Why Kevin Liles Wanted to Bring the “Soul” to Preakness

The building at 1724 Thames Street—nestled between Thames Street Oyster House and The Daily Grind on Fells Point’s main thoroughfare—has lived many lives. Dating back to the 1800s, the property was once a barn that stabled horses and garaged cars. It was also a reclamation and recycling center for ropes, the home of the Historic Preservation Society for Federal Hill and Fells Point, and, most recently, the Fells Point Visitor Center.

Last August, many attendees of the Asia Collective Night Market at the Howard County Fairgrounds—who showed up to get their fill of eats from vendors like NiHao, Ekiben, and Mayuree Thai Tavern—were forced to leave on an empty stomach, due to over-capacity crowds and long wait times. Some ticket holders didn’t even make it to the event’s entrance, on account of a lack of parking and traffic that backed up I-70 for miles.

By now, you’ve likely heard about the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts’ (BOPA) last-minute decision to cancel the city’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade—which hasn’t been held since 2020 due to the pandemic—and the tensions it created within city government and the surrounding arts community.

It’s hard to resist a good deal—and even harder when it’s on food. Lucky for restaurant regulars, Baltimore Restaurant Week is returning this Friday, January 27 through Sunday, February, 5. Throughout the 10-day promotion, diners can choose from more than 75 participating city eateries to enjoy prix-fixe brunch, lunch, and dinner menus priced from $20 to $55. If you’re on a roll with beginning-of-year budgeting—and hoping to remain savvy with your dining dollars—we’ve got you covered with a list of spots to get the most bang for your buck.

Last year, a report by Morning Consult found that one in five adults participated in Dry January in 2022. In Baltimore, there are plenty of bars and restaurants with options for those who are choosing to sever ties with booze through January 31. (More on that later.) But for many of them, catering to customers who don’t drink alcohol is year-round work.

After facing four trials on the same murder charge—and five trials overall surrounding the events of the same morning—Keith Davis Jr. walked out of prison today after more than seven years of incarceration. Newly elected Baltimore City State’s Attorney Ivan Bates, who was sworn in last week, followed...

In 1988, still new to Baltimore from Philadelphia, urban landscape artist Crystal Moll worked from a studio at School 33 Arts Center on Light Street in Riverside. Eventually, a quest to paint what poured in through her window at the gallery led Moll onto the nearby streets with art supplies.

Eleven years ago—following the lead of Blue Hills State Reservation in Massachusetts, which hosted the inaugural First Day Hike in 1992—the America’s State Parks alliance launched First Day Hikes as a nationwide program that offers free, guided hikes in all 50 states on the first of the year.