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Baltimore is an United States and treats Baltimore as a county equivalent for those purposes.
Baltimore has been a Democratic stronghold for over 150 years, with Democrats dominating every level of government.
Mayor
The current mayor of Baltimore is Democrat Martin O'Malley, currently in his second term. O'Malley has maintained high approval ratings despite being slightly more conservative than conventional wisdom would suggest for a city like Baltimore. He is currently running for governor of Maryland. For a full list of mayors that served the city, see: List of Baltimore Mayors
Baltimore City Council
Grassroots pressure for reform, voiced as Question P, restructured the city council in November of 2002, against the will of the mayor, the council president, and the majority of the council. A coalition of union and community groups, organized by ACORN, backed the effort.
The Baltimore city council is now made up of 14 single member districts and one elected at-large council president. Sheila Dixon is the current council president. On November 2, 2004, Dixon won re-election in a two-way contest; Joan Floyd, a Green Party candidate, was the only challenger; the Republicans did not field a candidate.
State Government
Baltimore and its suburbs were long underrepresented in the Maryland General Assembly, while rural areas were heavily overrepresented. Since Baker v. Carr in 1969, however, the Baltimore and Washington suburbs account for a substantial majority of seats in the state legislature.
Baltimore dominated state politics for a long time before 1969, however; most of the state's highest elected officials come from the Baltimore area.
Federal Government
Baltimore is split between three congressional districts--the 2nd, represented by Dutch Ruppersberger; the 3rd, represented by Ben Cardin; and the 7th, represented by Elijah Cummings. All three are Democrats; a Republican has not represented a significant portion of Baltimore in decades.
Both of Maryland's Senators, Paul Sarbanes and Barbara Mikulski, are from Baltimore. Sarbanes is not running for reelection in 2006; both of the main Democratic candidates for his seat, Cardin and former 7th District Congressman Kwesi Mfume, are from Baltimore as well.
Crime
According to crime statistics there were 269 Los Angeles.
While murders have been relatively static, other categories of crime in Baltimore have been declining. The rate of forcible rapes has fallen below the national average in recent years. However, Baltimore still has much higher-than-average rates of aggravated assault, burglary, robbery, and theft. Though the crime situation in Baltimore is considered one of the worst in the nation, city officials are quick to point out that most violent crimes, particularly murders, are committed by people who know their victims and who are often associated with the illegal drug trade.
Statistics compiled by independent groups indicate that many young men in the city are under the supervision of the criminal justice system. While racial disparities in arrest and incarceration rates exist in Baltimore, both young white and black men in the city are arrested and incarcerated at relatively high rates.
In an infamous case, community activist Angela Dawson and her family were murdered by firebomb in their Baltimore home on October 16, 2002, in retaliation for Dawson's reporting of criminal activity.
In late 2004, Baltimore drug dealers shocked the city when they released an underground DVD titled Stop Snitching, in which they threatened with violence any citizen of Baltimore who interfered with their business. A strange twist emerged after it was discovered that NBA star Carmelo Anthony, who plays for the Denver Nuggets and had lived in Baltimore as a boy, was featured in the video while visiting his old neighborhood. A few months later, in early 2005, the Baltimore Police Department responded to Stop Snitching with a video titled Keep Talking, in which they urged the public to continue to report illicit activity and announced the arrest of at least two participants in the making and filming of the original DVD.
http://www.ci.baltimore.md.us/government/police/
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Public transit in Baltimore City is provided by the Maryland Transit Administration. Baltimore City has many bus routes, a light rail system, and a subway line. Additionally, MARC commuter rail connects Washington, D.C.'s Union Station with the city's two main intercity rail stations, Camden Station and Penn Station. In recent months there has been serious consideration to extending both Baltimore's light rail and subway lines. A proposed Red Line would link the Social Security Administration to Fells Point and possibly out to the Dundalk/Essex communities. Other possible commuter rail routes are being considered. The major highways serving the city are I-695 (the Baltimore Beltway), I-95, I-83 (the Jones Falls Expressway), and I-70 (the eastern terminus of which is just beyond the city limits). Freeways I-95, I-83, and I-70 are not directly connected because of freeway revolts in the City of Baltimore led by Barbara Mikulski, which resulted in the abandoment of the original plan. There are two twin-bore tunnels traversing the Baltimore harbor within the city limits: the Fort McHenry Tunnel (served by I-95) and the Harbor Tunnel (served by I-895).
Passenger rail
Baltimore is a major stop for Amtrak. Named passenger trains which serve Baltimore include Acela Express, Palmetto, Carolinian, Silver Star, Silver Meteor, Vermonter, Crescent, and Amtrak's Regional trains.
Airports
Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport - Located in neighboring Arundel County, Maryland">Anne Arundel County
Martin State Airport - (general aviation) - Located in Baltimore County
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The Baltimore Metropolitan Area currently includes Arundel County">Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll|, Harford, Howard and Queen Anne's counties, as well as the city itself. As of 2005 the region was home to more than 2.6 million individuals. As the Washington region has prospered, Baltimore and its suburbs have prospered as well. Howard and Anne Arundel counties have become very affluent and rank nationally in terms of per capita family and personal income. Pockets of wealth exist within the Northern sections of the city, as well as parts of Baltimore County. In addition home prices as well as demand have risen significantly throughout the region attracting several prominent high-tech firms. Currently Johns Hopkins University is the largest single employer in the Baltimore region.
Further information: List of Baltimore neighborhoods
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Hotels in United States - Baltimore >>
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