A crowd of over a thousand at Cathederal of Mary Our Queen. Photo by Elizabeth Suman

By FERN SHEN and ELIZABETH SUMAN

What can religion do to fight violence in Baltimore?

An interfaith group of well over a thousand people came together last night to answer that question — an array of religious leaders and citizens of all ages and races, wearing saris and sweatshirts, blowing the shofar and chanting Vedic calls, reading from the Bible and from the Koran.

The size and diversity of the crowd assembled in the cavernous Cathedral of Mary Our Queen for the Baltimore Interfaith Coalition’s “Vigil Against Violence” — among them mayor-to-be- Stephanie Rawlings-Blake — made the moment feel as historic as speakers said it was.

“We have not seen the likes of this size of interfaith gathering since the civil rights movement,” said Eugene Taylor Sutton, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland.

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The schools are cash-poor, the City College pool is mold-plagued, the team’s season is a wreck & your image needs rehab. Michael, what about it?
By Fern Shen

Another school year and more woes for the Baltimore City public school swimming pools, as the Sun reports today. City College has been particularly hard hit, causing plenty of heartache for the swim team members, many of whom have quit out of frustration.
Mold, problems with the drains. Poly’s pools are out right now too. Today’s meet was canceled. Suggestion to Dr. Alonso and his facilities team: Start working on the pools NOW, so they might be ready for NEXT YEAR’S swim season. And maybe put in a call to Phelps’ publicist? But don’t call this guy. Try to figure out who on Phelps’ team is going to survive the shake-out after the hemp-rich smoke from this p.r. fiasco blows away.
related story: Cringing over Cake & Ice Cream A Baltimore Public School Parent Unloads to his Private School Neighbors

A Public School Parent Unloads to his Private School Neighbors By Tom Waldron

In our North Baltimore world, the families are divided into two camps — private schoolers and public schoolers. I’m talking about families with some means, and, generally speaking, white families.
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