Giant

Greg Cantori plans to downsize when he retires. Really, really downsize. His retirement home is 238 square feet — one-tenth the size of the average new American house — and sits in his Anne Arundel County yard. He and wife Renee can hitch it to a truck and take it with them wherever they go. "It's so cheap — that's what's so cool about this," said Cantori, 52, who envisions a surf-and-turf future, alternating between the house and a sailboat. "We bought the house for $19,000.

SARASOTA, Fla. -- The Orioles have acquired right-handed reliever Scott Proctor from the Giants for cash considerations and will assign him to Triple-A Norfolk. The 36-year-old Proctor is 18-16 with a 4.78 ERA in seven major league seasons. He recorded back-to-back seasons of sub 3.70 ERAs while pitching with the Yankees and Dodgers in 2006 and 2007. The Orioles first scouted Proctor last season when he pitched in South Korea for the Doosan Bears of the Korean Baseball Organization, where he went 4-4 with a 1.79 ERA and 35 saves in 57 games.

Alas! Even giants can't live forever ("William Donald Schaefer dies," April 19). Our loss. Tom Maze, Baltimore

If you bought a lottery ticket for the Powerball drawing on Saturday in Dundalk or Taneytown, you might be $1 million richer. The Maryland Lottery announced Monday that two second-tier Powerball tickets worth $1 million were bought in the state - one at the Giant on Merritt Boulevard in Dundalk and one at the Thunderhead Bowl and Grill on Old Taneytown Road in Taneytown. Neither winner has come forward yet. The winners have 182 days to claim their prizes, the lottery said. Lottery officials said nearly 26,000 people in Maryland won $4 or more through Saturday's drawing, and urged those who had purchased tickets to check to see if they are winners.

I am a long-time customer of Giant supermarkets who was very disappointed at the chain's decision to limit the time that bell ringers can collect funds for the good work of the Salvation Army ( "Hear them ring," Nov. 26). At a time that the media, if not our own experiences, tells us that many people are having difficulty as a result of a struggling economy, more time should be given to allow those trying to help collect needed funds. Dropping a donation in the kettle is quicker than writing a check and can put loose change to work for others.

Portland. Phuket. Jorge Garcia. Tallahassee (the title of this episode). Kitsis and Horowitz, we get it. You guys wrote for "Lost" and you created "Once Upon a Time,"  and you want to remind everyone of the magnificence that "Lost" was. As much of a die-hard "Lost" fan I was, I feel as though the references to the landmark series are starting to get overused. I get that "Lost" was epic and indeed deserves to be referenced. But if "Once" wants to branch out and really become its own show, or even become the next "Lost," it should probably cut down on the connections.

I was pleased when the U.S. won its war against Iraq, which hopefully meant the establishment of the first democratic nation in the Middle East. That would be an accomplishment for the whole world to behold. The outcome placed Iraq in the category with earlier battle victims — Germany after World War I, Japan after World War II and South Korea after the Korean Conflict — where she was subject to having a U.S. standing army to assure and protect the establishment of a government by and for the people.

This Landover-based supermarket chain, Maryland's largest, posted a 2 percent increase in net income for its fourth quarter, which ended Feb. 23, compared with the same period a year ago. For the year, earnings were up nearly 10 percent higher than in fiscal 1990.David B. Sykes, Giant treasurer and senior vice president, said that the modest increases in sales and earnings for the fourth quarter were on line with the company's projections because "things have been slow since early 1990."Same-stores sales -- revenues of stores open a year or more -- were virtually flat, according to Giant, due in part to newer Giant stores competing for the same customers.

Intercontinental acquisitions of major businesses are no longer unusual in this global marketplace. Control of huge corporations cross the oceans almost as quickly as their products. Thus, the large interest in Giant Food bought by a British food chain, J. Sainsbury, caused hardly a ripple in the investment world. To shoppers in the Baltimore and Washington areas, however, it's a major event.For the moment, nothing will change in the grocery aisles. Sainsbury's $325 million investment in Giant buys it only a minority interest.

Consumers who have Giant-branded Visa credit cards must apply for new cards this month to continue receiving rebates when they purchase items at Giant Food Inc.The grocery store chain said it has reached an agreement with Chevy Chase Bank to offer new Visa credit cards to customers, replacing the M&T Bank of Buffalo's cards.M&T said last fall it was pulling out of its contract with Giant. Giant sued M&T to stop it from dropping the card in December. At a court hearing, M&T agreed to continue offering the rebates until Chevy Chase takes over.

At this time of severe cutbacks in government funding for food stamps, early childhood education and Meals on Wheels, some Maryland legislators are hard at work looking out for the welfare of one of the world's wealthiest corporations. Under a bill advancing in the General Assembly, the Lockheed Martin Corp. would have the taxes on its luxurious Bethesda hotel and conference center reduced by approximately $450,000 a year. An earlier version of the legislation also included a $1.4 million refund for the period since 2010.

