Daily Record (Baltimore, MD) articles from January 2005

Daily Record (Baltimore, MD) archives from January 2005

Bethesda-based Lockheed Martin receives $109.1M contract.
January 4, 2005... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Lockheed Martin Corp. has received a $109.1 million contract for continued Low-Rate Initial Production-III of the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System for the U.S. Army and Marine Corps, the Bethesda-based...

Chairman of Beltsville-based Sperix buys 3,000 shares of company stock.
January 4, 2005... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Gilbert Levin, who already holds more than 2.5 million shares of Spherix Inc., the Beltsville biotechnology company where he is chairman, recently bought another 3,000 shares for $3.43-$3.45, according to a...

Owings Mills-based Target Marketing Group merges with The Dubbs Co.
January 4, 2005... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Target Marketing Group, a promotional products and sales promotion firm based in Owings Mills, has merged with the The Dubbs Co. of Allentown, Pa., the companies announced yesterday. Target, which has 55...

MD Court of Special Appeals reverses firing of dietary officer.
January 4, 2005... Byline: Alisa Bralove A dietary officer fired from her job at a correctional facility after putting her hands around the neck of an inmate should instead receive the one-month suspension imposed by an administrative law judge, the Court of...

CSA says late response to admissions won't knock out battery suit.
January 4, 2005... Byline: Ann Parks A late response to a request for admissions owing to an attorney's oversight should not mean the end of the road for a client attempting to sue her doctor for battery, the Court of Special Appeals has concluded. In...

Commentary: Finance - Myths deter from seeking financial aid.
January 4, 2005... Byline: Gary Williams Millions of college students miss out on valuable financial aid every year simply because they mistakenly believe they won't qualify for aid or they are intimidated by the process, say financial planners. Yet applying...

Group says Baltimore's planned $12B transit system must spur development.
January 4, 2005... Byline: Andrea Cecil Although there has not been much development around Baltimore's existing public transportation stops, opportunities will abound when a planned a regional system opens for business. The Maryland Public Interest...

MD hotels target black patrons.
January 4, 2005... Byline: Kara Kridler Several hotels in Maryland will soon implement a new marketing message designed to attract black customers. New York-based Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., the hotel franchisor whose brands include...

Baltimore County police had probable cause to arrest in drug case, Court of Appeals rules.
January 4, 2005... Byline: Alisa Bralove Baltimore County police had probable cause to arrest a man after he picked up a package of cocaine from a rented mailbox, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has said. The decision reverses a prior decision that...

MD-based T. Rowe Price fund boss Brian Berghuis takes award.
January 4, 2005... Byline: Kathleen Johnston Jarboe Baltimore mutual fund companies claimed two of the three top fund manager of the year awards given by research firm Morningstar Inc. Brian Berghuis of T. Rowe Price Group Inc. yesterday was named top...

Timonium-based Diamond Comic Distributors reaches deal with Asian comic co.
January 4, 2005... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Steve Geppi's Diamond Comic Distributors Inc. has signed a deal with the popular Asian comic book company DrMaster Publications to distribute comic books and novels in the United States. The Timonium-based...

Lower Eastern Shore historic group wants to make highway into National Scenic Byway.
January 4, 2005... Byline: Sofia Kosmetatos A Lower Eastern Shore historic group is seeking regional support for a plan to make 210 miles of highway a National Scenic Byway. Jurisdictions offering their support are counting on national and international...

Atlanta firm buys Class-A office building in Rockville.
January 4, 2005... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Wells Real Estate Investment Trust Inc. of Atlanta has completed the purchase of Shady Grove V, a four-story, Class-A office building in Rockville that's fully leased to the General Services Administration,...

MD-based Legg Mason completes purchase of Scudder Private Investment.
January 4, 2005... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Legg Mason Inc. has finalized its purchase of Scudder Private Investment Counsel's Chicago, Cincinnati, New York and Philadelphia offices from Deutsche Bank, the Baltimore-based investment house said...

