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‘I’ve been very clear and transparent,’ Maryland gubernatorial candidate Moore says about his Baltimore ties

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Democratic gubernatorial candidate Wes Moore, dogged the previous week by questions over whether or not he cultivated misperceptions about his biography or embellished his childhood ties to Baltimore, defended his document Friday and stated he stands behind his phrases in a decade of media appearances and a bestselling autobiography.

Moore rejected claims he’d fed a false narrative about his upbringing by not correcting interviewers or others who incorrectly described him as having been born and raised in Baltimore. Moore, whose household lived in Takoma Park on the time of his start and who spent a lot of his childhood within the Bronx, famous repeatedly in a quick interview Friday that his ebook, “The Different Wes Moore,” displays that.

“I’ve been very clear and clear,” stated Moore. “I imply, actually, I talked about the place I used to be born on web page 7. I talked about how my household transitioned from Maryland to New York on web page 37 of my ebook. I’ve been very clear and clear about it in each what I’ve written and what I’ve stated.”

Questions on Moore’s background have been raised by political operatives for months and surfaced publicly final week when Moore’s marketing campaign filed a 14-page criticism accusing a rival candidate of anonymously circulating a political file that accuses Moore of deliberately encouraging a false notion of his previous to decorate his up-from-the-streets again story.

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An legal professional for Moore’s marketing campaign additionally requested a legal investigation into who used an nameless electronic mail tackle to ship the file to leaders of the Maryland State Training Affiliation forward of a vote by the lecturers’ union on its sought-after endorsement, which Moore received.

The criticism, which was despatched to each the Maryland State Board of Elections and the Workplace of the State Prosecutor, provided no direct proof that the rival marketing campaign was behind the nameless electronic mail tackle, which that rival denied. The Moore marketing campaign argued that the emails broke state marketing campaign finance regulation as a result of they didn’t embrace disclosures indicating who paid for them.

His marketing campaign publicly posted the file together with the criticism on an internet site, FactsMD.com, that makes an attempt to rebut the allegations.

Moore, who lives in Baltimore and beforehand flirted with working for mayor, has the strongest private ties to the town of any candidate. And in a 10-person area which will cut up allegiances within the bigger prizes of Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, Baltimore might provide Moore a bloc of help.

Moore, 43, rose to nationwide prominence and fame with the 2010 publication of “The Different Wes Moore: One Title, Two Fates.” The nonfiction ebook traced the divergent paths of himself — somebody who graduated from Johns Hopkins College, received a prestigious Rhodes scholarship, served within the navy, labored as an aide to former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and later as an funding banker — and a person with the identical title. The opposite Wes Moore is serving life with out parole for his position within the homicide of an off-duty Baltimore County police officer, Sgt. Bruce A. Prothero, throughout a botched theft of a Pikesville jewellery retailer.

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The ebook precisely recounts Moore’s early childhood within the Washington suburb of Takoma Park, which was upended after the demise of his father when Moore was 3 years outdated. The household moved to the Bronx to be along with his grandparents earlier than relocating once more — when Moore was 16 and attending boarding college on the Valley Forge Army Academy in Pennsylvania — to Pasadena in Anne Arundel County.

However the narrative, which is structured round parallels between the 2 equally named males’s lives and the now-candidate’s perception that both might’ve simply ended up on very totally different paths, left some with the impression that the writer was himself a local son of Baltimore.

“It is a story of two boys dwelling in Baltimore with comparable histories and an similar title: Wes Moore,” the writer wrote in the beginning of the ebook’s introduction. “The chilling fact is that his story might have been mine. The tragedy is that my story might have been his.”

The political file circulated about Moore, in addition to a prolonged piece CNN printed Wednesday, cited that line amongst plenty of ambiguous statements. Each additionally highlighted plenty of cases, all of which had been individually reviewed by The Baltimore Solar, the place Moore did not right interviewers — corresponding to Oprah Winfrey, Stephen Colbert and Judy Woodruff of PBS’ “NewsHour” — who mischaracterized him as having been born in Baltimore or grown up in the identical neighborhoods because the imprisoned man of the identical title.

“There have been events the place I’ve corrected a document the place somebody has stated one thing incorrect,” Moore informed The Solar after Good Friday providers at New Shiloh Baptist Church in West Baltimore. “I stand by what I say, I stand by what I’ve written, I stand by the truth that when an individual says that I got here of age within the metropolis of Baltimore, or that I’m a Baltimorean, or my hometown is Baltimore — that’s a fully correct assertion. And I’ll stand by that always.”

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The five-minute interview with The Solar contained in the church and transient information convention with tv reporters exterior was the primary time Moore personally addressed the problem.

