Baltimore Sun

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake will preside over a mass wedding of same-sex couples at this year's Baltimore Pride Celebration, with the event drawing interest from couples as far away as Atlanta, according to organizers. In November, Maryland became one of the first states to have same-sex marriage approved by voters in a referendum. "After doing so much work on this - on the ballot initiative - we thought, how do we really celebrate this?" said organizer Carrietta Hiers, who plans to marry her partner of nearly 13 years, Tonya Cook, at the ceremony.

Albert Hall, a professional opera singer and choirmaster who began his singing career during his student days at City College, died May 13 from colon cancer at Gilchrist Hospice Care in Towson. The Towson resident was 89. The son of a plumber and a homemaker, Albert Hall was born in Baltimore and raised on Rose Street. It was while he was attending City College in the late 1930s that he came to the attention of Blanche F. Bowlsbey, the legendary music teacher whom her students fondly called "Mrs.

The Preakness forecast remains a tough call with varying chances of rain predicted. Weather is a major factor every year. From the May 12, 1940, edition of The Baltimore Sun: "Weather man had a tough time making up his mind. Sunshine and gayety until the first race. Everybody talking about first decent Preakness day in three years. ... Sun disappeared, cool wind blew, fancy parasols topping tables on Clubhouse lawn being took off like kites, after second race. ... Sun out again for third race.

Now comes the Baltimore Sun editorial staff that just recently blasted the Second Amendment rights to gun ownership ("Ban assault weapons," March 22) raising the roof that the press' First Amendment Rights have been trumped on because of the gathering of AP phone records by the Obama administration's attorney general ("An assault on press freedom," May 15). Either the Sun editorial staff thinks their readers are too stupid to know the hypocrisy of their positions on these two issues, or they actually believe supporting the Constitution is a menu of pick and choose.

City schools CEO Andrés Alonso's performance was marked by, "a series of cheating scandals - found by the state to have taken place during the year the district's progress was most celebrated" and further under his tenure, "The system had paid $14 million in overtime over several years, with the top earner being Alonso's driver. " ("City schools chief Alonso resigns," May 6.) This track record will help recruit the next "great urban education reformer"? Lauding this man's "leadership," or I should say, "oversight," of Baltimore City schools, is bizarre.

The Baltimore Sun was named Newspaper of the Year on Friday in the Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Press Association awards contest and also took home the association's annual honor for "extraordinary efforts" to gain access to public records. The Sun has been chosen Newspaper of the Year seven times in the past eight years. The Washington Post won the award in 2008. The James S. Keat Freedom of Information Award, named for a former Sun editor, was granted to The Sun for its pursuit of public records relating to property taxes, speed cameras and public school spending.

This would have been unthinkable when I came to The Baltimore Sun twenty-seven years ago. My colleague Kevin Rector has launched a blog at Baltimoresun.com called Gay Matters , in which he and Michael Gold will present "a new home for gay news and commentary. " Mr. Rector will write on politics, policy, crime, and related matters; Mr. Gold will explore aspects of pop culture, sports, and the media. Mr. Rector's introductory post describes the Pepper Hill raid of 1955, in which Baltimore police raided the Pepper Hill Club (on North Gay Street; I am not making this up)

Welcome to Gay Matters, a new home for gay news and commentary at The Baltimore Sun. As website real estate, this blog is something new and perhaps long overdue. But we've been doing this work -- covering news relevant to the gay community -- for a very long time. I took a look back -- all the way back to microfilm -- and found the evidence. In 1955, for example, there were 162 men and women arrested on charges of disorderly conduct at the Pepper Hill Club on North Gay Street in "the largest night-club raid ever made in Baltimore," after male patrons among the club's largely gay clientele were seen kissing each other.

Regarding Steve Kilar's article on Baltimore's local currency, I love the BNote ("Baltimore's local currency, the BNote, is 2 years old," May 7). What a great way to support the people, places and businesses that make this city great. Whenever I go someplace new I make sure to ask "do you take BNotes yet?" It helps to let them know we're interested, and that we care about our local economy. I can't wait to see where this project goes from here. I love Bmore! I love BNotes! Damien Nichols, Baltimore Text NEWS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun local news text alerts

Steve Kilar's excellent article on Baltimore's local currency highlighted the process of launching and growing the BNote ("Baltimore's local currency, the BNote, is 2 years old," May 7). Missing from the article, however, was an assessment of the economic benefits of local currencies on communities. Local currencies stimulate the economy by encouraging local spending. A 2008 study conducted by Civic Economics showed significant economic impact from local spending in Western Michigan.