A digest of Baltimore news from local sources.
From The AFRO-American Newspaper: Rev. Dr. Jamal Bryant Drops out of Congressional Race
"In a surprise move, the Rev. Jamal Bryant announced on Sept. 22 that he was dropping out of the race for Maryland Congressman Elijah Cummings’ seventh district seat.
"Bryant, who is the pastor of the Empowerment Temple AME Church in West Baltimore, announced his intentions to run for Congress only eight days ago. At the time he said he was hoping Cummings would run for Barbara Mikulski’s soon to be open seat. Mikulski announced earlier this year that she was retiring. The Bryant announcement was quickly followed, however, by a Cummings announcement of his intention to run for re-election."
From The Baltimore Sun: Schmoke to Mediate Between Public Schools and Charters
"Baltimore school officials said Tuesday they will scrap a controversial proposal that would reduce funding to several public charter schools after University of Baltimore president and former mayor Kurt L. Schmoke agreed to step in to seek an agreement between the school system and the charters.
"'Let's start over, hit the reset button,' schools CEO Gregory Thornton told the school board Tuesday night. 'Let's get proposals from our charter community, let's get proposals from me, and then let's work together.'
"Twenty-six public charter schools faced significant budget cuts under a revised funding formula proposed this month by Thornton. Five charter operators representing eight schools filed a lawsuit against the district last week, contending that it failed to lawfully fund the district's 34 charters. They said the plan would leave more than a dozen charters struggling to pay for books and teachers."
From The New York Times: Yogi Berra Passes Away at 90
"Yogi Berra, one of baseball’s greatest catchers and characters, who as a player was a mainstay of 10 Yankee championship teams and as a manager led both the Yankees and Mets to the World Series — but who may be more widely known as an ungainly but lovable cultural figure, inspiring a cartoon character and issuing a seemingly limitless supply of unwittingly witty epigrams known as Yogi-isms — died on Tuesday. He was 90.
"His death was reported by the Yankees and by the Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center in Little Falls, N.J. Before moving to an assisted living facility in nearby West Caldwell, in 2012, Berra had lived for many years in neighboring Montclair."