Baltimore Business Journal articles from July 1997

Baltimore Business Journal archives from July 1997

New Yorker fights back. (Schulweis Realty Pres. Harvey Schulweis' proposal to build convention headquarters hotel on former News American site)
July 11, 1997... So do Angelos, Paterakis The would-be developers of a Westin Hotel on Pratt Street are waging an 11th hour campaign to put their bid back on the map, railing against what they call "back room deals" for the convention headquarters hotel....

Media group covets empire. (Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc.'s plan to acquire Heritage Media Group)
July 11, 1997... A local media powerhouse may be preparing to dish out at least $500 million to add more radio and television stations to its broadcasting empire. According to an industry trade publication, Baltimore-based Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc, may be...

Hospitals duke it out; UM beats rival at its own game. (University of Maryland Medical Center; Johns Hopkins Hospital; kidney removal technique)
July 11, 1997... UM beats rival at its own game Transplant surgeons at the University of Maryland Medical Center don't like waiting. When plans fell through to observe a new kidney removal technique developed by surgeons at crosstown rival Johns Hopkins...

Surgery: computer skills needed. (ISM Inc.'s CD-ROM heart surgery game)
July 11, 1997... For Dr. Myo Thant, open heart surgery is just a game. A computer game, to be exact. Thant is no heart surgeon, but a Timonium oncologist with a sideline in computer games that simulate surgical procedures. Now, his 10-year-old company - ISM...

Trigen beats out BGE for three energy contracts. (Trigen Baltimore Energy Corp.; Baltimore Gas and Electric Co.)
July 11, 1997... A Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. rival beat the utility on three contracts worth $36.5 million to provide energy for four downtown buildings. Trigen Baltimore Energy Corp. is set to announce Friday that it won a $19 million contract to provide...

Midtown depends on Aegon; massive insurer's pending decision critical to area battling crime, empty office space. (Aegon USA)
July 11, 1997... Massive insurer's pending decision critical to area battling crime, empty office space All right, let's talk about it. If Aegon USA leaves midtown Baltimore, "It would be the nail in the coffin" for the entire area, said Steven L. Miles,...

As formats come and go, so goes the on-air talent. (Baltimore, MD's radio stations)
July 11, 1997... If a radio station changes its format at noon, the on-air talent is often given pink slips at 12:01 p.m., without warning. Listeners, advertisers and staff of former V103 were hit with a similar scenario on June 27 when the CBS-owned radio...

Sterling plots course for small business lending. (Sterling Bank)
July 11, 1997... For most of its 12-year life, Sterling Bank and Trust took to the airwaves touting itself as the bank for Baltimore high rollers. No more. The small Baltimore bank has reemerged from more than a year's marketing hiatus with a vastly different...

Taking the state's hospitals to task: Cohen, first rate commission director, says officials should be 'embarrassed.' (Harold A. Cohen, director of Maryland's rate-setting commission for hospitals)
July 11, 1997... Cohen, first rate commission director, says officials should be 'embarrassed' The relationship Harold A. Cohen helped build between Maryland hospitals and their regulators has been going through some tough times. Cohen, who served for 14...

Sylvan Learning Systems Inc. (Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
July 11, 1997... Corporate profile For Sylvan Learning Systems Inc., 1997 has been a year full of ups and downs. The Baltimore-based education services company continues to grow at a mercurial pace through expansion and acquisitions. And the company, which is...

The sky's the limit: realty statistics titan hunts for new conquests. (Realty Information Group L.P.)(Special Report: Real Estate/Construction)
July 11, 1997... Realty statistics titan hunts for new conquests Many companies go to great lengths to hide their business and expansion plans. Not Realty Information Group LP. The Bethesda company hangs its expansion plan on the wall, framed neatly for all...

On the business beat: police chief courts CEOs. (Baltimore Police Commissioner Thomas C. Frasier)
July 25, 1997... The head of TC Advertising recently took a poll of some of his 90 employees about whether they felt safe working in downtown Baltimore, across the street from Camden Yards. "Every one of them feels safe in our building and location," said...

