Expansion

On Thursday, the day the Supreme Court upheld Obamacare, a 47-year-old Baltimore woman went to the drugstore, and pulled out her debit card to pay for a prescription refill. But she didn't have enough money in the account to cover the $425 charge. So she asked the pharmacist and staff for a favor. "I asked them to break up the prescription to give me one-third," says the woman, who would not allow her name to be published because she didn't want to disclose her medical conditions.

Maryland's MARC commuter trains, which have always operated Monday through Friday, will begin offering weekend service between Baltimore and Washington on the Penn Line in coming months. The expansion - put on hold in 2008 when the recession hit - is possible as the result of the new transportation revenue law that raises the state's gas tax, officials said. The governor signed the bill Thursday. The news was welcomed by Baltimore officials, who said it would offer city residents a less expensive means than Amtrak of traveling to Washington for weekend events while also encouraging D.C. residents to travel to Charm City.

Always, there were those lovely old country estates and gracious manor taverns with roaring fireplaces, but in the old days fine dining was associated with the city. Not so anymore. Now, there are more compelling reasons than ever for diners to cross county lines for a good meal. The 50 best county restaurants in Howard County, Anne Arundel County and Baltimore County is a mix of the old and the new, destinations for special occasions and joints for Monday night suppers, the chef-driven and crowd-pleasing.

It used to be that the Maryland Film Festival was just a cool neighborhood event for Courtney Knipp - a bunch of obscure movies being shown just up the street from her home in Mount Vernon. Not anymore, not with thousands of film fans massing in and around the Charles Theatre , watching movies - 127 this year - - and comparing notes with hundreds of filmmakers from all over the world. This tiny corner of the Station North Arts District becomes the center of the film universe for one weekend every May. And that is so cool by Knipp.

Baltimore's Mondawmin Mall will be expanding with three new stores in newly constructed space that will replace the former Motor Vehicles Administration building, the mall announced today. A Ross Dress for Less, a Deal$ and a smaller, yet-to-be-named store will move into a 38,000-square-foot redevelopment on the site of the MVA building, which is being demolished. “Mondawmin Mall has been an integral part of the Greater Mondawmin community for more than 50 years,"  said Romaine Smallwood-Smoot, the mall's general manager, in a statement.

An Anne Arundel County judge threw out a lawsuit Tuesday challenging the referendum last November in which Maryland voters approved an expansion of casino gambling after a $95 million campaign. Circuit Judge Ronald A. Silkworth rejected a contention by plaintiffs who opposed the expansion that the referendum required a majority of all Maryland voters — rather than a majority of those casting their ballots — to pass. Silkworth also said the plaintiffs waited too long to bring their suit.

Little Caesars says it's growing faster than just about any pizza chain - and eyeing Baltimore as a hot market. The chain's vice president of franchise development says the Baltimore metro area figures into a new strategy to target suburban and rural communities and to seek real estate on college campuses, military bases and within convenience stores. The carryout known for its $5 ready-to-go-pizza already has several dozen locations in Maryland, many in strip malls scattered throughout Baltimore, Anne Arundel, Howard and Harford counties.

Baltimore City's priorities are skewed ("Tide point and taxes," Sept. 26). It should be selling bonds to finance a new courthouse, not a business like Under Armour that is worth millions and could finance its own expansions. D. Morris, Edgewood

The Senate approved Gov. Martin O'Malley's proposed expansion of early voting Monday night, sending the legislation to the House of Delegates. Senators voted 35-12, with most Republicans opposed, to increase the number of days and hours that early voting centers will remain open. The bill would increase the number of early voting days from six to eight starting in 2014. The hours of voting would be longer in presidential election years. O'Malley's proposal follows a presidential election that saw voters waiting in line for hours at the limited number of early voting sites in each county.

Two prominent Maryland Republican leaders from the recent past threw their support behind the gambling expansion plan crafted by Gov. Martin O'Malley and the Democratic leaders of the General Assembly, contending that a new casino in Prince George's County will yield hundreds of millions in tax revenue for the state's schools. Former Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele, who also served as chairman of the Republican National Committee, and former Republican national committeewoman Audrey Scott jointly endorsed the measure, which is up for a vote on the Nov. 6 ballot, according to the ballot committee supporting Question 7. "Partisan politics should not interfere with economic development and the creation of jobs," they wrote.

He didn't get down on one knee, but Christopher Lee wooed his wife with a skyscraping crane she literally could call her own at the dedication of the port of Baltimore's berth capable of handling the world's largest cargo ships. As founder of Highstar Capital, the Ruxton resident provided the financial backing for a $105 million expansion at Seagirt Marine Terminal to make Baltimore one of only two East Coast ports — the other is Norfolk, Va. — ready to handle the larger ships that could pass through the widened Panama Canal in 2015.

