City News In Brief

Judge refuses to dismiss perjury charges in Dixon case

Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon will be tried for perjury, despite attempts by her lawyers to have the charges dismissed.

On Monday, a judge denied a motion to dismiss the two charges.

Dixon has been accused of perjuring herself by failing to include gifts she received on her ethics report to the city.

Dixon received the gifts from her former boyfriend Ronald Lispcomb, a city developer who was granted millions in tax credits.

The mayor also faces charges in her alleged personal usage of gift cards that had been donated to be used by the homeless.

That trial will begin on Nov. 9. A date for the perjury trial has not been set.

Company slow to produce funds for proposed slot machines

The company responsible for creating a new casino in downtown Baltimore has yet to pay nearly $20 million required to move forward with construction.

The Baltimore City Entertainment Group will be putting nearly 4,000 slot machines at a casino to be located near the Ravens football stadium, a dramatic increase from the 500 machines proposed in February.

This would make it the second-largest casino all of Maryland.

This increase required the company to provide $19.5 million more in licensing fees, which have not yet been received by the state.

Planners have told the press that fundraising efforts should result in the fees being paid soon and that they hope to open the casino in 2011.

Baltimore firefighters will not see increase in salary

Baltimore firefighters will not see the two percent pay increase they hoped for this year.

Stalled contract negotiations between the city and the local firefighters union sent the decision to arbitration, which sided in favor of the city government.

The city has also request that the union make reductions. The arbitrator's decision was announced last Thursday.

County granted $4 million for reducing lead exposure in homes

Baltimore County has received $4 million in federal grants towards reducing lead exposure.

The funding will be used to build more houses that are lead safe and energy-efficient in hopes that fewer children will be exposed to toxins.

The county Office of Community Conservation was granted the funds by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development on Thursday.

According to the federal department, 24 million houses across the country are not lead free despite a ban on lead-based paint having been imposed since 1978.

The goal of the Lead Hazard Reduction Program is to evaluate a total of 350 homes across the country.

BGE: natural gas prices will go down this winter

While the economy goes down, at least thermostats in the Baltimore can go up this winter.

The Baltimore Gas and Electric Company (BGE) has announced that natural gas prices will go down by as much as 25 percent this winter.

Prices will soon hit $1.04 per therm, down from $1.32 per therm last winter.

BGE cited a decrease in both energy costs and natural gas consumption as the causes for cost cuts.

The company provides natural gas to 640,000 consumers, and electricity to 1.2 million.