Earlier today, the Maryland Court of Appeals dismissed a lawsuit brought against the city by super lawyer and O's owner Peter Angelos, which had further delayed the proposed development of the so-called Superblock on Westside of downtown. Angelos had objected to the proposed development on the grounds that it wouldn't include enough protection for historic buildings along the Howard Street and Lexington Avenue block. 

Both The Sun and the Baltimore Business Journal have recaps of the ruling, if you are so inclined. But what really interests us—and I'm sure many other Baltimoreans—is what happens next. 

City officials have been eyeing the area for redevelopment for years but were hamstrung by numerous obstacles including preservationists' objections and concerns over generous tax breaks requested by developers. Mayor...

The Belligerent Bard of Baltimore is now blogging! (Sorry, couldn't resist.)

Actually, apparently, he's been blogging at davidsimon.com for a while now, based on the back-dated posts. But he chose to go official with it this week. Why? He implies, indirectly, that it's related to the brouhaha caused by a recent interview he did with The New York Times where he appeared to cop to a bit of contempt for bandwagon-hopping The Wire fans. He now says that the interview didn't accurately reflect his sentiments. " . . .I managed to say something that I not only don’t believe, but that is contradicted by every other interview that precedes it," he writes of the interview. This blog, it seems, is Simon's attempt to control his own message.

Anyway, we're thrilled. We always love...

Famous mommy blogger Kelle Hampton paid a surprise visit to a Baltimore book club this past Friday. Hampton—who writes about being a mother to a child with Down syndrome on her blog Enjoying The Small Things and her new book Bloom—was originally going to Skype with the book club, hosted by her friend Lauren Perlin in Mt. Washington. But Perlin decided to surprise her friends by flying Hampton and her two daughters down for the occasion.

The fake-out Skype and eventual surprise were all caught on video and posted on her blog, which you can see below. Perlin, who also has a daughter with Down syndrome, first befriended Hampton when she read about her experience on the blog. Baltimore Bride editor Janelle Diamond attended the event and said that Hampton was nothing but gracious as all the attendees...

Lunchtime customers at Lexington Market might have noticed a curious art project on the street this week. I did. As I approached the market, a guy was setting up an easel and starting to paint. By the time I exited half an hour later, he had finished a crude painting that, in four sections, depicted Einstein, Elvis, the Titanic, and Adam and Eve. A small crowd gathered around, and he preached about “Great Mistakes,” using the painting to illustrate his points.

I initially assumed he’d claim science was misguided and Elvis was satanic, but he, instead, noted that a teacher told the young Einstein he would amount to nothing—which was a mistake. Likewise, a record producer told a young Elvis to give up music and go back to driving trucks—another great mistake. I missed the Titanic part but figured it was a nod to all the 100^th anniversary hoopla and the mistaken claim that the ship was unsinkable. Adam and Eve—you could see this one coming a mile away—committed the “first great mistake.”

After I snapped a photo and went...