Mid-Atlantic mega-storm is . . . mild-mannered in Baltimore. tinyurl.com/5587s32y

UPDATE - @BaltimoreDPW responds, saying reports that the Back River sewage treatment plant has been overwhelmed with biosolids and has been releasing partially treated sewage into the river are not accurate. tinyurl.com/32fvd83p

Those orange paint chips that fell from the 28th Street Bridge that Baltimore officials said are of no concern? They ARE lead paint, the state confirms. tinyurl.com/3ar25ekc Maryland Dept. of the Environment finds lead levels 36 times the standard limit. Violation issued, clean-up ordered.

The stinky smell is worse than ever, the red pollution warning light keeps flashing and insiders say sewage sludge is backing up and clogging the Back River treatment plant once again. tinyurl.com/dpj86xf9 Documents show they stopped processing the bio-solids there months ago.

[email protected], joining area inspectors general, supports the Baltimore IG’s records access fight. “Our members rely on clear, consistent access to public information to inform residents about how government operates and how public resources are used." www.baltimorebrew.com/2026/02/17/m...

Looks like @baltimoresun.bsky.social readers may see more AI-produced news stories like the ones published last week that @baltsunguild.bsky.social quickly denounced as SLOP. tinyurl.com/yaafhvd8 Sun management: "To ignore this powerful tool would be a mistake.”

Offered at Council work session: amendments and arguments to allay concerns about Baltimore zoning bill. tinyurl.com/59h9stks “An appeasement effort,” one opponent said. Stop ignoring “Black homeowners in legacy neighborhoods," Council Vice Chair Sharon Green Middleton said, to big applause.

A non-binding "summary, nothing more," that "could have been written by a 2nd year law student." tinyurl.com/5b7yavzu That's what AG Anthony Brown says about the "advice letter" used by the @mayorbmscott.bsky.social administration to restrict Inspector General Cumming's access to documents.

Maryland Supreme Court to hear anti-SLAPP lawsuit filed by Clipper Mill residents against two developers. At issue: Can people hit with a lawsuit found to be a malicious attempt to shut them up collect damages? www.baltimorebrew.com/2026/02/12/m...

Inspector General Isabel Cumming reveals her fight with the @mayorbmscott.bsky.social administration centers on her investigation of MONSE, the mayor’s violence prevention program tinyurl.com/2vy9djcs She's going to court to fight for records after her Advisory Bd OKs hiring outside legal counsel.

Baltimore pastor says city’s sweeping zoning bill, which promises progress, may instead “deliver pain.” tinyurl.com/4b5phxn7 He joins residents and councilmen denouncing Bill 25-0066, as opponents plan online town hall tonight and the bill heads to committee on Thursday.

The @mayorbmscott.bsky.social administration’s latest assault on Baltimore's Inspector General - the city’s corruption watchdog - doesn’t hold up to legal scrutiny. tinyurl.com/bdcdawk2 . . . leaving a harsh question: what are they hiding? [OP-ED]

Flaking orange paint from the 28th Street Bridge is littering Falls Road and the Jones Falls tinyurl.com/3ynsbcx9 Chips resemble the lead paint flakes that fell in 2022 from Baltimore’s TV Tower. City officials don't believe they contain lead, but the MD Department of the Environment is testing them

Amid copious campaign contributions, city officials approve developer’s marina in Canton for a heliport for the Baltimore Police Dept. tinyurl.com/54j28d69 Records we reviewed, for example, show Scott Plank's largess includes $20,000 to the Democratic Senate Caucus Committee.

BREAKING - Citizen advisory board backs Inspector General Cumming's quest for unredacted records. Says restricting IT system and financial data hurts the Baltimore Office of the Inspector General's mission to identify waste, fraud & corruption in Baltimore city govt. tinyurl.com/y2zsk2w7

Building renovations, rather than recent public controversies (i.e., those proposed skyrocketing pensions ), are the reasons for shutting down public testimony at tonight's Baltimore County Council meeting, officials say. tinyurl.com/3t62muyr

