). Gilbert or Coykendall might see a lot of Scarlet Knights junior defender Meghan Ball, who ranks seventh nationally in caused turnovers per game (2.3) and 38th in draw controls per game (5.3). | true | true | both | www.baltimoresun | 20220401 |
https://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/bs-sp-orioles-farm-system-prospect-rebuild-20220401-y3i2pfm5cjb5lcjbriv5uu3hcm-story.html | SARASOTA, Fla. — As much as the Orioles’ rebuild coming to fruition will be about the young players they’ve spent the past several years adding to their farm system finally reaching the major leagues, the energy that arrives with them will be just as important.
Take last season at Double-A Bowie, where seven of the club’s top nine prospects per Baseball America spent time. As the Orioles began a march toward their third straight full season of at least 108 losses, the Baysox won 21 of their first 26 games, eventually reaching the division finals.
“Every time we stepped on the field, it didn’t feel like we could lose,” said second baseman-outfielder Terrin Vavra, Baltimore’s No. 14 prospect.
“I think that’s going to trickle in, now that that group is going to be in maybe Triple-A, some starting to get into the big leagues. Eventually, most of that team’s going to be up in Baltimore, and I think you’re just going to have that same sort of dominant attitude.”
That would be most welcome at Camden Yards, where the Orioles’ path to contention depends on a group of prospects headlined by catcher Adley Rutschman and pitchers Grayson Rodriguez and DL Hall getting there and living up to their potential.
All three of those players, plus Vavra, outfielder Kyle Stowers, right-hander Kyle Bradish and others, should reach the major leagues at some point in 2022. The wave might not immediately translate into wins, but their collective presence will signal a turn toward competitiveness for an organization with five straight losing seasons.
Some pieces the Orioles hope are part of their future have already reached and performed well in the majors, such as left-hander John Means, first baseman Ryan Mountcastle and outfielders Cedric Mullins and Austin Hays. The next step is adding more future fixtures around them from a group of prospects that has spent the past couple of years bonding during minor league camps and games.
“They like each other, they’re unbelievably competitive with each other and how they go about their day,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said. “They’re gonna win together.
“Even though we struggled as a club, you start seeing young guys putting up good years and the more guys we can have like that, the more wins we’re gonna get.”
Rutschman, regarded by some publications as baseball’s top prospect, has been the face of this rebuild since Baltimore selected him with the first overall pick of the 2019 draft. But he recognizes it won’t be his responsibility alone to shift the tide for the Orioles.
“We have the ability to root for one another,” he said. “I think in a system of the minor leagues, where it’s pretty cutthroat and guys are trying to get to the next level, it’s extremely cool to see you have that team aspect.”
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Other prospects echoed the sentiment.
“I’m just so impressed by just how people pull for each other,” said Stowers, ranked seventh in the organization. “I think you hear so often in minor league baseball that it’s individual and obviously, to an extent, everyone is taking care of their own career and doing the best they can. But at the same time, we have a bunch of guys who don’t have egos and are kind of pulling for you and wanting to help you get better, and I think that just creates such a fun environment to be around.
“I think the best teams have guys that pull for each other, so I’m really excited to see how you know this group continues to just grow together and learn as much as we can.”
Rutschman and Stowers were nonroster invitees who survived the initial rounds of cuts at major league spring training, demonstrating how valuable the organization felt the time in that environment was for them. They sprinkled in time for other prospects, as well, frequently calling up top young players from their minor league camp. In one late March exhibition, seven of Baltimore’s top 10 prospects were on the day’s travel roster for a game against the Philadelphia Phillies. Simply being around one another gives those players an impression of a bright future.
“There’s so much talent at every spot,” said infielder Jordan Westburg, Baltimore’s No. 6 prospect. “It’s something to be excited about. It’s something to look forward to every time you get to the field. You just get to pick different people’s brains. You get to compete against different guys every day. It’s just special. That’s the best way I can put it. It’s exciting for not only us, but should be exciting for the fan base, as well.”
With a right tricep strain spoiling Rutschman’s chances of making the Opening Day roster, none of Baltimore’s most highly prized prospects will be with them as the 2022 season begins. But they will come soon, in the meantime littering the upper minors and making the future feel closer than it has at any point in the Orioles’ rebuild.
“We’re definitely on the rise,” Bradish said. “With the young guys coming up to complement the older guys that have been playing with the Orioles for the past couple years, I think it’s a great combination of young and older talent. I think we’re close.” | true | true | both | www.baltimoresun | 20220401 |
https://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/ravens/bs-sp-ravens-injuries-practice-changes-20220401-mpsstyzsj5bdxpn64phdv5ardi-story.html | PALM BEACH, Fla. — In mid-January, Ravens coach John Harbaugh held a four-hour meeting with his sports performance staff. The team was coming off maybe the most injury-marred year in recent NFL history, sabotaging a season with Super Bowl ambitions. Everything was up for review.
“From practice schedules, from training camp schedules, from [organized team activities], from how we train, from how we condition, even how we do our team, all of our modeling in terms of [practice] loads and things like that in our team periods and in our individual periods,” Harbaugh said at his end-of-season news conference in late January. “I mean, man, we’re going to look at everything, and we’re going to change a lot.”
Change is already underway. At the NFL owners meetings Monday, Harbaugh said the Ravens have altered their approach to offseason workouts and preseason practices. In training camp, for instance, every third practice will be shorter, more “execution oriented,” Harbaugh said, and “less competitive,” with fewer repetitions between the first-team offense and first-team defense.
Harbaugh said keeping the team healthy is “priority one, for sure, along with being really good and making sure we put a good team on the field and we’re prepared.”
“I don’t know if we’ve reached any conclusions about why the injuries happened,” Harbaugh said. “Nobody has those conclusions. We’ve listened. We’ve seen all the studies. We talked to all the NFL people, all the studies they’re doing. And there really are no answers that you can say definitively, ‘This is the cause and effect.’ But we’ve looked at everything we’ve done. Like we said, we turned over every stone. We’ve changed a lot of what we’re doing. …
“We’re going to approach OTAs differently. We’re going to approach training camp, some big-picture schedule differently, in terms of the way we ramp [up] and in terms of the way we time practices, how long we’re on the field, what we’re doing on the field, how we pace the rhythm of the practices — and even within the practices, what we do early and how we pace the rhythm of our practices.”
The Ravens’ injury woes reached absurdist levels on Sept. 9, when cornerback Marcus Peters and running back Gus Edwards suffered season-ending knee injuries within a span of a couple of plays. Team owner Steve Bisciotti, who was watching the practice, recalled Tuesday that the Ravens’ injury cart hadn’t even dropped off Peters before it was called back for Edwards.
Edwards was the third Ravens running back to suffer a season-ending injury in a 12-day span, after J.K. Dobbins tore his ACL in the team’s Aug. 28 preseason finale and Justice Hill tore his Achilles tendon on Sept. 2. The team later lost left tackle Ronnie Stanley, cornerback Marlon Humphrey and quarterback Lamar Jackson, among others, to season-ending injuries. Key contributors like rookie wide receiver Rashod Bateman, tight end Nick Boyle and offensive lineman Tyre Phillips missed significant time as well.
Because of injuries and the coronavirus, 75 Ravens were active for a game last season, tying a franchise record. According to the analytics website Football Outsiders, the Ravens last season had 191.2 “adjusted games lost” because of injuries, a metric that accounts for the relative value of starters. No team over the past two decades, even when prorated for a 16-game season, has had more injury-related personnel losses.
“The only benefit of it is, it forces you to tear things down to the base and kind of rebuild them,” Bisciotti said. “It’s like cleaning out your closet. You kind of know you have to do it sooner or later and you hate it, hate it, hate it, until you’re done and you’re like, ‘I feel so good that I finally cleaned out my closet. I can see my clothes again.’ I think it was a good exercise to have to tear it down and look at that. …
“If we change everything that we think we need to change this year and it happens again, then everyone is going to go, ‘They have the worst luck in the world.’ And if we don’t again, then people are going to say, ‘Well, it wasn’t all bad luck. They changed a lot of their practices to get to this point.’ We’ll take that, too. I believe we’re a better organization because we were forced to address it.” | true | true | both | www.baltimoresun | 20220401 |
https://www.baltimoresun.com/opinion/readers-respond/bs-ed-rr-art-security-guards-letter-20220401-e4zxs2vc5zhrzms4dpfjrz45wa-story.html | The show at the Baltimore Museum of Art, “Guarding the Art,” brings a new dimension of appreciation to the varied works at the BMA (”‘Guarding the Art’: BMA exhibit curated by security guards illuminates their personal histories,” March 25). The guards’ perspectives come from frequent exposure to the art and building a connection over time — just as frequent visitors to the BMA also get to know and claim favorite works. The exhibit reminds us of the importance of the guards who help visitors orient themselves in the museum, as well as protect the work.
About 20 years ago, a show of the distinguished artist, Fred Wilson, was on exhibit at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. I couldn’t wait to see it because I was so affected by his show 10 years earlier, “Mining the Museum,” at the Maryland Historical Society which asked “Where am I?” from a Black Marylander’s point of view. You can imagine the artifacts Mr. Wilson unearthed: shackles, wanted posters for runaway slaves, auction announcements for slave sales, etc. All this juxtaposed against Maryland’s fine silver and decorative arts.
At the opening of the later UMBC show, that same Fred Wilson, dressed in a guard’s uniform and standing at the entrance of the retrospective of his work, stood guard all evening. At closing, he came forward and introduced himself with these paraphrased comments: “I stood here all evening and no one made eye contact with me nor said a single word.”
