Baltimore Named

New positions* C&P Telephone Company of Maryland appointed Regina H. Novotny vice president-operations.* Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America, Maryland Chapter, appointed Julie Unger education coordinator.* Drake Beam Morin Inc., a counseling, training and consulting company in Baltimore, appointed Gay Fogarty vice president.* McCormick & Co. Inc., a Sparks-based producer of spices, seasonings, flavorings and specialty foods, promoted Elizabeth Todd Lambert to director-Strategic Business Planning & Development Asia/Pacific for the International Group.

A former Baltimore resident and Fells Point business owner, Avril D. Haines, has been named deputy director of the CIA -- the first woman to hold the second-highest position at the agency. Haines, 43, previously worked as a White House deputy assistant and deputy counsel for national security affairs. Prior to that, she served as a legal advisor in the State Department. President Obama named her to the post Wednesday. Before she joined the federal government, Haines co-owned Adrian's Book Cafe in Fells Point and served as president of the Fells Point Business Association in the late '90s.

New positions:Big Shot Productions, a Baltimore-based video and film production company, appointed Larry Collins senior vice president.Schiller, Holinsky & Co., an accounting and management consulting firm in Owings Mills, elected Alan Weinberg to the board of directors.Financial services:Imperial Premium Finance in Baltimore named Nelson N. Walker vice president of national marketing.Signet Bank in Baltimore appointed S. Fay Miller assistant vice president in the consumer real estate division and Jo Ann Kerzel officer in the commercial finance division.

Patapsco High School & Center for the Arts educator Sean McComb fondly recalls a high school English teacher who led him to see the world differently through books and a mentor from the student-run cable station who helped him host his own weekly sports show. On Monday, McComb, 29, was honored as Baltimore County's 2013-2014 Teacher of the Year for, among other things, being an example of one who inspires and supports his students. "The teachers that I had in 10th, 11th, 12th grade were the models, and what they did for me made me believe it was possible to do that for other people," said McComb, a Joppa resident who is an English teacher and coordinates a college-prep program, AVID.

New positionsKennedy Architects and Interiors, a Baltimore-based architectural and interior design firm, appointed Teri Lura interior designer.George Hyman Construction Co. in Bethesda promoted Mark H. Wagner to vice president.Century Engineering Inc., a Towson-based consulting engineering company, promoted Thomas L. Watchinsky to vice president, facilities division.Century M&E, the mechanical-electrical division, named Roger H. Kerley president and Peter F. Jardieu vice president.U.S. Message, a Baltimore-based telephone answering and message service, appointed Scott Bryant vice president and general manager.

New positionsMaryland School for the Blind, a private, non-profit, state-aided residential school in Northeast Baltimore, announced the following appointments: Dr. Richard M. DeMott, deputy superintendent; Maynard Simmons, director of the newcomer/Andrews Program; Donald Ouimet, principal of secondary/vocational education; Barbria Bacon, principal of preschool/elementary education; David L. Evans, chief financial officer; Ann M. Poskocil, chief development officer.Maryland...

New positionsPrincess Royale Hotel and Conference Center in Ocean City promoted Ray Rickett to director of convention services.RTKL Associates Inc., an architecture/engineering firm in Baltimore, promoted Paul Hanegraaf, Robert E. Fagg and Bernard C. Friel to vice presidents.Loyola College in Baltimore named Francis "Frank" McGuire dean of graduate services.Segall-Majestic Photography Inc. in Baltimore named John L. Segall chief executive officer.Marks, Thomas and Associates Inc., an architecture firm in Baltimore, named Joseph Fenton to the firm.

New positionsThe Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore named Joseph Cooper provost and vice president for academic affairs.Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. in Baltimore named Carserlo Doyle manager of the Telecommunications Department.Knoll Daniels Associates, a Baltimore-based space planning and interior design firm, named Carol A. Dittmar interior designer. The company recently relocated to 7311 York Road in Baltimore.Kearny Executive Search, an employment company in Baltimore, named Joseph C. Haberman vice president and partner.

New positions* Wartsila Diesel Inc. in Annapolis named Thomas Michael Carbone vice president for manufacturing.* Airflow Company in Frederick appointed Christopher M. Jarrett vice president of sales and marketing.* Recreational Equipment Inc., a Seattle-based chain of retail stores selling outdoor supplies and clothing, promoted Doug Tracey to manager for the College Park store.GRAFCO, an Atlanta and Baltimore-based container and metal can manufacturing company, appointed Daniel J. Leahy director materials.

New positionsWestview Mall in Baltimore named Alan J. Fink general manager and Mark Seaman marketing director.Network Designs Inc., a Columbia-based computer networking firm, appointed Nick Santorineos senior systems analyst.Bullets basketball team, based in Landover, promoted Judy Holland to vice president of operations.WBFF-TV in Baltimore named S. Jenell Trigg director of marketing.Environmental Reference Laboratory Services, a division of Maryland Medical Laboratory Inc. in Baltimore, appointed Fritzi Beale vice president, business development.

