Bouchard

Give Jean-Francois Bouchard credit for guts.The managing director of the large Burgundy shipping firm Bouchard Pere & Fils breezed into Baltimore this month with a boatload of Burgundy -- not just his own but those of his fellow producers.He was ready to take on all comers in a blind tasting, and the rivals he chose were no mere sparring partners. They were the heavyweights of Burgundy -- renowned small producers such as Armand Girardin and Henri Jayer, highly respected fellow shippers such as Louis Jadot and Joseph Drouhin and even the Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, the region's most famous estate.

Dr. Richard J. Bouchard, a retired cardiologist who played an instrumental role in the establishment of the cardiac catheterization laboratory at St. Agnes Hospital, died Saturday from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma at Stella Maris Hospice. The longtime Timonium resident was 89. The son of a railroad conductor and a homemaker, Richard Joseph Bouchard was born and raised in Ogdenburg, N.Y., where he graduated in 1946 from St. Mary's High School. "His main interest was heart catheterization, and he was very good at it. His patients loved him and he was an extremely honorable man," said Dr. Ronald H. Gillilan, a semiretired cardiologist and director of the cardiac rehabilitation program at St. Agnes Hospital.

Russian steelmaker OAO Severstal emerged yesterday as the apparent winner in a takeover fight for West Virginia-based Esmark Inc., agreeing to buy the steelmaker for $775 million plus debt in a deal that could boost production at Sparrows Point. The deal comes just seven weeks after Severstal completed its purchase of the Baltimore County steel mill from ArcelorMittal for $810 million, with promises to invest $500 million to boost output to full capacity. Yesterday a Severstal spokesman said that with the acquisition, Sparrows Point would supply semi-finished steel slabs to Esmark's struggling Wheeling-Pittsburgh steel plant.

Maryland football Meggett, O'Brien named to award lists Running back Davin Meggett has been named to the Doak Walker Award watch list, given to the top running back in college football, and quarterback Danny O'Brien is on the watch list for the Davey O'Brien Award, which honors the nation's top quarterback. Meggett, a senior, rushed for a career-best 720 yards in 2010. The Surrattsville native ranks 20th in Maryland history for career rushing yards (1,515)

Under ArcelorMittal's ownership, the Sparrows Point steel mill was put in constant competition with the company's other global plants to prove itself the lowest-cost producer. At times, it lost, resulting in production cutbacks and temporary furloughs for hundreds of workers in periods of slow demand. But when its new owners take over next month, the Baltimore County mill will move to first in the corporate lineup, Craig Bouchard, who will head the company, told employees yesterday. Once the deal closes, the mill will take on the name Maryland Steel Sparrows Point, he disclosed yesterday.

MONTREAL - Quebec Premier Lucien Bouchard, the passionate champion of Quebec independence for the past decade, resigned yesterday in a surprise move that left the separatist movement in tatters and transformed the political dynamics of the nation. In an emotional address from Quebec City, he cited love for his American wife - who desperately wants him out of public life - and remorse for his inability to gain independence from Canada as the main reasons for his resignation. But he also lashed out at separatist hard-liners, whose obsessions with French ethnic purity have given Quebec a reputation as racist and anti-Semitic.

On February 6, 2004, NANCY A. (nee Quinn) WARD; beloved wife of the late Edwin Craig Ward; devoted mother of Michael E. Ward and Mary Elizabeth Smith; dear grandmother of Sean and Brian Smith, Kelly Hutton, Craig, Owen, and Ryan Ward, and Erin Bouchard; dear great grandmother of Emma Bouchard. She is also survived by nieces and nephews. Friends may call at the family owned MITCHELL-WIEDEFELD Funeral Home, INC., 6500 York Rd., (at Overbrook), on Tuesday, 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 PM. Funeral Mass will be held on Wednesday, at 10 AM, at the St. Jude Shrine.

The local that represents workers at Sparrows Point is questioning the sale of the plant to an investment group led by Chicago-based Esmark Inc. United Steelworkers Local 9477 President John Cirri said yesterday that he sent a formal letter to the international union body - which had petitioned the Justice Department on Esmark's behalf to approve the deal - asking it to reconsider its support of the sale. Esmark and a group of investors and suppliers formed E2 Acquisition Corp. to purchase Sparrows Point from Mittal Steel Co. NV, of the Netherlands.

THE NEED for Jean Charest to quit leading the federal Conservatives in Canada's parliament to join the provincial Liberals in Quebec's National Assembly, illustrates Canada's fragility.Imagine that Sen. Trent Lott or Rep. Newt Gingrich quit leading Republicans in Congress to run for governor of Texas as a Democrat and was the only hope of preventing the state's secession. That is roughly what Mr. Charest is doing.Though only 39, he was already engaged in saving Canada. After the formerly ruling Conservatives were virtually wiped out of the federal parliament in 1993, leaving the Liberals in power and the opposition split between parties that would tear the country apart, the young former cabinet minister took over and began the Conservatives' revival.

