Daily Record (Baltimore, MD) articles from December 2003

Daily Record (Baltimore, MD) archives from December 2003

Commentary: Rebalancing your portfolio: It's time to take the bull by the horns.
December 1, 2003... Byline: Dena Shapiro Frenkel During the bear market of the last few years, millions of investors lost sizable portions of their savings and retirement plans. However, during the first half of 2003, the economy has shown many signs of...

Commentary: Spam: It's not for lunch anymore.
December 1, 2003... Byline: David Russo It's a daunting task. As the evil beings download while you get your first cup of coffee, you begin to wonder whether e-mail is any longer worth the time or trouble to wade your way through the increasing quantities of...

Md. Court of Appeals to weigh county's duty to protect child.
December 1, 2003... Byline: Lawrence Hurley Maryland's highest court will decide next year whether the state's social services department has a duty of care to intervene when a child that social workers know to be in danger is injured or murdered. The...

Baltimore lawyers send holiday treats to troops.
December 1, 2003... Byline: Alisa Bralove Old Bay-flavored potato chips and Bergers cookies are on their way to the troops in Afghanistan for the holidays, thanks to the lawyers and staff at the Baltimore office of Hogan & Hartson. Dennis M. Robinson Jr.,...

Md. Court of Appeals rejects verdict against Virginia-based Southern Management Corp.
December 1, 2003... Byline: Ann Parks A $200,000 jury verdict against the Virginia-based Southern Management Corp. Inc. for malicious prosecution of a former employee cannot stand, the Court of Appeals has held. In a 5-2 opinion, the state's highest court...

William A. Hurwitz comes out of retirement to purchase Ford dealership in Baltimore County.
December 1, 2003... Byline: Chet Dembeck Golfing and relaxing all day in tropical weather isn't for everyone. Such is the case for a former owner of Fox Automotive who has come out of retirement to take over a Ford dealership in Baltimore County's...

Baltimore radio personality, Big Don, hosts first-ever beer radio program.
December 1, 2003... Byline: Kara Kridler Think a beer radio program sounds ridiculous? Think again. With 90 million beer drinkers and 580,000 places in the country to buy beer, there appears to be a substantial market for a radio show devoted to beer. ...

Mass.-based Brine files suit against Baltimore-based lacrosse firm STXLLC for patent infringement.
December 1, 2003... Byline: Nancy Kercheval At stake in the four-year lacrosse competition between Baltimore-based STX LLC and its Massachusetts opponent, Brine, is a $1.9 million jury verdict based on the infringement of a patent for head sidewalls. The...

Baltimore firm of Ober Kaler Grimes & Shriver awards grants to four community organizations.
December 1, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports In honor of its centennial, the Baltimore law firm of Ober Kaler Grimes & Shriver awarded $25,000 in grants to four nonprofit community organizations in Baltimore. Ober|Kaler selected the Center for Poverty...

Pittsburgh- based trucking company agrees to $2M settlement with Equal Employment Opportunity Comm.
December 1, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports A Pittsburgh-based trucking company has agreed to a $2 million settlement with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, after being charged with sex, age, and disability discrimination. PJAX Inc. was...

Winners of Baltimore's 2003 Mayor's Business Recognition Awards are announced.
December 1, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Nine Baltimore-area businesses, a nonprofit organization, and a professional association have been named winners of the 2003 Mayor's Business Recognition Awards for civic leadership and outstanding community...

Baltimore County law library and bar association host annual open house to benefit literacy.
December 1, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports The Baltimore County Circuit Court Law Library along with the Baltimore County Bar Association's Young Lawyers Committee will hold its 9th annual holiday open house to benefit literacy on Thursday, December 4...

Silver Spring-based Choice Hotels stock downgraded; Baltimore-based Constellation Energy raised.
December 1, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Shares of Choice Hotels International Inc., of Silver Spring, took a hit from a financial analyst, while another stock analyst was upping the rating of Baltimore-based Constellation Energy Group. Choice...

Gaithersburg-based Sodexho USA unveils its Supplier Code of Conduct.
December 1, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Gaithersburg-based Sodexho USA, a supplier of food and facilities management services, unveiled its Supplier Code of Conduct, a series of standards to encourage vendors and suppliers to operate in an ethically...

Columbia-based Metastorm Inc. and Cary, N.C.-based Strategic Technologies form partnership.
December 1, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Columbia-based Metastorm Inc., a developer of business automation and Web-based workflow software, and Cary, N.C.-based Strategic Technologies Inc., an advisor and integrator of business and technology, have...

