Keeping it together – Thursday, April 23rd

Yesterday’s windy storms brought in cooler temperatures for the next few days. Highs will stay just shy of 60 today and tomorrow.

freddie

We now know that 5 of the 6 officers involved with Freddie Gray’s arrest and transport gave voluntary statements to investigators shortly after the incident that led to Gray’s death.

Gov. Larry Hogan has decided to stay out of the situation for now, claiming that he does not want to ‘politicize’ Gray’s death. State leadership does have a hand in the atmosphere that us, though (and staying out is a certainly a political calculation). During the state’s legislative session, several state lawmakers pushed bills to improve law enforcement accountability. The bills went nowhere in Annapolis, due to a feeling that policing problems in Baltimore don’t merit the state’s attention.

protest

Peaceful protests continued last night, both outside the Western District police station and downtown. At the Western District, police set up barricades to push protesters nearly a block away from the station (claiming the space for emergency vehicle access). A march downtown briefly blocked several intersections downtown, resurrecting @BaltimorePolice’s odd practice of live-tweeting protester positions.

In a statement, local police union president Gene Ryan compared the protesters to a “lynch mob.”

More protests are being planned for tonight and through the weekend.

community

The group of Federal Hill residents angry about the yearly Irish Stroll are dropping their challenge to the liquor licenses of the participating bars.

business

The Inner Harbor Marriott is looking for idea submissions on how to convert a meeting room space in the hotel into a restaurant or retail shop.

coolstory

 The Inner Harbor Water Wheel picked up a record 19 tons of trash on Monday, following a rain storm. Its previous record was 11 tons.

High drama at the falcon cam.