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Baltimore Politics Examiner
Showing entries for Category: Preakness

POSTED May 22, 2:49 PM

Now that was not hard to print at all. Why is this the first time that a news organization has mentioned this in a story about the Federal Hill attack? The police gave me this information without any hesitation.

Just to get you up to speed, the police are looking for two women in connection to the beating and stabbing described in the initial Federal Hill beating email. These women are white and "One was wearing a black dress and the other was wearing jeans and a tank top. She had brown hair and weighed about 160-170 pounds and was 5'9."

So since that is now out of the way let us take a closer look at what happened that night in Federal Hill. WJZ is now reporting that before this incident there were a lot of other incidents which lead up to the bus getting hit, and the attack we have been talking about for the last few days. Here are some more specifics from WJZ:

"I saw a fight break out. There was a lot of jawin' goin' on and pushing and shoving and then this girl came off the sidewalk and hit this guy and coldcocked him and then everything broke out," he said.

Leahy said there were four or five separate fights up and down the street. It's unclear who said what and why.

"Two girls were right here on top of each other, fighting each other. I couldn't believe it. There were actually girls fighting. And then it moved all the way up the street," he said. "At one point, one of the girls got back into her car, backed up here and tried to leave the scene and hit a city bus."

"There was a mix of black and white and guys and girls," Leahy said. "I've been in and out of this area for 10 or 12 years. It just seems like it's getting younger and it seems like everyone's a little more on edge around here."

So not only was there a random attack but there was also wild brawling going on before the attack happened. What a Preakness night it was! I would expect more media coverage.

Categories: crime , Preakness , police , Federal Hill

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Preakness, Slots, And Taxes

POSTED May 6, 7:00 PM

It is Preakness time again in Baltimore! Can you name another sporting event in this country where 120,000 people pile in to a non-downtown neighborhood for a sports spectacular? The event is uniquely Baltimore. From 1994 to 2001 I attended five Preaknessses. I can remember the local kids getting paid $5 to push around beer in shopping carts for people who were tired of dragging 3 cases of beer along Northern Parkway. Mount Washington residents charging $20 per car to park in their front yards is another memory that sticks out in my head. The infield is total anarchy and is known in some circles as the Mid-Atlantic Mardi Gras. Pimlico racetrack and many of the nearby residents make a lot of money on the third Saturday of May every year. Preakness is an event that becomes more popular every year and it is an event we can not afford to lose. If the Preakness left it would be like when the Colts left. It would be another embarrassing, disgraceful blow to the collective ego of Baltimore. Baltimore would be one step closer to becoming some faceless boring city like Richmond, El Paso, Cincinnati, or Cleveland.

It is in Baltimore's best interest to save Preakness but slots are not the answer. The horse racing industry and the owners of Pimlico say the state needs slots in order to help make horse racing successful. They threaten to move the Preakness if they do not get their way. A successful business is able to adapt to the current market and come up with creative solutions to survive. Slots are not creative. Once slots come you know the gambling industry leaders will immediately say that slots are not making enough money, that horse racing still will not survive, and that we need casino gambling ASAP.

I think slots are being used by some leaders to act in fiscally irresponsible ways. Mayor Dixon has said that slots would help generate revenue to lower Baltimore property taxes. Instead of finding ways to cut spending the Mayor would rather gamble on slots that may or may not produce new revenue for Baltimore.

People say that slots would improve the area around the track. Would you want slot machines in your neighborhood? If you would then I have no problem with you designating Pimlico or Pigtown the gambling center of Baltimore, but what gives you the right to force hardcore gambling and the lovely people who surround it in to another neighborhood?

I personally believe Pimlico needs to reinvent itself. I remember being 17 years old and going to the track for the first time and loving it. There are a lot of ways to get young people to Pimlico. It is totally self-contained and there is plenty of parking. They could create some sort of mega-bar there and have college kids bused in. The Virgin Festival is already a very successful event. There need to be more events at Pimlico, maybe have some sporting events on the infield or more concerts. Let artists use some space when there is no racing (there is no racing there at least 80% of the year). Rent out different parts of it during the winter. I am just coming up with these ideas as I type so I am sure if you got some creative people together (and I would love to help) you could come up with some amazing totally Baltimore ideas that would help generate loads of revenue that would enable Baltimore to keep the Preakness.

I want to stress that my main goal here is not to be anti-slots at all costs but to rather promote keeping the Preakness, having fiscally responsible leaders, and creating something new and original for Pimlico that will benefit Baltimore on a social and economic level. Now if you want to see a guy who puts anti-gambling high on his lists or priorities I suggest you check out Aaron Meisner (no relation to me). Aaron is a resident of Mount Washington and I believe he would be a great representative of the 5th district on City Council (I know an actual resident of the 5th district on City Council is quite a foreign concept to most). Here are links to anti-slot sites that Aaron is associated with.

Categories: taxes , Rikki Spector , Preakness , Pimlico , Slots , Aaron Meisner

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Adam Meister
Adam Meister's scribe spreads his innate enthusiasm for all things Baltimore--and, in particular, the political inner workings of his beloved hometown.