Maryland Association

The Maryland Bankers Association said yesterday that it has named Kathleen M. Murphy to head the statewide banking trade group.Murphy succeeds John B. Bowers Jr., who led the association for nearly 14 years, and resigned in June to take a job at Bank Compensation Strategies Group, a Minneapolis-based compensation and benefits consulting firm."

Marc Witman and Mary Antoun are giddy about the mountain they have conquered. They are inhaling the rarefied air of success.For Witman, president of the Greater Baltimore Board of Realtors, it was a crusade.For Antoun, executive vice president of the Maryland Association of Realtors, it was the end of 15 years of frustration.For Maryland homeowners with escrow accounts, it means they'll share in a one-time refund totaling nearly half a billion dollars. Yes, that's half a billion. And if they act quickly, they can get the money sooner than later.

MANY organizations sound as if they are doing good. People who give them money want to know they really are.But many nonprofit organizations burst into life on zeal, not sophistication.Enter the Maryland Association of Nonprofit Organizations, with some 915 members statewide.The association has hammered out 55 "Standards for Excellence" in eight categories against which organizations can judge themselves.The standards have to do with defining the mission and making the program effective; board oversight; conflicts of interest; human resource policies; honest and prudent financial management; openness to fund-raising integrity; and public education.

Two top Maryland legislators are proposing a $44 million annual tax break for the state's power companies that would be linked to deregulation of utilities. The state government, counties and rate-payers would share the burden of the tax cut.The legislation, which is expected to be introduced in the General Assembly today, would cost Baltimore City and the nine counties with power plants nearly $15 million a year, according to an analysis prepared by legislative staff members. Anne Arundel and Calvert counties would be hit the hardest.

The Maryland Association of Nonprofit Organizations became the first state organization of its kind yesterday to certify that a select group of its member charities are particularly well-run and worthy of public trust -- stamping each with a newly developed seal of approval.The certification program, called "Standards for Excellence," requires organizations to go through a rigorous application process in which fellow nonprofit executives scrutinize financial records, seek documentation of difficult-to-define results, and examine how much information charities provide to the public.

Banking and financeWalker named assistant VP of the Columbia BankThe Columbia Bank appointed John R. Walker assistant vice president, commercial lending. Operating from the Columbia Town Center branch, he will be responsible for new business development of small- and medium-sized clients. Formerly with American Credit Indemnity, the Columbia resident is a graduate of the University of Maryland and received his graduate degree from the Johns Hopkins University.Peisach selected manager at Key Bank & TrustKey Bank & Trust selected Jeff Peisach as manager, equipment leasing for the Owings Mills-based financial institution's newly formed equipment leasing division.

Members of the Maryland Association of Certified Public Accountants are answering readers' tax questions through April 15.Until May 1998, my primary residence was a home that I own in West Virginia. In May 1998 I moved to a retirement community here in Baltimore where one pays a fully refundable entrance deposit and then a monthly fee. For tax purposes, am I a resident of Maryland via the retirement community or West Virginia, where I own a home?The taxpayer moved in 1998, lives in Maryland and would be considered a resident.

It's income tax season, and again this year The Sun and the Maryland Association of Certified Public Accountants will offer readers help on state and federal income tax returns. Association members, all CPAs, will answer selected questions from readers over the ensuing weeks until the April 15 filing deadline.Readers may submit questions by recording them on Sundial. Please be sure to state your question in full. Selected questions and answers will appear in the Business section of The Sun.Although not required to do so, callers are encouraged to leave their names and phone numbers should questions need to be clarified.

The Maryland Association of Nonprofit Organizations became the first state organization of its kind yesterday to certify that a select group of its member charities are particularly well-run and worthy of public trust -- stamping each with a newly developed seal of approval.The certification program, called "Standards for Excellence," requires organizations to go through a rigorous application process in which fellow nonprofit executives scrutinize financial records, seek documentation of difficult-to-define results, and examine how much information charities provide to the public.

State support for circuit courts still neededThe Sun's support for a greater state role in the funding and management of Maryland's Circuit Courts reflects an appreciation for the inequities that permeate the present system. These inequalities arise out of the differences in wealth and commitment to the courts among the counties and Baltimore City.Since poorer jurisdictions have been unable to fund the Circuit Courts as fully as the wealthier ones have, the caliber of justice Marylanders receive can depend on where their case was filed.

State must spend the stimulus money Maryland is reportedly the wealthiest state in the nation. But underneath the politics and pronouncements that emerge from Annapolis, the public seldom hears that we underfund the well-documented needs of children, seniors, people with disabilities and others ("O'Malley poised to spend $350 million of stimulus on transportation projects," Feb. 18). Public functions are understaffed, from processing unemployment benefits and food stamp applications to child welfare agencies to correctional institutions.

