Hale

If all First Mariner Bancorp's shareholders were as loyal as Frank Wesolowski, the company's stock would still be at $10 or $15. Wesolowski is a retired pharmacist from Edgemere, where First Mariner honcho Edwin Hale Sr. grew up and launched a real estate and shipping kingdom. He watched Hale win a proxy war for control of the Bank of Baltimore in the early 1990s. He figured Hale's new bank, founded in 1995, could fill vacancies left by Bank of Baltimore and other lenders that got sold to out-of-towners.

Overlooked in the coverage of Gov. William Donald Schaefer's trip to Chicago for the opening of Comiskey Park II was mention of a significant member of his entourage -- Blast owner Ed Hale.Hale originally got into soccer as an entree to someday owning an NFL franchise in his hometown of Baltimore. Some see Hale's invitation to join the governor as a sign that Ed has moved up in the pecking order among the aspirants to an NFL expansion franchise here since New Yorker Bob Tisch bought half of the Giants.

Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. has filed suit against Baltimore businessman Edwin F. Hale Sr. and his port-related businesses, alleging Mr. Hale owes $1.3 million for insurance coverage provided by Liberty between 1985 and 1989.The suit was filed this week in U.S. District Court in Baltimore against Port East Transfer Inc., Hale Development Corp., E. F. Hale Properties and Mr. Hale.The Hale organization already has paid approximately $4.5 million to Liberty for the period in question, according to Mr. Hale's attorney, James Gast.

In horse racing circles, Lenny Hale is the Baltimore boy that made good.He rose from working on the starting gates at Florida tracks to becoming one of six senior vice presidents of the New York Racing Association.There was a lot of local interest when Hale's firing by NYRA was an ongoing front-page story last week in the Daily Racing Form. More than 60 New York trainers signed a petition asking NYRA to reinstate the popular executive, but to no avail.All of this happened while Hale was on vacation.

NEW YORK -- Harlem's towering Riverside Church wa packed by hundreds of residents, politicians and others who mourned Clara McBride Hale with eulogies that likened her to St. Peter and called her "our black Madonna."In the front rows sat children and adults whose precarious lives had depended on Hale House, the Harlem brownstone set up by Mrs. Hale to house drug-addicted or HIV-infected mothers. In the course of caring for nearly 1,000 children, the former domestic worker earned herself the moniker "Mother Hale."

An obituary published Feb. 21 in The Sun for John Bruce Hale incorrectly stated the day of services. A memorial service will be held at 10: 30 a.m. today at Second Presbyterian Church, 4200 St. Paul St. in Guilford.The Sun regrets the error.Pub Date: 2/28/98

Edwin F. Hale Sr., fresh from his victory in the fight to control Baltimore Bancorp, said yesterday he may convert his Baltimore-based trucking and barge operations into a publicly traded corporation.Port East Transfer Inc. and Hale Container Line Inc. are owned entirely by Mr. Hale. Together, they employ more than 500 people."I'd say that by this time next year it would have been accomplished," Mr. Hale said of his plans to take the companies public.Mr. Hale, who was born in Highlandtown and grew up in Sparrows Point, rose to prominence on the success of his transportation companies.

A New York investment firm that advised major shareholders to withhold support from Baltimore Blast owner Edwin F. Hale Sr.'s bid to expand the board of directors of Baltimore Bancorp had earlier been rebuffed in an bid to become an adviser to the slate of dissident shareholders led by Mr. Hale.Providence Capital Inc. advised three institutional shareholders owning almost 1 million of Baltimore Bancorp's 12.8 million shares -- including Legg Mason Inc. of Baltimore, which controls 540,000 shares -- to withhold their support from a measure that would expand the company's board of directors to 28 members from 18.Mr.

At a family-owned restaurant in Dundalk one evening this spring, 1st Mariner Bank CEO and Chairman Edwin F. Hale Sr. stood before schoolteachers, retirees and business owners and made an urgent pitch: Buy stock in Baltimore's largest independent bank and help ensure its survival. Among those who have purchased shares: friends of Hale's mother and substitute teacher Will White. "We didn't have a lot to invest, but we felt more comfortable investing it locally," said White, an Edgemere resident who ponied up $2,000 with his wife, Meg. "Of course, Ed, he's a guy who's larger than life."

Owners and prospective owners in the Major Soccer League will meet in Chicago tomorrow to determine the state of the league.Blast owner Ed Hale said yesterday he does not see the future of the league, currently comprised of seven teams, in jeopardy."