Judge was right to hold ammo stockpiler without bail.
January 5, 2005... Byline: Alisa Bralove An alleged white supremacist was properly held without bail pending trial on charges of reckless endangerment and improperly storing gunpowder, the Court of Special Appeals has affirmed. Lovell A. Wheeler, 62, who...

With industry picking up, venture capital group elects new leaders.
January 5, 2005... Byline: Tim Lemke Reflecting the geography of its membership, the Mid-Atlantic Venture Association the region's leading venture capital trade group elected a new president from Washington and two new board members from Maryland and...

MD-based DirecTV to invest in TV One, launch to national satellite audience.
January 5, 2005... Byline: Kara Kridler Two long-time competitors in media services are teaming up a move that will dramatically increase viewers for a Lanham-based television network. TV One, a black-oriented television network launched as a joint...

Conference wasn't the time to revise custody, Court of Special Appeals says.
January 5, 2005... Byline: Ann Parks The Harford County Circuit Court violated a mother's due process rights by transferring temporary custody of three of her children to their father without giving her adequate notice or opportunity to be heard, the Court...

Appeals court upholds use of mitochondrial DNA evidence.
January 5, 2005... Byline: Lawrence Hurley The state's second highest court has held that a form of DNA evidence defense attorneys claim is unreliable can be admitted into evidence in Maryland courts. The Court of Special Appeals held in a case of first...

MD Legal Briefs: January 5, 2004.
January 5, 2005... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Palatial suit Trial opened yesterday in Baltimore circuit court of a Reisterstown couple's $2 million negligence case against New York Palace Inc., a restaurant in the city's Bolton Hill neighborhood...

Major Md. company to sell business unit; 180 jobs in jeopardy.
January 5, 2005... Byline: Sofia Kosmetatos Less than six years after launching a new printing division initially expected to generate 600 new jobs, Hagerstown-based Phoenix Color is selling the business unit to a Chicago company for an undisclosed sum,...

MD lt. gov. to attend American Woodmark Corp. facility ribbon cutting.
January 5, 2005... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele is to join state and local officials in a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new American Woodmark Corp. manufacturing facility in the Barton Business Park today at 11 a.m. American...

MD lt. gov. to deliver keynote address at Columbia Biz Exchange luncheon.
January 5, 2005... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele is scheduled to deliver the keynote address at the Columbia Business Exchange's annual state of Columbia luncheon tomorrow at noon at the Columbia Hilton. For information:...

Five enterprise zones designated, expanded.
January 5, 2005... Byline: Kathleen Johnston Jarboe State economic development officials yesterday named five enterprise zones in Harford, Allegany, Prince George's and Salisbury-Wicomico counties and Baltimore City that will become or continue to remain...

Baltimore-based PR group hired by The Chima Group.
January 5, 2005... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Warschawski will handle public relations for The Chima Group of SunTrust Securities Inc., a financial consulting firm with more than $100 million in assets, the Baltimore-based PR agency announced yesterday....

Marriner Marketing Communications of Columbia to launch marketing effort.
January 5, 2005... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Marriner Marketing Communications of Columbia announced that it will launch a multimillion-dollar marketing effort for the $8 billion dollar U.S. sugar industry. Marriner is charged with creating a consumer...

MD-based CompuDyne Corp. lands $1.7M contract.
January 5, 2005... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports CompuDyne Corp., the Annapolis-based security products company, announced yesterday that it has won the $1.7 million contract to provide high security doors and windows for the new U.S. Embassay in the...

Md. Technology Development Corp. awards $170M to four companies.
January 5, 2005... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports The Maryland Technology Development Corp. announced yesterday that it has awarded $170,000 to four companies: Alba Therapeutics and Aurora Analytics, both of Baltimore, Bethesda-based RetroTherapy and Prince...

