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

Can you get fired for smoking — at home?

One fall day in 2006, Scott Rodrigues arrived for work at the Massachusetts lawn and garden company that had hired him several weeks earlier, only to hear bad news. The results of a drug test required for employment showed that Rodrigues, 30, had ingested a substance expressly forbidden by company policy: nicotine. Rodrigues knew of the company’s anti-smoking policy, but argued that he never... More

Take a ride on the wild side - is the MTA safe?

By Melody Simmons It’s one of Baltimore’s distinctive street sounds: Brakes squeaking as they slow a bus to a gentle, hissing stop. The doors open, and a robotic voice bids welcome aboard. Such is the corner routine as a fleet of Mass Transit Administration buses roll daily along routes in the metro area. But a spate of high-profile attacks on MTA buses has focused attention on transit safety. The Dec. 4 beating of 26-year-old Sarah Kreager by middle school students that began aboard an MTA bus... More

A bank’s report could put the FBI on your trail

By Kathleen Johnston Jarboe The high-priced hooker didn’t turn in former New York governor Eliot Spitzer. Neither did his wife nor the state employees who worked under him. Instead, an obscure banking report filed in a Detroit database connected him with the prostitution ring that led to his resignation in March. Spitzer’s story might seem distant to you. But you might have more in common with him than you think, because you, too, could be the subject of an electronic file tucked away in that... More

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