When it snows 30 inches in a major east coast city, where do you put all the snow?

In the parking lots around M&T Bank Stadium. This picture does not do it justice. These piles are 25-30+ feet high and cover several acres.

Not in my backyard, Maryland edition

Heroin is certainly not unique to Maryland. But Baltimore is widely regarded as the "Heroin Capital" of the United States. Estimates from the federal government and the Baltimore Department of Health suggest that Baltimore is home to 48,000-60,000 addicts; or nearly a tenth of the city's population. And this epidemic has spilled into Baltimore's suburbs, too. Heroin's link to Baltimore also spawned a popular, but ultimately disturbing website that chronicles anecdotal evidence of heroin users in and around the city. When it comes to heroin, The Wire was not too far from the mark.

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan has highlighted the state's heroin epidemic several times since the election in November, and made it a priority in his state of the state address on Wednesday. Anne Arundel County Executive Steve Schuh has done the same.

The most effective treatment for heroin addiction is methadone. The staple of a heroin-addicted community is the methadone clinic. It should not be surprising, then, that fighting the heroin problem means putting these clinics in the communities where heroin is a problem.

Recent plans to open a methadone clinic on Hogs Neck Road in Pasadena in Anne Arundel County came to a screeching halt in the face of massive opposition from the community. Sadly, some went way too far in opposing the clinic by making death threats against the owner.

I suspect if you surveyed the people who oppose the clinic, many people would believe that the clinic's customers are from Baltimore City or somewhere else, and that the clinic is bringing drug addicts into their neighborhoods. But in reality, the addicts already live in those neighborhoods. The heroin problem will not go away because communities oppose methadone clinics in their neighborhoods. But the heroin addicts who live in those neighborhoods will have to go father to get treatment. Behind the facade, our otherwise-picturesque communities are dotted with halfway houses, group homes, parolees, probationers, and sex offenders. We cannot ignore the problem by pretending it doesn't exist in our supposedly-idyllic neighborhoods. It's here and we need to confront it.

Do the right thing

Last week, I was riding the Baltimore Light Rail and I found a wallet. I'll be honest with you--the first thought that went through my head was to leave it. I know this sounds heartless. But knowing the shady types of people that one is likely to encounter on the Light Rail (and I've seen my fair share), my first instinct is to leave it because I don't want to get involved. My brain has been wired to expect that it's entirely possible that someone is running some type of scam. Maybe they're not targeting me directly, but they're looking for a sucker. I didn't want to be that guy.

Against my initial thought, I picked it up and looked through it. It was an ID wallet with several disability ID cards for the Light Rail and DC Metro as well as other stuff you find in a wallet (no, there was no money or credit cards).

I thought about turning the wallet over to the Light Rail driver, but wondered how long it might take to find its owner, if ever. I thought about dropping it off at the MTA headquarters, but again wondered if this wallet would get lost in the system. Against my initial thought, I pocked the wallet with the intent of locating the owner and returning it to him.

When I returned home (with a little bit of advance work by my better half), it took all of five minutes of searching to find the owner. I was able to contact him, confirm it was his, and then meet up with him (in a public place) to turn it over.

I write this not to suggest that I did anything special. I did what I hope someone else would do if I had lost my wallet. He probably went through a hassle to get his disability ID cards and I was able to save him the pain. But more importantly, I went against my initial reaction. Riding the Light Rail every day, walking through Baltimore every day, grates on you. Your guard is up at all times. Your head is on a swivel. You're always looking out for potential threats. This isn't to suggest that Baltimore is a terrible place. But I've learned though experience that being cautious is the best defense. A few murders and assaults in the immediate vicinity of the campus will do that to you. Being on guard 24/7 wears you down emotionally and physically. After a while, it becomes very easy to say "no" to everything.

But sometimes, you should do the right thing.

The uniforms for this week's Maryland War of 1812 Bicentennial are...interesting.

This morning, an article about this uniform said: "Yes, that's the outline of a Terrapin on the helmets." Not so much. I can see how the shape sort of looks like a turtle, but it's pretty obvious that it's not the outline of a Terrapin with the American flag on it--it's the outline of Fort McHenry with the American flag on it! The article has since been corrected.

This seems legit

A rough day is all a matter of perspective

For me, a rough day is getting up at 4:30AM and not getting back home until after 10:00PM. Sometimes, though, a rough day is all a matter of perspective. This woman was passed out drunk on the light rail with a beer can in her purse. When she got kicked off the light rail, she dropped a citation for disorderly conduct ($500 or 90 days in jail) for sleeping at BWI Airport. I don't know her story beyond that, but I'd say she's had a rough day.

The grave of Edgar Allan Poe

So the Veterans Administration has their own police department...

It's understandable that federal agencies and departments would need police forces, but I'm not sure I understand why agency each needs its own distinct police force. It seems like there could be a generic government-wide police force that is assigned to the various agencies.

VA Police cruiser on the southeast corner of Baltimore and Paca Streets.

Andrew Ryan Arnold-McCoy (July 10,1991 - October 3, 2010)

Our son Andrew was killed three years ago today. Here are some of the blog posts I have made over the past three years, including re-posts of several video stories.

For Andrew's birthday two years ago, we did this balloon launch. And for his birthday this year, I made this video.

Rest in peace, Baby Bird.

RIP: Tom Clancy, April 12, 1947 - October 1, 2013

Tom Clancy, one of my favorite authors of all time, died last night in Baltimore.

When riding on public transportation, the first thing I think about is...what if I need a bail bondsman?

Kids, this is a library.

Peyton Manning jersey. In Baltimore. On the day the Ravens play the Broncos. In Denver.

