Baltimore's Chief Administrative Officer Faith Leach arranges for ten $1,800-an-hour executive coaching sessions with her ex-D.C. boss. tinyurl.com/3ac525wk The city's Board of Estimates – including Leach herself, filling in for @mayorbmscott.bsky.social – voted to approve the spending today.

A nice alphabetically organized Baltimore neighborhood saddled with a not-so-nice name. tinyurl.com/2sm5m4x3 Folks love living in "The A to K" but why's it also sometimes called “Joseph Lee?” Who was he? A white-hot bigot, it turns out. No wonder they rebranded as "Bayview."

Werewolves of Hampden . . . and other creatures spotted last night. Ahoo! tinyurl.com/mtefubdr Did photographer Jennifer Bishop snap a shot of you at Hampden Halloweenfest?

Acknowledging it’s a leap into the unknown, Planning Commission signs off on @mayorbmscott.bsky.social's sweeping re-zoning bill. "We need to grow...the solution is to try more stuff, do more things, listen to people from other places and see what happens." www.baltimorebrew.com/2025/10/31/a...

Behind the plans for relocating the Sisson Street trash drop-off center: Two politically powerful players. tinyurl.com/5n8pncjc Seawall Development and MCB Real Estate own possible alternative sites, but you’d never know it listening to Baltimore city officials Monday night.

City Council seeks crackdown on smoke and vape shops modeled on recent “dollar store” legislation. tinyurl.com/2yhd955b Lately, 13 smoke shops have popped up in a 3-block area of his East Baltimore district, says Councilman Antonio Glover, some selling fentanyl-laced marijuana products.

Defending ending parking requirements for new apartments, Councilman Jermaine Jones said residents deserve better kinds of protections. tinyurl.com/5fk2yaxk Councilwoman Phylicia Porter said they've been "the only lever" for communities oversaturated w/ substance abuse and mental health clinics.

W/ little change from last week, Council approves @mayorbmscott.bsky.social' s zoning bills tonight. tinyurl.com/5fk2yaxk Councilman Torrence said Black citizens were being ignored and ppl waved “Democracy over Developers” signs, but the rule-relaxing, density-promoting bills passed as expected.

There’s a better way to craft bills that will change the rules for Baltimore housing. It starts with fairness and honesty – elements missing from the dialogue around zoning and housing legislation now being pushed through the City Council [OP-ED] www.baltimorebrew.com/2025/10/27/t...

A look at the last minute grassroots persuasion campaign mounted ahead of tonight's critical vote on controversial zoning bills backed by @mayorbmscott.bsky.social and @electryandorsey.bsky.social tinyurl.com/4vyj4a9c

Lobbying intensifies ahead of vote on @mayorbmscott.bsky.social controversial Baltimore zoning legislation. tinyurl.com/4vyj4a9c Opponents of two key bills – narrowly approved in a preliminary vote by the City Council – seek to flip votes at tomorrow’s meeting.

NEW: I obtained body camera footage from when Baltimore County Police officers responded to a false gun alert triggered by Baltimore County Public Schools’ AI-powered gun-detection system. The "gun" was a bag of Doritos. Here's the image officers were referencing:

A master class in how to turn Baltimore County’s zoning into a political free-for-all. tinyurl.com/25zekt74 The culture of soft corruption has long existed in Baltimore County - it’s getting worse, not better. [OP-ED]

Councilman James Torrence blasts @mayorbmscott.bsky.social's zoning bills "on behalf of my residents in Sandtown-Winchester." tinyurl.com/4b445a3m ... scorching remarks that reflect widespread grassroots Black opposition, as the full council advances two of the measures.

Sisson Street trash station task force names @odetteramos.bsky.social as chair. tinyurl.com/2mperxwz Also announced today: Calvin Young, point man for the unpopular Sisson Street relocation plan, will “shift” from mayor’s chief of staff to an interim deputy mayor.

The false promise of the sweeping zoning bill package pitched by @mayorbmscott.bsky.social as a path to affordable housing. tinyurl.com/y74ary94 Visionary reform? Or just a way to help developers cut costs? There's a reason Black Baltimore residents are leery. [OP-ED]

At a hearing, residents said @mayorbmscott.bsky.social's zoning deregulation bills will hurt their neighborhoods and some councilmembers pushed back as well. tinyurl.com/mryzfc52 But two of the bills got committee approval . . . and are set to go before the council Monday for a vote.

