Controversy

Dr. Ben Carson says he didn't anticipate the reaction to what he considered his common-sense remarks as keynote speaker this month at the National Prayer Breakfast. But after video went viral of the trailblazing black neurosurgeon taking jabs at Barack Obama's health care overhaul a few feet from the president himself, some want the famed doctor at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore to parlay the attention into a new career: politics. "Here you have this guy who has been a celebrity minority for 30 years coming out and making the conservative case better than a lot of conservatives can," said Jonah Goldberg, editor-at-large for National Review Online.

It takes little effort to find severe problems with the character of Richard Wagner, the man who was born two centuries ago and, as he was the first to acknowledge, became one of history's greatest composers. It's much harder to dismiss his music, which is receiving extra attention around the world during this bicentennial year. Locally, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is taking a close look at Wagner over the next few months. The focus starts this week with a program featuring, in concert form, Act 1 from "Die Walkure," the second of four operas that comprise "The Ring of the Nibelung," the epic filled with heroic and villainous mortals, giants, troubled gods, Valkyries on horseback, horned helmets, a mighty sword and, of course, a magical ring.

Ray Lewis' Ravens held on for dear life, a seemingly certain Super Bowl victory only a few yards from slipping away. In the end, however, Lewis got the finale he wanted to his decorated 17-year career, a world championship secured by one last defensive stand against the younger, faster San Francisco 49ers. When it was finally over, Lewis bellowed at the sky, his arms wide open as confetti rained around him. The face of the Ravens was a Super Bowl champion for the second time and a retiree for the first.

Pop icon Beyonce didn't sidestep the lip-sync controversy that erupted after her performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at President Barack Obama's inauguration. She embraced it. Before she took the podium to talk about Sunday's Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime Show, she walked onstage at the Earnest N. Morial Convention Center with a hand-held microphone and belted out a flawless version of the National Anthem. "Any questions?" she said. It wasn't the most dynamic lead-up to the halftime extravaganza.

The Baltimore officer who shot a man Tuesday was also involved in a controversial shooting in 2007 in which the man he shot ultimately won a $40,000 lawsuit against the Police Department. Police identified the officer Thursday as Donald Muir Jr., a nine-year veteran assigned to the Northwest district. Police said officers in the 5000 block of Pimlico Road heard shots Tuesday evening, then saw a man emerge from an alley holding a handgun that he refused to drop. Muir then shot the man, police said.

Baltimore Inspector General David N. McClintock, who earned a reputation for thorough investigations and independence, is leaving city government, the mayor's office said Thursday. McClintock is leaving Baltimore for Jefferson Parish, La., where he will take on "a new opportunity," the mayor's office said. McClintock will become that jurisdiction's chief internal investigator. “David McClintock has done a very good job improving the Office of the Inspector General since his arrival in 2010, turning a dysfunctional office into a real asset for city government to use to investigate potential fraud, waste, and abuse,” Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said in a statement.

Green Spring Station - a collection of boutiques, restaurants and offices near the northern end of the Jones Falls Expressway - commands some of the highest rent in Baltimore County. Visitors can shop for French linens at Paris-based Yves Delorme, try on mink at furrier Mano Swartz, and play squash at the Green Spring Racquet Club. Now, though, owner Foxleigh Enterprises says a County Council vote has stymied its plans for an addition and renovations, putting the Lutherville development at a competitive disadvantage.

President Barack Obama began his second term Monday by calling for an end to the rigid ideologies of modern politics but laying out a broad policy agenda more likely to stoke partisan confrontation than avoid it. Looking out over hundreds of thousands of people gathered on the National Mall, many waving U.S. flags, Obama offered a defense of government safety-net programs while arguing for historic action on climate change, immigration, gay rights...

Maybe it was too nice out to protest. Or maybe no one cared what a few hundred conservatives were talking about in this one-party state. But only about 10 people convened Saturday with signs outside the DoubleTree Hotel in Annapolis to oppose Pamela Geller, best known for her opposition to the Ground Zero mosque and her ad campaigns linking the concept of jihad with mass murder. She was the opening speaker at the Maryland Conservative Action Network (MDCAN) conference held the same day at the hotel.

When it was announced that no candidate had received the 75 percent inclusion on ballots needed to be inducted into this year's Baseball Hall of Fame class , I can't say I was surprised. I honestly thought Houston's Craig Biggio might get in - he led all candidates with 68.2 percent of the vote - but wasn't shocked that he fell short. This was an exceptionally difficult year for voting, and there was a whole lot of sentiment toward making a statement. The Baseball Writers' Association of America surely did that.