Emily Opilo covers City Hall for The Baltimore Banner. Before joining The Banner, she spent five years on the same beat for The Baltimore Sun and was named Baltimore Magazine’s City Hall reporter of the year for 2024. A Pennsylvania native, Emily previously covered city politics for The Morning Call in Allentown.
A former assistant state’s attorney disagreed that the operations of the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement was putting prosecutions at risk.
Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming said she’s always had access to all Baltimore City records, but Mayor Brandon Scott has cut access to city Law Department documents.
City attorneys discovered a member of Isabel Mercedes Cumming’s team “had gained unapproved and unfettered access” to files produced by a city Law Department attorney.
The new 20-year lease with optional renewals includes $17.8 million in base rent and additional “operating costs” that will be determined annually by the property’s owner.
The proposal, spearheaded by Mayor Brandon Scott’s administration, calls for the city’s tax on ride-sharing services and taxis to increase from 25 cents per ride to 38 cents.
An arrest warrant was issued for Arjun Sharma, 26, of Columbia, who was charged with first-and second-degree murder in the death of Nikitha Godishala, Howard County Police said Sunday.
A 55-year-old man was killed in East Baltimore Saturday, the first homicide of 2026 following another year marked by a notable decline in violence in the city.
Members of the Baltimore spending board voted unanimously in favor of two items allowing Johns Hopkins University to proceed with more work on its planned Data Science and Artificial Intelligence Institute.
The election, a private race voted on only by union members, attracted public scrutiny due to a series of social media posts from Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming.