Hunt Valley

On October 1, 2005, SCOTT JOSEPH WHITMAN, SR.; beloved husband of Linda A. Whitman (nee Rubertone); devoted father of Scott Joseph Whitman, Jr. and Kerilyn Rose Whitman; dear brother of Margaret Ann Purcell, Brian P. Whitman and twin Stephen Charles Whitman; loving son of Arthur J. and Anna May Whitman. Friends may call at the family owned Ruck Towson Funeral Home, Inc., 1050 York Road (beltway exit 26A) on Tuesday 4 to 7 P.M. Additional viewing and service will be held in Belleville, NJ. Interment in Hersey, PA. In lieu of flowers contributions may be made to American Fund, c/o Scott and Kerilyn Whitman, Hunt Valley Golf Club, P.O. Box 424, Hunt Valley, MD 21030.

Hunt Valley-based Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. said Thursday it has closed on the planned purchase of four television stations owned by Cox Media Group for $99 million in cash. The broadcaster also priced its previously announced offering of Class A stock at $27.25 per share and said it is offering 18 million shares. The offering, to raise money for pending and future potential acquisitions, is expected to close May 7. The Cox deal is one of three acquisitions the television station owner and operator announced in the past two months.

Baltimore County police have two people Thursday in custody following an armed robbery in Hunt Valley. Police were called about 1:30 p.m. to the Alpha Gold Exchange in the 10800 block of York Road in response to a robbery. The suspects were arrested shortly thereafter, police said. Investigators remained on the scene interviewing witnesses throughout the afternoon. The suspects were expected to have a bail hearing late Thursday, police said. Mary.gail.hare@baltsun.com Text NEWS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun local news text alerts

Hunt Valley-based Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. reported a 42 percent drop in profit for the first quarter, as operating and interest costs rose and revenue increased but fell short of analysts' expectations. The television station owner and operator said Monday that its income fell to $17 million, or 21 cents per common share, from $29.4 million, or 36 cents per share, during the three months that ended March 31. Its earnings did beat Wall Street's expectations of 17 cents per share, yet its stock fell Monday, closing at $26.69 per share, down 2.9 percent.

A body was found in a burned car near Hunt Valley Thursday morning, according to Baltimore County Police. The 2010 Toyota Camry went across the front yard of a house in the 1300 block of Phoenix Road in Phoenix, went down a slope, crashed into a tree and eventually burst into flames shortly before 9:30 a.m., said Cpl. George Erhardt. Police did not identify the victim, believed to be a woman, Erhardt said. Crash, arson and homicide teams are investigating the incident.

A health-management company is closing a Hunt Valley facility and laying off nearly 100 employees over the next three months, state regulators said Thursday. Nationwide Better Health, a division of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. that is being partly sold off and partly closed down, warned the state Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation that 96 workers would be laid off in three waves starting Aug. 29 and ending Oct. 28. A Nationwide Mutual spokeswoman said employees at the Hunt Valley location work in the fields of health management and medical utilization management.

Nalley Fresh has become a neighborhood favorite for the downtown office crowd, who line up to create their own rice bowls ($5.75), burrito wraps ($7.50) and salads ($8.30). Those prices include the addition of a basic protein, vegetables, homemade dressings and cheeses. You pick them out, and a counter crew prepares it. Lunch for $10 or less: Nalley Fresh Sound easy? It's not. Well, not the first time. The interface at Nalley Fresh can be confusing. You can add eight toppings to a salad, but it's hard to see all of your options before you start picking them out. It's really only a problem on your first visit, and the Nalley gang has learned to look out for customers with that deer-in-the-headlights stare - “First time?

AAI Corp., the Hunt Valley company known for its Shadow spy plane, said Tuesday that it is laying off 184 workers from its Baltimore County location. Workers were to be notified Tuesday. Before the layoffs, AAI employed more than 1,600 workers in Maryland. Meanwhile, Maryland's unemployment rate fell in December to 6.7 percent, the lowest since February 2009, the U.S. Labor Department reported Tuesday. The state added 3,100 jobs last month. Sharon Corona, AAI's director of external communications, said the job cuts affect workers at all levels and that those positions were being eliminated so that the company can be as "cost competitive as we can possibly be. " The move comes as the defense contracting dollars from the federal government are expected to dwindle.

While her classmates focused on finals in histology and gum disease, Kristyna Partain had to add another question to the mix: Did the dental hygiene student want to consider having children? Not now, but in the future. "At 19, I didn't think about having children, but I had to think about it," she said. As a student in the University of Maryland's dental hygiene program, she hadn't thought about having breast cancer , either. If she wanted to save her eggs, she had to do it in the brief window after the lumpectomy and before chemotherapy.

