Funding

Timothy E. Parker, manager of T. Rowe Price's New Era Fund for the past three years, will leave the the Baltimore-based money manager by the end of September, the company said. Parker will be replaced as manager by Shawn T. Driscoll, an energy analyst with the fund. "I had a wonderful 12 years here and learned a lot of things," said Parker, 38. "It's a good organization. Sometimes you need to part ways to pursue different challenges. " Parker said he doesn't have any firm plans at this point.

There has been a lot of conflicting information in the local and national press recently about pre-kindergarten. As longtime practitioners of the art of early childhood education, the Maryland Family Network would like to offer some perspective and broaden the conversation. First, publicly funded pre-K is just one piece of a much larger system of early care and education. This system consists of child care centers, family child care, Head Start and a range of other early learning settings, such as private nursery school.

Editor: All citizens of Harford County should be dismayed by County Executive Craig's proposed FY2014 Budget. Despite his claims of being a life-long educator, despite Harford County taking in more revenue than ever before, County Executive Craig has once again shown his misplaced priorities and lack of dedication to our schools. I am disappointed that the County Executive has so little regard for the hardworking HCPS staff, our schools and our students. In February, over 500 school employees stood up for our schools.

Legg Mason Inc. reported Tuesday that it earned $29.2 million in its fourth quarter, down about 62 percent from a year earlier due to added real estate expenses. The Baltimore-based money manager's results still beat analysts' expectations, and its stock ended the day up 48 cents at $31.86 per share. On a per-share basis, Legg earned 23 cents, exceeding analysts' expectations by 3 cents per share for the three months ended March 31. A year earlier, Legg earned $76.1 million, or 54 cents per share.

FLIR Systems' government-contracting arm is more than doubling its space in Howard County as it prepares to start assembling threat-detection devices. Gov. Martin O'Malley visited the company in late February to discuss concerns about the employment effect of the federal government's sequestration budget cuts. Now, FLIR says, it feels more confident about expansion because funding for its programs is less uncertain. "With budgets beginning to get resolved, it makes decision-making for us in the future somewhat easier," said David Cullin, chief technology officer of FLIR Government Systems, FLIR's government-contracting division.

Now that the 2013 Maryland General Assembly session is in the rear-view mirror, few who travel the roads in our state can deny that one of the most important accomplishments this past session was putting in place a long-term solution to the state's enormous transportation funding challenges. With the funding package approved, at least one part of a looming crisis was solved - providing new revenue for much-needed state transportation projects. However, as the voice of Maryland's cities and towns, the Maryland Municipal League is concerned that what has not yet been resolved is the need for a lasting, more permanent solution on funding future municipal transportation projects.

City officials have received a total of $300,000 from the state this year to support renovation, reconstruction and purchasing of equipment for the Laurel Armory Anderson Murphy Community Center, according to District 21 Democratic state Sen. Jim Rosapepe. A $200,000 matching funds grant was approved by the state Board of Public Works on April 17, and a District 21 bond bill in the 2013 legislative session awarded an additional $100,000 to the city for upkeep of the Armory. The Armory is used for city Parks and Recreation programs, and is located at Fifth and Montgomery streets.

Four Maryland organizations won the right to raise $135 million for community development projects by selling federal tax credits, the Treasury Department said Wednesday. The New Markets tax credits help developers fund projects intended to add jobs and bring other improvements to distressed areas. Investors purchasing the credits from New Markets recipients receive a break on their federal income taxes. The local recipients are Baltimore-based CDF Development, a Cordish Cos. affiliate that intends to invest in retail and mixed-use projects; Baltimore-based Harbor Bankshares Corp., which will offer below-market-rate loans to projects in low-income neighborhoods; Columbia-based ESIC New Markets Partners, which focuses on health care centers, healthy-food options and mixed-use developments; and Bethesda-based Mid-City Community CDE, whose investments will include transit-oriented businesses.

Baltimore school officials unveiled a $1.174 billion budget plan Tuesday, which they said focuses on academics with a new science team to implement curriculum, programs for advanced students and a shifting of staff in the central office. Enrollment is projected to increase in traditional schools by about 2,500 students, causing per-pupil funding to decrease by $40 from last year to $5,190. The annual amount could change if the system doesn't see the projected increase in students.

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.