I ask now: Why? Was it his Blackness or his job as a guard that made him invisible or unacknowledged?
In any event, the BMA is now paying attention to its guards by enlisting their advice and critical eye. I can’t wait to see this show!
Nancy Cox, Baltimore
Add your voice: Respond to this piece or other Sun content by submitting your own letter. | true | true | both | www.baltimoresun | 20220401 |
https://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bs-bz-auto-insurance-credit-scores-maryland-legislation-20220401-tk3cbm6wknfmtoot3dhvxjyvnq-story.html | Consumer advocates are facing setbacks in a renewed bid to stop auto insurers in Maryland from using policy holders’ credit scores to set rates.
Advocates say proposed state legislation to eliminate credit as an auto insurance rating factor has been gutted by amendments that favor the insurance industry.
Members of the Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition say the bill was intended to make auto insurance more affordable and do away with factors not related to driving that can lead to discrimination in the underwriting process. The legislation sponsored by Delegate Melissa Wells, a Democrat who represents West Baltimore, was amended before passing the House of Delegates and is now before the Senate Finance Committee.
“Strong reform is needed to address the use of credit history, one of the most egregious non-driving related factors which disproportionately affects low-income drivers and working families,” said Isadora Stern, a policy associate with the coalition, while testifying Tuesday before the Senate committee.
Insurers argue that credit scores, just one of many rating factors, have been shown to effectively predict the number and cost of claims filed. During the legislative session, insurance trade groups and companies have mobilized to defeat the proposed measure, attending hearings and, in the case of one large insurance firm, soliciting donations from agents in Maryland for a political action committee.
To offer competitive policies, insurers use a number of rating factors and models to predict potential losses and charge accurate prices, said Matt Overturf, regional vice president for the mid-Atlantic region of the National Association of Mutual Insurance Cos.
“Through this practice, rather than a punitive one-price-fits-all approach, consumers who present lower risk pay less for their coverage,” Overturf said in testimony last month before the House Economic Matters Committee.
Under current state law, insurers can use an applicant’s credit history to determine rates on new, not existing, policies.
But drivers with poor-to-moderate credit ratings can be charged a penalty of up to 40%, said Marceline White, executive director of the consumer coalition. Consumers could find their credit damaged because of student loans or credit card debt, but also because of identity theft or data errors, White said.
“It’s economic profiling, and that’s particularly true with credit scores,” she said. “Maryland drivers are paying an enormous cost because of the current law.”
Insurance industry representatives had opposed the original bill, arguing that “risk-based pricing” allows insurers to offer customers competitive rates while remaining financially stable.
Unlike other institutions that rely on credit scores to make loans or issue credit, insurers do not collect or consider an applicant’s income level, said a lobbyist for the the American Property Casualty Insurance Association.
“There is no reliable evidence that points to insurance scoring resulting in higher insurance rates for any specific class of individual,” said Nancy Egan, the insurance association’s state government relations counsel representing Maryland.
The Evening Sun
In February, Erie Insurance asked agents in Maryland to contribute to ERIE-PAC, in part to defend against proposals such as those to ban or restrict credit, gender and territory rating variables, according to a company email sent to agents and provided to The Baltimore Sun by the consumer coalition. Another email sent the last week in March thanked nearly 100 agents for making contributions and asked others to consider donating, saying: “In the waning weeks of the session, we are fighting hard against a renewed effort to ban use of credit in auto.”
A spokesman for Erie said the company supports the industry position against banning “key insurance underwriting and rating variables.” But ERIE-PAC contributions do not target specific issues, said Matthew Cummings, the spokesman.
“We are aware of the legislative proposals currently being considered in Maryland and continue to work closely with our industry trade associations to support a legislative and regulatory environment that is balanced for insurers and consumers,” Cummings said.
The amended bill passed by the House allows policy holders with poor credit to request exceptions if specific circumstances or hardships damaged their credit. Insurers are under no obligation to grant exceptions.
Consumer advocates say that has left the bill, which they now oppose, with no meaningful help for drivers with poor credit. Separate bills proposed this session to prevent use of gender and ZIP code in setting rates failed to move forward. Similar bills in past years have been unsuccessful.
Consumer advocates have tried to reform the auto insurance market for years, with some success in states such as California, Massachusetts and Hawaii, said Doug Heller, director of insurance for the Consumer Federation of America.
But “the industry invests a lot of political capital in trying to block reform,” he said. “This is an ongoing battle for fairness around the country. It’s not a new problem.” | true | true | both | www.baltimoresun | 20220401 |
https://www.baltimoresun.com/business/ct-biz-us-economy-jobs-report-20220401-qmj6x42rubbm7ny4a62k5pedke-story.html | America’s employers extended a streak of robust hiring in March, adding 431,000 jobs in a sign of the economy’s resilience in the face of a still-destructive pandemic and the highest inflation in 40 years.
The Labor Department’s report Friday showed that last month’s job growth helped reduce the unemployment rate to 3.6%, the lowest level since the pandemic erupted two years ago.
Despite the inflation surge, persistent supply bottlenecks, the damaging effects of COVID-19 and now a war in Europe, employers have added at least 400,000 jobs for 11 straight months.
Inflation may be starting to weaken consumer spending, the main driver of the economy. Americans increased their spending by just 0.2% in February, down from a much larger gain in January.
Still, the job market has continued to rebound with unexpected speed from the coronavirus recession. Job openings are at a near-record level, and applications for unemployment benefits have dropped to near their lowest point since 1969.
The still-solid U.S. job market reflects a robust rebound from the brief but devastating coronavirus recession, which wiped out 22 million jobs in March and April 2020 as businesses shut down or cut hours and Americans stayed home to avoid infection.
But the recovery has been swift. Fueled by generous federal aid, savings amassed during the pandemic and ultra-low borrowing rates engineered by the Federal Reserve, U.S. consumers have spent so fast that many factories, warehouses, shipping companies and ports have failed to keep pace with their customer demand. Supply chains have snarled, forcing up prices.
As the pandemic has eased, consumers have been broadening their spending beyond goods to services, such as health care, travel and entertainment, which they had long avoided during the worst of the pandemic. The result: Chronically high inflation is causing hardships for many lower-income households that face sharp price increases for such necessities as food, gasoline and rent.
The Evening Sun
It’s unclear whether the economy can maintain its momentum of the past year. The government relief checks are gone. The Fed raised its benchmark short-term interest rate two weeks ago and will likely keep raising it well into next year. Those rate hikes will result in more expensive loans for many consumers and businesses.
Inflation has also eroded consumers’ spending power: Hourly pay, adjusted for higher consumer prices, fell 2.6% in February from a year earlier — the 11th straight month in which inflation has outpaced year-over-year wage growth. According to AAA, average gasoline prices, at $4.23 a gallon, are up a dizzying 47% from a year ago.
Squeezed by inflation, some consumers are paring their spending. The Commerce Department reported Thursday that consumer spending rose just 0.2%% in February — and fell 0.4% when adjusted for inflation — down from a 2.7% increase in January.
Still, the job market has kept hurtling ahead. Employers posted a near-record 11.3 million positions in February. Nearly 4.4 million Americans quit their jobs, a sign of confidence that they could find something better.
Even so, so many jobs were lost in 2020 that the economy still remains more than 2 million shy of the number it had just before the pandemic struck. Over the past year, employers have added an average of 556,000 jobs a month. At that pace — no guarantee to continue — the nation would recover all the jobs lost to the pandemic by June. (That still wouldn’t include all the additional hiring that would have been done over the past two years under normal circumstances.)
Brighter job prospects are beginning to draw back into the labor force people who had remained on the sidelines because of health concerns, difficulty finding or affording daycare, generous unemployment benefits that have now expired or other reasons.
Over the past year, 3.6 million people have joined the U.S. labor force, meaning they now either have a job or are looking for one. But their ranks are still nearly 600,000 short of where they stood in February 2020, just before the pandemic slammed into the economy. | true | true | both | www.baltimoresun | 20220401 |
https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/anne-arundel/bs-md-ar-lawsuit-blackface-anne-arundel-schools-severna-park-20220331-l7g5hffmfnhi3mzt4xcxoxda4i-story.html | On a Saturday in October, a freshman at Severna Park High School sent a photo of herself in face paint to her friends. Two days later, she was pulled out of class and suspended for wearing blackface.
Now her parents are suing the Anne Arundel County Board of Education in federal court for $4 million, saying the face paint was not black but gold and claiming the school system violated their daughter’s First Amendment rights and acted negligently toward her.
The lawsuit, filed Monday in Baltimore’s U.S. District Court, claims the high schooler was wrongly suspended for something she did outside of school, and that school officials’ decision to uphold her suspension ruined her reputation among her peers.
In the suit, her parents say the student, identified in court documents as K.H., originally bought the face paint and wore it to a pep rally and for school spirit day without issue, according to the complaint. Severna Park High School’s colors are blue and gold. The Baltimore Sun is not naming the student because she is a minor.
K.H. was “subjected to cyberbullying, in-person bullying and exclusion from her friend groups” after her suspension, according to the complaint.
Cole Sullivan, the parents’ lawyer, did not include the photo in the suit, but did submit a photo of the what he said was the face paint packaging to show it is gold.
Sullivan wrote in the complaint that because the photo was taken outside of school hours and didn’t directly reference Severna Park, school officials were wrong to suspend his client at all.
In June 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled a Pennsylvania school wrongly suspended a student from her junior varsity cheerleading and softball teams when she posted a profanity-laden rant to her Snapchat to express her disappointment at not making varsity. In that case, Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L., the court voted 8-1 that school systems have a limited ability to regulate student’s speech and expression off campus and outside of the school day.