Baltimore Orioles recognized for promotion of responsible alcohol consumption at sporting events.
December 1, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports The TEAM Coalition Inc. (Techniques for Effective Alcohol Management) recognized the Baltimore Orioles and five other Major League Baseball clubs for their commitment to promoting responsible alcohol...

Chesapeake Bay Foundation petitions EPA.
December 2, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports The Chesapeake Bay Foundation formally petitioned the federal Environmental Protection Agency yesterday, asking the agency to tighten pollution controls in the sprawling bay watershed. The administrative...

Franklin Square Hospital prepares to expand on several fronts.
December 2, 2003... Byline: Patrice Dickens The days when skeptics derided Franklin Square Hospital Center as "Franklin Scare" are over. Or at least they should be, says Carl J. Schindelar, the hospital's president. "We have made a lot of progress,"...

Rushed workers want more amenities in biz parks.
December 2, 2003... Byline: Chet Dembeck The average employee is time poor. That's why developers such as MIE Properties Inc. are including eateries, dry cleaners and hair salons in their business parks, said Jerry Wit, MIE's vice president of marketing....

New transit hitting streets.
December 2, 2003... Byline: Kara Kridler In an effort to improve the state's transportation services for people who are unable to use buses and light rail, a fleet of 57 new Maryland Transit Administration Mobility vehicles will hit the streets in the next...

Tech exec pleads guilty to fraud.
December 2, 2003... Byline: Kathleen Johnston Jarboe Beverly Baker, the former controller who pleaded not guilty in February to cooking the books at now-defunct Network Technologies Group Inc., changed her wire fraud plea to guilty yesterday. In a...

Smoking ban fight ignites in Baltimore.
December 2, 2003... Byline: Andrea Cecil Instituting a smoking ban on Baltimore City's bars, restaurants and entertainment establishments will only serve to repel patrons, according to the Restaurant Association of Maryland, an industry trade group. Last...

Doctor's suit against hospital revived.
December 2, 2003... Byline: Alisa Bralove The credentialing process used by a private hospital does not entitle it to special deference in a suit by a physician whose privileges were revoked, the state's highest court has held. Reversing the Court of...

West Side biotech park, still year off, has 14 prospective tenants.
December 2, 2003... Byline: Patrice Dickens Although the planned biotechnology park for Baltimore City's West Side won't open for more than a year, there already are 14 prospective tenants for the project, James L. Hughes, vice president for research and...

Housing segregation suit puts urban renewal on trial.
December 2, 2003... Byline: Lawrence Hurley Urban renewal policies pursued in Baltimore during the 20th century confined blacks to economically depressed areas and perpetuated segregation, a nationally known civil rights law professor testified yesterday in...

California support order can't touch dad-by-default here.
December 2, 2003... Byline: Ann Parks A Carroll County man who has been wrangling with the state of California over paternity and child support issues since 1991 will not have a child support order enforced against him in Maryland, the Court of Special...

Samuel Shapiro & Co. announces direct, less-than-container load service.
December 2, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Baltimore-based Samuel Shapiro & Co., a customs brokerage and international freight forwarding company, announced the only regularly scheduled, direct less than-container load (LCL) service from Hong Kong to...

FTI Consulting completes acquisition of Lexecon.
December 2, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports FTI Consulting Inc., of Annapolis, a provider of corporate finance/restructuring, forensic accounting, economic consulting and litigation services, completed the acquisition of the assets of Lexecon, an...

Group 1 Software unveils enhancements on all products in Centrus biz geographics software.
December 2, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Group 1 Software, of Lanham, unveiled significant enhancements to all of the products in its Centrus business geographics line of software. Among them, all Centrus products now run on Red Hat Linux, which...

Reznick Fedder & Silverman opens office in Sacramento.
December 2, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Reznick Fedder & Silverman, of Bethesda, the 18th largest public accounting firm in the nation in 2002 according to Public Accounting Report, opened an office in Sacramento, Calif., joining branches in...

MD Representative leading effort to reassess security needs of Nat'l Capital Region.
December 2, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, R-Md., is leading an effort to reassess the security needs of the National Capital Region, which encompasses the District of Columbia; the Maryland counties of Montgomery and Prince...

SafeNet Inc. supplies SafeXcel-1741 VPN chip to Movidis Inc.
December 2, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports SafeNet Inc., of Owings Mills, which manufactures software to protect communications on the Internet, supplied its SafeXcel-1741 VPN chip to Movidis Inc., of Los Angeles, for its MMS 1000 Molecular Media...

