Hopkins, other schools pressed to cut ties with ICE

Some colleges, including the Johns Hopkins University, are being pressured to cut ties with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement amid public outcries over the separation of migrant families along the nation’s southern border. Hopkins, Northeastern University and Vermont’s system of public colleges have contracts with ICE totaling about $4 million this year for research and training services. The schools argue that their work has nothing to do with ICE’s role along the border, but some on campus say the agency’s recent actions clash with school values and that preserving any relationship amounts to a tacit endorsement. Some students and faculty have been circulating petitions and organizing protests over the contracts. “People care about what Hopkins stands for,” said Drew Daniel, who teaches English there and started an online petition opposing its deals with ICE. “You want that degree to stand for a certain set of values, a certain commitment, and I think there’s frustration that this relationship compromises those values.” Hopkins, which has received $6.5 million from ICE, partners to provide leadership training and medical instruction to agency employees. Dennis O’Shea, a spokesman for Hopkins, said the agreements with ICE are part of the university’s broader effort to provide training to several federal agencies. He declined to comment on the petition against ICE, saying officials have not yet received it. Officials at ICE declined to comment on the pushback but denied any role in the separation of families. Matthew Bourke, an agency spokesman, said the policy was created by the Justice Department and enforced by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, a separate agency under the Department of Homeland Security.

—?Associated Press

Midshipman facing at least six drug-related charges

A midshipman is facing at least six charges recommended by the U.S. Naval Academy in a drug investigation that began last November. Naval Criminal Investigative Service investigators said the unnamed midshipman, a second class, or junior, on leave, violated the Uniform Code of Military Justice by possessing illegal substances, possessing illegal substances with intent to distribute, using illegal substances and distributing illegal substances, among other charges. The NCIS provided results of the investigation to Vice Adm. Walter E. “Ted” Carter Jr., the academy’s superintendent, who recommended the charges against the midshipman. The midshipman will appear this morning at the Washington Navy Yard at an Article 32 hearing, similar to a civilian grand jury proceeding before a trial, to determine whether a court-martial is necessary. It will be 9 a.m. at the Washington Navy Yard. Some of the charges are related to a Dover, Del., arrest for selling and possessing controlled substances, wrote a Naval Academy spokesman, Cmdr. David McKinney, in a news release. Both McKinney and an NCIS spokesman declined to provide additional details, citing the ongoing legal proceedings.

—?Danielle Ohl, Baltimore Sun Media Group

One man killed, 2nd injured in Essex home invasion

One man died and a second was injured in a home invasion in Essex on Tuesday morning, Baltimore County policesaid. Officers were called at 4:44 a.m. to the 800 block of Arncliffe Road for a shooting. At the scene, police said, officers found a man suffering from at least one gunshot wound just outside the home and another man shot inside. The man who was found outside was taken to a local hospital with serious injuries and is expected to survive. The man found inside the home was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said detectives believe this was a targeted home invasion robbery. No additional details were immediately available.

—?Jessica Anderson

Md. state school board names president, VP

A former Washington County education official will lead the Maryland State Board of Education, the department announced. Justin M. Hartings was unanimously elected Tuesday as the board’s president. The University of Notre Dame graduate has master’s and doctoral degrees in applied physics from Yale University, and he spent more than four years on active duty in the U.S. Army. Hartings was elected in 2008 and 2012 to the Washington County education board, on which he served as president for two years. Stephanie R. Iszard, a Prince George’s County private school principal, was elected Tuesday as the board’s vice president. She has more than 25 years of administrative and classroom experience in both public and private schools. Both she and Hartings will serve one-year terms.

—?Talia Richman