Mediation

In the spirit of good stewardship of taxpayer dollars I'd like to suggest that Allen Dyer and the other members of the Howard County Board of Education who've been involved in the ongoing disagreements and lawsuits consider taking their issues to the Mediation and Conflict Resolution Center at Howard Community College. This local institution has an outstanding reputation in the state and beyond. It could save money, create opportunities of resolving problems and offer new ways for the parties to work effectively together in the future.

Carol Cooper, of Cockeysville, recently became a member of Adelberg, Rudow, Dorf & Hendler LLC. An ARD&H associate since 2002, Cooper has achieved Martindale-Hubbell's AV Preeminent rating. She was selected twice as a "Rising Star" by Maryland Super Lawyers and named in Washington D.C. & Baltimore's Top Rated Lawyers 2012 Edition. Serving in the firm's family law and litigation practice groups, she represents clients in matters related to divorce, custody, visitation, child support, prenuptial agreements, postnuptial agreements, adoption and other civil litigation.

Gov. Martin O'Malley and Rep. Elijah Cummings on Tuesday urged Maryland lawmakers to adopt a proposal that would require mortgage companies to prove they tried to modify a borrower's loan before filing for foreclosure. The measure would also force companies into court mediation with homeowners who believe they have been wrongly denied loan modification. The Democratic governor said his mediation plan is "designed to put homeowners on equal footing with their housing companies." Despite previous state efforts to slow down the foreclosure process and federal legislation requiring banks to work with homeowners, too many people are being put out of their homes, O'Malley and Cummings, a West Baltimore Democrat, told lawmakers at hearings before the House of Delegates Environmental Matters Committee and Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee.

It began as many confrontations between students do: with a hard stare between two passing strangers, according to Toni Holmes, a senior at an Ellicott City alternative school. One of the girls told a friend, "I don't like her. " Snide remarks about clothing and appearance went back and forth, and then other girls chimed in. Soon, unexplained yet simmering enmity exploded into a series of face-to-face confrontations among about 20 girls at the Homewood Center. Teachers got hurt preventing the arguments from becoming physical, and hallways were often deemed unsafe.

Maryland lawmakers passed a bill Saturday to require mediation between borrowers facing foreclosure and their mortgage lenders. The bill requires an application for loan modification to be sent to all homeowners 45 days before a foreclosure action is filed. It must include information on programs and counseling help. Homeowners also would not give up any rights to challenge the foreclosure when they seek mediation. Lenders would be required to certify that they have completed a loan modification analysis before putting a property up for sale.

The trial date in a five-year-old civil lawsuit claiming bias against Maryland's historically black state colleges and universities has been postponed until December, so the parties can attempt to mediate the case. "The issues at stake in this case are of concern not just to the parties but to the entire community," U.S. District Court Judge Catherine C. Blake wrote in a memorandum opinion issued late last month. "Better results often can be obtained, and can be more quickly obtained, through mediation rather than through trial.

Franklin Lance knows his West Baltimore neighborhood can be great — located near to Druid Hill Park, it's home to the city's biggest shopping mall, a public university, and a network of active churches and community groups. But like so many areas of Baltimore, public safety looms large as an obstacle to growth. So he and his neighbors cheered Monday the announcement that the Greater Mondawmin area has been chosen by the city health department for an expansion of the violence mediation program Safe Streets.

The Mediation and Conflict Resolution Center at Howard Community College is seeking contributions to the Dollar or More campaign during its first annual weekend Oct. 15-17.Donations may be dropped off at all branches of Maryland National Bank during banking hours on Oct. 15 and 16; at any county fire station from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 16; and from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 17 at the Maryland National Bank in The Mall in Columbia.They may also be taken to the HCC cashier's office in the library building.

Steele Stanwick , a Loyola High graduate and the 2011 Tewaaraton Award winner at Virginia, has signed an endorsement deal with Under Armour.  The Baltimore native, now playing for the Ohio Machine of Major League Lacrosse, graduated last spring as the all-time leading scorer (269 points) in Virginia history after three times earning All-America honors and winning the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association's Jack Turnbull Award as the nation's top attackman in 2012 as a senior.  He joins a roster of Under Armour-endorsed lacrosse athletes that includes former Maryland attackman Grant Catalino , who signed last fall.

