Let's hope McCarthy, subpoenaed in June by state prosecutors investigating Dixon, uses his new radio gig to tell City Hall tales out of school. Don't save it all for the grand jury, Anthony!
Vermin in anti-litter effort wasn't tax-supported
Time to eat some crow - or rat, in this case: Baltimore City tax money was NOT squandered on a $200 freeze-dried rat.
The rodent was purchased to star in Mayor Dixon's "Cleaner, Greener" anti-litter campaign. It's a municipal initiative, but the advertising end of it isn't costing the city a dime. The Baltimore Community Foundation has raised money for it from other foundations and private donors.
Bound for Beijing, trying to pack a little lighter
WBAL's Kate Amara left last week for Beijing. The day before she took off for her Olympics assignment, she was getting her hair cut - crossing off No. 3 on her to-do list.
"I hate to sound superficial, but it will be tough to chase Michael Phelps through Beijing with a microphone in one hand, a camera in the other, while simultaneously pushing the bangs out of my eyes," she said via iPhone.
No. 2 on her list?
"Remove half the stuff in my suitcase and repack. Even the airlines 'preferred journalist rate' for overweight baggage is astronomical," she wrote. "Almost $400 for ONE bag that's over 80lbs. And the funny thing is, almost everything in the suitcase - including the suitcase - is made in China! I was really surprised by the extent of it: dresses, shoes, jewelry, 3 cameras, 2 laptops, iPhone, BlackBerry, even my official Olympic hat & hoodie, and my official NBC Beijing Olympic ChapStick with SPF15!!
"Top of the to-do list is saying goodbye to all the American stuff I love to bits: my boyfriend, burgers & fries, and reality TV. Project Runway & a pint of AmeriCone Dream on the couch with my lawyer-better-half ... what a perfectly patriotic way to say goodbye!"
Connect the dots
Michael isn't the only Phelps in training. The Olympian's mom, Debbie Phelps, took part in the Maryland Principals' Academy last week. Debbie Phelps, principal at Baltimore County's Windsor Mill Middle School, called the three-day professional development program rigorous. But she'll put school behind her Wednesday, when she flies to Beijing. "I'm not taking my laptop with me," she said. "I'm going over there to enjoy." Said state schools chief Nancy Grasmick: "It's not surprising that Michael is a world-class swimmer because he's got a world-class mother." ... The Gazette put Jim Smith, the term-limited Baltimore County exec running for who knows what, on its list of 10 Marylanders with the most clout. "He has God-like popularity," Potomac Inc. pollster G. Keith Haller told the paper. The exec isn't letting the hosannas go to his head, spokesman Don Mohler said. "As a product of Jesuit schools, he's very uncomfortable being compared to the deity."
