Mediation

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.

Let's turn to baseball to sum up the Maryland legislative session's impact on consumers: It had a few singles but no home runs. "We made a lot of progress on some really critical issues," says Marceline White, executive director of the Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition. "But there is a lot of work left to do and in some places we had some setbacks. " Last year's legislative session was strong on consumer protections, with Marylanders still reeling from the foreclosure crisis and weak economy, White says.

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.

The Harford County Community Mediation Program recently announced and welcomed its 2011-12 class of new mediators. The program promotes peaceful alternatives to resolving conflicts for the citizens of Harford County. Mediators are volunteers from the community. A group of 20 dedicated volunteers began a basic mediation training class in October 2011 and 12 completed the class to become mediators. They come from diverse backgrounds, but share a common interest in making a difference in their community.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 online portal HOPE LoanPort and GMAC Mortgage have teamed up on a program to allow Maryland homeowners and participating mortgage servicers to exchange documents in foreclosure mediation cases electronically. The statewide program, announced by HOPE LoanPort on Wednesday and scheduled to launch in October, is aimed at streamlining foreclosure mediations. A new state law allows homeowners to request mediation with their lenders before a foreclosure auction can occur. GMAC Mortgage, which is funding the portal's development, is the first mortgage servicer to use the system.

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.

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.

The state is expected to mediate negotiations on a new simulcasting agreement between Rosecroft Raceway and representatives of Maryland's thoroughbred racing. A state law aimed at helping the ailing industry calls for state-led mediation if Rosecroft and the Maryland Jockey Club, along with thoroughbred horse owners and breeders, fail to reach a deal to broadcast thoroughbred races at the Prince George's County harness track by Friday. The parties have not made progress. Eric Schippers, a spokesman for Penn National Gaming, which owns Rosecroft, said Thursday that the company expects the talks to go into 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.

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.

State judges have had the authority to force out-of-court decisions in contested divorces for nearly two years.But until last week, Circuit Court officials relied on an informal network of professional mediators when they forced parties in a divorce hearing to work out custody or visitation disputes on their own.Court Administrator Bobbie L. Erb and an independent group of lawyers and counselors on Friday interviewed eight people interested in serving as...

Rocco Mediate was able to shrug off five bogeys in 12 holes Sunday to win his first PGA Tour title in eight years with a one-shot victory in the Frys.com Open in San Martin, Calif. Mediate briefly surrendered the outright lead before his spectacular finish. The 47-year-old sank an 18-foot birdie putt at the 16th and then holed out from the fairway to eagle the 17th on his way to a 2-over 73. That gave him a 15-under total of 269, one ahead of Bo Van Pelt (71)

Homeowners in danger of foreclosure now have a right to mediation, schools and police can communicate more freely about gang activity, and civil court filing fees increase — all part of the package of more than 150 new state laws that take effect today. Marylanders are unlikely to be affected by most of the changes, which include local liquor board tweaks and a slew of legislative study panels and reports. The new legislation likely to have the broadest impact, the ban on handling cell phones will driving, doesn't take effect until Oct. 1. That's the date when the majority of the laws passed by the General Assembly this year take effect.