Daily Record (Baltimore, MD) articles from January 2003

Daily Record (Baltimore, MD) archives from January 2003

Internet DVD rental company Netflix reports 87.9% increase in subscribers.
January 3, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Internet DVD rental company Netflix Inc. had an 87.9 percent increase in the number of subscribers in one year to 857,000 at the end of the fourth quarter. The Los Gatos-based company reached its goal of...

US LEC Corp. announces complete restructuring of debt agreement.
January 3, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports US LEC Corp., a telecommunications carrier providing voice, data and Internet telecommunications services to businesses in Maryland and elsewhere, this week announced a complete restructuring of the company's...

Celsion Corp. reschedules quarterly shareholder conference call.
January 3, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Columbia-based Celsion Corp. yesterday announced that due to scheduling constraints resulting from unplanned overseas travel requirements by two of its executives, its quarterly shareholder conference call is...

Harleysville Mutual Insurance Co. completes acquisition of Penn Mutual Insurance.
January 3, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Harleysville Mutual Insurance Co. yesterday announced that it has completed its acquisition of Penn Mutual Insurance Co., which underwrites business policies in Maryland and other Mid-Atlantic states. As a...

Telkonet Inc. chairman invests additional 200K in private transaction.
January 3, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Ronald W. Pickett, chairman and interim chief executive of Annapolis-based Telkonet Inc. cast a financial vote of confidence in his firm this week by investing an additional $200,000 in a private securities...

Restoration Hardware lowers fourth-quarter sales, earnings forecast.
January 3, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Home decorating retailer Restoration Hardware Inc. yesterday reported disappointing holiday sales and lowered its fourth-quarter sales and earnings forecasts. The reduced estimates means the Corte Madera,...

Downtown Partnership to host State of Downtown Baltimore 2002.
January 3, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports The Downtown Partnership hosts The State of Downtown Baltimore 2002 Jan. 30. Scheduled speakers include: James L. Shea of Venable, Edward J. Kelly III of Mercantile Bank and Trust Co., and Thomas R. Mullen, of...

MD Chamber of Commerce to host 'Business Day in Annapolis'.
January 3, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports The Maryland Chamber of Commerce is to host "Business Day in Annapolis" Jan. 9 at 4:30 p.m. The governor-elect and the Democratic and Republican leaders from both houses of the Maryland General Assembly, as...

Spectrum Control to release fourth-quarter, year-end results on Jan. 9.
January 3, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Spectrum Control Inc., the manufacturer of electronic control products and systems that acquired Columbia-based FSY Microwave Inc. last summer, yesterday announced that it will release its fourth-quarter and...

MedImmune Inc. to make presentation at JP Morgan Annual Healthcare Conference.
January 3, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Gaithersburg-based MedImmune Inc. will make a presentation at the JP Morgan 21st Annual Healthcare Conference Jan. 6. The biotech firm is in the business of developing products to prevent or treat infectious...

Resource Bankshares declares dividend of $0.17 per share.
January 3, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Resource Bankshares Corp., which operates bank branches in Florida, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia, this week declared a dividend of $0.17 per share on its common stock, a 21 percent increase over the...

Magellan Health Services announces credit extension.
January 3, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Magellan Health Services Inc. of Columbia recently announced that it has reached a credit agreement that provides for extensions of waivers of any default of its financial covenants through Jan. 15. The deal...

Towson vacancy rates high and likely to stay so.
January 3, 2003... Byline: Lily Henning The dozen or so signs for office space leasing opportunities dotting a short stretch of East Joppa Road near Towson's downtown core could prove unsuccessful for much of 2003, some real estate industry representatives...

Sign-lighting ceremony to signal Baltimore Arena name change.
January 3, 2003... Byline: Kathleen Johnston Jarboe A sign-lighting ceremony planned for tomorrow evening at the Baltimore Arena will officially dub the 40-year-old building the 1st Mariner Arena. During the event, Mayor Martin O'Malley will switch on a...

Hershey Foods Corp. board member resigns.
January 3, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Hershey Foods Corp. said yesterday that J. Robert Hillier resigned from the board, effective Tuesday. The Hershey, Pa.-based candy maker said it will seek a replacement for Hillier on the 9-member board....

Insurance co. doesn't have to pay on uninsured driver policy for five-year old accident.
January 3, 2003... Byline: Lawrence Hurley A Maryland company has failed to persuade the Court of Special Appeals that its insurance company should be required to pay up to $450,000 more on an uninsured driver policy following an accident five years ago. ...

