There's a university in Baltimore with a huge archive of ghostly things. Who knew! 👻

By @juliemore19.bsky.social: There’s a ghost town buried under Loch Raven. (via @thebaltimorebanner.com)

NEW INVESTIGATION: Investors have spent years falling in love with the 'debt service coverage ratio' loan. The loans have allowed access to vast sums with few conditions, and now make up 40% of mortgage dollars in Baltimore. Now they're going bad. (Story below ⬇️)

The child care scholarship is the main way Maryland families get help with child care. Since many can't afford it otherwise, day cares and preschools rely on vouchers to fill spots. So what happens when the program gets frozen - and doesn't come back when predicted? www.thebanner.com/education/ea...

Great @thebaltimorebanner.com story on the business of music festivals

For more than 60 years, the dense forests of Patuxent River State Park have cradled a secret. Vines and tall grasses hid the homes of a Black family who triumphed over the horrors of slavery, built a thriving community and launched the AFRO-American newspaper chain. buff.ly/5h0i22V

Enoch George Howard bought his freedom, and hundreds of acres of Montgomery County land. Read about this remarkable Marylander, and the new state park that will tell his story. Beautifully written by @juliemore19.bsky.social @thebaltimorebanner.com www.thebanner.com/community/lo...

UPDATE: A midshipman was shot at the U.S. Naval Academy and flown by helicopter to a hospital on Thursday, according to a law enforcement source. www.thebanner.com/community/lo...

IT'S CENSUS DAY at @thebaltimorebanner.com! The release of new 1-year ACS data told us a lot about the changing demographics and living experiences of counties across the country. Here's what we learned about Maryland:

Locust Point residents have had to live all summer with a constant hum, about the volume of a vacuum cleaner. How does their neighborhood compare to the loudest places in Baltimore? We took to the streets (with a mic!) to find out! www.thebanner.com/community/cl...

Head Start, the child tax credit, extra English help: These are all things undocumented and kids in mixed-status families stand to lose under the 2nd Trump admin. Anti-immigrant rhetoric & increased deportations are eating away at kids' mental health www.thebaltimorebanner.com/education/ea...

Tubing down the Gunpowder River is the perfect way to spend a summer day— except when E. coli levels are soaring, as they have frequently this year. I spent time with the Gunpowder Riverkeepers to see how they’re working to protect the river. www.thebaltimorebanner.com/gunpowder-ri...

Heat is the deadliest form of extreme weather, responsible for thousands of deaths annually. Read more in @thebaltimorebanner.com w/ @adampwillis.bsky.social

At least 9 people have died from heat-related illness this year in Maryland so far — more than the entirety of some recent past summers. 27 died of heat in Maryland in 2024 — but only 4 by this point in the summer.

In 2008, a teenage boy killed his parents and brothers in this Cockeysville home. In 2023, a man shot a police officer there, touching off a 3 day manhunt. Now the house is about to hit the market. www.thebaltimorebanner.com/economy/real...

Prosecutors won’t retry Severna Park Elementary teacher in sex abuse case. (via @thebaltimorebanner.com)

New: Before fatally shooting a 70-year-old woman, BPD officers breached the door of her home, where she was inside and reportedly armed with a knife. De-escalation experts and the department's own crisis response policy call that action into question. www.thebaltimorebanner.com/community/cr...

Baltimore sheriff probes courthouse employee for allegedly inviting ICE to detain someone, @conarck.bsky.social reports. (via @thebaltimorebanner.com)

NEW: A Frederick police officer, under investigation since August 2024, was charged today with possessing child sexual abuse material, solicitation of a minor and more.

By Sapna Bansil: Maryland’s oldest rural gay bar — and one of the last — is a log cabin in the woods. (via @thebaltimorebanner.com)

Former Greater Grace pastor indicted for child sexual abuse, lawsuits pile up, Jessica Calefati, @juliemore19.bsky.social and @justinfenton.bsky.social report. (via @thebaltimorebanner.com)

NEW: Baltimore students told about their experiences with violence and harassment on the way to school in the state's only district without yellow bus service for middle and high schoolers. @lizbowie.bsky.social and I on what students are facing every day www.thebaltimorebanner.com/education/k-...

New: When Baltimore residents surrounded an ICE agent's vehicle after he arrested two members of their community, he called 911. Baltimore Police, who are by policy prohibited from immigration enforcement, cleared his way. Was it their "duty" or a "test?" www.thebaltimorebanner.com/community/cr...

As part of his plan to close the racial wealth gap, Moore announced on Juneteenth his plans to prioritize some communities for grants and loans and thousands more cannabis pardons. w/ @pwoodreporter.bsky.social Story: t.co/iNpBoSyN0V

Harriet Tubman #quilt by my Mom, Vera P. Hall, who makes quilts celebrating Black people who fought for their own freedom. This seems to be the crowd favorite of the “We Didn’t Wait for Freedom” series. Happy #Juneteenth #quilting

Protesters rally after Severna Park Elementary teacher found not guilty of most child sex abuse charges. (via @thebaltimorebanner.com)

NEW: Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Defense and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth over proposed cuts to DOD federal research funding. Each college involved could lose millions: www.thebaltimorebanner.com/education/hi...

