Portrait

The making of the Oscar-nominated movie "Music by Prudence" is a tale of two schools, one in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, and one in Baltimore. A favorite for best short documentary at tonight's Academy Awards, this 33-minute flight presents an affecting portrait of its tough, gifted title character, the singer-songwriter in a band of disabled youths at the King George VI School & Centre for Children With Physical Disabilities in Bulawayo. Prudence Mabhena suffers from arthrogryposis, a condition that deforms joints and cost her both her legs.

After tactical officers burst into Cheye Calvos's house, bound his hands, held his mother-in-law on the floor and fatally shot his Labrador retrievers, the angry Berwyn Heights mayor was convinced that sheriff's deputies and other police in Prince George's County were out of control. Even when police were serving routine warrants, regardless of whether intelligence indicated a threat, Calvo - who was absolved of any wrongdoing - argued that the police as a matter of policy deployed paramilitary teams armed with automatic weapons.

BALTIMORE (AP) -- Edgar Allan Poe's pale, death-haunted image, with his sunken eyes, a trim mustache and unruly mop of curly hair had endured for more than 150 years. But a portrait being shown publicly for the first time Saturday captures a different figure. Scholars say Poe looked far more vigorous, perhaps even dashing, in his earlier years than he does in the well-known series of daguerreotypes taken in the final years of his life. The more robust Poe is captured in a small watercolor by A.C. Smith, one of just three surviving portraits of the author.

Possible council president candidates There are four Baltimore City Council members who have said they are interested, or are believed to be, in being president. The following two councilmen are probably the front-runners at this point: William H. Cole IV Current position: District 11 council member Age: 37 years old Education: Graduated from the University of Maryland College Park, master's degree from University of Baltimore. Family: Married to Michelle, an assistant Maryland attorney general, three children.

Holiday pictures, with the kids decked out in their red and green finest, might be one of the first things to go by the wayside as parents attempt to care for a critically ill child. But a trio of photographers brought the photo studio to the children Saturday at Mount Washington Pediatric Hospital, where nurses and moms primped and fussed over the children, hiding breathing tubes and the wires from heart monitors in order to get that perfect holiday portrait. And, thanks to the generosity of a program called Help Portrait, the finished pictures will be free.

S o the mayor who swiped gift cards from the poor gets to stay in office (at least for now) while the poor, thanks to cancellation of the tainted Holly Trolley gift card program, get poorer. If that doesn't warm your heart this Christmas, maybe this will: On Saturday, a bunch of photographers will, for free, take solo and family portraits for anyone who walks in the door at a West Baltimore church. Hairstylists and makeup artists will be on hand, also for free. The portraits will arrive in the mail by Christmas.

Bodies in motion tend to remain in motion, but almost never with the heart-stirring beauty and grace on view in Frederick Wiseman's exceptional portrait of the Paris Opera Ballet, "La Danse." Wiseman has been making his kind of quiet but potent documentaries for decades. "La Danse" is his 36th, following looks at institutions as varied as the Idaho state legislature, a Chicago public housing development and the Neiman Marcus department store. As a director, Wiseman's approach is unvarying.

Verna Day-Jones, a versatile Baltimore actress who during her more than 60-year career working on stage, in film and in television was critically acclaimed for her portrayal of Harriet Tubman, died of undetermined causes Friday at Union Memorial Hospital. The longtime Poplar Grove Street resident was 85. "We are waiting for the results of an autopsy," said a daughter, Stephanie Carter of Baltimore. Verna Lucille Lee was born and raised in Pittsburgh, and was a 1942 graduate of Schenley High School.

Alvin H. Levin, a retired Pikesville photographer and teacher who enjoyed collecting vintage trains and toys, died Sunday from complications of Parkinson's disease at a hospice in Scottsdale, Ariz. He was 86. Mr. Levin was born in Baltimore and raised in Hollins Street, where his grandmother was a neighbor of newspaperman and author H.L. Mencken. After graduating from City College, Mr. Levin earned a bachelor's degree in 1943 from what was then Western Maryland College and a master's degree in education in 1951 from Arizona State University.