Quizno's Sub chain looking for space in MD.
January 3, 2003... Byline: Ezra Fieser The toasted submarine sandwiches sweeping the nation should be a lot easier to find in Central Maryland over the next two years. That is, if the sub shop chain that makes the luncheon specialties can find real estate to...

Developer can't appeal county circuit court order.
January 3, 2003... Byline: Daily Record Legal Affairs Writer A developer cannot immediately appeal a Prince George's County Circuit Court order declaring that it does not own a 90-acre parcel of land it wanted to buy, the Court of Special Appeals has held....

Allegheny Energy unloads subsidiaries for $22.3M in much-needed cash.
January 3, 2003... Byline: Andréa Cecil Constellation Energy Group purchased two subsidiaries from troubled Allegheny Energy Inc. for $22.3 million, the companies said yesterday. The sale will help Hagerstown-based Allegheny - a company struggling...

Weakness seen amid the rise in large donations.
January 3, 2003... Byline: Robyn Lamb Despite a persistent decline in the stock market and the erosion of their assets, Maryland's private foundations continue to increase charitable giving. With $9.1 billion in total assets, the state's 1,256...

Calendar - January 3, 2002.
January 3, 2003... Byline: Special to The Daily Record To submit an item for the calendar, address it to The Daily Record Calendar, 11 E. Saratoga St., Baltimore, MD 21202, or E-mail nancy@mddailyrecord.com. Wednesday, January 8 Event "The...

Police stop did not amount to custody under 'Miranda v. Arizona'.
January 3, 2003... Byline: Peter Geier A Montgomery County policeman's Terry-authorized forcible seizure of a suspected office burglar was not in itself custody subject to the protocol required by Miranda v. Arizona, the Court of Special Appeals has held....

Will 2003 be better for advertising?
January 3, 2003... Byline: Bruce Miller Following two of the roughest years in history for the advertising industry both in Maryland and nationally, there is reason for hope in 2003, according to a new report and industry representatives. Overall ad...

MD Legal Briefs Jan. 3, 2003.
January 3, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Identity theft alleged More than two dozen customers who went to H&R Block for tax-preparation help had their personal information stolen as part of an identity theft scam, according to a federal...

Commentary: Educated Investor - The trend is your friend.
January 4, 2003... Byline: David R. Clogg, ChFC Well, it's that time of the year again when all the self proclaimed stock market geniuses make their forecasts for the coming year. It doesn't matter if you are a cab driver, housewife, economist or...

Maryland's Legal Aid Bureau: A national leader.
January 4, 2003... Byline: Robert J. Rhudy and Joe Surkiewicz When it comes to nationally ranked institutions in Maryland, several come to mind: the Terps, the Johns Hopkins University and the Baltimore Symphony, just to name a few. Here's another one to...

MD boutique winery making headway in the national market.
January 4, 2003... Byline: Neil R.G. Young, CLU, ChFC One of the first questions I ask a business owner is, "How did you get in this business?" I get lots of different answers. For many people, it is simply a matter of joining their parents in their...

Commentary: Risks you must take and how to manage them.
January 4, 2003... Byline: Beth Rosenwald In the well-regarded book, "Managing for Results," management expert Peter Drucker divided risk into four categories: 1. The risk you accept; 2. The risk you can afford to take; 3. The risk you cannot afford to take;...

Commentary: Tenancy by the entireties property under attack.
January 4, 2003... Byline: Michele Gilligan Married Marylanders routinely take title to their homes as tenants by the entireties because it protects property from the reach of creditors of an individual spouse. Lawyers or physicians in Maryland concerned...

Commentary: Tenancy by the entireties property under attack.
January 4, 2003... Byline: Special to The Daily Record Married Marylanders routinely take title to their homes as tenants by the entireties because it protects property from the reach of creditors of an individual spouse. Lawyers or physicians in...

Maryland's Legal Aid Bureau: A national leader.
January 4, 2003... Byline: Special to The Daily Record When it comes to nationally ranked institutions in Maryland, several come to mind: the Terps, the Johns Hopkins University and the Baltimore Symphony, just to name a few. Here's another one to add to...

MD boutique winery making headway in the national market.
January 4, 2003... Byline: Special to The Daily Record One of the first questions I ask a business owner is, "How did you get in this business?" I get lots of different answers. For many people, it is simply a matter of joining their parents in their...

Commentary: Risks you must take and how to manage them.
January 4, 2003... Byline: Special to The Daily Record In the well-regarded book, "Managing for Results," management expert Peter Drucker divided risk into four categories: 1. The risk you accept; 2. The risk you can afford to take; 3. The risk you cannot...