Jos. A. Bank Clothiers reports net income increase of 53%.
December 2, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc., an upscale menswear manufacturer and retailer headquartered in Hampstead, reported that, for its fiscal third quarter ended Nov. 1, net income increased 53 percent to $2.9 million...

Medical language reference books, software publisher issues new medical dictionary.
December 2, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a Baltimore-based, international publisher of medical language reference books and software, issued Stedman's Electronic Medical Dictionary v.6.0, containing more than 104,000...

Training Services on Demand announces mini-seminars for convention settings.
December 2, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Training Services on Demand Inc., of Frederick, a nationwide provider of training, consulting and employee development programs, announced the availability of a series of mini-seminars for convention and...

Commentary: A diagnosis of Medicare reform.
December 3, 2003... Byline: Robert S. Coplan, M.D., M.P.H. Senate Majority Leader Dr. Bill Frist has written the wrong prescription. By practicing inside the Washington Beltway, it appears he and his staff have lost contact with patient needs. A...

MD Legal Briefs December 3, 2003.
December 3, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Spence to retire Washington County District Judge R. Noel Spence will retire Dec. 31 after 10 years on the bench. Spence, whose retirement at age 70 is required by Maryland law, said he tempers his...

Claim of ineffective assistance did not belong on direct appeal.
December 3, 2003... Byline: Barbara Grzincic The post-conviction process, not direct appeal, is the proper way to determine if a too-vague motion for acquittal amounted to ineffective assistance of counsel, the Court of Appeals has held. The state's...

Understanding Hispanic consumers.
December 3, 2003... Byline: Andrea Cecil Maryland retailers are taking note of the nation's skyrocketing Hispanic population but have done little to attract it. Hispanics are the fastest growing minority in the country, reaching 38.8 million in number by...

Strapped Montgomery County government looks for cash in the trash.
December 3, 2003... Byline: Robyn Lamb Visitors at most Montgomery County parks will have to take their paper plates and plastic bottles with them when they leave from now on. On Monday, the Montgomery County Department of Park and Planning started...

Debate in public housing trial turns to demographics.
December 3, 2003... Byline: Lawrence Hurley Baltimore housing officials, backed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, have pursued "deliberate segregation of the races" since the 1940s, a sociologist testified yesterday on the second day of...

Garrett County to get manufacturing jobs.
December 3, 2003... Byline: Kara Kridler One day after Maryland's top political officials flew to the headquarters of automaker General Motors in hopes of saving manufacturing jobs here, they got a bit good news from a place called Accident. Phenix...

Pawn shop plans to evolve with Baltimore's West Side redevelopment.
December 3, 2003... Byline: Jeffrey Raymond For 50 years, Samuelson's pawn shop operated in the 900 block of Pennsylvania Avenue, until urban renewal in 1972 forced the business south to downtown Baltimore's West Side. A few years ago the grandiose plans...

Doctor-turned-student was not voluntarily impoverished.
December 3, 2003... Byline: Ann Parks A former Montgomery County anesthesiologist did not voluntarily impoverish himself by changing careers after suffering a relapse of a substance abuse problem, the Court of Special Appeals held yesterday. The court...

MD offering amnesty period to companies owing taxes.
December 3, 2003... Byline: Kathleen Johnston Jarboe Maryland's comptroller has offered businesses that use Delaware holding companies to lower their state tax bills an amnesty period. The idea is to encourage the companies to come clean and pay their bills...

Federal Realty Investment Trust declares quarterly cash dividend.
December 3, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Rockville-based Federal Realty Investment Trust declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of 49 cents per share on its common shares, resulting in an indicated annual rate of $1.96 per share, payable on Jan....

Oblicore Inc. to provide IT services to German energy industry.
December 3, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Columbia-based Oblicore Inc., a provider of service-level management software, was picked by is:energy, of Hanover, Germany, a provider of IT services to the German energy industry, to install its Guaranty...

Harvey's Jewelry Store closing after 76 years.
December 3, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Harvey's Jewelry Store, a fixture in downtown Cumberland for 76 years, is closing. Jan Braverman, granddaughter of founder Harvey Aronson, said a closing date hasn't been set, but a going-out-of business sale...

FTI Consulting given 'buy' rating by analyst.
December 3, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports FTI Consulting Inc., of Annapolis was given a "buy" rating in new coverage by analyst Raj Sharma at Merriman Curhan Ford & Co, with a price target of $36 per share. FTI is a national provider of turnaround,...