Charm City celebrities, no matter where they were, woke early to send seasons Tweetings. Here are just a few: Raven Terrence Cody ‏@TerrenceCody Merry Christmas twitter and twitter fam TV reporter Jessica Kartalija ‏@JessKartalija Can't wait for everyone to get up and see what Santa brought!! Merry Christmas! #whitechristmas Olympian Michael Phelps ‏@MichaelPhelps Merry Xmas tweep!!! And happy holidays!! Another Phelps ‏@MichaelPhelps Something's never change....

Yellow Cab, which has operated in the Baltimore area since 1909, has been named taxi operator of the year by the industry's trade group, the Taxicab, Limousine & Paratransit Association. Behind the wheel is Mark Joseph, a graduate of American University in Washington, who began his career at Yellow Cab in 1976 and was president and CEO for 20 years. When Connex North America acquired Yellow Transportation in 2001, Joseph rose through the executive ranks to become president and chief operating officer of Connex, now Veolia Transportation, and vice chairman and CEO of Veolia.

Earlier this year, Bob Parsons, founder of the Internet company GoDaddy.com and University of Baltimore graduate, gave the school $1 million to create a professorship in digital communication under his name. [Story here ] Today, UB announced who that first Bob "GoDaddy" Parsons Professor of Digital Communication, Commerce and Culture will be: Sean Carton. Carton has been in the digital creative scene in Baltimore and the Mid-Atlantic region for years. He's been at UB for a couple years now, founding and directing the school's Center for Digital Communication, Commerce, and Culture.

Baltimore's casino gained a leader and overcame an obstacle Tuesday. Chad Barnhill, an 18-year veteran of the gambling industry, was named general manager of Harrah's Baltimore at a news conference at the planned site of the casino on Russell Street near M&T Bank Stadium. Meanwhile, the Maryland Board of Contract Appeals dismissed lawsuits from two companies that sought to block the state from awarding a casino license to CBAC Gaming, a Caesars-led group. The move clears a legal hurdle for Caesars to move forward with its casino.

Baltimore Police have identified a police officer involved in the shooting of a knife-wielding man earlier this week in West Baltimore. The identification of Officer Fred Murray, who shot a 49-year-old man Tuesday in the 1200 block of Oakhurst Pl., follows the department's policy of waiting 48 hours to identify an officer. A few years ago, the agency began withholding such names before reversing course. The Sun in January 2009 first reported that the police had broken a decades-old policy of releasing officers names , with the agency saying that it would protect officers from retaliation, 23 officers had been threatened in the previous year.

Four Baltimore startups were chosen to participate in the inaugural accelerator program launched by the Emerging Technology Center, the city's main technology business incubator. The news, announced Thursday, couldn't come at a better time for the city's tech scene. Millennial Media Inc., a mobile advertising firm that started as an ETC incubator company, went public today on the New York Stock Exchange, in a bid to raise more than $130 million to fuel its worldwide growth. Local entrepreneurs seem eager to feed off the momentum that Millennial's IPO is expected to bring to local technology companies.

New positionsSybase Inc., a software company in Bethesda, promoted Annette Kerlin to the newly created position of vice president of federal operations, and hired Michael H. Cottle as district manager of civilian agencies.Crown Central Petroleum Corp. in Baltimore named J. Michael Mims vice president of human resources, and promoted Patrick D. McCafferty to director of internal auditing and consulting.Bethlehem Steel Corp. in Sparrows Point announced the retirement of S. Robert Kinghorn from his position as controller.

NEW POSITIONS* University of Maryland School of Pharmacy named George E. Dukes Jr. professor and chairman of the clinical pharmacy department.* Hechinger Co., a Landover-based retailer of home products, promoted Mark R. Adams to treasurer and Richard S. Gross to corporate controller.* Chapel Valley Landscape Co., a regional provider of landscape services, named Jennifer Whalley landscape architect, Virginia Landscape branch; Tom Nugent landscape designer/marketing representative; Scott Scarfone, Maryland Landscape branch; and promoted William Pierce to assistant foreman to marketing representative, Virginia Maintenance branch.

Et cetera Rapid Redux fighting foot injury in bid for 22 Rapid Redux, who has not lost a race since Nov. 18, 2010, and is looking to extend his record to 22 consecutive wins, has been established as the 3-5 morning-line favorite by Maryland Jockey Club handicapper Frank Carulli in today's sixth race, a $17,000 starter allowance, on opening day of the racing season at Laurel Park. However, trainer David Wells revealed Tuesday afternoon that his star "grabbed a quarter" in his right front foot a few days ago. "There is a little cut on his right front foot," Wells said.