Chain

Is anyone in Anne Arundel County -- or anywhere -- missing a goat? A female in very poor condition that's being called Tuscany was found wandering near Linthicum on Thursday and county officials are trying to find out who she belongs to and how she got there. Animal Control responded to a call on Friday after an 11-year-old found Tuscany on River Road in northern Linthicum. The goat had a chain weighing more than 23 pounds hanging from her neck. Though the chain wasn't tight, it was so heavy that it had become embedded in the goat's neck.

Four Hereford High School students who attend Gunpowder Baptist Church in Freeland are collecting loose change to benefit a nonprofit group. Kelsey Anderson, Kendra Herbenar, Christie Ivey and Sandra Schenning are participating in a project called "Loose Change to Loosen Chains. " International Justice Mission, a human rights agency that hopes to combat modern day slavery, sponsors the project. The girls have placed collection cups in these Hereford locations: Hereford Pharmacy, 7-11, White Stone Cleaners and Mt. Carmel Pharmacy.

A drunken driver crashes into another vehicle. The drunk is injured. The other driver is hurt - maybe even killed. So the drunk gets rushed to the hospital. A police investigator, trained in the handling of evidence in such cases, goes there, too, hoping to collect the blood samples that could convict the perpetrator of driving under the influence or even more serious charges. But once in the emergency room, the investigator is told it is hospital policy not to allow its medical personnel to help collect such evidence because they could be hauled into court and diverted from patient care.

Boscov's department store will return to White Marsh Mall Oct. 7, filling the empty anchor spot the regional chain vacated nearly four years ago after it filed for bankruptcy. "I'm glad we are returning to White Marsh Mall," Albert Boscov, the retailer's chairman and CEO and son of the founder, said in a statement. "It was a great store, and we look forward to creating a new, more exciting Boscov's in the Baltimore area. " The family-owned chain, based in Reading, Pa., once had half a dozen department stores in Maryland.

Marylanders do not live by crabs alone. In fact, when it comes to eating, we can pack it away with the best of them, according to some national restaurateurs. The Chili's restaurant on Baltimore's Northern Parkway is among the top 10 in sales volume in the 260-unit chain; a smaller Chili's in Bel Air is in the top 25. Chi-Chi's in Timonium is fourth in sales in the 223-unit chain. And the Red Lobster that opened in White Marsh two months ago has been feeding 10,000 people a week!Evening Sun staff writer Michael Dresser recent described how the Baltimore region -- awash in two-income households, but starved for time in food preparation -- has become increasingly attractive to chain restaurants, from Sfuzzi and Ruth's Chris Steak House in the city, to the Silver Diner in Towson, to others beyond the beltway.

For years, Ames Department Stores was a well-run smaller, then medium-sized, discount department store chain, growing moderately but consistently and with profits edging higher every year. It was a business managed by the three Gelman brothers who created the company and nurtured it and would be horrified by its current bankruptcy.Ames' merchandising philosophy had been to operate stores in smaller communities -- their outlets dotted the Eastern Shore, for example, in towns like Salisbury, Pocomoke City and Chestertown -- and thus be a big fish in a small pond, simultaneously avoiding the competition-intensive cities.

NEW YORK -- Walgreen Co., the largest U.S. drugstore chain, agreed yesterday to buy Happy Harry's Inc. drugstore chain, its biggest purchase ever, to expand into Delaware. Walgreen is acquiring all 76 Happy Harry's stores in Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey, and Happy Harry's corporate office and distribution center in Newark, Del., the retailer said. Financial terms weren't disclosed. Walgreen, which operates 5,251 stores in 45 states and Puerto Rico, typically grows by building stores instead of through acquisitions as has rival CVS Corp.

Thanks to Ernesto I had the ultimate chain saw experience last weekend. I got to tote a big chain saw, a Makita with a blade about 20 inches long. I sported goggles and thick gloves, and for a time I had the chain saw-guy walk going. The best part of the experience was I did not have to turn on the chain saw. That meant I did not have to worry about severing my limbs or chain saw kickback or the many other hazards associated with applying a whirring blade to trees. After taking a long look at the huge trees, 60-foot-tall loblolly pines, that the storm had sent crashing down on the driveway of our place in Chincoteague on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, I realized I was out of my league.

The final chapter in the Chicken George fast-food chain saga appears to have been written by its president, Meldon S. Hollis Jr., who has moved to dissolve the business under Chapter 7 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.The filing for Chicken George of Maryland Inc. was made Tuesday by Mr. Hollis, a lawyer and a former city school board president.A secretary at Mr. Hollis' Baltimore law office said that the attorney was in Washington yesterday afternoon and unavailable for comment.Mr. Hollis took control of the chain in January 1989, purchasing it from Jerry Hill, a Baltimore businessman.

