Baltimore Washington Region

They aren't paid to endorse running shoes.Their names aren't household words.When they travel to compete, they spend their money, earned at jobs unrelated to their sport.But 800 athletes came from around the world this weekend to smack around a little white ball at the Baltimore Convention Center, competing in an Olympic sport at a three-day tournament designed to promote the Baltimore-Washington region as a host for the Olympic Games.The North American Teams Table Tennis Championship brought many of the world's top players in a series of matches to promote the sport.

Wireless Zone, a fast-growing wireless communications retailer, is targeting the Baltimore area, where it plans to open a dozen stores by the end of the year.The chain's franchiser, Connecticut-based Automotive Technologies Inc., also operates the Car Phone Store, the leading wireless retailer in the Northeast with more than 90 stores in seven states.The company is moving into the mid-Atlantic and changing the name of its stores to Wireless Zone.All stores will be franchise operations.The first Wireless Zone opened at the end of December in Columbia.

MICHAEL K. Hooker never got the credit he deserved. He played a pivotal role in the Baltimore region, setting the stage for state government's new love fest with public universities.But while at the helm of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (1986-1992), Mr. Hooker was viewed as a publicity-hungry empire builder, with cockeyed notions of the university as the prime mover in a new economic order.Time proved Mr. Hooker right. Indeed, he laid the philosophical foundation for the state's current drive to marry academic research and economic development.

Mars, an acronym for Music and Recording Superstore, will open its second Baltimore-area location -- and 18th store nationally -- today in Catonsville.The 35,000-square-foot store on Powers Lane, in a former Circuit City location west of Rolling Road and U.S. 40 West, will be designed around a concert stage and will feature learning centers, demonstration rooms for musicians and a recording studio. Shoppers at Mars are greeted by "Martians" who allow customers to bang on drums or croon into dozens of plugged-in microphones.

R. Eugene Taylor, who led NationsBank Corp.'s efforts in Maryland for five years until he took over the company's Florida operations early this year, will run the bank's western region after its merger with San Francisco-based BankAmerica Corp.Taylor left as president of NationsBank's mid-Atlantic banking group in January to become president of NationsBank Florida, which has 1,147 branches and 30,000 workers, after NationsBank's $14.6 billion purchase of Barnett Banks Inc.In his new job, Taylor will be president of NationsBank's west region, with responsibility for operations in Alaska, California, Idaho, Oregon and Washington.

On the rear wall of a just-renovated apartment building in Baltimore's Mount Vernon historic district, an unusually theatrical detail hints at the property's new use.High above the alley are bas-reliefs of the masks of Comedy and Tragedy.Projecting from a flat stucco wall like gargoyles, the masks provide a clue that the apartments inside have been created for interns and artists affiliated with Center Stage, two blocks away."No one told the contractor to do it," marveled project manager Del Risberg.

A federal judge in Baltimore ruled yesterday that Honda Motor Co. dealers can band together to sue the automaker for claims that the company conspired to send shipments of cars to those willing to pay bribes while punishing dealers who refused to take part in the kickback scheme.In his long-anticipated ruling, Chief U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz sided with Honda dealers who argued that the best way to pursue the largest commercial bribery case in American history was by creating a class-action law suit.

LAS VEGAS -- Staples Inc., the office-supply superstore chain that recently selected Hagerstown as the site of its largest distribution center, is planning to make another major investment in Maryland, spending an estimated $13.2 million and creating 180 jobs with the development of six new stores this year in the Baltimore-Washington region.Already, the Framingham, Mass.-based retailer has sealed a deal to build a $43 million distribution center in economically depressed Washington County, an 840,000-square-foot project expected to create 700 jobs when it opens in February 1997.

The Roy Rogers fast food chain, a Linthicum-based division of Hardee's Food Systems Inc., is for sale, officials announced yesterday, including 178 restaurants with more than 7,000 employees in the Baltimore-Washington region.North Carolina-based Hardee's, a subsidiary of Imasco Ltd., a consumer products and services company in Montreal, cited the need to cut its losses and focus on its struggling core business -- Hardee's, the nation's fourth largest hamburger chain."Really what we've got is a restaurant system that's not doing well and new management that wants to turn that around," said Peter McBride, Imasco vice president of communications and investor relations.

President Clinton isn't the only Arkansas product coming in for criticism. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., based in Bentonville, Ark., has been fending off scattered protests in the United States, including several in Maryland, from people who fear the retailer's impact on traffic, land use patterns and small business.In the face of stiff opposition, the company recently dropped plans to build in Owings Mills as well as several other places across the country. But the protests tend to be sporadic and highly localized, rather than any widespread backlash against this national chain that has grown into the most profilic retailer in the land.