“The facts of this instant matter are virtually identical to the facts in the Mahanoy Area School District case,” Sullivan wrote in the complaint.
Sullivan and officials for the school system declined to comment.
University of Baltimore constitutional law professor Mike Meyerson said the parents’ legal claim depends on whether school officials can prove the photo caused a substantial disruption in an educational setting.
“If you have white bigoted students filming themselves burning the cross and wearing swastikas, they damn well should be suspended because the school won’t be able to function,” he said. “But something like goldface, I think it would be very difficult to show a substantial disruption.”
According to the lawsuit, the K.H. was just “messing around” with her makeup when she sent the photo to her friends on Snapchat. But one of the friends took a screen shot of the photo and started circulating it among the student body.
When K.H. returned to school from the weekend, the principals had gotten wind of the photo and were looking to suspend her for what some students perceived as a racist act. K.H., through her parents’ lawsuit, says the face paint and the photo were never meant to offend.
The Morning Sun
“There was no racial biases or intent behind the taking of the photo, as it was the color gold, which is Severna Park High School’s school color,” the complaint reads.
One of K.H.’s friends even told school administrators it was just gold face paint, according to the lawsuit, but K.H. received an out-of-school suspension for displaying “intentional bias” and a note was placed in her student record, something her parents worry will hurt her ability to get into college.
Anne Arundel County Public Schools has a zero-tolerance policy for “bias behavior” and requires principals to investigate all complaints of racism or discrimination within two days of receiving them. The school system defines biased behavior as any conduct that creates a “hostile educational environment” and is based on an actual or perceived characteristic of a person or a group of persons, including race, color, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, national origin, ethnicity, marital status, disability or homelessness.
In 2019, the Anne Arundel School Board passed a policy requiring all ninth graders attend a diversity seminar to graduate from high school after a student at Broadneck High School used a racist slur in a Snapchat message to describe Annapolis High School’s mostly Black basketball team.
As to the claim for $4 million in damages, Meyerson said a sizable award for damages could deter schools from punishing students too much.
On the other hand, Meyerson said, there is a need for schools to act swiftly when students are discriminated against. Either way, $4 million is a substantial amount for a brief suspension from school.
“That’s a lot of windfall,” Meyerson said. | true | true | both | www.baltimoresun | 20220401 |
https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation-world/ct-aud-nw-pope-indigenous-canada-20220401-d257xutilvbptliypzbxnvj5ly-story.html | VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis on Friday made a historic apology to Indigenous Peoples for the “deplorable” abuses they suffered in Canada’s Catholic-run residential schools and said he hoped to visit Canada in late July to deliver the apology in person to survivors of the church’s misguided missionary zeal.
Francis begged forgiveness during an audience with dozens of members of the Metis, Inuit and First Nations communities who came to Rome seeking a papal apology and a commitment from the Catholic Church to repair the damage. The first pope from the Americas said he hoped to visit Canada around the Feast of St. Anna, which falls on July 26.
More than 150,000 native children in Canada were forced to attend state-funded Christian schools from the 19th century until the 1970s in an effort to isolate them from the influence of their homes and culture. The aim was to Christianize and assimilate them into mainstream society, which previous Canadian governments considered superior.
The Canadian government has admitted that physical and sexual abuse was rampant at the schools, with students beaten for speaking their native languages. That legacy of that abuse and isolation from family has been cited by Indigenous leaders as a root cause of the epidemic rates of alcohol and drug addiction now on Canadian reservations.
After hearing their stories all week, Francis told the Indigenous that the colonial project ripped children from their families, cutting off roots, traditions and culture and provoking inter-generational trauma that is still being felt today. He said it was a “counter-witness” to the same Gospel that the residential school system purported to uphold.
“For the deplorable conduct of those members of the Catholic Church, I ask forgiveness of the Lord,” Francis said. “And I want to tell you from my heart, that I am greatly pained. And I unite myself with the Canadian bishops in apologizing.”
The trip to Rome by the Indigenous was years in the making but gained momentum last year after the discovery of hundreds of unmarked graves outside some of the residential schools in Canada. The three groups of Indigenous met separately with Francis over several hours this week, telling him their stories, culminating with Friday’s audience.
Francis spoke in Italian and the Indigenous read his remarks in English translations. The president of the Metis National Council, Cassidy Caron, said the Metis elder sitting next her burst into tears upon hearing what she said was a long-overdue apology.
“The pope’s words today were historic, to be sure. They were necessary, and I appreciate them deeply,” Caron told reporters in St. Peter’s Square. “And I now look forward to the pope’s visit to Canada, where he can offer those sincere words of apology directly to our survivors and their families, whose acceptance and healing ultimately matters most.”
The spiritual adviser of the Assembly of First Nations’ delegation, Elder Fred Kelley, echoed the sentiment.
“Today is a day that we’ve been waiting for. And certainly one that will be uplifted in our history,” he said. “It’s a historical first step, however, only a first step.”
He and other Indigenous leaders said there was far more for the church to do on the path of reconciliation, but that for now Indigenous leaders insisted on being involved in organizing the papal visit to make sure Francis stops in places that hold spiritual importance to their people.
Natan Obed, president of the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, thanked Francis for addressing all the issues the Indigenous had brought to him. “And he did so in a way that really showed his empathy towards the indigenous people of Canada,” he said.
Nearly three-quarters of Canada’s 130 residential schools were run by Catholic missionary congregations.
Last May, the Tk’emlups te Secwepemc Nation announced the discovery of 215 gravesites near Kamloops, British Columbia, that were found using ground-penetrating radar. It was Canada’s largest Indigenous residential school and the discovery of the graves was the first of numerous, similar grim sites across the country.
Even before the grave sites were discovered, Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission specifically called for a papal apology to be delivered on Canadian soil for the church’s role in the abuses.
In addition, as part of a settlement of a lawsuit involving the Canadian government, churches and the approximately 90,000 surviving students, Canada paid reparations that amounted to billions of dollars being transferred to Indigenous communities. The Catholic Church, for its part, has paid over $50 million and now intends to add $30 million more over the next five years.
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Francis said he felt shame for the role that Catholic educators had played in the harm, “in the abuse and disrespect for your identity, your culture and even your spiritual values,” he said. “It is evident that the contents of the faith cannot be transmitted in a way that is extraneous to the faith itself.”
“It is chilling to think of determined efforts to instill a sense of inferiority, to rob people of their cultural identity, to sever their roots, and to consider all the personal and social effects that this continues to entail: unresolved traumas that have become inter-generational traumas,” he said.
After the papal apology, the audience continued with joyous performances of Indigenous prayers by drummers, dancers and fiddlers that Francis watched, applauded and gave a thumbs up to. The Indigenous then presented him with gifts, including snowshoes.
Francis’ apology went far beyond what Pope Benedict XVI had offered in 2009 when an Assembly of First Nations delegation visited. At the time, Benedict only expressed his “sorrow at the anguish caused by the deplorable conduct of some members of the church.” But he did not apologize.
The Argentine pope is no stranger to offering apologies for his own errors and for what he himself has termed the “crimes” of the institutional church. Most significantly, during a 2015 visit to Bolivia, he apologized for the sins, crimes and offenses committed by the church against Indigenous Peoples during the colonial-era conquest of the Americas.
He made clear those same colonial crimes occurred far more recently in Canada at the Catholic-run residential schools.
“Your identity and culture has been wounded, many families separated, many children have become victims of this homogenization action, supported by the idea that progress occurs through ideological colonization, according to programs studied at the table rather than respecting the lives of peoples,” he said. | true | true | both | www.baltimoresun | 20220401 |
https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation-world/ct-aud-nw-ukraine-russia-20220401-f27jitmr7nf3pdhifjg3zgtlim-story.html | KYIV, Ukraine — Talks to stop the fighting in Ukraine resumed Friday, as another attempt to rescue civilians from the besieged port city of Mariupol broke down and Russia accused the Ukrainians of launching a cross-border helicopter attack on an oil depot.
The governor of Russia’s Belgorod region said the alleged airstrike by a pair of helicopter gunships caused multiple fires and injured two people. A Kremlin spokesman said the incident on Russia’s territory could undermine the negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian representatives.
“Certainly, this is not something that can be perceived as creating comfortable conditions for the continuation of the talks,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov replied when asked if the strike could be viewed as an escalation of the war in Ukraine.
It was not immediately possible to verify the claim that Ukrainian helicopters targeted the oil depot or several nearby businesses in Belgorod also reported hit. Russia has reported shelling from Ukraine before, including an incident last week that killed a military chaplain, but not an incursion of its airspace.
Asked if Ukraine had fired on the depot, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in Warsaw that he could “neither confirm nor nor reject the claim that Ukraine was involved in this simply because I do not possess all the military information.”
The latest negotiations, taking place by video link, follow a meeting in Turkey on Tuesday where Ukraine reiterated its willingness to abandon a bid to join NATO and offered proposals to have its neutral military status guaranteed by a range of foreign countries.
The head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, wrote on social media that Moscow’s positions on retaining control of the Crimean Peninsula and expanding the territory in eastern Ukraine held by Russia-backed separatists “are unchanged.”
The International Committee for the Red Cross said complex logistics were still being worked out for the operation to get emergency aid into Mariupol and civilians out of the city, which has suffered weeks of heavy fighting with dwindling water, food and medical supplies.
