Implementation

Legg Mason's stock rose nearly 7.5 percent Wednesday on news that the company will pay off $1.25 billion in senior notes held by private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. to reduce its outstanding debt. Its shares gained $1.67 to close at $24.05 each. Under the terms of the repurchase, the Baltimore money manager said it will take a $70 million to $80 million noncash charge in its fiscal first quarter. The move would reduce the company's debt by a net $350 million, Legg said.

One hundred Baltimore city teachers have been labeled "model teachers" under the new Baltimore Teachers Union contract, the city school system announced last week, marking a milestone in the slow-paced implementation of the pact ratified in fall 2010. The teachers, who have undergone a grueling application process since last year, will receive a hefty pay increase of between $15,000 and $20,000 under the new contract, which is designed around pay-for-performance and a new career ladder.  The pinnacle of the career ladder is to become a "lead" teacher, and the contract stipulates that there will be only one in every school.

The Anne Arundel County teachers union is criticizing the school system's decision to allow some schools to set their own minimum benchmarks for grades, saying that the practice may undermine countywide standards of excellence. School officials said that some schools have implemented a grade minimum — in some cases, 50 percent — for students who complete assignments or exams and show effort. The changes come as the school system has moved away from letter grades at the end of marking periods.

The City Council's finance committee chairman threatened Thursday to impose a moratorium on tax breaks for developers until City Hall implements more transparency in the process and funds more projects outside of downtown. Carl Stokes, who chairs the Taxation, Finance and Economic Development Committee, said he wants to see City Hall implement nearly a dozen recommendations from a task force composed of some of Baltimore's best-known business and political leaders before he would allow any more PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes)

Baltimore will continue to offer free curbside bulk trash collection through June 30, 2012, the Department of Public Works confirmed Friday. The city's tight budget led DPW to review whether a fee should be charged for bulk trash pickup during this fiscal year. In mid-October, DPW spokeswoman Celeste Amato said that a fee would be unlikely before fiscal 2012. Baltimore residents will receive notice of any changes in bulk trash service, DPW said. To schedule bulk pickup, residents should call 311 at least three days prior to their neighborhood's regular bulk collection day. No more than three items will be collected for a single residence.

In the hopes of eventually applying its arts initiative throughout the school system, Anne Arundel County has hired what officials say is one of the first arts integration specialists in the state. The approach, which applies arts-related teaching to all subjects, is in its third year. Susan Riley, who launched the program at Thunder Hill Elementary School in Howard County, became the arts integration specialist this school year. She said that this year, Anne Arundel County's five elementary schools that offer arts integration — Arnold, Crofton Woods, Germantown, Lake Shore and Riviera Beach — will focus heavily on its math component.

Nearly a year after voters approved changes to the way Baltimore County resolves labor disputes with many of its public employees, the county remains at odds with unions over how and when those changes will be carried out. County Executive Kevin Kamenetz has proposed a measure that his administration says would put voters' wishes into law at a reasonable cost to taxpayers. But labor leaders say it does not give workers the rights that they should have under last year's referendum.

BRAC is here, just about. Sept. 15 is the federal government's deadline for its implementation at Aberdeen Proving Ground. A week before that deadline, on Sept. 7, Harford County Executive David R. Craig, along with representatives from Harford County Government as well as ranking officials from the U. S. Army and Aberdeen Proving Ground, will host the final BRAC Town Hall. This final meeting will include an update regarding milestones achieved, teaming efforts as well as future outlook and potential federal impact moving forward.

A pilot program under way in Northeast Baltimore could pave the way for city residents to begin filing police reports over the phone. Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said police are trying to address a high volume of 911 calls in that district by rolling out a program in which residents can report nonviolent, nonurgent crimes over the phone on the 4 p.m.-to-midnight shift. The program has allowed the Police Department to put four more officers — who can respond to more serious calls — back on the streets during those hours.

County Executive Ken Ulman's plan to ban smoking in county parks might seem like overkill, but there are practical reasons for it beyond the debatable effects of secondhand smoke in the great outdoors. Many smokers feel as if they're a persecuted minority as the places where they may practice their habit vanish one by one. First offices and stores became no-smoking zones, then restaurants, then bars. Those locales, though, are all enclosed spaces, and smoking in them presents real and measurable health implications even for those who aren't smoking.