Interview with veteran MD lobbyist.
January 4, 2003... Byline: Nancy Kercheval Bruce C. Bereano has witnessed several gubernatorial reigns come and go. As the lobbyist awaits the start of the 2003 General Assembly, he talks to The Daily Record about the changes that are due in Annapolis with a...

Govt. insiders discuss upcoming legislative session.
January 4, 2003... Byline: Earl Kelly Every year about this time, political insiders around Annapolis become evasive. When anyone asks lobbyists and legislators what they hope to accomplish in the upcoming General Assembly session, they typically say,...

Commentary: Will 2003 be better than last year?
January 4, 2003... Byline: Julius Westheimer In the early 1930s, as The Depression set in, somebody asked Babe Ruth, the New York Yankee home-run slugger, "Do you know you made more money last year than President Herbert Hoover did?" The Babe replied, "I had...

MD Legal Briefs Jan. 4, 2003.
January 4, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Martin's (lawsuit) south U.S. District Judge Marvin J. Garbis dismissed Teresa Ferguson's $6 million sexual harassment action against Martin's Caterers board chairman Martin Resnick, filed in Baltimore...

New faces approach old issues in General Assembly.
January 4, 2003... Byline: Christopher Sherman Contributing to this article were Patrice Dickens, Ezra Fieser, Kathleen Johnston Jarboe, Robyn Lamb, Bruce Miller and Bobby White. Maryland's $1.7 billion budget shortfall over the next 18 months will loom...

Commentary: Educated Investor - The trend is your friend.
January 4, 2003... Byline: Special to The Daily Record Well, it's that time of the year again when all the self proclaimed stock market geniuses make their forecasts for the coming year. It doesn't matter if you are a cab driver, housewife, economist or...

Commentary: Estate planning isn't just for the mansion set.
January 6, 2003... Byline: Dena Shapiro Frenkel For many people in their 20s and 30s, "estate planning" may not yet be a priority. As a matter of fact, the term often conjures images of older, wealthy investors with mansions passing along their estates to...

BioSurface Engineering Technologies obtains exclusive worldwide license to growth factor technology.
January 7, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports BioSurface Engineering Technologies Inc. of College Park has obtained an exclusive worldwide license to a growth factor technology developed by scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy. The product centers...

Victims Rights Foundation raises additional $160K for Sniper Victims' Fund.
January 7, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports The Victims Rights Foundation raised an additional $160,000 for the Sniper Victims' Fund between Thanksgiving and New Years, the group announced yesterday. The foundation will evenly distribute the additional...

Corporate Office Properties Trust produced a total shareholder return of 25.8% in 2002.
January 7, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Corporate Office Properties Trust, the Columbia-based real estate investment trust, produced a total shareholder return of 25.8 percent in 2002, the company reported yesterday. COPT's four-year total return,...

Constellation Energy Group to serve as presenting sponsor for Baltimore SecureWorld Expo.
January 7, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Constellation Energy Group will serve as presenting sponsor for the first annual Baltimore SecureWorld Expo. The event, scheduled for Jan. 28 and 29, was organized to foster communication between security...

Kann & Associates moves into restored building downtown.
January 7, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Kann & Associates Inc., a Baltimore-based architectural and interior design firm, has moved to its new home, 33 S. Gay St., which it restored. Using historic tax credits, Kann restored the exterior of the...

Muvico Theaters closes on $50 million private placement financing.
January 7, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Muvico Theaters Inc., the operator of Maryland's busiest movie theater last year, has closed on $50 million private placement financing from an institutional investor. "This new facility significantly...

CoStar Group completes acquisition of London-based Property Intelligence plc.
January 7, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports CoStar Group Inc., the Bethesda-based provider of commercial real estate data, yesterday announced it has completed its acquisition of London-based Property Intelligence plc. The transaction strengthens...

New Boston Fund announces sale of Triangle Business Centre.
January 7, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports New Boston Fund Inc., a real estate development and investment firm, yesterday announced the sale of Triangle Business Centre, a 78,217-square-foot office building in Greenbelt, to The Goldstar Group for...

Telkonet Inc. president, chairman makes selection for industry advisory board.
January 7, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Telkonet Inc.'s president and chairman, Ronald Pickett, yesterday made his first selection for an industry advisory board, James K. Cosper. An expert in the Linux operating system, Cosper will serve as a...