Host Marriott finalizes sale of Jacksonville hotel.
December 3, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Host Marriott Corp., of Bethesda, a national hotel company, said it finalized the sale of the Jacksonville, Fla., Marriott hotel to an unidentified buyer for approximately $17 million. The proceeds will be...

sentitO Networks to enhance dial-up, cable services of Merrimac Communications.
December 3, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports sentitO Networks Inc., of Rockville, a communications infrastructure company, was selected by Wisconsin-based Merrimac Communications to enhance its current dial-up and cable services and offer new bundled...

Global eXchange Services to provide data synchronization services to Gottschalks Inc.
December 3, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Global eXchange Services Inc., of Gaithersburg, a provider of supply chain automation services and software, was selected by Gottschalks Inc., of Fresno, Calif., the owner of 64 department stores in the...

WorldTeq Group supplying S&A Building Services with MonEcard product.
December 3, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports WorldTeq Group International Inc., of Rockville, a provider of telecommunications, merchandising and financial services, is supplying S&A Building Services Inc., a Washington-area cleaning services company,...

Saul Centers acquires 13 undeveloped acres in Frederick.
December 3, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Saul Centers Inc., a Rockville-based equity real estate investment trust, acquired 13 acres of undeveloped land at the southeast corner of the intersection of Maryland Route 26 and Monocacy Boulevard in...

Nature's Creations announces agreement to create jewelry from preserved leaves.
December 3, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Nature's Creations Inc., a Rockville-based company that designs, handcrafts and distributes unique jewelry made from leaves and other items from nature, announced an agreement with the Maryland Department of...

Sweetheart Holdings reports net income of $15M.
December 3, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Sweetheart Holdings Inc., of Owings Mills, a manufacturer of disposable food service products, reported net income for its fiscal year ended Sept. 28 of $15 million, versus a net loss of $3.1 million in...

MD atty. general reaches settlement with Internet cigarette retailers.
December 4, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr. announced that the Consumer Protection Division of his office reached a settlement with the operators of the Web site www.dirtcheapcig.com, prohibiting them from selling...

Baltimore County claims progress in minority contracting.
December 4, 2003... Byline: Chet Dembeck Increasing the number of contracts awarded to minority and women-owned businesses is a top priority of Baltimore County Executive James T. Smith Jr., according to administration officials. Since July, the county...

Maryland bank executives wary of interest rate squeeze.
December 4, 2003... Byline: Kathleen Johnston Jarboe Interest rates, and managing their risk, were on bankers' minds as about 275 directors and top executives from Maryland financial institutions met at the third annual bank directors forum in Cambridge...

New method to identify common form of cancer has skeptics in Maryland.
December 4, 2003... Byline: Patrice Dickens Maryland doctors say virtual colonoscopy is a great advancement in the diagnosis of colon cancer, but many are skeptical whether hospitals will invest in the technology or whether the new test will eliminate the...

Baltimore City seeks minority prime on Fells Point job.
December 4, 2003... Byline: Andrea Cecil Baltimore's Board of Estimates yesterday approved two agreements in connection with the development of an $18.4 million, 815-space parking garage near Fells Point. However, it gave its OK only after stipulating the...

Consultant, residents testify in public housing trial.
December 4, 2003... Byline: Lawrence Hurley Baltimore's housing authority repeatedly ignored opportunities to construct public housing in areas of the city that were not poverty-stricken and majority black, thereby missing the chance to end racial...

Techies herald hope at annual expo.
December 4, 2003... Byline: Kara Kridler Optimism seemed to fill the halls of the Baltimore Convention Center as technology industry experts gathered to discuss the latest developments and the future of the industry. "There's certainly a lot of...

CSA: Merit Board can grant attorney fees for court fight.
December 4, 2003... Byline: Peter Geier Montgomery County must pay legal fees incurred in the judicial review of grievances filed by a pair of county firefighters who complained to a supervisor that grass-cutting was not in their job description, the Court of...

Venue challenge survives counterclaim.
December 4, 2003... Byline: Alisa Bralove An Anne Arundel County man, sued in Montgomery County by his former Washington law partners, did not waive his right to challenge venue by filing a counterclaim, the Court of Special Appeals held yesterday. "In...

Difference Engines reaches acquisition agreement with Guardian Technologies.
December 4, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Difference Engines Corp., a startup software company based at the Howard County Economic Development Authority NeoTech Incubator in Columbia, reached an agreement with Guardian Technologies International...

Advancis Pharmaceutical to open new headquarters, research center in Germantown.
December 4, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Germantown-based Advancis Pharmaceutical Corp. is set to open its new, 62,000-square-foot corporate headquarters and research center at 20425 Seneca Meadows Parkway in Germantown. Advancis, a drug discovery...

