A query about credit cards and red flags

And now Rusnak is out.

He was released Jan. 5, according to Federal Bureau of Prisons records.

In an interview from prison with The Baltimore Sun's Laura Smitherman in 2005, Rusnak said he planned to return to Baltimore upon his release.

"I am definitely staying in Baltimore," he said. "I'm going to return and keep my head high, but I'm not going to return the way I left. I'm doing my best to strip away the arrogance and conceit and return with humility and gratitude."

So is the humbled Rusnak back?

His lawyer, David Irwin, said he wasn't sure. He had last talked to Rusnak a few months ago, when Rusnak was in a Baltimore halfway house.

"He sounded well, and he was glad to be out of federal prison. And he's glad to be with his family," Irwin said.

Rat patrol at City Hall

The state prosecutor isn't the only one who's smelled a rat at Baltimore City Hall.

"For the longest time, I never left City Hall without seeing a rat," City Councilwoman Rochelle "Rikki" Spector remarked yesterday at an investigative hearing on rodent control covered by The Baltimore Sun's Annie Linskey.

"But I haven't seen one in a while - at least the four-legged kind," Spector said. "Was there a target on City Hall?"

Olivia Farrow, assistant commissioner for Environmental Health, confirmed that City Hall had been targeted, in a good way.

Pest control workers have been sweeping the area around the building once a month.

Connect the dots

Malia and Sasha Obama made a splash at the National Aquarium in Baltimore - without even visiting. The presidential offspring, accompanied by Secret Service agents, toured the aquarium's D.C. outpost for about a half-hour Saturday afternoon. Perhaps the visit will whet their appetites for the larger Charm City attraction, officials there hope. Says aquarium marketing director Denise Aranoff-Brown: "They had the little appetizers, and we hope they experience the whole meal." ... Dennis Edwards is no longer reporting for WJZ TV. Dcrtv.com, a site that covers local media, reports that he was laid off Monday. No one at the station was commenting, but Edwards' bio is off the WJZ site. ... At last weekend's Polar Bear Plunge, Anne Arundel County Executive John Leopold got to meet Joe Flacco. They talked Philly, I'm told. Flacco is from Audubon, N.J., a Philly 'burb. Leopold is from Philly and - he volunteered at great political peril - an Eagles fan. ... I wrote the other day about Baltimore County Exec Jim Smith cracking wise at the Maryland Bar Association banquet. Right wisecracker, wrong banquet. The event was put on by the Baltimore County Bar Association. The Baltimore Sun , and this columnist in particular, regret the error.