For years, state and local officials have known about this shadow network of unlicensed care homes, where older and disabled Marylanders often end up in exchange for their Social Security or disability checks. Lawyers have called it “trafficking,” benefit exploitation and outright neglect.

A Spotlight on Maryland investigation found that state and local agencies have repeatedly failed to shut down dozens of known unlicensed facilities, allowing an underground industry to flourish in Baltimore’s neighborhoods. Hundreds of emergency calls, thousands of documents, and interviews with lawyers, families, caregivers, and business owners reveal a grim pattern: people in their final years left to die in squalor while government agencies look away again and again.

The Office of Health Care Quality (OHCQ) — the Maryland Department of Health agency responsible for monitoring and licensing the state’s health care facilities — said it takes “appropriate action” to protect seniors, but acknowledged that despite hundreds of complaints since October 2023, it has sent one referral for prosecution to shut down unlicensed assisted living facilities (ALFs). Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown’s office separately confirmed that it received one.

That one referral was in August 2024. OHCQ and the AG’s office said zero complaints were referred for prosecution in 2025.

This Spotlight on Maryland investigative series will expose how government failures have built an economy of exploitation — and who profits, who enables it, and who allows the state’s seniors to be ignored behind closed doors.

Here’s an overview of Spotlight on Maryland’s findings, which will be reported in depth in the coming weeks and months.

A crisis in plain sight

The investigation began when Spotlight on Maryland noticed a pattern: repeated 911 calls to the same Baltimore addresses for elderly residents in distress. Many of the calls involved unrelated seniors of different ages and genders living at the same locations — properties that were not listed as licensed assisted living facilities.

A trail of government records, lawsuits and nearly 500 hours of fieldwork revealed a system that appears to be operating outside the law. Emergency responders frequently filed complaints with OHCQ detailing unlicensed assisted living facilities operating unchecked.

The complaints described strangers living together in cramped rowhouses, seniors left unwashed and unfed, and residents packed into bedrooms so crowded they violated city occupancy limits.

Maryland Legal Aid, a nonprofit law firm serving low-income residents, warned lawmakers in March 2023 that state protections for seniors and disabled adults were dangerously inadequate.

“It’s no secret that unlicensed ALFs engage in human and/or benefits trafficking, using coercion, deception, threats or other means to traffic a victim, moving them from one facility to another for the additional purpose of appropriating their benefits, such as Social Security Retirement, Food Stamps (SNAP), or other benefits,” the law firm said in its 2023 written testimony.

Those with low or no income are especially vulnerable to such exploitation because “they often have nowhere else to go,” Maryland Legal Aid said.

A licensed assisted living facility in Maryland costs about $4,000 per month, according to Maryland Legal Aid. Unlicensed operators charge far less — sometimes between $600 to $1,000 — creating an illicit market that preys on those least able to protect themselves, according to Spotlight on Maryland’s investigation.

There have also been federal warnings. An 81-page study from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in 2015 during the Obama administration said “unlicensed care homes appear to be widespread in some areas within some states.”

“They are commonly run in single family residences, but also were reported to operate inside buildings that had been schools or churches,” the HHS study said. “Although some … informants provided a few examples of unlicensed care homes where residents receive what they categorized as good care, it appears that abuse, neglect, and financial exploitation of these vulnerable residents is commonplace.”

The HHS report highlighted a handful of states, including Maryland, Georgia, Indiana, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Texas. In Maryland, federal researchers found that there may have been 78 unlicensed care homes serving more than 400 individuals in one county.

A separate federal report around the same time period estimated 370 to 400 beds in unlicensed assisted living facilities in Anne Arundel County.

Government documents show suffering

The suffering is laid bare in OHCQ complaints obtained by Spotlight on Maryland.

In one case, Baltimore police discovered a 74-year-old man who had been missing for four days, his body covered in maggots, found beneath a bush outside a suspected unlicensed home in Lake Walker.

In West Baltimore’s Forest Park neighborhood, officers found a 77-year-old male inside an alleged unlicensed ALF, lying in a hospital bed, unresponsive and “covered in a copious amount of dried feces.”