“We are running out of adjectives to describe the horrors that residents in Mariupol have suffered,” ICRC spokesperson Ewan Watson said Friday during a U.N. briefing in Geneva. “The situation is horrendous and deteriorating, and it’s now a humanitarian imperative that people be allowed to leave and aid supplies be allowed in.”
He said the group had sent three vehicles toward Mariupol and a frontline between Ukrainian and Russian forces but two trucks carrying supplies for the city were not accompanying them. Dozens of buses organized by Ukrainian authorities to take people out also had not started approaching the dividing line, Watson said.
City authorities said a little while later that the Russians were blocking access to Mariupol and it was too dangerous for people to leave it on their own.
“We do not see a real desire on the part of the Russians and their satellites to provide an opportunity for Mariupol residents to evacuate to territory controlled by Ukraine,” Petro Andryushchenko, an adviser to the mayor of Mariupol, wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
He said Russian forces “are categorically not allowing any humanitarian cargo, even in small amounts, into the city”
On Thursday, Russian forces blocked a 45-bus convoy attempting to evacuate people from Mariupol after the Russian military agreed to a limited cease-fire in the area, and only 631 people were able to leave in private cars, the Ukrainian government said.
Russian forces also seized 14 tons of food and medical supplies trying to make it to Mariupol, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said.
The city has been the scene of some of the worst suffering of the war. Tens of thousands of residents managed to leave in the past few weeks through humanitarian corridors, reducing the population from a prewar 430,000 to an estimated 100,000 by last week. But continued Russian attacks have repeatedly thwarted aid and evacuation missions.
In the past few days, the Kremlin, in a seeming shift in its war aims, said that its “main goal” now is gaining complete control of the Donbas, where Mariupol is located. The Donbas is the predominantly Russian-speaking industrial region of eastern Ukraine where Moscow-backed separatists have been battling Ukrainian forces since 2014 and have declared two areas as independent republics.
Western officials said there were growing indications Russia was using its talk of de-escalation in Ukraine as cover to regroup, resupply and redeploy its forces for a stepped-up offensive in the east.
Russian forces have subjected both Chernihiv, a besieged city in northern Ukraine, and the capital of Kyiv to continued air and ground-launched missile strikes despite Moscow saying Tuesday it planned to reduce military activity in those areas.
Elsewhere, Ukrainian forces have retaken the villages of Sloboda and Lukashivka, south of Chernihiv and along one of the main supply routes between the city and Kyiv, according to Britain’s Defense Ministry.
Ukraine has also continued to make successful but limited counterattacks to the east and northeast of Kyiv, the ministry said.
Hours later, Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on Telegram early Friday that the fire at the oil depot “occurred as a result of an airstrike from two helicopters of the armed forces of Ukraine, which entered the territory of Russia at a low altitude.”
The depot run by Russian energy giant Rosneft is located about 21 miles north of the Ukraine-Russia border.
Separately, Ukraine’s state power company, Energoatom, said Russian troops pulled out of the heavily contaminated Chernobyl nuclear site in northern Ukraine early Friday after receiving “significant doses” of radiation from digging trenches in the exclusion zone around the closed plant.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said it could not independently confirm the exposure claim. Energoatom gave no details on the condition of the soldiers and did not say how many were affected. There was no immediate comment from the Kremlin.
The agency, which is the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog, said it had been informed by Ukraine that Russian forces at Chernobyl had transferred control of the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster to the Ukrainians in writing.
IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi wrote on Twitter that he would visit the decommissioned plant as soon as possible and his agency’s “assistance and support” mission to Chernobyl “will be the first in a series of such nuclear safety and security missions to Ukraine.”
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Grossi was in the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad Friday for talks with senior officials about nuclear issues in Ukraine. Nine of Ukraine’s 15 operational reactors are currently in use, including two at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhya facility, the agency said.
Russian forces seized the Chernobyl site soon after invading Ukraine on Feb. 24, raising fears they would cause damage or disruption that could spread radiation. The workforce there oversees the safe storage of spent fuel rods and the concrete-entombed ruins of the reactor that exploded in 1986.
Five weeks and one day into a conflict that has left thousands dead and driven more than 4 million refugees from Ukraine, there seemed little faith that the two sides would find agreement on their respective demands any time soon.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said conditions weren’t yet “ripe” for a cease-fire and he wasn’t ready for a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy until the negotiators do more work, Italian Premier Mario Draghi said after a Thursday telephone conversation with the Russian leader.
In his nightly video address late Thursday, Zelenskyy doubted Moscow’s willingness to end the conflict. He warned that Russian withdrawals in the country’s north and center were just a military tactic to build up strength for new attacks in the southeast.
“We know their intentions,” Zelenskyy said. “We know that they are moving away from those areas where we hit them in order to focus on other, very important ones where it may be difficult for us.”
Karmanau reported from Lviv, Ukraine. Associated Press journalists around the world contributed to this report. | true | true | both | www.baltimoresun | 20220401 |
https://www.baltimoresun.com/opinion/columnists/dan-rodricks/bs-ed-rodricks-0403-sherman-russia-20220401-f7kv6svqmjfopmb3fr6bmjyk54-story.html | The Russian ambassador had heard enough about global food shortages caused by his nation’s invasion of Ukraine so, when it was his turn to speak, Vasily Nebenzya offered a classic Kremlinesque retort: He blamed the West.
If not for the West’s “unbridled sanctions hysteria” against Russia, Nebenzya told the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday, there would be no threat of starvation among Ukrainians; food would still flow from Ukraine, the “breadbasket of Europe,” to countries that need it. The United States and other western nations can prevent food shortages, Nebenzya said, “no matter how much they try to shift blame” to Russia.
And, he added — because it’s in the Russian script — if “Ukrainian Nazis and radicals” would just lay down their arms, there would be no crisis.
It was all maddening and absurd: Moscow’s U.N. ambassador blaming the victims of Russia’s bombardments for their predicament and, further, blaming the international sanctions imposed on Russia for disruptions in the production and export of Ukrainian and Russian wheat, corn, sunflower oil and other staples.
Just stop the sanctions, Nebenzya said, and there will be no famine.
Sitting nearby, and having spoken moments earlier about the looming crisis, was Wendy Sherman, the U.S. deputy secretary of state, Baltimore native and alumnus of Pikesville High School and the University of Maryland School of Social Work.
Sherman, now a seasoned diplomat representing the U.S. at a session of the Security Council, had sounded warnings about the possibility of famine due to Russia’s “unjustified and brutal invasion of Ukraine.” Nearly a quarter of Ukraine’s population has been displaced, she said, and nearly 4 million Ukrainians have fled the country. The only one to blame for that, she said, was the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.
“Russia’s ceaseless bombardment of Ukraine cities and critical infrastructure has created one of the fastest growing humanitarian crises in recent decades,” Sherman had told the council.
Now, having listened to the Russian ambassador’s response, she had more to say.
“First,” she said, “I want to be clear that the conflict that is being suffered by the Ukrainian people is not about the Russian Federation versus the West. One hundred and forty countries, just last week, spoke in support of ending this conflict and the need to end this humanitarian crisis.
“So, with all due respect, Mr. Ambassador, this is not about Russia versus the West. This is about the support of the UN Charter and the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and the right of all countries — all countries — to choose their political orientation and their foreign policy.
“I myself was engaged directly with Russian counterparts to find a peaceful way forward to meet the concerns of the Russian Federation,” Sherman added. “President Putin chose an invasion, not diplomacy.”
Sherman has been deputy to Secretary of State Antony Blinken since last April, but her experiences in the State Department go back to the Clinton administration, the years after the breakup of the Soviet Union and during wars in the former Yugoslavia.
She served secretaries Warren Christopher and Madeleine Albright and, during the Obama administration, John Kerry and Hillary Clinton. Sherman was lead negotiator for the Iran nuclear deal.
Marylanders remember her as the savvy chief of staff for then-Rep. Barbara Mikulski and the manager of Mikulski’s first successful campaign for the Senate in the 1980s. Among a variety of positions she held over the years, Sherman served as Maryland’s special secretary for children and youth.
Now, on the world stage, Sherman used her moment at the UN to challenge Russia, and she did so in the perfect pitch of a diplomat armed with facts and moral clarity.
“With all due respect, Mr. Ambassador,” she said, “as a Jewish American, I cannot help but say this is not about Nazis in Ukraine. Last week, former U.S. Secretary of State and former Permanent Representative to this Council — and one of my most cherished personal friends — Madeleine Albright, died. She loved representing the United States here. She would have been outraged by the words of the Russian Federation today.
“Later in her life, she learned that her parents raised her as Catholic to protect her from the Nazis because her family was Jewish. She learned that three of her grandparents died at the hands of the Nazis while in concentration camps. She knew that the Jewish president of Ukraine [Volodymyr Zelenskyy] was certainly not a Nazi, and that the citizens of Ukraine being slaughtered and starving, and without food and medicine … are not and never were Nazis.”
Sherman never raised her voice to express anger, something experienced diplomats manage to do in the face of obvious lies and infuriating claims. There’s powerful authority in that voice, and after the Trump years, when a demoralized State Department experienced a serious brain drain under the administrations of Rex Tillerson and Mike Pompeo, it seemed possible, in this moment at the UN, that America could regain its credibility and leadership.
