Baltimore Washington Region

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 Baltimore-Washington Corridor is sponsoring the 21st Baltimore-Washington Region Government Procurement Fair on Wednesday, Oct. 31, from 8 a.m. to noon at Martin's Crosswinds, 7400 Greenway Center Drive, in Greenbelt. The event offers opportunities for businesses and government agencies to help businesses learn to successfully work with government agencies. Matchmaking sessions will be offered so businesses can meet one-on-one with agency contacts and buyers to discuss opportunities specific to each business.

The epic power outages have laid bare one of the fatal flaws of the state's growth policies for the Baltimore-Washington region: Our public infrastructure and services are inadequate to meet the demands of today's residents and workers. We need to make today's Baltimore-Washington region more livable before we can even begin to think about a future megalopolis that would be more congested and more demanding of infrastructure and services than the one we already have. Anthony J. Di Giacomo

The epic power outages have laid bare one of the fatal flaws of the state's growth policies for the Baltimore-Washington region: Our public infrastructure and services are inadequate to meet the demands of today's residents and workers. We need to make today's Baltimore-Washington region more livable before we can even begin to think about a future megalopolis that would be more congested and more demanding of infrastructure and services than the one we already have. Anthony J. Di Giacomo

Median household effective buying income for the Baltimore-Washington region ranked first among the nation's 10 largest markets in 1990.According to figures compiled by the Washington/Baltimore Regional Association, median household effective buying income, after taxes, in the Baltimore-Washington region maintained first place by adding $1,293 worth of income per household. The household total increased from $38,031 in 1989 to $39,324 in 1990.San Francisco ranked second, with a median household income of $39,032.

The Baltimore-Washington region ranks fourth nationally in the number of Fortune 500 service company headquarters, according to a survey released today by a regional economic development group.Twenty-one service companies on the Fortune 500 list, including Marriott Corp. and USF&G Corp., are based here, the study by the Washington/Baltimore Regional Association found. Those companies have combined assets of more than $316 billion.That places the Baltimore-Washington region behind only the New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago metropolitan areas.

Martin Marietta Corp.'s receipt in November of a $526 million contract from the federal Housing and Urban Development department was unusual, and not only for its size. The 12-year contract was among a dwindling pool of federal non-defense spending awarded to companies in the Baltimore-Washington area last year.More typical was the $5.6 million contract that Cockeysville-based AAI Corp. won in October to improve targeting systems for fighter planes and helicopters.A sharp increase in such defense contracts put the Baltimore-Washington common market firmly in second place in federal spending last year, the Washington/Baltimore Regional Association said yesterday.

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.

Bill Stern has lived in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Now he lives in Washington. But the place he really wants to be is Baltimore.And if his new business venture works as planned, that's exactly where he'll be.Late last year, Mr. Stern, 45, opened the first East Coast office of the Beverly Hills, Calif., public relations firm Media Resource Group. Located in Washington, the office is serving the entire Baltimore-Washington region until he can open a second office in Baltimore early next year, he said.

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.

Passenger traffic at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport rose in April, setting a record, airport officials said Thursday. Some 1.9 million passengers flew from or to BWI, setting an all-time record for the month with a 3.1 percent increase over April 2010. It was the 14th straight month that the number of passengers has increased on a year-over-year basis. Traffic has increased 22 out of the past 23 months, with the exception of February 2010 when snow blizzards hit the region.

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.

Aaron "Henry" Otto, a local television producer and syndicator for more than 30 years, died of melanoma Thursday at Gilchrist Center for Hospice Care. The longtime Baltimore resident was 91. Born in Hegins, Pa., to vegetable farmers, Mr. Otto graduated from Hegins Township High School in 1933 and became the first member of his family to graduate from college when he received a bachelor's degree in political science and history in 1939. While attending Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pa., Mr. Otto was a varsity wrestler and football player, and sang in a quartet and trio.

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.

On a partly cloudy morning this month, the only thing moving on Haysfield Airport's 2,400-foot grass runway is David Bassler's riding lawn mower. Bassler, whose parents own the Clarksville airport and the bucolic 420-acre farm on which it sits, could spend all day mowing and not see more than one plane take off. Nearly two years after terrorists attacked the Pentagon, security-related flight restrictions over the Baltimore-Washington region have driven...

Passenger traffic at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport rose in April, setting a record, airport officials said Thursday. Some 1.9 million passengers flew from or to BWI, setting an all-time record for the month with a 3.1 percent increase over April 2010. It was the 14th straight month that the number of passengers has increased on a year-over-year basis. Traffic has increased 22 out of the past 23 months, with the exception of February 2010 when snow blizzards hit the region.

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.

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.