On the hot seat

Clear, sunny skies and highs in the mid 80s – but there is a “Code Orange” air quality alert for conditions favorable to pollution. Another warm, sunny day tomorrow.

city

Interim police commissioner Kevin Davis told the Baltimore Sun that he’ll get a lot more done if he’s given a long-term shot at the job. Earlier this week, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said she wants to put Davis in charge for the long run, garnering mixed reactions.

Davis: “A lame-duck police commissioner hurts public safety.”

The interim-for-now police chief says he wants to strengthen foot patrols (Anthony Batts advocated for the same thing this spring), and to improve community relations by encouraging more officers to live in the city (incentivizing out-of-towners to move in, and recruiting more residents). Davis also says he wants to improve how Baltimore Police handle protests, (looking to Washington DC police for tips) but vowed to draw a hard line against protests that blocked traffic.

Davis: “Have we learned lessons from April and May and have we gotten better? Yes. But getting better doesn’t mean that now the pendulum swings completely in the other way and you start to overact because you were accused of underreacting.”

police

Officer Prashanth Davis, a 7-year BPD veteran, was found dead in the Inner Harbor late Tuesday in an apparent accident. Davis, 34, lived on a houseboat at Harborview and was off-duty at the time of the accident.

murder

31-year-old Dante Barnes was shot and killed in the Madison neighborhood of East Baltimore around midnight last night. There were also four non-fatal overnight shootings in the city.

Police announced the shootings on Facebook this AM, with the homicide buried four paragraphs in. Speaking of BPD social media, over the weekend, police sent out a poster that made a murder victim look as if he was the suspect wanted in his own killing.

maryland

See me after class: Gov. Larry Hogan and comptroller Peter Franchot want an explanation from Baltimore County leaders about why so many schools lack air conditioning. A recent heat wave left students and teachers sweating in 90-degree classrooms, forcing a few early dismissals. Baltimore City schools have even more buildings without AC, but Franchot says they’re demanding accountability from the county now because they’ve received millions from the state to make building improvements in recent years. County Executive Kevin Kamenetz says they’re working on it as fast as they can.

business

At its biennial Investor Day, Under Armour says they plan on doubling their revenue to $7.5 billion in the next three years. CEO Kevin Plank also announced that UA has extended its endorsement deal with NBA star Stephen Curry through 2024, with Curry raking in an equity stake in the company.