1st Mariner

Former world No. 1 Lindsay Davenport has been added to the 2006 Mercantile Tennis Challenge, completing the field. Tennis Challenge officials said yesterday that Davenport, ranked No. 18, will play mixed doubles with Mike Bryan against Bob Bryan and Martina Navratilova. The Challenge is scheduled for Dec. 6 at 1st Mariner Arena. Already set to play are the Bryans, the world No. 1 doubles team and Navratilova, who with Bob Bryan won the U.S. Open mixed doubles title - the 59th title, and the last Grand Slam title of her career, before announcing her retirement from competitive tennis.

A 24-year-old Laurel man was indicted this week on charges related to the alleged identity theft of 10 people, many of whom worked at Arbitron Inc. in Columbia. A Howard County grand jury returned an 18-count indictment Wednesday against Mobolaji Olanite of the 300 block of Thomas Drive. The indictment charges him with fraud, theft and forgery, as well as the alleged assault of the Howard County police officer who confronted him at the 1st Mariner Bank in Ellicott City after bank officials reported a possible fraud March 12. Authorities found documents containing at least three people's names in Olanite's car, according to charging documents.

Blast owner Ed Hale, the chairman and chief executive officer of 1st Mariner Bank, would love to see a new arena built in East Baltimore near his headquarters. Whether that objective will be realized hinges on a multitude of factors. "Many difficult decisions have to be made, notably funding and location," said Kirby Fowler, president of the Downtown Partnership, one of a number of organizations working on a two-part study examining the state of 1st Mariner Arena that is scheduled to be released next month.

A private-public task force recommended Wednesday that city officials stop a planned auction of the beleaguered Senator Theatre and buy the 70-year-old North Baltimore landmark. The panel, made up of city and state officials, as well as representatives from the private sector, recommended that the city foreclose on the property, pay off the $1.6 million owed to 1st Mariner Bank and the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development, then find someone willing to operate the theater, preferably as a first-run movie house.

New positions Thales Communications promotes Verna Wright Thales Communications Inc. promoted Verna J. Wright to director of program management for the Clarksburg-based defense electronics company. An electrical engineering graduate of the University of Kentucky, the Ellicott City resident has been with Thales since 1997. Yasko is hired to manage Towson U. radio station Towson University hired Stephen Yasko as general manager of its public radio station, WTMD-FM. He oversees station operations, fund-raising and audience development.

NOW OR NEVER For fans of Japanese animation (anime), J-rock, J-pop, or East Asian pop culture at large, there is Otakon, coming to the Baltimore Convention Center this weekend. The largest convention of its kind on the East Coast, Otakon offers nonstop screenings of anime and Asian films and a performance by Japanese chart-topping musical act TM Revolution, who makes his U.S. debut Saturday at 3 p.m. Panel discussions with anime directors, voice actors and artists, and karaoke and costume contests are also scheduled.

A prominent Baltimore businessman and ally of Mayor Martin O'Malley will take over management of a city-owned soccer arena in Canton under a measure approved by the Board of Estimates yesterday - ending a years-long negotiation over the property. Edwin F. Hale Sr., chairman and chief executive officer of 1st Mariner Bank and chairman of the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association board, will receive a $272,605 annual management fee to oversee the operation of the Clarence Du Burns Arena at Ellwood Avenue and Boston Street.

New positionsChurch Home and Hospital names Failing as presidentChurch Home and Hospital, one of seven hospitals that are part of the Helix/Medlantic Healthcare Group, named Ann C. Failing as president.A West Virginia University nursing graduate, Failing joined the East Baltimore hospital staff in 1986 as associate director of nursing and was appointed vice president of patient care in 1989. In that role, she coordinated patient care services on all levels of the hospital and its affiliated long-term care facility, Church Home.

It's tempting to dig up an old cliche to describe Lenny Mays' line of work: It's a dirty job, but somebody's gotta do it. The veteran construction man from Columbus, Ohio - in town this week with the professional indoor motorcycle-racing circuit known as Arenacross - is doing what he and three crewmates do every week between late October and early March: turning 3 million pounds of local dirt into a bike racer's paradise of well-packed straightaways, banks...