Hodes

When Howard County's school board met in closed session to talk about extending school Superintendent John R. O'Rourke's contract last month , County Councilman-elect and lawyer Ken Ulman was among the meeting's harshest public critics. "I find this matter to be quite troubling and just think these actions clearly violated the intent of the law, which is to be an open process," Ulman told The Sun last month . But Ulman's comments resonated in an unexpected way because his firm, Hodes, Ulman, Pessin & Katz, is defending the school board in court against a citizen's open-meetings lawsuit.

* Dr. Charlene Hafer-Macko, medical director of the Myasthenia Gravis Center at the University of Maryland Medical Center, was named "Doctor of the Year" by the national Myasthenia Gravis Foundation. Hafer-Macko, who is also an associate professor of neurology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, received this award for her commitment to helping myasthenia gravis patients and their families. Myasthenia gravis is an autoimmune disease that affects the connection between nerves and muscles, causing muscle weakness and fatigue.

Michael Hodes' new radio network may be all talk, but he isn't.Mr. Hodes, a Towson attorney and local radio personality, has teamed up with five other businessmen to launch the United Talk Radio Network, a Baltimore-based 24-hour, all-talk radio network.The network, known as UTRN, signed on the airwaves Jan. 24. Shows are broadcast from the studios of WCBM-AM in Baltimore, the same station that has carried Mr. Hodes' radio show on financial advice for eight years. Mr. Hodes' show is now carried on UTRN as well.

Acquisitions Tate Access Floors, based in Jessup, acquired ASPmaxcess, a Canadian-based maker of raised-access flooring systems. The acquired firm will continue its manufacturing and business operations in Ontario under the new name Tateasp. Awards Jack Gilden, president of Hampden-based marketing firm Gilden Integrated, received the Simon Rockower Journalism Award at the American Jewish Press Association's annual conference in San Francisco. Gilden was cited for his Jewish Times article "Silence of the Sage," an examination of the anti-Semitism of H.L. Mencken.

Mid-Atlantic Country magazine will publish its last issue in September unless a buyer can be found for the financially troubled publication, the magazine's publishers said yesterday.The Baltimore-based magazine was founded 18 years ago and publishes articles about travel and lifestyle from North Carolina to New York.Despite pumping $1 million into the magazine since they bought it in 1995, the publishers -- Michael C. Hodes and Charles J. Nabit -- said they have been unable to make it financially viable.

The owners of WLG Legends Radio said yesterday that they will sell the company's stations, WWLG 1360 AM and WASA 1330 AM, to Mangione Enterprises, pending FCC approval.The stations' primary owner, Michael C. Hodes of Hodes, Ulman, Pessin & Katz, P.A., said he purchased WWLG in 1993 and WASA in 1996 as advertising vehicles because the firm focused on elder and estate law. The firm has since expanded its practices, and Hodes said it doesn't make sense to focus on one advertising outlet.The stations broadcast pop standards during the day and sports in the late afternoon.

In a novel mix of entertainment and law, five partners in a Towson law firm have purchased an AM radio station that will air an eclectic mix of "nostalgia" music and legal and financial advice.The partners, who practice at the firm of Hodes, Ulman, Pessin & Katz, completed on Thursday evening the $675,000 purchase of 1360-AM, whose soon-to-be-changed call letters are now WHLP, according to attorney Michael Hodes."We're probably the first law firm in the country to go out and buy a media source," Mr. Hodes said.

Michael Hodes' new radio network may be all talk, but he isn't.Mr. Hodes, a Towson attorney and local radio personality, has teamed up with five other businessmen to launch the United Talk Radio Network, a Baltimore-based 24-hour, all-talk radio network.The network, known as UTRN, signed on the airwaves Jan. 24. Shows are broadcast from the studios of WCBM-AM in Baltimore, the same station that has carried Mr. Hodes' radio show on financial advice for eight years. Mr. Hodes' show is now carried on UTRN as well.

When Michael and Lois Hodes began collecting five years ago, they had one main goal -- find something unique with character. Today, their 27-room house in Roland Park is stuffed to the brim with interesting and unusual furnishings and accessories. Walking through the rooms is like taking a tour of a mini-museum. In fact, Mrs. Hodes sometimes refers to herself as a curator.For starters, a seven-piece salon set of 18th century French furniture sits near the fireplace in the living room. The settee and six matching chairs are gilded and upholstered in the original tapestry.

On Wednesday, April 13, 2005, DR. DONALD KRAMER, beloved husband of Ruth Kramer (nee Berlin); devoted father of Lois Kramer Hodes of Baltimore, Joanne Kramer Glasser of Richmond, KY, Dr. Andrew Alan Kramer of Reston, VA and Howard Lee Kramer of Rockville, MD; devoted father-in-law of Michael Hodes and Judy Kramer and the late Dr. Cary M. Glasser; loving brother of the late Bernard Kramer; loving grandfather of Seth and Mary Ann Hodes, Jared Glasser, Jacqueline...

