Maryland Stadium Authority

Awards Mind Over Machines Inc., a Timonium-based information technology company, received the Blue Ribbon Small Business award from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for its dedication to excellence. Certifications Justin Berk has earned the certified broadcast meteorologist designation from the American Meteorological Society. The Channel 2 weatherman is the first in Baltimore to earn the designation, which was created in 2005. Appointment Paul Tiburzi, managing partner of DLA Piper, was tapped by the Maryland Stadium Authority to lead the Camden Yards Sports and Entertainment Commission, a panel of business and community leaders charged with developing new uses and attracting higher-profile events to the Baltimore facilities.

The issue: The state has scrapped its quest to build an equestrian park in Anne Arundel County amid new, daunting local opposition: a competing bid from the county to turn the former Naval Academy Dairy Farm into a working farm for the public, community gardens and a botanical garden. J. Robert Burk, executive director of the Maryland Horse Industry Board, said the county's move eliminated any chance for the state to muster the necessary political support - specifically from County Executive John R. Leopold - for the estimated $114.

Gov. Martin O'Malley expressed support yesterday for a "living wage" for cleaners at Orioles and Ravens stadiums, just before workers are set to begin a hunger strike Monday to pressure the Maryland Stadium Authority for better pay. O'Malley made his remarks at a news conference to discuss the state's new living-wage law that goes into effective Oct. 1. The law wouldn't cover the temporary workers who are hired to clean the two state-owned stadiums when...

ISSUE: The Maryland Stadium Authority last week recommended demolishing or moving a 19th-century home in downtown Annapolis to make way for an estimated $20 million National Sailing Hall of Fame. Its long-awaited report said that trying to incorporate the modest house, one of the original pieces of the waterfront streetscape and now used as office space for the Department of Natural Resources Police, would be "too challenging." Lee Tawney, executive director of the National Sailing Hall of Fame, said his group is consulting with the Maryland Historical Trust on the best way to move forward on plans to develop the site, while respecting its historic nature.

D.C. United says it welcomes Maryland's interest in becoming the Major League Soccer team's new home but is still weighing its options - including remaining in Washington. The Major League Soccer team was responding yesterday to Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot's proposal that the state consider attracting the franchise from Washington. "D.C. United is most appreciative of the interest expressed by Comptroller Franchot. Certainly, there are many thousands of passionate D.C. United fans in Maryland," the club said in a statement e-mailed to The Sun. "We welcome conversations with any governmental agency in the area, including specifically the Maryland Stadium Authority, that can be helpful to D.C. United in getting a stadium built.

If Sykesville turns vacant old hospital buildings into an employment campus, it will be shielded from the costs by a development authority.The town-appointed panel would insulate Sykesville taxpayers from financial liability and act as developer for the 138-acre Warfield Complex, once part of Springfield Hospital Center."

How Camden Station could have been revitalized years agoI agree with The Sun's editorial "Camden Station's lost decade" (Sept. 11). It's a disgrace that this beautiful structure has sat decaying for so long.As early as 1988, I proposed to Chris Delaport, who then headed the Maryland Stadium Authority, the idea of moving Bo Brooks Restaurant to Camden Station.In April 1994, the Babe Ruth Museum invited me to submit a proposal for a restaurant, as part of a joint venture the museum was putting together.

COLLEGE PARK -- Maryland's endless quest to establish a football presence in Baltimore has received another setback with the absence this fall of a regular-season game at PSINet Stadium.There was a lot of hype last year from Maryland and the Ravens when the Terps and Georgia Tech met Oct. 31 in the first NCAA Division I-A game at the new Ravens stadium, marking Maryland's football return to the city for the first time in seven years.Maryland coach Ron Vanderlinden said last year that playing in Baltimore would be an asset to his program and he hoped it would become an annual ritual.

The HFStival, an annual rock music festival organized by radio station WHFS-FM (99.1), will be held at the Ravens' downtown PSINet Stadium on May 29.The concert was held at RFK Stadium in Washington last year. But the Ravens, acting as stadium managers, outbid RFK and the new Jack Kent Cooke Stadium in Landover for the multi-band show, said David Cope, Ravens vice president of sales and marketing.It will be the first concert held inside the stadium, which opened last summer. It has a removable bank of seats over a concrete pad in one end zone to accommodate concerts.

A number of corporations -- possibly including Enron, a Houston-based energy firm -- appear eager to pay millions for the privilege of putting their name on a proposed arena in which the Maryland Terrapins would play."