World Bank turns on MD's WindCurrent power.
January 5, 2005... Byline: Robyn Lamb Maryland's only provider of wind power electricity signed its largest deal to date, agreeing to provide the World Bank with all the energy for its Washington headquarters. WindCurrent signed a one-year, renewable...

Md.'s economy among nation's strongest, fed economists say.
January 6, 2005... Byline: Kathleen Johnston Jarboe Maryland's economy fared better than the nation's on average last fall except for the number of personal bankruptcies, economists with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said yesterday as part of the...

Montgomery County exec. cautious on Intercounty Connector.
January 6, 2005... Byline: Andrea Cecil Ensuring that no additional development occurs around the proposed Intercounty Connector is vital to preventing sprawl, said Montgomery County's executive. Although he supports the construction of the $2 billion,...

MD atty. general, colleagues to travel to Israel.
January 6, 2005... Byline: Ann Parks When Maryland's lawmakers head to Annapolis next week for the regular General Assembly session, Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr. will be a bit farther east in Israel, to be precise. The seven-day trip, sponsored...

Supporters see votes to override veto of MD's notice bill.
January 6, 2005... Byline: Lawrence Hurley Proposed legislation that would allow greater public scrutiny of emergency regulations promulgated by state agencies has enough support in the General Assembly to override a gubernatorial veto, supporters say. ...

CSA says promise to convey land to homeowner's assn. did not give assn. right to notice of sale.
January 6, 2005... Byline: Alisa Bralove A developer's promise to convey land to a homeowners' association, recorded in the county's public records, did not give the association a right to actual notice before the property was sold at a tax sale, the Court...

Attorney leaves DLA Piper Rudnick to join Baltimore office of Saul Ewing.
January 6, 2005... Byline: Ann Parks Herbert D. Frerichs Jr., a corporate and securities attorney who has served as general counsel for Perdue Farms Inc. since 2000, has left the firm of DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary and has joined the Baltimore office of Saul...

For sale: Baltimore's Rotunda shopping mall.
January 6, 2005... Byline: Ezra Fieser Despite making $3 million in recent improvements, the California-based owners of the Rotunda have put the north Baltimore shopping mall up for sale, raising hopes that new owners can return the facility to its former...

Commentary: New leukemia treatment starts just after birth.
January 6, 2005... Byline: Dr. Robert Coplan There are 16,000 adult Americans each year who develop leukemia and die because of their inability to find a compatible bone marrow donor. Without treatment, the cancerous condition affecting white blood cells is...

Baltimore County Chamber of Commerce outlines legislative agenda.
January 6, 2005... Byline: Tim Lemke The Baltimore County Chamber of Commerce's legislative agenda for 2005 calls for smarter spending by Maryland lawmakers while pushing for everything from road improvements and slot machines to medical malpractice and...

Bethesda-based Marriott International to add in-room fitness equipment at hotels.
January 6, 2005... Byline: Kara Kridler Guests at Marriott International Inc. hotels now have no excuse to skip exercising while away from home. By month's end, the Bethesda-based hotel chain will add in-room fitness equipment in many of its hotels. The...

Commentary: Web Sightings - Tsunami relief efforts on the Internet.
January 7, 2005... Byline: Larry Fiorino The world is mobilizing to provide aid to those devastated by the tsunami disaster in Asia and Africa, and the World Wide Web is doing its part to facilitate these efforts. In fact, estimates of online contributions...

Columbia-based iBiquity Digital opens international certification center in Japan.
January 7, 2005... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports iBiquity Digital Corp., the Columbia-based developer of digital radio technology, said yesterday it opened an international certification center at a facility owned by electronic components maker TOKO Inc. in...

Hampstead-based JoS. A. Bank Clothiers increases total sales for December.
January 7, 2005... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Hampstead-based JoS. A. Bank Clothiers Inc. said its total sales for the December fiscal month increased 35.2 percent over the year-earlier period to $68 million. Comparable store sales increased 16.2...

