NEWS
Erica L. Green | April 29, 2013
The state agency charged with overseeing Maryland's public school construction projects was found to have lacked proper monitoring of contracts, projects and maintenance inspections, according to a legislative audit. The audit, released Friday, examined the fiscal and managerial operations of the Interagency Committee on School Construction (IAC) primarily in fiscal year 2011, when the agency approved 355 district-level contracts totaling $566 million - $249 million of which was state funding.
NEWS
By Scott Calvert and Luke Broadwater, The Baltimore Sun | April 24, 2013
Baltimore officials are refusing to pay the city's former speed and red-light camera operator $2 million for its final three months of work, a period that preceded the troubled start for the new contractor in January. The city stopped issuing tickets from the cameras for weeks because of the rocky transition from the old vendor, Xerox State and Local Solutions, to Brekford Corp. Xerox says it's owed money for services provided in October, November and December, according to Solicitor George Nilson, the city's chief lawyer.
NEWS
By Erica L. Green, The Baltimore Sun | April 23, 2013
Following a two-month impasse, the Baltimore City school board voted Tuesday to extend a one-year contract to the operators of Baltimore Talent Development High School. The school board voted unanimously, with one recusal, to allow the Center for Social Organization of Schools at the Johns Hopkins University to operate the school for one more year, during which the district will monitor its progress. In January, after a months-long review of more than two dozen schools with external operators, city schools CEO Andres Alonso recommended severing ties with the school's operator at the end of the school year and slating the school for closure in 2014.
SPORTS
By Aaron Wilson and Jeff Zrebiec and The Baltimore Sun | April 16, 2013
The Ravens have finalized a one-year contract with veteran quarterback Caleb Hanie, according to a league source. Hanie is in Baltimore today and will immediately join the Ravens' offseason conditioning program. The Ravens later announced the deal. In Hanie, the Ravens have added another quarterback for training camp and provided Tyrod Taylor with competition for the backup job. "He's a talented guy," Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. "He's played in games and maybe hasn't been in the ideal situation for him yet. Based on the evaluation of our pro personnel department and our coaches, they felt like he fit us pretty well.
BUSINESS
By Jamie Smith Hopkins, The Baltimore Sun | April 15, 2013
As federal agencies pull back on spending, 7Delta's strategy is thinking big. The Columbia information technology firm, which grew by focusing on work for one federal agency, is going after larger contracts and broadening its reach. It's a diversification tactic that other federal contractors at the smaller end of the scale are trying, too: expansion in a time of retrenchment. Deltek, a Virginia IT firm that provides services to government contractors and other businesses, is seeing that trend - but warns that it cuts both ways.
FEATURES
By Olivia Hubert-Allen, The Baltimore Sun | April 12, 2013
I've always liked to get work done in short, aggressive bursts. From term papers in high school to cleaning the apartment last Saturday - I'll wait, wait, wait and then with head down and eyes narrowed, blitz all that needs to get done in one fell swoop. When moving to Baltimore, Sam and I looked at 15 apartments in two days. We were practically delirious when we signed our current lease, so I count us fortunate to have made a good choice. Shopping for a wedding venue was not much different: one Saturday, four locations.