Activists

A judge on Wednesday lifted a ban prohibiting political activist Kim A. Trueheart from entering City Hall — and she promptly returned to the building, where she attended the mayor's news conference. At a District Court hearing Wednesday morning, Trueheart, 55, of Baltimore rejected a deal that would have put her misdemeanor trespassing and disorderly conduct charges on an inactive docket. Trueheart said she did nothing wrong and wanted the opportunity to be cleared of wrongdoing.

Holding cut-outs of activist Kim Trueheart's face, protesters objected at Wednesday morning's Board of Estimates meeting to her ban from City Hall. "I was with Kim Trueheart a week ago when she was arrested trying to attend this very meeting," fellow activist Mike McGuire said. "As anyone who has been around City Hall knows, Kim is quite a fixture. With her banning from City Hall, and her subsequent arrest, she couldn't be here. We wanted to make sure she was present at least in spirit.

Environmentalists flocked to Annapolis Tuesday to push their green agenda, encouraged by predictions that offshore wind legislation would pass this year while one legislative leader warned that other ambitious measures may take a little longer. An estimated 400 people from across Maryland crowded into a meeting room in the Senate office building for the annual environmental legislative summit, where they got pep talks from Gov. Martin O'Malley and General Assembly leaders about a green agenda this year that's generally less sweeping than last year's.

Activist Kim Trueheart, a vocal critic of Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake's administration who was arrested and jailed Wednesday after trying to enter City Hall, said Thursday that she was dismayed that police officers would attempt to keep a citizen from a public building. "I'm upset and disappointed in the police force of Baltimore City," said Trueheart, 55, who was released early Thursday morning. "One of the supervisors said City Hall is a private building and I have trespassed on a private building.

A frequent critic of Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake's administration was arrested Wednesday when she tried to enter Baltimore's City Hall. Kim A. Trueheart, 55, of Baltimore, was arrested Wednesday morning as she tried to attend the city's 9 a.m. Board of Estimates meeting. Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said he had few details about the arrest, but said Trueheart was being "disorderly. " "City Hall is a public building, but we have an obligation to make sure that citizens that come to conduct business don't pose any type of threat and they're also respectful," Guglielmi said.

In what might have been President Barack Obama's most progressive speech, his second inaugural address Monday marked a distinct change from the so-called New Democrat ideology of pragmatism and compromise to a full embrace of the principles that once put the Democratic Party squarely on the side of the middle class and the poor. Better late than never. It is only because the tea party has pushed the Republican Party further to the far right - and perhaps off the cliff - that Barack Obama is seen by some as a liberal.

Justin Timberlake has released a small slice of his next album, "The 20/20 Experience," causing the New York Times to spin in circles spouting wardrobe puns. Also catching the Internet's eye over the weekend and this morning: Free speech advocate Aaron Swartz committed suicide after what friends and relatives say was a devastating smear campaign, the Ravens will be playing the Patriots for a conference championship, Quentin Tarantino is not afraid of controversy and there are shiny new things in Detroit.

Today, the Maryland Conservative Action Network (MDCAN) is hosting a daylong conference in Annapolis entitled "Turning the Tides. " Those scheduled to attend include Republican state Dels. Nic Kipke and Neil Parrott, Frederick County Board of Commissioners President Blaine Young, and former Republican candidates for federal office Dan Bongino and Ken Timmerman. Unfortunately, instead of selecting a legitimate conservative activist as headline speaker, MDCAN has chosen Pamela Geller, the leader of a designated hate group and one of America's most virulent Islamophobes.

Activists, public officials and residents gathered Saturday outside an east Baltimore liquor store — where a man was severely beaten on Christmas Day — to protest violent attacks on gay people Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts told the crowd of about 40 people that his department plans to set up an advisory group to meet monthly to work with gay, lesbian and transgender people. "I want to come together as a community and make sure we connect and do the right things for every part of our community," said Batts, who became commissioner late last year.

For minutes on end New Year's Eve night, the names and ages of 216 men, women and children who were killed in Baltimore in 2012 were read out loud on the steps of the city's War Memorial — a somber recap of a violent year in which homicides rose. "In a city where so many people are immune to these senseless crimes, it is imperative that we remember the victims," said Victoria Kent, a member of the Baltimore Guardian Angels community watch group, as about 50 others stood by. The vigil, in its fourth year, was attended by Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts, City Council President Bernard C. "Jack" Young, council members Brandon Scott and Carl Stokes, members of the clergy and various city activists.