A digest of Baltimore news from local sources.
From The Baltimore Sun: Sheila Dixon Is Early Front-Runner in Baltimore’s Mayoral Race, New Poll Shows
"Former Mayor Sheila Dixon is the clear early front-runner in a crowded field to become Baltimore's next mayor, a new poll for The Baltimore Sun and the University of Baltimore shows.
"Dixon, who was favored by nearly a quarter of the respondents, leads the Democratic primary race by 11 points over her closest rival, state Sen. Catherine E. Pugh.
"City Councilmen Carl Stokes and Nick J. Mosby are close behind in third and fourth place, trailed by lawyer Elizabeth Embry and businessman David L. Warnock."
From The Washington Post: Thousands of Drug Users are Rescuing Each Other with Antidote Naloxone
"Deep into a three-day heroin binge at a local hotel, Samantha told the newbie he was shooting too much. He wasn’t accustomed to heroin, she said, and hadn’t waited long enough since his last injection.
“'But he didn’t listen,' she said. Sure enough, he emerged from a visit to the bathroom, eyes glazed, and collapsed from an overdose.
"Samantha, who declined to give her last name to avoid trouble with her bosses at a nearby strip club, said she grabbed her naloxone, the fast-acting antidote to opioid overdoses. She was too panicked to place the atomizer on the end of the syringe, but her boyfriend wasn’t. He sprayed the mist into the nose of the unconscious drug user, who awoke minutes later.
"'I always have it because I’m scared to death,' said Samantha, who said she has been shooting heroin for 22 years. 'I don’t want to be helpless.'
"As the opioid epidemic has exploded in small towns and suburbs in recent years, officials have scrambled to put naloxone in the hands of drug users’ families and friends, and to make it more widely available by equipping police officers with the drug.
"At the same time, thousands of lives are being saved by giving the antidote to drug users. More than 80 percent of overdose victims revived by “laypeople” were rescued by other users, most of them in the past few years, according to one national survey published in June.
"Baltimore has trained 12,000 people on the streets to use naloxone in the past 11 years, 2,150 of them this year alone. “If someone is using a drug that could kill them, they should also have the antidote available,” said Leana Wen, the city’s health commissioner. Chicago, New York and San Francisco also hand out thousands of doses to drug users at little or no cost."
From The Baltimore Sun: Fresh Produce Giveaway Highlights need to End Food Deserts in Baltimore
"Pat Johnson filled her folding wire grocery cart with celery, collard greens, squash, onions, watermelons and other produce, but she didn't spend a dime.
"Johnson was one of the estimated 5,000 people who showed up Saturday at New Hope Academy in Baltimore, where Tessemae's All Natural, a family-owned salad dressing and condiment maker based in Essex, and its partners gave away 25,000 pounds of free produce, along with pallets of the company's salad dressings.
"The event aimed to provide nutritionally dense food to residents who otherwise might have difficulty finding quality produce at corner convenience stores, where shelves are often filled with processed snacks, or at carryouts, where greasy Chinese food or fried chicken are often served.
"'We want to end food deserts,' said Tessemae CEO Greg Vetter. 'That's what this whole thing is: exposure to great-tasting, fresh, real food in a place that doesn't have access to it.'
"The company partnered with Verizon and Garden Highway for its Crop Circles initiatives in Baltimore. Similar events were held in Chicago and Compton, Calif."