It's happening in Bmore! June 15-21

The annual three-day African-American Heritage Festival attracts 500,000 people from the Baltimore region, Washington D.C., Virginia and other neighboring states. In fact, over twenty-percent of Festival attendees are from out of state. The Festival offers a number of pavilions providing information, covering topics that include "Financial Literacy", "Health and Wellness", "Careers and Employment" and "Home Ownership." A special Children and Young Adult pavilion is also in place to promote arts, history, education, and fun for young people.

The African American Heritage Festival features a wide variety of musical acts performing on two stages. Nationally renowned entertainers.Headlining this year's festival are Robin Thicke who will work the Main Stage on Friday, Leela James and Marsh (from Floetry), along with a special guest performer on Saturday, and the festival will close Sunday with Donnie McClurken.

Admission to the festival is free before 4:00 p.m. every day, and only $5 afterwards. Children under 12 are admitted free of charge. Tickets are available via Ticketmaster for reserved seats at the concerts.

For more information about the festival, visit the AAHF website.

Baltimore Pride the annual celebration of the diversity in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in Baltimore and throughout the Mid-Atlantic region takes place this weekend. It is Maryland's largest GLBT event, working to bring visibility for the community and emphasizing the importance of diversity in society.

Pride events include the Drag Heel Race, crowning of the King and Queen of Baltimore Pride, followed by the Pride Parade.



OSI-Baltimore is launching a new forum series tonight that looks at arrests in schools. As federal officials collect, analyze and release data on this practice,  local school officials and law enforcement agencies are expected to examine their policies, including the zero-tolerance discipline policies that have made police officers common in schools.

To help local officials learn about effective practices, OSI-Baltimore and the Annie E. Casey Foundation are co-sponsoring a forum with a nationally recognized expert -- Judge Steven C. Teske of the juvenile court of Clayton County, Georgia. Teske will share how he successfully urged school officials and police to limit referrals from schools to the courts in Clayton County. Baltimore judges, police officers, school administrators and the general public are invited to attend.

The event is free and open to the public. The forum is the first event in OSI-Baltimore's series, "Arrests in Schools," addressing school arrests and their effect on society. For more information about the series, visit OSI_Baltimore's event page.