Code Blue temperature alert declared in city
Baltimore’s interim health commissioner declared a Code Blue cold weather advisory for Thanksgiving — a day when many of the city’s designated warming centers were closed for the holiday. The alert, the first of the season, was to last through this morning. Thursday’s high was 33 degrees, but with winds of up to 21 mph. After dark, the temperature was expected to fall to as low as 17 degrees. “With dangerously cold temperatures expected in Baltimore, I am issuing a Code Blue Declaration beginning Thursday through Friday morning and I encourage residents to stay indoors, especially those most vulnerable to cold,” the commissioner, Mary Beth Haller, wrote in a statement. A network of Community Action Partnership Centers, Enoch Pratt Free Libraries and Senior Centers typically serve as warming centers during these frigid days. But on Thursday, these centers were closed for the federal holiday. Mona Rock, a spokeswoman for the health department, said the city is encouraging residents to call 311 if they need assistance. Operators will provide homeless shelter locations, safety tips and information about cold-related illnesses. People can also call 311 to report concerns about people especially vulnerable to the cold, including the elderly, people with a substance abuse disorder, those with heart conditions and people who are homeless.
Man, 24, shot in Essex, expected to survive
A 24-year-old man was shot in Essex Wednesday evening, Baltimore County police said, and is expected to survive. Police said the man was walking in a parking lot in the 1100 block of Punjab Drive around 5:50 p.m. when a group of men approached him and shot him at least once in the upper body. The men then fled the scene, police said, and a friend drove the victim to an area hospital. The motive for the shooting is under investigation. People with any information related to the crime are encouraged to call police at 410-307-2020. The county’s Violent Crimes Unit is continuing to investigate the incident.
Pugh thanks talk show host Harvey for mentoring girls
Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh appeared on Steve Harvey’s daytime talk show to thank the comedian for sending 12 girls from Baltimore to a mentoring program his wife runs. In the segment of “Steve,” which aired Wednesday as a Thanksgiving special, Pugh presented Harvey with a “mayoral salute” for his philanthropic work before introducing a group of children and teens he has mentored through the years. The Baltimore girls who attended the “Girls Who Rule the World” weekend in Stone Mountain, Ga., last month came back “prepared to be leaders in our city,” Pugh told Harvey. Harvey is set to bring his summer camp to Baltimore in 2019, Pugh said. The details are still being finalized, but the program will focus on leadership development, with separate programs for boys and girls. Pugh said she flew to Los Angeles Sunday and back to Baltimore on Monday for the show’s taping. “It was exciting,” she said.
Person dies at BWI;
no danger reported
A person died Wednesday night at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, according to the Maryland Transportation Authority Police. Around 7:35 p.m., police received word of a medical emergency on the upper level toward the center of the terminal, according to Cpl. Edward Bartlinski, a spokesman for the MdTA police. One fatality was reported. Police could not provide the age or gender of the person. They said there was no threat to travelers or to public safety.
4 teens charged as adults
in football assault case
Four teenagers have been charged as adults with first-degree rape and other counts in an alleged locker room attack on football teammates at Damascus High School, Montgomery County police said Wednesday. A fifth teen remains charged as a juvenile with second-degree rape. The charges stem from what police have said was an incident Oct. 31 involving junior varsity football players at the school. The attacks described in court records allegedly took place after school was dismissed at Damascus High. Four juvenile male victims have been identified, police have said. The school principal notified police Nov. 1 of “an assault involving a broom,” according to court records. The records also state that one suspect told investigators that members of the JV team discussed the incidents in the locker room in a group chat on the Snapchat messaging application. The alleged assaults were part of a hazing ritual at the school, according to the accounts of suspects and victims detailed in a police report. The suspects, members of the JV squad, attacked teammates in a locker room after turning off the lights, the account in the police report and court records stated.
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