MD Green Party retains party status.
January 7, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports The Maryland Green Party submitted enough petition signatures to retain party status, the Maryland Board of Elections has certified. By being certified, the Green Party has won the right for candidates to run...

Lawyer's dual role no bar to fees.
January 7, 2003... Byline: Alisa Bralove Reversing a lower court's judgment of nearly $53,000 in attorneys' fees, the Court of Special Appeals remanded for clarification the case of a lawyer who, despite the protests of the trustee, served simultaneously as...

International Steel Group's bid for Bethlehem Steel includes early retirement incentives.
January 7, 2003... Byline: Kathleen Johnston Jarboe International Steel Group Inc. yesterday offered $1.5 billion for bankrupt Bethlehem Steel Corp.'s operating assets, including its Sparrows Point plant in Baltimore County. The package, which included...

Limits on use of annexed land went too far.
January 7, 2003... Byline: Peter Geier Limitations attached to the City of Rockville's rezoning of an annexed property constituted improper conditional zoning, the state's highest court has held. The high court's decision last week affirms a Montgomery...

Kaiser Permanente expands in Maryland.
January 7, 2003... Byline: Jeffrey Raymond A major player in Maryland's HMO field is creating a larger footprint in the state. Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States, which claims 525,000 patients in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, said...

Igen International sales, shares surge.
January 7, 2003... Byline: Patrice Dickens Gaithersburg-based Igen International Inc.'s stock price yesterday increased only 0.9 percent, closing at $42.59, despite the fact that the company announced record product sales of $5.7 million in its fiscal 2003...

Telkonet Inc. ready to take new Internet connectivity tech. to market.
January 7, 2003... Byline: Bobby White Four-year-old Telkonet Inc., a small telecommunications equipment company based in Annapolis, has in the past month refined its objective to be a player in an emerging industry. The company produces adapters that...

Sky Venture Capital names vice chairman.
January 8, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Former Maryland basketball star and Congressman C. Thomas McMillen has been named vice chairman of Sky Capital Holdings new affiliate, Sky Venture Capital, an international merchant bank and brokerage house...

The Postal Service records $1B profit in fiscal first quarter.
January 8, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports The Postal Service recorded a $1 billion profit in the first quarter of the fiscal year, the agency said yesterday. The busy three-month period before Christmas meant a heavy mail volume for the post office,...

A & A Global Industries buys Hunt Valley Business Community building.
January 8, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports A & A Global Industries, a Timonium-based international wholesaler and manufacturer of vending machines and supplies, has purchased a 213,585-square-foot office building on Stenersen Lane in the Hunt Valley...

Abingdon-based architectural firm names new president.
January 8, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Abingdon-based Morris & Ritchie Associates Inc. (MRA), an engineering and architectural firm, yesterday announced that Frank F. Hertsch has been selected as the new president by the firm's stockholders....

1.5 acre Towson parcel sold for $375K.
January 8, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports NAI KLNB Inc. has brokered the sale of the 1.5 acre parcel adjacent to the Dulaney Crescent apartment complex in Towson to Consolidated Hampton for $375,000. The property will be used for parking to support...

Hemagen Diagnostics reports fiscal year loss of $1.8M.
January 8, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Columbia-based Hemagen Diagnostics Inc., a biotechnology company that develops, manufactures and markets medical diagnostic test kits, yesterday reported a fiscal year loss of $1.8 million. Last year it lost...

Royal Ahold NV posts .3% increase in fourth quarter sales.
January 8, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Dutch supermarket giant Royal Ahold NV, the world's third-largest retailer and the operator of Giant Foods, yesterday posted a 0.3 percent rise in fourth-quarter sales. The weak results were in line with...

Visual Networks Inc. announces dismissal of appeal of securities class action complaint.
January 8, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Rockville's Visual Networks Inc. yesterday announced the dismissal of the pending appeal of the decision of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, which had dismissed the consolidated...

Telecom software co. launches pay-per-use Web site version of call analyzer.
January 8, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Laural-based HTLT, a telecommunications software company, has launched LCA Online, a pay-per-use Web site version of their local call analyzer product. LCA Online is designed to prevent users from being...

U of MD Baltimore County official elected to lead research park group.
January 8, 2003... Byline: Bobby White A non-profit group supporting 200 university research parks and technology incubators worldwide has elected a University of Maryland Baltimore County official as its president. Ellen Wiggins Hemmerly, executive...

Telemarketing limits proposed for Maryland.
January 8, 2003... Byline: John O'Connor Maryland dinners could be quieter next yearCono longer interrupted by sales pitches for credit cards, vacations or satellite televisionCoif the General Assembly approves a bill creating a state telemarketing "do...

