It does have to do with the story. Part of the article discusses Freddie Gray, who is inextricably linked with the recent stories of police shooting black men. Baltimore is also quite famous for its racial problems.

It's a surreal place to visit: you can go from the shiny Inner Harbor full of white hipsters and convention-goers shopping at the flagship Under Armour store to an area that looks like it suffered a recent civil war -- roofs collapsing, infrastructure crumbling, sudden change in what stores are open and whether they have bars on the windows -- in about 20 minutes. If you're me, someone will be kind enough to tell you that someone got shot at this bus stop last week (implication: maybe you'd better turn around). Poverty and lead paint in Baltimore are deeply entwined with (though not at all synonymous with) race.