Former Parkville, Deep Creek, Holabird gym teacher indicted on 22 counts related to sexual abuse of students. www.thebaltimorebanner.com/community/cr...

“The next decade would be a procession of losses — his marriage, his career, his friends — until there was nothing left for Brian Matusz to lose but himself.”

Maryland DJS Sec. Vincent Schiraldi said on Monday he resigned from @GovWesMoore's cabinet. Moore's office did not confirm the resignation. Moore named Betsy Fox Tolentino of Roca, and former DJS dep. secretary under Hogan, as acting secretary. Interview with Schiraldi: tinyurl.com/y5dk96km

BREAKING: Amid more federal funding and research cuts, Johns Hopkins University is pausing pay increases, freezing staff hiring and reducing capital projects by up to 20%. The university is on track to lose nearly $1 billion in funding — so far. Read: www.thebaltimorebanner.com/education/hi...

New: Former Ravens kicker Justin Tucker’s Owings Mills home is hitting the market this week, one month after the team announced he was being cut www.thebaltimorebanner.com/sports/raven...

Baltimore County gym teacher charged with sex offenses is released from jail. (w/ @kris10griffith.bsky.social) (via @thebaltimorebanner.com)

NEW: Md's Child Victims Act cleared the way for survivors of child sexual abuse to sue institutions that employed or enabled abusers. 1,250+ lawsuits have been filed just in Baltimore, where a judge put the cases on hold. By @dylansegelbaum.bsky.social: www.thebaltimorebanner.com/politics-pow...

Four unexplained fires on Keswick Road since October have neighbors asking what - or who - caused the destruction and hoping they’ve seen the last one. @halliemiller.bsky.social & @emilyopilo.bsky.social took a deeper look.

“The boardwalk, in particular, loomed large in my imagination as a child. I spent fistfuls of quarters on sets of scented jelly bracelets. I wandered dazed among the crowds and spinning lights at Trimper’s. I felt a shiver of fear when the coffin doors at the Haunted House clapped shut behind me.”

“Each summer, as my dad drove our family across the Route 50 bridge into Ocean City, I unrolled the back window and stuck my head out like a dog.” www.thebaltimorebanner.com/opinion/colu...

It’s been 150 years since the first hotel opened in Ocean City, setting in motion the transformation of a sleepy fishing village into the state’s top summer resort. @juliemore19.bsky.social looks at its history you're probably not aware of: www.thebaltimorebanner.com/culture/life...

At 11, she’s turned heartbreak into hope on the National Spelling Bee stage Read the story by @kris10griffith.bsky.social on the @thebaltimorebanner.com ---> tinyurl.com/2rj9mrb5

cat cafe!!!!!!!!!!!! For @thebaltimorebanner.com: www.thebaltimorebanner.com/culture/food...

“Even though she’s got aches and pains, she still gets to look beautiful for one more day.” Once, they owned Pimlico. On Saturday, the De Francis family, friends and longtime employees grappled with saying goodbye to the track they’ve known so well. www.thebaltimorebanner.com/sports/horse...

Here is the true story of what happened when nine citizens attempted to deliver a letter to #Baltimore County Executive Kathy Klausmeier demanding she re-appoint the IG. Accept no substitutes to legitimate reporters who show up and do the work. www.thebaltimorebanner.com/politics-pow...

Preakness, schmeakness. Tonight is also Gunz of Steel, an arm-wrestling competition for women and non-binary people featuring a deranged lunch lady, a gym-obsessed rat and a flying crocheted placenta. 📸: @jessicagallagher.bsky.social www.thebaltimorebanner.com/culture/life...

“I’m walking him into a place of my old memories so he can create his own.” Beautiful essay by @jasminevaughnhall.bsky.social

How did it get the nickname ‘Old Hilltop?’ What gets saved from the 1870 venue? Why Laurel Park next year? It's Preakness Week + @hayesgardner.bsky.social is here with some interesting trivia to make you sound smart at parties. via @thebaltimorebanner.com www.thebaltimorebanner.com/sports/horse...

Bursting with pride for my amazing colleagues!!!

NEW: Thousands of Baltimore students begin their school days on MTA buses. But how many? And what are their commutes like? Neither City Schools nor MTA know for sure. Experts say a survey would help. But ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​first someone has to conduct one. www.thebaltimorebanner.com/education/k-...

Anyone who has even a passing knowledge of Baltimore should know that Roland Park is one of the city’s wealthiest neighborhoods. Yet state lawmakers directed funds earmarked for poor communities to create a park there, @adampwillis.bsky.social reveals…

Holy shit, just three years into its existence, the nonprofit Baltimore Banner has won its first Pulitzer.

When we talked to MTA Administrator Holly Arnold for our "Transit Nightmare" investigation, she expressed confidence that the governor's budget would provide some relief for Baltimore's students. Read Daniel Zawodny on the budget and MTA's Sisyphean task. www.thebaltimorebanner.com/community/tr...