Welcome to Washington-Baltimore -- the pride of federal bureaucrats

Still, she's trying to deal graciously with the change. Yesterday, she invited the Washington City Council to City Hall for a %J wedding reception "to celebrate the statistical union of two great families, your town and ours, for the greater economic development of both."

She calls herself "mother of the bride."

Would that make Baltimore Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke the father? The mayor did not return phone calls yesterday.

A reception in Baltimore? "Why would we come to Baltimore when it's the Washington-Baltimore metropolitan area?" an aide to Washington City Council Chairman John Wilson sniffs, before adding quickly, "That was entirely off the record. I think it's a cute idea."

So does Mr. Wilson. "It's a wonderful invitation. If we all sit down and talk more, not so much about our differences but about our common problems and goals, it will work to our advantage."

But what about Baltimore's wounded pride? What about our inferiority complex?

"I never knew Baltimore had a civic inferiority complex," Mr. Wilson says. "I was born at Johns Hopkins Hospital."