“[He] also [had] a large piece of what appeared to be an adult diaper in [his] mouth with feces present,” an emergency responder reported to OHCQ.

In yet another incident, a 60-year-old woman managed to call for help only after fighting to retrieve her cellphone from an alleged unlicensed ALF manager. Inside the ambulance, she told responders she could no longer urinate without severe burning and struggled to walk.

Spotlight on Maryland asked Rafael Lopez, secretary of the Maryland Department of Human Services, what his agency is doing to aid vulnerable adults living in unlicensed facilities. Lopez’s agency oversees Adult Protective Services.

“I’m not familiar with the specific question you’re asking,” Lopez said. “When any case comes to our attention of any kind of abuse of an adult, we act urgently and we make sure we treat that adult with the respect and dignity that they deserve.”

Despite Lopez saying his team would provide data on the number of contacts and referrals made from individuals living in unlicensed ALFs, his office did not supply that information and said the department does not categorize complaint data by setting.

The systemic cycling of elderly adults with nowhere to go

Each emergency visit to an area hospital triggers the same bureaucratic system: After treatment, hospitals scramble to find placement for what professionals call “complex cases.”

Some individuals — overwhelmingly elderly, Black, disabled and poor — are cycled from emergency rooms to unlicensed homes, then back again. Many suffer from dementia, Alzheimer’s, terminal cancer or substance use disorders.

Lawyers, health care workers, and family members described an unbroken loop in which hospitals discharge patients because they need the beds, and nobody checks where they end up.

In one case, Christina Talley said she called police for a welfare check after learning that her 69-year-old sister, who has Lewy body dementia, was left alone by home care professionals. Her sister — whom Talley asked not to name — had previously set her home on fire by accident because of her memory loss.

Talley said her sister later spent about four months at a Johns Hopkins hospital as doctors worked to determine the best medication and treatment plan for her complex condition. Eventually, a meeting was held between hospital staff and family members to discuss her sister’s long-term care.

Talley said she felt she had no choice when the hospital informed her family that her sister needed to be moved.

The government “needs to advocate for the aging,” Talley said. “There has to be laws, and rules, and regulations — a deep dive into how the aging system is being run and put them [the seniors] first instead of the bottom line, the money.”

Talley said the ongoing cycle between hospitals, residential placement organizations, and both licensed and unlicensed assisted living facilities has taken a toll on her sister and the entire family, with no clear end in sight.

A spokesperson for Johns Hopkins hospitals acknowledged Spotlight on Maryland’s questions about Talley’s experience and allegations but did not respond before publication.

‘I take it one day at a time’

George “Bobby” Gilliam, 62, is one of many older Marylanders with nowhere else to go. Standing outside a Garrison Boulevard building in early October, he described his living situation to Spotlight on Maryland.

“I pay $765 a month for rent … I can stay here as long as I can pay my rent,” Gilliam said. “They give medication, they send you to the day program. Right now, I’m trying to get food stamps.”

Gilliam’s brother, Frank Clark, said their family has struggled for years to find him adequate care and support. Speaking from his car outside his elderly parents’ home in Sumter, South Carolina, Clark said both parents — now in their 80s and hospitalized —have been desperate to ensure Gilliam is safe. Clark said his brother has a history of drug addiction and is vulnerable to exploitation.

“You’ve been there. You’ve seen the area. It’s the worst place in the world you could put them type of people because they’re susceptible to everything around,” Clark said. “I know this is his second, maybe third go around with them. They had a smaller house the first time. I think they still got that same house, I’m not sure.”

Although a staff member said the building’s residents are fed, Gilliam said he was still waiting for government assistance to supplement what he had in his apartment — a bag of rice and some water.

“At the end of the day, a long day, I pray, I just pray, and I sit back and I be quiet,” Gilliam said. “It gives me a peace of mind, and I go to a quiet place, a little quiet area, and I pray to God and Jesus Christ, and I take it one day at a time — that’s all I can do.”

