RG Steel plans to idle tin mill at Sparrows Point due to plunging sales

“For years, this place had: an aging workforce, a stumbling hot mill, a great blast furnace (that Severstal tried to kill), a great cold mill, and a tin mill that had greater production of quality steel than most in the country. The best piece of the puzzle is closing.”
– Richard Cheese

“I blame the Union for all of this. I think that they could’ve been more diligent with observing the companies activities, instead of looking out for their own relatives and asses! The real pain of this all is that there will be a lot of people hurting financially.”
– Steel Lady

“The union is still quiet on this issue with no communication to their members.  There was a union meeting on February 20th and no word of this shut down. . . They all sit in the Annex building less than 40 hours a week making 48-56 hour paychecks.”
– Jason

“Very sad.”
Rhonda Wimbish, via Facebook
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RG Steel plans to idle Sparrows Point tin mill in April

“As long as the SP hotside is up and chugging along the other departments have nothing to worry about. You should thank the gentlemen in the Annex for their part in keeping the doors open in such difficult times, they did a wonderful job helping the Governor & company secure investment capital.”
– George

“No egg on my face George (alias RG Steel). No matter how much ore you are loading in your yard, you are are losing money and everybody in the steel industry knows it. They also know that you have the most stupid leadership in the industry and you are constantly being regarded as the most unreliable steel plant in the country.”
– Dr. Raymond Boothe
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Some good news: Sparrows Point will restart an operation this month

“I told the bosses to open the Galvalume line again, as it is a cash cow for the company. We are world famous for this durable product. The building industry must be delighted too to have this product available from its original source.”
– George

“Galvalume is an out of date product that is not going to save SP. No matter how much ore rolls into SP, you have to have something to sell. And since SP has a terrible reputation for quality, and losing customers and operating at such low levels I would not put all of Cerberus Capital Management’s money into one basket.”
– Dr. Raymond Boothe

“It would be great if RG Steel would restart the Mingo plant. It seems that many people forget about the almost thousand workers that have been laid off for three years. This plant does a great job with its product and should be consider to restart in the near future!”
– Jay
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Students to blame for Baltimore’s dilapidated schools?

“As President Young started to talk, it was clear that he was talking to the cameras. And then to start into the pupils – he was a pupil once in one these schools, btw – it was horrible. Very demeaning and frankly, the height of sneering. . . cheap and well, not smart.”
– Govans talking

“Disappointing that two prominent council members would analogize youth vandalism to structural disinvestment.Here’s the problem with the bottle tax: it’s a short-term, stopgap measure that doesn’t begin to address the problem.”
– Rodney D. Foxworth

“The bait-and-switch focus on irresponsible youngsters communicates to the public that there is probably no real commitment to the school facility problem – if there were, the attention would be on fixing the school buildings, rather than what happens every day in every part of this city where spaces, public and private, are shown to be neglected and undervalued.”
– RoscoeBMore

“I feel that I got a really good education there (now in the aerospace engineering field), and it wasn’t because the school was in better condition. I firmly believe that it comes down to a combination of not only good teachers, but students that are willing to learn – That are supported and encouraged by their parents. While the conditions of a school can be a factor, it should not be the all-encompassing scapegoat.”
– ejd1984

“Stop buying into shams and scams, like the one that tells you an additional bottle tax is needed to fund the education of our children while you consistently watch developers, and other self-serving business interests receive exorbitant bail outs, tax breaks, and other forms of corporate welfare. Wake up Baltimore!”
– jill p carter

“The Baltimore City public school system is one of the richest in the state. As with other crumbling municipal infrastructure, most of the money is directed into reports, studies, impact assessments, lavish consulting analyses, and other mindless paper-pushing activities!”
– Marc
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Baltimore’s CIO resigns following charges of misconduct at prior job

“Here today, gone tomorrow.”
– Jamie Schott, via Facebook

“We need an audit Madam Mayor. Audit! Audit! Audit! Who knows what this man was doing through his agency.”
– Jason Rodriguez

“He sounds like a perfect fit in Bmore. Surprised the BDC didn’t snap him up.”
– Prreyeseq

“Well, Singleton is history. Hoping Deputy CIO Robert Minor can get my water bill straightened out.”
– Mair
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Singleton’s agenda as CIO puzzled some members of the tech community

“Another key, progressive city entire agency in disarray, due to amateur top position vetting by our leaders that are learning like interns on the job, while too much time and money flows away from our impoverished city.”
– Tom Kiefaber
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Black gets friendly reception at Council hearing on appointment

“No insight into Mr. Black’s background? Despite what just happened (Baltimore’s CIO resigns following charges of misconduct at prior job)?”
– Daniel E

“I thank Coucilman William Cole for asking Mr. Black the questions I submitted before the hearing. His answers were thoughtful and I will be watching his progress and commitment to BMore.”
– Ktrueheart
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Hampden’s bus benches, removed because of loiterers, missed by riders

“Those benches were nothing but trouble! I was always to scared to to sit there next to all the thugs.”
– Hoffmankonsolas

“I don’t think the answer to your problem with ‘thugs’ is to remove benches. If they are truly “thugs” as you say (an assertion I have some reservations about, but no matter), wouldn’t standing next to them be just as scary? Should we remove the sidewalk?”
– Really?

“Anybody have an orange couch that looks like the one on the Wire? That would be the perfect furnishing for these bus stops.”
– Badplanner

“Seems that an area like this is where PD foot patrols would make a big and positive difference.”
– Mair

“Who is more discouraged by the lack of a bench – a healthy teenager out to commit mayhem or an elderly person who needs to go to the doctor?”
– Badplanner

“I wish I could think of a good solution, but this stinks. Thank you for pointing it out, China – I usually wait (way too long, but luckily my knees are still in good shape) at a Hampden bus stop with no seats at all, but it has no annoying loiterers like at the Royal Farms either.”
– TD

“Why not install the benches with dividers, so people can’t stretch out to sleep on them?”
– Tracey Brown, via Facebook
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Another high-level departure from city administration

“We just had an election and now this?”
– Daniel Ewald, via Facebook

“Don’t know if he picked Singleton, but the water company was among his responsibilities. That mess is bad enough that it should probably cost a few more their jobs.”
– Mair
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An EWO that returns money to the city

“Fraud detection sounds like such a fun game but also disheartening. Like death and taxes – like prostitution and grave digging – fraud detection is a profession with an eternal shelf life.”
– Unellu