THE OPPOSITE OF TRANSPARENCY: @mayorbmscott.bsky.social has launched an attack on the Baltimore Office of the Inspector General. Here's why its legal basis is flawed, and why residents and electeds need to take a stand against City Hall overreach and potential coverups [OP-ED] tinyurl.com/mv6x67xc

Hoisting Bible quotes and hurling F-bombs, wearing Ravens hats and eerie Handmaid's Tale outfits, hundreds turned out in Baltimore yesterday with one message: "ICE out of Baltimore." tinyurl.com/rfcc2xzr

A blunt message from a big Baltimore crowd: Shut down ICE. tinyurl.com/rfcc2xzr "ICE’s reign of terror on neighborhoods across the country has been more blatant than ever," speakers said, before hundreds took to the streets.

In 2017, Zeke Cohen, Brandon Scott and Bill Henry collectively had $47,000 in campaign funds. Last year, as Baltimore's top electeds - they got $709,848. tinyurl.com/382dne9w What went to whom in 2025 ... from Alex Smith's Atlas Restaurant Group to Johns Hopkins University. tinyurl.com/382dne9w

Baltimore Inspector General Isabel Cumming says the @mayorbmscott.bsky.social administration is blocking an investigation and has denied her office access to city records. "We basically cannot do our jobs," she tells @baltimorebrew.bsky.social. tinyurl.com/ywnycze4 .

Pension Bonanza to Baltimore County Councilmen. The simple solution is to repeal legislation that has so ANGERED the public, the author writes. But will the 7 lawmakers who benefit do the right thing? [OP-ED] by David Plymyer. tinyurl.com/fcfjtfhf

Yesterday’s killing of Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis sparked protests across the country, including in Baltimore where about 150 people gathered to decry ⁦ICE ⁩ actions. tinyurl.com/5czetd3f Baltimore Brew was there [VIDEO added to last night's story]

Baltimore turns out to protest after latest killing by federal agents in Minneapolis. tinyurl.com/5czetd3f About 150 gathered to denounce Donald Trump's immigration crackdown after the fatal shooting today of Alex Pretti. "ABOLISH ICE" and "IT WAS MURDER," signs said.

UPDATE: @patyoung4baltco weighs in on the Baltimore County Council pension boost. tinyurl.com/y854vupb "This moment calls for restoring trust - including revisiting policies that create the appearance or reality of insider benefit."

Horrifying. Nauseating. This occupation must end.

Meanwhile Councilmen Julian Jones and Izzy Patoka have their own ideas about how to deal with the growing public backlash over proposed big jumps to their salary and pensions. tinyurl.com/y854vupb

[email protected], candidate for Baltimore County executive, calls for repeal of legislation that would double the pensions of some county council members. Calls the measure "a moral outrage." tinyurl.com/y854vupb

Homeless man says he’ll cope as Baltimore girds for a major assault by snow and ice. tinyurl.com/2pcysamp “We got a propane burner in there,” Mad Max says, preferring his lifestyle to a city shelter as the biggest winter storm in years approaches.

Four Baltimore County Council members - @crandell @julianejonesjr @WadeKach & @CouncilmanIzzy - are positioned to DOUBLE their pensions . . . thanks to legislation they enacted. The full story: tinyurl.com/3drn6e6m

FOOD INSECURITY FLAP: A Baltimore church replaces weekly hot meals for the needy with a community fridge, saying it'll feed more ppl tinyurl.com/2s3w7ums Petition signed by 1,000+ says 'Yes, but don't end a 15-year-old tradition of serving hot and healthy meals face to face.'

Appeals court won’t redo hearings in Marilyn Mosby fraud and perjury cases. tinyurl.com/2uj8sh3y Her attorneys had sought a rehearing on her perjury convictions. Federal prosecutors had wanted one on the mortgage fraud conviction, which the appeals court threw out in July.

Citing “affordability,” Baltimore DPW defends moving the sewage consent decree deadline to 2046. tinyurl.com/5ktya5ad Another blown deadline? Moving the goalposts? No, Baltimore officials explained last night - it's "an adaptive management approach."