Baltimore’s now $5.6 million website redesign will be out-of-date when it’s launched. tinyurl.com/2fpsr9ma The Inspector General finds eye-popping new costs for the overhaul of the city’s website that, strangely, has it running on a soon-to-expire content management system.

Board of Estimates okays PILOT agreement Mayor Brandon Scott hammered out with nonprofits behind closed doors. tinyurl.com/ehwfbme2 Grassroots groups had pushed for a task force to craft a fair formula for payments. But the mayor cut his own deal.

Fistfights, parking lot scuffles, disputed union elections. Check out the colorful history of AFSCME Maryland, which was quietly reeling from a $1 million phishing scam when it took over the more solvent Council 67/Local 44, which represented Baltimore sanitation workers tinyurl.com/3y32dhtp

Eye-opening context . . . How the takeover of a Baltimore union helped AFSCME Council 3 recover from its “phishing” losses. tinyurl.com/3y32dhtp Now, we know why absorbing city sanitation workers’ Local 44, and other Council 67 units, was so important to AFSCME leadership.

[email protected] journalists face a gag order imposed by owner David Smith. “They’re trying to scare the union into silence,” says a @baltsunguild.bsky.social leader, addressing the negotiating tactics used by the newspaper’s management. tinyurl.com/dbwhxwt8

EXCLUSIVE: Controversial Baltimore zoning bills (bulk & yard and parking) are being sent back to @electryandorsey.bsky.social's committee for a re-hearing and re-vote. tinyurl.com/2s4djc8p Bill eliminating the two-staircase requirement in certain buildings is still scheduled for a vote tonight.

Baltimore homeless shelters: New survey finds them unsanitary, unsafe and unsavory tinyurl.com/36upv63m Citing bedbugs, roaches, brown faucet water, spoiled food, harassment and assaults, advocates demands better protection for vulnerable people experiencing homelessness.

EXCLUSIVE: @AFSCMEMaryland lost $1 million of membership funds in “phishing scam,” gov't documents reveal. Maryland’s largest union made a series of unusual payments in 2022 to an apparently fictitious Washington DC law firm. www.baltimorebrew.com/2025/09/26/a...

Amid initial safety concerns from firefighters and the public, @electryandorsey.bsky.social's single-exit bill advances tinyurl.com/y3endk93 OK'd by committee today, bill removing the two-staircase requirement for certain multi-family buildings will spur development...and has safeguards, he says.

In a reversal, AFSCME judicial panel has now canceled the re-running of the Local 44 election and ordered an investigation tinyurl.com/329kthbx They're acceding to Baltimore sanitation worker Stancil McNair’s demand that they first look into his charges of union misuse of members’ resources.

After tens of thousands of dead menhaden turn up on the waterfront, Baltimore Harbor Waterkeeper says their teams are documenting the algae blooms, rotten-egg smell and de-oxygenated water but cautions against defeatism: "fishkills are not inevitable." tinyurl.com/3z92z4mc

Reform slate appeals AFSCME Maryland decision to throw out Local 44 results and re-run the election. tinyurl.com/3whacu66 Represented by attorney Thiru Vignarajah, Baltimore sanitation worker Stancil McNair and his team push back.

Chain stores selling cheap goods hurt struggling Baltimore neighborhoods, community leaders testify. tinyurl.com/8ybh47c5 They praised a modest bill to rein in dollar stores - but asked city government to do much more. "We need help."

Baltimore Ethics Board affirms the right of Inspector General Cumming to tweet about a union election on her personal social media accounts. Her tweets (about the Local 44 election) had been questioned by an anonymous City Hall source and in a news article. tinyurl.com/53fdxktm

VIDEO: 25 years ago, a call from William Donald Schaefer, unheeded, to preserve the Superblock tinyurl.com/2s3vuddj 1/2

Local 44 election loser accuses victor of “colluding” with Baltimore Inspector General Isabel Cumming tinyurl.com/2nk36b46 Secrecy and unsubstantiated charges pervade union representing city sanitation workers. Top AFSCMEMaryland officials are smarting over the defeat of their candidate last month.

