In Wake Of Riots And Crime Spike, Baltimore Mayor Under Fire

BALTIMORE (AP) -- Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake celebrated the groundbreaking of a row of abandoned homes in the Reservoir Hill neighborhood as part of a $4.6 million restoration project Tuesday.

These long-term fixes are essential to any real change in Baltimore -- but meanwhile, many people seem to have lost their patience with the mayor, and her recent firing of the police commissioner amid a spike in murders and a plunge in arrests following the riots has failed to insulate her politically.

Rawlings-Blake is now poised to face off in next year's mayor election against her predecessor Sheila Dixon, who resigned in 2010 after a jury found her guilty of embezzling about $500 in gift cards meant for poor children.

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