Filing

Requiring senators to file their campaign finance statements electronically rather than on paper seems like such an obvious update that no one could object. And yet someone has. Maybe lots of someones. At least twice last week, Republican senators blocked action on legislation that would conform Senate campaign filings with the electronic measures used by House candidates and presidential hopefuls. In each case, the senator said he was acting for an unnamed GOP colleague. But the absence of outrage from anyone but sponsors of the change suggests broader complicity.

Rite Aid Corp. disclosed yesterday that the Securities and Exchange Commission has begun a formal investigation into the troubled drugstore chain and that its former auditor quit because it could not trust information from management.In a filing late yesterday with the SEC, the Camp Hill, Pa.-based retailer said it had been been notified of the probe into dealings that forced it to revise its financial statements and slash past profit figures by $500 million. Company officials said they intend to fully cooperate with the investigation but offered no further details.

WASHINGTON -- USinternetworking Inc., which lets customers use business-management software over the Internet, yesterday raised the size of its initial stock offering by 20 percent, to 6 million shares, to satisfy investor demand.The Annapolis-based start-up also lifted the price of those shares to $16 to $18 apiece from $11 to $13 established in a previous filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.Increasing the number of shares to be sold and their expected price indicates heightened demand on the part of institutional investors, who generally compose the bulk of purchasers in an initial stock sale.

In the latest installment of the strange saga of Carnegie International Corp., the Hunt Valley telecommunications holding company -- whose stock has been suspended from trading for nearly six months -- has swapped charges of bad faith with the accounting firm that it recently fired.In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Carnegie explained why it dropped its accountant, Grant Thornton LLP of Chicago.Carnegie, whose subsidiaries sell services ranging from Internet access to voice-recognition software, said its firing of Grant Thornton on Sept.

It's April 19 - do you know where your tax return is? Dutifully filed by midnight this past Wednesday, right? Or perhaps not, if you're a tax protester - or a hopeless procrastinator. Whatever your filing status, here are a few belated tax tips:Excuse me?If there's an excuse for not filing on time, the Internal Revenue Service has heard it. But there are hardship excuses the IRS will accept: "reasonable" causes such as untimely death or cataclysm, like a flood destroying your records. Hey, maybe El Nino will come in handy this year after all.Put it on my tabElectronic returns are up. Tax forms are available on the Internet (http://www.

People interested in running for state and county offices had until 9 o'clock last night to file for candidacy. The deadline appeared to bring few additional office seekers for county positions, with no new candidates for Anne Arundel County executive by 6 p.m.A handful of Republicans decided to run for state office, with two filing for House of Delegates in District 30, one for House of Delegates in District 31 and another Republican filing for Senate in...

In just over a month, Ciena Corp. has suffered disappointing earnings estimates, lost contracts and the collapse of its planned acquisition by Tellabs Inc. Now, the Linthicum telecommunications equipment company is warning that more difficult times may be ahead.In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Ciena said its recent setbacks may hurt future sales. In addition, the company said, the expense of marketing its products to regional Bell companies and other potential customers could cause the company's earnings in the near future to "moderate or even decline, even if revenues were to increase, which is not likely in the near term."

Lawyers for First Mariner Bancorp mistakenly filed a draft document yesterday with federal regulators stating that the bank has agreed to acquire nearly 20 percent of Glen Burnie Bancorp and seek control of the $225 million-asset banking company."

In Taneytown, in the farthest northwestern reaches of Carroll County, there's a convenience store with a couple of gasoline pumps out front and a special deal on submarine sandwiches inside. From 4 p.m. until midnight, you can buy a 12-inch sub for $3.99. If you pace yourself properly, you can make the sandwich last across two days."What I do," says an old friend of mine, "is eat half of it for dinner, and the next day I have the other half. Cold cut, cheeseburger, whatever. I figure, I'm getting a couple of meals for about $2 each."

WASHINGTON -- Organizers of a Draft Powell committee that seeks to win the Republican presidential nomination for Gen. Colin Powell said yesterday that they had formally filed with the ,, Federal Election Commission.The committee, Citizens for Colin Powell, has not been authorized by General Powell, but its filing with the election commission would let it be converted into an official campaign committee should the general announce his candidacy."The extent of the outpouring of support for Colin Powell for president . . . prompts our filing at this time," said Charles J. Kelly Jr., a retired investment banker who heads the group.