“Finally,” Sherman said, bringing the hearing back to its purpose, “this dialogue today is about the humanitarian needs of Ukrainian civilians and people around the world …
“We must all do whatever we can to stop war. But there is an easy choice here. And it is a choice that can be made today by President Putin, and that is to stop the war. So let us all, over 140 countries around the world, continue to stand with Ukraine.” | true | true | both | www.baltimoresun | 20220401 |
https://www.baltimoresun.com/opinion/readers-respond/bs-ed-rr-orioles-fans-food-letter-20220401-2kkju6bvibgdnargw5fy4inxt4-story.html | Like letter writer Robert T. Strudwick Jr., I have been a season-ticket holder for over 20 years and am very appreciative of the new food rules (”Orioles new food policy is a hit,” March 29). Yes, it’s a bit annoying about lunch in a plastic bag, but nothing to gripe about. However, there are other issues. First, why are we not allowed to bring a water bottle with ice? How is that any kind of threat for COVID-19 or anything else? Those store bottles will stay cold a short time in 85-plus degree Baltimore summers.
Second, some of us older folks have other issues. We sit in the upper deck behind home plate. I need my binoculars, pillow to sit on, small battery operated fan and sweat towel in addition to phone, purse with money, etc. Putting these in a locker is ridiculous. I need them at my seat. I’m perfectly willing to put these items in a see-through bag.
Under the present rules, I don’t know if we’ll be able to come to any games. The Orioles need every single fan to be there or the ballpark will look like a ghost town. Come on, Orioles rule-setters. Give us faithful fans a break.
Linda Miller, Randallstown
Add your voice: Respond to this piece or other Sun content by submitting your own letter. | true | true | both | www.baltimoresun | 20220401 |
https://www.baltimoresun.com/politics/bs-md-pol-paid-family-medical-leave-20220401-moe4p2namfda3kyojb5rsyyi2e-story.html | Maryland lawmakers have passed a measure to create a paid family leave program, sending the legislation to Gov. Larry Hogan.
The bill, approved Thursday by supermajority votes by Democrats who control the legislature, would enable workers to take up to 12 weeks of partially paid leave for specified personal family circumstances such as caring for a sick relative or having a baby. It would provide up to 24 weeks for a parent, if he or she has a serious health issue in the year of a child’s birth.
“This has been a long time coming,” said Sen. Antonio Hayes, a Baltimore Democrat. He thanked supporters who have “come together and really advocated on behalf of Maryland families.”
Republicans criticized the measure for failing to spell out how much employees and employers would have to contribute, leaving that for the state’s labor department to define later. They said Democrats were rushing to get the bill to the Republican governor just to meet a deadline so lawmakers will still be in session if the bill is vetoed.
“We’re pushing this bill as quick as we can to get it upstairs,” said Sen. J.B. Jennings, a Republican, who added: “We don’t know the numbers … this bill is a hot mess.”
Because lawmakers are in the last session of the four-year term, they would not have a chance to override the veto next year if they adjourn before the governor acts on legislation.
The measure would create an insurance pool. Employees and employers would contribute to fund the program. Under the bill, the state’s labor department would set contribution rates to pay for the program. Employers with fewer than 15 employees would not be required to contribute.
The measure also includes job protections to protect employees from retaliation or termination for using the leave. | true | true | both | www.baltimoresun | 20220401 |
https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/harford/aegis/sports/cng-ag-sp-track-0401-20220401-fwxhjnijxbcndjmx6pvjg2rxrq-story.html | Edgewood competed in the first invitational track meet of the new season Saturday, the Seahawk Invitational at South River High School. In it, the Rams’ Delaney Saulsbury got the opportunity to race 5,000 meters on the track for the first time.
She took advantage of the opportunity, leading the field for the first half of the race then drawing close to the leader with 600 meters to go before finishing second. Her time, 19:08.8, approximates a one-minute improvement over her best 5K time in cross-country.
“She ran fearless,” said her coach Jerry Henderson.
The Rams had other strong performances in the meet among 22 high school teams. Calvin Karanja placed fifth in the 110 hurdles in 16.84 seconds and seventh in 300 hurdles in 42.36. Sophomore Frank Barnett took eighth place in the 400 in 53.50, and Ryan Buddenbohn finished 10th in the boys’ 5,000 in 17:08.2.
There were four opening day tri-meets among UCBAC teams in Harford County on March 22. Here are the top performances in each.
Joppatowne, North East at Bel Air
Bel Air junior Jack Hynes won the 800 in 1:58.8, one of the fastest 800s ever run in an opening meet in the UCBAC. His win helped the Bel Air boys outscore North East and Joppatowne.
Dameon Walker won the 400 in 53.2, edging teammate Matt Collins by a tenth. Alex Visconti won the shot put at 39-11. He also threw a personal best of 121-6 in the discus, finishing second behind North East’s James Paylor (123-4).
The girls’ 800 produced two strong performances. Freshman Anna Kane and senior Morgan Loewe tied at 2:32.17.
Joppatowne senior Sean Williams won the 100 and 200 with times of 11.2 and 23.8. In the girls’ 100, the Mariners took 1-2-3, with Kamille Purcell winning in 13.5, edging Cyniah Lewis by 0.3. Blessary Turner took third.
Aberdeen, Fallston at Harford Tech
Fallston senior Quinn Daly won the 1600 by about 100 meters in 4:35.1, a personal best by 15 seconds. His sister Grace Daly, a sophomore, won the girls’ mile by a margin of 27 seconds in 5:41.38. In the boys’ 3200, Alex Xavier won with a personal best of 10:02.88.
Aberdeen’s Daniel Wilson won the 800 in 2:03.74, his first 800 since running 1:57.53 in the New Balance Nationals Indoor in New York City March 13. For the Aberdeen girls, Sumer Edwards won four events, the long jump at 14-6, 100 at 13.18, 200 in 27.41, and triple jump at 31-6.
The Harford Tech girls’ 4x400 relay team won in 53.08, the fastest sprint relay in the openers, with Maureen Onyebadi, Kristen Annan, Madisen Morgan, and Madisyn Bobb.
Tech’s Godfred Acheampong was a double winner with a 19-5 long jump and 10-0 pole vault. Anyia Gibson won two events for the Tech girls, the 300 hurdles in 51.74 and 100 hurdles in 19.76.
Edgewood, Perryville at Patterson Mill
Patterson Mill’s Cameron Dawson leaped into the new season with a 6-0 win in the high jump, matching his personal best. He won by 6 inches and led a four-place sweep for the Huskies.
Tom Niblock ran the fastest 400 of the openers, winning in 53.0. For the Patterson Mill girls, junior Claire Dalling, who was third in the 1A state meet 800 last spring, started well with a 2:34.8 win. She also anchored the winning 4x400 relay and finished second in the 1600.
The Aegis: Top stories
For Perryville, Anna Rando was a triple winner, taking the 200 in 27.8, 400 in 1:05.7, and 100 hurdles in 18.8. Cameron Malone doubled in the throws, winning the shot put at 36-11 1/2 and discus at 97-11 for Perryville.
For the Edgewood boys, Oluwarotimi Oyekunkle was a double winner in the dashes with times of 11.3 and 23.5.
North Harford, Rising Sun at CMW
Ashton Tolson raced to two easy victories for C. Milton Wright. The junior ran 9:53.0 to win the 3200, and 2:07.0 to win 800 with a lead of 100 meters.
For the CMW girls, Katie McNesby won the pole vault by a margin of 3 feet. She matched her personal best of 10-0, and in the other vertical jump event she finished second at 4-6.
For North Harford, sophomore Anna O’Leary moved into second place on the school’s top-10 list for the shot put with a winning toss of 29-11. She also won the discus at 94-7.
Indoor state champ Finley Lavin started her season with a 1:01.20 in the 400. In winning, she beat Rising Sun standout Amanda Callaghan by 1.6 seconds. Callaghan won the 800 in 2:33.0 and high jump at 4-8 in leading the Rising Sun to an easy team victory. The Rising Sun boys also won.
Baranoski shares vault win
Emily Baranoski tied for first place in the pole vault in the MIAA/IAAM relay meet held Saturday at Gilman School. The John Carroll senior cleared 9-6, as did Alex Savage of Maryvale Prep. Drew Evans placed second in the discus at 116-3, a personal best by 5 feet. He was also fourth in the shot put at 43-6. Kilo Mack cleared 5-10 in the high jump for third place. The top relay finish for the Patriots was a second place by the girls’ 4x100 team in 55.94. | true | true | both | www.baltimoresun | 20220401 |
https://www.baltimoresun.com/opinion/editorial/bs-ed-0405-refugees-ukraine-mexico-letter-20220401-dzpcb4xssffd7liahh47kweepa-story.html | Russia’s six-week assault on Ukraine has generated some top-notch news reporting, not only with those searing images of late-night attacks on cities and other civilian targets but in the caravans of desperate Ukrainians reluctantly leaving their homeland, often women with young children in tow, traveling to neighboring countries including Poland, Romania and Hungar,y where they are met with open arms. When President Joe Biden announced on March 24 that the United States would welcome 100,000 Ukrainian refugees to the United States, we did not hear one word of objection even from the most hardhearted in Congress, and rightly so. If Poland can shelter 2 million Ukrainians, why can’t the U.S., a nation nine times larger, accept a twentieth of that? Who among us has not been moved by televised interviews with Ukrainian mothers, tears streaming down their cheeks, as they recall their losses and the terrors and hardships they faced on the long road to salvation?
Now contrast that to TV news reporting — on some networks often juxtaposed without the slightest trace of irony — focused on a different national border, where other families are running from danger. It is not a war in the traditional sense that motivates their flight, but it does involve poverty and violence that wounds and kills just as surely as military ordinance. Corrupt governments, child trafficking, droughts and other natural disasters: The list of threats facing families from Central American countries like El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras is long. Yet, lo and behold, many of the correspondents stationed at the U.S. southern border in places like Carrizo Springs, Texas, aren’t sitting down with tearful parents listening to their horror stories of what life is like in these extraordinarily dangerous places. More likely, they are standing behind barbed wire fences and interviewing aggrieved and pitiless former Border Patrol officers talking about how best to keep the downtrodden away. Bigger walls? More patrols? Tougher policies on those caught crossing?