Maryland labor secretary Alexander Sanchez will begin leading mediation next week on a new simulcasting agreement between Rosecroft Raceway and representatives of Maryland's thoroughbred racing industry. The state-led mediation comes after Penn National Gaming, Rosecroft's owner, and the Maryland Jockey Club, along with thoroughbred owners and breeders, failed to reach a deal Friday. A state law aimed at helping the struggling racing industry called for mediation if an agreement is not struck.

A weekend strike by dockworkers from Maine to Texas was averted Friday after union and management negotiators settled a major sticking point and extended the contract deadline until Feb. 6 to hammer out the rest of a long-term deal. The announcement came from federal mediator George Cohen, who entered talks between the International Longshoremen's Association and the U.S. Maritime Alliance in the fall. "While some significant issues remain in contention, I am cautiously optimistic that they can be resolved," he said.

The International Longshoremen's Association and the U.S. Maritime Alliance have agreed to meet with a federal mediator before the expiration of the contract extension at midnight on Dec. 29. Talks between the union representing nearly 15,000 dockworkers from Maine to Texas and the alliance representing shipping companies and port operators, stalled last week as both sides traded accusations. The union represents about 1,400 Baltimore longshoremen. The major sticking point is a container royalty payment made to the union and its members based on the weight of cargo.

Talks have broken down between the union representing nearly 15,000 East Coast and Gulf longshoremen and the group representing shippers and port operators, with little more than a week to go before their contract expires. Meeting Tuesday in Newark, N.J., with a federal mediator, the United States Maritime Alliance rejected a proposal by the International Longshoremen's Union to extend the talks until Feb. 1. "The ILA wanted to say 'Happy New Year' with a contract extension to Feb. 1, 2013, but United States Maritime Alliance ... answered with a resounding 'Bah Humbug,'" the union said in a statement.

Steele Stanwick , a Loyola High graduate and the 2011 Tewaaraton Award winner at Virginia, has signed an endorsement deal with Under Armour.  The Baltimore native, now playing for the Ohio Machine of Major League Lacrosse, graduated last spring as the all-time leading scorer (269 points) in Virginia history after three times earning All-America honors and winning the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association's Jack Turnbull Award as the nation's top attackman in 2012 as a senior.  He joins a roster of Under Armour-endorsed lacrosse athletes that includes former Maryland attackman Grant Catalino , who signed last fall.

Southwest Airlines and the union representing its 8,500 ground employees have asked the National Mediation Board to jump start contract talks after 14 months of negotiations failed to produce an deal. Transport Workers Union Local 555 called the stalled talks "disappointing," given the fact that the airline posted the highest second-quarter profit in its history. Negotiations began on July 12 last year. "Southwest has proposed changes in our collective bargaining agreement which are concessionary in nature and entirely unacceptable to our members," union president Charles Cerf said in a statement.

Federal mediators will attempt to restart stalled contract talks between the union representing 14,500 East and Gulf coast dockworkers and the group representing their employers in an effort to avert the first strike in 35 years. A strike would clot the shipment of billions of dollars of goods in and out of the eastern United States at the peak of the holiday shipping season, potentially driving up prices and threatening the nation's nascent economic recovery. The dockworkers' current contract expires Oct. 1. Baltimore port officials greeted word of federal mediators' intervention with relief.

LOOKS LIKE a redesign of Maryland's system for compensating the victims of medical mistakes is too ambitious a goal for this rapidly concluding General Assembly session. But the House of Delegates has produced a first step that could save parties in malpractice cases considerable time, grief and expense until more comprehensive reforms are adopted. Legislation overwhelmingly approved by the delegates Monday would require that a good-faith attempt be made to mediate malpractice complaints before they go to trial in hopes that a mutually satisfactory resolution can be reached and a full-blown trial wouldn't be needed.

NEW YORK -- The first day of the baseball strike was not without a few intriguing developments, though neither side reported any progress after a hastily arranged bargaining session yesterday afternoon.The owners still want a salary cap, and they moved to solidify their bargaining stance with a gag rule to quell internal dissent. The players still are rock solid against anything that restricts free agency, but did agree along with management to allow the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service to get involved in the dispute.

Paul A. Dorf, a former state senator and Baltimore City circuit judge who championed the use of arbitration and mediation as alternatives to an overcrowded court system, died of renal cancer Thursday at his home in Harbor Court. He was 86. "Paul brought a very strong spirit of collegiality, high ethical standards, energy and enthusiasm to the practice of law," said Oren D. Saltzman, managing partner of the law firm of Adelberg, Rudow, Dorf & Hendler, LLC, which Judge Dorf joined in 1983 after retiring from the bench.