Daily Record (Baltimore, MD) articles from March 2006

Daily Record (Baltimore, MD) archives from March 2006

Commercial real estate mogul Leroy M. Merritt to donate $2M to McDaniel College in MD.
March 1, 2006... Byline: Daily Record Staff & Wire Reports Commercial real estate mogul Leroy M. Merritt, whose Merritt Properties has developed 13 million-plus square feet of industrial and office properties in the Baltimore-Washington area, will donate $2...

First Potomac Realty Trust of Bethesda acquires business center in Sterling, VA.
March 1, 2006... Byline: Daily Record Staff & Wire Reports First Potomac Realty Trust, of Bethesda, a real estate investment trust that owns industrial and flex properties in the Baltimore-Washington-Northern Virginia area, said it acquired Sterling Park...

MD lawmaker wants legislative oversight of Constellation's planned merger with FLP Group.
March 1, 2006... Byline: Daily Record Staff & Wire Reports Declaring that "legislative oversight" of Constellation Energy Group's planned merger with Florida-based FPL Group "is absolutely vital," Del. Ann Marie Doory, D-Baltimore City, said she will...

Joseph A. De Francis named CEO of Magna Entertainment's racing technology unit.
March 1, 2006... Byline: James Mosher An international horse racing company is giving more responsibilities to a Maryland executive who has delivered impressive financial results amid a sometimes difficult political climate.Joseph A. De Francis is now CEO...

U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski expresses doubts about plan to build LNG station near Dundalk.
March 1, 2006... Byline: Daily Record Staff & Wire Reports U.S. Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski, D-Md., has added her voice to those upset about a plan by Virginia-based AES Corp. to build a liquefied natural gas importing station and pipeline at the former...

Towson-based ad firm Devaney & Associates Inc. signs on gas utility clients for safety campaign.
March 1, 2006... Byline: Kara Kridler Towson-based ad firm Devaney & Associates Inc. has found a niche in an unlikely industry. The advertising, marketing and public relations agency recently added two natural gas utility accounts, bumping its total in the...

University of MD Medical Center researcher honored for her work with breast cancer drugs.
March 1, 2006... Byline: Daily Record Staff & Wire Reports The University of Maryland Medical Center said breast cancer researcher Angela Hartley Brodie has won the prestigious Dorothy P. Landon-American Association for Cancer Research Prize for...

Baltimore City's Emerging Technology Center adds 27 new companies.
March 1, 2006... Byline: Daily Record Staff & Wire Reports Baltimore City's Emerging Technology Center, said it added 27 new companies to its two technology incubators in Canton and Johns Hopkins Eastern in 2005, maintaining its growth pattern since it was...

Forrester Construction Co. of Rockville awarded contract with Verizon Communications.
March 1, 2006... Byline: Daily Record Staff & Wire Reports Forrester Construction Co., of Rockville, a design-build and general contracting company, said it was awarded a three-year contract, with an optional two-year extension, to provide general...

Family physician to run for Congress against incumbent Wayne Gilchrest, R-Md.
March 1, 2006... Byline: Daily Record Staff & Wire Reports A family physician is running for Congress against incumbent Wayne Gilchrest, R-Md., with significant changes to American health care at the center of his campaign. Jim Corwin, a Democrat, hopes to...

Public hearing on proposed Blackwater Resort development delayed by Cambridge City Council.
March 1, 2006... Byline: Daily Record Staff & Wire Reports The Cambridge City Council delayed a public hearing on the proposed Blackwater Resort development, originally scheduled to be held Monday, to allow more time for discussion. The city is considering...

Areva Inc. of Bethesda names former U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham board chairman.
March 1, 2006... Byline: Daily Record Staff & Wire Reports Areva Inc., of Bethesda, the subsidiary of a French company that provides technology and services for nuclear energy and electrical transmission and distribution, announced that former U.S....

RGII Technologies Inc. of Annapolis awarded $2.4M contract.
March 1, 2006... Byline: Daily Record Staff & Wire Reports RGII Technologies Inc., of Annapolis, a provider of technology and program management services to government agencies, said it has been awarded a $2.4 million, multiyear contract to help the...