About 450 treasure hunters turned up to toast the 29th annual Hunt Valley Antiques Show and to get the first look at this year's cache of collectibles at the show's preview party.Show committee chair Heather Noy and vice chair Anne Kellerman were on hand. So was interna-tionally renowned interior designer Alexandra Stoddard, a guest lecturer at the show, which raises more than $50,000 each year for Family and Children's Services of Central Maryland.Among the preview's most dramatic finds was actor Barry Nelson.

It took almost 56 years, but I've finally mastered my table manners, and in the process learned something about the curious and controversial history of the fork. And all it took was two hours of bearing up under Carol Haislip's patrician gaze as she waved the silver instrument of torture with the twisted prong known as a "butter pick" through the air, perilously close to my throat. Possibly, the danger was all in my mind. It's true that I lack the higher, lower and intermediate social graces - I am a child of the lawless '70s, after all. And it's equally true that I had never fully grasped silverware's potential for inflicting bodily harm until I attended "Fish Forks and Finger Bowls," a seminar that teaches table manners to adults.

Mark D. Sokolik, a corporate lawyer remembered as a fitness and music enthusiast, died last week after complications from a fall. He was 30. A former Hunt Valley resident who attended Loyola Blakefield in Towson, Mr. Sokolik went on to graduate from the University of Baltimore and become a top student at Georgetown University's Law Center. Since 2010, he had worked as a corporate attorney at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in New York, one of the nation's top law firms. "Mark was a real gentle person," said Frank Sokolik, his father, whom Mark talked with constantly on the phone.

When Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. completes three deals announced in the past two months, it will own more television stations across the country than any other company. The Hunt Valley company will operate 134 stations in 69 markets, reaching more than a third of all U.S. homes with televisions. It will have more than doubled in size in about two years, and that's presuming it doesn't broker any more acquisitions. It still won't own stations in megamarkets such as New York or Los Angeles, but that's part of its strategy.

Two officers have been given awards for valor by the Baltimore County Police Foundation for their role in an incident in which one shot and killed a Texas man allegedly involved in a Dundalk burglary. North Point Precinct officers Jacob T. Heins, a 12-year veteran, and Phillip G. Twisdale, with six years on the force, have returned to their jobs after county prosecutors declined to charge them in the incident that killed 22-year-old Joshua Michael Lopez. Both were hailed at an awards dinner in Hunt Valley "for their bravery and heroism during a life or death struggle," according to the program of the Tuesday event held by the foundation.

Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc.'s shopping spree continued Thursday with the announcement of a $373.3 million deal that extends its television reach to a third of U.S. viewing households. Sinclair will gain 20 additional stations in eight markets by acquiring Seattle-based Fisher Communications Inc. The purchase extends Sinclair's push into new areas, giving the Hunt Valley television station owner access to key markets such as Seattle and Portland, Sinclair CEO David Smith said.

With its Page 3 headline in the Real Estate Section about the sale of retired Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis' Florida home, The Sun continues to laud a professional athlete who leaves damaged business owners in his wake ("Live like Ray? It'll cost about $5 million," March 17)? Mr. Lewis' failed MVP Lanes in Hunt Valley got him favorable coverage in the paper twice, while contractors were so damaged that the proceeds from the sale of his home may not even cover their losses. Dennis R. McCartney, Dundalk Text NEWS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun local news text alerts

Bank of America warned state regulators Friday that it expects to lay off 55 employees in Baltimore County. The company said the cuts at its McCormick Road location in Hunt Valley, where employees process customer transactions, would run from Nov. 30 through Jan. 31. Workers could be eligible for severance pay and assistance finding a new job, the bank said. "We continually evaluate our operations and look for ways to better deliver for our customer/clients," Nicole Nastacie, a Bank of America spokeswoman, said by email.

Epic Games Inc., a North Carolina-based video game manufacturer, closed its office in Baltimore County last month, laying off 40 employees, Maryland's Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation said Thursday. Epic announced in August it was opening Impossible Studios in Hunt Valley, hiring 36 employees, some of whom had lost their jobs months earlier at Big Huge Games of Timonium. Big Huge closed in May after its parent company, 38 Studios, abruptly shut down because of financial problems.

We knew these were coming, but they managed to open without our noticing. We need some new scouts. Stone Mill Bakery opened a second cafe a few months ago in the Stevenson Village Shopping Center. It operates much like the one in Green Spring Station , except there's no dinner service and none planned for now. Ordering is done at a counter, but the food is delivered to the table. The cafe is open 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. And last month, Greg Nalley opened his second Nalley Fresh location on Schilling Circle in Hunt Valley.