Baltimore public radio station launches Youth Radio project.
January 7, 2005... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Baltimore public radio station WYPR said it is launching a Youth Radio project in August. High school sophomores and juniors will apply for the opportunity to train for a week with WYPR staff, followed by an...

Annapolis-based TeleCommunication Systems receives wireless technology patent.
January 7, 2005... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports TeleCommunication Systems Inc. of Annapolis, a wireless data company, said it received a patent for a technology that provides wireless carriers with a more cost-effective method to manage subscribers'...

Columbia-based Micros Systems acquires Florida-based JTECH Communications.
January 7, 2005... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Micros Systems Inc. of Columbia, an information technology company for the hospitality industry, said yesterday it bought Florida-based JTECH Communications, the wireless paging company whose products are...

Terry L. Randall named new chairman of Md. Business for Responsive Government.
January 7, 2005... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Terry L. Randall is the new chairman of Maryland Business for Responsive Government, succeeding Richard E. Hug. Randall is a top executive with Mellott Enterprises Inc. and H.B. Mellott Inc., which serve the...

Baltimore-area office space market rebounds in 2004.
January 7, 2005... Byline: Ezra Fieser This time last year, MIE Properties Inc. was setting to launch a year-long plan to build 1 million square feet about 20 buildings of its signature one-story flexible-space office buildings. While the plan was...

Md. governor wants medical malpractice issue to dominate 90-day session.
January 7, 2005... Byline: Andrea Cecil Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. said reform of medical malpractice liability insurance must dominate the 90-day General Assembly session that begins Wednesday because "it's such an important issue." The subject was the...

4th US Circuit Court of Appeals rules for officers in suit over toll plaza shooting.
January 7, 2005... Byline: Peter Geier Three Maryland Transportation Authority officers who shot a manic-depressive man to death at the Fort McHenry Tunnel toll plaza in November 2000 are entitled to qualified immunity for that shooting, the 4th U.S. Circuit...

Md. Legal Briefs: January 7, 2005.
January 7, 2005... Byline: Staff Reports Slip-and-fall Wal-Mart Stores Inc. settled a slip-and-fall action filed in Baltimore's federal court by Linda Kurtz of Upperco. The confidential settlement follows U.S. Magistrate Judge James K. Bredar's denial...

Following tsunami, ads pulled featuring waves, beaches.
January 7, 2005... Byline: Kara Kridler American Express Co. pulled one of its new television commercials off the air last week. Dell Computer also pulled a TV spot, as did PepsiCo Inc. In fact, several global companies dropped advertisements displaying...

Federal judge rules HUD, not Baltimore, liable for failure to desegregate public housing.
January 7, 2005... Byline: Lawrence Hurley After more than a year of deliberation, a federal judge ruled yesterday the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is liable for the failure to desegregate public housing in Baltimore City. However,...

Baltimore County hires marketing group to promote its 13 commercial revitalization districts.
January 7, 2005... Byline: Tim Lemke Karen Alston doesn't live in Baltimore County, but she'll treat it like home for at least the next year. The county last month selected Alston's small company, Alston Marketing Group LLC, to promote its 13 commercial...

Public Service - Tips on giving from Better Business Bureau.
January 7, 2005... Byline: Special to The Daily Record Last month's terrible tsunami which killed more than 100,000 people in Asia has shocked and saddened all of us in the Baltimore area and throughout the world. As we look for ways to help, we also need to...

Commentary: Educated Investor - Time to do due diligence on your investment portfolio.
January 7, 2005... Byline: David Clogg As an investor, January is my favorite month of the year. And I don't consider it to be the best time because of the January bounce where stocks that sold off due to tax selling at the end of the year tend to have a...

New restaurant service in Timonium lets customers assemble pre-packaged meals to be cooked at home.
January 7, 2005... Byline: Tim Lemke I'm much too [insert excuse here] to cook tonight. That's the familiar complaint among busy parents and professionals across the country, but a pair of married couples in Timonium is working on a way to kick takeout...

