Logan Hullinger, founder of news blog Mobtown Redux and one of Baltimore Beat’s most dedicated contributors, passed away unexpectedly on March 6. He would have turned 30 on March 10, 2026.
Logan was a thoughtful, passionate journalist whose compassion shone in all of his reporting. While he primarily reported on the harm reduction movement and the devastating impacts of the War on Drugs in Baltimore, he was willing to take on any assignment that allowed him to amplify the voices of community members and push back on traditional media narratives about crime and drug use.
He came to Baltimore as someone who struggled with substance abuse and quickly found a home amongst the city’s harm reduction organizations, whose work around keeping drug users alive above all deeply resonated with him. The Beat discovered his writing through his work on Mobtown Redux, formerly known as Mobtown Magazine, a news blog he founded in 2023 to fill a void in overdose crisis reporting in Baltimore. In 2024, the Beat began co-publishing stories Logan wrote for Mobtown Redux, and began working with him more regularly shortly afterward. He was eager to use his expertise and lived experience to report for the Beat. More importantly, he wanted the Beat to be able to shift the narrative around people who use drugs in the city.
Drug users in Baltimore are both stigmatized and forgotten, and their deaths have for many years taken a backseat to coverage of the city’s homicide rate. Their stories, and the stories of harm reduction workers who are trying to save lives, were always at the forefront of Logan’s work. Beyond the technical expertise and lived experience Logan brought to his reporting, his empathy and openness meant that he was able to cultivate a strong level of trust with his sources, whether they were harm reduction workers bringing their tips to him or someone who was speaking to him for the very first time. He often spoke to people about extremely difficult moments in their lives, but his reporting focused on ensuring that people’s humanity was seen above all. In a city where legacy and mainstream media outlets have too often written about people instead of for them, this work is what defines the Beat, and is what made Logan such a valuable reporter for us to work with.
Beyond his reporting on the overdose crisis, Logan spent months reporting on the conditions of city shelters and the circumstances plaguing Baltimore’s unhoused residents, many of whom struggle with substance abuse and mental illness. He spoke to women employees of the West North Avenue Development Authority about the harassment and hostile work environment they faced under a leader who had been previously accused of sexual misconduct and convicted of domestic violence, and how scared and disregarded they felt by the politicians who they reached out to. During a summer of several police shootings, he stepped up to assist with coverage of the city’s crisis response system and its failures to help instead of harm people dealing with behavioral health crises.
Logan was more than a contributor to the Beat. He was a good friend of mine and was warm and open with everyone in the newsroom. He was a cautious new Orioles fan, and was counting down the days until he could adopt a cat of his own. He loved ordering the spiciest possible food and complaining that it wasn’t spicy enough. He spoke about his recovery with earnestness and humility, giving himself the grace that he extended to the people he wrote about. He had so many tattoos, and his commitment to wearing the color black was unmatched. He ran on coffee and cigarettes, and spent way too much money online shopping. His sense of humor always punched up, not down, and he laughed a lot. He talked about his parents, Todd and Barbara Hullinger, with so much love and appreciation. He was a really good journalist.
His last story published in the Beat was about an art exhibit by HH Hiaasen that explored the question: “How would you complete a loved one’s day?” Hiaasen lost their father to gun violence and wanted to create a space for people to speak about the mundane activities they wish their loved one was able to do on the day they were killed.
It’s easy to know how Logan would have spent the day. He would have spent it writing about the rights of drug users, bringing compassion to a conversation that is too often driven by judgement.
Logan will be dearly missed. There’s so much more he wanted to write about, and all we can do now is continue publishing the kind of reporting that he dedicated his life to.
A GoFundMe supporting Logan’s family: gofund.me/1978d0ef5
Logan ended every newsletter with a song of the week. This is a playlist of the songs he chose over the last year: