The Baltimore Sun from Baltimore, Maryland • A2

THE BALTIMORE SUN NEWS TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2014 Council process is called 'tainted' favored through a committee appointed to nominate someone to fill the seat A committee of community leaders, appointed by Young, listened to more than four hours of testimony last Tuesday evening from 14 candidates for the vacancy and in less than five minutes agreed to nominate Federal Hill Neighborhood Association President Eric T. Costello, who was supported by Young. Costello, 33, is an information technology auditor for the U.S. Government Accountability Office. He was the only candidate with as many letters of opposition as support sent to the committee.

Young has acknowledged that he encouraged Costello to apply for the seat left open when Councilman William H. Cole IV was selected to lead the Baltimore Development Corp. Young also said he let committee members know that he "liked" Costello. But he has denied lobbying them and said the selection process was fair. Council District 11 includes downtown, Federal Hill and Bolton Hill.

The full City Council is scheduled to vote on Costello's nomination Oct 6. City Councilman Carl Stokes, who chaired the committee, said he rejected arguments that the process was unfair. He said the committee made up of 11 community and business members and two councilman was joining the political process wrote letters supporting candidates, under the belief that their letters could have an impact As even some Committee members recognized, it is an insult to these individuals that their views were not considered before the final vote." City Councilman Nick J. Mosby, who uses the same fundraiser, Colleen Martin-Lauer, as Rawlings-Blake, said he believed the only way to please constituents would be to hold a special election to fill the next vacant council seat The selection committee was made up of community and business leaders chosen by Young. This was the first time the council has used the selection process it created in 2011 after council members chose the successor to Councilwoman Agnes Welch, who retired.

The council voted to appoint Welch's son, William "Pete" Welch, to her seat Council members were criticized for not having sought more community input and subsequently established the process being used now. "In 2010 there was a huge amount of outcry and now we have this, where there's a huge among of outcry," Mosby said. "I don't think there's a way to get away from the controversy unless there's a special election" lbroadwaterbaltsun.com twitter.comlukebroadwater 9 candidates call selection of District 11 representative an 'insult' to public, ask revote By Luke Broadwater The Baltimore Sun Nine candidates on Monday called the selection process to choose a new City Council member for Baltimore's 11th District an "insult" and demanded a new vote. In a letter to the City Council, nine of 14 candidates for the seat said the committee selection process for the vacancy was "tainted" and weakened the public's trust in Baltimore's government "Ultimately, the selection process has caused residents across Baltimore City to question their trust and confidence in our political system," the nine wrote. "It is bad for the 11th District and the entire City that this selection process is tainted.

We ask that the City Council send back the current nomination to the Nominating Committee so that the Committee can give full consideration to all candidates." City Council President Bernard C. "Jack" Young came under fire last week as critics accused him of pushing a candidate he not unduly pressured by Young or anyone else. Lester Davis, a spokesman for Young, said the council president "understands that individuals are disappointed." But Davis said Young "put a lot of thought and care in the process. He believes the integrity was maintained." The nine candidates who signed the letter are: Melanie Ambridge, a former board member of the South Baltimore Neighborhood Association; Jon Kucskar, a deputy legal counsel to Gov. Martin O'Malley; Rob LaPin, a former teacher; Arthur McGreevy, a lawyer and former campaign manager for Howard County Executive Ken Ulman; Harry Preston, a teacher of the year at Edmondson Westside High; Bill Romani, founding board member of nonprofit One House at a Time; Sileo; Benjamin Smith, student body president at the University of Maryland School of Law; and Shannon Sullivan, board member of the Riverside community association "We are deeply concerned that Committee members did not have a legitimate opportunity to review letters from individuals that supported or opposed individual candidates," the nine wrote.

"At least 250 people in the 11th District offered their views in the public record. Many residents unaccustomed to Man rescued after building collapse near Camden Yards Russell Street closed for hours, causing traffic backups south of downtown By Jessica Anderson The Baltimore Sun A man working inside a rowhouse near Camden Yards was trapped under tons of debris for several hours Monday after the back of the building collapsed, Baltimore fire officials said. Rescue workers pulled the victim who suffered life-threatening injuries from the home at 528 S. Paca St. about 4:30 p.m.

The building collapsed about noon, but crews spent hours attempting to secure the structure. During the rescue, officials shut down a portion of Russell Street, snarling traffic south of downtown. Another man also hurt in the collapse was taken to a local hospital with injuries that were not deemed life-threatening, said Fire Department spokesman Ian Brennan. He said the pair who were not identified appeared to be doing renovations to the home in the Ridgely's Delight neighborhood at the time of the collapse. It was unclear whether the men lived there or were contractors, Brennan said.

