Watch it! Your boss might be a high-tech spy

For employers, technology has made snooping on employees as cheap and easy as pumping self-service gas used to be. Want examples?  Employees accustomed to bosses monitoring their office phone conversations and e-mail now face the possibility of their instant messages coming under surveillance. Computers are making it possible for companies to... More

Immigration raids ignite hard feelings

By 6 a.m. most days, immigrants looking for daywork gather at the Baltimore Workers Employment Center on East Fayette Street near Fells Point. Hours later, they fan out across the area, painting buildings, constructing sidewalks, cleaning houses and landscaping yards for hourly, cash wages. More  Read More →

It’s midnight. Do you know where your children are?

It’s almost 2 a.m. on a humid Saturday in August when a middle-aged woman in slippers strides into Baltimore’s Dallas F. Nichols Sr. Elementary School, her elbows and fists swinging. Her T-shirt proclaims “This Mom Kicks.” Judging by the angry look on her face, the garment speaks the truth.  More  Read More →

UR BUSTED - Catching bad guys by txt msgs

Police in the 1970s urged citizens to “drop a dime” in a pay phone to report crimes anonymously. In an increasing number of cities, tipsters are invited to use their thumbs to identify criminals — by sending text messages from their cell phones. Police hope teens and others who might not dial a Crime Stoppers hot line will share information with authorities by texting. “If somebody hears Johnny is going to bring a gun to school, hopefully they’ll text that in,” said Sgt. Brian Bernardi... More

City sign bounty hunters—your day is coming

In theory, it was a good law: unleash an army of citizens to wage war against the “We Buy Houses” signs invading Baltimore and the people responsible for them who typically prey on those facing foreclosure. In reality, the Department of Public Works, the city agency that was supposed to work with the army by receiving the signs and fining those responsible,... More

How to get your FBI file

The FBI Web site has a link under its Freedom of Information Act section to help people request a file, but the instructions make applying for your own appear deceptively simple. When you submit a standard request, the FBI only does a cursory search of its main files. That search doesn’t include files at field offices or files where you might be cross-referenced to someone else’s investigation. You must submit more letters to have these files searched. Get My FBI File has instructions for requesting... More

Want to know what’s in your FBI file?

Wonder what that background check said? Need to remember all the civil rights meetings you attended in the 1960s? The FBI might know. Has anyone ever called you whose buddy once spoke on the phone with someone suspected of terrorism? Did you follow that? Even if you didn’t, the FBI might have. And you can ask. In fact, about 13,000 people do just that every year—they ask to see their FBI files. Since 9/11, federal agencies have more power to watch and listen, and the vast repository of files... More

Young widow’s anger reshapes her dream for the city

Last month, as Anna Sowers faced graduate school final exams, the calendar pointed to an even more dreaded date: June 1, the first anniversary of the attack that put her husband into a coma and led to his death. Another tidal wave of grief, questions and anger was on its way. The 28-year-old newlywed became a widow March 25, 10 months after Zach Sowers was beaten during a robbery near their Patterson... More

Attacking prosecutor costs Baltimore man his day in court

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Jury believes ball-playing pals, not arresting officer

Shawn Clowney, 32, loves basketball. After work and on weekends, he often plays pickup games in Patterson Park. But he almost quit the sport after being sprayed with mace and taken into custody by a Baltimore police officer after a 2006 game. “I didn’t play basketball for a year-and-a-half after that,” he said. Clowney and four other men were arrested by Officer... More

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