A semblance of normalcy returned Wednesday to the eastern U.S. city of Baltimore, with schools reopening and authorities declaring the city safe two days after rioting and looting erupted.
Some weekday commuters headed to work. The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra played a free midday, outdoor concert under sun-drenched skies. Two baseball teams, the hometown Orioles and the Chicago White Sox, played an afternoon game, but with no fans allowed in the stadium as officials continued to take precautions against further unrest.
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan said, "The city is now safe." He said an overnight curfew had quieted tensions after Monday's rampaging rioting, looting and fires imperiled impoverished neighborhoods, but he would not predict when a state of emergency would be called off.
City police reported that "Baltimore is stable." They said 35 people had been arrested during the first night of a seven-hour overnight curfew in which police and National Guard troops dispersed protesters, even as some of the protesters jeered and threw bottles at them.
The activity contrasted sharply with Monday's turmoil. Two days ago, rampaging crowds poured into streets to protest high unemployment, their treatment by police and the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old African-American who died earlier this month from a still-unexplained severe spinal injury while in police custody.
With overnight order mostly restored, the Page One headline Wednesday in the city's newspaper, The Baltimore Sun, described the moment as an "Unsettled Peace."
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Chapisha Maoni