Contract

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.

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 Washington Capitals have signed center David Steckel to a three-year, $3.3 million contract extension and defenseman-forward Tyler Sloan to a two-year, $1.4 million extension. The Capitals also assigned defenseman Karl Alzner to American Hockey League affiliate Hershey. Steckel leads the NHL with a .619 winning percentage on faceoffs. Boxing: Darnell "The Ding-a-Ling Man" Wilson , "The Persecutor" Mike Paschall , Willie Wilson and Thomas Snow will be on the Ballroom Boxing card Jan. 29 at Michaels Eighth Avenue in Glen Burnie.

The Ravens' blockbuster $120.6 million contract with quarterback Joe Flacco is an arrangement banking on his future potential and not just how he engineered a Super Bowl victory. Because Flacco is entering the prime of his career at 28 years old, the New Jersey native is now expected to maintain the Ravens' competitiveness. The structure of his deal, which has been agreed to in principle and not signed, reflects that hope as it would make him the highest-paid player in the game.

Baltimore teachers rejected a contract Thursday that would have provided six-figure salaries for an elite corps but would have tied the pay of all educators to how they perform in the classroom, a vague provision that caused discomfort for many union members. More than 2,000 educators represented by the Baltimore Teachers Union voted on the tentative agreement, which had been hailed as the most innovative in the nation since its details emerged two weeks ago. However, it proved to be one of the most contentious ever in Baltimore, with its overhaul of how teachers are compensated, promoted and evaluated.

Baltimore Teachers Union and school system leaders have officially signed the recently ratified teachers union contract, kicking into high gear months of planning and implementation of the landmark pact. The signing came after the city school board voted to unanimously in a special meeting Wednesday night to approve the contract, which overhauls the way teachers are compensated and promoted in the district. School and union officials will begin meeting immediately to appoint committees that will oversee the implementation of the contract, and plan to announce those appointments in January.

The Maryland Board of Public Works approved a $72 million contract Wednesday to purchase six new helicopters — larger and faster than those the state police now fly — to begin the replacement of the state's emergency medical fleet. The three-member board unanimously ratified the contract with Agusta Aerospace Corp. of Philadelphia, the only company among four manufacturers that submitted a final bid. The contract includes an option for the state to acquire up to six more AW139 helicopters at the same price of $11.7 million each, plus an inflation adjustment.

The state employee who mistakenly included me on an email this week in which she advised a spokeswoman to “refrain from discussing [the delayed Grand Prix contract] with the Sun,” has responded to my request for clarification. Assistant Attorney General Cynthia Hahn, who represents the Maryland Stadium Authority, wrote in an email that she was not asking the spokeswoman to “conceal” information, but wished to prevent her from speaking to me until “complete and accurate information” could be obtained.

TransCare Corp. is warning state regulators that it will lay off 55 employees in Baltimore at the end of August as a state transit contract expires. The Aug. 31 expiration of a Maryland Transit Administration contract to provide transportation for Marylanders with disabilities or other physical challenges will affect workers at TransCare's Desoto Road facility in Southwest Baltimore. Brian Nevin, general manager for TransCare's Maryland division, said the company hopes to win another contract for that work and recall employees.

Like Ravens running back Ray Rice , Joe Flacco is waiting for some good news regarding a long-term deal with the franchise. And like Rice, the quarterback doesn't have any details on the negotiations. For his part, Flacco - who has one year remaining on the rookie contract that he signed in 2008 - remains unfazed about his future. "I'm not worried about it at all," Flacco said at Lardarius Webb 's charity softball game at Ripken Stadium in Aberdeen on Sunday.