Mayor Sheila Dixon has asked the Maryland Stadium Authority to explore the possibility of building a soccer stadium in Baltimore to woo D.C. United, the Major League Soccer franchise in the nation's capital that has said it is looking for a new stadium. The letter, dated last Wednesday and received by the agency Monday, asks the authority to study the potential benefits of building a 17,000- to 20,000-seat stadium that could serve as United's permanent home, as well as host concerts, lacrosse games and other events.

He was the youngest of five boys, his father a high school coach, and by the time he was big and strong enough to run on a field or dribble on a hardwood floor, Terry Hasseltine was taking naturally to two positions that augured his future career: soccer midfielder and basketball point guard. For the uninitiated in the sporting world, those are athletes who aim to keep a clear vision of the field, control the ball as much as possible and get it to the scorers who can do the most damage.

Gov. Martin O'Malley appointed longtime finance executive John Morton III as the new chairman of the Maryland Stadium Authority yesterday, replacing Frederick W. Puddester, who is stepping aside after 16 months. The Authority also announced yesterday that it has hired a new executive director, Michael J. Frenz. Puddester, a former state budget director and current finance official at Johns Hopkins, will remain on the Authority. He said he told O'Malley when he was appointed that he didn't want to remain chairman for the duration of his four-year-term.

A booming crack and a cloud of smoke from a small metallic device caused hundreds to scream, clutch their bodies and quickly head to the exits of M&T Bank Stadium yesterday. Soon, the parking lots outside the stadium were filled with flashing lights from firetrucks as emergency response workers tended to hundreds of disaster drill participants portraying ailing sports fans. The three-hour exercise, "Operation Purple Haze," gave 300 local first-response providers an opportunity to prepare for a terrorist attack involving a simulated nuclear weapon.

Can a women's professional basketball team make it in Baltimore? "Absolutely," said Brenda Frese, coach of the University of Maryland women's basketball team. "Won't happen," said John Moag, former Maryland Stadium Authority chairman. Frese and Moag represent divergent opinions in the wake of Thursday's announcement by Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon that the WNBA has told her a franchise could settle here if the city builds an arena. Get in line, Baltimore. "I'm really encouraged by all of the cities we are currently engaged with that really have serious interest in the WNBA," league president Donna Orender told ESPN on Thursday night.

In an annual ritual of patronage, Gov. Martin O'Malley submitted his "green bag" nominations to the state Senate yesterday, naming 165 people to state boards and commissions. Among the appointments, which are subject to Senate confirmation, are his previously announced choices for the State Board of Education and new members for the University System of Maryland Board of Regents, the Maryland Stadium Authority, the state Port Commission, the Injured Workers' Insurance Fund and other unpaid policymaking and advisory bodies.

ISSUE: The Maryland Stadium Authority last week recommended demolishing or moving a 19th-century home in downtown Annapolis to make way for an estimated $20 million National Sailing Hall of Fame. Its long-awaited report said that trying to incorporate the modest house, one of the original pieces of the waterfront streetscape and now used as office space for the Department of Natural Resources Police, would be "too challenging." Lee Tawney, executive director of the National Sailing Hall of Fame, said his group is consulting with the Maryland Historical Trust on the best way to move forward on plans to develop the site, while respecting its historic nature.

The Maryland Stadium Authority voted yesterday to purchase a $5.2 million video and scoreboard display to replace the failing Sony JumboTron at Camden Yards. Under the agreement, ANC Sports Enterprises and Mitsubishi have guaranteed that the new display will be in place by March 17, two weeks before Opening Day. The video display was the largest part of a $9 million project agreed to by the stadium authority and the Orioles last month. A revamped audio system and a high-definition video control room are the other major parts.

D.C. United says it welcomes Maryland's interest in becoming the Major League Soccer team's new home but is still weighing its options - including remaining in Washington. The Major League Soccer team was responding yesterday to Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot's proposal that the state consider attracting the franchise from Washington. "D.C. United is most appreciative of the interest expressed by Comptroller Franchot. Certainly, there are many thousands of passionate D.C. United fans in Maryland," the club said in a statement e-mailed to The Sun. "We welcome conversations with any governmental agency in the area, including specifically the Maryland Stadium Authority, that can be helpful to D.C. United in getting a stadium built.

In anticipation of a possible vote to remove Alison Asti as executive director of the Maryland Stadium Authority, Asti's attorney released a letter yesterday defending a clause in her contract that would allow her to remain the agency's top attorney. The letter is a response to various potential arguments Asti has heard against the validity of her contract, said Andrew D. Levy of Baltimore's Brown, Goldstein & Levy, LLP. "Because Ms. Asti has not committed any act that provides the board with contractual right to terminate her employment as general counsel and director of development, Ms. Asti expects that the terms of her employment agreement will be honored by the board without the further involvement of legal counsel," Levy wrote in the letter to authority chairman Frederick W. Puddester.