Census

Are more black men behind bars than in college? The answer lies in who is doing the counting - and how. A controversy is brewing about the veracity of this often-stated belief - one that is likely to be amplified by the injustice in Jena, La., and the new census report that more black people live in jails than in dormitories. Unfortunately, the claims from neither side of the debate provide an accurate picture of the issue. We need to get a handle on the answer so we are not distracted from pursuing the larger question of why so many black men are incarcerated.

The NAACP and an organization of black telecommunications workers will announce a partnership today aimed at encouraging African-Americans to vote and participate in the census.Under the joint venture, which has been in the works for several months, branches of the civil rights organization will team with branches of the Alliance of Black Telecommunications Employees, a New Jersey-based nonprofit."Every presidential election, we've had a registration drive. We emphasize that kind of involvement," said Rodney O. Buie, president of the alliance.

Baltimore launched its "Everyone Counts" campaign for the 2000 census yesterday in the War Memorial Building across from City Hall, with Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke urging schoolchildren to spread the word about the count so the city can get the resources it needs."

Baltimore launched its "Everyone Counts" campaign for the 2000 census yesterday in the War Memorial Building across from City Hall, with Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke urging schoolchildren to spread the word about the count so the city can get the resources it needs."

In Baltimore CountyArm hydraulic system not responsible in bridge fall, police sayARBUTUS -- Authorities have ruled out the possibility that the arm on the excavator that smashed into a pedestrian bridge on Interstate 695 last week accidentally rose because of mechanical failure, a state police spokeswoman said yesterday.Investigators have found that the hydraulic system that raises the excavator's arm was not accidentally engaged during the drive from Locust Point to the accident scene, said 1st Sgt. Laura Lu Herman.

Maryland lost 3 percent of its farmland and 7 percent of its farms between 1992 and 1997, according to a five-year census released yesterday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.But as farmland and farmers become more scarce, the impact of agriculture on Maryland's economy continues to grow."Although we are losing farms, we are not losing the economic importance of agriculture," said Ray Garibay, chief statistician with the Maryland Agricultural Statistics Service, a local arm of the USDA, in releasing the census results.

With a heavy focus on political issues and economic development, the NAACP gathers today in New York for the start of its 90th annual convention.About 14,000 people are expected to attend the six-day event that has a packed agenda, including confirmed appearances by Vice President Al Gore, Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright, the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson and the Rev. Al Sharpton."

ON JULY 11, 1787, the Constitutional Convention discussed what would become the requirement of a census by "actual enumeration" every 10 years, to revise the allocation of congressional seats among the states. The convention made this the national government's responsibility because, said Edmund Randolph, the states would be too "interested" to be impartial. The convention made it mandatory because, said George Mason, "those who have power in their hands will not give it up while they can retain it."

ALBANY, N.Y. - Although he has made a 20-year-plus career of studying and researching this city's early population, and has come to know most of the 18th-century residents on a first-name basis, Steve Bielinski doesn't know them as he'd like."

TWO CHEERS for the recent news from the Census Bureau about the decrease in poverty numbers.Rah: For the past three years, the number of Americans living in poverty declined, the agency noted. Those in poverty in 1997 totaled 35.6 million, down a little from the previous year, and a decrease of 3.7 million since 1993.Rah: The rate for African Americans dropped to the lowest level ever recorded, to 9.1 million, or 26.5 percent, from 28.4 percent in 1996 and 33.1 percent in 1993. Median household income was higher last year than at any time in the past 30 years, rising by 4.3 percent to $25,050.

Last week Senate Democrats, led by Maryland's Barbara Mikulski, rejected legislation introduced by David Vitter, a Louisiana Republican, that would have instructed the U.S. Census Bureau not to take into account illegal immigrants and other noncitizens in the 2010 census. I was all for it. Furthermore, I propose that the government no longer recognize deficits in budgets, record violent crimes in police reports, acknowledge casualties of war, or count - let alone give proper names to!

