BALTIMORE (AP) - In a city that's seen more than its share of corruption, Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh is mired in a strange scandal involving no-contract deals that netted her hundreds of thousands of dollars for her self-published children's picture books.
Some local leaders are frustrated that while the latest turmoil is embarrassing Maryland's biggest city on a national scale, it's also sucking attention away from issues like crime, drugs and poverty.
Since 2011, the Democrat has received payments totaling at least $700,000 for tens of thousands of her 20-page illustrated books meant to teach youngsters about health. Pugh's main customer was a hospital network whose volunteer board of directors she sat on for nearly 20 years.
It's Baltimore's latest chapter of murky politics and alleged corruption, of odd bedfellows and weird contradictions.
Non-Profit Returns Money
BALTIMORE (AP) - A nonprofit group says it is returning nearly $10,000 it received for its role in buying and distributing copies of children's books self-published by embattled Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh.
Associated Black Charities said in a statement Monday that five organizations donated $87,180 between 2011 and 2016 to ABC to pay for Pugh's "Healthy Holly" books. ABC says it kept $9,552 of that money for "general support."
But the nonprofit's board of directors voted on March 26 to return or donate its share of the money. The board also passed a resolution barring ABC from entering into business arrangements with elected officials.
Pugh announced Monday that she is taking an indefinite leave of absence, citing her health. She made the announcement on the same day that Maryland's Republican governor asked the state prosecutor to investigate her alleged self-dealing book sales.