Let’s take a second look at these refugees. We’re not advocating for “open” borders nor for any less empathy for the innocent victims of Russia’s invasion into Ukraine. But what we are suggesting is that victims come in all shapes, sizes, locations, nationalities and race. It might be too pat and ungenerous to observe that sympathy for white Europeans seems much easier to invoke than for darker-skinned Latinos, but there’s surely some element of flat-out racism involved. It was, after all, President Donald Trump who said not long ago that he wanted more immigrants from Norway and fewer from “s---hole” countries like Haiti. Why not see families seeking a better life in the U.S. as the pilgrims of this age and not as criminals seeking to plunder? At the core of the border security problem is not just an excess of illegal entry but an insufficient amount of the legal variety.
In Maryland, for example, crab processors have fretted over a lack of guest worker visas for the season, a problem possibly addressed by the recent addition of 35,000 H2B visas nationwide. Yet what if the U.S. offered not just more temporary permits to allow people to enter the U.S. to help separate steamed crab meat from shells but permanent residency? Wouldn’t that be good for the immigrants, good for the economy and good for the U.S.? Even in the middle of a worker shortage aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic, there seems to be no serious interest in Washington in expanding legal immigration. And if it’s human traffickers that immigration opponents seek to stop, providing more opportunities for legal entry would seem to be at least part of the solution.
Make no mistake, there’s plenty of hypocrisy to go around. Europeans now so anxious to help Ukrainians were not nearly as generous toward Muslim refugees including Syrians displaced by civil war in 2015 or others displaced by the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. These families were seen as potential terrorists or, in some cases, carriers of disease. Still, the U.S. can be better. And it can start with President Joe Biden’s repeal of Title 42 restrictions that have made it easier for the U.S. to oust immigrants seeking asylum at the southern border for emergency public health reasons during the COVID-19 pandemic. If we can find compassion for Ukrainians, we can extend the same level of compassion for those in similarly dire straits at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Baltimore Sun editorial writers offer opinions and analysis on news and issues relevant to readers. They operate separately from the newsroom. | true | true | both | www.baltimoresun | 20220401 |
https://www.baltimoresun.com/opinion/op-ed/bs-ed-op-0404-toxic-masculinity-20220401-bm5fpmtqvbf77bwg7jadq2q3h4-story.html | For those of us in the trenches working to create healthier forms of masculinity, the most disturbing realization from Will Smith’s unprovoked assault on comedian Chris Rock at the Academy Awards Ceremony a week ago Sunday was this: Few people are willing to finger Mr. Smith’s attack as a flat-out example of toxic masculinity.
That’s a huge problem — for all of us.
Mr. Smith got up from his seat and stormed onto the Oscars’ stage as comedian Chris Rock was preparing to present the award for best documentary feature and slapped him hard across the face. Mr. Rock’s offense? He tossed off a tasteless joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s baldness, the result of the autoimmune disease alopecia.
Since then, many social commentators, who agreed that Mr. Smith was wrong for his unprovoked display of wanton violence, have spent far more time legitimizing reasons beneath his fury than discussing the rage itself. Mr. Rock had the audacity to make a joke about a woman of color who struggled with her appearance due to illness; there were complex issues at play for Black women and their hair; a gallant husband was coming to his wife’s rescue.
While these arguments touch on important issues, ultimately, they are expedient excuses and digressions from real problem: the way Mr. Smith handled his anger. Liberal social commentators often condemn violence from thugs on the far right, as they should, but giving men on “their side” a pass for unwarranted violence only weaponizes the finger pointing and doesn’t push for much-needed change. If Ms. Pinkett Smith’s physical safety had been on the line, which it wasn’t, that might have been a different story. Instead, Mr. Smith believed himself entitled — entitled — to crash the stage and to accost Mr. Rock, for the distasteful crack. Afterward, Mr. Smith continued threatening Mr. Rock from his seat.
Later in the ceremony, Mr. Smith won the award for Best Actor. In his acceptance speech he indirectly referenced the attack, attributing it to being a “fierce defender of his family” and occurring because “love will make you do crazy things.” Domestic violence offenders are known for telling their victims that they hurt out of “love” and “protection.”
There’s a reason that parents like me spend endless hours telling our young sons “use your words, not your fists.” There’s a reason programs such as Becoming A Man and the yoga and mindfulness classes taught by Holistic Life Foundation are so needed and quantitatively effective in schools nationwide. Among other things, they teach boys (many girls, too) how to handle their anger sans violent reactivity. This teaches ascending men the truth about violent behavior: It isn’t real strength; it’s paper tiger strength that lacks deeper emotional resiliency and the courage to challenge unhealthy masculine norms.
Mr. Smith — a role model to millions of boys and young men — should sit in on some of these classes.
His actions shine a light on the shortcomings in our conversations around toxic masculinity. (Admittedly, even I’m uneasy with this term.) As I learned while researching my book, “Better Boys, Better Men,” much of the attention on the term “toxic masculinity” is focused on sexual assault. When male celebrities are scrutinized and called out for “toxic masculinity,” it typically comes on the heels of sexual assault allegations. To be sure, sexual assault is, always has been, a systemic problem that often originates from traditional masculine behaviors. But it is not the only ill that comes from toxic masculinity.
While researching a chapter in my book about the noxious climate in boys’ contact sports, I was relieved to learn that some nonprofit organizations around the country had started programs that addressed toxic masculinity. This was great, I thought, because boys’ contact sports, especially football, wrestling and ice hockey, are training grounds for many of the behaviors and mindsets that ultimately fuel toxic masculinity. One of the most dangerous lessons such sports increasingly encourage in boys is domination — a mindset that sanctions and glorifies violence and which many boys practice off the field because they aren’t taught how to “flip the switch” off. Yet these new programs, it turned out, were aimed largely at sexual assault awareness.
If we want to have an honest, thoughtful, productive conversation about what the charged label toxic masculinity really means, what it should mean and how we apply it, then we should start with Mr. Smith and his recent behavior. Perhaps more importantly, we need to re-examine and become clearer on the extent to which we are willing to tolerate violence. Otherwise, we’re wasting our time teaching boys a healthier masculinity than that they see their supposed heroes modeling.
Andrew Reiner (areiner@towson.edu) teaches at Towson University and is the author of “Better Boys, Better Men: The New Masculinity That Creates Greater Courage and Emotional Resiliency.” (HarperOne, 2020). | true | true | both | www.baltimoresun | 20220401 |
https://www.baltimoresun.com/politics/bs-md-pol-congressional-districts-judge-20220401-pypt5fyrdned3dxv7nqc26ejlq-story.html | A judge on Friday deferred ruling on whether to accept or reject a redrawn map of Maryland’s congressional districts that she had ordered after concluding the original map was unfair to Republicans.
Judge Lynn A. Battaglia suggested during an Anne Arundel County Circuit Court hearing that it would be inappropriate for her to rule on the General Assembly-approved map for two reasons.
One is that the state attorney general has appealed her March 25 order in which she ruled that the original map was too partisan and must be rewritten by the legislature. That appeal has left her order in limbo while it is considered by the Maryland Court of Appeals.
Battaglia also suggested it would be premature for her to rule because the Democrats’ replacement map has not yet been signed or vetoed by Republican Gov. Larry Hogan.
“It’s my understanding that the map is in the governor’s office, in his domain,” the judge told attorneys for the state and Republican elected officials and voters challenging the district lines. “So the map has not been either adopted or vetoed and, if vetoed, it has not had a veto override. In light of that, any decision I would render about the map would be an advisory one. Because unless the map has been enacted, I can’t function to approve or not approve.”
Rather than rule, Battaglia said she would collect evidence about the substitute map and present it in a few days as “findings of fact.” Those facts could be used by the Maryland Court of Appeals to help evaluate the case.
“I understand that, in doing that, in some respects I’m acting as a special master,” the judge said. A special master is used in complex cases to gather findings on a court’s behalf.
In her 94-page order on March 25, Battaglia said the General Assembly’s original map violated multiple provisions of the Maryland Constitution, which decrees that districts must be “compact in form” and respect
[ FAQ: What is going on with redistricting maps? ]
Maryland Policy & Politics
natural boundaries and the borders of political subdivisions like counties and cities.
General Assembly Democrats said the redrawn map makes the districts more compact and meets constitutional requirements. But Republicans said the new lines are still too partisan.
Democrats currently hold a 7-1 advantage over the GOP in the state’s eight U.S. House seats. In a state in which Democrats hold a 2-1 voter registration advantage, Republicans have long complained that they would likely win more seats if the district map were was fairer.
On Wednesday, the state appealed Battaglia’s order. That means the Democrats’ original map — which Republicans say placed them at a greater disadvantage than the replacement one — is also still in play.
The map must be finalized well before the July 19 primary, which was already pushed back once by the Maryland Court of Appeals because court challenges were still unresolved. The election will include nominating races for all eight congressional districts as well as governor, a U.S. Senate seat, and a number of state and local races. The candidate filing deadline is looming on April 15.
Courts around the country have been hearing challenges related to gerrymandering, in which one party creates district lines to disadvantage the other.