His situation underscores a growing crisis in Maryland: Older residents with limited income or health challenges often end up in various housing settings with little oversight, but which fill a gap no one else will.

‘We take people 24 hours a day’

Gilliam lives in a building operated by Daquan Thomas, who identified himself to Spotlight on Maryland as founder of Aim to Inspire Care Forever Limited, a nonprofit running a multistory building on Garrison Boulevard in Walbrook Junction. He calls his business “supportive housing.”

“I would say one of our biggest supporters would be LifeBridge Health,” Thomas said. “They really don’t believe in, you know, putting people out on the streets, so, if anything, they’ll contact us. We take people 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”

LifeBridge Health confirmed to Spotlight on Maryland that it has a business relationship with Thomas’ organization, claiming it partners for “medical respite care.” When asked to define the partnership and what qualifies as an appropriate discharge to Thomas’s organization, LifeBridge Health’s spokesperson Sharon Boston responded, saying, “We have no further comment.”

Brian Mullen, a spokesperson for the University of Arizona Global Campus — the school that acquired and rebranded Ashford University in 2020 — said that Thomas, who claimed to hold a doctorate in health care administration from Ashford University, took only one course in 2010 and never graduated.

Mullen added that Thomas was enrolled in a bachelor’s program in human resources.

Spotlight on Maryland emailed Thomas about the discrepancy. Thomas was also questioned about his active $1.7 million lawsuit against his nonprofit and Gilliam’s claims of verbal abuse.

“[S]hut your mouth find factual information you are working for my landlord and my attorneys will be in contact with your company,” Thomas said in an emailed response. “My Ph. D [sic] is from a university you ask me which school I went to I advised you one of the many because your [sic] a snake in the grass working for the devil get a real story Gary as your time at your current company will end very soon.”

Court filings show multiple bankruptcy cases for Thomas spanning 15 years and a $1.7-million judgment for unpaid rent at his Garrison Boulevard property, where Thomas said he has also struggled to pay energy bills. Bankruptcy filings show that Thomas claimed to have earned income only from working in retail for the prescription eyeglass industry.

In July 2024, Thomas applied to be a nonprofit, and last month he told Spotlight on Maryland he has applied to receive state and local taxpayer funds.

“We’ve applied for multiple grants and federal funding,” Thomas said. “[W]e still haven’t gotten any type of, you know, help, unfortunately — but it is what it is. We’re still making it happen, you know, we have the hospitals that we work with who, you know, make private donations to the nonprofit.”

Thomas described the services the Garrison Boulevard location offers.

“Typically, it just depends on the client,” Thomas said. “If the client needs assistance with medication management, if the client needs assistance with light housekeeping, if the client needs trips back and forth to appointments, anything of that nature.”

The property’s owner, 211 W Garrison, LLC, has filed for receivership, alleging Thomas is illegally running an assisted living facility. Despite the legal troubles, Thomas claimed to be serving individuals living in 38 units in the building and between 200 and 400 people — most poor, disabled, struggling with mental illness, or battling addiction — since he started operating Maryland facilities in 2018.

But as the legal battle continues, residents like Gilliam are living in a last resort, paying rent to an operator who is being sued for allegedly failing to pay his rent, potentially putting their housing at risk.

‘Nobody’s noticing’

Spotlight on Maryland requested interviews with LifeBridge Health and Johns Hopkins, both identified by multiple sources as hospitals that outsource some discharge placements to third-party operators. Neither institution agreed to an interview.

“[Assisted living] facilities need to be licensed and monitored,” said Arthur Drager, outside counsel for Johns Hopkins hospitals and other Maryland hospital systems. “It’s not a matter of only getting a license. Someone or some entity needs to oversee and stop in, unannounced, in facilities, to see what is actually going on.”

Ellen Jordan “EJ” Hammann, a partner with the Baltimore medical malpractice firm Brown and Barron, said that those inside licensed and unlicensed facilities caring for seniors are not the only ones keeping silent. Seniors often won’t — or can’t — advocate for themselves.

