Your Complete Guide to Inner Harbor Baltimore Restaurants, Hotels & Events.
Inner Harbor is the crown jewel of Baltimore, Maryland with our restaurants, hotels and THE historic seaport vacation destination that attracts millions each year.
Whatever brings you to Inner Harbor Baltimore, there is something for everyone. From hotels and restaurants, live music on the pier to a haunting ghost tour on Fells Point, you will not be disappointed at the array of activities offered.
Some of the more frequented attractions include The National Aquarium, Port Discovery, The Gallery, Little Italy, Maryland Science Center, USS Constellation and Harborplace. There truly is something for everyone!
News
In a state with so many federal employees, what would a government shutdown look like in Maryland?
Maryland workers and officials are bracing for a potentially debilitating federal government shutdown that could have an outsize impact here because of the state’s proximity to Washington, D.C.As much as 160,000 federal workers based in Maryland are at risk of furlough or working without pay starting Sunday if members of Congress fail to reach a full or partial spending agreement in the coming days.AdvertisementThough a bipartisan plan was advancing in the Senate, House Republicans were continuing Friday to split over disagreements around budget cuts, funding for Ukraine and border security funding, increasing the likelihood of a shutdown.“I pray that everyone gets through this shutdown, or that it just won’t happen,” said Leslie Clark, a Landover resident who works a contracting job cleaning the FBI field office in Washington.AdvertisementClark, 53, said she supports her two adult children and already struggles to pay her mortgage, food costs and Type 2 diabetes medications. Days before a shutdown would go into effect, she said she had no idea if she might be asked to stop going into work or continue to work without pay.“I’m trying to keep my head above water,” she said.According to Maryland Comptroller Brooke Lierman’s office, which handles tax collection, about 352,000 households in the state directly benefited from either wages or pension income from the federal government in the 2021 tax year. That represented $31 billion in income, or 10.5% of all income earned in Maryland.The 152,000 federal jobs in Maryland during that year represented 4.1% of all jobs — about three times more than the national average, and more than the 3.5% in neighboring Virginia, the comptroller’s office said. As of last month, the estimate for those jobs in Maryland had grown to 160,000, representing more than 5% of all jobs, according to seasonally adjusted employment statistics through the Maryland Department of Labor.Thousands of additional workers are contractors who do not work directly for the government but who could be impacted by a full or partial shutdown. Those workers are not guaranteed back-pay after a deal is reached, unlike direct employees who would be slated to receive delayed payments because of a law passed following the 35-day government shutdown that ended in January 2019.Jaime Contreras, executive vice president of the SEIU 32BJ, said his union represents 2,400 federally contracted janitors and security officers who wouldn’t be able to count on back-pay during a shutdown that at this point appears inevitable.He said more than 1,000 of the union’s members were impacted in the 2018-19 shutdown and that number is likely to include more, if not all, workers this time because more agencies have not been funded.“Denying pay to these workers who already live paycheck to paycheck during a government shutdown, it’s just catastrophic, even life threatening for people who are sole providers in their families,” Contreras said. “In the pandemic they were treated as essential workers and we should treat them as such during the shutdown.”AdvertisementDepending on the agency and the funding sources, it varies by department whether workers will continue unaffected with pay, if they will be furloughed or asked to work without pay. Contingency plans for each executive agency have been prepared and published.Services like Social Security and the Postal Service are deemed essential and will continue while others like national parks will shutter. Air travel could also include delays as air traffic controllers and transportation security officers would not be paid, which led to staffing shortages during the last shutdown.“They keep these programs going, like Social Security, so the public doesn’t notice, but the human toll — there’s no measure,” said Anita Autrey, who leads the American Federation of Government Employees Local 1923 that represents roughly 30,000 federal employees in the region.Members include employees at the Social Security Administration headquarters in Woodlawn and at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services headquarters in Baltimore, where Autrey recently retired from a 41-year career.She said workers “could be facing hardship immediately next week” and she’s been involved in Baltimore-area discussions about providing employees with alternate options for food or transportation in the event of a short-term or extended shutdown.