Funding measure by MD lawmaker brings optimism for stadium in Charles County.
March 1, 2006... Byline: Ben Mook Supporters of a proposed $21 million minor league baseball stadium in Charles County are optimistic legislators will approve a funding measure that will allow the facility to be open in time for opening day 2007.Sen....

Baltimore-area officials aiming to land funds to market Aberdeen Proving Ground to contractors.
March 1, 2006... Byline: Joe Bacchus With the windfall of military jobs coming to Aberdeen Proving Ground in the wake of the Base Realignment and Closure commission's recommendations, local officials are working to make sure the state has the tools it...

MD Legal Briefs: March 1, 2006.
March 1, 2006... Byline: Daily Record Staff and Wire Reports Guilty of insurance scamMark Jason King, 35, of Brandywine was placed on 18 months supervised probation, ordered to pay $25,000 restitution to State Farm Insurance Co. and perform 50 hours of...

Pest-control company fired employee for filing benefit claims, suit says.
March 1, 2006... Byline: Ann W. Parks A District Heights pest-control service technician has filed suit against the Tennessee-based Terminix International Inc., claiming he was fired for filing worker's compensation, short-term disability and Family and...

Columbia-based Celsion Corp. seeks new identity.
March 1, 2006... Byline: Karen Buckelew As Columbia-based Celsion Corp. embarks on establishing a new identity as a drug discovery company, the former medical device developer reported a 38 percent reduction in its operating loss for last year.The company...

Advocate: Baltimore Gas & Electric proposal is too generous to the company.
March 1, 2006... Byline: Kathleen Johnston Jarboe Consumer advocates yesterday criticized regulatory efforts to curb electricity rate hikes for residential customers of Baltimore Gas & Electric Co.Members of the Office of the People's Counsel, a group that...

MD appellate court remands medical waste disposal suit.
March 1, 2006... Byline: Cynthia Di Pasquale A medical waste disposal service has won a second chance to convince a Baltimore judge that the Johns Hopkins Hospital owes it $5 million for canceling a contract in 2003. Hopkins terminated its relationship...

Battle set as stem cell bills proceed in MD Senate.
March 1, 2006... Byline: Dori Berman The stage is set for a filibuster on state funding for stem cell research, after an amended bill passed two Senate committees yesterday. A similar version of the bill is scheduled to reach the House floor for debate...

Witness intimidation issue moves to Maryland Senate.
March 1, 2006... Byline: Daniel Ostrovsky After a chilly reception in the House of Delegates last week, witness intimidation legislation that would expand a 20-year felony sentence and a limited hearsay exception to domestic violence crimes, child abuse...

Baltimore City jury awards $7M to correctional officers injured in falling elevator.
March 2, 2006... Byline: Ann W. Parks A Baltimore City jury has awarded approximately $7 million to two former correctional officers at the Maryland Reception, Diagnostic and Classification Center who were injured in a falling elevator.A six-person jury...

Towson-based Black & Decker buys toolmaker Vector Products for $160M.
March 2, 2006... Byline: Kara Kridler The power tool company Black & Decker Corp. said yesterday it bought Vector Products Inc. for $160 million in cash to expand in the portable power products market.Towson-based Black & Decker expects the deal to add to...

Debate continues in Maryland over jury service rights for ex-convicts.
March 2, 2006... Byline: Caryn Tamber Faced with legislators cringing at the notion of former rapists and murderers sitting on juries, the judiciary has toned down its proposal to restore jury service rights to ex-convicts.As part of a massive bill aimed...

Baltimore's Emerging Technology Center's incubator should reach full capacity later this year.
March 2, 2006... Byline: Joe Bacchus The Emerging Technology Center's incubator should reach full capacity later this year, according to the incubator's director.Twenty-seven companies made the ETC's Johns Hopkins Eastern and Canton facilities their new...

Maryland Technology Development Corp. helps in-state research flourish.
March 2, 2006... Byline: Karen Buckelew David M. Mosser is working on an anti-inflammatory drug that could sidestep the toxicity caused by traditional compounds, including Vioxx.It could be revolutionary, he believes, in treating diseases like multiple...

MD's funeral home law challenged in U.S. District Court in Baltimore.
March 2, 2006... Byline: Cynthia Di Pasquale Five entrepreneurs filed suit against a state regulatory board yesterday claiming a law limiting funeral home ownership to funeral directors stifles competition in death's marketplace. Exceptions to the law and...

