Contract

The woman who says she represents North American Power is not telling the truth about the benefits of buying electricity from her company. "You can save up to 10, 15, 20 percent of your bill, depending on your usage," she says in a telemarketing call to my house. But the rate she eventually quotes is only about 7 percent less than the standard price offered by Baltimore Gas & Electric — something the average customer would have no way of knowing. And of course the percentage savings won't vary even if my "usage" goes up to that of a steel mill.

Joe Flacco took a couple of steps to his right, spotted Ed Dickson about 10 yards down the field and lofted a pass between two defenders that the young tight end hauled in. After Dickson was touched down and the Ravens' offense retreated back to the line of scrimmage, Flacco yelled out a play that ended with his other primary tight end, Dennis Pitta, making a catch along the left sideline. Flacco wore a red jersey, black gym shorts and no shoulder pads, and his notoriously calm demeanor, which earned him the nickname "Joe Cool," was even more casual than usual.

Sometimes the small things make all the difference in professional wrestling. Too often, critics -- especially those on the Internet -- nitpick every decision WWE makes and find the logical or creative flaws. Many times, this creates an unnecessary sense or allegation of failure. But on tonight's Raw, WWE (or, more specifically, general manager John Laurinaitis) made a mistake that is almost unforgivable. While I personally wasn't offended by Sunday's match between John Cena and Laurinaitis at Over the Limit , many people have lashed out against the match.

A Circuit Court judge has ruled against a contractor who claimed Baltimore County owed the company $1.4 million in a dispute over construction of the County Detention Center. Judge Judith C. Ensor rejected the appeal from George Moehrle Masonry Inc., a company based in Frederick, and affirmed the decision of a county hearing officer, who had awarded the company $72,603. According to a statement from the county, Moehrle had a $3 million contract for work to be performed in 2004 and 2005.

One of the country's largest national prepaid cell phone carriers is making free phones and 64 minutes of monthly air time available to nearly 400,000 low-income Maryland residents under a new effort it brought to the state this week. TracFone Wireless Inc., which has 10 million customers nationwide for its prepaid cell phone plans, can offer the free service because it obtains a $10-per-customer subsidy through a federal program whose goal is to improve land-line and wireless phone access, a company spokesman said Wednesday.

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.

The Orioles are purchasing the contract of utility man Bill Hall from Triple-A Norfolk, an industry source has confirmed. Hall will report to Baltimore on today and will be available for tonight's Orioles' game against the Rays at Camden Yards, the source said. Signed to a minor-league contract on April 23, Hall became a free-agent  when he didn't make the Yankees' 25-man roster this spring. In 15 games at Norfolk, Hall put up a .222/.269/.381 line with four doubles, two homers and seven RBI. Hall has had success against left-handed pitching at Norfolk, hitting .444 (8-for-18)

Prestige Maintenance warned state regulators Friday that it will lay off 54 janitors over the next several months because its contract to provide cleaning services to Target stores across the state has ended. Texas-based Prestige said Target's new vendor would begin to provide services next week in some stores, with a full transition by October, according to its layoff-warning notice to the state Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. Prestige did not return a message seeking comment.

The Houston Texans have reportedly agreed to a contract extension with running back Arian Foster, a deal that will surely be discussed in the ongoing contract negotiations between the Ravens and running back Ray Rice. Both are 25, Pro Bowl players and key offensive contributors on teams that won their divisions in 2011. According to ESPN, Foster's new five-year deal is worth $43.5 million with $20.75 million guaranteed . ESPN is reporting that Foster will make $18 million during the 2012 season and $30 million in first three years of deal.

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.

For the next three weeks, the Ravens will have three-day, organized team activities that will undoubtedly attract many of the team's veteran players along with the rookie class. Ray Rice, the Ravens' star running back who has stayed away from the team's facility this offseason as his agent attempts to secure a contract extension for him, is not expected to be there, but that should not be taken as a sign that the negotiations are going poorly. While no deal is imminent and there remains plenty of work to do, there has been some progress in the contract talks in recent weeks between Rice's agent, Todd France, and the Ravens, according to sources familiar with the talks.