Awards * Bonnie K. Heneson, president of Heneson Communications of Owings Mills, was awarded a Bravo! Women Business Achievement award by Baltimore SmartCEO's. Mergers * Kahn, Berman, Solomon, Taibel & Mogol PA, based in Timonium, announced that it has merged with Larrabee & Associates PA. The newly enlarged firm will operate from offices at 9515 Deereco Road as KBST&M CPA's Organizations * J. MacGregor Tisdale, a senior vice president with SunTrust Bank, was named president of the Maryland chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth.

On July 13, 2008, GEORGE E. SINGER, at home, Silver Spring, MD remembered by Thelma (nee Henry) Singer, his wife of 64 years, daughters Linda, Justina, son-in-law Joe. He was the grandfather of Stephanie and Chad. Also survived by granddaughter-in- law Meridith, great-grandchildren, Ryan, Hadley, Greyson and a large loving family. Attended Maryland School for the Deaf and Galludet, 38 year career with the Washington Post. 64 Year member of Columbia Typographical Union. Member of Washington Post E-Streeters, National and Maryland Association for the Deaf, Frederick School Alumni, National Deaf Fraternity, Masons Lodge and Lions Club.

Nonprofits - especially big ones - are continuing to drive employment growth in Maryland, a new report suggests. Nonprofit employment grew almost three times faster than for-profit employment in 2006, according to a study released yesterday by the Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies and the Maryland Association of Nonprofit Organizations. The charity sector includes small-budget homeless shelters and soup kitchens but is dominated by big anchors like the Johns Hopkins University and the National Aquarium in Baltimore.

6 'green' schools to be honored Six Anne Arundel schools will be honored this week for being "green" schools and integrating lessons about the environment into their daily curriculum. The Arundel schools-five public and one private-are part of a batch of 36 from across the state to be recognized by the Maryland Association for Environmental and Outdoor Education (MAEOE) in an awards ceremony Thursday in Catonsville. Green school award winners for this year are Benfield Elementary, Broadneck High, Chesapeake Bay Middle, Hebron-Harman Elementary, Mayo Elementary and St. Andrew's United Methodist Day School.

The Maryland Chamber of Commerce yesterday joined the coalition of interests that will fight for passage of a November referendum to legalize slot machine gambling in the state. Chamber officials announced yesterday that they would join with the Maryland Association of Counties, the Maryland State Teachers Association, several labor unions and the racing industry as part of the For Maryland, For Our Future ballot committee, which is pushing the referendum. "As Maryland's leading statewide business advocacy organization, the Maryland Chamber supports passage of the slots referendum as a reasonable alternative to tax increases," Maryland Chamber Chairman Betty Buck, president of Buck Distributing Co. Inc., said in a written statement.

After a national search, the Maryland Hospital Association found its new president in Davidsonville. She's Carmela Coyle, currently a senior vice president for policy at the American Hospital Association (AHA). Coyle will become president and chief executive officer of the Maryland association July 1. She will be just the third chief in the association's four-decade history: Founding President Richard J. Davidson had a 22-year tenure before leaving to head the AHA. Calvin Pierson, who has been president for 16 years, announced in October that he would retire in July.

Reuben Shiling, an attorney who practiced law until the day he died, suffered a fatal heart attack Thursday at Union Memorial Hospital. He was 91 and lived in Guilford. Born in Baltimore and raised on West Lexington Street, he was a 1931 graduate of City College, where he earned a diploma at age 15. He then enrolled at the Johns Hopkins University, but left school when his father died. He returned to Hopkins and earned a bachelor's degree in 1937. Mr. Shiling earned a law degree at the University of Maryland School of Law in 1940.

CAMBRIDGE -- Gov. Martin O'Malley played down the prospect of more major slashes in "big-ticket" public programs, saying last night that the next round of spending cuts required to balance the state budget will probably come from finding "efficiencies" in an array of government operations. "I think we're going to be sore-pressed to find one or two cuts that add up to $200 million," said O'Malley, a Democrat, after speaking to local elected officials and government workers at the Maryland Association of Counties winter conference.

Hoping to dodge major revenue losses, local government officials across Maryland struggled this week to keep track of the fast-changing General Assembly special session called to address the state's budget deficit. Although the full impact might not be clear until the regular, 90-day session votes next year on Gov. Martin O'Malley's budget for the 2009 fiscal year, some local officials are worried about potentially significant reductions in school funding, local income-tax revenues and money for road repairs.