Machines

Mind Over Machines Inc., an Owings Mills-based consulting and information technology firm, announced Thursday it has acquired the assets of technology firm The Seva Group, making the combined company one of the largest IT consulting firms in the mid-Atlantic. Financial terms of the purchase agreement, finalized on Wednesday, were not disclosed. Tom Loveland will remain CEO of Mind Over Machines, which has more than 50 employees, while Chris Long, former president of The Seva Group, will become executive vice president and a shareholder.

A 66-year-old man was seriously injured at the Domino Sugar factory in Baltimore on Sunday afternoon when his right arm was caught in a large piece of machinery, according to the city Fire Department. Emergency personnel responded to the refinery in the 1100 block of Key Highway in Riverside at 2:54 p.m., and began providing medical treatment to the man as workers labored to disassemble the machine and free the man's arm, said Captain Roman Clark, a fire spokesman. "He was stuck there for an hour and 45 minutes," Clark said.

When the biggest rap tour of the season stops by 1st Mariner Arena on Saturday, opening act Machine Gun Kelly will provide a stark contrast to the flashy, dipped-in-gold Maybach Music Group trio of Wale, Meek Mill and headliner Rick Ross. While the MMG clique presents a cool, almost icy demeanor in its songs, the 22-year-old Cleveland rapper, born Richard Colson Baker, takes the opposite approach, fearlessly spitting double-time flows in the face of the audience. When his rapid-fire delivery fails to spark the crowd, MGK keeps a battering ram of a single in his back pocket.

Maryland Live at Arundel Mills mall brought in the overwhelming bulk of the $26.5 million that Maryland's three casinos pushed into the state's treasury during October, the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency announced Wednesday. The Anne Arundel casino, in Hanover, generated $20.5 million for the state last month. The casino operates 4,750 gambling machines. Hollywood Casino Perryville, which is in Cecil County and has 1,500 machines, contributed $3.7 million. The Casino at Ocean Downs, in Worcester County, sent $2.4 million that was made on its 800 machines, the agency said in a statement.

Some of those who came to play at Hot Spot Sweepstakes in Towson on Wednesday afternoon walked away disappointed. Some seemed stunned. Finding the door locked, they peeked into the tinted storefront window to see a dark room and tables and chairs, but none of the computer terminals where some spent hours a week playing a slots game for cash prizes. The game room with 100 computer terminals had been shut down and cleared of all machines earlier in the day by Baltimore County police officers, who hit the location on Goucher Boulevard in Towson and nine other places in the county in a sweep culminating an investigation that began late last year.

This was going to be a rant. Then I thought about it, which was a mistake. As any experienced ranter can tell you, thinking about it has the unfortunate tendency of turning a good, clean rant into a muddy quagmire of fine points, conditional sentences, and digressions as delicately balanced as a Swiss watch. You want to flambe the target of your ire, but you find yourself conscience-bound to admit: Maybe your target has a point. Such was the case last week when California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law legalizing self-driving cars in the Golden State.

David Cordish refused to talk politics Wednesday at a celebration of the now-complete Maryland Live Casino. The casino just added its final complement of slot machines — 1,304 — for a total of 4,750, making it the nation's third-largest commercial casino. Cordish, chairman of the Cordish Cos., which owns and built the three-month-old casino next to Arundel Mills mall, touted the facility as one of the best in the country and said it would be the Mid-Atlantic's dominant gambling parlor for years to come.

At a time when nearly a third of Maryland children between ages 10 and 17 are either overweight or obese, you'd think there'd be a law against selling junk food and sugary drinks on school grounds. Wrong. While many in-school cafeterias in Maryland, including those in Baltimore City, are making a good-faith effort to put more nutritious foods on their menus - more fresh fruits and vegetables, fewer fatty burgers and fries - as long as kids can scarf down the less-healthful alternatives available in vending machines on the premises, the fight against childhood obesity will remain an uphill battle.

The Maryland General Assembly gave final approval to Gov. Martin O'Malley's gambling bill early Wednesday morning, agreeing to allow table games and a sixth casino in the state while also giving new tax breaks to casino owners. Passage came after the House of Delegates amended the legislation to allow veterans' halls in every county except Montgomery to have slots-like machines - a new element in the gambling debate that appeared to be aimed at winning enough votes to pass the governor's bill.

Dissed by major critics at its March 2005 Broadway debut, Joe DiPietro's jukebox Elvis Presley musical "All Shook Up" now qualifies as a hit in Annapolis. The Talent Machine Company cast has energy and youthful enthusiasm combined with vocal and dancing skills to create a show brimming with vitality at St. John's College's Key Auditorium. Invited to choose a show for her Talent Machine Company directorial debut, Vicki Sussman suggested "All Shook Up" for "its great Elvis music, its terrific vocal and dance arrangements, and for the wonderful characters who have great heart," she said.