FBI Launches Criminal Investigation Into Ship That Caused Baltimore Bridge Collapse

Francis Scott Key Bridge wreckage

The FBI has begun an investigation into the ship responsible for striking  the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore in March, The Washington Post reported on Monday.

The “Dali,” a near-1000 foot long cargo ship, temporarily lost power and sailed into one of the bridge’s support beams on Mar. 26, causing the entire bridge to collapse into the river and killing six people. The FBI has opened an investigation into the Dali and whether its crew operated it knowing the vessel had operational problems, according to the Post.

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Virginia Ports Get Influx of Marine Traffic Diverted from Baltimore

Norfolk Port

Virginia is beginning to experience some of the impacts from the cargo ship crash that brought down Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, closing a vital shipping lane leading to one of the eastern seaboard’s busiest ports.

Shortly after on Thursday, Gov. Glenn Youngkin offered to assist neighboring Maryland. Within hours, the commonwealth’s ports were already preparing to absorb some of the diverted shipping traffic.

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Container Ship Slams Baltimore’s Key Bridge, Officials Say Vessel Lost Power Just Before Impact

Baltimore Key Bridge collapsed

A container ship slammed into a Baltimore bridge early Tuesday, causing it to collapse and send vehicles and road crew members into a river in what authorities declared “a dire emergency.”

The incident occurred at about 1:30 a.m. on the Francis Scott Key Bridge, prompting an emergency search-and-rescue operation in the frigid waters of the Patapsco River.

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Crime-Ridden Liberal Cities Have a New Favorite Scapegoat: Automakers

Chicago is the latest major city to sue Hyundai and Kia for failing to equip their U.S. cars for more than a decade with anti-theft technology, which was exposed on social media last year and made the vehicles a target for criminals.

“Unlike the movies, hot-wiring vehicles is far harder than it appears—unless that vehicle was manufactured by Hyundai or Kia,” the lawsuit filed Thursday by the city of Chicago states.

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Hunter Biden Prosecutor’s Office Briefed on Bribery Allegation Before 2020 Election, Senator Says

The office of a Trump-era federal prosecutor who has led the investigation of Hunter Biden was briefed two weeks before the 2020 election that the FBI had allegations from an informant suggesting Joe Biden was involved in a bribery scheme involving Ukrainian business interests, according to new information released by a top Republican senator.

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Environmental Groups File Suit Against the Navy over Naval Surface Warfare Center in Virginia

Two environmental groups have filed a federal lawsuit alleging the Naval Surface Warfare Center at Dahlgren, Virginia, violated the Clean Water Act through munitions testing in and over the Potomac.

The Potomac Riverkeeper Network and the Natural Resources Defense Council filed suit in the U.S. District Court in Baltimore, alleging NSWC Dahlgren has discharged over 33 million pounds of munitions into the Potomac containing toxic metals, solvents, explosives and other potentially harmful constituents.

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Group Names Chicago, New Orleans as U.S. Murder Capitals

Chicago recorded 697 total homicides in 2022, far more than any other city in the United States, but New Orleans had the highest murder rate per capita, according to a new report from a nonprofit research group. 

Chicago had more total homicides in 2022 than Philadelphia (516), New York City (438), Houston (435) and Los Angeles (382), which rounded out the top five, according to a report from Wirepoints, an Illinois-based research and news organization that surveyed 2022 crime data from 75 of the largest U.S. cities.

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Not One Student Met Grade-Level Expectations for Math in 23 Baltimore Schools: Report

In 23 Baltimore City Schools, zero students tested proficient in math in 2022, according to a report by Project Baltimore.

Through an analysis of 150 Baltimore City Schools, 23 of them, including 10 high schools, eight elementary schools, three high schools and two middle schools, no students met math grade-level expectations, according to a report by Project Baltimore. Approximately 2,000 students took the state administered math exams that tested proficiency levels.

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Attorneys Say Good Samaritan Virginia Resident Charged for Gun Possession After Breaking Up Fight in Baltimore

Spokespeople for a Virginia man said in press release Tuesday that he has been hamstrung by police after stepping in to break up a fight between his friend and an armed aggressor. 

Lloyd Muldrow, Marine veteran and member of the Marine Corps Security Force went to visit a friend, Marshal Collins, in Baltimore last month. When he arrived, Collins was in a violent struggle with a man called Wesley Henderson, who had allegedly pistol whipped Collins, causing him to bleed from his head. 

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Baltimore to Spend $90 Million in Federal Funds on Hotels for Homeless and Other Homeless Programs

Baltimore plans to spend $90.4 million of federal funds to buy hotels to replace existing homeless shelters and support other homelessness programs, The Baltimore Sun reported Tuesday.

The city has not yet announced which hotels it will buy, but it plans to replace 275 existing beds in several shelters with private rooms in city-owned hotels, the Sun reported.

