The Baltimore Sun from Baltimore, Maryland • A2

2 THE BALTIMORE SUN NEWS TUESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2018 a week of back-to-back celebrations for BaltimoreCity Public Schools. Five newly rebuilt or renovated school buildings are being unveiled to the public through Wednesday, a step forward in a district that has dealt with decaying educa- tion infrastructure for decades. The quick succession of ribbon-cutting ceremonies represent years of work and hundreds ofmillions of dollars spent under the 21st Century School Buildings Program, which will eventually bring as many as 28 modernized school buildings to the city. The five buildings opening ahead of the new school year are Pimlico Cherry Hill dle and the Robert Poole Building, home to the Academy for College and Career Exploration and IndependenceHigh. The $1 billion 21st Century schools initiative was established in 2013 by the General Assembly in partnership with the city, the Maryland Stadium Authority, the cityschool Interagen- cy Committee on School Construction.

Advocates said themassive investmentwas necessary becauseBaltimore is home to the oldest school buildings. The reality of the aging infra- structure was put in stark relief this winter when roughly half of its 171 schools experiencedheatingtroublesorburstpipes. City schoolsCEOSonja Santelises said at the firstof fiveribbon-cuttingsMondaythat the new buildings demonstrate to Balti- students that they deserve the best. The buildings constructed under the 21st Centuryprogramareequippedwithameni- ties such as technology labs, media studios and art rooms. spaces communicate to our stu- dentswhat standing in front of Pimlico.

Thebuildings are alsooutfittedwithnew water filtration systems, meaning children can start drinking from the fountains something the majority of Baltimore stu- dents do because their lead-tainted pipes have forced them to rely on bottledwater. "All Baltimore schoolchildren and their teachers deserve to be in modernized said Frank Patinella, an educa- tion advocate with the ACLU of Maryland. five schools opening this fall we are taking amajor step toward the daywhen all city students will be able to arrive each morning in schools with sufficient heat, air-conditioning, water fountains from which they can drink, 21st century technology, and playing fields where they can get Mayor Catherine Pugh, City Council President Bernard C. Young and other elected officials joined Santelises for ribbon-cutting at Pimlico. Stu- dents using oversized scissors helpedmake their opening official.

Earlier this summer, the city broke ground on the next five schools that will undergo renovations or replacements: Ar- lington John Ruhrah Bay-Brook Elementa- Calvin G. Rodwell Elementary and the Fairmount-Harford building, which is the future home of the REACH! Partnership School. The first twoschools rebuilt aspartof the 21st Century program were unveiled last summer Fort Worthington Middle andFrederickElementary. The new school buildings are not just intended to send a positive message to students. The city is working with commu- nity partners to improve the areas immedi- ately surrounding the schools, working to uplift large swaths of the city with every new ribbon-cutting or ground-breaking.

all know that schools are the hub within any Baltimore Teach- ers Union president Marietta English said. new opportunities that will arise for our students, teachers and support staff, parents and the entire community is School begins formost students Sept. 4. twitter.com/TaliRichman Baltimore gets 5 renovated schools Refurbished structures include media studios, water filtration systems By Talia Richman The Baltimore Sun WASHINGTON U.S. senators asked a Senate committee today to support language requiring notice if any state election vendors come under the ownership or control of a foreign national.

A letter sent by Sens. Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen to the Senate Rules and Administration Committee follows the disclosure in July that aMaryland election software vendor has ties to a Russian investor. The letter asks the committee to sponsor an amendment requiring elec- tion vendors to submit a report to the government any foreign na- tional that directly or indirectly owns or controls the vendor, aswell as anymaterial change in ownership resulting in owner- ship or control by a foreign The amendment would become part of the Secure Elections Act, a bipartisan measure the committee is scheduled to consider Wednesday. The legislation re- quires better coordination and informa- tion among federal and state entities to prevent election hacks. It is too soon to know whether the committee will incor- porate the amendment.

