ABOUT 10O COPS IN RIOT GEAR DISPERSE CAMPERS  

By A.F. James MacArthur

[UPDATED 5:50 a.m.] After weeks of speculation D-Day finally arrived for Occupy Baltimore in the dead of a cold December night.

At 3:22 a.m. Tuesday, approximately 100 members of the tactical unit of the Baltimore Police Department — all outfitted in riot gear, armed with long batons and gas masks at the ready — moved into McKeldin Square at the Inner Harbor, as a police helicopter hovered nearby.

The officers surrounded the Occupy Baltimore camp as a police commander trailed by a police department camera operator taping the events went into the camp. Shortly thereafter, someone could be heard on a microphone although it was unclear if the speaker was the police commander or an Occupy organizer.

At 3:30 a.m., protesters started to leave as city workers began barricading the park with temporary metal fencing.  

Several streets in the area were blocked off shortly before the police officers moved in, including Light Street south of Lombard Street heading toward Federal Hill. Pratt Street was blocked from Light Street all the way to Martin Luther King Boulevard.

Several exiting protesters complained about being awakened at 3:30 a.m. by police in riot gear and forced to leave suddenly. Two protesters said they would have made arrangements to leave the park earlier in the day had they been given some notice. 

Boston, the last big city to disperse Occupy protesters, used police officers in regular uniforms with no riot gear. The Baltimore officers wore ski-type masks covering their faces, helmets and face shields, and no name tags, and appeared to outnumber the protesters in the camp by 2-to-1.

However, at least one Occupy Baltimore protester who had been camping out had no complaints.

"I am very impressed by the level of civility that has been shown by both sides," Mike Gibb, 21, of Harford County, said right after exiting.

Police said there no arrests.

TRASH TRUCKS MOVE IN

The police moved in approximately 1 hour and 40 minutes after police cars — marked and unmarked — began arriving on the scene, along with an Emergency Services Unit tactical vehicle and the first of several large Public Works trucks typically used to haul away furniture and appliances. 

At 4:40 a.m., several of those Public Works trucks moved into the park along with one trash compacting truck. began rolling into the camp to clear away belongings and trash. Several large military style tents remained standing as of that time, although by then officers had taken down the smaller tents.

At 5 a.m., Major Anthony Brown, the commander at the scene, crossed Pratt Street and told the crowd of about 20 demonstrators how they could retrieve their belongings, which first would be inventoried.

At that point, 14 officers were blocking the entrance to the park.

There were only about 50 protesters in the camp when police arrived, a typical number for that time of the morning. The peak hours of attendance appeared to be between 7 p.m. and midnight; a much smaller contigent typically stayed overnight.

SOME PROTESTERS LINGERED

After leaving the park, about 20 protesters congregated on the northeast corner of Light and Pratt streets, occasionally chanting and closely watching officers supervised by Brown carefully remove an American flag from a makeshift flagpole on the southeast corner of the intersection. The flag was presented to a demonstrator, Tim McClary Sr., an Army veteran.

Dear Readers,

You've probably noticed that we haven't been publishing too many stories recently, and I apologize for that. But I want to reassure you that Investigative Voice is still alive and well, and that we are not going anywhere.

We have had some personnel changes. First, Stephen Janis, I.V.'s senior investigative reporter and content director, has left. He is now working as the investigative producer for Fox 45. Janis had been working closely with our partner for more than two years.

"I'm very proud of what we've accomplished," he said of his work at Investigative Voice. "I think we've proven that independent online journalism can be both relevant and instrumental in holding government accountable."

"I'm particularly proud of our work on travel by the city pension board, a story we followed from the inception of the site that resulted in real reform," he added. 

"I very much appreciate the support of the community and our loyal readers, and hope that Investigative Voice continues to thrive."

Secondly, Alan Z. Forman also is gone and no longer has any affiliation with Investigative Voice.

I am sorry to see Stephen leave; we began working together five years ago at The Baltimore Examiner. But I am excited about the the future of I.V. Along with redesigning the site, we will be expanding our coverage of City Hall, the State House, the Baltimore Police Department, and other city and state agencies. We will be doing more in-depth investigative stories. We also will be broadening our coverage and adding several new features and sections. You will see new writers -- and the return of some familiar names. We also will soon announce strategic new partners and new investors (though we are now a minority-owned enterprise and will remain as such). All of these upcoming changes are designed with you, our readers, in mind. I think of Investigative Voice as not just my website but your website: the voice of the people.

BUT BELINDA CONAWAY LOSES CITY COUNCIL SEAT TO NICK MOSBY

[UPDATED SEPT. 15] In a primary election plagued by low voter turnout, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake apparently will retain her post as Baltimore's mayor with just over 37,000 votes.

But in a surprise upset, Belinda K. Conaway, who been a city councilmember in the seventh district since 2005, was unseated by Nick Mosby. He received 2,747 votes to Conaway's 2,099, according to unofficial results from the Baltimore City Board of Elections, with all 290 precincts reporting.

Republican mayoral candidate Alfred V. Griffin received 839 votes -- beating his challenger Vicki Ann Harding, who received 813 votes, by a mere 26 votes.

Of the 62,735 people who voted in the primary -- 54,852 who went to the polls Tuesday and 7,883 who voted in early voting, according to the Baltimore City Board of Elections -- 37,185 voted for Rawlings-Blake. Consequently, she seems destined to turn her stint as interim mayor into a four-year job, when voters go to the polls again in November.

State Sen. Catherine Pugh came in second place in the mayoral race, receiving 18,060 votes. Pugh had stressed in her campaign her years of experience in city and state politics, which included five years as a member of the City Council.

The other mayoral candidates fared as follows:

Otis Rolley III, who previously worked as the city's director of planning, got 9,102 votes. He tried to appeal to voters who wanted a change from the status quo and who wanted fresh blood at City Hall, citing his experience and accomplishments. In a letter emailed to his supporters this morning Rolley thanked them and acknowledged that, "From the first days of this campaign, I knew it would be an uphill battle."

Joseph T. Landers, a former city councilmember, received 4,910 votes after a campaign that stressed overhauling the city's property tax structure and reducing crime.