Arundel Mills

Gov. Martin O'Malley told members of the state's horse-racing and breeding industry Thursday that Anne Arundel County's indecision on rezoning land adjacent to Arundel Mills mall was delaying the process of getting what is the largest proposed slots parlor under way. Speaking to a group of 250 during the Maryland Horse Forum at The Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro, O'Malley said the entire slots initiative, which includes four other locations, "is...

Despite adamant opposition from local homeowners who say that a newly proposed slots parlor at Arundel Mills would attract crime, traffic and some unsavory company, elected county officials say they will work with community members to figure out the best way to pass slots zoning legislation. Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold said that although he is against expanding gambling, Marylanders voted for the referendum last fall, and he will work to draft legislation that accommodates the surrounding communities, should the state approve either or both of the proposed sites.

Baltimore developer David S. Cordish revealed Wednesday that his company will bid to buy Laurel Park, Pimlico Race Course and the Preakness Stakes, the second leg of horse racing's Triple Crown, which are up for sale by their bankrupt owner. Cordish's interest - and the emergence of a possible second local bidder - comes amid growing anxiety surrounding the fate of the Preakness since last month's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing by Magna Entertainment Corp., which owns the Maryland thoroughbred tracks.

Baltimore and its nearby counties are flunking federal clean-air rules, thereby threatening to stall millions of dollars for highway projects -- including roads for the state's largest new retail complex.Until recently, the region appeared to be in compliance with the federal Clean Air Act. But it turns out that's because state and regional planners have been relying on misleading 1990 motor vehicle data to measure prospective traffic pollution and gain approval for road projects.Those outdated traffic figures do not reflect the region's growing number of vehicles, particularly higher-polluting sport utility vehicles, or that in 1990, motorists drove newer cars.

A Florida-based movie theater chain plans to build a 24-screen megaplex with child care and valet parking at Arundel Mills, the $250 million entertainment-oriented mall under construction near Baltimore-Washington International Airport.Muvico Theaters will become the sixth anchor tenant announced by Mills Corp., the Arlington, Va.-based developer of the 1.4 million-square-foot megamall.The fast-growing Fort Lauderdale chain will unveil its concept of an Egyptian-themed, retro movie palace today at the mall site on 400 acres near Baltimore-Washington Parkway and Route 100.The theater -- the size of a Home Depot -- will have stadium seating and state-of-the-art sound and screens, which have become standard for the new generation of megaplexes cropping up around the Baltimore Beltway and nationally.

BIG, BIGGER, BIGGEST.That strategy is driving the retail industry -- and consumer spending -- to new limits.There was a time when Harundale Mall in Glen Burnie provided the ultimate shopping experience in these parts. Look at it now.It's a tattered shell as it sits with one last department store and a couple of banks.In the midst of a conversion to a conventional strip shopping center, it has been relegated to the dustbin of retailing history.Harundale, which pulled shoppers from downtown Glen Burnie and Baltimore, was overtaken by bigger fish, including one a short drive down Ritchie Highway: the stylish Marley Station.

Developers of the 1.4 million-square-foot Arundel Mills mall have won approval from the Army Corps of Engineers to begin filling in wetlands on its 400-acre wooded site -- the final hurdle to the $250 million complex under construction near Route 100 and Baltimore-Washington Parkway.With the issuance Friday of the permit to build in federally regulated wetlands, Mills Corp. plans to fill in 1.4 acres of wetlands and more than 3,000 feet of stream channels in the Piny Run watershed in Hanover, two miles west of Baltimore-Washington International Airport.

When the Anne Arundel County Council approved legislation a year ago giving developers the go-ahead on a 1.4 million-square-foot shopping complex on 400 acres in Hanover, no one spoke against it.Now, critics of the Arundel Mills mall have found their voices and intend to speak out tonight at a public hearing before the Maryland Department of the Environment and the Army Corps of Engineers.Worried about the environmental, economic and aesthetic impact of the mall, they have been preparing for weeks to testify before the agencies whose approval is needed for the developer to build on regulated wetlands and forests.

The developer of the $250 million Arundel Mills mall pulled out the stops yesterday for a glamorous groundbreaking gala at its construction site in Hanover, while a small group of opponents brandished anti-mall signs in the streets.Inside a large white party tent, Mills Corp. executives read the list of the first tenants to sign up for stores in the 1.4 million-square-foot mall and promised more tax revenue, jobs and shopping for the county. Outside, about 20 members of Concerned Citizens for Responsible Development warned of traffic congestion and irreversible environmental damage.

IF YOU WANT to grab the attention of economic development officers, don't talk about retail. Talk about the prospects of a technology firm coming to town.It doesn't matter what kind of technology -- bio, information, nuclear. Technology with a dot.com suffix is even better.Technology businesses bring good-paying jobs and put communities on the global economy map. Economic development officials covet these firms the way cities once craved new industrial plants.Retail usually is at the other end of the spectrum.

