Baltimore launches plan to get squeegee workers off corners

BY LEA SKENE
Associated Press

BALTIMORE (AP) — Baltimore officials are rolling out their latest plan to steer squeegee workers away from busy downtown intersections and toward formal employment using law enforcement action and outreach efforts. On Tuesday, police plan to start enforcing anti-panhandling laws in six zones where squeegeeing is most common. The efforts come partly in response to a deadly confrontation last summer, when a teen squeegee worker shot an irate, baseball bat-wielding driver near the Inner Harbor. To some, the young men washing windshields for cash represent a host of systemic problems facing Black Baltimoreans, including deep-seated poverty, racism and disinvestment.