Sniper reference was out of bounds in tort case, MD Court of Special Appeals says.
March 2, 2006... Byline: Ann W. Parks A plaintiff attorney's attempts, in a medical malpractice trial, to portray a neurosurgeon witness as a "minimizer" by referring to his role in the Lee Malvo sniper trial was prejudicial enough to warrant a new trial...

Maryland's county/city battle about municipal annexation proves intractable.
March 2, 2006... Byline: Dori Berman As county and city officials battled yesterday over legislation addressing municipal annexations, some lawmakers seemed determined to find a seemingly elusive compromise between the two groups.The Senate Education,...

Proposal to return Maryland electricity markets to regulation will encounter problems.
March 2, 2006... Byline: Kathleen Johnston Jarboe Consumer advocates have welcomed a proposal to return Maryland electricity markets to regulation. But groups interested in the idea are unsure whether legislators would have time to hammer out a more...

Baltimore's Clarence M. Mitchell Jr. Courthouse may get checkup.
March 2, 2006... Byline: Daniel Ostrovsky After years of complaining about their health, courthouse employees may finally be closing in on their goal to have tests conducted for mold and other toxic substances inside Baltimore's Clarence M. Mitchell Jr....

Baltimore T.E.A. Party crusades to slash rising tax bills resulting from hot real estate market.
March 2, 2006... Byline: Jen Degregorio A fledgling group of activists calling itself the Baltimore T.E.A. Party is on a crusade to slash rising tax bills that have resulted from the city's hot real estate market and swelling home values.At $2.31 per $100...

Baltimore City leaders foresee $60.6 million general fund budget surplus for 2006.
March 2, 2006... Byline: Daily Record Staff and Wire Reports Baltimore City leaders said they expect a $60.6 million general fund budget surplus for fiscal year 2006, it was announced yesterday by the mayor's and City Council president's offices. The...

MD Board of Regents takes Donaldson Brown Center in Port Deposit off the market.
March 2, 2006... Byline: Daily Record Staff & Wire Reports The Donaldson Brown Center in Port Deposit is now off the market after the Board of Regents of the University System of Maryland decided to consider pursing a partnership proposal for the mansion...

U.S. Postal Service officials negotiating about relocation of Brooklandville Post Office.
March 2, 2006... Byline: Daily Record Staff & Wire Reports U.S. Postal Service officials have told Maryland's congressional representatives that they are negotiating to relocate the Brooklandville Post Office in the same neighborhood, according to an...

$3M grant for nonprofit approved by MD Board of Public Works.
March 2, 2006... Byline: Daily Record Staff & Wire Reports The state Board of Public Works approved a $3 million grant to Associated Catholic Charities Inc., of Baltimore, to assist in the design and construction of an $11.3 million multi-use building on...

Md. company acquired by CACI International Inc. of Arlington, Va.
March 2, 2006... Byline: Daily Record Staff & Wire Reports CACI International Inc., of Arlington, Va., a provider of information technology services primarily to the federal government, said it completed its purchase of substantially all of the assets of...

ICAT Logistics Inc. of Linthicum selected by TX-based Datatrac Information Services Inc.
March 2, 2006... Byline: Daily Record Staff & Wire Reports ICAT Logistics Inc., of Linthicum, a provider of worldwide transport logistics and expedited freight services, said it was selected by Datatrac Information Services Inc., of Richardson, Texas, as a...

TVI Corp. of Glenn Dale receives order from Singapore Civil Defense Force.
March 2, 2006... Byline: Daily Record Staff & Wire Reports TVI Corp., of Glenn Dale, a global supplier of rapidly deployable first-responder systems for homeland security, hospitals, police and fire departments, the military and public health agencies, said...

GenVec Inc. of Gaithersburg receives additional $1.7 million in federal funding.
March 2, 2006... Byline: Daily Record Staff & Wire Reports GenVec Inc., of Gaithersburg, a biopharmaceutical company developing treatments for cancer, heart disease and vision loss and vaccines for infectious diseases, said it received an additional $1.7...

