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5 days ago | 
wtop.com | John Rydell
This article was republished with permission from WTOP’s news partners at Maryland Matters. Sign up for Maryland Matters’ free email subscription today.
Melvin T. Russell, the retired chief of the Baltimore Police Community Division, said he remembers the lack of empathy among police commanders in the wake of Freddie Gray’s death after an arrest 10 years ago.
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1 week ago | 
marylandmatters.org | John Rydell
Melvin T. Russell, the retired chief of the Baltimore Police Community Division, said he remembers the lack of empathy among police commanders in the wake of Freddie Gray’s death after an arrest 10 years ago. That’s when he knew “our city was really in trouble.”“I didn’t see any remorse, there was no real concern within the department,” Russell said.
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Dec 30, 2024 | 
marylandmatters.org | John Rydell
Sonia Street still vividly remembers the summer day in 1992 she met Jimmy Carter outside her West Baltimore home and he taught her how to hold a hammer. The former president and his wife, Rosalynn, arrived in the Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood wearing work clothes, anxious to begin rehabbing vacant row houses. It was the Carters’ second visit to Baltimore to promote Habitat for Humanity’s worldwide mission of revitalizing decaying communities.
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Nov 4, 2024 | 
marylandmatters.org | John Rydell
When Marylanders go to the polls Tuesday to decide the future of abortion rights in the state, it won’t be for the first time. More than 30 years ago, when it looked like Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court ruling that recognized a right to an abortion, was in danger of being overturned, the General Assembly passed a law codifying the protections of Roe.
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Aug 19, 2024 | 
marylandmatters.org | John Rydell
In more than 40 years of Democratic National Conventions, Rep. Kweisi Mfume (D-7th) has seen presidents, would-be presidents, celebrities and icons like Rosa Parks. He has seen the nomination of Barack Obama, who would go on to become the first Black president, and he should see another historic first in Chicago this week when Kamala Harris is expected to become the first Black and Asian woman nominated by a major political party.
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Jul 1, 2024 | 
marylandmatters.org | John Rydell
With no votes to spare, the Baltimore County Council advanced a proposed charter amendment Monday that will let voters decide whether to increase the size of the council from seven to nine members. As a proposed amendment to the county charter, the proposal needed a supermajority of five votes to pass. Council Chairman Izzy Patoka, along with Councilmen Todd Crandell, Mike Ertel, Wade Kach and David Marks voted for the measure.
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Jul 1, 2024 | 
marylandmatters.org | John Rydell
The first of two competing proposals to expand the size of the Baltimore County Council gets its first test Monday, when the council is scheduled to vote on a plan that would add two members to the current seven-member body. Supporters of the second proposal, a voter-backed plan that would add four members to the council, are still collecting the 10,000 signatures they will need by July 19 to put the question on the November ballot.
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Jun 26, 2024 | 
marylandmatters.org | John Rydell
Baltimore City Del. Robbyn T. Lewis (D-Baltimore City) had hoped she would be riding Baltimore’s Red Line Rapid Transit System by now. Lewis, an unabashed transit advocate, likes to boast that she is the only state legislator who does not own a car. She remains bitter with the decision in 2015 by then-Gov. Larry Hogan to cancel the Red Line, a proposed light rail project that he called a “wasteful boondoggle.”So Lewis was elated last June when Gov. Wes Moore announced plans to revive the Red Line.
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Jun 22, 2024 | 
marylandmatters.org | John Rydell
by John Rydell, Maryland Matters June 22, 2024 More than 1,000 mourners, including scores of law enforcement officers from as far away as Connecticut, gathered Saturday for an emotional farewell to Maryland Parole and Probation Agent Davis G. Martinez, who was killed May 31 in the line of duty. Martinez became the first parole and probation agent in Maryland to be killed in the line of duty.
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Jun 21, 2024 | 
jewishtimes.com | John Rydell
It wasn’t exactly a power lunch, but former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan and former Democratic state Sen. Bobby Zirkin attracted an enthusiastic crowd last week as they dined at the Essen Room in Pikesville. Hogan was the guest of Zirkin, who is co-chair of Democrats for Hogan, in the former governor’s run for U.S. Senate. Hogan faces a tight race against Democratic Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks.
