Sunny today, with highs around 90, but without the humidity. The weekend will stay sunny, with highs in the low 90s and more humidity creeping in by Sunday.
Hogan: “The Baltimore City Detention Center is a disgrace, and its conditions are horrendous. Ignoring it was irresponsible and one of the biggest failures of leadership in the history of the state of Maryland.”
Hogan’s closure of the jail comes only 77 years after the first time an official called the place a disgrace. Inmates and corrections officers will be transferred to other facilities. Other parts of the corrections complex, including Central Booking and the women’s jail will stay open.
State lawmakers were pissed that Hogan didn’t check with them before making this move. In his announcement, Hogan defended flying solo, noting that the General Assembly’s plan to close the jail would’ve taken 10 years.
The Sun has a look back on the jail’s not-great history.
+ In yet another court filing, defense attorneys for the officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray claim that (among other complaints) prosecutors are concealing evidence that Freddie Gray attempted to injure himself during a previous arrest. Specifics on this evidence are unclear. Previously, the defense team argued that prosecutors were holding back evidence from the State’s Attorney’s office independent investigation of Gray’s arrest and death. Last week, prosecutors sought sanctions against the defense team for “factual mendacity and legal malarkey.” Expect the pattern of the defense calling prosecutors ‘cheaters’ and the prosecutors calling the defense ‘liars’ will likely continue through the trial.
+ One weird story that came out of this week’s release of thousands of internal emails about the unrest: former police commissioner Anthony Batts publicly claimed to meet with Freddie Gray’s family days before Gray’s funeral, but was then told to cut it out by the Gray family attorney, William Murphy. Murphy warned that Batts was lying – he never met with the family. Batts now says he was lied to when he met Juan Grant, a childhood friend of Gray that introduced himself as Gray’s brother-in-law.
Design plans for a 15-story, $81 million Marriott Residence Inn and retail development near Johns Hopkins Hospital got a final thumbs-up yesterday. Developers plan to break ground this fall and open in 2017.
Pancakes, ballerina Misty Copeland, and a Pigtown food fest in Baltimore magazine’s weekend highlights. Crab feasts, outdoor films, and a public Ravens practice at M&T Bank Stadium in SouthBmore.com’s weekend event listings.