At least 17 people were shot over the weekend, two fatally, in separate incidents, including an Ashland Avenue cookout in which 12 were shot. Among the injured at the backyard party was a pregnant woman and a two-year-old girl. Quoting sources, the Baltimore Sun says the cook-out was to mark the one-year anniversary of a gang-related killing. Police had one piece of evidence drive up to Johns Hopkins Hospital: a bullet riddled Lexus.

By MELODY SIMMONS and FERN SHEN

     Donna Hanks’ history of trouble making house payments, ripe for the picking on public databases, hit the blogosphere over the weekend like sirloin in a piranha tank. The tart-tongued East Baltimore grandmother is firing back, meanwhile, and ACORN is defending its vetting process.

UPDATES: Hanks is arrested and charged with 4th degree burglary (Baltimore Sun 2/25/09) ACORN activist who helped Hanks break into her old house is arrested.  (Baltimore Sun 2/23/09) City Council considers bill to slow evictions (Baltimore Sun 2/24/09)

  PLUS: Video of the break-in.

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Activists from ACORN help foreclosee Donna Hanks break back into her home.

By MELODY SIMMONS

A participant in ACORN’s national civil disobedience campaign found that after camera crews left, her situation remained bleak. Read the rest of this entry »