Schmoke

When Murray Alexander Schmoke Jr. told his family that he was going to South Africa as a volunteer English teacher, relatives worried about his safety but did not try to stop him."I was real concerned," Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke said. "But I remembered my own experience at that age. When I told my parents I was going somewhere that they considered dangerous, I'd always say 'I'll be all right.' "So it was for the mayor's 25-year-old half brother, who confidently left for South Africa in January.

Baltimore's ethics board closed its monthly meeting Thursday without discussing publicly its probe into Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake's use of free 1st Mariner Arena tickets. After discussing other matters publicly, the board voted to meet in closed session. Afterward, several board members and its director, Avery Aisenstark, a city employee, would not answer questions about what was discussed. "We're not authorized to discuss the reason for or topic of the closed meeting - let alone why something was or was not discussed," Aisenstark said in an email.

Kurt L. Schmoke's victory in yesterday's Democratic primary must be a bitter-sweet occasion for the two-term Baltimore mayor.Sweet because a victory -- regardless of a margin -- is always joyous and a plurality of Baltimore voters reaffirmed their faith in him. Bitter because so many citizens expressed misgivings about his eight years of leadership that they made City Council President Mary Pat Clarke a credible contender who endangered the mayor's shoo-in...

Irene Bennett Reid, a retired social worker who was the mother of former Baltimore Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke, died of lung cancer Tuesday at Sinai Hospital. She was 78 and lived in Northwest Baltimore. Mrs. Reid was also the stepmother of the Rev. Frank M. Reid III, pastor of Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church. "You watched your grammar when you spoke to her," said Mr. Schmoke, who is dean of the Howard University School of Law. "She was an old-fashioned school marm, but was also an inspiring person.

Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke's surprise decision to seek a third term in 1995 makes him the front-runner in what promises to be the first really spirited Democratic mayoral primary since 1971. City Council President Mary Pat Clarke, who announced her candidacy last week, will put up a good fight. But Mr. Schmoke's incumbency will make it difficult for her to raise money or garner endorsements from their often-overlapping political constituencies.Yet it will be good for Baltimoreans to be exposed to the very different visions that are espoused by these two rivals.

MAYOR Kurt L. Schmoke caused quite a stir a couple of weeks ago when he let it be known, quite intentionally, that he was considering a race for governor in 1994. It gave everyone a chance to take note and discuss. The pundits loved it; so did the pollsters. It's great to see a race become so interesting so early.Was Mr. Schmoke bluffing? Most likely. Do most politicians think he was bluffing? Probably not. In their minds, the mayor's entry in the race is quite plausible. It's a wide-open contest this time.

Mayor Schmoke is the ideal candidate for lieutenant governor. He would balance the ticket of a gubernatorial nominee, geographically, racially and generationally. He would be the first black official elected statewide in a state that is one-fourth black. It's about time.And he is young enough, at 43, that the job is not beneath him. It would burnish his statewide recognition in a tax-paid, four-year campaign for governor or senator (whichever opened up without a Democratic incumbent first)

Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke's primary victory last night virtually guarantees his re-election Nov. 7. That is a fact of life in an overwhelmingly Democratic city that hasn't elected a Republican mayor in 28 years and hasn't sent a Republican to the City Council in nearly a half-century.A win is a win. Nevertheless, Mr. Schmoke's victory margin was less than some observers had expected, considering the giant campaign chest the incumbent had amassed. Although he garnered virtually all the meaningful political endorsements, he still could not instill enthusiasm into voters, many of whom stayed away from polls in one of the lightest city elections ever.

For more than four years, people have been asking whether Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke ever gets mad. We now have the answer. He is openly seething because Baltimore State's Attorney Stuart O. Simms has dropped perjury charges against four narcotics officers after two of these cases were thrown out of court. "This doesn't end the matter by any stretch," the mayor promised.Mr. Schmoke has been seeking vengeance ever since the four officers -- apparently unaware of the family connection -- last summer raided the house of his wife's cousin.

HOWARD UNIVERSITY and Kurt L. Schmoke should be a perfect match. Eager to win back its standing as a pre-eminent producer of African-American lawyers, the university chose a leader of stature and accomplishment who is likely to flourish as Howard's new law school dean. Mr. Schmoke arrives in time to help the District of Columbia school celebrate the 50th anniversary of Brown vs. Board of Education, the epochal U.S. Supreme Court decision desegregating the nation's public schools. That case was argued by Howard Law School graduate and Baltimore native Thurgood Marshall, who later became the first black member of the nation's highest court.

Former Baltimore Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke will chair a new advisory committee tasked with redeveloping Annapolis City Dock, city officials announced Wednesday. The City Dock Advisory Committee will put together a proposal for the city on redeveloping its signature public space — a major attraction for tourists and home to boating and sailing activities that attract visitors annually — with the goal of submitting a plan to the city council by fall 2011. The 25-member committee, which will examine issues related to economic development, transportation and the overall geographic layout, consists of people from a wide range of civic life, including residents, business owners and those involved in the maritime industry.

At 60, and a decade removed from Baltimore City Hall, Kurt L. Schmoke is busy reinventing himself. The former mayor is piling new projects on top of a full-time job as dean of Howard University Law School and sinking roots in the Annapolis area, his new home. "As my wife says, I haven't abandoned Baltimore, I've embraced Maryland," Schmoke said, with a rolling laugh, during a recent interview at his campus office. He's also emerging as something of a power broker in Barack Obama's Washington — though not in the way some might have expected.

Jurors are set to hear closing arguments today in the criminal theft trial of Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon - without ever having heard from Dixon herself. The panel of nine women and three men will then begin deliberating the case against the mayor, who is accused of spending gift cards intended for needy families on herself and her aides. Dixon seemed confident when she spoke briefly with reporters after court Wednesday, though she replied, "No comment," to most questions.

The push for intense development along the water's edge can be traced largely to the administrations of Kurt L. Schmoke and Martin O'Malley, who recognized the water's ability to draw businesses of all kinds. From the 1960s to the 1990s, the city had strong restrictions on waterfront development. Its master plan called for low- and mid-rise buildings close to the water and taller buildings several blocks inland, a strategy that limited the amount of new construction along the water's edge.

Barack Obama gave the nation's governors a stimulus they couldn't resist: Earth Wind & Fire. The R&B act, entertaining the National Governors Association on Sunday after Obama's first formal White House dinner, had even the stodgiest state executives asserting: Yes, we can dance. "The day before ... we were wondering who the music was going to be," Maryland first lady Katie O'Malley said. "And when they said 'Earth Wind & Fire,' I said, 'Oh my God. We're not going to be able to sit at our tables.

In the middle of a soggy Washington spectacle, there stood Kurt Schmoke, steady legal hand and umbrella-holder. The former Baltimore mayor and current Howard University Law School dean is part of the legal team representing Roland Burris, the man who claims to be Illinois' junior senator but has so far failed to convince the secretary of the Senate, who rejected his credentials yesterday. Having not been seated, Burris opted to stand - in front of reporters, outside the Capitol, in the rain.

An election year can do wonders in focusing the mind of a public official. For Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke, the state of the city's schools looms as no small issue in the coming campaign. That is his own doing, simply because he had the courage when he first ran for the office to stake the success of his mayoralty on improvements in the quality of Baltimore's public schools.Although the past year has brought some rays of hope -- scores in many areas have stopped dropping and are showing slight improvements -- there are still daunting problems.