Some editions of the ebook, which stays broadly offered and is required studying in some colleges, comprise a back-cover synopsis that begins: “Two children named Wes Moore had been born blocks aside inside a 12 months of one another.” The truth is, the writer is greater than three years youthful and was born at Columbia Hospital for Ladies in Washington, D.C.

An announcement from the ebook’s writer, Random Home, to the Moore marketing campaign stated the inaccuracy was “flagged by the writer on the time” however that “a correction to the copy was missed upon its preliminary publication.”

Moore, in response to the writer, notified Random Home of the error once more in 2021 — across the time he geared as much as run for workplace — and Random Home “corrected all subsequent print runs of the ebook.”

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The writer wouldn’t say what number of copies of the ebook included the wrong synopsis or when the wrong synopsis first appeared. Various paperback copies within the Enoch Pratt Free Library’s assortment reviewed by The Solar had the wrong synopsis on the again cowl, though new copies on the market at a bookshop within the metropolis had an up to date abstract that’s correct.

Moore stated Friday that he knowledgeable his writer to request a correction as quickly as he observed that the inaccuracy on the again cowl of the paperback version.

“As quickly as I observed that it was nonetheless incorrect, I flagged it for them they usually went and glued it,” stated Moore.

The Solar erroneously has described Moore previously as “Baltimore-born” or a “Baltimore native.” The information group corrected these articles Friday.

Moore known as the political file “a doc of lies” on Friday and portrayed himself because the sufferer of an effort to smear him. Moore stated he spent substantial time in Baltimore after his mom moved to Pasadena when he was 15 years outdated — saying he “discovered a second household over in West Baltimore [and] spent numerous days and nights staying right here in Baltimore” — and repeated that he felt like he was “coming house” when he moved to the Waverly neighborhood when he was 20 to attend Johns Hopkins.

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“I’ve been constant for my total life, in my total profession, about why I name Baltimore house and why nobody can take that away from me,” Moore informed reporters exterior the church. “This was a spot that embraced me when different locations didn’t.”

“I don’t assume I misled the general public in any respect. The truth is, I feel I’ve been extremely clear.”



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Victory over Maryland caps a successful sweep on USC’s first big East Coast trip in the Big Ten

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Victory over Maryland caps a successful sweep on USC’s first big East Coast trip in the Big Ten


COLLEGE PARK, Md. — JuJu Watkins and Southern California figured to do a lot of traveling in the Trojans’ first season in the Big Ten.

So far, so good.

No. 4 USC completed a two-game eastern sweep Wednesday night, handing No. 8 Maryland its first loss, 79-74. The victory came after the Trojans decimated Rutgers 92-42 on Sunday.

“We’ve been on the East Coast now for like four days,” Watkins said. “It’s freezing.”

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Perhaps that explained Watkins’ spotty shooting. She went 7 for 19 from the field and turned the ball over eight times, eventually fouling out in the final minute. She scored 21 points, her lowest output in nearly a month.

But USC outscored Maryland 18-6 to end the game. Kiki Iriafen also scored 21.

“We just kind of have this unwavering confidence in ourselves,” Watkins said. “It was just a matter of coming together and closing the game out.”

The Trojans have already logged quite a few miles. They beat Mississippi in Paris in November. Last month they traveled to Connecticut and beat UConn.

This trip was a multigame journey that USC handled pretty well. Coach Lindsay Gottlieb said she’s still learning the rhythm of a new league.

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Related Stories JuJu Watkins scores 21 as No. 4 USC tops No. 8 Maryland 79-74, handing the Terps their first lossNo. 8 Maryland improves to 13-0 with a 78-61 victory over Rutgers; Iowa and USC up next for TerpsJuJu Watkins scores 21, No. 6 USC downs Oregon 66-53 in Big Ten opener

“The Pac-12 was two games in a weekend, Friday-Sunday and everyone’s doing the same thing. Now we’re like, ‘Wait, who’s playing who when?’” she said. “It’s really different for us, and so as coaches we’re trying to process all that and keep things as normalized for the team as possible.”

It’s also an opportunity for USC to play in areas less familiar with the Trojans. It was their first matchup with Maryland since 1995, and the game drew 14,735.

“It’s just platforms for them that we have never had before, and that’s a really positive thing. It’s up to us and my administration and me to make it as seamless as possible for them,” Gottlieb said. “We’ll go anywhere and play. I think our players have proven that.”

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Maryland Gov. Wes Moore warns of major budget cuts amid $3B budget deficit

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Maryland Gov. Wes Moore warns of major budget cuts amid B budget deficit


Maryland Gov. Wes Moore has warned that massive budget cuts are on the way as state lawmakers try to solve a $3 billion budget gap. 

