Deal

SEATTLE - Playing against the Orioles has to be viewed as just another game, Seattle Mariners infielder Robert Andino said before the teams' three-game series at Safeco Field kicked off. And then, Monday night, Andino went out and played a key role in beating his old team - hitting an RBI single to give the Mariners a lead they never lost and handling nine balls for outs while starting at second base in Seattle's 6-2 victory. Make no mistake: Andino, whom the Orioles traded to the Mariners this offseason for minor league outfielder Trayvon Robinson, wanted to remind his former organization what it gave up. But you'll never hear him say that.

The U.S. Coast Guard is investigating whether the body of a man that washed up against a homeowner's pier in southern Anne Arundel County on Thursday is that of a crew member who went missing from a commercial container ship late last year. Officials with the state's Department of Natural Resources Police alerted the Coast Guard of the body, which was found in Deale, about 7:40 p.m. Thursday, said Lt. Peter Francisco, a Coast Guard marine investigator. "Whenever there is a body recovered, that's cross-referenced against all missing people that the Coast Guard has searches for," Francisco said.

Venture capitalists poured $286.3 million into 30 deals in Maryland, Washington and Northern Virginia during the first quarter, compared with $219.7 million invested in 45 deals a year ago, according to the MoneyTree Report by PricewaterhouseCoopers. Much of the quarter's increase, though, was attributed to $110 million in venture funding for Washington-based LivingSocial Inc., a daily deal website. Unlike the country overall, the region that includes Maryland saw an increase in investment dollars from the fourth quarter, said Brad Phillips, director of PricewaterhouseCoopers' emerging company services.

Jefferson Bancorp Inc., parent of Lutherville-based Bay Bank, said Monday it had completed its acquisition of Carrollton Bancorp, the holding company of Columbia-based Carrollton Bank. The $25 million stock-cash deal included the repayment of $9.1 million from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, a federal program created more than four years ago to support banks during the financial crisis. The combined bank operations have total assets of about $480 million and a dozen branches. Under the merged operations, Carrollton's former 10 branches - from Anne Arundel County to Harford County - now bear the name of Bay Bank.

Editor: I write to support the City of Havre de Grace's attempt to purchase the 701 Concord Street (Gamatoria's) property.  As the President of the Friends of the Concord Point Lighthouse and representing its Board of Directors, I ask all Havre de Grace citizens to vote YES on this ballot question. There are many reasons for my support of this effort.  Number one it would be an additional treasure for tourism in our city.  It would greatly enhance the appearance and accessibility of the Concord Point Lighthouse property.  It would certainly be better for the city than anything a commercial developer would provide.

University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center will be able to recoup some of the tens of millions of dollars it lost while operating without a Medicare certification under a compromise reached with federal officials. The Towson hospital will be able to bill Medicare for treatment given to patients in the federal program since Jan. 7, about six weeks before it regained what is known as a Medicare provider agreement. St. Joseph had operated without one since the University of Maryland Medical System bought the hospital and chose not to renew its existing Medicare certification.

Towson sophomore attackman Cory Dobyns sat out the Saturday's 10-8 loss to No. 12 Penn State, and a timetable for his return is unclear. Coach Shawn Nadelen said Dobyns, who ranks second on the Tigers (7-6 overall and 3-1 in the Colonial Athletic Association) in goals with 18 and third in points with 20, suffered an injury in a 9-5 victory over Massachusetts on April 6. Nadelen said he has not heard anything indicating that Dobyns sustained a season-ending injury, but he also said he is not certain whether Dobyns will play in Saturday's road contest against No. 20 Drexel (9-3, 4-1)

Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc.'s shopping spree continued Thursday with the announcement of a $373.3 million deal that extends its television reach to a third of U.S. viewing households. Sinclair will gain 20 additional stations in eight markets by acquiring Seattle-based Fisher Communications Inc. The purchase extends Sinclair's push into new areas, giving the Hunt Valley television station owner access to key markets such as Seattle and Portland, Sinclair CEO David Smith said.

Immigration reform advocates are organizing thousands of Marylanders to attend a Capitol Hill rally on Wednesday to bring attention to negotiations in the Senate over immigration. The rally, conceived by CASA de Maryland's executive director, Gustavo Torres, is expected to draw tens of thousands of people from across the country - though organizers say most will arrive from Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. A bipartisan group of eight senators has been working behind the scenes for months to draft an overhaul of the nation's immigration laws, an effort that gained political momentum after Hispanic voters - a growing voting demographic - flocked to Democratic candidates in last year's election.

Chris Davis was one of the hottest hitters in baseball in the first week of the season, though he has cooled off over the past couple of games. Still, his historic four-game start to the season probably prompted casual sports fans across the country to ask themselves, “Who is this Chris Davis guy and where did he come from?” Well, everyone here in Baltimore knows that the Orioles acquired him from the Texans Rangers before the trade deadline in 2011. But Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports has shared some interesting details from the deal . As it turns out, the Orioles more or less bought the slugging first baseman from the Rangers for $2 million.