On the same day that they lost two key defensive starters, the Ravens filled one of their free agent priorities by adding some size and experience to the interior of their defensive line. Former New York Giant and Dallas Cowboy defensive tackle Chris Canty, who spent the day visiting the team's training facility, put out on his Twitter account a picture of him signing a contract with the Ravens. He agreed to a three-year deal worth $8 million that includes $2.8 million in guaranteed money, according to sources.

The season may be over and they may be former Ravens, but excitement for all things purple and black still drew a crowd on Saturday to the Giant Food store in Perry Hall for an event with former Baltimore Ravens Matt Stover and Kyle Richardson. The two Super Bowl champions came to the store, 8905 Belair Road, Perry Hall, on Saturday, Feb. 16, to meet with residents, sign autographs and perform a little kicking demonstration in the Giant parking lot. Stover was the place kicker, and Richardson was the punter, on the Ravens' 2000-2001 Super Bowl champion team.

Periodically, one comes across a jaw-dropping example of lawsuit abuse. The Good Samaritan gets sued for preventing a suicide, the robber takes the store clerk to court for fighting back, the B-list starlet sues because nobody watched her sex tape (apocryphal perhaps, but bound to happen someday). But for size, breadth, ingratitude - and sheer chutzpah - it will be tough to beat what a group of executives is seriously contemplating on Wednesday. That's when the board of directors of American International Group, or AIG, will be reviewing whether to join a $25 billion lawsuit against the U.S. government on the grounds that the federal bailout of the insurance giant shortchanged shareholders.

The Ravens run defense stiffened against the New York Giants' duo of Ahmad Bradshaw and David Wilson, limiting that pair of running backs to a combined 56 yards and just one touchdown on 12 carries Sunday. But considering that the Washington Redskins' Alfred Morris and the Denver Broncos' Knowshon Moreno had gained 129 and 118 yards, respectively, in back-to-back weeks, the Ravens know their No. 24 ranking in the NFL against the run still leaves a lot to be desired. Next up is the Cincinnati Bengals' BenJarvus Green-Ellis, who posted 91 yards and one score on 18 attempts in the Ravens' 44-13 rout in Week 1. With 1,094 yards this season, Green-Ellis has already surpassed his previous career-high total of 1,008 in 2010 when he played for the New England Patriots.

Bernard Pierce led the rushing attack. Chykie Brown broke up the most passes. And Brendon Ayanbadejo and Omar Brown each registered a sack. The Ravens relied on their usual stable of superstars to throttle the New York Giants, 33-14, Sunday evening, but they also got some opportune contributions from younger and unheralded players. Pierce, a third-round pick in April's NFL draft, outgained starter Ray Rice, 123-107, on the ground although Rice did add 51 receiving yards and a 27-yard touchdown catch.

It's fast becoming another sign of spring as local school officials sort and bundle the last of the supermarket check-out receipts that can be redeemed for computers and computer equipment.The equipment giveaway programs, both in their second year, are sponsored by Giant Food and Safeway Inc. They are offering Apple and IBM computers to area schools that collect enough receipts to qualify.Giant has set March 16 as the last day schools can turn in their pink receipts and qualify in the chain's Apples for Students program.

LANDOVER -- Giant Food Inc., which grabs 39 cents of every supermarket dollar spent in Baltimore and Washington, clearly indicated yesterday that it will try to grow profits by invading the Philadelphia region in the next few years.Giant's interest in the Delaware Valley area wasn't a secret. The company already has one store in the Wilmington area, plans to open another next year and recently signed a deal to open in Cherry Hill, N.J.But executives at Giant's annual shareholders meeting yesterday signaled that their ambitions for the region go far beyond a few scattered locations and probably entail price and advertising wars against established operators Acme and Super Fresh.

Brendon Ayanbadejo didn't make a fourth consecutive start on Sunday, but the inside linebacker still made a sizable contribution in the Ravens' 33-14 pasting of the New York Giants. Ayanbadejo finished with three tackles, including one sack and two quarterback hits. Defensive tackle Haloti Ngata and rookie free safety Omar Brown also posted sacks of Giants quarterback Eli Manning, and Ayanbadejo tied strong safety James Ihedigbo and defensive tackle Arthur Jones for the team lead in quarterback hits.

The shaky, mistake-prone quarterback morphed into a precise passer. An offense that hasn't consistently moved the ball for weeks chewed up yardage at will. A defense that has been giving up ground for much of the season had a two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback on the run. Nothing the Ravens had done in the past month foreshadowed their 33-14 throttling of the New York Giants on Sunday in front of an announced 71,470, the second-biggest crowd in M&T Bank Stadium history. Picking a fine time to play their best all-around game of the season, the Ravens overwhelmed the reigning Super Bowl champions in every way. When it was all over, the Ravens celebrated the end of their three-game losing streak, their second consecutive AFC North crown and the right to host a first-round playoff game.