RECENT ARTICLES
As Marylanders struggle to find vaccine appointments, some call on state to create a single sign-up site
AdvertisementBy Baltimore SunFeb 05, 2021 at 6:00 amIt is an online scavenger hunt that often ends in futility, or in some cases, the cold parking lot of a COVID-19 vaccine clinic, turned away without that precious shot in the arm.Almost two months after the first doses of the coronavirus vaccine arrived in Maryland, a sign-up process that involves for seemingly phantom appointments has everyone from legislators to doctors to a desperate public asking: Isn’t there a way to go on a single site to request and schedule a shot?AdvertisementIn other locales, the answer is yes.“You see the result...…AdvertisementBy Baltimore SunFeb 05, 2021 at 6:00 amIt is an online scavenger hunt that often ends in futility, or in some cases, the cold parking lot of a COVID-19 vaccine clinic, turned away without that precious shot in the arm.Almost two months after the first doses of the coronavirus vaccine arrived in Maryland, a sign-up process that involves for seemingly phantom appointments has everyone from legislators to doctors to a desperate public asking: Isn’t there a way to go on a single site to request and schedule a shot?AdvertisementIn other locales, the answer is yes.“You see the result...WW…
Ex-Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh not among 143 granted clemency by Trump
AdvertisementBy Baltimore SunJan 20, 2021 at 1:31 amFormer Baltimore Mayor Catherine E. Pugh did not make the list of the 143 people granted clemency by President Donald Trump in the final hours of his presidency.Trump, who leaves office at noon Wednesday when President-elected Joe Biden is inaugurated, also , who is charged in connection with the misuse of funds raised to build a wall. In total, Trump issued 73 pardons and 70 commutations.AdvertisementAdvertisementAlso failing to make the list, released shortly before 1 a.m. Wednesday, former Baltimore police commissioner and current...…AdvertisementBy Baltimore SunJan 20, 2021 at 1:31 amFormer Baltimore Mayor Catherine E. Pugh did not make the list of the 143 people granted clemency by President Donald Trump in the final hours of his presidency.Trump, who leaves office at noon Wednesday when President-elected Joe Biden is inaugurated, also , who is charged in connection with the misuse of funds raised to build a wall. In total, Trump issued 73 pardons and 70 commutations.AdvertisementAdvertisementAlso failing to make the list, released shortly before 1 a.m. Wednesday, former Baltimore police commissioner and current...WW…
D.C. judges order Maryland man’s federal execution to go forward on Friday; Supreme Court rejects first of his two appeals
AdvertisementBy Baltimore SunJan 15, 2021 at 11:55 pmA back-and-forth legal battle continued into the final hours before Dustin Higgs, 48, convicted in a triple murder in Prince George’s County in 1996, is scheduled to be executed Friday, which would make him the last federal inmate to be put to death under President Donald Trump as he leaves office.Higgs’ fate now lies with the U.S. Supreme Court, which Thursday night rejected one of two pending appeals to spare his life. The high court lifted a delay granted by a federal judge in Washington earlier in the week to Higgs and another federal...…AdvertisementBy Baltimore SunJan 15, 2021 at 11:55 pmA back-and-forth legal battle continued into the final hours before Dustin Higgs, 48, convicted in a triple murder in Prince George’s County in 1996, is scheduled to be executed Friday, which would make him the last federal inmate to be put to death under President Donald Trump as he leaves office.Higgs’ fate now lies with the U.S. Supreme Court, which Thursday night rejected one of two pending appeals to spare his life. The high court lifted a delay granted by a federal judge in Washington earlier in the week to Higgs and another federal...WW…
Maryland man executed, last of unprecedented string of federal executions as Trump leaves office