The demise of steelmaking at Sparrows Point last year landed like a body blow on eastern Baltimore County. With 2,000 jobs and a 125-year-old legacy lost in the shutdown and subsequent liquidation of assets, the cost to families, to the local economy and to the very social fabric of a close-knit community was immense. Yet, nearly one year after RG Steel filed for bankruptcy, the outlook for the 3,300-acre property is significantly brighter. The potential for redevelopment could yield as many as 10,000 jobs within 10-15 years as new businesses - particularly those related to the Port of Baltimore - take the place of steelmaking.

Dallas-based chain of bakery/cafes La Madeleine Country French Café is eyeing the Baltimore area, with plans to open up to eight new franchised locations. A Baltimore-area restaurant is expected to open in the next year, with several more opening shortly after, a company spokesman said Monday. The restaurants in the Washington, D.C., market "are doing extremely well, and the company's momentum in the mid-Atlantic region is fueling its growth toward Baltimore," said Jason Gilbreth, the spokesman.

"We think it's reasonable to provide mandatory instant criminal background checks for every sale at every gun show. No loopholes anywhere for anyone. " - National Rifle Association Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre, in testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, May 27, 1999. Let's get one thing straight about the Senate's failure Wednesday to support a too-modest extension of the national background check system for gun buyers to cover sales at gun shows and over the Internet.

Breathe Books in Hampden says it will add a health-food cafe to its store next month. Owner Susan Weis-Bohlen says all the offerings will have at least one of five features: gluten free, vegan, vegetarian, raw or Ayurvedic -- Ayurveda is a holistic type of medicine that originated in India. This goes along with the store's stated mission to provide "books, music, and spiritual and inspirational items to help people continue their practice and journey. " "We will not be using white flour or white sugar; every ingredient will have some sort of nutritional quality," said Weis-Bohlen, who also lectures about Ayurvedic medicine at the University of Maryland's medical school.

Maryland is poised to join a growing number of states that allow voters to register and vote on the same day as lawmakers today endorsed plans to expand early voting. The Senate passed Gov. Martin O'Malley's bill, sending the measure to his desk for his expected signature. Early voting would be expanded from six to eight days and the hours extended, moves intended to alleviate the long lines seen during last year's election season. More voting centers would be added, and lawmakers created a $5,000 fine for illegally registering to vote, allowed for residents to apply to register to vote online and called for a host of studies on the voting system. 

Developer Milt Peterson will put $400,000 into an effort to expand gambling in Maryland, the first non-casino interest to write a check. Peterson hopes to partner with gambling giant MGM Resorts International to build a resort-casino on the Potomac River. But first Maryland voters need to approve a referendum question in November that would authorize a sixth casino and table games all gambling locations. "We believe Peterson's investment in Vote for 7 is particularly important given their first hand experience with the job growth and economic development that a project of this magnitude can bring to the region," said Kristin Hawn, a spokeswoman for Vote for 7, a committee supporting more gambling in the state.  MGM has already put $5.4 million behind and effort to convince Marylanders to vote yes. Penn National Gaming is funding an effort to oppose the ballot measure.

When I hear someone as credible as Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot speak, I listen. He urged Marylanders to vote against Question 7. It seems as if no one can prove that some of the casino profits will be used for bettering our schools. This proposal should have been shot down by voters in a very lopsided fashion. Patrick R. Lynch, Nottingham

Every April 1, the owners of Hampden's Atomic Books do some sort of prank. Yesterday, the popular book and record store upheld tradition by announcing a planned expansion that will include a bar called Dead Poets Society. The prank, according to co-owner Benn Ray, was only the name of the bar ("We wouldn't name it that"). The expansion, including a new bar, is true. Ray says he and other owner Rachel Whang had considered expanding Atomic Books for the past two years. "Once the economy stablized and turned back around, we thought we might be able to expand and move forward," Ray said.

In Annapolis, some conservative Republicans - having apparently not taken notice of the 2012 election and the conundrum facing their party over its hard-line immigration stance at the national level - are lambasting a proposal to expand and make permanent a two-tier driver's license system in Maryland. One even warned that Maryland could soon become a "Disneyland" for illegal immigrants. But it is opponents who are living in a Disney-like fantasy land if they can't see who the chief beneficiary would be of any system that seeks to ensure all Maryland drivers meet minimum standards of knowledge and competency and are eligible for insurance.