"Welcome to Baltimore!"

I was sitting in class last week when a phone in the classroom starting ringing. I thought it was someone's cell phone, but apparently it was a classroom phone in a closet (?). At the same time, another phone started ringing over the room's speaker system. Then a crime alert email was sent out. This is what happened:

On August 28, 2013, at approximately 2:20 pm two males were involved in an altercation at Baltimore and Paca Streets.  As a result of the fight, one male was cut on the hand.  All parties left the area.  The victim went to the University of Maryland Hospital to seek treatment.  Both parties involved know each other.  This is an isolated incident and not campus related.  The University of Maryland, Baltimore Campus Police are assisting the Baltimore Police in reference to this incident.

As you may know the law school is on the northwest corner of Baltimore and Paca Streets. Our professor deadpanned: "Welcome to Baltimore!" Indeed, some students must be new to Maryland and Baltimore specifically because they appeared to express surprise at crime...in Baltimore.

Welcome to Baltimore, indeed.

Is the UDC exodus worse than expected?

Last month, I posted the reasons that I decided to transfer from UDC to Maryland. I speculated that the exodus from UDC would be noteworthy:

Other students choose to move on. I know of at least a half dozen students in the same boat as myself who have decided to transfer. I suspect the actual number is considerably higher. We had an incoming class of about 70 students last August. With those that are transferring and those that dropped out along the way, I will be very interested to see how many of those 70 students return next month. I wouldn't surprised to see 25% or even more who fail to return.

A good friend of mine who is still at UDC indicated that about 28 students from our original group of 70 were in class last night. Now it's certainly possible that not all returning evening students were in Monday night's class; although it is the model schedule so you'd expect most of them to be. Even so, it appears that something like 50% of the class has disappeared in barely a year. It's also worth mentioning that last year's evening class appears to have been unusually large as compared to the prior year's class.

Maryland and American appear to be the biggest beneficiaries of UDC transfer students. And of the 15 J.D. transfer students at Maryland, four (including me) came from UDC (two day students and two night students) and six transferred from the University of Baltimore.

Lastly, I know of at least one additional student who will likely transfer after the fall semester. I wouldn't be surprised if he/she isn't the only one.

Pretty sobering.

Graffiti cleaned up? I'm slightly surprised

The graffiti I talked about in this post has now been cleaned up. Here's the before:

And here's the after:

Of course, the building is still vacant, so there's that.

New graffiti on an abandoned bank buillding

This showed up on an abandoned bank building nearby. It happened within the past few weeks along with the (at least, anecdotal) rise in violence in the area.

There's another building at the far right of the second photo that also has similar graffiti from the same time period.

"King Square" is an apartment complex in Prince George's County. There is some possible evidence of gang activity in that area, but I simply do not know enough about it to say whether or not this is connected to that.

I have no idea if "Brookyln Pink House" is a reference to this, or to something in northern Anne Arundel County and Baltimore City (the neighborhoods of Brooklyn Park, and Brooklyn, respectively).

Is this protected speech?

A few days ago, a Baltimore blogger was sitting in his home when the Baltimore Police brought their SWAT team to arrest him. While the police were outside, he was tweeting and broadcasting live audio, including his phone call with a police negotiator (read here for the story).

One of the principle issues surrounded the fact that the police department sent the SWAT team to arrest someone for a failure-to-appear (FTA) on a probation violation (added to the fact that his probation had since ended).

Knowing that there was a warrant for his arrest, he tweeted this:

Anyone trying to capture me, ur gonna have to kill me, before I kill you. I'm a nice guy, but I'm a bad, bad man. Dangerous us, so don't try
— Baltimore Spectator (@BaltoSpectator) December 1, 2012

(image here in case the tweet gets deleted)

He also tweeted a lot of other things, including other threats of violence, and about his impending death.

Additionally, he has a conviction for assault and a weapons charge.

Are you surprised, then, when the police showed up with a SWAT team?

More importantly, given the situation, what the police knew, what he knew, do you think the tweet above considered protected speech?

Can the legislature extend the term of office of an elected official?

Link:

"By a vote of 129-0, the House also approved a bill to move Baltimore City's elections, now held in the year before a presidential election, to the same year as the presidential election starting in 2016.  The bill is designed to boost turnout, but critics say it would allow city officials to run for statewide office in gubernatorial election years without having to give up their current office.  All 23 counties in Maryland hold their elections during the same year as the gubernatorial election.  The Senate has approved a similar bill.  If it is approved by both chambers, current Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and the current city council would remain in office until 2016."

Your thoughts on the legal aspects of the legislature extending the term of office of an elected official?

Judge rules pregnancy center ordinance unconstitutional

From the Baltimore Sun:

A federal judge has struck down the city ordinance requiring faith-based pregnancy counseling centers to tell clients upfront that they won't help them get an abortion.

Baltimore drew national attention 14 months ago with the legislation, sponsored by Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake when she was City Council president, that required the centers to post signs saying that they don't refer clients for abortions or birth control.

In a decision issued Friday, U.S. District Judge Marvin J. Garbis wrote that the requirement violates the centers' constitutional right to free speech. Ruling in a lawsuit brought against the city by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore and a counseling center it supports, he declared the ordinance 'unenforceable.'

"Whether a provider of pregnancy-related services is 'pro-life' or 'pro-choice,' it is for the provider — not the government — to decide when and how to discuss abortion and birth-control method," Garbis wrote. "The Government cannot, consistent with the First Amendment, require a 'pro-life' pregnancy-related service center to post a sign."

The text of the decision does not appear to be available on-line yet at the United States District Court for the District of Maryland.