Governor brings battle against urban blight to Baltimore

(AP) – Gov. Larry Hogan is bringing his fight against urban blight to the Baltimore neighborhood where Freddie Gray grew up.

The Republican governor scheduled an announcement Tuesday afternoon in the Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood. Other scheduled speakers include Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and state Housing and Community Development Secretary Kenneth Holt.
    
Hogan spokesman Matt Clark said last month the governor was finalizing a plan to address urban decay in Baltimore and would include money in the state budget for it.
    
The city of 620,000 has about 17,000 vacant homes. They are concentrated in the impoverished neighborhoods that saw rioting, looting and arson after Gray died in April from injuries he suffered in police custody.
    
Hogan wrote in a September op-ed in The Baltimore Sun that empty buildings encourage criminal activity and impede private investment.