January 8, 2009
Sun coverage: City Hall investigated
Mayor Sheila Dixon talks with reporters outside the Baltimore Museum of Art after speaking at their annual meeting of the Board of Trustees. (Sun photo by Kenneth K. Lam / June 17, 2008)
Investigation into City Hall spending Videos• Dixon blasts prosecutors, media • Dixon discusses raid of her home • Investigators raid Dixon's home  Photo galleryMaryland state prosecutors raid Dixon's home June 17  TimelineScroll through an interactive timeline highlighting events throughout Sheila Dixon's career • Graphic: At the center of a storm?  PDF: Doracon search warrant affidavit |
2 indicted in City Hall corruption probe
Baltimore City Councilwoman Helen L. Holton and prominent developer Ronald H. Lipscomb were indicted this afternoon as part of a state prosecutor's nearly three-year investigation into City Hall corruption.
As grand jury expires, City Hall probe at crossroads
With the latest grand jury examining Baltimore City Hall corruption allegations expiring at the end of the week, observers say the nearly three-year-long probe hanging over Mayor Sheila Dixon is approaching a pivotal moment.
Uplands contract raises questions
Baltimore's Board of Estimates awarded a $4 million contract for the Uplands redevelopment yesterday to a firm whose bid did not meet city women- and minority-owned business guidelines, passing over two firms that followed the city's policies and causing some elected leaders to ask whether the decision compromises the honesty of Baltimore's bidding process.
A scramble for documents
Some City Council members are scrambling to provide documents to satisfy the latest demand for information by state prosecutors who want to know about four development projects related to a probe into City Hall spending.
New subpoenas issued in Dixon case
The state prosecutor's office has issued a fresh round of subpoenas seeking information about four development projects, the latest chapter in a long-running probe focused at least in part on gifts Mayor Sheila Dixon received from a developer who received tax breaks from the city.
Dixon ally tied to development deal
A development team including a contractor with whom Mayor Sheila Dixon had a relationship was chosen last year for a $200 million project in Southwest Baltimore, even though an independent city panel urged that the contract be awarded to another firm.
Probe may turn on taxes
State prosecutors have subpoenaed records from the Maryland comptroller's office, suggesting that the long-standing investigation into City Hall might involve state taxes.
Jean Marbella: What do you get for a mink?
You know how you get a song stuck in your head? Ever since the fur started flying in the state prosecutor's investigation of Mayor Sheila Dixon, I keep hearing that song from Guys and Dolls, the one sung by a doll who was shocked, just shocked, at what a guy expected in return for his gifts:
Dixon angered over leaks in case
Mayor Sheila Dixon lashed out at prosecutors and reporters yesterday in her first comments since acknowledging having a personal relationship with a developer at the same time that she voted on contracts that benefited his company.
Dixon funds linked to firms
Companies linked to a developer questioned in the state investigation of Mayor Sheila Dixon have made nearly $500,000 in political contributions in the past decade, state campaign finance records show.
Dixon gifts probed
Prosecutors are investigating whether Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon received thousands of dollars in gifts - including fur coats - from a prominent developer whose projects benefited from tax breaks and zoning changes she supported as City Council president, a document obtained by The Sun shows.
Three questioned in City Hall investigation
The state prosecutor's office questioned at least three people yesterday in its investigation into contracting practices at City Hall, including Patrick Turner, president of Turner Development Group, which is developing a residential community called Silo Point in South Baltimore.
State prosecutor under fire
Maryland State Prosecutor Robert A. Rohrbaugh claims that he has no hobbies, and that he's just not that interesting. He says he spends long days at his Towson office and then heads home to spend time with his family in Montgomery County.
Ex-Dixon spokesman receives subpoena
Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon's former spokesman, a longtime confidant who helped establish the administration's public message, has been subpoenaed in the state prosecutor's widening probe of City Hall, The Sun learned yesterday.
Probe includes Dixon's furs
State prosecutors are looking for Mayor Sheila Dixon's fur coats and have been seeking information on gifts she received from people doing business with the city, new lines of inquiry in the probe of City Hall contracts involving her friends.
Some see cloud over City Hall
With the raid of Mayor Sheila Dixon's house, the complicated financial investigation that has bubbled through Baltimore news cycles for years officially jumped the local threshold. Political and public relations experts say this whiff of scandal will likely be an investigative cloud hovering over Baltimore's executive office, taking time and attention from pressing city business and potentially thwarting Dixon's agenda for progress.