“Our elderly population tends to be quiet, especially when they’re ill. They’re not making a lot of noise,” Hammann said. “What we have is a quiet generation slowly slipping away, and nobody’s noticing.”

Drager, the outside counsel for Johns Hopkins, said he “probably” has seen instances of seniors placed in an unlicensed ALF in his career after hospital discharge. Without naming the hospital, the elder care attorney for medical institutions said a guardianship client of his was shipped one day to an old farmhouse in Delaware.

When Drager arrived with hospital attorneys, he said he saw approximately half a dozen seniors sitting in a living room around a television set.

“I took this woman outside, with the attorney from the hospital,” Drager said. “She had bruises on her arms, she was frightened of the people who had the facility, and we let her know we were not going to leave without her.”

Hammann said lawyers who work on elder neglect and elder abuse talk about the absence of care. “And I think it is sometimes akin to warehousing. It’s like you’re renting a storage unit, you sign a contract, you put boxes in a storage unit, and you forget about them.”

Even as the crisis and the number of unlicensed facilities multiply, state lawmakers are considering loosening regulations. One bill introduced during the 2025 session would expand Medicaid funding for long-term rentals, a step advocates say could blur the line between supportive housing and unlicensed care homes.

In written testimony, Johns Hopkins said of the proposed Maryland expansion: “There are real benefits to providing this service, we know first-hand.”

A law with no enforcement

State Attorney General Anthony Brown’s office in 2023 pushed for legislative changes to make it a felony to operate an unassisted living facility. Two years ago, the Maryland General Assembly — at the request of Attorney General Brown — made operating an unlicensed assisted living facility a felony. The law had overwhelming bipartisan support and the backing of advocates for older adults.

“One thing has become clear … unlicensed assisted living facilities are hotbeds for the abuse and exploitation of vulnerable victims who cannot speak for or protect themselves,” said W. Zak Shirley and Lisa Hyle Marts, leaders in the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in the attorney general’s office, in a March 30, 2023, memo. “By virtue of remaining unlicensed, these facilities operate in the shadows – enriching their unscrupulous owners/operators by taking advantage of people in desperate need of assistance.”

At the time, Baltimore City Mayor Brandon Scott’s office said the city’s health department knew of 80 unlicensed ALFs. That estimate has increased by nearly 50% over the past two years, based on counts now tracked by local and state agencies.

In a March 2023 letter to the state House Health and Government Operations Committee, the Mayor’s Office of Government Relations acknowledged “multiple complaints” about unlicensed assisted living facilities, citing financial, physical and psychological abuse, resident neglect, inadequate food for residents, mismanagement of their medications, and theft of their financial benefits.

Nearly three years later, the city declined to answer Spotlight on Maryland’s questions about unlicensed assisted living facilities. A city spokesperson said the request for information would be “handled by the Office of Health Care Quality — within the Maryland Department of Health — as they are responsible for licensing and regulating assisted living facilities, residential service agencies and nurse referral agencies.”

The Maryland Department of Health said it takes “appropriate actions” to combat unlicensed ALFs, including cease and desist letters, fines, and referrals to the attorney general for prosecution. A department spokesperson estimated receiving eight to 10 complaints per month about unlicensed facilities — consistent with a 2023 Health Department letter showing about 120 allegations investigated annually.

Spotlight on Maryland has filed a public records request with OHCQ to learn more about the complaints and referral process.

“OHCQ works closely with the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) within the Office of the Attorney General to investigate and prosecute these unlicensed programs,” said the 2023 letter from former Health Secretary Laura Herrera Scott.

Yet Brown’s office confirmed that no prosecutions have been brought under the new law since it took effect in October 2023.

Brown’s office said it received one criminal referral in August 2024 for a suspected unlicensed assisted living facility in Anne Arundel County. Jennifer Donelan, the AG’s spokesperson, said the office “declined to prosecute due to insufficient evidence.”

Privately, government officials have met about what they call a growing unlicensed ALF crisis, according to senior government officials not authorized to speak to the media. The same leaders who championed the 2023 legislation have failed to enforce it, overwhelmed by the growing number of aging Marylanders in need and the lack of legitimate housing alternatives.

