Baltimore City Council members' frustration with a continuing lack of weekly recycling pickups triggered a six-hour budget meeting Wednesday with the Department of Public Works. The COVID pandemic previously halted all recycling, but the city has been collecting biweekly for the last six months. DPW says a study of recycling routes is needed before resumption of weekly pickups.
The Baltimore City Council kicked off a week of budget hearings Tuesday with inquiries about the city’s $641 million American Rescue Plan. Among the questions: whether any of the city’s backlogged or stalled services will be restored by the funds, and how the remaining $160 million will be spent.
Mayor Brandon Scott pushed back against calls for a fresh short-term plan to address gun violence in Baltimore, an idea proposed by six City Council members.
Calling the level of Baltimore's current violence "beyond comprehension," City Council members are giving city police about two weeks to come up with a plan for reducing it as budget discussions loom next month.