“Non-congregate shelter is a best practice we’re seeing throughout the nation,” Director of the Mayor’s Office of Homeless Services Irene Agustin told the Sun. “We know this is an intervention that’s going to work within the city of Baltimore.”

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Data Shows Increased Homicides in Six Major Cities Across the Country

Police line do not cross tape

The number of homicides in six major cities across the country has increased compared to last year, disproportionately affecting black people, according to crime data.

Black people have represented a massive share of murder victims in six major cities through the first six months of 2021 compared to last year, which itself saw a large crime surge, according to data analyzed by the Daily Caller News Foundation. The DCNF analyzed both police department data and homicide reports compiled by local news outlets to determine how black people have been victimized in the wake of the 2020 crime spike.

“We are seeing an uptick in violent crime across the country, specifically gun violence,” Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava told The New York Times earlier this month.

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Baltimore Police Department Say They Need 500 Additional Officers to Stem City-Wide Crime Spike

After another violent weekend with a number of homicides and shootings in the city, the Baltimore City Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) called out Police Commissioner Michael Harrison Tuesday morning, saying more officers have left the department than have been hired during his tenure, leaving the police department 500 officers short.

WJZ reported there were seven non-fatal shootings and five murders over the weekend in Mayor Brandon Scott’s (D) Baltimore, and another fatal shooting in broad daylight Monday, bringing the homicide total to 325 so far this year.

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Ex-Baltimore Mayoral Aide Gets Prison in Book Sales Scam

A former aide who helped ex-Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh fraudulently sell her self-published children’s books to nonprofits was sentenced Friday to more than two years in federal prison.

Gary Brown Jr. apologized for his actions and expressed regret for bringing shame to his family and friends before U.S. District Judge Deborah Chasanow sentenced him to 27 months.

In February, Chasanow sentenced Pugh, a Democrat, to three years in prison for her role in the scheme to profit from sales of her “Healthy Holly” books.

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Baltimore Republican Candidate Grabs National Attention with Ad

To showcase the plight of Black citizens living in Democratic-run Baltimore, Republican congressional candidate Kimberly Klacik took a simple approach: a walk through Baltimore’s downtown.

In a two-and-a-half minute video, Klacik (pronounced “CLAY-sick”) showcased Baltimore’s run-down buildings, asked citizens their thoughts on defunding police, and explained many of the issues facing the city.

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Commentary: Will the Renaming Game Hit Leftist States and Cities?

You might call it being hoist on your own petard.

The move is on, as is known, to change the names of American military bases that are named for Confederate generals. The New York Times, among many others on the Left, was furious. The Times headline:

Trump Rejects Renaming Military Bases Named After Confederate Generals

By dismissing an idea under consideration by the Pentagon, the president positioned himself firmly against the movement to remove racist symbols and combat racism touched off by George Floyd’s death.

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Neil McCabe From OANN Joins the The Tennessee Star Report After Touring Elijah Cummings Baltimore District

  On Tuesday’s Tennessee Star Report with Steve Gill and Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am – Gill and Leahy talked to One America News Networks Neil McCabe about the disgusting conditions in Elijah Cummings Baltimore district after he toured the areas yesterday. Towards the end of the segment, the team questioned where $1.8 billion went from then-President Barack Obama’s stimulus law, which was allocated to Baltimore in 2015. Leahy: Steve, we are joined now by our good friend, Neil McCabe from One America News Network. Neil, you were in Baltimore yesterday. Tell us about that. Did you have to take a passport and did you get any inoculation shots? McCabe: Ah, you know I’ve had great times in Baltimore in the past but this is kind of a scary tour. We kind of went into some of the neighborhoods that are Elijah Cummings’s represents and it was really made me sort of uncomfortable. You see the filth. You see the garbage piling up. You know, not just in these neighborhoods but there’s a war memorial, it’s like a museum, it’s directly opposite of city hall and the trash…

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Baltimore Mayor Resigns Amid Corruption Charges

  The Baltimore mayor resigned Thursday amid corruption allegations tied to her self-published series of children’s books. An attorney for Catherine Pugh read a written statement from the mayor to reporters Thursday, in which she said, “I am sorry for the harm that I have caused to the image of the city of Baltimore and the credibility of the office of the mayor.” Pugh has not been seen in public since April 1, taking a leave of absence after suffering from pneumonia. Her resignation comes a week after the FBI and tax agents raided her home, City Hall office and a third location. Pugh is accused of ethics violations after the University of Maryland Medical System paid her $500,000 for thousands of copies of her books for children about the adventures of a character called Healthy Holly. The books were supposed to be sent to schools and day care centers, but hardly anyone has seen copies of it. Before becoming mayor in 2016, Pugh served on the medical system’s board and had a seat on a Maryland State Senate panel that funded the system. She called the book deal a “regrettable mistake.” While she was mayor, the health insurance company…

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