AdvertisementBy Baltimore SunJan 16, 2021 at 6:31 pmAs President Donald Trump’s final days in office wound down, what has been called the machinery of death sped up.When Dustin John Higgs was executed early Saturday morning for a 1996 triple murder in Prince George’s County, he became the third federal inmate to be put to death in as many days and the 13th in the last six months of Trump’s presidency.AdvertisementThis unprecedented rush to final judgment — more federal inmates were executed in one year under Trump than during any year of any previous president since the 1800s — prompted...…AdvertisementBy Baltimore SunJan 16, 2021 at 6:31 pmAs President Donald Trump’s final days in office wound down, what has been called the machinery of death sped up.When Dustin John Higgs was executed early Saturday morning for a 1996 triple murder in Prince George’s County, he became the third federal inmate to be put to death in as many days and the 13th in the last six months of Trump’s presidency.AdvertisementThis unprecedented rush to final judgment — more federal inmates were executed in one year under Trump than during any year of any previous president since the 1800s — prompted...WW…
Despite some of the state’s highest COVID rates, 2 Western Maryland counties won’t receive any of first round of vaccines
AdvertisementBy Baltimore SunDec 12, 2020 at 9:39 pmAllegany and Garrett counties in Western Maryland, which have some of the state’s highest rates of COVID-19, won’t receive any of the first batch of vaccines expected to arrive in Maryland as soon as next week.“We’re absolutely struggling right now,” said Jacob C. “Jake” Shade, the Republican president of the Allegany Board of County Commissioners. “It’s troubling we’re not the No. 1 priority for the state of Maryland.”Advertisement, and will distribute them to hospitals for their frontline staffs.But Allegany’s hospital, UPMC Western...…AdvertisementBy Baltimore SunDec 12, 2020 at 9:39 pmAllegany and Garrett counties in Western Maryland, which have some of the state’s highest rates of COVID-19, won’t receive any of the first batch of vaccines expected to arrive in Maryland as soon as next week.“We’re absolutely struggling right now,” said Jacob C. “Jake” Shade, the Republican president of the Allegany Board of County Commissioners. “It’s troubling we’re not the No. 1 priority for the state of Maryland.”Advertisement, and will distribute them to hospitals for their frontline staffs.But Allegany’s hospital, UPMC Western...WW…
What Brandon Scott faces as Baltimore’s next mayor: a pandemic, budget woes and crime-weary residents hoping for change
From health officials, he’ll hear dire predictions of COVID-19 spikes. The number crunchers will point to line after line of red ink. Residents, businesses and advocacy groups will clamor for attention to persistent problems ranging from crime to trash pickup. Baltimore’s , will be sworn in Dec. 8 to lead a city where needs outstrip the resources to address them — a problem even before the coronavirus pandemic created a public health and economic crisis. Advertisement After a year in which schools largely remain closed, many businesses have shuttered and city government has been run by a...…From health officials, he’ll hear dire predictions of COVID-19 spikes. The number crunchers will point to line after line of red ink. Residents, businesses and advocacy groups will clamor for attention to persistent problems ranging from crime to trash pickup. Baltimore’s , will be sworn in Dec. 8 to lead a city where needs outstrip the resources to address them — a problem even before the coronavirus pandemic created a public health and economic crisis. Advertisement After a year in which schools largely remain closed, many businesses have shuttered and city government has been run by a...WW…
In Maryland and nationwide, voters rush to polls to cast ballots early — but could face wait to learn who won
AdvertisementBy Baltimore SunOct 31, 2020 at 4:04 pmWhether due to the pandemic, a sense of political urgency or a perceived threat to voting itself, a record number of Americans will have cast their ballots before Election Day arrives Tuesday.But if the voting process was front-loaded this year, the results could well be back-loaded. Tuesday could come and go without voters knowing whether Republican President Donald Trump or former Democratic Vice President Joe Biden has won, or if the majority in the U.S. Senate has flipped from Republican to Democratic.AdvertisementIt depends on how...…AdvertisementBy Baltimore SunOct 31, 2020 at 4:04 pmWhether due to the pandemic, a sense of political urgency or a perceived threat to voting itself, a record number of Americans will have cast their ballots before Election Day arrives Tuesday.But if the voting process was front-loaded this year, the results could well be back-loaded. Tuesday could come and go without voters knowing whether Republican President Donald Trump or former Democratic Vice President Joe Biden has won, or if the majority in the U.S. Senate has flipped from Republican to Democratic.AdvertisementIt depends on how...WW…
