Archdiocese names official to work more with needy

The Archdiocese of Baltimore has appointed a veteran lobbyist to a new position focused on strengthening its work with communities in need. Mary Ellen Russell, the executive director of the Maryland Catholic Conference in Annapolis since 2008, will become the archdiocese’s first director of community affairs. She will oversee outreach to business leaders, elected officials, clergy members, nonprofits and others to strengthen the Catholic Church’s service to those communities. Her work will focus mainly on Baltimore but also address the needs of other communities in Maryland, Sean Caine, a vice chancellor for the diocese, said. The idea for the new position began in the aftermath of the unrest sparked by Freddie Gray’s death in police custody in 2015. Russell’s first challenges will include creating an online database of services the church offers in Baltimore as well as an app for locating them. Russell begins July 1.

Computer overload stalls medical marijuana sales

The online system that tracks medical marijuana got overwhelmed by heavy use on Friday and Saturday, officials said, slowing and preventing purchases at dispensaries across Maryland. A spokeswoman for the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission attributed the problem to a new feature that allowed patients to log in to see how much medical marijuana they had bought and how much they were still permitted to buy in a 30-day period. Until recently, only dispensaries could tap the information to ensure they were selling the permitted amounts. “The system didn’t stop, but it was very slow and in some cases would not process the purchases,” said Jennifer White, the commission spokeswoman. Officials at the vendor that runs the system determined Saturday that heavy patient volume was overwhelming the system at peak times. The vendor, Florida-based Franwell, shut off patient access and the system, known as Metrc, returned to normal for dispensaries. White said the commission has asked to restore the feature as a convenience for patients, but she had no timeline. The Metrc system serves 10 states that permit medical marijuana sales, but White believes the patient feature was only in use in Maryland. Franwell did not respond to a request for comment. There are more than 27,000 certified patients in Maryland and another 11,000 registered and awaiting certification. Medical providers recommend the use of medical marijuana for several maladies and also recommend an amount of the products for patients to use. The products, including different strains of marijuana, are different strengths and that requires a complex calculation each time a dispensary or a patient logged into the Metrc system, White said. Max Davidson, executive director of the Maryland Patients Rights Association and assistant general manager of the Timonium area dispensary Your Farmacy, said the online feature was a big request from customers. He said for the time being customers will have to call or come in to find out about their limits. He said Your Farmacy was unable to sell any products at times over the weekend because the dispensary wasn’t able to use the system, causing problems for some customers. “Some people drive an hour or two hours to a dispensary and then they get there and find out they can’t get their medicine,” said Davidson, who confirmed that the system is again working smoothly for dispensaries. timore Police Department’s appeal of a $2.3 million judgment for maliciously prosecuting a homeless man as the “Charles Village rapist.” The Supreme Court announced Monday that it had denied the department’s petition to hear the case. Marlow Humbert sued the Baltimore police in 2011, saying detectives had DNA results within about a month of his arrest that exonerated him, but continued to hold him on the rape charge. He was held in solitary confinement for more than a year beginning in 2008. The two sexual assaults in 2008 — in the 2600 block of St. Paul St. on March 5, then four blocks south on April 30 — incited fear of a serial rapist and police arrested Humbert. He was released about 14 months later after DNA evidence failed to link him to the crimes. Humbert sued the officers and the Police Department in federal court and a jury ruled unanimously, finding the three officers violated Humbert's right to be free from malicious prosecution. He was awarded $2.3 million in damages in April 2015. About two months later, U.S. District Judge William Quarles Jr. reversed the jury decision, concluding the detectives had probable cause and were entitled to immunity. Quarles wrote that police had not acted with “actual malice.” Then Humbert appealed and three federal appeals judges in Richmond, Va., unanimously ordered last August that his award be reinstated. Next, the Police Department petitioned the Supreme Court to hear their appeal of the judgment. But the court only accepts about 1 percent of such petitions, Humbert’s attorney, Charles Edwards, said at the time. Edwards could not immediately be reached Monday.

Two wounded in separate Baltimore shootings

year-old man was shot in his hand around 10 p.m. on the 400 block of E. North Ave., police said. About five hours later, in Belair-Edison of Northeast Baltimore, a 35-year-old man was shot multiple times and wounded in a home on the 3900 block of Kenyon Ave., police said. They said the wounded man and shooter had been in an altercation, and the shooter ran away. On Monday, police identified three people killed over the weekend. Early Sunday, Quayvon Joshnson, 24, of Mondawmin, was fatally stabbed in his chest on Manse Court in Upton, police said. On Saturday, Michael Johnson, 25, of Sandtown-Winchester, was fatally shot in the 1600 block of N. Gilmor St., police said. Friday night, 68-year-old Elizabeth Holland was stabbed to death in a home in Cherry Hill, police said. Officers said they charged her boyfriend, Michael Allen, 68, with the murder. Online court records did not list his attorney. Anyone with information about the incidents can call police, 410-396-2221.