Tom LoBianco, Maryland politics reporter

So The Sun had a big blowout this morning on lawmakers, lobbyists and Gov. Martin O’Malley all clearing a packed Annapolis bar late last night after a fire was reported.

But there was no fire, at least that’s what the fire department said. From the AP:

¶ ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) _ An Annapolis Fire Department spokesman says firefighters found no evidence of a fire at a bar where Gov. Martin O’Malley and state lawmakers evacuated after someone smelled a smoky odor.

¶ Lt. John Bowes said firefighters got a call at 11:17 p.m. Thursday for a report of smoke coming from a vent. Bowes says they found no evidence of a fire or damage. Bowes says firefighters believe the odor was created when the bar turned on the heat.

¶ Maryland State Police spokesman Greg Shipley says O’Malley was starting to leave the bar with his security detail when the odor was detected. Lawmakers and others followed the governor’s exit from the event they were attending, a celebration for about 40 lawmakers finishing their first term in office.

(The Sun has recently corrected its original report — corrected version here — but the “fire” bit, which was picked up by the AP earlier this morning spread nationwide, with the Examiner chain running the original piece and then the corrected version.)

Both of The Sun reporters were in the bar, so reasonable reporting standards dictate you can write what you see. Not sure how there was smoke without a fire, but the fire department said there wasn’t one.

So news aggregator Eye On Annapolis grabbed the piece, stripped it down, and reposted it with nary a link or a source. I traded comments with the staff, earlier. The exchange is pictured to the right (not sure why I got this goofy tomato icon for an avatar.)

(It also stands to note that The Daily Record held the blog title “Eye On Annapolis” back in 2008, about a year before this other blog started.)

UPDATE: The Capital, an Annapolis newspaper, was the first with the correct account from the fire department. Here‘s a vociferous post from Capital reporter Josh Stewart.

And … Here’s the invitation to the party which started the whole thing, the freshman class party. They really rocked the house …

This is the invite that was posted in the House lounge for a few days this week. Rock the House ...