Have you experienced or have direct knowledge about unlicensed assisted living facilities operating in Maryland? Do you have a tip related to this story? Reach Gary Collins at gmcollins@sbgtv.com or contact Spotlight on Maryland’s hotline at (410) 467-4670.  Spotlight on Maryland is a collaboration between The Baltimore Sun, FOX45 News, WJLA in Washington, D.C.

Project planners presented the gas station concept to the city’s Board of Appeals at a contentious meeting Thursday, requesting that the project be granted approval for “conditional use” on the 33.32-acre property. Per city code, project planners must receive approval from the board before they are obligated to submit site plans outlining the project in detail.

Current information for the project states that a gas station and a 25+-room hotel are planned for the land, but no details on the number of gas pumps, number of hotel rooms, square footage, vehicle access, parking, traffic impact or other details have been made available for either of the proposals.

Mitch Ensor, with Bay State Land Services, told the board he had been working with the property since it was annexed into Havre de Grace about 10 years ago.

He explained that the land’s current zoning allows for a mix of commercial and residential development, and said a gas station is in line with the city’s comprehensive development plan.

Ensor also said every intersection in the county with a state road that intersects Interstate 95 — as Level Road does near the proposed development — has a gas station, which he said causes a need for the proposed gas station.

Residents of nearby housing developments attended the meeting and expressed concern with traffic, noise, quality of life, environmental concerns, overdevelopment and the impact the gas station would have on their home value. Many residents said that within a 5-mile radius, there are numerous gas stations and the proposal is unnecessary.

Some residents said developments in the area will add more residents and increase traffic: Bulle Rock plans to expand, and The Legacies is ready to break ground on 290 new homes off Level Road.

Speaking for himself and not as a City Council member, City Council President Jim Ringsaker emphasized that the property’s zoning allows for commercial development and said he fears not passing the conditional use could open the city to litigation.

He also criticized some of the project opponents, saying many did not live in city limits.

“While I don’t discount [what] everyone said, I understand if you live there, you don’t want stuff going in. But they don’t live in Havre de Grace,” Ringsaker said. “They are not within the city limits of Havre de Grace, and I think that diminishes the weight of the petition.”

Crowd members audibly sighed and snarked at the comment.

Acknowledging the concerns of the residents, Ensor said his review of the gas station found it would not have any impact on surrounding developments.

“I think the newly developing neighborhoods would be perfect users and convenient use of a gas station,” Ensor said, prompting audible laughs from the attending residents.

Despite the outline of a gas station and “over 25+-room hotel” being presented, board members said they do not have enough information regarding either of the developments to approve or deny the request for conditional use on the property.

After numerous back-and-forth conversations among board members, project planners and meeting attendees, it was determined that the project’s representatives are unsure of the development’s traffic impact as well as the scope of the gas station or hotel at this time because a tenant for either of the projects has yet to be identified.

Board members said numerous times that the project very well could be a one-pump gas station or something as big as a travel center.

The board voted to table its decision on the conditional use for the gas station and the hotel, citing a request for the project planners to present them with the project’s traffic conditions; planned facility usage; effect on local houses; protection of surrounding properties and conservation of property values.

Both projects will go before the city’s board of appeals at a later date. Project planners said that once a date is set for the next meeting, they will provide the requested information to the board.

Have a news tip? Contact Matt Hubbard at mhubbard@baltsun.com, 443-651-0101 or @mthubb on X.

As the Senate advances a deal to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, airports around the country have reduced flights and services with airports in Los Angeles and New York seeing hundreds of delays on Sunday, according to data from the flight tracking system FlightAware.

However at BWI, the impact so far has been muted. BWI wait times have barely been affected, with flight reductions and delays happening at rates only marginally higher than usual.

As of Tuesday evening, BWI had 29 delays and 27 cancellations in the past 24 hours,  according to FlightAware.

