A big twist in December murder by a panhandler in Baltimore…

There has been a major development in the December 1st murder of a Baltimore woman. Police were initially told that 50-year-old Jacquelyn Smith was driving when she saw a panhandler with a baby and she stopped to give the person money. When she did the person took her wallet and stabbed her. She later died.

Yesterday, Smith’s husband Keith Smith and her stepdaughter Valerie Smith were arrested by Texas officials. Sources say they were charged with making the story up and killing her. They were near the Mexico border trying to leave the country.

Investigators have not released a motive in the case. Yesterday’s arrest ends a three-month long investigation that captured national attention even the attention of TV mogul Oprah Winfrey who commented that she does this all the time and warned people to stay woke to change.

MD leaders look at letting EBT cards to be used at restaurants…

Maryland lawmakers are looking at letting people use their food stamp cards at restaurants.

Senate bill 752 is proposing to allow elderly, disabled and homeless people use their EBT cards at participating restaurants. The bill is sponsored by Senator Clarence Lam of Howard County.

There are similar pilot programs in Arizona and some area in California and Rhode Island. In Maryland, more than 600 thousand people receive $75 million dollars a month in government assistance.

A Senate committee is set to vote on the measure on March 14th.

DC is now ineligible for add’l Federal lead remediation funds …

The District of Columbia is now ineligible for additional Federal dollars to help protect low-income children from lead poisoning. The decision is the result of leaders not using the $3 million dollars in grant money already given to them.

City officials say the governments’ guidelines on how the money could be spent made it hard to use the funds. In 2015 the city set a goal of fixing 225 units with $3.7 million in grants however it only ended up only completing 41 units. The District’s Lead Safe Washington program which was financed by HUD grants has now been closed. It focused on low-income renters in apartment buildings.

The District can reapply in 2020 however their past failures will have an effect on the outcome of the request.

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