Gap

After sinking millions of dollars into the dream of a world-class tourist destination in the mountains of Western Maryland, the state is poised to cut its losses and turn the Rocky Gap hotel and conference center over to a private company that plans to open a casino at the lakeside resort. The Board of Public Works is scheduled to vote Wednesday on the final series of agreements needed to complete the transfer of the $54 million complex in Allegany County from the quasi-public Maryland Economic Development Corp.

Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti acknowledged Friday there is still a “gap” in contract talks between the team and Ray Rice, but he remains optimistic the team will reach a long-term agreement with its star running back and quarterback Joe Flacco. Rice, who would play the season under the $7.7-million franchise tag if a long-term extension isn't reached before July 16, is not expected to be at the team's mandatory veteran mini-camp which starts Tuesday and is a threat to hold out from next month's training camp.

A grass-roots idea to bridge the gaps among racially divided neighborhoods has blossomed into an annual block party in West Baltimore that drew hundreds Saturday to a triangular park in Upton. At the fifth annual Boundary Block Party, sponsored by a coalition of five of the city's central-western neighborhoods, children frolicked near a fountain, a wooden platform served as a stage for local musicians and choirs, and dozens of people lined up for free hot dogs and potato salad.

When a fire broke out at a Canton warehouse April 22 and firefighters confirmed there were dangerous chemicals inside the building, it spawned some basic questions for reporters. What sorts of chemicals were present, and what risks do they pose? Did they cause any harm to people, animals or the environment? Officials with the fire department and Maryland Department of the Environment were forthcoming, explaining that powerful acids were stored in the warehouse for use in anodizing metals.

Dispatched to a one-story brick warehouse in flames on Baylis Street in Canton last month, firefighters did not know it contained 8,000 gallons of corrosive chemicals. But not because it wasn't known to the Baltimore City Fire Department. Its hazardous materials permit database included the warehouse and chemicals, but is so arcane that it's impossible to point and click through it using a computer mouse. The chemicals also were disclosed by the owner on an annual hazmat form required under a federal law inspired when a chemical gas leak killed 5,000 people in India in 1984.

Hoping to turn around the struggling resort, Maryland's slots location committee awarded a license Thursday for a casino at Rocky Gap Lodge and Golf Resort in Allegany County. The Video Lottery Facility Location Commission voted unanimously to issue the license to Evitts Resort LLC, the sole remaining applicant after the panel eliminated a group led by former Democratic Party Chairman Nathan Landow in January. The license is contingent on Evitts getting construction financing, but company officials do not expect that to be a problem.

The Pro Bowl guard is gone. The bookend tackles aren't great. So how does a center become the player most linked to the Ravens' first-round pick? For Peter Konz, at least, it's by offering a quick fix and a long-term answer. With left guard Ben Grubbs off to New Orleans, the Ravens need immediate help at one interior line position. With center Matt Birk's uncertain future, they'll need help at another before long. That's where Konz comes in. Among the handful of prospects the Ravens could consider Thursday night with their No. 29 overall pick, perhaps none better accommodates the team's best-player-available criteria and front-five uncertainties than the versatile Wisconsin center.

Women make considerably less money than men in Maryland: 83 cents to the dollar, according to a study released last week. Windsor Mill resident Alison Assanah-Carroll was not surprised by the finding from the National Partnership for Women & Families, which showed that nearly a half-century after the federal Equal Pay Act was enacted, women are still paid less than men, not only in Maryland but nationwide. "It's not just a grave disparity, it's a travesty," said Assanah-Carroll, a former assistant regional census manager, who said that she earned less than her male counterparts even though she had better educational credentials and, in some cases, more experience.

She enters the clinic on a walker, slow yet remarkably steady, and as Pauline Wood hails her host for the day, she gives him a bag of lemon tarts she rose early that morning to bake.  With her white hair and glasses, Wood, 89, is every inch the lovable but tough grandmother, complete with her love of puppies, her passion for raising heirloom tomatoes and her predilection for waving away offers of help with the words, "Oh my goodness, I ...

Two Democratic candidates in Maryland's 1st Congressional District remained locked Thursday in a too-close-to-call contest for the party's nomination, after an initial tally of absentee ballots left them separated by fewer than 100 votes. In the only still-undecided race from Tuesday's statewide primary, Cockeysville businesswoman Wendy Rosen had an 86-vote lead over physician John LaFerla of Chestertown, out of more than 25,000 ballots cast. Rosen has declared victory, but LaFerla has said the race remains too close for him to concede.