Down to their last dollars, living off family and friends, these Marylanders are still waiting for unemployment payments
AdvertisementBy Baltimore SunOct 15, 2020 at 6:00 amOne woman said she was down to her last $7. Others have been reduced to couch-surfing with friends or moving back home with their parents. Still others have maxed out credit cards, depleted 401(k) funds meant for retirement or reluctantly gone on food stamps and other public assistance.Out of work for months now because of the coronavirus pandemic, yet unable to unlock unemployment benefits from Maryland’s overwhelmed system, they are scraping financial bottom.Advertisement“I met my mom at the Family Dollar, and she bought me diapers for...…AdvertisementBy Baltimore SunOct 15, 2020 at 6:00 amOne woman said she was down to her last $7. Others have been reduced to couch-surfing with friends or moving back home with their parents. Still others have maxed out credit cards, depleted 401(k) funds meant for retirement or reluctantly gone on food stamps and other public assistance.Out of work for months now because of the coronavirus pandemic, yet unable to unlock unemployment benefits from Maryland’s overwhelmed system, they are scraping financial bottom.Advertisement“I met my mom at the Family Dollar, and she bought me diapers for...WW…
Maryland Gov. Hogan seeks extra $300 a week for unemployment benefits, but is that enough?
AdvertisementBy Baltimore SunAug 20, 2020 at 8:09 pmUnemployed Marylanders would receive an extra $300 a week in benefits if the state’s application for federal funds is approved, Gov. Larry Hogan said Wednesday, replacing half of what was lost when additional weekly assistance approved early in the coronavirus pandemic expired last month.But some economists question whether the amount is sufficient, both for recipients to live on and to boost a still flagging economy. Since the expiration of the extra $600 in weekly benefits, jobless Marylanders have received no more than the state’s...…AdvertisementBy Baltimore SunAug 20, 2020 at 8:09 pmUnemployed Marylanders would receive an extra $300 a week in benefits if the state’s application for federal funds is approved, Gov. Larry Hogan said Wednesday, replacing half of what was lost when additional weekly assistance approved early in the coronavirus pandemic expired last month.But some economists question whether the amount is sufficient, both for recipients to live on and to boost a still flagging economy. Since the expiration of the extra $600 in weekly benefits, jobless Marylanders have received no more than the state’s...WW…
Class of 2020 leaves Maryland colleges to find uniquely bleak job market crushed by pandemic, recession
AdvertisementBy Baltimore SunJul 24, 2020 at 8:20 amIt’s a well-worn detour for college graduates — the art history major who waits tables until a “real” job at a museum opens, others who send out dozens of applications while in the meantime folding T-shirts at the Gap or taking latte orders at Starbucks.But the Class of 2020 is graduating into a uniquely bleak job market — in their chosen fields and even for those once-reliable fallbacks. The coronavirus pandemic and the economic recession have employers across multiple industries shedding rather than adding staff.Advertisement“Nobody is...…AdvertisementBy Baltimore SunJul 24, 2020 at 8:20 amIt’s a well-worn detour for college graduates — the art history major who waits tables until a “real” job at a museum opens, others who send out dozens of applications while in the meantime folding T-shirts at the Gap or taking latte orders at Starbucks.But the Class of 2020 is graduating into a uniquely bleak job market — in their chosen fields and even for those once-reliable fallbacks. The coronavirus pandemic and the economic recession have employers across multiple industries shedding rather than adding staff.Advertisement“Nobody is...WW…