Thayer Lodging Group of Annapolis completes sale of Grande Lakes Resort in Orlando.
March 2, 2006... Byline: Daily Record Staff & Wire Reports Thayer Lodging Group, of Annapolis, a private equity real estate investment firm, announced that it completed the sale of the 1,582-room Grande Lakes Resort in Orlando, Fla., to Orlando-based CNL...

LaSalle Hotel Properties of Bethesda acquires two properties in Chicago.
March 2, 2006... Byline: Daily Record Staff & Wire Reports LaSalle Hotel Properties, of Bethesda, a real estate investment trust that owns upscale and luxury full-service hotels, said it acquired two properties in Chicago in separate and unrelated...

Delmarva Data Center of Easton purchases Enterprise Technology Alliance of Milton, Pa.
March 2, 2006... Byline: Daily Record Staff & Wire Reports Delmarva Data Center, of Easton, which provides back office and data processing services to financial institutions throughout Maryland and Delaware, announced its purchase of Enterprise Technology...

Maryland law firms announce staffing changes: March 3, 2006.
March 3, 2006... Byline: Daily Record Staff and Wire Reports Barry F. Levin, vice chair of the business department of Saul Ewing LLP, resident in the Baltimore office, was named a member of the firm's Executive Committee. His five-year term began on Jan....

Maryland economy closes the year on a flat note; retail still hot.
March 3, 2006... Byline: John Hopkins Growth of the RESI Maryland Leading Index was flat in December 2005, yet was 2.4 percent better from the previous December.Positive components of the index included consumer sales, unemployment, welfare activity and...

Commentary: No enemies, only friends.
March 3, 2006... Byline: Satish B. Parekh There is a difference between being religious and being spiritual. Essentially, it is this: Being religious often requires one to follow the followers; being spiritual, on the other hand, frees one to follow the...

Commentary: Maryland prepares for the invasion.
March 3, 2006... Byline: Joe Nathanson "They are coming now we have to build it." Turning around the familiar phrase from the 1989 motion picture "Field of Dreams," Harford County Executive David R. Craig aptly stated the challenge now facing his county...

Commentary: Greater Baltimore's economy changing drastically.
March 3, 2006... Byline: Christian S. Johansson The image of Greater Baltimore has been forged in the steel mills of Sparrows Point and the shipyards that once employed some 50,000 workers. But while the region that poet Ogden Nash once called "the tip of...

Commentary: BlackBerry shut down averted, but what's next for popular device?
March 3, 2006... Byline: Larry Fiorino BlackBerry users breathed a sigh of relief last week when U.S. District Court Judge James Spencer did not order a shutdown of the popular e-mail service.A patent-holding company, NTP, claims that the Blackberry system...

Commentary: Help for health care providers who treat illegal immigrants.
March 3, 2006... Byline: Barry F. Rosen and Jacy DAiutolo Hospitals, physicians, ambulance companies, and other health care providers are often called upon to treat people before the provider is able to learn much information about the individuals....

Developers considering boutique hotels in downtown Baltimore.
March 3, 2006... Byline: Jen Degregorio With rising interest rates and fears that the housing boom is fizzling, developers are considering hotel uses for a number of Class-B office buildings in downtown Baltimore that previously might have gone to...

Johns Hopkins gene researcher tries cracking the DNA code to better productivity.
March 3, 2006... Byline: Joe Bacchus "Tedious, frustrating, slow and painful."Designing artificial genes by hand is part of the new wave of biotechnology research, but it is not the most fun project in the world, according to Jef Boeke.Boeke is a professor...

Small businesses promote Md. movie tax credit.
March 3, 2006... Byline: Kara Kridler The success of Maryland's film industry probably isn't all that critical to the average lumber company.But for Bunnie Gleiman's business, Bond Lumber and Home Center in Lutherville, success is significantly tied to the...

Maryland police departments use Web to sell confiscated, lost and unclaimed items.
March 3, 2006... Byline: Ben Mook Most companies that operate online auction sites do their best to ensure customers are not buying illegally acquired merchandise. But one Internet auction site banks on the fact it is hawking items with a checkered past.A...