Maryland Reps. John Delaney and Jamie Raskin, both Democrats, and Re- publican Rep. Andy Harris are pushing legislation to address the issue on the House side. Maryland General Assembly leaders learned in July that, without the knowledge, a Russian investor had bought a local softwarevendor thatmaintainspart of the State Board of voter registration system. The vendor, ByteGrid LLC, said the investor has no access to voting system.

twitter.com/sunjeffbarker Senators seek notice of foreign election links Russian purchase of software vendor spurs move by Cardin, Van Hollen By Jeff Barker The Baltimore Sun Theportraitused tohang in thehallway, welcoming children and parents to the ArchbishopBordersSchool inBaltimore: a smiling Dr. Ben Carson in surgical scrubs, rubbing together the careful, steady hands that helped him become the nation's most famous black doctor. person who has the most to do with your success is it reads. That was before presidential bid, before he endorsed Donald Trump, and before he was tapped to run the Department ofHousing andUrbanDevel- opment. It was before the president failed to condemn white supremacists who marched inCharlottesville, Va.

Andbefore Carson pushed policies critics say walk back civil rights protections for those living in subsidized housing. took it said Principal Alicia Freeman of the portrait she's since placed out of public view. Although the school, whose student body is majority Hispanic, black and low-income, has a reading room funded by Carson's foundation, the doc- inspirational message now feels hostile, she said. starting to storyofclimbingoutofpoverty to becomeaworld-renowned surgeonwas once ubiquitous in Baltimore, where Carson made his name. For a working- class, majority African-American city wracked by racial division and neglect where a baby born in a wealthy white neighborhood is expected to live two decades longer than one in a poor black hope.

But his role in the Trump adminis- tration has added a complicated epilogue, leaving many who admired him feeling betrayed. In the last presidential election, nearly 85 percent of city voters cast ballots forHillaryClinton. Trump virus is weakening Ben said Bishop FrankReid, a former pastor at Bethel AME Church who met Carson at Yale, where both received their degrees. Carson is still respected, Reid said. he is no longer the hero he Carson declined to be interviewed for this story.

Instead, he sent a written statement. understand what it means to be poor because I grew up the statement said. was fortunate to have my mother who was my compass always steering me on course, helping me to see beyond our circumstances. That's what I hope to do for the millions of low-income families Carson was born in Detroit, but Balti- more is the city that claimshim.He rose to fame for his groundbreaking surgeries at JohnsHopkinsHospital, and launched his scholarship programhere. young African-American who grew up in poverty and could have been put in jail or suspended from school made something great of himself.

It was the said. he couldwalk Emmanuel Williams, 33, grew up in Northwest Baltimore. He learned about Carson in elementary school, a few years after Carson grabbed headlines for suc- cessfully separating conjoined twins atta- ched at the skull. was taught during Black History said. everyonewas so proud because itwas happening here in Baltimore.

I think the country looks down on he said. to have such a brilliant person who's making history and making these greatmedical advancements jewel, and hewas Since taking the reins at HUD, Carson has proposed sweeping rent increases for subsidizedhousing tenants, andhas begun dismantling key Obama-era regulations designed to address racial segregation. Carson has considered stripping anti- discrimination language from the depart- ment's mission statement, and voiced support for implementing work require- ments for housing aid recipients. Now, Williams said, "people feel be- trayed." The seeds of Carson's approach to policy are scattered throughout his mem- oir. He has long promoted self-sufficiency and enthusiastically embraced the boot- strap ideology popularwith conservatives.

a certain consistency to his message, just the language is now said Kurt Schmoke, Baltimore's the University of Baltimore, have been friends for decades. more political, more partisan, and in my view, he said. do think clearly more people who view him through a political lens and that affects how viewed in this communi- Some Maryland conservatives embrace transition. Antonio Campbell, a professor of political science at Towson University and state chairman 2016 presidential campaign, said he mains Those disappointed with per- formance asHUDsecretary likely feel that way because of fundamentally divergent values, he said. question is, what is the role of said Campbell, a Republi- can who is running for U.S.

Senate against Democratic Sen. BenCardin.When assist- ance is scaled back, those accustomed to the status quo are bound to be disappoint- ed, he said. Carson has come back to Baltimore in an official capacity only three times since becoming HUD secretary. Last month the department in revitaliza- tion grants to five cities, including Balti- more. But for the announcement Carson sent a representative to the Perkins Homeshousingcomplex, opting instead to go to Ben once-shining image takes a hit in city This portrait of Ben Carson once hung in the hallway of Archbishop Borders School.

It now hangs in a less prominent location. JULIET By Juliet Linderman Associated Press Investigators work at the crash scene Monday of an Ultralight that crashed Saturday off Baugher Road near Westminster, killing two people. Michael Kilpatrick, the pilot, of New Wind- sor and a passenger, Robert Johnson of Woodsboro, died in the crash. KEN SUN MEDIA GROUP Federal investigators at crash scene.