NEWS
By Justin Fenton, Ian Duncan and Kevin Rector, The Baltimore Sun | May 11, 2013
In the black market of Maryland's prisons and jails, where the right price can secure cellphones and drugs, transactions unfold through a complex system of currency. Among the key elements: 14-digit codes, prepaid debit cards and text messages. One brand of cards - Green Dot - is so ubiquitous that it has become part of the lexicon on the inside. The recent federal indictment of two dozen inmates and corrections officers in an alleged Black Guerrilla Family corruption scandal at the Baltimore City Detention Center notes several instances in which suspects refer to "dots" in transactions.
NEWS
By Luke Broadwater, The Baltimore Sun | May 8, 2013
Education observers were split Tuesday on whether the city's school board should launch a nationwide search to replace schools CEO Andrés Alonso or give the job of taking on the district's daunting challenges to his hand-picked successor. Some, such as principals union president Jimmy Gittings, said they'll push for the board to name interim CEO Tisha Edwards as permanent superintendent. School officials said late Tuesday that Edwards, Alonso's chief of staff, would not have to obtain a state waiver despite lacking the teaching experience typically required by state law for the post.
NEWS
By Scott Dance, The Baltimore Sun | May 6, 2013
The beautiful weekend weather just couldn't last. While clear, sunny skies remain over New England, a low-pressure system spinning up from the Southeast has brought clouds over the mid-Atlantic. An area of high pressure that dominated from late last week through the weekend is now centered near Maine, slipping off the coast. The area had blocked clouds from moving into the region. "ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END...AND SO WE SAY FAREWELL TO THE FINE WX OF THE PAST FIVE DAYS," National Weather Service meteorologists wrote in a morning forecast discussion.
EXPLORE
May 6, 2013
The Board of Education of Harford County is seeking applications from interested county citizens to fill one opening on the school system's Audit Committee. The purpose of the five-member committee is to assist the board in fulfilling its fiduciary oversight responsibilities. The committee serves as an independent and objective party to monitor the school system's financial reporting process and internal controls. The committee meets at least quarterly to review financial performance and may meet annually, in separate sessions, with management, the internal auditor and the external auditor.
NEWS
May 2, 2013
Maryland's House Republicans decided this week to jettison Del. Anthony J. O'Donnell from the leadership of their caucus on the grounds that a new messenger is needed to revitalize the party's prospects and pick up seats in the 2014 election. We wish new Minority Leader Nicholaus Kipke and new Minority Whip Kathy Szeliga the best of luck; Maryland is better when it has two functioning political parties. But color us skeptical that rearranging the deck chairs in the House GOP caucus is going to accomplish much.
NEWS
By Jamie Smith Hopkins, The Baltimore Sun | April 30, 2013
FLIR Systems' government-contracting arm is more than doubling its space in Howard County as it prepares to start assembling threat-detection devices. Gov. Martin O'Malley visited the company in late February to discuss concerns about the employment effect of the federal government's sequestration budget cuts. Now, FLIR says, it feels more confident about expansion because funding for its programs is less uncertain. "With budgets beginning to get resolved, it makes decision-making for us in the future somewhat easier," said David Cullin, chief technology officer of FLIR Government Systems, FLIR's government-contracting division.