Covega Corp. names new CEO.
December 4, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Covega Corp., of Jessup, a provider of optical components, modules and subsystems to the telecommunications, data communications, military and cable television industries, named Joseph Dixon to the post of...

BulkRegister launches CertWatch.
December 4, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports BulkRegister, of Baltimore, a wholesale provider of high-volume domain name registration services, launched CertWatch, a free, new tool that enables BulkRegister members to quickly and easily sell, renew and...

Celsion Corp. announces change in fiscal year end.
December 4, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Celsion Corp., a Columbia-based biotechnology company that is developing treatment systems for cancer and other diseases using focused heat technology, announced that, effective Dec. 31, it is changing its...

Bank of America sponsoring Inc. magazine executive seminar.
December 4, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Bank of America will sponsor an Inc. magazine executive seminar on the role of customer loyalty in growing small businesses, from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Dec. 9 at the Sheraton Baltimore North Hotel in Towson....

Betrusted Holdings approves acquisition of Baltimore Technologies' security products.
December 4, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Betrusted Holdings Inc., of Columbia, a provider of managed security services, said its shareholders approved acquisition of U.K.-based Baltimore Technologies plc's security products and technology for $8.26...

Group 1 Software to supply GeoTax product to Texas Comptroller.
December 4, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Group 1 Software, of Lanham, was selected to supply its GeoTax product to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts to automate the tax jurisdiction assignment process in the state. GeoTax provides a...

Arundel Business Loan Fund approves 16 small biz loans in 2003.
December 4, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports The Arundel Business Loan Fund, a service of the Anne Arundel Economic Development Corp., said it approved 16 small-business loans in 2003, totaling $2,083,000 and representing a 244 percent increase over the...

Host Marriott receives $370M insurance payment for World Trade Center hotel.
December 4, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Host Marriott Corp. received a $370 million insurance payment to cover the destruction of its World Trade Center hotel in New York on Sept. 11, 2001, as well as for damage to the nearby Marriott Financial...

Development agencies host area-wide mystery tours.
December 5, 2003... Byline: Chet Dembeck Like the Beatles who had a magical mystery bus tour, the Baltimore County Department of Economic Development stages one of its own that gathers developers and bankers to check out properties slated for revitalization....

Economic Viewpoint - Maryland leading index drops in September.
December 5, 2003... Byline: John Hopkins The RESI Maryland Leading Index dropped 0.2 percent in September to a value of 151.80. Growth of the Index in August was revised upward from 0.2 percent to 0.3 percent. September is the third consecutive month...

More whirring at Federal Reserve.
December 5, 2003... Byline: Kathleen Johnston Jarboe The 10 gray machines stretch close to 30 feet long in a white room at the Federal Reserve in Baltimore. They can sort up to 1,800 checks a minute and spit them into 32 categories. And more of them are...

Commentary: Bush, management reform and performance.
December 5, 2003... Byline: Beryl A. Radin Most presidential administrations seem to want to put their own imprint on management reform efforts. In this respect, the George W. Bush administration is no different from many that preceded it. Although some...

Commentary: Contributions to charities affected by economy.
December 5, 2003... Byline: Betsy Nelson A recent study in the Chronicle of Philanthropy found that donations to America's largest charities declined last year, the first decrease in 12 years. After an average gain of 12 percent during the previous five...

Commentary: Microsoft takes aim at spam.
December 5, 2003... Byline: Larry Fiorino During the COMDEX Technology exposition in Las Vegas, Bill Gates announced that the next generation of Microsoft's Windows operating system has begun development. Codenamed "Longhorn," the new operating system...

Commentary: Minority owner of Baltimore Ravens enjoys being part of team.
December 5, 2003... Byline: Mark Cheshire I have a confession to make. I've never admitted this before, so bear with me. I'm getting a little misty and could really use a hug. OK. Whew. Here goes: I am a sports fanatic. More specifically, I'm addicted...

Veteran public defender is committed to job.
December 5, 2003... Byline: Peter Geier He's committed, he loves what he does and says he hasn't lost a trial in more than two years. But as a veteran public defender in Baltimore City, Louis B. Curran, 51, said he would be "delighted to be without a job"...

Commentary: Help wanted for the most important job in legal services.
December 5, 2003... Byline: Robert J. Rhudy OK, grab a pencil. It's pop-quiz time. Name the most important job at a direct-service civil legal services program. (Hint: It's not the executive director.) If you said it's the chief attorney, the...