BREAKING Frmr New Pickwick theater on Howard St has been torn down - other vacant Superblock bldgs slated for demolition too, officials confirm. "Fire did what years of neglect foreshadowed: the historic theater we wrote about yesterday is now rubble." Pics/story by Amy Davis tinyurl.com/44sptssb

Baltimore Presbyterians offer reparations for slavery, w/ $$ going to six local Black churches “in recognition of their historic under-funding and exclusion.” tinyurl.com/ycyhksak This is precisely the history that Donald Trump wants to erase, @danrodricks.bsky.social points out.

Elder abuse! That's what the author of a book on Baltimore's beautiful old theaters calls the city's mishandling of the Superblock. tinyurl.com/5c35ww3u After the fire, she looks at what remains of the once-grand Westside, and pleads with City Hall to do better. [OP-ED]

Forcible removal of Filipino workers from Carnival Cruise ship in Baltimore sparks protest. tinyurl.com/2hnmextw As part of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, dozens of Filipino seafarers have been expelled from the U.S. over unproven child porn claims.

Upstart Baltimore City workers won last month's Local 44 election, but now @AFSCMEMaryland officials have thrown the results out and scheduled an Oct. 4 do-over. tinyurl.com/y7zmaf5d On Instagram, sanitation worker Stancil McNair cried foul: "It's not fair."

Remember the insurgent Baltimore sanitation workers who won an upset victory to lead Local 44? tinyurl.com/y7zmaf5d Now, The Brew has learned, @AFSCMEMaryland has thrown out the results . . . and there's to be a new election.

The strongest voices opposing a bill they were told would help undo rules written to segregate the city? Black female residents and community leaders from across Baltimore. tinyurl.com/yputmekw Scenes from yesterday's hearing on a bill to eliminate parking minimums.

Bill - called “irresponsible” by a Planning Commissioner - would allow Baltimore rowhouses to be expanded back to the alley. tinyurl.com/yc4pf8rv Along with ending parking minimums, it’s one of two @MayorBMScott backed bills before a City Council committee today.

Tensions flare as Baltimore Councilwoman Danielle McCray halts City Hall hearing about setting up a task force to review payments by tax-exempt institutions like @JohnsHopkins and @UMMC. Grassroots coalition WUFU cries foul. tinyurl.com/thpkmpm3

Baltimore Peninsula: Surprisingly built-out ... and strangely devoid of people. tinyurl.com/4ufty2zx Kudos to the developers [of the former Port Covington] for erecting beaucoup square feet, says @danrodricks.bsky.social . But the place still feels like a neighborhood waiting to happen.

Some folks still a bit salty after last night's Baltimore Ravens implosion

To The Teen Who Killed My Brother tinyurl.com/yvx42srd After 25 years, Lenny Kling's big sister reflects on grief, accountability and redemption in Baltimore’s justice system. This former public defender and city prosecutor takes you on her intense journey to ... a place of peace.

To The Teen Who Killed My Brother tinyurl.com/yvx42srd After 25 years, Lenny Kling's big sister reflects on grief, accountability and redemption in Baltimore’s justice system. This frmr public defender and city prosecutor takes you on her intense journey to...a place of peace. pic.x.com/AXejjeqPU4

Who thought it was a good idea to put a trash facility next to the Jones Falls? Nobody outside of City Hall, it seemed. tinyurl.com/35ya46tx. This week, amid widespread opposition, @mayorbmscott.bsky.social backed down on a Sisson relocation plan that had been on a *very* fast track.

Will there be a runoff for Local 44 vice president? AFSCME Maryland isn’t telling its own members. tinyurl.com/4mrxjp8p The Baltimore DPW and other City workers who scored an upset win in their union election say top AFSCME officials are now sidelining them and keeping them in the dark.

The year 2046. That's now the soonest Baltimore says it can promise to stop releasing sewage into city waterways. tinyurl.com/57fvzhdb News that the city is asking - again - to push back its EPA consent decree deadline was dropped quietly after hours last Friday.

The @mayorbmscott.bsky.social administration now seeks to push back the sewer overflow consent decree deadline from 2030 to 2046. tinyurl.com/57fvzhdb In 2002, Baltimore signed an agreement w/ @EPA to end sewage overflows into local waterways. After delaying once, they want another 16-year extension