When it was announced that yet another group would be taking on management of the Baltimore Grand Prix, one of the company's funders stepped into the spotlight. Columbia-based financier J.P. Grant III has stayed out of the public eye since the storm of a no-bid city schools contract blew over in 2000. But all the while, his company Grant Capital Management was accumulating city contracts. In 2003, the city granted his company a "master lease," an agreement that speeds up the contracting process, but also made it more difficult for The Sun to track.

Tickets for the second Baltimore Grand Prix should be on sale by the end of the month, the latest group to organize the race announced Wednesday. Race On, a team led by two local investors that has partnered with racing champ Michael Andretti's sports marketing firm, also finalized sanctioning agreements with the IndyCar Series and American Le Mans Series for the Labor Day weekend festival, organizers said Wednesday. Investors J.P. Grant III, president of Grant Capital Management, and Greg O'Neill, vice president of BMW Construction, spoke of their plans for the race at a news conference at the city-owned Hilton Baltimore hotel, hours after the city's spending board approved the contract with Race On. "I'm honored to take on this important opportunity in the city we both love," Grant said.

One hundred Baltimore city teachers have been labeled "model teachers" under the new Baltimore Teachers Union contract, the city school system announced last week, marking a milestone in the slow-paced implementation of the pact ratified in fall 2010. The teachers, who have undergone a grueling application process since last year, will receive a hefty pay increase of between $15,000 and $20,000 under the new contract, which is designed around pay-for-performance and a new career ladder.  The pinnacle of the career ladder is to become a "lead" teacher, and the contract stipulates that there will be only one in every school.

She says they go through the bureau of treasury management.  I don't understand why they would bypass the BOE though.    I'm in the comptroller's office.  They're saying they have no records pertaining to Grant Capital Management because those contracts do not go before the Board of Estimates. Ugh.  

It would be nice to think the true litmus test that determines whether the Orioles have really turned a competitive corner this season would be a bushelful of victories over the big-money Yankees and Red Sox. If only it were that simple. The real test is taking place behind the curtain, where owner Peter Angelos is undoubtedly enjoying his team's recent resurgence and deciding whether he's willing to double down on the two players who have a chance to be the cornerstones of a new era of Orioles baseball.

Joe Flacco took a couple of steps to his right, spotted Ed Dickson about 10 yards down the field and lofted a pass between two defenders that the young tight end hauled in. After Dickson was touched down and the Ravens' offense retreated back to the line of scrimmage, Flacco yelled out a play that ended with his other primary tight end, Dennis Pitta, making a catch along the left sideline. Flacco wore a red jersey, black gym shorts and no shoulder pads, and his notoriously calm demeanor, which earned him the nickname "Joe Cool," was even more casual than usual.

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.

The Army's next-generation carbine may come out of a Highlandtown machine shop best known for making high-volume bottling equipment for major drink makers. Adcor Industries Inc. learned this month that it was among a handful of weapons makers selected to compete to build a possible replacement for the M4, a rifle descended from the well-known M16 and that some soldiers have criticized as unreliable in the dry, dusty conditions in Iraq. Adcor, which employs about 80 people in its block-sized building on South Haven Street, will face some of the biggest names in global gun-making in a race to be the Army's small-arms weapon of choice in the 21st century.

The Orioles are purchasing the contract of utility man Bill Hall from Triple-A Norfolk, an industry source has confirmed. Hall will report to Baltimore on today and will be available for tonight's Orioles' game against the Rays at Camden Yards, the source said. Signed to a minor-league contract on April 23, Hall became a free-agent  when he didn't make the Yankees' 25-man roster this spring. In 15 games at Norfolk, Hall put up a .222/.269/.381 line with four doubles, two homers and seven RBI. Hall has had success against left-handed pitching at Norfolk, hitting .444 (8-for-18)