Contract

Jojo Girard, half of the popular morning duo Jojo and Reagan on Mix 106.5 FM, has been let go, he said Thursday. Girard confirmed to The Sun that he was told immediately after his show Thursday that his contract would not be renewed. Girard posted on Facebook: "have joined the ranks of the unemployed at least I'm not alone. " He then told The Sun, "They opted not to pick up my contract. " He declined to elaborate until he could speak to his attorney. Calls to the station's head of programming Dave Labrozzi were not immediately returned.

The Baltimore County school system has hired a local architecture firm to help document its long-term school facilities needs, following a similar strategy the city school system used to generate a $2.4 billion plan and secure some of that funding from the General Assembly. The county school board entered into a $500,000 contract with GWWO Inc./Architects last month to help take an inventory of the second-oldest school infrastructure in the state. The county's school buildings suffer from overcrowding and a lack of air conditioning, and its overall needs are estimated to be at least $1.7 billion.

Nearly a quarter century ago, Gary Stevens was an up-and-coming jockey in Southern California, hoping to make his mark on the sport, put a lot of money in the bank and move on to something else as quickly as possible. A conversation he had with one of horse racing's iconic riders still resonates with Stevens as he gets ready to ride Oxbow in Saturday's 138th Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course . Given where Stevens has been - including retirement for seven years - it seems almost humorous.

Aramark warned state regulators that it will lay off about 200 dining-service workers in Baltimore as a result of a lost contract, the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation said Tuesday. The 202-job cut will come when Aramark's educational services arm shuts down its location at the Johns Hopkins University on June 30, the company said in its warning notice. Aramark, based in Philadelphia, could not immediately be reached for comment. When dining-service contracts change from one company to another, the new contractor often hires many of the workers who had been employed by the previous provider.

The Navy has awarded a contract of up to $10 million to a Baltimore firm for architectural, engineering and other services at installations throughout the mid-Atlantic, the Defense Department announced Thursday. Mimar Architects Inc. beat 64 other bidders to win the agreement to perform work for the Naval Facilities Engineering Command including building construction and renovation work; facility planning; obtaining permits and regulatory approvals; and U.S. Green Building Council leadership in energy and environmental design.

Bill Bleich calls the teachers' signing stipend a "bribe" ("Reject the contract," Oct. 13) He teaches English and drama, but he does not know that a bribe is something given to induce a person to do wrong or commit a crime. He says merit pay will pressure teachers to be less supportive of each other and act in a more self-centered way and then immediately and inconsistently goes on to say teachers are more highly motivated than administrators and selflessly devote large amounts of time to student activities.

It's worth a shot Juan C. Rodriguez Sun Sentinel Should they try? Absolutely. Would they be successful? Probably not. Alex Rodriguez has been an on-field and off-field migraine for the Yankees. What remains on his contract - five years and $114 million - is a crippling figure for most franchises. If they were to somehow remove the Rodriguez albatross it won't be because he purchased banned substances. The Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program precludes teams from taking punitive action beyond penalties the Commissioner's Office imposes.

Baltimore City schools CEO Andrés Alonso may have one of the toughest jobs in Maryland – steering a big urban school system with a large proportion of disadvantaged minority youths back to health after years of inadequate funding and neglect. Nor is it a post known for long-term job security; having served three years at the helm, Mr. Alonso already has surpassed most of his recent predecessors in terms of longevity. At the same time, he has presided over a major reorganization of the system and overseen a steady rise in test scores.

The Ravens have decided to terminate the contract of Bobbie Williams, the team announced. Looking to find a steady replacement for departed left guard Ben Grubbs, the Ravens signed the veteran guard before the 2012 season. He made six starts and played in 12 games, but was a reserve during the playoffs.   Williams, who turned 36 in September, signed a two-year, $2.925 million contract last spring that included an $800,000 signing bonus. By terminating his contract, the Ravens will free up $800,000 in salary cap space.

Baltimore's spending board voted to approve a contract for Fire Chief James S. Clack Wednesday. Clack had requested the formal contract, a spokesman for Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said. He had worked without a contract since taking over the fire department in 2008. Clack was one of seven fire chiefs nominated recently by the The International Association of Fire Chiefs to head the U.S. Fire Administration, but he said he would most likely choose to stay in Baltimore. Under the contract, Clack will continue to earn $158,100, the salary he has been paid since he took over the city department following the retirement of former Chief William J. Goodwin Jr. Clack's contract is set to expire at the end of Rawlings-Blake's term next year, but he would be eligible to be reappointed.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The state plans to award a contract for up to $20.9 million as it prepares to expand a program that issues tickets to drivers caught on camera speeding in highway work zones. The equipment and management services award to ACS State & Local Solutions Inc. of Germantown, which holds the contract for the existing program, is scheduled to go to the Board of Public Works for approval next week. The contract would permit the state to expand the work zone enforcement program that was authorized by the General Assembly last year.

With a little more than two weeks to go before a contract extension between East Coast and Gulf dockworkers and port operators expires, the federal mediator said Thursday that progress is being made toward a long-term settlement. George Cohen, director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, said the International Longshoremen's Association representing 14,500 union members and United States Maritime Alliance, which represents 14 ports and shipping companies, met between Tuesday and Thursday, and have agreed "that the negotiations will continue under our auspices.

The city's Board of Estimates on Wednesday formally approved an overhaul of the city's speed cameras and the replacement of a police-towing company accused of overcharging customers. The panel voted 4-1 to approve a $2.2 million payment to Brekford Corp., the city's new speed camera vendor, for a purchase of 72 speed cameras. In January, the city's speed and red light camera system experienced a near-complete shutdown during what city officials called a problematic transition from previous contractor, Xerox State & Local Solutions.

Major League Soccer D.C. United renews contract with Comcast SportsNet D.C. United has reached a long-awaited - and long-term - agreement with Comcast SportsNet, but coverage will not begin until May 8 and no matches are currently on the outlet's schedule after Sept. 15. The three-year deal calls for at least 16matches annually. Every other U.S.-based Major League Soccer club, except Chivas USA, will have 21 or more games on local channels this season. More United: Captain Dwayne De Rosario will miss tonight's match at Sporting Kansas City with an adductor strain.