THE CHAIN SAW WAS humming, the wood chips were flying and I was loving life. There was a time when I believed I was a deeper person than this. I once thought happiness would wash over me as I contemplated the inner beauty of the universe. Maybe in my next life. But I am here to tell you that last weekend, when my chattering chain saw went to work, my endorphins were flowing. Say what you will about the destructive effects of Isabel, and they were numerous, the storm did create many chain-saw moments, times when a man and his saw had free rein to clean out life's underbrush.

The kerfuffle over the proposed wine store in Wegmans' newest location in Columbia heralds the next looming battle in consumers' fight to modernize Maryland's alcohol policy. The recent Howard County liquor board hearing demonstrated the intensity of both sides' arguments. The local retailers, backed by the alcohol distributors, fear increased competition — while consumer groups clamor for greater convenience and selection, and lower prices. The alcohol industry in Maryland has traditionally dictated its own regulations.

Pictured in a tall glass with ice cream poking above the rim and foam overflowing, the Irish Float looked obscenely tantalizing. It stood out from the mosaic of golden fries and fluffed up burgers in the menu of the new Greene Turtle at McHenry Row. A combination of Guinness and Bacardi rum, it suggested one of the alcoholic shakes at Abbey Burger Bistro. Those aren't cocktails. They are unapologetic guilty pleasures, both potent and decadent. But what I got at the Greene Turtle last week turned out to be little more than an alcoholic Shamrock Shake.

A Hungarian man who blackmailed a U.S. hotel chain into giving him a job was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison, federal prosecutors said Wednesday. Attila Nemeth, 26, was also sentenced to serve three years of supervised release following his time in prison, according to a statement by Maryland's U.S. Attorney's Office. Nemeth pleaded guilty in November to hacking the computer system of Marriott International Corp. and threatening to release the company's proprietary information unless the chain gave him a job maintaining the company's computer system.

North Baltimore is losing the grocery store that replaced a Superfresh only seven months ago. The Fresh & Green's supermarket on 41 s t Street in the Hampden neighborhood will be acquired by Giant Foods. Giant will close its store in the nearby Rotunda shopping center and move to the 41 s t St. site, Giant announced Friday. The Fresh & Green's store on Harford Road in Parkville will also be acquired by Giant, the company said in a news release. Giant will acquire both Fresh & Green's stores from Mrs. Green's Management Corp.

State employees, retirees and their dependents could no longer fill their prescriptions at Walgreens under a contract being considered by Maryland's Board of Public Works. The panel agreed Wednesday to defer action on the $2.4 billion five-year contract after Comptroller Peter Franchot protested that the O'Malley administration did not provide notice of its intent to award the pact until Friday. Despite state budget department concerns about the delay, Gov. Martin O'Malley and Treasurer Nancy K. Kopp agreed to give Franchot two weeks to review the proposed deal before the three-member board takes a vote.

Is anyone in Anne Arundel County -- or anywhere -- missing a goat? A female in very poor condition that's being called Tuscany was found wandering near Linthicum on Thursday and county officials are trying to find out who she belongs to and how she got there. Animal Control responded to a call on Friday after an 11-year-old found Tuscany on River Road in northern Linthicum. The goat had a chain weighing more than 23 pounds hanging from her neck. Though the chain wasn't tight, it was so heavy that it had become embedded in the goat's neck.

Here's a happy ending to a bankruptcy story.Catonsville-based Stansbury Stereo and Video Centers, which filed for Chapter 11 protection from its creditors under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in mid-October, has been acquired by Bryn Mawr Stereo, an audio-video chain based in suburban Philadelphia, Bryn Mawr Vice President Richard Glikes said yesterday.The deal cost the 18-store Bryn Mawr chain about $300,000, he said.Stansbury will keep its four retail outlets in Catonsville, Timonium, Perry Hall and Dundalk and its service center.

Mars Super Markets Inc., a chain with 15 stores, mostly in eastern Baltimore County, has announced plans to open a store in Arbutus within a year. The chain also is looking to expand in Harford and Howard counties.The Baltimore-based chain signed a lease for 38,000 square feet anchoring Arbutus Plaza at Maiden Choice Lane and Westland Boulevard, Christopher D'Anna, executive vice president, said yesterday.The vacant space is being remodeled as part of a refurbishing of the center, he said.

The union that represents 17,000 workers at the region's two largest supermarket chains is embracing the "occupy" movement as it begins contract talks Wednesday. Anticipating difficult bargaining with Safeway and Giant Foods, the union has launched a website, occupygiantandsafeway.org, to build public support for its cause. The contract expires March 31. Tom McNutt, president of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 400, said in a speech to union organizers last week that employees have worked hard over the last three decades to make the grocery chains highly profitable — while, he said, top executives are "making the Sheriff of Nottingham look like a saint.

I was upset to read about the pressure on big retailers to open on Christmas day. Christmas and Thanksgiving are precious days that have great significance in our society. As a religiously observant Jew, I do not negotiate on my time off for our holidays and Sabbath. I make a personal decision every day to honor the laws and traditions that were passed down to me and would never ever consider compromising that. I understand implicitly the importance tradition and custom has on society.