“It’s just a terrible time. It’s emotional,” she said, expressing frustration at congressional leaders who “want to destroy the federal government” and hold employees hostage in the process.AdvertisementDuring the 2018-19 shutdown — the longest in history, spurred by arguments over whether to fund President Donald Trump’s border wall plan — thousands of Marylanders sought unemployment insurance benefits, pop-up food pantries were hosted by county governments and unions, and state officials reported a marked decline in MARC rail service to from Washington to Baltimore.The comptroller’s office estimated at the time that 172,000 Marylanders were affected, including direct federal employees and contractors, who were collectively paid $778 million in salary every two weeks and responsible for $57.5 million in state and local income taxes in those pay periods.Comptroller Brooke Lierman, who took office earlier this year, said state officials “will be prepared to lend assistance where it is most needed to help alleviate the impact.”Senior officials in Gov. Wes Moore’s administration said Thursday the state is prepared to bridge the gap by using around $1 billion of the state’s $5 billion cash balance to cover state-run services and state employee salaries that are funded by the federal government. About 11,700 state positions are fully or partially supported by federal funds, the governor’s office said.That plan is contingent on getting reimbursed once funding is approved in Washington. If the shutdown stretches several weeks, state officials would begin prioritizing resources.Maryland officials are also working on a loan-assistance program specifically for workers affected by the shutdown. Those loans would have to be paid back after the shutdown, along with any unemployment insurance workers receive.AdvertisementImpacts could come in the form of benefits paid through the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, known as WIC, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP.About 670,000 Marylanders in 365,00 households participate in SNAP, which helps those with low incomes purchase food. And about 123,100 women, infants and children in Maryland receive nutritional and education resources through WIC.White House officials said SNAP, previously known as food stamps, would be funded through October in the case of a longer shutdown. WIC recipients may face more immediate reductions to benefits.Maryland Policy & PoliticsWeeklyKeep up to date with Maryland politics, elections and important decisions made by federal, state and local government officials.According to the White House, “states could soon be forced to institute waiting lists for WIC, causing mothers and children to lose access to the vital nutrition assistance.”Maryland’s WIC program is expected to have enough funds to operate at least through October, according to the governor’s office. The Maryland Department of Health is also “actively planning and mapping out scenarios based on potential federal funding levels for WIC,” department spokesman Chase Cook said.U.S. Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, a Baltimore County Democrat, highlighted the WIC program in a statement in which he called it “unconscionable to hurt working families and cause irreparable damage to our economy to appease a small number of extreme conservatives who have an agenda unpopular with most Americans.”Advertisement“A continuing resolution is not ideal, but it will keep the lights on while we finish the job we were elected to do,” Ruppersberger said. “Republicans must be willing to compromise — everyone gives a little and gets a little — for the good of the country and its historic economic recovery.”A so-called continuing resolution would keep the government funded at current levels until lawmakers reach a larger deal. House Republicans have opposed that short-term fix, and if the clock ticks past midnight Saturday night without any progress, it’s not clear how long this shutdown could last.As Autrey, the union leader, put it: “It’s really the emotional yo-yo you experience ... Everybody’s on pins and needles.”Originally Published: Sep 28, 2023 at 11:46 am
Man dies in West Baltimore shooting Thursday, police say
A man died in a West Baltimore shooting Thursday, according to police.At about 9:37 p.m., Western District officers responded to the 2300 block of West Lafayette Avenue in the Bridgeview/Greenlawn neighborhood to investigate a shooting, according to Baltimore Police release.Advertisement[ Off-duty Howard County officer shot and killed in Federal Hill bar, police say ]Once there, officers found a 20-year-old man with multiple gunshot wounds to the body. The victim was transported to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead by hospital staff.Anyone with information can contact Baltimore Police Department Homicide detectives at 410-396-2100. Those who wish to remain anonymous can utilize the Metro Crime Stoppers tip line at 1-866-7LOCK-UP. Citizens also can anonymously text a tip by visiting the MCS of Maryland website.
Sports
Baylee DeSmit grew up with ‘no fear’ around 4 brothers. It’s why she’s leading Loyola Maryland women’s soccer.