Jean Marbella: The elephant in the room
I'd like to take the opportunity of all those microphones that have been shoved in my face these past couple of days since my house was raided, and speak directly to you, the citizens of Baltimore.
Laura Vozzella: A tiny peek into Dixon's closet
Even before prosecutors started sniffing around for Sheila Dixon's fur coats, her people were worried.
More subpoenas in Dixon probe
A day after investigators raided Mayor Sheila Dixon's home, more city employees received subpoenas in what appears to be an accelerating investigation into City Hall spending practices.
State raids mayor's home
Maryland state prosecutors raided the home of Mayor Sheila Dixon yesterday as part of an investigation into past spending practices at City Hall, the most aggressive move so far in the years-long probe.
Inquiry threatens Dixon's momentum
Six months into her historic term as Baltimore's first female mayor, Sheila Dixon has been riding high - the homicide rate is at a two-decade low, the City Council passed her budget almost untouched, and she has won praise for her work on gun control and homelessness.
On the scene: Mayor Dixon ducks out
The investigators in dark blue state prosecutor's office jackets arrived at Mayor Sheila Dixon's tidy brick home just an hour after sunrise yesterday. The quiet Hunting Ridge neighborhood on the city's western edge wasn't quiet for long.
Council member expresses shock
News that the state prosecutor's office was searching Mayor Sheila Dixon's house gave City Hall a case of emotional whiplash yesterday.
Utech head pleads guilty
A city contractor who employed Mayor Sheila Dixon's sister while doing work for the city pleaded guilty yesterday to falsifying tax returns - the latest development in a months-long investigation into questionable spending practices at City Hall.
State seeks more city documents
Baltimore's Finance Department and the offices of the city's powerful Board of Estimates have been ordered to turn over documents to the Maryland state prosecutor's office, which has been engaged in a long-standing investigation at City Hall.
Prosecutor demanding BDC papers
The city agency that oversees Baltimore development has received a subpoena from the Maryland state prosecutor's office, which has been conducting an investigation into spending practices at City Hall.
State raids company with ties to mayor
The office of one of Baltimore's largest developers was raided yesterday by the Maryland state prosecutor's office, which has been engaged in a long-running investigation into questionable spending at City Hall.
Dixon friend pleads guilty
Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon's former campaign chairman pleaded guilty to charges of failing to file tax returns related to his work as a computer consultant for the City Council and has agreed to cooperate in the state prosecutor's probe into no-bid contracts at City Hall.
Ex-Dixon aide Clark charged
The Maryland state prosecutor charged Mayor Sheila Dixon's former campaign chairman yesterday with failing to file state income tax returns for three of the six years in which he earned $500,000 working without a contract as the Baltimore City Council's computer consultant.
Ethics board clears Dixon
Nearly a year after beginning an inquiry into whether City Council President Sheila Dixon used her influence to direct city money to a company that employed her sister, Baltimore's Board of Ethics announced yesterday that it has found no cause to pursue the allegations.
Dixon decries state inquiry
City Council President Sheila Dixon said yesterday that a state investigation into government contracts related to her office has unfairly sullied her reputation and that the probe's lone indictment proves she is "innocent."
Ethics inquiry could be awkward
Since February, Baltimore's Board of Ethics has delayed a detailed review of City Council President Sheila Dixon's participation in official business that benefited a company that employed her sister.
Dixon probe begins
State prosecutors have opened an investigation into the Baltimore City Council's computer services contract, ordering city officials to turn over documents detailing how and why the city paid $600,000 to Council President Sheila Dixon's friend for six years.
Dixon steered work to ex-aide
For the past six years Baltimore City Council President Sheila Dixon has steered government work worth at least $600,000 to her former campaign chairman, most of the time without a written contract.
Contract presents questions for Dixon
One of the Baltimore contracts that prompted an ethics review of City Council President Sheila Dixon was the subject of contentious hearings in 2004 and 2005 that involved accusations of bid steering.
Dixon's use of hearing at issue
In what may be a violation of the city ethics law, Baltimore City Council President Sheila Dixon used an investigative hearing to press a major city contractor on why it was not awarding more work to a company that employs her sister.
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