People often love their pets as much as they do any family member. Sometimes even more. So, it's not unheard of for pet owners to want to make sure that when they die, their pets are provided for. For a long time, the law hasn't made this easy. Animals are considered property and can't inherit assets. And even if, say, a pet owner left money in a will to a relative to care for a dog, there's no guarantee the caretaker will spend the cash on Fido. But times are changing. Thirty-one states and the District of Columbia now recognize pet trusts, which allow an owner to name an animal as a beneficiary.

TAKOMA PARK - Larry Hodes had the do-it-yourself concept, the steel pipe and all the time an early retirement allows, yet something was missing. He went looking for it on a recent Saturday at the local tool lending library. Where else to spend such a sublime spring day but inside a trailer the size of a large Dumpster, fenced in chain link and barbed wire? The sun didn't shine on these many saws and hammers, nor on the workbench where Hodes spent hours pursuing visions of a dolly to wheel his canoe from place to place.

On Wednesday, April 13, 2005, DR. DONALD KRAMER, beloved husband of Ruth Kramer (nee Berlin); devoted father of Lois Kramer Hodes of Baltimore, Joanne Kramer Glasser of Richmond, KY, Dr. Andrew Alan Kramer of Reston, VA and Howard Lee Kramer of Rockville, MD; devoted father-in-law of Michael Hodes and Judy Kramer and the late Dr. Cary M. Glasser; loving brother of the late Bernard Kramer; loving grandfather of Seth and Mary Ann Hodes, Jared Glasser, Jacqueline...

The Baltimore Pride Festival concluded its 29th annual weekend of revelry last night, capping two days of free parties, parades, concerts, drag-queen contests and other events celebrating gay lifestyles. More than 20,000 people -- many heterosexuals included -- lined Charles Street to watch Saturday's loud-and-proud parade along Charles Street, took in the Sunday activities in Druid Hill Park and listened to such headline artists as pop diva Crystal Waters and singer Ultra Nate. The region's business community was present, too. Nearly 200 vendors sold their wares during the festival, which was sponsored by Constellation Energy Corp.

Baker appointed executive director of retirement home Richard Baker has been appointed executive director of Vantage House Retirement Community. He has served as executive director of a continuing-care retirement community in Hilton Head, S.C., and of another such community in Miami. Baker earned a bachelor's degree in business and public administration from the University of Virginia and served in the Army in military intelligence and in the National Guard. Vantage House, a nonprofit continuing-care facility with 224 units, offers studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments as well as assisted-living services and comprehensive nursing care.

Lane Hodes doesn't mince words. "The 'looking for a husband' concept baffles me." Don't get her wrong. The 26-year-old University of Maryland law student likes men, and she'll probably get married one day. But Hodes, like many unmarried women these days, is enjoying not being in a serious relationship. She didn't wait for a boyfriend to give her jewelry. When her birthday came around, she bought herself a diamond bracelet. And last year, Hodes vacationed in Las Vegas by herself, gambling in the casinos alone.

The owners of WWLG-AM in Towson expanded their nascent broadcast chain this week by agreeing to buy a second, 5,000-watt radio station, WASA-AM of Havre de Grace.And both stations are scheduled to add new recruit Stan "The Fan" Charles as part of an expanded sports-talk segment that will run evenings. Mr. Charles is set to begin work April 3, it was announced last month.The group, led by attorney Michael Hodes, agreed to pay $200,000 to former owner KME Broadcasting Corp. for WASA. Mr. Hodes said the station has not been profitable, but would begin making money after its administrative overhead was merged with that of WWLG and its parent Legends Broadcasting LLC. The Harford County station should also be helped after it adopts WWLG's big-band nostalgia format, he said.

Attorneys at Smith, Somerville & Case LLC have begun a mass exodus amid strong speculation that one of Baltimore's largest and oldest law firms will close its doors after Dec. 31. Local attorneys said the firm has failed to find a market niche.The most recent defection includes three partners and an associate who are leaving to join Hodes, Ulman, Pessin and Katz on Jan. 2, bringing that firm's total number of attorneys to 25, making it the largest in Baltimore County.In addition to those four, another group from 70-year-old Smith, Somerville is setting up its own boutique firm on Jan. 2.Michael J. Baxter, a partner at Smith, Somerville, announced he will create Baxter, Baker, Sidle & Conn along with eight other Smith, Somerville attorneys.

When Howard County's school board met in closed session to talk about extending school Superintendent John R. O'Rourke's contract last month , County Councilman-elect and lawyer Ken Ulman was among the meeting's harshest public critics. "I find this matter to be quite troubling and just think these actions clearly violated the intent of the law, which is to be an open process," Ulman told The Sun last month . But Ulman's comments resonated in an unexpected way because his firm, Hodes, Ulman, Pessin & Katz, is defending the school board in court against a citizen's open-meetings lawsuit.