Let me see if I have this right: We have a county that is rebuffing a deep-pocketed, known-quantity developer who wants to open a slots parlor at one of its malls, and we have a city basically rolling out the red carpet and handing the keys to its proposed casino to a group with ill-defined membership and even less clear financing. By now, at this point in Maryland's endless ordeal by slots, I guess I shouldn't be surprised by the latest developments, which are threatening to derail the state's two largest slots venues, in Anne Arundel County and Baltimore City, and thus the entire slots initiative.

Commissioners handing out Maryland's slots licenses expressed grave concerns Wednesday about the proposals for lucrative gambling casinos in Baltimore and Anne Arundel County - and said they might toss out those applications if questions can't be resolved quickly. The panel made some progress Wednesday, granting a license for a 1,500-machine facility in Cecil County. But it also set a Dec. 17 deadline for issues to be resolved with the Arundel and Baltimore bids. Members of the slots licensing panel said they are frustrated that they can't award the Arundel license because a divided seven-member County Council has been slow to approve the zoning change needed for a 4,750-machine facility that would rise near Arundel Mills mall.

The Anne Arundel County Council will not vote on zoning bills that would allow slots into the county until at least December, further delaying and potentially derailing an already stalled bid to open what would be the state's most lucrative gambling parlor. Council members introduced two competing bills Monday night - one to permit a slots parlor at Arundel Mills mall and another shifting the location to an industrial area in the western part of the county - but by law cannot vote on either measure until after a public hearing scheduled for Dec. 7. The decision sets up a clash among the various parties involved in bringing slots to Arundel.

Members of the state commission considering whether to grant a slots license to Baltimore-based Cordish Cos. expressed frustration Wednesday with continuing delays by Anne Arundel County officials in approving a rezoning measure that would allow the proposed billion-dollar entertainment complex to be built. The Video Lottery Facility Location Commission toured the site of the proposed slots parlor at Arundel Mills, followed by a public meeting and hearing on the Cordish proposal for the state's most lucrative slots license.

FRIDAY POE IN MOTION: Go gothic when Evergreen Museum and Library, 4545 N. Charles St., screens "The Tell-Tale Heart" and "The Raven" outside at 7:30 p.m. The grounds open at 5:30 p.m., so you can arrive early to take a self-guided tour of the museum's first-floor rooms and see rare illustrated editions of Edgar Allan Poe's works from the Garrett Library. General admission tickets are $6. In case of rain, the event will be held in the Carriage House. Go to nevermore2009.com. JOHN HUGHES '80S TRIBUTE DANCE PARTY: Remember the '80s and classic John Hughes films like "Pretty in Pink" and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" at this dance party at Ottobar, 2549 N. Howard St. Don't forget to dress the era, too. Doors open at 9 p.m. There's no cover for this event, and drinks are $2 until 10 p.m. Go to theottobar.

Last week's latest round of budget cuts, a hefty $454 million in reductions that included layoffs, furloughs, and hits to community colleges, health departments, road repair, public safety and local aid, has heightened the urgency to bring slot machines to Maryland as voters approved overwhelmingly last year. The national economic recession is shrinking state and local government faster - and perhaps more painfully - than expected. The potential hundreds of millions of dollars of new revenue generated by slot machines would go a long way toward alleviating that discomfort.

Gov. Martin O'Malley told members of the state's horse-racing and breeding industry Thursday that Anne Arundel County's indecision on rezoning land adjacent to Arundel Mills mall was delaying the process of getting what is the largest proposed slots parlor under way. Speaking to a group of 250 during the Maryland Horse Forum at The Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro, O'Malley said the entire slots initiative, which includes four other locations, "is...

An Anne Arundel County councilman plans to introduce legislation to require large shopping centers to install security cameras in parking areas, after a recent robbery attempt at Arundel Mills mall in Hanover, where a new slots parlor has been proposed. Councilman Daryl D. Jones said the cameras would serve as an added crime-fighting tool for police and prosecutors. The proposed legislation is largely modeled after a 2005 law in Baltimore County, which was passed after a teacher was fatally shot in the parking lot of Towson Town Center.

Anne Arundel Annapolis: : Celebrate an old-fashioned Fourth of July in Annapolis. The parade starts at 6:30 p.m. today at Amos Garrett Boulevard and proceeds downtown. A concert by the U.S. Naval Academy Band follows at 8 p.m., concluding with a 9:15 p.m. fireworks display. The concert is at Susan Campbell Park, City Dock, 160 Duke of Gloucester St. Free. Go to hometownannapolis.com Arundel Mills: : Get all decked out in your best Uncle Sam gear for the Arundel Mills July 4th Parade. There will be prizes for best red-white-and-blue costume.

Anne Arundel County Annapolis: : Celebrate an old-fashioned Fourth of July in Annapolis. The parade starts at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Amos Garrett Boulevard and proceeds downtown. A concert by the U.S. Naval Academy Band follows at 8 p.m., concluding with a 9:15 p.m. fireworks display. The concert is at Susan Campbell Park, City Dock, 160 Duke of Gloucester St. Free. Go to hometownannapolis.com. Arundel Mills: : Get all decked out in your best Uncle Sam gear for Saturday's Arundel Mills July Fourth Parade.