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Lawmakers love sports heroes, particularly home-grown athletes. Kimmie Meissner passed through the General Assembly on Tuesday, picking up proclamations from the House and Senate.

Meissner, a 19-year-old figure skater from Bel Air, testified in favor of legislation that would offer tax breaks for Marylanders who get healthy.

After an appearance in the Senate, Meissner was asked about Maryland's uber-Olympian, Michael Phelps, who has been famously photographed taking an Olympic-sized toke from a bong in South Carolina.

"I feel Mike is a great athlete no matter what," Meissner said. "What he chooses to do is his own business."

Phelps, by the way, is scheduled to make an appearance before the legislature. Alexandra Hughes, spokeswoman for House Speaker Mike Busch, said no date has been set.

— Douglas Tallman

One senator's lesson on torts

With 24 legislative sessions under their belt by Wednesday, senators have passed about 30 pieces of legislation, with barely a nay vote.

Rich Colburn didn't like the bill that let Annapolis bars stay open late on Inauguration Day.

Alex Mooney and Andy Harris voted against a bill that kept farmland preservation documents confidential.

And Mike Lenett's was the only red light up on the Senate tote board on a bill Tuesday.

The bill extends to veterinary students an immunity from liability that licensed veterinarians have when offering aid in emergencies.

Lenett said later that he voted against the bill because he's opposed to immunities. Tort law already has the tools to encourage good conduct, he said.

— Douglas Tallman

Face it, they love Facebook

The decision to block lawmakers' access to the social networking site Facebook last week was like taking a child's favorite toy.

There was a lot of crying — though most of it, appropriately enough, was done on Facebook.

About 300 people eventually joined a Facebook group called "Maryland General Assembly feels Insecure about Facebook. Puh-leaze!" in protest of the decision, by the Office of Legislative Information Systems.

The office blocked access to Facebook and MySpace, citing security concerns and an increase in viruses on computers issued to the General Assembly.

Del. Curt Anderson — a Facebook user — predicted "greater efficiency" in Annapolis.

On Tuesday, the office partially reversed its decision — reopening access to Facebook, but continuing to block MySpace.

Mike Gaudiello, the office's director, said he has installed tools to protect from viruses. Gaudiello was confident that Facebook is now safe.

MySpace, apparently, not so much.

— Sean R. Sedam

Where have you gone,

Rick Weldon?

As if the Facebook frenzy wasn't enough grief for Gaudiello & Co. at the Office of Legislative Information Systems, here's another shortcoming.

Members with no party affiliation are nonexistent on one part of the General Assembly Web site. Visitors searching for their delegate by political party can click on only Democrats or Republicans. That leaves Rick Weldon, who switched from Republican to unaffiliated in September, out of luck. (You can, however, still find Weldon searching by name, district or county.)

"I have every reason to hope that Speaker Busch and President (Mike) Miller will recognize that the fastest-growing component of the electorate are good people who are consciously choosing not to select a major political party," he cracked Thursday.

"Woe be these leaders if they continue to ignore these good people by not identifying their elected officials who have likewise chosen not to select one of these parties."

Of course, Weldon was poking fun at his nonlisting, but said being the sole unaffiliated lawmaker can be a lonely feeling. "I'm a man without a continent."

— Alan Brody

About-Face[book]

Del. Saqib Ali seemed apathetic to the news of Facebook's return.

"Is it up? I hear it's up," he said when asked about the return of access.

Ali, whose Facebook page got attention last year for its frequently amusing, sometimes head-scratching postings such as "Saqib loves Fridays like a fat kid loves cake," and "Saqib's barber shop offers bizarre conversations from an alternative reality," declared the episode "not a big deal."

The delegate from Gaithersburg has embraced outreach on the Web, with a blog launched in May 2005 that dealt with the finer points of his successful 2006 campaign for delegate and now issues in the legislature.

"Any way I can communicate with my constituents is a good way to communicate with constituents," he said, adding that he is posting audio recordings of hearings on his bills on the blog.

One that's sure to be a doozy: The "No So-Called Sexual Stimulants for Kids Act," which seeks to keep professed sexual stimulants labeled under names like "Stamina-Rx" and "All Nite Long" out of the hands of minors.

No hearing is scheduled yet for the bill, which Ali introduced statewide this week after withdrawing a bill he had filed as local legislation with the Montgomery County delegation.

Stay tuned — er, logged on.

— Sean R. Sedam

The silent treatment

Gov. Martin O'Malley issued a pre-emptive "no comment" to the Baltimore Examiner's Len Lazarick on Tuesday, vowing never to speak to the free daily tabloid again after this week.

While fielding questions from the State House press corps about what the federal stimulus package will mean for Maryland, O'Malley cut short a question from Lazarick, an Annapolis veteran.

"I'm not answering any questions from your newspaper," O'Malley said. "I'm refusing to talk to the Examiner ever again after this week."

It wasn't a ban on access to the executive branch, as former Gov. Bob Ehrlich ordered for Baltimore Sun reporter David Nitkin and columnist Michael Olesker in 2004.

It was O'Malley's acknowledgement of the demise of the newspaper chain's Baltimore edition, which publishes for the final time Sunday.

What O'Malley didn't count on is that the Washington Examiner will live on — though apparently not in the governor's mind.

— Sean R. Sedam

Real ads of genius

Comptroller Peter Franchot really wants you to file your taxes electronically.

He's held a press conference, released multiple news releases and now gone on YouTube.

The comptroller's office has posted, at www.youtube.com/comptroller1, a parody of a certain beer company's "Real Men of Genius" radio spots.

"The Comptroller presents ‘Real Taxpayers of Genius,'" announces a James Earl Jones-sounding narrator on the YouTube video.

"Real Taxpayers of Genius," sings another voice.

"Today we salute you, Mr. Frustrated Taxpayer," the narrator says.

The video shows taxpayers banging their fists on their desks and ripping up paper.

"Tired of filing your taxes the old-fashioned way?" the narrator asks.

"So tired of paper cuts — makes me so angry," the other voice sings.

The narrator tells people to "e-file that return" and goes on to show a successful e-filer raising his hands in triumph.

It ends with Franchot. "Hi, I'm Maryland State Comptroller Peter Franchot," he says. "When you file your taxes this season, be sure to use e-file. It's the fastest, easiest way to file your taxes. Log on to our Web site at marylandtaxes.com."

And the best part of the video? There was no cost to taxpayers, said Joe Shapiro, a spokesman for the comptroller's office.

"All the actors and all the singing was comptroller employees," Shapiro said. The writing, too.

The office is spending "a couple thousand" dollars in paid advertising and materials throughout the state. The video was shot by WJZ-TV in Baltimore, with which the office is advertising.

"Meryl Streep's part was left on the editing room floor," Shapiro said. The final product isn't exactly Super Bowl-worthy, but surely there's a 14-year-old in some far-off place just waiting to pay taxes to Maryland.

— Sean R. Sedam

Friends of the Bay

Now you can get your news with a green tint.

The Maryland League of Conservation Voters has launched daily updates on environmental news from around the state with RSS news feeds, available at www.mdlcv.org/rss/. (There might even be an article or two from The Gazette popping up from time to time.)

The RSS feeds will supplement the weekly "Hot List" e-mails of environmental bills making their way through the General Assembly.

And — oh yeah — LCV (like many lawmakers) is on Facebook. We can only guess that there's a Facebook page for the Chesapeake Bay and LCV has tried to "friend" it.

— Sean R. Sedam