Mamma Ilardo

Two years after a yearlong zoning battle over the biggest development in years in the center of Towson, it will be time to go to the movies next week.General Cinema Corp. has announced a May 22 opening date for its eight-screen movie theater at Towson Commons, the $70 million development that will include retail shops and 190,000 square feet of office space."We believe Towson Commons will help revitalize the downtown [Towson] area and will become the focal point for day, evening and weekend activities in Towson," said Lynne Watson, vice president of LaSalle Partners, lead developer of the project.

Taneytown Bank & Trust to acquire Classic MortgageTaneytown Bank & Trust Co. will acquire Classic Mortgage Co. in Columbia on Friday Classic Mortgage, which represents more than 40 investors, will relocate its headquarters to Taneytown Bank's Randallstown office later this year.Horizon Health to open medical facility in AnnapolisEllicott City-based Horizon Health & Rehabilitation will open its sixth outpatient medical rehabilitation facility tomorrow at the Annapolitan Care Center in Annapolis.

Laurel Race Course will be closed for the Christmas holidays until Saturday, but not everyone is taking the week off.Brian Handleman, who operates Laurel-Pimlico's new catering service, and his staff will be working feverishly during the next three or four days.They want to ensure when the track reopens the day after Christmas, fans will notice dramatic changes in the track's food service.Yesterday Handleman outlined some of the culinary transformations he is planning:* In the concession stands, such brand name items as Boardwalk Fries, Mamma Ilardo Pizza and Dunkin Donuts will be available.

Two years after a yearlong zoning battle over the biggest development in years in the center of Towson, it will be time to go to the movies next week.General Cinema Corp. has announced a May 22 opening date for its eight-screen movie theater at Towson Commons, the $70 million development that will include retail shops and 190,000 square feet of office space."We believe Towson Commons will help revitalize the downtown [Towson] area and will become the focal point for day, evening and weekend activities in Towson," said Lynne Watson, vice president of LaSalle Partners, lead developer of the project.

The District Court constable was waiting when John and Barbara Porter came to work yesterday morning. It was 9:27 by the Harborplace clock when he handed them the yellow notice telling them that John's All-American Chicken was history.Four men in suits gathered around Mr. Porter discussing the terms of the eviction as Mrs. Porter -- seething -- loaded up trays of hamburger buns.Outside, the sun shone brightly and the temperature was climbing toward the 70s. It was the kind of day the Porters had been hoping for since fall, when the end of the baseball season ushered in the six-month chill of Harborplace's off-season.

Towson Commons, the retail and office complex built in 1992 to revive the county seat's old business district, is poised to become one of the Baltimore area's major entertainment centers.LaSalle Partners, which manages the 10-story, block-long complex, is negotiating with a franchisee of Dallas-based QZAR to put a 14,000-square-foot, high-tech entertainment center with laser-tag, virtual-reality and video games in the lower level of the building.It also is pursuing a billiards parlor and another entertainment-related business to join eight movie theaters and numerous restaurants and shops already at the complex, local business leaders said.

Hasta la pizza, baby. Here comes The Dominator.Boasting that it has created the biggest, baddest hunka-hunka melted cheese on the market, Domino's Pizza Inc. lurched into the monster pizza wars yesterday with a 30-inch, 30-slice pie in the face of its competitors.Brought to life in Domino's laboratories in Ann Arbor, Mich., The Dominator will grapple with Pizza Hut's Bigfoot and Little Caesar's Big! Big! Pizza for the biggest bite of the market for carry-out pizza with a gland condition.Domino's rectangular Dominator will measure a Schwarzeneggerian 10 inches by 30 inches.

Wings have really taken off at America's fast-food outlets. Spicy chicken wings, that is, those hot and succulent morsels of meat and sauce that first teased the taste buds of patrons of the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, N.Y., some 30 years ago, and today are flying out of fast-food, pizza and carryout places faster than you can say "hot stuff."At Pizza Hut, where the chain's Buffalo wings were introduced only on Feb. 1, about 2.4 million of the succulent little snacks fly out of the ovens every day. "It's a tremendous market," said Pizza Hut spokesman Chris Romoser.

After more than 40 years, the 1950s have ended in Towson.The dowdy county seat, where provincialism has long been a matter of civic pride, has changed in an unmistakable way.New retailers and restaurants are moving in, the sidewalks are no longer rolled up at 5:30 p.m., and if you plan to have dinner on Saturday night you'd better have a reservation or be prepared to cool your heels for an hour or so.Towson -- no kidding, Towson -- is a happening kind of...

Kelly Ripken wasn't going to wait until the last minute to plan for this Hall of Fame weekend. Not with a guest list of 320. Not when the invitees to Cooperstown, N.Y., included folks from John Travolta to Jeff Reboulet. Not with three parties to plan. So she started last fall, months before husband Cal Ripken Jr. even was voted into the Hall of Fame. In a perfect example of the legendary Ripken preparedness, Kelly Ripken traveled to Cooperstown to get a sense of the place, a decision that paid off when the inevitable was announced in January.