The past year has been a joyride for Baylee DeSmit.Last fall, the Loyola Maryland midfielder led the Patriot League in points with 19. This past summer, she earned the USLW’s Golden Boot honor for scoring a league-record 22 goals.AdvertisementThis season, DeSmit picked up where she left off. She leads the conference in goals (six) and points (18) and is tied for first in assists (six).“Having the summer that I did when I broke the [USLW] League record for goals, I was coming off a high in the summer,” the 21-year-old Towson resident and McDonogh graduate said. “Coming in, I knew the ability of this team for this year, and I did expect something of this sort. I’m just glad it has happened.”AdvertisementDeSmit’s individual success has powered the Greyhounds to their first 3-0 start in the Patriot League since joining the conference in 2013 and their first 8-2 overall record since the 1999 squad opened with the same mark. The team’s six-game winning streak is the program’s longest since the 2011 squad strung together nine in a row and is tied for the fourth-longest streak in school history.No one is discussing what would be a first Patriot League championship just yet, but coach Joe Mallia acknowledged that the current group of players headed by DeSmit is one of his strongest in recent memory.“I think the combination of the players we have within our program and Baylee at the level that we are trying to achieve success, they give us the opportunity to compete in any and every game, and that’s a valuable thing,” he said. “In any team sport, no one person can get it done by herself. But she absolutely, in conjunction with her teammates, gives us the opportunity to have success in any game.”DeSmit’s prowess at soccer can be traced to her upbringing as the youngest child — and only daughter — of five for Debbie and Doug DeSmit. Debbie has run three marathons in Baltimore, and Doug was an NCAA Division III All-America soccer player at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he still ranks second in program history in career goals (70) and points (171).After Debbie bore Raymond (now 33), Ryan (32), Riley (29) and Daniel (26), Doug said Baylee was “a wonderful surprise.” Ryan said he was happiest for his mother because she finally got a girl after four boys, who slept in two sets of bunk beds in one bedroom to make space for Baylee.Despite a significant age difference, Baylee played basketball, lacrosse and soccer in the front yard of the family’s home with her older brothers, who treated her as they treated each other. The only concession was they could not block her shot in basketball. Everything else was fair game.“They were always roughhousing me and having fun with me, and I didn’t know anything else,” she said, adding they competed in Monopoly, the FIFA video game and the card game Euchre. “I didn’t know how to be babied or protected in that way of sports and athletics. They wanted to challenge me and knew I could do things that if they babied, I would never have known how to do. It’s worked my whole life.”Baylee DeSmit's prowess at soccer can be traced to her upbringing as the youngest child — and only daughter — of five. (Larry French/Loyola Maryland Athletics) (Courtesy of Loyola Maryland Athletics)Ryan, who played lacrosse at Towson and is a site director for Education, Sports & Fun Summer Camp at Gilman, said he and his brothers sought to toughen Baylee.Advertisement“Sports are played with a scoreboard, and even in front yard or backyard soccer, there’s a pursuit of excellence for any high-level athlete,” he said. “We saw her at the stage that she was and understood that there’s always a bigger fish, there’s always a tougher game, there’s always a triple-team headed your way. … She learned how to be resilient in those front yard battles.”Overseeing it all were Debbie and Doug DeSmit, the latter of whom said Baylee at an early age had already absorbed many of the lessons that her brothers had learned.“I don’t think we saw anybody as male or female, just athletes,” he said. “Athletes need a certain kind of training ground, and it’s not one that makes allowances or gives an easy way out.”Baylee was often the goalkeeper in lacrosse and soccer games played by her brothers, but it was a role for which she volunteered.“I had no fear when I was playing sports with them,” she said. “I wanted my biggest and oldest brother to guard, I wanted to be shot on. We had lacrosse pads, and I would say, ‘Hey, I’ll be in goal for you,’ and they would shoot pinky balls and tennis balls, and I would try to save them.”Those games with her brothers have shaped DeSmit throughout her life. Mallia, the Loyola Maryland coach, said DeSmit worked diligently in training to increase the coaches’ confidence in her conditioning. She also has a competitive streak that has its benefits and deficiencies.Advertisement“They say the best goal scorers in the world have the ability to forget the chances they’ve missed or the poor moments they’ve had in a game so that they can perform when they get their next moment or they can create more moments,” Mallia said. “We’ve had those conversations with her, and she has grown in that area tremendously.”Baylee said her parents attend every Greyhounds game and usually bring her grandparents. Ryan and Daniel, an engineer in Ellicott City, join them as often as they can, while Raymond, a teacher in Pennsylvania, and Riley, a former Johns Hopkins lacrosse player who is a teacher in Georgia, watch via streaming. Ryan said Baylee’s games are family events.“We circle these family moments around sports for all of our siblings, and for her being the last one, it’s kind of come full circle and brings us a whole bunch of joy,” he said.Baylee said she doesn’t miss having sisters because she is very close to three of her brothers’ wives. She said she has no regrets about growing up as the only girl with her four brothers.“I think I could have a similar life right now, but I don’t think I would be where I am,” she said. “I think some things clicked where I don’t know if they would if I was in any other situation.”Colgate at Loyola MarylandAdvertisementSaturday, 3 p.m.Stream: ESPN+