According to a BWI spokesperson and data from the flight tracking system FlightAware, 38 flights were canceled and 189 flights were delayed at BWI on Monday. On Sunday, 36 flight were canceled and 280 were delayed; and on Saturday, 41 flights were canceled and 145 were delayed. The cancellations include those that were unrelated to the FAA’s new guidelines.

Overall, BWI had a 4% cancellation rate and a 35% delay rate on Sunday, numbers that are within the range of standard BWI operations, although the number of canceled flights is expected to rise.

Passengers like Anne Shaw said they didn’t see a difference in their airport experience, even though two of the main security checkpoints, B and C, were closed as of Monday.

“I haven’t really noticed a difference to be honest with you,” Shaw, from Baltimore, who was taking a Southwest Airlines flight to Cleveland on Monday night.

All of that may change by Friday when greater flight reductions are expected to be in place, depending on the progress of the bill to end the government shutdown, which has already passed the Senate and is on its way to the House.

In a statement to The Baltimore Sun, the FAA said it is still aiming to reach a 10% reduction in flights across the country even with the shutdown potentially ending soon.

“Since the beginning of the shutdown, controllers have been working without pay, and staffing triggers at air traffic facilities across the country have been increasing,” according to the statement. “This has resulted in increased reports of strain on the system from both pilots and air traffic controllers.”

According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, BWI had an overall delay rate of 31% in 2024 and a cancellation rate of 1%. Delays also depend on the airline, with some, like American Airlines, having higher rates of delays and cancellations.

“Due to the FAA-mandated flight reductions, passengers may experience cancellations or delays in their travel,” Jonathan Dean, spokesperson with BWI, said. “The carriers are working to modify their schedules in a way to minimize impact on their passengers. Travelers are advised to check flight schedules with their airlines.”

Despite the reconfiguration of BWI, with two out of three security checkpoints closed and passengers mostly checking in on kiosks rather than with an employee, wait times for TSA on Monday night were between 1 and 7 minutes for general, priority, TSA pre-check and CLEAR lines.

Transportation Security Administration staff have been working without pay since the shutdown began. In a statement sent to The Sun, TSA asked the public to be patient with its workforce being “forced to work” while unpaid.

“While the vast majority of TSA’s nationwide operations remain minimally impacted by the government shutdown, occasional delays at some security checkpoints are to be expected,” according to the statement. “The longer the shutdown goes on, the more severe the impact on our TSA workforce who have expenses they must pay for, making it harder to show up for work when not being paid.”

Have a news tip? Contact Chevall Pryce at cpryce@baltsun.com.

Current view of the aurora from Queenstown, MD – can see with naked eye and short long exposures @capitalweather @wbaltv11 @washingtonpost pic.twitter.com/yJgSjwpo73

— Ryan Booth (@TheRyanBooth) November 12, 2025

The storms, caused by the sun expelling bursts of energy known as coronal mass ejections, created auroras visible across the Northern United States and potentially as far south as Alabama.

But the storms could also disrupt radio and GPS communications.

PHOTOS: Northern Lights visible in Maryland!
Photos courtesy of viewers via Chime In.
SEE FULL GALLERY: https://t.co/CaVAXDxGkN pic.twitter.com/GLJ8w0kBq5

— FOX Baltimore (@FOXBaltimore) November 12, 2025

The potential for interruptions in services did not stop locals from across the DMV region from snapping photos of the luminous sky, displaying vibrant shades of reds, blues and greens.

According to the Space Weather Prediction Center, peak geomagnetic conditions were reached Tuesday night around 8:20 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

The U.S. may have another chance to view the aurora, including in Maryland, according to the space weather forecast, which has issued a geomagnetic storm watch for Wednesday.

Olney, MD – The aurora appeared before the clouds rolled in, captured at 8:20 PM EST tonight from Olney Manor Recreational Park. @capitalweather #northernlights #aurora #MdWx #Wx @MeteoMdWX @JustinWeather @Bopegfs pic.twitter.com/NPHO8MmLge

— MyDrone.Pro (@MyDronePro) November 12, 2025

Have a news tip? Contact Mathew Schumer at mschumer@baltsun.com, 443-890-7423 and on X as @mmmschumer.

