Seriously......How do you improve public safety when you close firehouses? Do these politicians think we are all stupid?

Fiscal responsibility and improving public safety are NOT mutually exclusive issues. It seems unreasonable that the mayor imply that the issues are essentially linked.

Typical Rawlings-Blake "business as usual" Baltimore Politicians. Ignore, ignore, ignore, distract, distract, distract from the real issues as opposed to addressing them head on. "Let's talk about the murder rates that are down." Yet lets ignore that minor crimes are up, aggravated violence is up, robbery is up, and break-ins are up.

Reminds me of the person that brags about having a expensive car; yet, their house is falling apart, their credit is horrible, they are in serious debt and they owe back child support.

It's 'fazed' not 'phased'; as in, "I am so fazed.by the prospect of roving hordes of any stripe that I won't go near the downtown area."

Was there a point to this story or is it yet another Bryan P. Sears puff piece?

Ok, so a member of your party is telling you his people do not feel safe coming to the city and this is your response?
It is like a business that has customer after customer telling them - your food is bad, yet blaming the customer. Then they wonder one day when they open not one customer comes in.
Are our politicians that dumb?

Amalie, I'm not sure on your assessment of Brayan's grammar.

"Quotations and speech:"

"Single or double quotation marks denote either speech or a quotation. Double quotes are preferred in the United States, and also tend to be preferred in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Single quotes are more usual in the United Kingdom and South Africa, though double quotes are also common there. [6] A publisher's or author's style may take precedence over regional general preferences. The important idea is that the style of opening and closing quotation marks must be matched:".

'Good morning, Frank,' said Hal.
"Good morning, Frank," said Hal.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quotation_mark

I'm not even sure on this comment because of the limitations on items such as B, I, or U.

Also there should not be a period after "phased."

SRB is just the latest in a long line of fine Baltimore mayors lol. The scary thing is she will probably be our next governor.

Mayor Stephanie Blase is definitely turing the city around...and around...and around. In a downward spiral. Not only with we we see publicly, but also from having personally having to deal with her "blase" and disingenuous manner. It is what it is, and yes...she is on her way out soon. She plans to stay another year or so in the city and then move on up to the big house with Marty. Her campaign for mayor was WELL funded and her votes bought. She's in with the bog boys downtown and all of their horrible private development dels where the only folks who benefit are NOT her constituents.

Maybe she needs a little Jeckle with that Heckle

I wonder what William Donald Schaefer would do about the appalling gangs running around downtown terrorizing innocent people. How's this for an answer: he would have the state police, the National Guard and any other entity he could find to safeguard the citizens of Baltimore!! Why? Because he really gave damn about the city unlike the pathetic excuse for a mayor we have now. All she seems to care about is getting her beloved car races downtown. Hmmm..wonder how many gift cards she gets as a payback for that?

Well thats the first time Ive heard a politician use the word "Hater". Sorry but I do not have faith in Rawlings-blake or any of the "suits" out there. They're all sitting pretty but politics is a bunch of malarkey, no big government is going to come save the day. We are all out here on our own

Edward Tindel people have short memories.the last time the state police assisted the bcpd,they were caught up in corruption on the block.im surprised, no one remembers the day the state police raided the block,got caught breaking the law with the strippers on the block.why would you want them to come back..The Sun reported Tuesday that three undercover officers are under investigation by state police internal affairsdetectives. According to interviews with workers on The Block and with state police, two officers solicited a prostitute in one of the bars and another spent the night in a hotel with a female bartender who was married to an owner of a bar targeted in the investigation.
http://baltcitywaterbillingscam.renthandy.com/

Interesting article in today's Sun. Ocean City doubles its police force from the year-round 100 to a whopping 200 during the summer. The article says there are 350,000 people in Ocean City at any given time in the summer.
Baltimore City has 600,000 people (less than double), and has 3,000 cops (15 times more). And Rawlings-Blake says there is no crime problem in Baltimore City?

The only way Stephanie Rawlings Blake will see the reality of Baltimore City is if people STOP going to Baltimore City!! Money talks, bull**** walks. When businesses start to lose customers because patrons are afraid of their safety, these same businesses will DEMAND change. I think Baltimore City has a reputation as an unsafe city. Lets see how this Star Spangled Sailibration goes this weekend. I will be going to Martin's Airport on Saturday and Sunday and watch the festivities in Baltimore City on TV.