Citing crime, Tate mulls move. (Tate Engineering Systems Inc)
July 25, 1997... An engineering company, which employs 86 people in its location near the new Ravens football Stadium, is looking to relocate because of safety concerns. Tate Engineering Systems Inc., which has occupied the spot at 601 W. West St. since the...

Hospital billers face worst nightmare. (St. Joseph Medical Center)
July 25, 1997... The nightmare billing scenario most feared by hospital executives was more than a bad dream for St. Joseph Medical Center. After patients questioned an item on their bills, investigators found the Towson hospital had improperly charged Medicare...

Angelos freezes BGE project. (Orioles' Peter G. Angelos; Baltimore Gas and Electric Co.)
July 25, 1997... Peter G. Angelos has reached a tentative agreement to buy the downtown Hamburger's building from Baltimore Gas and Electric Co., according to sources familiar with the negotiations. The deal between the utility and the Orioles owner, brokered...

Children's Hospital project delayed second time. (Children's Hospital and Center for Reconstructive Surgery, Baltimore, Maryland)
July 25, 1997... The "New" Children's Hospital in Baltimore missed a deadline last week to get state approval for a new long-term care center for the elderly. A hospital official said the project is still going forward although this is the proposed facility's...

State seeks developer to fill baseball-football middle ground. (Maryland)
July 25, 1997... The Maryland Stadium Authority is looking for a retail developer to build a parking garage and shops on the land between Oriole Park at Camden Yards and the new football stadium. The authority will make an unofficial request for proposals next...

Shriners want White Marsh site for temple.
July 25, 1997... A replacement for the Boumi Temple on North Charles Street may rise near White Marsh, where the fraternal organization known as the Shriners is negotiating to buy land from relatives of the Baltimore County Council president. "We have a...

Nursing home owners dispute IRS gift ruling. (Internal Revenue Service)
July 25, 1997... WASHINGTON - Stock gifts that Earl R. and Lorraine Raffel gave to their sons could cost the Baltimore County nursing home entrepreneurs almost $649,000 more than anticipated. The Stevenson residents are challenging an Internal Revenue Service...

Development officials tout inter-county connector. (Baltimore, Maryland)
July 25, 1997... Baltimore may end up liking a new Rockville-to-Laurel highway as much as the frustrated suburban Washington commuters it's being designed to please, some area business leaders say. But, so far, Baltimoreans have been conspicuously quiet in the...

The search for intelligent life. (PPS Information Staffing Services owner Neil Fisher)(Special Report: Technology)
July 25, 1997... Headhunter spends his days seeking right connections Neil Fisher's days start with an incessant ringing in his ears. The ringing comes at the other end of a line. At about 7 a.m., Fisher picks up the telephone receiver and starts working the...

High-tech super truck rolls into Maryland for test drive.(Special Report: Technology)
July 25, 1997... The high-tech truck of the future rolled into Maryland last week, a rig full of computers that could transform the safety and speed with which goods are shipped on America's highways. Developed under the guidance of the Federal Highway...

JHU kicks on truck network. (Johns Hopkins University)(Special Report: Technology)
July 25, 1997... The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel is helping develop a new computerized network for keeping track of commercial vehicles on the nation's highways. Hopkins is helping the U.S. Department of Transportation create...

Business go sour on bruised Apple Computer. (Apple Macintosh Inc.)(Special Report: Technology)
July 25, 1997... RTKL Associates Inc.'s graphic design department has long used Apple Macintosh personal computers. But not much longer. As its leases run out on the machines, the international architectural firm has started replacing them with Windows-based...

Wanted: workers to fill high-tech jobs.(Special Report: Technology)
July 25, 1997... Maryland doesn't have enough workers with high-technology skills to fill the available jobs, according to several estimates. Enter the high-tech temporary labor industry, where some companies are posting enormous growth in their client and...