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Baltimore neighborhood recovers after possible hate-crime fire

Police have no suspects in June incidents

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After the fires last month, neighbors in Baltimore’s Abell neighborhood responded by flying Pride flags. (Photo courtesy Jim Becker)

One month after a fire damaged multiple homes and hospitalized three people in North Baltimore’s Abell neighborhood, the investigation into the blaze remains ongoing.

The city of Baltimore and the Baltimore City Police Department are working with the FBI and the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms to investigate the fires. At this time, no person of interest has been named, and the fires, while determined to be intentionally set, have not yet been ruled a hate crime.

“In terms of the investigation, there were four fires that morning in the same area: a dumpster fire, a car fire, this fire, and one down the street. The house fire and the one down the street from it had Pride flags involved,” Council member Odette Ramos, who represents the Abell neighborhood, told the Blade. “What we do know is that they were all intentionally set. What we don’t know is if they are all related, and we don’t know yet if this is a hate crime. We really have the best of the best working on this … they are working diligently.”

As of last week, all three victims were out of the hospital and doing well, and according to Ramos, all the homeowners whose houses were damaged in the blaze have begun rebuilding.

“I’m grateful that they are digging in and ready to get back to the neighborhood,” she said. “The community came together to support the homeowners and raised about $15,000 at a recent fundraiser that I think the whole city attended … It was really nice to see.”

The Baltimore Peabody Heights Brewery hosted the fundraiser on June 23, with the goal of raising $5,000, and according to the Abell community Instagram, the fundraiser ended up raising $18,000 to go toward the homeowners’ rebuilding efforts.

Ramos said that investigators are also looking into potential links between the June 15 fire and other fires intentionally set in the same area a week or two prior. Although the clearance rate for arson is low — around 30% — Ramos said that the neighborhood has been proactive about sending in tips and that residents remain hopeful.

In response to the fires, many Abell residents are showing solidarity by displaying Pride flags, and part of the sidewalk was painted in rainbow colors.

“We don’t know that it was a hate crime, but for many members of our community, it really felt like it. And so, we have been really proud of our community — everybody has a Pride flag and everybody is making sure folks feel safe and welcomed,” Ramos said. “This neighborhood was one of the first neighborhoods to be welcoming to the LGBTQ community in Baltimore City, and we want to keep it that way.”

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Baltimore

The government pressured USA Rugby to ban transgender women. A Baltimore team refused to comply.

Ferals is a women’s-plus team within the Flamingos

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Harper Ockert runs drills with teammates at Utz Field in Patterson Park during rugby practice with her team, the Ferals. (Photo by Jessica Gallagher of the Baltimore Banner)

By KYLE GOON | It was midmorning, and the March winds lashed against the faces of the players on the Ferals rugby team as they suited up at a park in Frederick. The turf was frozen.

Harper Ockert, 24, wrapped her left knee with tape, stabilizing her joint for the jarring hits to come. She had struggled to sleep the night before, but her anxiety was not strictly about the game.

She and her teammates were preparing to defy newly enacted rules set by the sport’s governing body. A nervous energy thrummed in her chest as she considered what her defiance meant.

Ockert is a transgender woman who plays for the Ferals — the women’s-plus team within the Baltimore Flamingos rugby club. Three of her teammates are trans women, too. They had played games for the Ferals before, but this match at Walnut Ridge Park was the team’s first since USA Rugby had shifted its policy to allow only people assigned female at birth to play women’s rugby.

The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.

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Popular Mount Vernon gay bar Leon’s to temporarily close after owner’s death

Ron Singer passed away on July 7

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Leon’s Backroom Bar in Mount Vernon. (Photo by Jessica Gallagher for the Baltimore Banner)

By WESLEY CASE | Leon’s Backroom, Baltimore’s oldest gay bar, temporarily shut down after service on Wednesday night, according to a post on the business’s Instagram page.

The announcement comes a little more than a week after the death of the Mount Vernon bar’s owner, Ron Singer, who died at 66 on July 7.

The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.

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Baltimore

Ron Singer, owner of popular Mount Vernon gay bar Leon’s, dies

66-year-old’s funeral to take place Friday

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Leon’s Backroom Bar in Mount Vernon. (Photo by Jessica Gallagher for the Baltimore Banner)

By CAYLA HARRIS | Ron Singer, the owner of Baltimore’s popular gay bar Leon’s Backroom, died Tuesday, the venue announced in a social media post. He was 66.

“For more than 20 years, Ron made Leon’s a place so many people were proud to call home,” the post reads. “He will be deeply missed.”

The Mount Vernon bar, typically open from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. daily, is still open Thursday, but doors will close at midnight so staff can attend his funeral Friday morning. Services are scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. at Sol Levinson’s Chapel.

The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.

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