The back half of the house was severely damaged while the building's front facade remained intact. Crews were called to the home at 12:35 p.m. and remained until about 6 p.m. During the rescue, Brennan said, the trapped victim remained alert and talked to firefighters through the debris. The department's Special Rescue Operations Unit responded and built wooden braces in an effort to enter the home and safely extract the victim.

A crane was set up to help with the rescue, and a team of physicians from nearby Maryland Shock Trauma Center treated the victim at the scene. According to state property records, the home was last sold in April for $94,000. The owners could not be reached for comment Monday. The city's housing website shows three permits had been issued to the property, including a demolition permit that allowed the "removal of more than one-third of the structure on any level. The remaining structure will be secured and shored up." Two additional permits allowed for a third-story addition, a rooftop deck and other improvements.

The home previously had been the subject of 311 complaints, including a vacant building complaint made in May 2013 and "building permit complaint" in March 2013, but the website does not provide additional details. Two adjacent rowhouses were evacuated during Monday's rescue, the department said. Baltimore Sun reporter Colin Campbell contributed to this article. jkandersonbaltsun.com twitter.comjandersS ALGERINA PERNA BALTIMORE SUN Baltimore ief ighters work to shore up part of a rowhouse in Ridgely's Delight to rescue a man trapped underneath the debris. Fire Department officials said the man, trapped for several hours, suffered life-threatening injuries.

Video online Go to baltimoresun.com to see video of the scene of the building collapse. Grandmother gets 30 years in methadone death of 1-year-old Reaves told homicide detectives and pretrial investigators about how the children were poisoned. Mollock provided the judge and prosecutors with a Baltimore Sun column from nine years ago detailing Reaves' efforts to get clean, but Doory countered that his case file showed she was living off public assistance and family support while also working as a prostitute. He also said the night of the incident, she seemed more interested in attending a party than tending to the children's welfare. "She did such a thing because that day, she was interested in the party and didn't want to be bothered," Doory said.

Reaves received 30 years for second-degree murder and 30 years for child abuse resulting in death, to be served concurrently. She received 10 years for child abuse in the case of Aadyn's sister. iduncanbaltsun.com twitter.comiduncan jggiAfc pronounced dead. Pros-ecutors said his sister needed multiple doses of Narcan, a drug that re- as verses the effects of other drugs, to survive. i Both children tested "7v -r positive for methadone, a painkiller often used to Towanda treat heroin addiction.

The medical examiner's office concluded Aadyn died of methadone intoxication. According to court documents, Reaves told investigators she put the children to bed about 8 p.m. and checked on them at 2 a.m. Between those times, prosecutors said, she attended a party. Reaves told investigators that at 4 a.m., she got out of bed to turn off the air conditioning and realized Aadyn wasn't breathing.

She called 91L Prosecutors say she initially told detectives she had rubbed the drug on the children's gums, but when case went to trial in July she denied doing so. After a weeklong trial, a city jury convicted Reaves of second-degree murder, child abuse resulting in death, first-degree child abuse and two counts of second-degree child abuse. Reaves' attorney, S. Simone Mollock argued there was "no malice" in Reaves' act and urged the judge to be lenient. She said she lived for her grandchildren, kept a spotless home and routinely woke up at 5 am.

to ride a bus and take a grandson to school every day. Reaves also spoke directly to the judge, saying she was "very much" responsible for her grandson's death. "I'm not very good at speaking, but the lads know that I never meant to hurt the children," she said. Two members of the Overton family also spoke on Reaves' behalf, saying they believed what happened was an accident. Doory, however, cited the shifting stories By Justin George and Ian Duncan The Baltimore Sun A Baltimore woman received a 30-year prison sentence Monday in the death of her 1-year-old grandson and a 10-year sentence for abuse of her granddaughter after a judge said she rubbed methadone onto the children's gums before she put them to bed and headed off to a party.

Towanda Reaves, 51, took responsibility for the boy's death but said she never meant to kill him. "This is not the intentional killing of her grandson, but those who think this was some form of tragic accident misunderstand the case, and misunderstand the jury's analysis of it," said Baltimore Circuit Judge Timothy Doory. "This is murder." In the early hours of July 5, 2013, police and paramedics arrived at Reaves' Frank-lintown apartment after receiving a call about two unresponsive children. Less than an hour later, 1-year-old Aadyn Overton was.