WebMethods expects to beat analysts' forecast for fiscal third-quarter earnings.
January 8, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports WebMethods Inc., the maker of business-process software in nearby Fairfax, Va., yesterday projected it would beat analysts' forecasts for fiscal third-quarter earnings. WebMethods said it now expects earnings...

Incoming head of Balto. County Dept. of Economic Development to focus on small biz.
January 8, 2003... Byline: Lily Henning David S. Iannucci, outgoing secretary of the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development and the next head of the Baltimore County Department of Economic Development, said he will focus on small and...

Domino Sugar, labor union talks offer hope.
January 8, 2003... Byline: Kathleen Johnston Jarboe In a move that could affect an investigation into unfair labor practices, Domino Sugar owners yesterday met with bargainers from their striking Baltimore union for the first time since contract talks broke...

Nightclub arson case opens.
January 8, 2003... Byline: Peter Geier Federal jurors in Baltimore heard opening statements in the trial of the former operators of a Baltimore County nightclub and its downtown Baltimore successor and their associates who allegedly used the clubs as fronts...

Commentary: Some good ideas to begin a new year of investing.
January 8, 2003... Byline: Julius Westheimer Today, a look back at 2002 and some recommendations for the new year: For the record, the Dow Jones average began 2002 at 10,021 and closed down about 17 percent for the year. Last year was the Dow's third...

Joseph A. Bank Clothiers shares rise 202.4% in 2002.
January 8, 2003... Byline: Ezra Fieser Two years ago, Joseph A. Bank Clothiers Inc. may have been NASDAQ's best kept secret. As investors focused on corporate scandals, the volatility of the stock market and the tech crash, the Hampstead-based men's...

Grandparents thwart dad's custody bid.
January 8, 2003... Byline: Alisa Bralove It is in the best interest of a Bel Air teenager to remain with her maternal grandparents following her mother's death, the state's highest court said yesterday. In affirming the intermediate appellate court's...

Gov.-elect Ehrlich appoints secretary of Dept. of Budget and Mgmt.
January 9, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Governor-elect Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. yesterday announced that he has selected James C. DiPaula Jr. to serve as secretary of the Department of Budget and Management. DiPaula, who worked for Baltimore real...

Corp. Office Properties Trust to report year-end results after market close Jan. 29.
January 9, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Columbia-based real estate investment trust Corporate Office Properties Trust will report fourth-quarter and year-end results after the market close Jan. 29. The following day, COPT executives will conduct a...

Fatal work injuries down 24% in MD in 2001.
January 9, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports There were 64 fatal work injuries in Maryland in 2001, 24 percent fewer than the previous year, the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported yesterday. The two leading causes of...

Real estate venture buys more than 400K square feet of Baltimore County office space.
January 9, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports A joint venture of Corinthian Realty, Multi-Properties Inc. and private investors have acquired more than 400,000 square feet of office space in three warehouses located on Baltimore County's east side Co two...

Partnership for Housing Foundation adds four members to board.
January 9, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports The Partnership for Housing Foundation, a group established by the Maryland Association of Realtors to work with the public and nonprofit sectors to promote home ownership, has added four members to its board....

QIAGEN N.V. to close WA facility, relocate to MD.
January 9, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports QIAGEN N.V. yesterday announced plans to close its Washington state facility and relocate the site's activities to other locations, mainly to its recently opened new facilities in Germantown and Hilden,...

The Traffic Group wins awards for engineering excellence.
January 9, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports The Traffic Group Inc., a traffic engineering and transportation planning firm based in the Rossville section of Baltimore County, won the award for engineering excellence from the West Virginia Department of...

SunTrust Banks' profits drop 3%.
January 9, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports SunTrust Banks Inc.'s profits declined 3 percent last year to $1.3 billion, the Atlanta-based bank with a significant Maryland presence reported yesterday. The results reflected lower revenues and higher...

Sinai Hospital to formally open The Spine Center.
January 9, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Sinai Hospital of Baltimore will formally open The Spine Center Jan. 13. The launch is the culmination of more than two years of effort to create a comprehensive spine program, said Neil Meltzer, Sinai...

American Community Property Trust refinances the Bannister Apartments.
January 9, 2003... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports To capitalize on low interest rates, American Community Properties Trust announced yesterday that its subsidiary, American Rental Management Co., has completed its refinancing of the Bannister Apartments, a...