Car Business

Maybe you've heard these phrases before: "If you have a phone, you have an attorney. " "You're making a big mistake. " "Nobody bothers me. " "Jack says 'Yes.'" For better or worse, these are the catchphrases of Baltimore advertising, lines delivered incessantly by TV pitchmen who, not coincidentally, own the businesses they're pitching. They're not actors, and they might not have the greatest voices in the world. But they certainly are one thing: everywhere.

William Binko, former owner of a Florida auto dealership who got his start in Baltimore, died after a heart operation Feb. 11 at the Miami Heart Institute. He was 66.Mr. Binko of Plantation, Fla., was born in Baltimore. He attended Sacred Heart of Jesus parochial school and Mount St. Joseph High School before graduating from the University of Baltimore and earning his certification as a public accountant.Mr. Binko got his start in the car business in 1947 when he became manager of a Pulaski Highway auto dealership owned by Worden Young.

A Glen Burnie man was arrested yesterday on charges that he fatally shot an acquaintance, nearly a year after Anne Arundel County police first questioned him in the killing. Todd Alan Poorman, 27, was indicted Friday by an Anne Arundel County grand jury in the Nov. 4, 2005, death of Michael Leo Rousseaux, 28, of Severna Park, Anne Arundel County prosecutors said. He is expected to have a bail hearing today if he does not post $50,000 before that. Rousseaux's mother, Sheila Rousseaux, said she was concerned for the safety of her family, as well as for Poorman, if he is freed.

Dunbar Armored has been in the armored-car business for nearly 90 years. But the Hunt Valley-based company now is branching into a new way to protect banks' and businesses' money and valuables: cybersecurity. The company is launching a subsidiary, Dunbar Digital Armored, early next year to tap into the growing need to protect online transactions for its thousands of bank and retail customers. Dunbar will focus its cybersecurity products on small and mid-size companies that are looking for tech-savvy solutions but don't have the deep pockets or cybersecurity expertise of the big banks.

Bringing the tastes of the mid-Atlantic to New York, Pikesville native Andrew Silverman has established an empire of restaurants with a philosophy -- inexpensive, quality food in a casual atmosphere -- that folks from around here can appreciate."

"Every piece of currency in your billfold, every coin in your pocket, spent at least part of its life in an armored car before it got to you. And that's not the half of it. The ATM and credit cards you carry, gemstones and precious metals in your jewelry, bonds and stock certificates underlying your investments ... disputed election ballots, famous works of art, rare manuscripts ... collectibles of every sort ... all, at one time or another, have found...

The owner of a now-defunct used-car business in Baltimore was sentenced yesterday to nearly 11 years in prison for distributing cocaine and funneling more than $1.7 million in drug sales through his business on Reisterstown Road, according to the Maryland U.S. attorney's office. Harrington Campbell, 34, of Jamaica was found guilty after a weeklong trial in U.S. District Court in Baltimore on charges of drug distribution and money laundering, federal prosecutors said. Authorities said he will be deported after he serves his sentence.

Anderson Automotive Group has taken another step in building an automotive mall in Baltimore.The company acquired Luby Chevrolet and Geo, a 42-year-old franchise on East Monument Street, and has moved it to its cluster of dealerships at Howard and 25th streets. The acquisition, which was completed earlier this week, also includes Luby Honda."We're trying to be a Baltimore auto park or an auto mall," said Bruce R. Mortimer, president of Anderson, a business that already included Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Buick, Volkswagen and GMC Trucks.

I am sitting in the solarium of Scott Donahoo's baronial Cockeysville home, staring up at a moose head that looks like something Sarah Palin brought down on her vacation. The house is stunning, all glass and stone and burnished wood overlooking Loch Raven Reservoir. "Twelve-thousand square feet of sheer maintenance" is how Donahoo, the celebrity car dealer, describes it. It even has a name: Hidden Waters. His summer home in Pasadena has a name, too: The Point. "That's what happens when you become a rich [expletive]

Sensitivity toward those he's coaching, respect for their abilities and an almost Einstein-like understanding of his playful subject matter -- shooting a basketball -- have made Buzz Braman a one-of-a-kind instructor, in a class by himself.He's known as the "shot doctor," a specialist in counseling a pro player on how best to utilize his potential in putting a ball through the hoop or helping find his way out of a slump. And, from another aspect, he provides the same service for children attempting to develop their own feel in delivering a shot.