The Baltimore Sun du lieu suivant : Baltimore, Maryland • A4

4 THE BALTIMORE SUN NEWS SUNDAY, JANUARY 18, 2015 SUN baltimoresun.comsuninvestigates Highlighting results of Sun investigations, sharing public records and documents and giving readers a better understanding of howjournalists do their jobs. Lead-paint oversight of rental housing faulted Hill INVESTIGATES Nick Mosby: No role in firings decisions, Nick Mosby said he is not. "I rub Marilyn's feet when she gets home. I've been taking care of our daughters to ensure she can spend enough time in the office," he said. "I don't have a law degree.

I'm on the City Council. That's where my focus is." Marilyn Mosby defeated State's Attorney Gregg L. Bernstein in last year's Democratic primary. Last week, she announced a slate of new hires as part of an office restructuring that she said will beef up intelligence gathering and improve relations with the community. She said the new structure was based in part on ideas from prosecutors' offices in New York, Los Angeles and Atlanta Nick Mosby said he won't need to recuse himself from many council votes, because the council rarely takes action involving the state's attorney's office.

The council does, however, approve the city's budget, which provides funding for city prosecutors. Mosby said he would recuse himself from any prosecutor-related votes during the budget process. Luke Broadwater Councilman denies report of taking role in state's attorney personnel decisions How much is Councilman Nick J. Mosby involved in the job of his wife, new Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby? It's a question a lot of Baltimoreans asked last week after a former employee of the prosecutor's office posted an open letter online, alleging that Nick Mosby was involved in decisions about personnel changes.

Councilman Mosby, who represents West Baltimore's 7th District, denied the allegations in an interview. He said he plays no role in the prosecutor's office, and plans to recuse himself from any City Council votes involving the office. "I helped move some boxes in. Other than that, I have nothing to do with her office and her administration," he said. "I had nothing to do with any of the firings.

I promise you. It's flat out wrong and a lie." As Marilyn Mosby took office last week, BARBARA HADDOCK TAYLORTHE SUN Baltimore City Councilman Nick Mosby is married to Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby. several frontline prosecutors and other staff were dismissed. On Tuesday night, Cristie Cole, a data analyst for the office who said she was fired, sent an agency-wide email criticizing Mosby's decisions and questioning whether they were politically motivated or agenda-driven.

Marilyn Mosby has declined to comment on what she said was an email sent by a "disgruntled former employee." Asked if he is advising his wife on Maryland regulators are still having trouble keeping tabs on how many rental housing units have hazardous lead paint, even as the number of homes and apartments they must oversee to protect children from lead poisoning expands. A legislative audit released last week found that the Maryland Department of the Environment failed to follow up on thousands of property owners who did not renew annual registrations in 2013. The agency identified 8,461 owners who were nearly a year late renewing registrations, according to auditors. But regulators failed to put more than L100 of those owners on a list used to find out why they had not re-registered their units. The finding is similar to one from an audit released in April that said the environment department had failed to follow up on more than 900 rental units whose owners did not renew annual registrations through 201L State law has required for years that all housing units built before 1950 and rented to families be registered and have lead-paint risks dealt with.

Youngsters who ingest even tiny amounts of lead dust or paint flakes can suffer lasting health problems. Nearly 25,000 owners registered more than 74,000 units last year, according to MDE spokesman Jay Apperson. Beginning this year, lawmakers have expanded the coverage of Maryland's lead poisoning prevention law to include rental units built before 1978 the year lead paint was no longer allowed to be sold for use inside homes nationwide. State officials have mailed letters to more than 157,000 owners of properties of that vintage, reminding them to register if their units have lead paint and are rented to families. Despite the registration lapses, Hilary D.

Miller, deputy director of the environment department's land management administration, said the annual number of children poisoned by lead has declined by more than 98 percent since the law was passed two decades ago. Timothy B. Wheeler Flu is hitting Maryland earlier and harder But Maragakis, along with state and federal public health officials, still recommends getting the vaccine. "Definitely ask your doctor or health care provider for a flu shot, because even this late in the season, it may still offer some protection or moderate the flu if you get it," she said. "The CDC recommends that everyone six months or older get a flu shot every year because it is an effective way of boosting the immune system to fight circulating strains of flu virus." She also noted another important method of preventing flu's spread: hand-washing.

Meredith Cohn The flu season is off to an earlier and stronger start, sending 2,300 people to the hospital with influenza-like symptoms in Maryland, accounting for about 4.9 percent of all emergency department visits, according to state data collected from some participating medical providers. Nationally, about 4.4 percent of emergency visits are for flu symptoms such as aches, fever and coughing and 45 children have died, elevating the season to epidemic levels, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Most adults are not tested for the flu, and there are no requirements that adult deaths are reported to the CDC.) Some blame may lie with this year's vaccine. The CDC recently said it reduces the risk of having to visit the doctor by just 23 percent; the number is usually close to 60 percent.

The problem: This year's mix of vaccine strains doesn't match those circulating. Specifically, the H3N2 strain that was included in the vaccine "drifted," or mutated enough to lose effectiveness. It's too early to say if there will be an overall increase in flu cases, because the season lasts until May, said Dr. Lisa Maragalds, an infectious disease expert and director of the department of hospital epidemiology and infection control at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Send US yOUr neWStipS Do you have something you want The Baltimore Sun to investigate? Email newstipsbaltimoresun.com On AStannahStairlift DONATE YOUR CAR Wheels For Wishes Benefiting Make climbing stairs easy again with the world's top selling stairlift in your home.

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