From Councilman Eric Costello:
As you prepare to start your day on Wednesday morning, I wanted to provide some additional updates. I remain in constant contact with Emergency First Responders and have been at the City’s Emergency Operations Center continually since 630pm on Monday. I will continue to share new information as it becomes available.
1. Public Transportation and Mass Transit – MARC, Amtrak, MTA Metro Subway, MTA Buses, Light Rail, the Circulator, Harbor Connector, and Water Taxi all expect to operate on their normal schedules. With regard to MTA Metro Subway, the Mondawmin stop will be open, however a determination on opening the Penn North and Upton stops has not yet been made.
2. Major Road Closures – At this time, there are no major road closures expected other than the intersection of Pennsylvania Avenue and North Avenue. No determination on whether or not the intersection will be open in the morning has not yet been made.
3. Status of Schools – City Public Schools are scheduled to open with no delay.
4. Curfew – Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake has instituted a city-wide curfew that will go into effect today, starting at 10:00 pm. The curfew will be in place for seven days, at which point the Mayor will determine if additional days are needed. Details of the curfew are as follows:
• The night-time curfew applies for all citizens (with exceptions of emergency personnel and those commuting to and from work for essential functions, including students traveling to/from classes).
• Non-essential business operations should be suspended from 10:00 pm until 5:00 am. This includes restaurants, entertainment venues, and bars, which should be closed during these times. Visitors and patrons should plan enough travel time before the curfew begins.
• For essential business operations, employees traveling to and from work during the curfew should have a valid picture ID (presumably a driver’s license) and a document from their employer stating their need to work during curfew hours with dates and employee hours.
• Drivers or individuals may be stopped by law enforcement and should be prepared with the information above to avoid arrest. Violation of the curfew is a misdemeanor.
• For minors (under the age of 18), an additional curfew prohibits them from being in a public place 24 hours a day except when accompanied by a parent or a guardian, or when necessary to travel to or from school, work, a religious activity, or adult-supervised recreational activity.
5. Status of Recreation Centers – The City’s Recreation Centers will be open from 1100am – 700pm.
6. Status of Orioles Games – The Tuesday, April 28 game was postponed and the Wednesday, April 29 game at 2:05pm (moved from 7:05pm) will be played, but will be closed to the public. This decision was made by Major League Baseball after consulting local and state officials. No determination has been made on the Oriole’s three-game series against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, which include scheduled games for Friday and Saturday at 7:05pm and Sunday at 1:35pm.
7. Status of 911 / 311 Services – 911 services are operating normally. For 911 calls for service, it is important that callers remain on the line to report all emergency situations, and that they do NOT hang up, as this requires a call back from the 911 operator who could instead be responding to another call. 311 services have been extended to operate 24 hours per day until further notice.
8. Status of Trash & Recycling Pick-up – At this time, DPW services such as trash and recycling pick-up and street sweeping are expected to occur as regularly scheduled.
9. Debris Removal – All requests for uncleared debris removal should be directed to 311.
10. City Support for Local Businesses – The Mayor has asked the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development to coordinate a business assistance effort for affected establishments. Today, Baltimore Development Corporation (BDC) employees along with my staff visited every impacted commercial district and reached as many business owners as possible. BDC is working closely with the Mayor’s Office and the Maryland Department of Business & Economic Development to assist impacted businesses. We will report on more details in the coming days of how businesses can seek assistance from the City as well as how local businesses can support those businesses that were damaged or disrupted. The Mayor would like to thank those businesses and community leaders who have already offered their assistance whether in kind or financial. If you would like to offer assistance of any type, please contact Karl Bradley at BDC at kbradley@baltimoredevelopment.com or (410) 837-9305.
11. Digital Harbor High School (DHHS) Walk Against Violence – Tomorrow, Wednesday, 4/21, a group of students led by Darius Craig, a DHHS student, are staging a peaceful walk against violence from DHHS to City Hall. I have been in touch with one of Darius’ teacher, Molly Carr, Celia Neustadt from Inner Harbor Project. We have all discussed and agreed on the necessity for a peaceful demonstration. Darius and his friends want to protest the violence our City has suffered and demonstrate that our youth do not wish to be a part of it because they are invested in our City’s future. I will be meeting the students at 3:15pm at the Covington side of DHHS to speak with them, we will pray together, and then walk to City Hall. I have invited a number of elected officials and neighbors and hope that you will join us.