Europe sweeps the opening session of the Ryder Cup for the 1st time, putting the US in an early 4-0 hole
GUIDONIA MONTECELIO, Italy — Europe gave the Americans a rude welcome and a harsh reminder why it has been 30 years since they last won the Ryder Cup away from home, sweeping the opening session for the first time before a delirious crowd at Marco Simone.So thorough was this beating Friday morning that no match reached the 18th hole.AdvertisementJon Rahm holed a 30-foot putt from off the second green and hit a tee shot that banged off the bottom of the pin at the par-3 seventh. Viktor Hovland got his side going early, chipping off the tight grass of the fringe, over a ridge and into the cup on the opening hole.Rory McIlroy delivered the final dagger, a tee shot to 2 feet on the par-3 17th hole as he and Tommy Fleetwood — “Fleetwood Mac” for this Ryder Cup — handed Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele their first loss in foursomes.AdvertisementEuropean captain Luke Donald looked like a genius by leading off with foursomes, the more difficult format of alternate shot. Europe has started the Ryder Cup at home with fourballs every time since 1993, which also was the last time Europe lost at home.Donald felt his side statistically was stronger in foursomes and he wanted a fast start. McIlroy said Donald had Europe play three-hole matches in practice to develop a sense of urgency.Whatever the plan, it worked to near perfection.“All week, all we’ve been talking about is getting off to fast starts ... something Luke has drilled into us,” McIlroy said. “We were ready to go from the first tee shot, obviously, as you can see in how everyone played.”U.S. captain Zach Johnson also had a plan for the five sessions, only this beating was so thorough it brought to mind what heavyweight Mike Tyson once said of Evander Holyfield: “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”The Americans were bloodied, all right. They never led at any point in any of the four matches.Johnson’s plan included sitting Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas, a partnership that went 3-1 outside Paris in the last Ryder Cup in Europe. Also sitting was PGA champion Brooks Koepka and U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark. That’s a combined 11 career majors on the bench.“It was just the first go-around here,” Schauffele said. “We’ll have to make some adjustments across the board. We’ll be fine. Not sweating it.Advertisement“I’m not worried. Our team is deep. These boys will come out hungry these next matches.”The Americans next had try to keep it close in the afternoon fourballs, four new partnerships for both teams, and all 12 players assured of getting in on the action.Schauffele and Cantlay had been 5-0 in foursomes at the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup, and it looked like their match would go down to the wire. Europe was 1 up when it got out of position on the 15th and McIlroy hit a wedge to 20 feet for a par putt. Cantlay had 25 feet for birdie.Cantlay ran his putt about 4 feet by the hole, and then it flipped — Fleetwood holed perhaps the biggest putt of their match, while Schauffele missed the 4-footer. Instead of the match being all square with three holes to play, Europe was 2 up and on its way to another point.“Waiting for a moment like that all day,” Fleetwood said. “It’s just one of those Ryder Cup moments, really, and that’s what we’re playing for.”Scheffler hit the opening tee shot, but not before one fan shouted, “You stink, Scottie,” as he was getting ready to swing. There was plenty of booing, typical of the Ryder Cup, and Europe heard far worse in its trips to Whistling Straits and Hazeltine.AdvertisementScheffler and Sam Burns fell to 0-3-1 in their partnership at two cups, and they were able to experience the full Rahm.Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton were 2 up at the turn and in trouble — shin-high rough on the left, more rough on the right and short of the green on the par-4 10th after three shots. Rahm had to get it up-and-down from 70 feet to have any chance of not losing the hole. And then he holed the chip, and Scheffler had to make an 8-footer to avoid falling further behind.Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka picked up Europe’s other point, a 4-and-3 victory over Collin Morikawa and Rickie Fowler. Europe was 4 up at the turn as the Americans managed only one birdie and four bogeys.“Giving away holes is the worst feeling, and we just did that too much,” Morikawa said. “And we still came down all the way to 17. We were fighting, but nothing was finding the hole.”
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