Call me nosy — Laura Lippman did, on TV

May 17, 2009

Laura Lippman was just on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, promoting her new book, Life Sentences. Ferguson asked if she sees much of another famous Baltimorean, John Waters.

Recent columns

• Diving more deeply into the stripper-swimmer saga

  May 15, 2009

  Well, at least part of that Baltimore stripper's story holds water.

• Michael Phelps, a stripper and that British rag (again)

  May 13, 2009

  News of the World, the British tabloid that made a splash with the Michael Phelps bong photo, has a new story about the Olympian, and thank goodness this time there's no photographic evidence.

• You don't have to mow it, and it goes with oil and vinegar

  May 10, 2009

  A year ago, an acclaimed architect-artist swooped into Baltimore and tore out a front lawn, leaving a garden and a budding revolution in its place.

• NAACP follows up on accusation

  May 8, 2009

  The Anne Arundel County branch of the NAACP is asking the state prosecutor to investigate a complaint that an elected official made "unwarranted, unauthorized advances" toward a woman in a county building.

• Gift for council: outdated sanitizer

  May 6, 2009

  Baltimore City Hall has been out front on this swine flu business, taking preventive measures and making official pronouncements even without any cases confirmed in the city.

• Before making the big decisions, there are the little ones

  May 3, 2009

  No matter how official Maryland responds to the swine flu threat, there will be second-guessing. So Montgomery County schools Superintendent Jerry Weast wants to remind everyone that decision-makers are human beings.

• Last seen in a bow tie, columnist's dictionary goes missing

  May 1, 2009

  Someone walked off with my dictionary.

• More heat on a hot day for Mount Vernon seniors

  April 29, 2009

  Even when Mother Nature throws us for a loop - with, say, a string of 90-degree days in April - we can rely on the steady hand of bureaucracy. Or a bum valve. Or whatever it was that kept the heat on at a Mount Vernon senior citizens high-rise throughout this week's unseasonable heat wave, leaving hundreds of residents sweltering.

• It's OK — he's not really a person

  April 26, 2009

  Just as the Monica Lewinsky affair turned on the meaning of the word is, the case against Mayor Sheila Dixon could come down to the definition of person.

• In court, working without a net

  April 24, 2009

  In one corner, defense lawyers explaining away a developer's expensive gifts to two city officials with showstopping legal gymnastics.

• About that first-name thing ...

  April 22, 2009

  Stephanie Rawlings-Blake went into the family business, a line of work that demands glad-handing and baby-kissing. But apparently there are limits to how up-close-and-personal she wants to get with customers.

• More seasoning for Phelps' mom

  April 12, 2009

  Debbie Phelps has cast off the mantle of "America's Mother" for something a little more Sir Thomas More.

• Team Ehrlich back in slot game

  March 25, 2009

  The Cordish Cos. has picked a surprising ally in its bid to put slots at Arundel Mills mall: Team Ehrlich.

• Steele keeps the GOP on its toes

  March 13, 2009

  Michael Steele keeps the buzz alive.

• Michael Phelps, party animal? That's fine

  February 6, 2009

  Baltimore boasts two sports phenomena struggling to reconcile upstanding corporate images with trashy party sides: Michael Phelps and the Preakness.

• We'll miss The Examiner, on several fronts

  January 30, 2009

  This town isn't big enough for two Michael Phelpses.

• Maybe we guessed wrong about Dixon

  January 11, 2009

  No surprise that the prosecutor who's been dogging Sheila Dixon for years thinks she's corrupt. The real shocker, if her indictment is to be believed, is that Sheila Dixon thinks Sheila Dixon is corrupt.

• Michael Phelps brings new look to 'America's family'

  December 7, 2008

  To readers wondering why I was so surprised that Michael Phelps brought a Vegas cocktail waitress who shows lots of skin on the Web home to Mom on Thanksgiving, allow me to explain.

• Just get them to the church on time

  October 1, 2008

  Florist? Check. Photographer? Check. Police traffic coordinator? Double check.

• Come back, kid, when you can show ID

  September 26, 2008

  With Michael Phelps' face plastered on the cover of Sports Illustrated and boxes of Frosted Flakes, you've got to wonder: Did he lose the chance to live a normal life when he won all that Olympic glory?

• William Donald Schaefer slept here

  August 31, 2008

  Fells Point is about to lose a celebrity, somebody famous for jumping into a pool.

• If you live near Michael Phelps, don't answer the phone

  August 24, 2008

  How's this for gold-medal motivation? On July 31, just days before he headed to Beijing, Michael Phelps shelled out $36,538.46 for property taxes on his $1.7 million Fells Point townhouse.

• A tiny peek into Dixon's closet

  June 20, 2008

  Even before prosecutors started sniffing around for Sheila Dixon's fur coats, her people were worried.

• Maybe it's for the XXX Games

  February 17, 2008

  Michael Phelps and Katie Hoff aren't just showing off their swimming in Missouri. They're showing off their new Speedo LZR Racer swimsuits. And that means they're showing off their birthday suits, too.

• It's a free press when you own it

  March 18, 2007

  From the pecan cabinetry to the flagstone patio, no detail about the Roland Park charmer featured in The Examiner's real estate section goes unnoticed, but for this: The guy trying to sell the place, Examiner Publisher Michael Phelps.

• Ain't the urn cool!

  September 30, 2005

  Chuck Thompson wasn't just a Hall of Fame sports announcer. He also was a husband, the kind who parked himself on a shopping mall bench while his wife roamed the stores. So his final resting place -- in the courtyard of a revamped shopping mall -- could not be more fitting.