Six days into the trial of three Dundalk men for their roles in what has been described as a "gay-bashing" incident, a fourth suspect was arrested yesterday as he stood outside a Baltimore courtroom.Jeffrey Bouchard, 23, was apprehended in the hallway of the Courthouse East building of Baltimore Circuit Court.After appearing in court for the start of the defense phase of the trial, Mr. Bouchard was promptly identified by witnesses as the fourth man said to have instigated a March 27, 1992, melee outside of Numbers, a Canton bar that served a predominantly gay clientele, police said.

Russian steelmaker OAO Severstal emerged yesterday as the apparent winner in a takeover fight for West Virginia-based Esmark Inc., agreeing to buy the steelmaker for $775 million plus debt in a deal that could boost production at Sparrows Point. The deal comes just seven weeks after Severstal completed its purchase of the Baltimore County steel mill from ArcelorMittal for $810 million, with promises to invest $500 million to boost output to full capacity. Yesterday a Severstal spokesman said that with the acquisition, Sparrows Point would supply semi-finished steel slabs to Esmark's struggling Wheeling-Pittsburgh steel plant.

The demise of a deal to sell the Sparrows Point steel plant is another disappointment for employees, whom suited financiers have jerked around for years. But it's worse for Esmark Inc. and Chicago's Bouchard brothers, who badly need the Point to subsidize their hemorrhaging Wheeling-Pittsburgh mills with cheap slabs. Esmark, however, would have owned only 2 percent of the company, we learned this week. So the people who wanted the deal most came to the table with the least. You needn't be a Goldman Sachs partner to understand that, two weeks after the U.S. Treasury secretary acknowledged "turmoil" in the credit markets, 2 percent down is not a great way to get a deal done.

The sale of Sparrows Point is facing a Tuesday deadline -- the latest hurdle in the effort to complete the $1.35 billion deal. Owner Mittal Steel Co. NV of the Netherlands was unable to meet a Nov. 30 target to sell the Baltimore County plant to global investment group E2 Acquisition Corp., which is led by Esmark Inc., of Chicago Heights, Ill. The Justice Department ordered Mittal to sell Sparrows Point as part of a consent decree resolving antitrust issues arising from its merger with Arcelor SA of Luxembourg, creating the world's largest steelmaker.

The local that represents workers at Sparrows Point is questioning the sale of the plant to an investment group led by Chicago-based Esmark Inc. United Steelworkers Local 9477 President John Cirri said yesterday that he sent a formal letter to the international union body - which had petitioned the Justice Department on Esmark's behalf to approve the deal - asking it to reconsider its support of the sale. Esmark and a group of investors and suppliers formed E2 Acquisition Corp. to purchase Sparrows Point from Mittal Steel Co. NV, of the Netherlands.

The sale of the Sparrows Point steel mill won't close before the end of the month at the earliest, according to the head of the joint venture slated to take over the Baltimore County complex. Craig T. Bouchard, chief executive of the investment group E2 Acquisition Corp., said yesterday that E2's $1.35 billion deal to buy Sparrows Point from Mittal Steel Co. NV, of the Netherlands, remains on track but is taking longer than expected because it is complex. The joint venture is led by Chicago-based Esmark Inc., a metals distributor turned steelmaker.

Under ArcelorMittal's ownership, the Sparrows Point steel mill was put in constant competition with the company's other global plants to prove itself the lowest-cost producer. At times, it lost, resulting in production cutbacks and temporary furloughs for hundreds of workers in periods of slow demand. But when its new owners take over next month, the Baltimore County mill will move to first in the corporate lineup, Craig Bouchard, who will head the company, told employees yesterday. Once the deal closes, the mill will take on the name Maryland Steel Sparrows Point, he disclosed yesterday.

Cambridge Biotech Corp. laid off 25 workers in Rockville yesterday and said more layoffs were expected as the company moves most of its manufacturing to Ireland and Massachusetts.In all, the company's work force in Rockville is expected to be reduced by more than 80 people, Cambridge Biotech said. Until yesterday, 130 people were employed there."The facility will be basically shut down or have a much smaller staff a year from now," said Gary Bouchard, treasurer of the Worcester, Mass.-based company, which makes diagnostic tests for infectious diseases and supplies drug companies with an agent that improves the productivity of vaccines.

The prospective owner of Sparrows Point steel mill told workers yesterday that he plans to run the Baltimore County plant at full capacity and invest in new facilities, which could lead to more jobs and construction on the 3,000-acre site. Craig Bouchard, who heads the global investment group that is buying the plant, said future projects could include developing an iron ore processing plant and building a new coal-fired power plant. Excess power from the power plant could be sold into the regional power grid, generating profits and helping to alleviate the region's growing power shortage.

As a fifth-grader, James P. Bouchard went on a tour of the Inland Steel mill with his father, an executive at the Chicago plant, and from then on knew what he wanted to do with his life. "My father was my hero and my idol," Bouchard, 45, said yesterday. "I did my first science report on the Inland Steel company." His brother, Craig T. Bouchard, 53, watched as their father, Robert C. Bouchard, became one of only three Inland employees to rise from mailroom clerk to executive. His father was quoted in a 1963 trade magazine as saying the key to success is being "out to win" every time - even when he played his sons at chess, checkers or pingpong.