Dreary and overcast, with high temperatures struggling to hit the mid 60s and the chance of rain. More of the same tomorrow, but slightly warmer
Speaking to the City Council’s Public Safety Committee, police commissioner Anthony Batts said that a new deployment schedule might have made matters worse during a recent surge in homicides and gun violence. Batts: “We anticipated a year of growth, a year of evolution. We had some hiccups at the midnight shift when we should have had more officers out there.” Batts remains confident that the patrol changes, part of a new union contract that started in January, are a step in the right direction for public safety and the benefit of officers.
Most of May’s historic murders did not happen on the midnight shift.
Batts also told the committee that police transport drivers have been retrained with first aid skills and that the department intends to equip its 24 vans with cameras and other upgrades (at $13,000 a van).
Two people were shot to death in separate incidences early on Tuesday. There were at least 3 other non-fatal shootings Tuesday. In another May homicide, police announced that 68-year-old Jerod Richardson died over the weekend from head injuries from an assault by another resident at his nursing home on May 17th.
Baltimore City Schools will now offer a free breakfast and lunch program to all students. 84% of Baltimore students already qualified for a free or reduced price meal. The new free meal program is funded by new federal funds. Advocates say that the program will remove stigma for kids who rely on school meals, and help those that couldn’t qualify before because of homelessness or other paperwork issues.
VEEP is leaving Maryland next season, chasing a juicy set of tax incentives from California to lure film productions back to Hollywood. VEEP, along with House of Cards and other productions, originally picked Maryland for its DC look-a-like buildings and its own set of tax incentives from the state. Get out.
Is it too early for whiskey? Two Baltimore residents bought a distillery and are moving it to Baltimore to launch Old Line Spirits.