If those Black Friday sales in November didn't seem as sweet as you expected, here's proof: Government data show consumer prices were much higher in Baltimore-Washington that month, compared with November 2007, than in the nation as a whole. Clothing, in particular, showed few signs of markdowns. Nationally, apparel prices were flat compared with the previous November, suggesting that retailers were eager to move the merchandise with deals. But in the Baltimore-Washington region, apparel prices soared 6.3 percent during the same period.

WASHINGTON -- The Orioles are quietly planning to close their Washington outlet store, which had once buzzed with fans but lately has become a relic of an era when the team claimed the entire Baltimore-Washington region as its own. The club won't renew the Farragut Square store's lease when it expires at the end of the calendar year, according to team employees. The action, which will end a 20-year run in the heart of downtown, can't come soon enough for many Washington Nationals fans.

If the Baltimore Orioles and Comcast Corp. cannot work through their legal problems, a regional cable network - thought to be a boon for the club - could be more of a short-term bust, and many baseball fans in the Baltimore-Washington area could lose the opportunity to watch their home teams almost every night. Or, industry analysts say, the standoff could be no more than posturing between giants who realize it's in their mutual best interest to reach a deal. "Obviously, they're both losing money in the short term, but this isn't about losing, it's about winning," Roger Caplan, whose Howard County ad agency places commercials on local sports broadcasts, said yesterday.

SALT LAKE CITY - In a city where nearly everyone with a title is being wined and dined, Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley was barely around long enough for someone to uncork a bottle. O'Malley conducted a 19-hour whirlwind tour yesterday as part of the scouting mission to bring the 2012 Summer Olympics to the Baltimore-Washington region. "You can't overtly campaign," he said. "But your presence says a lot. It's good to get reacquainted with the people who will be making the decision." Along with Washington Mayor Anthony Williams, O'Malley attended a reception held by the U.S. Olympic Committee for the four remaining cities in the running for the games and attended a portion of one competition - 120-meter ski jumping - where he sat directly behind Lech Walesa, the former president of Poland.

A hush fell over the packed room at City Hall as Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley made the long-anticipated announcement of finalist cities to be host to the 2012 Summer Olympics. "I'm excited to report that one of the finalists is ... San Francisco," the mayor said yesterday, just minutes after getting word from the U.S. Olympic Committee that the eight candidates had been narrowed to four. But the silence was broken by cheers, applause and high-fives from government officials, athletes and Olympic bid committee members when O'Malley announced the last of four finalists - "the greatest bid of all - the Baltimore-Washington region.

A makeover of the once-dowdy Wards is proving such a hit that the retailer plans to remodel all its department stores in five major markets, including the Baltimore-Washington region, by mid-October, the chain's chief executive officer said yesterday. Because of increased sales at remodeled stores, the Chicago-based company will finish converting all stores in markets such as Baltimore-Washington, Chicago and San Francisco to the new format this year, Roger Goddu, the CEO, said yesterday during a promotional stop in Towson.

They aren't paid to endorse running shoes.Their names aren't household words.When they travel to compete, they spend their money, earned at jobs unrelated to their sport.But 800 athletes came from around the world this weekend to smack around a little white ball at the Baltimore Convention Center, competing in an Olympic sport at a three-day tournament designed to promote the Baltimore-Washington region as a host for the Olympic Games.The North American Teams Table Tennis Championship brought many of the world's top players in a series of matches to promote the sport.

MICHAEL K. Hooker never got the credit he deserved. He played a pivotal role in the Baltimore region, setting the stage for state government's new love fest with public universities.But while at the helm of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (1986-1992), Mr. Hooker was viewed as a publicity-hungry empire builder, with cockeyed notions of the university as the prime mover in a new economic order.Time proved Mr. Hooker right. Indeed, he laid the philosophical foundation for the state's current drive to marry academic research and economic development.

Wireless Zone, a fast-growing wireless communications retailer, is targeting the Baltimore area, where it plans to open a dozen stores by the end of the year.The chain's franchiser, Connecticut-based Automotive Technologies Inc., also operates the Car Phone Store, the leading wireless retailer in the Northeast with more than 90 stores in seven states.The company is moving into the mid-Atlantic and changing the name of its stores to Wireless Zone.All stores will be franchise operations.The first Wireless Zone opened at the end of December in Columbia.

Mars, an acronym for Music and Recording Superstore, will open its second Baltimore-area location -- and 18th store nationally -- today in Catonsville.The 35,000-square-foot store on Powers Lane, in a former Circuit City location west of Rolling Road and U.S. 40 West, will be designed around a concert stage and will feature learning centers, demonstration rooms for musicians and a recording studio. Shoppers at Mars are greeted by "Martians" who allow customers to bang on drums or croon into dozens of plugged-in microphones.