Police officers found a man with a gunshot wound to his upper body. He was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead by staff.

Detectives are investigating the shooting. Anyone with information can call 410-396-2100.

Have a news tip? Contact Chevall Pryce at cpryce@baltsun.com.

Born in Baltimore and raised in Glenelg and Ellicott City, he was the son of Hazel Martin and Robert H. Helsley. A graduate at Our Lady of Perpetual Help School and Howard High School, Bob received a scholarship to the Maryland Institute College of Art, where he later taught.

After leaving MICA he went into on-air television design, initially at Pittsburgh’s WQED, where “Mister Rogers Neighborhood” was being produced. He then worked at MPT in Owings Mills and subsequently became art director at Baltimore’s WMAR-TV, where he worked with afternoon host Sylvia Scott and others. Mr. Helsley later joined WJLA-TV in Washington, D.C. He won three Emmy Awards — for TV graphics, set design and animation.

“Bob was very well liked. He was kind but had high standards because of his years of work in television visuals,” said Norberto Gomez Jr., visual and performing arts chair at Montgomery College. “He was a fantastic illustrator and typographer. He had the perspective of someone trained in visual design before it was computer based. He was a master of [Adobe] PhotoShop and Illustrator and helped and encouraged students from very diverse backgrounds to continue their education at four- year schools.

“Bob was patient with his students and was a consistent donor to the college for scholarships,” Mr. Gomez said.

The college’s board awarded Mr. Helsley its bronze medallion for his “enthusiasm and dedication” at his retirement.

A poster designer, he created a 1982 poster for the opening of the Joseph Meyerhoff Hall that was exhibited in the prints and maps department of the Library of Congress. He also created posters for the 1983 Inner Harbor U.S. Pro Cycling event and for numerous productions of the Baltimore Opera Co.

Mr. Helsley was a collector of antique posters.

“Bob had impeccable taste,” said James R. Pierce, a friend and gallery owner. “He could come up with original ideas for the framing and he knew how to find things. He could also do paper restoration well.”

A member of the Golden Glow of Christmas Past, he collected early games, decorations, and miniature Santas associated with the holiday.

Mr. Helsley also was among those who restored dollar houses in the early 1980s. He refurbished a Victorian rowhouse in Southwest Baltimore that he used as a backdrop for his many collections.

Friends said he spent weekends combing antique shops. He participated in the old Columbia Flea Market and other venues. He was a regular shopper along Baltimore’s Howard Street Antique Row.

Survivors include a sister, Jewell Novak, of Monson, Massachusetts, and a brother, Michael Helsley, of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania; and cousins, nieces and nephews.

Graveside services were held Oct. 20 at Loudon Park Cemetery.

Have a news tip? Contact Jacques Kelly at jkelly@baltsun.com. 

Barnes was charged in September in Montgomery County District Court after he allegedly flooded a Silver Spring baseball field over the summer with Montgomery County Fire Capt. Christopher Reilly. Both were charged with malicious destruction of property and disorderly conduct.

Reilly was acquitted Friday; charges against Barnes were dropped the same day.

“[Barnes] probably should’ve never been charged in the first place,” said Richard A. Finci, a lawyer who represents Barnes. “This whole thing has been blown out of proportion.”

Barnes was reinstated at the Reese & Community Volunteer Fire Company, but remains on nonpublic-contact status at the Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Service while it conducts an internal investigation, Peter Piringer, the public information officer in Montgomery, told the Carroll County Times.

There is no particular time frame for the Montgomery internal investigation, Piringer said.

Finci said the charges were dropped after he presented evidence to the State’s Attorney’s Office that proved Barnes wasn’t present when the field was getting flooded.

A complaint filed to police says Reilly and Barnes “deliberately and maliciously sprayed” water onto the outfield at Blair Baseball Stadium around 5:35 p.m. July 17. Reilly told police his actions were out of “frustration” due to baseballs repeatedly hitting vehicles parked at the fire station, according to charging documents.