The Census Bureau opened a new data center in Baltimore County on Monday that will generate more than 2,500 temporary jobs and process millions of questionnaires for the 2010 census. The 236,500-square-foot facility - called the Baltimore Data Capture Center - is in Essex, in the 8400 block of Kelso Drive. It will be managed by Lockheed Martin, a major federal government security contractor based in Bethesda, and subcontractor Computer Sciences Corp. Beginning in September, temporary workers will be recruited from the Baltimore area to staff the center; a census official said, and a dedicated Web site will be available that month to assist job seekers.

USDA to conduct census of farms Maryland farmers can help shape the future of agriculture by responding to the 2007 Census of Agriculture report form, scheduled to arrive by mail in early January. Conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture every five years, the census is a count of the nation's farms and the people who operate them. It looks at land use and ownership, operator characteristics, production practices, income and expenditures, and other topics. The census provides the only source of uniform, comprehensive agricultural data for every county in the nation.

Are more black men behind bars than in college? The answer lies in who is doing the counting - and how. A controversy is brewing about the veracity of this often-stated belief - one that is likely to be amplified by the injustice in Jena, La., and the new census report that more black people live in jails than in dormitories. Unfortunately, the claims from neither side of the debate provide an accurate picture of the issue. We need to get a handle on the answer so we are not distracted from pursuing the larger question of why so many black men are incarcerated.

Elated city leaders were fast to spread the news: For the first time in decades, Baltimore's population has increased, reversing a half-century of decline, according to revised estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. Mayor Sheila Dixon announced the revised estimate yesterday, calling the nearly 900-person gain between 2005 and 2006 a "reversal of fortune." The new figures come after Baltimore officials challenged the city's 2006 estimate, released in June. The adjusted figure puts Baltimore's population as of July 1, 2006, at 640,961, up 897 from the 2005 Charm City count of 640,064.

Alice Jackson could tell that the woman was depressed. With some gentle questioning, Jackson found out that she was 42 years old, the mother of three grown children and homeless. "Where did you spend last night?" Jackson asked. "At a friend's house," the woman responded. "A place I don't want to be - a crack house." Jackson noted the woman's response on a survey form and told her that there was a shelter nearby, a place that Jackson had also visited when she was a homeless drug addict.

Working to keep pace with their fast-growing populations, planners in Harford and Carroll counties can add a new weapon to their arsenals -- yearly reports from the U.S. Census Bureau that promise to make it easier to track local demographics. The reports, which are compilations of data from the American Community Survey, include demographic and social information such as race, Hispanic origin, age, education, marital status, grandparents as caregivers, veterans, disability status and U.S. citizenship.

The socioeconomic makeup of Howard County is a puzzle with many pieces that fit together to create one of the most intriguing and ever-changing of Maryland's 23 varied counties. Howard is "a county of contrasts," according to its county government's homepage, but that concise description only begins to tell the story of this many-layered county. The county is a conglomeration; it has 18th-century towns, cutting-edge communities, many acres of rolling farmlands and seemingly endless suburbs.

The number of homeless people in Baltimore County may be decreasing, but the percentage of them who are women and children has increased, according to a January census. Volunteers and county officials found that 513 people had no place to stay on Jan. 28, and about a third of them -- 183 --were children, said Sandy Monck, Baltimore County's homeless services coordinator. Last year, about half of those surveyed were women and children. This year, the number was about 65 percent, she said.

Remember the number: 641,943. That's the U.S. Census Bureau's recently revised estimate of Baltimore's population as of July 1, 2004. As the race for governor gets into gear, it's also the number that might provide the single most overarching view of Mayor Martin O'Malley's stewardship of the city over the past six years. More than the frequently mentioned figures for homicides, student test scores and housing prices, population trends provide an indication of the city's overall health, measuring the success in attracting and retaining residents based on a broad array of factors.