Baltimore Based

Under Armour may launch a new line of hybrid-cotton apparel next year, according to an analyst that follows the company. The Baltimore sports apparel company is known mostly for its slick feeling, fitted compression wear. Analyst Michael Binetti, who follows Under Armour for UBS Securities LLC, in a research report released Monday described the new line of apparel as "coated cotton that wicks moisture from the skin, but still has its cotton feel." Binetti revealed the company's plans for the new line in a research note where he also announced he was upgrading the company's stock to a buy rating.

"Hubble 3D," a celebration of the orbiting space telescope and the NASA crew that gave it new life last year, provides a glimpse of how star systems looked a few hundred million years after the Big Bang. It reveals the borders of the visible universe. It drinks in the spectacle of celestial bodies born in fiery pillars of clouds. The content is scientific. The imagery gets biblical. In fact, after Baltimore-based astronaut John Grunsfeld witnessed a positive power check on a Hubble camera he'd installed, he said, "Let there be light."

The financially troubled developer of a huge business park being built at Aberdeen Proving Ground to serve base restructuring has backed out of the project and handed it off to Baltimore-based St. John Properties. Under plans approved by the Army, Rockville-based Opus East assigned development rights to St. John, which announced the agreement Tuesday and said it plans to start work on three or four research and office buildings. The 400-acre project, Government and Technology Enterprise, or GATE, is being developed as a 2 million- to 3 million-square-foot research and development park in partnership with the Army to handle growth from BRAC - military base restructuring.

2 Gov. Martin O'Malley plans to announce today the appointment of Christian Johansson, a Harvard University-educated entrepreneur who has run a Baltimore-based business and government alliance, as the state secretary of business and economic development. Johansson, who must be confirmed by the Senate, would replace David W. Edgerley, who resigned in December to pursue a career in the private sector or education. O'Malley has sought to reorganize the Department of Business and Economic Development, a process that emphasized efforts for the biotechnology industry and international trade and consolidated some functions.

Provident Bankshares Corp., the largest remaining Baltimore-based bank, squeezed by competition and losses, announced yesterday that it is selling itself to New York-based M&T Bank Corp., a dominant player in the Mid-Atlantic that is working to expand its foothold in a city where its name adorns the biggest sports stadium. The $401 million stock deal could lead to some layoffs among Provident's 1,660 employees as the banks merge operations and eliminate redundant operations, according to banking analysts and consultants.

Wall Street's three major credit-rating agencies said yesterday that they are studying the latest twist in Constellation Energy Group's pending sale to decide whether changes should be made to the Baltimore company's bond ratings, a source of concern that helped push it to seek buyers this summer. The proposed $4.7 billion takeover of Constellation, the parent of Baltimore Gas & Electric Co., by Warren Buffett's MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co. was cast into question this week with a proposal by Constellation's largest shareholder.

A new charter school is set to open in Anne Arundel County next fall, after the county school board approved a preliminary plan for a 600-student combined elementary and middle school. The county school board's unanimous vote last week granted permission to Superintendent Kevin M. Maxwell to draft a charter agreement within 30 days between the county school system and the school's management group, The Children's Guild, a 55-year-old Baltimore-based nonprofit. The school board must vote again to approve the charter.

Steven Soifer, New York-born, moved to Baltimore in 1994 to take a job as associate professor of social work, University of Maryland, Baltimore. He has taught community organizing, community economic development and social action, and helped create three nonprofit organizations. 1 An electric car that works: "When I get a new car, I guess I'll have to go with a hybrid, unless I can get one of those electric cars that the governor of California is driving around. I can't think of anything more important to reduce my carbon footprint."

Advertising * gkv announced the appointments of Meredith Gilbert and Haley Ulloa as assistant account executives for the Baltimore-based marketing firm and named Johnny Vo as associate manager for GKV REACH, the agency's social marketing division. Finance * Wealth Advocacy Partners appointed Stephanie I. Dignan as a financial representative in the Sparks-based insurance and estate planning services firm. She had been with Metropolitan Life and is active with National Association of Female Executives and is a certified financial planner.