Video provided to police showed Barnes parking the fire truck, removing the hose and hooking it up to a fire hydrant, according to the charging documents. Reilly then activated the water hose and aimed it at the field for about three minutes.

Finci said Barnes was following his captain’s orders before receiving a call and going inside the station. He came back to find Reilly spraying the field, Finci said.

The fire station is behind the left field fence of the stadium, where the Silver Spring-Takoma Thunderbolts of the Cal Ripken Sr. Collegiate Baseball League play. The team was scheduled to play a 7 p.m. game, but it was canceled due to the flooded field.

In the charging documents, Thunderbolts founder Richard O’Connor told police: “We lost substantial income due to the cancellation of the game and the disruption to our end-of-season league schedule.” Fans were refunded for the canceled game.

O’Connor declined to comment while the litigation was pending and could not be reached about the dropped charges and acquittal.

Since it is a “smaller baseball field,” the college players were “bashing home runs” during batting practice, Finci said. There had been pleas in the past for raised nets after balls repeatedly hit fire department property.

During Reilly’s trial, it was revealed that rain from the previous night had threatened the game before the flooding, Finci said.

Have a news tip? Contact Brendan Nordstrom at bnordstrom@baltsun.com or at 443-900-1353.

A community fridge is a public refrigerator that provides free food, from fresh produce to packaged goods, to anyone in the community who needs it. People can anonymously take what they need and donate what they can.

On Monday, County Executive Calvin Ball announced the Pocket Food Pantry, a county and nonprofit partnership bringing three community fridges across the region. This mirrors nearby Baltimore, which has had success with its network of community fridges combating citywide food scarcity.

“Our residents need help now more than ever,” Ball said at the Monday news conference. “Government cannot do it alone.”

More than 21,000 county residents have been impacted by a suspension of federal SNAP benefits, according to Safa Hira, a county spokesperson.

The pocket food pantries will be located at the Rachell L. Gray Community Foundation in Elkridge, the Long Reach Village Center in Columbia and Heritage Realty Services in Lisbon, each sponsored by a local organization.

The county food bank and Roving Radish, a county program meant to promote healthy eating through meal kits with local produce, will provide oversight and support of the program, “providing food as requested,” Ball said.

The fridges will be stocked by local community groups and organizations and will be available at all times.

Columbia Community Care will be in charge of sponsoring the Columbia location. The Glenelg United Methodist Church will do the same for the pantry in Lisbon. The Rachell L. Gray Community Foundation is sponsoring the location at its facility.

Tracy Broccolino, president of the Community Action Council, said food insecurity is a growing crisis in Howard County.

“This project is a powerful symbol of what happens when everyone comes together,” Broccolino said. “By creating a space where neighbors can both give and take food, we are building a bridge of compassion, dignity and shared responsibility. These pocket pantries are a physical manifestation of the “no questions asked” approach that Community Action and our partners are famous for.”

In addition to the pantries, the county has taken other measures to support residents struggling due to a federal shutdown and economic uncertainty. With about 11% of the county impacted by the shutdown, Howard County and its businesses have stepped up to provide relief, through a series of shutdown specials and relief services.

On Nov. 1, there was a countywide food drive, where nearly 1,600 community members donated over 5,000 pounds of food and nonperishable items.

In September, the county announced a new resource center slated for Route 1, which will hold a 12,000-square-foot food pantry. This will be double the size of the current Howard County Food Bank in Columbia. The $8 million project is expected to be complete by late 2026 or early 2027.

The micro-food pantries will allow residents to receive food with dignity, Ball said.

“I sincerely hope that this program provides much need relief for those who need it most,” he added.

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“Crews continue to monitor homes and businesses in the area and have found no hazard,” Baltimore County Fire said in a post on X.

The high-pressure gas leak was expected to spread the odor of the gas around the area.The fire department said the risk of danger was low due to high ventilation by the wind.

Rushing sound of a high pressure natural gas leak in #Reisterstown as BGE crews work to secure the leak. #NoInjuries pic.twitter.com/EloXvZjmB3

— Baltimore County Fire Department (@BaltCoFire) November 11, 2025

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