Maryland's business and leisure travel expected to boom in '05.
January 7, 2005... Byline: Kara Kridler Encouraged by growing demand at the end of last year, executives in Maryland's travel industry believe more people in the area will pay to go away via plane, ship and automobile in 2005 than did in 2004. Air and...

Commentary: UB Viewpoint - Defuse attempts to stop snitchin'.
January 7, 2005... Byline: Lynn McLain "Crime doesn't pay." That's what we want the members of our society to think. But the truth is that some crime does pay, and it pays well. One tragic way in which crime has been paying off in Maryland is through...

Maryland real estate market booms in 2004; analysts expect returns for REITs to dip next year.
January 7, 2005... Byline: Ezra Fieser Corporate Office Properties Trust, the largest owner of suburban office buildings in the Baltimore-Washington corridor, had another banner year, posting a 45.2 percent total return for its investors. It was the...

Commentary: Charitable Giving - Coming together: Global community responds to a natural disaster.
January 7, 2005... Byline: Betsy Nelson Like many, when I awoke Dec. 26 and saw the early news reports about the tsunami in South and Southeast Asia, I was saddened by the loss of thousands of lives. Little did any of us realize that within days the death...

Commentary: Raising the Bar - The rules of reorganization.
January 7, 2005... Byline: Paul Sandler and Joel I. Sher In recent weeks, this column has discussed some of the issues attorneys face in representing individuals in personal bankruptcies. Now we'd like to turn our attention to the granddaddy of all bankruptcy...

Commentary: Legal ADvice - A careful word from the wise (not me).
January 7, 2005... Byline: Jim Astrachan It's been six years since Marc Kasky buried the proverbial hatchet in Nike's neck, and one year since they buried the hatchet in the ground. The settlement of their public relations-related, false advertising feud...

Commentary - New plan helps solve executives' diversification problems.
January 7, 2005... Byline: Thom F. Carroll In October 2000, the Securities and Exchange Commission updated "The Securities Exchange Act of 1934," a law designed to prevent trading fraud, in an effort to clarify the ambiguities of the existing insider-trading...

Commentary: On Second Thought - You don't always get what you pay for.
January 7, 2005... Byline: Mark Cheshire If you have nothing nice to say, don't say nothin' at all. If I had a dime for every time my mother silenced me with this little chestnut, I wouldn't be in this terribly awkward position. I'd be retired and, with...

Thirty-day notice was timely on the first of the month, rules Md. Court of Special Appeals.
January 7, 2005... Byline: Peter Geier A lease clause requiring 30 days' written notice of the tenant's intent to terminate can be satisfied on the first day of a 30-day month, the Court of Special Appeals has held. The decision upholds a finding that...

Prince George's County to push for Maryland's development dollars.
January 7, 2005... Byline: Sofia Kosmetatos Getting help from the state to revitalize older communities and to promote development near mass transit stops will be two of Prince George's County's economic development priorities in the upcoming legislative...

Commentary: It's a Gimme - Help with winter hardpan troubles in golf.
January 8, 2005... Byline: Joe Rahnis With winter officially here, you undoubtedly will begin to notice bare spots in some areas of the rough or even in the fairway itself on the golf course. These bare spots, called "hardpan," tend to appear throughout the...

Baltimore Dept. of Public Works launches campaign to prevent sewer overflows.
January 8, 2005... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports There's a new grime-fighter in Baltimore. "Dwayne Duck, Drain Detective" made his first public appearance at the Baltimore Public Works Museum before a crowd of second-grade students, environmental community...

Baltimore-based Chimes honors Chief Strategic Officer for support of nonprofit customers.
January 8, 2005... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Chimes, an agency that supports independent living, recently honored its Chief Strategic Officer Mary T. "Terry" Collard with the 2004 Chimes President's Award for her support of the nonprofit's customers....

Garrett County to remain MD's only county without local beer tax.
January 8, 2005... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Garrett County will remain the state's only county with a local beer tax after the commissioners this week rejected a wholesaler's request that they seek state authority to repeal the levy. All three county...

