Hank Greenberg

Gov. Martin O'Malley did an excellent job appointing a competent and independent Public Service Commission to look at the issues around utility fee structures in Maryland. The PSC sees the whole picture when they review a company's request for a rate increase, and the public relies on them to review the performance and profits of the utility companies - their independence should not be compromised. AARP does not support the recommendations released recently by a work group to allow power companies to add surcharges to utility bills in order to fund reliability and enhancement improvements ("A worthy investment," Oct. 4)

Reading Time: Two Minutes.Fodder for you Notre Dame bashers; yes, we know you're out there. The Fightin' Irish, we are informed by a computer said to be fair and impartial, possess only the 48th toughest schedule among the hundred or so Division I teams. The plain fact is the 11-game slate shouldn't be classified even that high. Check out this "travail:" Army, Navy and Air Force, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Purdue, Boston College, Texas, Washington, Ohio State and Southern Cal.CAPTAIN BLIGH II: Football coach Dennis Erickson, never known as a stickler for things being done "according to Hoyle," particularly when he handled teams at Miami and Washington State, surprised many with the hefty fines ($1,000)

What makes baseball the greatest game God gave man the opportunity to invent:Those golden memories, still so vivid in the theater of the mind, that no one can take away, of Hank Greenberg, Brooks Robinson and Mickey Mantle.It's where a father can be with his son, and explain how once, with his own father, he actually saw Dizzy and Daffy Dean on a cold October night at Oriole Park in 1934 -- making it sound as timely as yesterday, not yesteryear.Such distinctive nicknames. Pepper, Boog, Flea, Shanty, Mudcat, Stan The Man, Schoolboy, Rowdy and Rabbit.

I know guys who used to rush to birthday parties at Little Italy restaurants, discovering at the last minute that they forgot to buy a card for their girlfriends or wives or mothers. They'll be bummed to hear that Kelly & Poggi, the soda fountain and card shop at Fawn and Exeter, across from Mugs' Lunch and Pepino's Tavern, has closed.Ray Alcaraz, the neighborhood kid who bought the old pharmacy two years ago and who tried to revive it as a corner convenience store with fountain service, couldn't make it work, even with his mother, Mary Ann's, help behind the counter.

Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. said Friday that winter heating bills for its residential natural gas customers will likely rise 11 percent over last year due to colder weather — still low enough to be the second-cheapest winter of the past decade. Natural gas costs remain at about the same level as last winter. But BGE expects this winter will be chillier, increasing usage and thus the total cost to households. The utility is forecasting a $9-a-month increase for the typical residential gas customer during the November-through-March heating season, compared with the year-earlier period.

The first quarterback to throw a touchdown pass in an NFL championship game was one. So was the first Olympic Gold Medal winner in heavyweight boxing and the first designated hitter in Major League baseball. And the NBA's all-time, father-son scoring combination, both of them were as well.Were what?Surprise! They were Jewish.Jewish athletes? Yes, Virginia, there really are some, no matter the prevalent stereotype to the contrary.And it is prevalent. Even most Jewish sports fans remain woefully ignorant of the exploits of their co-religionists on the playing fields, ice rinks and hardwood courts.

WASHINGTON -- The United States Postal Service recently released its list of commemorative stamps for this year. The 127 new issues will include 15 stamps commemorating famous Americans, four of which will be women (Hattie McDaniel, Katherine Anne Porter, Frances E. Willis, Judy Garland) and 11 of which will be men (Benjamin Franklin, Sugar Ray Robinson, Hiram Bingham IV, Charles E. Bohlen, Philip C. Habib, Robert D. Murphy, Clifton R. Wharton Sr., Mickey Mantle, Mel Ott, Roy Campanella, Hank Greenberg)

Jonathan Libber likes his analog utility meter just fine. And no amount of debate will convince him that new wireless, digital "smart meters" being installed by Baltimore Gas & Electric and other utilities around the country would help conserve energy, reduce his bill and make service more reliable. "They are a bad idea," said Libber, 59, president of Maryland Smart Meter Awareness, a citizens group opposed to smart meters. "There has been no demonstrated savings for the regulated ratepayer.

NEW YORK - American International Group Inc. severed all ties last night with Maurice R. "Hank" Greenberg, the irascible executive who had built the company into a global giant over four decades. Stripped of his chief executive title two weeks ago, Greenberg, 79, informed the board that, upon his return from Europe, he would retire as nonexecutive chairman of the board, according to a letter from his lawyer, David Boies, to Richard I. Beattie. Beattie, a lawyer at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, represents the independent directors on AIG's board.

NEW YORK - Maurice R. "Hank" Greenberg took the Fifth Amendment "dozens of times" when he was questioned yesterday about possibly illegal transactions between the giant insurance firm he headed for nearly 40 years and a unit of Warren E. Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc., sources told Newsday. Greenberg, 79, who stepped down last month as chief executive officer of the world's largest insurer, American International Group Inc., invoked his right against self-incrimination to all questions except his name during an approximately 45-minute session with state and federal regulators, the sources said.