NEWS
Thomas F. Schaller | May 28, 2013
May has been a rough month for President Barack Obama: more Benghazi developments, plus the breaking IRS and journo-bugging scandals. Taken separately, none of these episodes is fatal. They do not reach Watergate levels. Given that previously classified Benghazi emails were doctored by Republicans, and that even former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates confirms it would have been impossible and ill-advised to dispatch fighter planes to the consulate, clearly there's more smoke than fire in Benghazi.
NEWS
By Yvonne Wenger, The Baltimore Sun | May 25, 2013
The University of Maryland says it alerted the state attorney general nearly 25 years ago that the school's head swimming coach had acknowledged sexually abusing a girl at his private club, but he was not charged until last year. Rick Curl, founder of Washington's pre-eminent Curl-Burke Swim Club, resigned his position at College Park in August 1988 after the parents of the teenage victim gave the university a letter signed by Curl that acknowledged the abuse. Curl and the parents entered into a legal settlement around that time.
NEWS
By Yvonne Wenger, The Baltimore Sun | May 23, 2013
Kelley Currin recalled dancing with her longtime swimming coach, Rick Curl, as a teenage girl the night of his wedding some 30 years ago. She wore a pink dress, held on too long and whispered in his ear, "I hate you. " She told Montgomery County Circuit Judge Marielsa A. Bernard on Thursday how she fell in love with Curl, who was then 33, before her 13th birthday in the early 1980s. She recounted the details of their first kiss near a water fountain at Georgetown Preparatory School and the way years of sexual abuse altered the trajectory of her life.
NEWS
By Yvonne Wenger, The Baltimore Sun | May 17, 2013
A mayoral commission has issued a highly critical report challenging Baltimore's commitment to eradicating violence against dogs and cats, citing a lack of police investigation and poor conditions for captured strays. And five members of the Anti-Animal Abuse Commission, including chairman Caroline Griffin, have resigned in protest because of the city's inaction, Griffin said. "City Hall has failed to recognize or endorse this report," Griffin said. "By failing to recognize the problems, it's impossible to fix the problems.
SPORTS
The Baltimore Sun | May 14, 2013
Rutgers reinstated men's lacrosse coach Brian Brecht on Tuesday, almost a month after having suspended him with pay over allegations of verbal abuse. While the university investigation found that the former Loyola University assistant did use inappropriate language and exhibited unprofessional behavior on occasion, the instances were infrequent and not directed at individual players. Accordingly the university found no criminal or university policy violations. “I regret my behavior and am determined to set a better example in the future,” said Brecht, who missed the last two games of the season.
NEWS
By Alison Knezevich, The Baltimore Sun | May 8, 2013
Anne Arundel County police are investigating sexual abuse allegations by a former student at Monsignor Slade Catholic School in Glen Burnie, officials of the Archdiocese of Baltimore said Wednesday. In a letter posted on the archdiocese website and sent to parents via email Wednesday, Barbara McGraw Edmondson, the superintendent of schools within the archdiocese, said county police searched the school Tuesday afternoon and that those being investigated have been suspended until "a determination is made concerning the veracity of the allegations.