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Moore told Maryland residents Wednesday to brace themselves for $2 billion worth of cuts in his soon-to-be-released budget. But that still leaves another $1 billion that lawmakers will have to come up with to close this deficit.

Normally, the first day of a General Assembly session is a cause for celebration but this year it comes with a big challenge. 

Moore said that not only does he want lawmakers to come up with a solution to close the budget gap, he also wants still fund priorities like economic growth, public safety and schools but Moore would not endorse the idea of tax hikes.

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“We are not going to grow an economy on the backs of working Marylanders, on the backs of middle-class Marylanders. So I’ll work with anybody to be able to come up with a long-term solution but my bar’s high, been high and will remain high when it comes to revenues,” Moore said. 

But while the governor says his bar is high for tax hikes, Democrats, who control both houses of the statehouse, and Republicans, who are outnumbered, are already fighting it out. 

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Republicans say they support the governor’s plan to cut spending but they will hold the line on taxes. 

“I believe the Democrats are sending every signal that they are going to raise taxes and we are going to fight it, fight it, fight it,” said Republican delegate Kathy Szeliga, who represents Howard County. “Maryland is already one of the most highly taxed states in the country.”

Democratic lawmakers say no decisions have been made either way.

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“You know, people get nervous because they think that automatically means raising taxes. Not necessarily. We’re going to do our job and make sure that we don’t hurt people too, we understand the budget is tight but we don’t have to keep hurting people too,” Democratic delegate C.T. Wilson, the Maryland Economic Matters Chairman.

 Moore is set to unveil his budget proposal on Wednesday, Jan. 15. This General Assembly session will last for 90 days.

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Body-cam video of deadly Howard County police standoff released as Maryland AG investigates

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Body-cam video of deadly Howard County police standoff released as Maryland AG investigates


HOWARD COUNTY — The Maryland Office of the Attorney General (OAG) released body camera footage as they continue to investigate an officer-involved shooting that left a man dead after a two-hour standoff in Laurel.

On November 30, around 3:10 p.m., Howard County police responded to a home in the 1000 block of American Pharoah Lane for a domestic incident, according to the OAG.

The 911 caller reported that a man was banging on the front door and a preliminary investigation revealed he had fired several shotgun rounds at the door. He eventually made his way inside the home through a window.

The body cam footage begins as officers arrive on the scene. The video shows an officer walking toward the home as he reports on his radio that he sees a busted window and a case for a long gun outside.

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The man – later identified as 29-year-old Tyree Winslow of College Park – appeared in a second-floor window of the home as officers arrived, according to the OAG.

As the video continues, you can hear a woman cry for help, prompting the officer to move quickly toward the front door of the home. The officer then reports on the radio that he sees multiple shell casings.

The officer identifies himself as he moves close to the door and eventually reports that the door is barricaded, according to the video.

The cries for help get louder, and the officer indicates that he may have eyes on a woman in the home as he says, “Ma’am stay there…lay down.”

The video shows officers taking cover behind cars across the street from the home as the situation escalates and the officer gives verbal commands, asking to see Winslow’s hands. According to the OAG, Winslow did not comply and he and two officers exchanged gunfire.

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Another officer’s body camera captured him getting close to the home and helping a person down from an upstairs window of the home. The body camera falls off but captures the sounds of the officer helping another person down.

Police previously said three people were evacuated from the home and there were no other injuries.

The Howard County Police Tactical Team responded to the scene and established a barricade, according to the OAG. Officers were not able to contact Winslow and around 5:40 p.m., they entered the home.

Once inside, officers found Winslow suffering from gunshot wounds and he was pronounced dead on the scene, the OAG said. Police said it was unclear if he was killed by officer gunfire or by his weapon.

Several loaded firearms and a knife were found near Winslow’s body.

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The OAG previously identified the involved officers as Police Officer First Class (PFC) Christopher Weir, a 14-year veteran, and PFC Joseph Debronzo, a 15-year veteran. Both officers have been put on administrative leave.

Neighbor shares video

During the standoff, the neighborhood was on lockdown for several hours.

A neighbor shared video with WJZ showing the moment that tactical officers entered the home. The neighbor also said officers were using a drone to locate Winslow while he was inside the house.

Officer-Involved Shooting Investigation

The OAG’s Independent Investigations Division (IID) investigates all police-involved shootings as standard protocol.

“The idea is if you have an attorney general who is coming in to investigate these incidents, it removes the opportunity for a local agency to seem biased either in favor or against a local police department,” said Eric Bacaj, an independent legal expert who is not involved in this case.

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The IID was created by the General Assembly in 2021 as part of a series of police accountability reform bills, the OAG said.

Since October 2021, the division has conducted 65 investigations into fatal or near-fatal officer-involved incidents in Maryland, including two in Howard County.

See a full list of IID investigations below: 



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