Erickson Retirement Communities, a pioneering senior-living developer founded 26 years ago with the opening of Charlestown in Catonsville, filed for federal bankruptcy-law protection Monday with a plan to restructure more than $1 billion in debt and sell the struggling company to a local investment firm. Erickson said the Chapter 11 filing was necessary to restructure debt, split the core management and real estate businesses into separate entities, and pave the way for a sale. Erickson, which has 23,000 residents in communities around the U.S., said it was being purchased for an undisclosed amount by Redwood Capital Investments LLC. That company is controlled by Jim Davis, who is the majority owner of the $5 billion, Hanover-based staffing firm Allegis Group; he could not be reached for comment Monday.

Facing hundreds of millions of dollars in potential liability for sex abuse claims, the diocese that ministers to Eastern Shore Catholics filed for federal bankruptcy-law protection hours before the civil trial of a former priest was to have started Monday. Bishop W. Francis Malooly described the Chapter 11 petition filed late Sunday as a difficult but necessary step that would enable the Diocese of Wilmington, Del., to "fairly compensate all victims through a single process established by the bankruptcy court."

Requiring senators to file their campaign finance statements electronically rather than on paper seems like such an obvious update that no one could object. And yet someone has. Maybe lots of someones. At least twice last week, Republican senators blocked action on legislation that would conform Senate campaign filings with the electronic measures used by House candidates and presidential hopefuls. In each case, the senator said he was acting for an unnamed GOP colleague. But the absence of outrage from anyone but sponsors of the change suggests broader complicity.

At least 45.7 million credit and debit card numbers were stolen by hackers who accessed the computer systems at the TJX Cos. Inc. at its headquarters in Framingham, Mass., and in the United Kingdom over a period of several years, making it the biggest breach of personal data ever reported, according to security specialists. Details are still sketchy, but TJX said unauthorized software placed on its computer systems stole at least 100 files containing data on millions of accounts from systems that process and store transaction information in Framingham and Watford, United Kingdom.

Sourcefire Inc., the Columbia network security company that started in its founder's living room and has since grown to a 174-person business, said yesterday that it plans to go public. The company - best known for its anti-hacker technology, Snort - filed a registration statement late yesterday afternoon with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering. "Clearly, it's an important milestone in the company's evolution," Wayne Jackson, Sourcefire's chief executive officer, said of the plans to go public.

Linthicum Heights-based Wise Metals Group LLC is losing one of its biggest customers, putting the future of the troubled aluminum sheet manufacturer in question. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company disclosed that it will lose the beverage can sheet business of Philadelphia-based Crown Cork & Seal Co. Inc., one of the three largest beverage can manufacturers in the world, for the fourth quarter and all of 2007. Crown Cork & Seal agreed to continue buying sheet from Wise for its food products, though it represents a substantially smaller business.

PHH Corp., a mortgage and fleet management company with a large operation in Sparks, said yesterday that it must restate almost five years of earnings after an audit found glaring errors in its financial statements. The company, which has its headquarters in Mount Laurel, N.J., previously acknowledged that it has "material weaknesses" in its books. It failed to file an annual report required by the Securities and Exchange Commission for 2005. It also has missed quarterly filings through June this year.

Numbers-- The number of newly laid off workers filing claims for unemployment benefits increased to 336,000 last week, a gain of 7,000.

A federal grand jury has indicted a former Baltimore housing authority employee suspected of stealing the identity of public housing and group home residents and using the information to file for tax refunds, prosecutors announced yesterday. Benjamin Iloamuzo, 36, is believed to be living outside the country. He is charged in the 30-count indictment with filing fraudulent income tax returns and identity theft. According to the indictment returned Tuesday, Iloamuzo was employed with Baltimore's housing authority in 2000 and 2001.

Numbers-- The number of Americans filing claims for unemployment benefits fell by a larger-than-expected 11,000 last week to 302,000, the U.S. reported.