Andrew L. Bareham appointed to World Trade Center Institute's business leadership award committee.
March 3, 2006... Byline: Daily Record Staff and Wire Reports Andrew L. Bareham, CPA, MST, was appointed to the World Trade Center Institute's Maryland International Business Leadership Awards Committee. Bareham is a senior tax manager in Clifton...

St. Agnes Foundation appoints three new members to its Board of Directors.
March 3, 2006... Byline: Daily Record Staff and Wire Reports The St. Agnes Foundation appointed three new board members to its Board of Directors: Bruce Goodwin, Jeff Sube and Louis J. Weinkam Jr. will join Chair Dr. Jean M. Colandrea and 15 other directors...

Maryland construction firms announce staffing changes: March 3, 2006.
March 3, 2006... Byline: Daily Record Staff and Wire Reports Specialty contractor Harmon Inc. hired Eric C. Rock as a project coordinator serving the new construction and renovation commercial glazing needs of customers throughout Maryland, D.C., and...

Commentary: The countermajoritarian nature of the Maryland Constitution.
March 3, 2006... Byline: Dan Friedman I've been thinking a lot about the appropriate role of constitutions in protecting minority rights in a democracy. Should our constitution be amended to reflect popular will, or was the constitution intended as a...

Slots/simulcast bill could be challenged in Maryland's courts.
March 3, 2006... Byline: James Mosher People in the horse racing industry dream about combining slot machine legislation with changes in simulcast betting. Maryland's courts may have other ideas.An effort to couple Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s proposal to...

Maryland's university research parks trade competition for cooperation.
March 3, 2006... Byline: Karen Buckelew Maryland's five university-based technology research parks traditionally have existed in an atmosphere of competition: Interstate 270's gleaming new biotech corridor versus Baltimore's renowned universities; private...

MD State Bar Assn.'s special committee treads line between animal law and animal activism.
March 3, 2006... Byline: Caryn Tamber The special committee on animal law of the Maryland State Bar Association has been around for all of four months. Already, it has racked up enough members to achieve section status and appears poised to celebrate its...

Funding for University of Maryland, Baltimore BioPark center may be cut.
March 3, 2006... Byline: Dori Berman An initiative intended to assist Maryland's biotechnology community might land on the General Assembly's cutting room floor.Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. allocated in his Fiscal Year 2007 budget $12 million to build a...

Maryland economic development agencies announce staffing changes: March 3, 2006.
March 3, 2006... Byline: Daily Record Staff and Wire Reports The Howard County Economic Development Authority appointed Janice M. Posey to senior vice president. Posey brings more than 20 years experience in business and economic development, market...

Maryland educational institutions announce staffing changes: March 3, 2006.
March 3, 2006... Byline: Daily Record Staff and Wire Reports College of Notre Dame of Maryland selected Diane Maloney-Krichmar, associate dean and director of Weekend College. She began her new position Jan. 2. Maloney-Krichmar came to College of Notre Dame...

Northrop Grumman Corp. appoints Elizabeth D. Iversen as sector vice president.
March 3, 2006... Byline: Daily Record Staff and Wire Reports Northrop Grumman Corp. appointed Elizabeth D. Iversen as sector vice president of mission assurance for the company's Electronic Systems sector, headquartered in Baltimore. In this newly created...

Abby Lattes named director of marketing for engineering school at Johns Hopkins University.
March 3, 2006... Byline: Daily Record Staff and Wire Reports Abby Lattes, who has extensive experience in marketing and public relations for nonprofit organizations and corporate clients in Maryland, was named director of marketing and communications for...

United Way of Central Maryland announces new members of its team.
March 3, 2006... Byline: Daily Record Staff and Wire Reports United Way of Central Maryland introduced several new members of its team:Debra Bright is United Way's new assistant director for Family Safety. Among her tasks will be oversight of a committee of...

Commercial real estate company KLNB LLC announces election of four new partners.
March 3, 2006... Byline: Daily Record Staff and Wire Reports KLNB LLC elected Keith Barnett, Devin Corini, David Fritz and Marc Tasker as partners of the full-service commercial real estate services company that maintains four locations in the Baltimore,...

Governor appoints Carolyn Y. Peoples of Randallstown to MD Transportation Authority.
March 3, 2006... Byline: Daily Record Staff and Wire Reports Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. appointed Carolyn Y. Peoples of Randallstown to serve as the newest member of the Maryland Transportation Authority. Peoples is founder and owner of Jeremiah Housing...