Zipcar partners with Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.
January 8, 2005... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Zipcar, the largest car-sharing company in the country, has partnered with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority to make high-end and practical vehicles available to personal drivers and...

Baltimore's Biz Volunteers Unlimited's Volunteer Central to honor Martin Luther King Jr.
January 8, 2005... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Business Volunteers Unlimited's Volunteer Central will honor Martin Luther King Jr. by pairing volunteers with seniors at three Catholic Charities facilities in West Baltimore. The "Make It a Day ON, Not a...

MD's Constellation Energy and M&T Bank contributing to tsunami relief efforts.
January 8, 2005... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Constellation Energy and M&T Bank will each make $100,000 contributions to the tsunami relief efforts, the companies announced Friday. "As members of the global community, it is incumbent upon us as a company...

Bar Assn. of Baltimore City's moment in history: January 8, 1990.
January 8, 2005... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports As part of its 125th anniversary, the Bar Association of Baltimore City presents this moment in history: On Jan. 8, 1900, the Baltimore City Court house was officially dedicated at ceremonies conducted in the...

Bethesda-based Host Marriott Corp. sells six hotels.
January 8, 2005... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Host Marriott Corp. sold six hotels, including the Bethesda Marriott, for roughly $223 million in three separate transactions, the Bethesda-based hotelier announced Friday. The company will use the cash to...

Germantown-based Telkonet Inc. to work with Microwave Satellite Technologies.
January 8, 2005... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Telkonet Inc., the Germantown-based that provides broadband access via existing electrical wires, will work with Microwave Satellite Technologies to provide Internet access to residents in Donald Trump's New...

Garrett County's beer tax survives challenge.
January 10, 2005... Byline: Sofia Kosmetatos Vacationers at Deep Creek Lake who down a few cold ones at the end of a long day of skiing might be surprised to find they are taxed more for the privilege in Garrett County than any other jurisdiction in Maryland....

Demand strong for Baltimore's West Side biotech park.
January 10, 2005... Byline: Ezra Fieser With nearly 70 percent of the first building of its West Baltimore biotechnology park leased, the University of Maryland, Baltimore will make room for small, emerging companies. University officials and Towson-based...

Commentary: Four strategies to make your retirement last.
January 10, 2005... Byline: Ben Proctor If you are, or close to being, a retiree, you may find that your retirement funds need to last a lot longer than you had anticipated. With advancements in health care, a 65-year-old could live an additional twenty...

Officials to begin redevelopment of east Baltimore County neighborhood.
January 10, 2005... Byline: Tim Lemke Baltimore County officials today will start the process of turning one of their struggling communities into nothing more than a bad memory. Demolition is scheduled to begin on the Kingsley Park, a 312-unit apartment...

Mother's treatment of son showed sisters were at risk, Court of Special Appeals concludes.
January 10, 2005... Byline: Ann Parks All three of a Montgomery County woman's children were properly found to be in need of assistance after the mother fractured one child's arm and subjected him to 44 unnecessary doctor visits, the Court of Special Appeals...

Taking Stock - New year finds less weight in Maryland stocks.
January 10, 2005... Byline: Kathleen Johnston Jarboe Stocks of Maryland companies greeted the New Year by shedding some weight. Prices largely declined last week to push the Bloomberg Maryland Index of 90 stocks down 3 percent. The movement mimicked...

MD Legal Briefs: January 10, 2005.
January 10, 2005... Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Blocked litigation U.S. District Judge William M. Nickerson dismissed The Burns & Russell Co. of Baltimore City Inc.'s patent and trademark action over its Spectra-Glaze block in Baltimore's federal court...

Non-union workers need not wear logo, 4th Circuit holds.
January 10, 2005... Byline: Alisa Bralove Non-union workers cannot be forced to wear uniforms displaying a union logo when the employer fails to show that the insignia is necessary for its public image or other special circumstances, the 4th U.S. Circuit...