Morgan State kicks off their football season tonight with a home game at Hughes Stadium against Savannah State. The Bears were 5-6 in the MEAC last year and they’re picked to finish 6th in the conference this year. Morgan State has 21 returning starters from last year’s campaign.

Savannah State finished out the 2006 season with a record of 2-9. Morgan State leads the series 4-0. Today’s edition of the Baltimore Sun features an article on the Florida recruiting pipeline put in place by Bears’ head coach Donald Eley-Hill, who is starting his sixth season at Morgan.

In the other local game tonight, Towson starts the season off at home at Unitas Stadium against Central Connecticut. The Tigers were ranked 17th in the nation in one preseason poll after last year’s 7-4 season.

Today’s Sun has an article about Towson QB Sean Schaefer and the tradition of firefighting in his family – a tradition that he has helped carry on.

Interim Mayor Sheila Dixon has told the media she didn’t answer questions about no-bid contracts going to a company her sister worked for because the matter is still under investigation by prosecutors. Keiffer Mitchell has challenged Dixon to a one-on-one debate.

Dixon also confirmed that former D.C. police chief Charles Ramsey is being considered for the vacant Police Commissioner’s job. Interim commissioner Fred Bealefield is also a candidate.

The caregiver seen on tape abusing the elderly man she was caring for apparently fled to Kenya when she disappeared right before her trial. No word on whether she will be succesfully extradited. The victim’s daughter complains that the suspect’s passport was not taken from her when she was released on bond, but the city state’s attorney office says that is “out of their jurisdiction.”

A tanker truck ran into a house in Curtis Bay overnight, leaving 3 families without a home. The truck was apparently trying to dodge a car prior to the accident.

This is the first of what will be a semi-regular feature of what’s going on at all the college campuses in the Baltimore area.

As students return to campus, the editor of The Spokesman at Morgan State has a column of advice for both new and returning students.

At UMBC, the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity has been suspended from campus for 3 years.

From The Retriever Weekly:

At the hearing, Casini and SAE District President Jim Sakers admitted that SAE providing [sic] alcohol to minor prospective members at a recruiting event. Furthermore, the Hearing Board found sufficient evidence that the fraternity pledged students who were ineligible because of their academic standing.

Also, the letter explains that the board found evidence that SAE prospective and current members engaged in sexual acts with an exotic dancer and that SAE “provided the financial means, and logistical arrangements, for this prostitution to occur.”

The fraternity can ask that the suspension be lifted early in Fall 2008 if certain conditions are met.

At Towson, a housing and parking crunch has resulted in shifting around parking and making certain areas commuters-only. The school is also looking at expanding its shuttle route to more destinations including off-campus housing.

From The Towerlight:

Residents and commuters can no longer park in any free space they find.

Lots and garages across campus have been designated for commuters or residents only.

Parking and transportation services created these policies in hopes of decreasing congestion during peak parking hours, which are from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The Quindecim at Goucher has some of the standard beginning of semester guides and articles that most of the other papers have. They also provide a behind-the-scenes video of the construction of The Athenaeum on campus.

The News-Letter at JHU hasn’t published any content other than on their blog since last spring and The Greyhound (Loyola) still has the April 24 issue online. I couldn’t find a web edition of The Courier at Coppin or The Villager at Villa Julie. The Free Press at McDaniel doesn’t apparently publish until mid-September but all they appear to have online is advertising information.

If I missed any newspaper sites somehow, please send me the link or include it in the comments below.

Things have been on a mini-hiatus the past couple of days as I’ve been busy at work and preparing for the first day of fall classes today. As determined by Sitemeter, we’re approaching the 17K visitor mark and things are looking up lately in that regard.

Things should start returning back to normal posting-wise later this afternoon.

Vandals in Caroll County (possibly kids hoping not to return to school today?) slashed the

tires on 50+ buses overnight which will delay several bus routes and cause limited service in the northern part of that county. Valve stems were also pulled out of the tires. Most public schools in the area return to classes today.

A televised debate for the Democratic Primary Debate in the Mayoral race will take place at 7 p.m. tonight on WBAL TV.

A burning body was found in Woodlawn overnight. (Another report said it was found in a park in the Pikesville area.) Harford County is looking at expanding its surveillance camera program, already in use in Aberdeen, to Edgewood.

Parents and midshipmen have been complaining (while pizza delivery places and Chick and Ruth’s have been cleaining up) about food shortages in the Naval Academy campus dining facility.

The Maryland Renaissance Festival kicked off its 2007 season in Crownsville this weekend and the State Fair was underway in Timonium.

The Orioles lost to the Twins 11-3 yesterday. Erik Bedard is now in sole ownership of the team’s single-season strikeout record. Minnesota has won every game against Baltimore this season. The Ravens lost in a storm-shortened preseason game against the Redskins in Landover Saturday night.

The picture at right from the Inside Charm City group by user elh70 is of the Baltimore FD responding to a church fire in Canton that was apparently yesterday.