A New York judge on Thursday barred the use of Democratic-drawn congressional district boundaries in that state, saying the lines were drawn with “political bias.” Republican-drawn maps were blocked by courts in other states, including North Carolina and Pennsylvania. | true | true | both | www.baltimoresun | 20220401 |
https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/carroll/opinion/cc-op-roemer-chris-rock-will-smith-20220401-zj7aw74sfvcyzgztb7m2r73s54-story.html | Most people by now have heard about the Will Smith-Chris Rock ruckus at this year’s Academy Awards ceremony. Hardly a shining moment for the academy or Will Smith. It’s hard for me to understand the kind hubris it takes, in a setting like that, to get up from your seat, walk on stage and physically assault someone. That the event was being broadcast live around the world makes Smith’s actions all the more astounding.
I understand a husband’s desire to defend his wife from what Smith perceived as a verbal assault, but his behavior was nothing short of disgraceful, and he deserves every bit of the criticism he’s received since.
Having said that, it now seems Smith has had time to reflect on his behavior and come to his senses.
To his credit, he issued a statement apologizing to Rock, to his colleagues, to the academy, and to everyone around the world who witnessed the attack. He called his own actions “unacceptable and inexcusable” and ended by explaining that, as a person, he is still a “work in progress.”
Who isn’t?
So what should our reaction be to Smith’s apology? He is an individual who used extraordinarily poor judgement committing a violent act for all to see, and despite Rock’s decision not to press charges, there can be no doubt what Smith did was a crime.
Doesn’t the cancel culture world in which we live demand he be shunned and lose his ability to make a living as an entertainer? Others have suffered that fate for much less.
Perhaps there should be consequences for his egregious lack of judgement. He certainly should be grateful Rock has taken such a gracious position concerning the incident, and we will learn soon what sanctions, if any, the academy will impose on Smith, but cancel culture demands much.
Why is our culture so intent on destroying people?
Who among us can say they are not a “work in progress?” Who hasn’t done something in the past that, but for the grace of God, would have resulted in serious consequences?
In circumstances like these, a person’s willingness to extend forgiveness to an offending party is usually a function of whether or not they generally agree with that person’s social or political views or personal values. We are much more likely to forgive offenders whose views align with our own, and we are much more likely to desire the harshest of consequences for individuals with whom we disagree.
This attitude stems from a political environment, and enabled by a news media, that far too often characterizes people with contrary points of view as, “evil incarnate.” We have divided ourselves into competing clans, with anyone outside our clan considered and treated as an enemy. In such an environment there is little room for mercy, but if there is ever to be reconciliation in this country, it is absolutely essential we learn how to forgive.
Today, at the slightest provocation, we are ready to throw each other to the wolves. Forgiveness is one of the highest virtues. No less than Jesus taught we are to forgive offending parties, not once, not seven times, but 70 times seven times. Yet for too many of us, one time is one too many.
We all offend and we all get offended. Maybe our poor choices are not as egregious or as public as Smith’s, but surely each of us has said or done things for which we need to be forgiven.
If we want forgiveness, we need to learn to give it.
Carroll County Daily Headlines
Through pain and heartache, the most important lessons in life are learned, but that outcome is most often determined by what happens in the aftermath of an offense. Amazing personal growth can occur, but so can the hardening of poisonous attitudes.
Growth takes time and nurturing. It takes a forgiving, loving attitude. In the most difficult of circumstances, we need to remember we’ve all been on the other side of the coin and respond in a way we would want others to respond were we the offending party.
We need to learn to talk to each other and stop trying to silence those with whom we disagree. Only by engaging with others and listening to points of view different than our own will we learn and grow as individuals, even if that means we must listen to and consider points of view we find offensive.
That requires a willingness to show empathy, and a desire to achieve a higher plane of understanding.
In my opinion, Chris Rock is the hero of the story. His reaction to Smith’s assault was amazing, both in the moment and in the aftermath. He deserves our respect and praise, and it is my hope, in the days to come, when this unfortunate incident is discussed, we focus more on Rock’s reaction to Smith’s assault than on the assault itself.
It might also be a good idea that we refrain from making comments about someone else’s spouse.
Chris Roemer is a retired banker and educator who resides in Finksburg. He can be contacted at chrisroemer1960@gmail.com | true | true | both | www.baltimoresun | 20220401 |
https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/crime/bs-md-ci-mosby-court-date-20220401-aj33rcvoqrb75jt3262myskac4-story.html | Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby, who faces federal charges of perjury and making false statements, is seeking to postpone her trial until September, according to recent court filings.
The later date is a reversal from past comments by Mosby and her attorney A. Scott Bolden, who had said they want to move the case forward as quickly as possible. A trial date was previously set for May 2.
At a status conference earlier this week, attorneys in the case discussed a trial date.
U.S. District Judge Lydia Kay Griggsby “expressed concern that the current schedule in this matter may not be tenable,” Mosby’s attorney wrote in a motion Friday.
Griggsby suggested September, the motion said. “Upon further consideration and reflection, Ms. Mosby agrees with the Court.”
This article will be updated. | true | true | both | www.baltimoresun | 20220401 |
https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/anne-arundel/annapolis/ac-cn-public-housing-lawsuits-20220331-20220401-zpfc5hirzzbbjl3oxnqzmrat3q-story.html | A federal judge has ruled that two civil lawsuits may proceed after public housing residents sued the city of Annapolis and the city’s housing authority, claiming failures in inspection policies led to discrimination and negative health effects, and in one case the death of a resident.
In two separate but similar memorandums issued Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Catherine Blake denied nearly every part of a request made by attorneys representing the city of Annapolis and the Housing Authority of the City of Annapolis to dismiss the cases, one for wrongful death and another a class action, which were filed last May. Blake did throw out one of the nine counts brought in the wrongful death case because it fell outside a statute of limitations.
The rulings come as the city and housing authority continue to grapple with the fallout from decades of neglecting public housing units, with the city having reached a $1.8 million settlement last year stemming from a discrimination lawsuit. That complaint also led to two separate consent decrees and required legislative and policy changes.
The wrongful death suit was filed by the family of DaMon Fisher, a 56-year-old Black man whose health issues were exacerbated by mold and poor air circulation in his Harbour House apartment, and ultimately caused his death, according to the complaint. The city of Annapolis and the housing authority, which is a separate independent institution overseen by the federal government, are named as defendants.
The class-action lawsuit was filed on behalf of two Black women, Tamara Johnson and Tyonna Holliday. It claims the city’s failure to inspect public housing properties was discriminatory and led to respiratory issues, lead exposure and other problems for the women and their children. The city of Annapolis is the lone defendant in the case.
The plaintiffs in each case are represented by Annapolis attorney Joe Donahue, who sued the city in 2019 on behalf of 52 public housing residents who made similar civil rights and health and safety complaints. In that case, White et al. v. Annapolis et al., which Blake also presided over, the court found Annapolis and the housing authority had discriminated against 52 public housing residents. The parties agreed to two consent decrees and identical $900,000 settlements.
The new lawsuits will now either move forward to discovery prior to a jury trial or lead to mediation between the parties and a magistrate judge as happened in the White case. In the class-action suit, Donahue has partnered with the Annapolis-based Holland Firm, which has prosecuted multiple class-action suits across the country. The attorneys will be filing paperwork to the court to assert that a specific class of people — in this case, public housing residents — was harmed, Donahue said.
The plaintiffs in both cases are seeking financial damages for the alleged violation of their civil rights.
Last summer, attorneys for the city of Annapolis sought to have both claims dismissed.
City Attorney Mike Lyles and Assistant City Attorney Joel Braithewaite argued the subject of the lawsuits had already been settled by the White case. The new litigation was a “bald attempt to relitigate the City’s pre-consent decree actions and is an impermissible collateral attack on the enrolled consent decree,” Lyles and Braithewaite wrote.
Blake rejected this claim because the city attorneys were assuming that the earlier settlement included public housing residents who were not involved in the case.
The terms of the consent decree do not prevent other residents from making future legal claims, Blake wrote. While plaintiffs in the White case received financial compensation, plaintiffs in the Johnson case “did not receive a single cent” of that settlement, she added.
“The City argues that when the White plaintiffs covenanted not to sue the city based on pre-consent decree events, they were somehow also signing away the legal rights of any other nonparty who might later come forward,” the judge wrote.
In her memos, Blake also dismissed “meritless” claims made by city attorneys of unethical conduct against Donahue.
“Mr. Lyles and Mr. Braithwaite’s ‘meritless’ claims were dispensed with appropriately by Judge Blake, but the damage these attorneys are still inflicting on our community goes well beyond libel in these civil rights cases,” Donahue said in a written statement. “They are actively damaging [the Housing Authority of the City of Annapolis] today through their misapplication of the White consent decree.”
Mayor Gavin Buckley and the city law office declined to comment.
Carrie Blackburn Riley, the attorney representing the housing authority, wrote in a statement that her clients “are disappointed with the decision as we believe we stand in a very different legal position than the city.”
“HACA’s actions only affect its public housing constituents whereas the City’s actions affect the City’s entire population,” she wrote. “We will participate fully in the litigation process and hope the difference is made clear through that process.”
The past and present litigation stem from accusations by the plaintiffs of a longstanding refusal by the city to inspect public housing units, because they argued the units were under federal control and, therefore, outside city requirements to inspect commercial rental units.
In 2016, during the administration of Mayor Mike Pantelides, the city began inspecting housing authority properties and uncovered thousands of code violations across nearly 800 units. After Buckley became mayor a year later, his administration stopped inspections of the units during the transition. Buckley estimated it took his administration roughly 18 months to get them started again.
In May 2019, Donahue sued the city and the housing authority on behalf of a group of residents, claiming decades of discrimination against the largely Black public housing communities resulted in unsafe living conditions, including mold, sewage leaks and rodent infestations.