CEO of Baltimore-based Williams Scotsman International grateful for the start I-95 gave the co.
March 3, 2006... Byline: James Mosher Gerry Holthaus has a thing about roots.Williams Scotsman International Inc. is branching out into markets all over North America. Yet Holthaus, the chairman, president and chief executive of the Baltimore-born provider...

Commentary: Anatomy of a Trial: Theory in practice, Part I.
March 3, 2006... Byline: Paul Mark Sandler In 2004, a University of Wisconsin law professor named Marc Galanter published a revealing report entitled "The Vanishing Trial." It documented what so many of litigators have witnessed year after year, decade...

Commentary: Legal aid to poor gaining international momentum.
March 3, 2006... Byline: Wilhelm H. Joseph Jr. and Joe Surkiewicz The concept of providing legal counsel to low-income people in civil cases isn't novel. For example, the right to a lawyer is recognized in England, whose legal system we adopted when the...

Commentary: Advertiser's guide to false advertising and how to avoid it, Part I.
March 3, 2006... Byline: Jim Astrachan and Carrie Williams What is it?Advertisers who don't tell the truth about their products or their competitor's products often have to come up with more than "I'm sorry," when they are caught. False advertising is, in...

OUTLOOK -- Commercial real estate in MD soars.
March 3, 2006... Byline: Alan Dessoff, Special to The Daily Record With a market driven by a robust state economy that is creating new jobs requiring additional office space, public officials and private-sector authorities are optimistic about the outlook...

OUTLOOK -- Robust MD residential market.
March 3, 2006... Byline: Joseph Patrick Bulko, Special to The Daily Record Despite an expected slowing of the housing market in 2006, Maryland's strong economy should propel the residential real estate industry to another exceptional year."The market will...

MD CSA rules 21-year-old may not collect uninsured motorist coverage under parents' policy.
March 6, 2006... Byline: Ann W. Parks A 21-year-old man who was injured in an accident due to the negligence of an underinsured motorist was not eligible to collect uninsured motorist coverage under his parents' automobile policy, the Court of Special...

See the University of Baltimore through the eyes of Minor.
March 6, 2006... Byline: Kara Kridler Natalie Minor had never been on TV before.Though Minor, who turns 28 today, said she's always wanted her "15 minutes of fame." That wish and more is about to come true today when Minor, a graduate student at the...

New apartment plan near Hunt Valley Towne Center depends upon old rules.
March 6, 2006... Byline: James Mosher A proposed apartment complex near the Hunt Valley Towne Centre is proving contentious, with parties battling over old rules that hearken back to the mall's beginnings.Wood Partners wants to build a 218-unit apartment...

Germantown-based Optelecom-NKF partners to tap fed security contracts market.
March 6, 2006... Byline: Joe Bacchus Optelecom-NKF Inc. is teaming with a Virginia company in order to better target the growing market of federal security contracts.Germantown-based Optelecom, a network company, was founded 33 years ago and finds much of...

DNA deadline was 'substantially' met, Court of Special Appeals says.
March 6, 2006... Byline: Caryn Tamber A defense attorney's failure to notify the state at least 45 days before trial that she planned to use DNA evidence was not grounds for excluding that evidence since the prosecutor only provided it to her 36 days...

Court of Special Appeals rules report need not accompany certificate of qualified expert.
March 6, 2006... Byline: Cynthia Di Pasquale A man who claims an Annapolis oral surgeon's negligence left his jaw permanently disfigured got the green light from the Court of Special Appeals to go ahead with his case, even though he didn't file a medical...

Owings Mills man wins first prize in Atlantic City poker game.
March 6, 2006... Byline: Jen DeGregorio After only nine months of competitive playing, Owings Mills resident and real estate developer Abraham P. Korotki took home first prize in the Atlantic City Circuit of the World Series of Poker. Taking home the...

State senate's ID theft bill gets nod from Maryland business interests.
March 6, 2006... Byline: Dori Berman Business interests in Maryland cheered the Senate Finance Committee's approval Friday of legislation aimed at curbing identity theft.The bill, SB 134, would set guidelines for the handling and destruction of customer...