Another 16-year delay to end sewage overflows in Baltimore? Enough is enough, say @bluewaterbaltimore.bsky.social and other groups tinyurl.com/bdv3a9xp The @mayorbmscott.bsky.social administration says it needs until 2046 to complete repairs first ordered in 2002 #ConsentDecreeMtgHappeningTonight

ICE's "presence is terrifying medical staff and raising concerns about patient care, according to five nurses at HCMC hospital in Minneapolis who asked to remain anonymous for fear of losing their jobs." Via reporter @ericazurek.bsky.social www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...

She says ICE agents mocked her: “The ICE agent who had pepper sprayed into the vents of my car said ‘you guys gotta stop obstructing us, that’s why that lesbian b—— is dead,’ verbatim, speaking of Renee Good. Which filled me with absolute rage and shock..." www.mprnews.org/episode/2026...

MORE TREE-CUTTING- the big oak trees on the site of Johns Hopkins’ Data Science and AI Institute (DSAI) are coming down now…..

Data displayed briefly last night showed Sisson Street is by far the city's most popular trash & recycling center. Also clear last night: Baltimore DPW wants to close it. tinyurl.com/4az5esfz Never mentioned at the task force meeting: Developer Seawall's desire to buy it.

Complaints are filed with state and city about @electryandorsey.bsky.social handling of zoning bills. tinyurl.com/y8nmkypp Reservoir Hill leaders allege committee hearings violated the ADA and the Maryland Open Meetings Act; no comment from @zekecohen.bsky.social .

Despite protests, poetry and a last minute cease-and-desist letter accusing Johns Hopkins - and Baltimore city - of stonewalling the community, JHU yesterday went ahead and cut down those trees on Remington Ave. for its Data Science & AI Institute project. tinyurl.com/4srfr5nk

.@BaltimoreDPW is authorized to hire 45 more trash and recycling workers to improve service following intense criticism of working conditions and route reliability. tinyurl.com/537pfuca

REVEALED: the final cost of fixing the Lake Montebello sinkhole - three times above the original cost, with $20M of the $30M never disclosed to the Board of Estimates or to the public. tinyurl.com/ytd785au

Exaggerated reporting about squatters benefits landlord profits over tenant rights. tinyurl.com/3pr9ejrs Maryland lawmakers should reject the Evict-First-Ask-Questions-Later legislation being pushed by conservative media and think tanks here and across the country. [OP-ED]

Bill Henry kicks off a hearing on the Baltimore Children & Youth Fund by saying it’s been subject to unfair media coverage tinyurl.com/58rnueuc He apologized that he and other architects of BCYF “completely ignored the optics” of a taxpayer-funded entity that wd make it vulnerable to media scrutiny.

Community takes its case against Johns Hopkins DSAI project to City Hall, and loses. tinyurl.com/4evcxj2 Saying concerns about the Data Science & AI Institute were being ignored, @odetteramos.bsky.social had wanted deferral of the approvals Hopkins sought: “The lack of transparency is astounding.”

Today’s hearing on the Baltimore Children and Youth Fund could lead to much-needed accountability. tinyurl.com/9zvpkpfv Right now, sketchy grantmaking and lack of meaningful outcomes reporting make it hard to say if the funds are going to grassroots groups as intended. [OP-ED]

.@Zeke_Cohen confirms @baltimorebrew.bsky.social reporting, says locksmith contract was inflated by $3 million. tinyurl.com/yse4r2hj “There was an error in the calculation,” resulting in a 340% price increase that somehow city agencies and the mayor’s and comptroller’s offices ... didn't catch.

BREAKING Despite passionate pleas from residents and @odetteramos.bsky.social, Bd of Estimates ok's MOU allowing Johns Hopkins to make stormwater improvements on Wyman Park Drive to include tree cutting and, during construction, shutting the road down tinyurl.com/mwsb759v [this story to be updated]

City asked to approve stormwater upgrades for Johns Hopkins planned data science and AI buildings that will require tree cutting. tinyurl.com/mwsb759v Neighborhood critics of the DSAI project have targeted two items on today's Board of Estimates agenda.

Outgoing Inspector General Kelly Madigan calls for more transparency and higher standards in Baltimore County, as she heads out the door. tinyurl.com/5enjrkr4 We recap some of her investigations that ruffled feathers ... and the harsh attack from two council members that she survived.