The Annapolis City Council passed a resolution in June 2019 publicly stating its intent to begin inspecting housing authority units again. That policy has remained in place throughout the past two years.
The new lawsuits, however, contend that the city deployed a “shadow policy” on inspections that treated public housing units differently than other rental units by ignoring routine maintenance issues and only focusing on life safety issues. The city has denied such a policy existed.
The Morning Sun
The class action complaint claims that by not inspecting properties at the same level as privately owned rental units in Annapolis, the city treated public housing residents like Johnson and Holliday differently than their peers in violation of state law and federal civil rights statutes.
Approximately 1,600 people live in Annapolis public housing communities currently, with about 90% identifying as Black, according to the complaint.
Johnson has lived with her daughter in Harbour House since 2017, where they’ve experienced sewage leaks from the apartment above and rodent infestations, according to the complaint. Persistent mold growth caused Johnson’s daughter to use an inhaler, and the apartment has never been inspected, the complaint alleges.
Holliday has experienced similar conditions in the Eastport Terrace apartment, where she’s lived with her children since 2016. The unit has never been inspected by the city in that time, the complaint claims.
The family of DaMon Fisher says his health worsened because of severe asthma, a mold allergy and other health issues as a result of nearly a decade of living in public housing. Both housing authority and city officials ignored Fisher’s repeated requests for help despite multiple doctors recommending he be moved from the unit, the lawsuit alleges.
Three days after Donahue notified both parties that a lawsuit would be filed, Fisher died on June 25, 2020.
According to the complaint, he was found in his apartment with his possessions partially packed in preparation to move. A mold test conducted at Fisher’s residence a month after his death found “high levels of exceptionally toxic molds.” | true | true | both | www.baltimoresun | 20220401 |
https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/carroll/education/cc-century-high-student-artwork-wins-20220401-4qkokdgf6jebjhchnjo7n27t5m-story.html | Jacey Breden, 16, isn’t the first in his family to fall in love with creating art as a form of expression.
“My whole family on both sides are artists, so I’ve always been surrounded by it,” Breden said. “Since I was a kid I’ve always been drawing and painting.”
Now a sophomore at Century High School, Breden combined his artistic talent with his interest in communication to create a piece of art that won first place in Maryland First Lady Yumi Hogan’s Spring Gallery Show. He will receive a governor’s citation, trophy and gift card.
The piece “Fresh Perspectives on Old Conversations” was the result of a class assignment to create a portrait using charcoal that incorporated an overlapping element of multiple perspectives.
“The class assignment offers students an alternative way of creating a traditional portrait,” said Frank Reaver, art teacher at Century High School. “Jacey decided to include two figures instead of one and made the multiple perspectives simulate the passage of time during a conversation, like snapshots of time in a single image.”
The concept, Breden said, was developed from a photo he took of his friends one day.
“I decided to take some pictures of them having a conversation, and I created an illustration out of it,” Breden said. “As I was creating it I was [thinking that] looking at different perspectives of a conversation can give you fresh ideas and concepts of the same old conversations, which is how I came up with the title.”
Reaver called the concept and execution “amazing.” He later advised Breden to submit his artwork to the First Lady’s show and other scholastic events.
“I knew right away it was exceptional,” Reaver said. “He took a skill-based activity and turned it into a commentary on conversations. I thought that was a poignant take on the artistic problem of creating a portrait from multiple perspectives.”
Breden’s piece also won a regional Gold Key in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, a showcase for student artists offered by the nonprofit Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, as well as a nomination for the prestigious American Visions scholastic award in the category of drawing and illustration. About 1,300 teens from Baltimore and the surrounding region submitted 3,000 works of visual and literary art to the contest, Reaver said
“Unfortunately, Jacey did not win at the national level,” Reaver said. “The good thing is Jacey has two more years to earn the gold and I have no doubt if he keeps submitting, he can achieve it. He is extremely creative and technically talented, especially for being in only 10th grade.” | true | true | both | www.baltimoresun | 20220401 |
https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/environment/bs-md-baltimore-back-river-court-motion-20220401-ixtnn4whhrgbppb5i7lzjqf4c4-story.html | Baltimore officials are asking a judge to put on hold the state takeover of the troubled Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant in a motion filed Friday in Baltimore City Circuit Court.
Calling the justification for the takeover “unfair and politically motivated,” city officials are asking for an order declaring the takeover to be unlawful, unreasonable and unnecessary to protect public health.
Maryland’s Secretary of the Environment Ben Grumbles ordered the takeover of the Dundalk facility Sunday, arguing “the decline in the proper maintenance and operation of the Plant risks catastrophic failures.” Maryland Environmental Service was asked to take over the treatment plant immediately.
The move came after MDE issued a warning to the city on March 24 demanding the plant come into compliance with environmental laws within two days. An inspection of the site Saturday revealed it hadn’t made the needed improvements.
In the motion filed Friday, Baltimore officials argued the 48-hour notice was “unreasonably (actually, impossibly) short.”
“While an order that the city come into compliance with its permit might seem a reasonable demand, the secretary’s actions distort both the facts surrounding operations at the plant and the history of the city’s efforts to improve all aspects of Back River,” the motion states.
Baltimore’s Back River and Patapsco plants already are the subject of lawsuits filed in state court on behalf of the Maryland Department of the Environment in January in federal court by local nonprofit Blue Water Baltimore over pollution violations tracked by the state, including excessive releases of bacteria and nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorous, which impair the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries by stimulating algae growth that robs the water of oxygen and kills marine life.
Inspections began at the plants last year after Blue Water Baltimore’s water sampling flagged concerning bacteria and nutrient levels outside the Patapsco plant.
In their motion Friday, city attorneys argued MES, MDE’s chosen operator, is not in a position to take control of the Back River plant “operationally or from a management perspective.” The takeover could hinder rather than help efforts to fix the plant, the motion argued.
“While MES support is welcomed (and was previously solicited) by the City, so far, despite the MDE Directive, MES has only been able to send about four people to the plant without a schedule or plan as to how MES will staff the plant,” the motion states.
The Evening Sun
One of the MES employees can only be onsite at Back River a couple of times per week, the motion noted.
A spokesman for MDE was not immediately available to comment on the motion. In response to questions asked Thursday, spokesman Jay Apperson pointed to an Oct. 14, 2021 letter from Grumbles to Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott as evidence the city had ample notice of the state’s concerns ahead of the March 24 order.
City officials said in the motion the state’s sudden order to improve the plant or face takeover caught them off guard “because it followed months of cooperation with MDE toward the issuance of a consent decree to govern long-term improvements to the plant.” The motion states the city and state had a “good faith partnership.”
“Progress has no doubt been frustratingly slow, due in large part to the historic and unprecedented pandemic-induced challenges to staffing and the supply chain,” the motion argued.
In a news release Thursday, Baltimore’s Department of Public Works, which operates the plant, said the city is struggling to compensate for increasing numbers of seasoned staff who are retiring at the Back River facility.
This article will be updated.
Baltimore Sun reporter Christine Condon contributed to this article. | true | true | both | www.baltimoresun | 20220401 |
https://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/ct-ent-will-smith-oscars-20220401-5zlguheobbcalds5gd53b57lze-story.html | LOS ANGELES — Oscars producer Will Packer said Los Angeles police were ready to arrest Will Smith after Smith slapped Chris Rock on the Academy Awards stage.
“They were saying, you know, this is battery, was a word they used in that moment,” Packer said in a clip released by ABC News Thursday night of an interview he gave to “Good Morning America.” “They said we will go get him. We are prepared. We’re prepared to get him right now. You can press charges, we can arrest him. They were laying out the options.”
But Packer said Rock was “very dismissive” of the idea.
“He was like, ‘No, no, no, I’m fine,” Packer said. “And even to the point where I said, ‘Rock, let them finish.’ The LAPD officers finished laying out what his options were and they said, ‘Would you like us to take any action?’ And he said no.”
The LAPD said in a statement after Sunday night’s ceremony that they were aware of the incident, and that Rock had declined to file a police report. The department declined comment Thursday on Packer’s interview.
In the longer version on “Good Morning America,” Parker said he initially believed the slap was an orchestrated bit. “I thought it was part of something that Chris and Will were doing on their own. I thought it was a bit. I wasn’t concerned at all.”
Packer said he went up to Rock after the incident. “I said, ‘Did he really hit you?’” the producer asked Rock. “And he looked at me and he goes, ‘Yeah, I just took a punch from Muhammad Ali,’ as only Chris can. He was immediately in joke mode, but you could tell that he was very much still in shock.”
Weekend Watch
The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences met Wednesday to initiate disciplinary proceedings against Smith for violations against the group’s standards of conduct. Smith could be suspended, expelled or otherwise sanctioned.
The academy said in a statement that “Mr. Smith’s actions at the 94th Oscars were a deeply shocking, traumatic event to witness in-person and on television.”
Without giving specifics, the academy said Smith was asked to leave the ceremony at the Dolby Theatre, but refused to do so.
Smith strode from his front row seat on to the stage and slapped Rock after a joke Rock made about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, when he was on stage to present the Oscar for best documentary.
On Monday, Smith issued an apology to Rock, the academy and to viewers, saying “I was out of line and I was wrong.”
The academy said Smith has the opportunity to defend himself in a written response before the board meets again on April 18.
Rock publicly addressed the incident for the first time, but only briefly, at the beginning of a standup show Wednesday night in Boston, where he was greeted by a thunderous standing ovation. He said “I’m still kind of processing what happened.” | true | true | both | www.baltimoresun | 20220401 |
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