Mercantile Bank

Police Blotter is a sampling of crimes in Baltimore City and Baltimore County.Central DistrictAssault: A man stabbed a 20-year-old patron of the Plaza Bar in the 400 block of E. Baltimore St. in the back Monday with a syringe. The woman was treated at Mercy Medical Center.Southern DistrictRobbery: A man was riding his mountain bike in the 3400 block of S. Hanover St. about 5 p.m. Tuesday when he was shoved to the ground by another man who stole the bike, valued at $100, and the victim's wallet containing a small sum of cash.

Police Blotter is a sampling of crimes in Baltimore City and Baltimore County.Central DistrictAssault: A man stabbed a 20-year-old patron of the Plaza Bar in the 400 block of E. Baltimore St. her in the back Monday with a syringe. The woman was treated at Mercy Medical Center.Theft: A lap-top computer valued at more than $2,500 was stolen Tuesday from Maryland Institute, College of Art in the 1300 block of W. Mount Royal Ave.Southern DistrictRobbery: A man was riding his mountain bike in the 3400 block of S. Hanover St. about 5 p.m. Tuesday when he was shoved to the ground by another man who stole the bike, valued at $100, and the victim's wallet containing a small sum of cash.

New positionsTNT Logistics appoints Wade to technology postTNT Logistics, an Australian-based transport services company with U.S. headquarters in Linthicum, has appointed Fred K. Wade director of information services. He will have management and oversight responsibility for the firm's technology group.A University of Maryland graduate, he holds a master's degree in technology management.McKenzie is sales chief at Play N' LearnPlay N' Learn, a playground equipment and specialty toy company based in Columbia, named I. Gordon McKenzie as its general sales manager.

As V-hour approached, an odd silence fell across the country. No matter how far away you were -- in a hospital waiting room in Baltimore, on a train speeding to New York, at a bait shop in the Outer Banks -- you could hear the papery rustle of an envelope being opened in a courtroom in Los Angeles."

Monarch Avalon Inc. reported one of its biggest quarterly losses ever yesterday, saying that the increased expense of selling games, rising paper costs and the start-up of a new girls' magazine were a drain on the company.The Baltimore-based maker of board and computer games such as Diplomacy, Kingmaker and Gettysburg said it lost $616,000 in the three months that ended April 30, more than 10 times its $61,000 loss in the same period of 1994.At the same time, booming sales of recently introduced computer games pushed revenues for the quarter up $200,000 to $1.7 million.

Carl Nobile was tired of being a cog in the machine of big business."I felt frustrated by the lack of quality control," said the former bank trust officer for Mercantile Bank & Trust. "I had so much responsibility and so little control."So, in 1990, the Westminster resident left the world of high finance and took control of his destiny. Four days a week, he gives haircuts, consultations and colorings at Cal Bloom's barber shop on Main Street in Westminster."I love this work," said Mr. Nobile, 35. "Now, I have lots of responsibility and lots of control.

Thirty Baltimore banks have been robbed in 1993, five times more than at this time in 1992, police said.The latest robbery occurred at 10:30 a.m. yesterday at the Mercantile Bank & Trust in the 200 block of E. Redwood Street, police said.The robber, a man about 20 to 25 years old, approached a teller, opened his long brown coat revealing a handgun in his waistband and said, "Give me all your money."The teller handed the man an undisclosed amount of money, which he stuffed into a small black bag he had with him and fled, police said.

Different Looks, a Pennsylvania-based distributor of ribbons, bows, wrapping paper and gift bags, has decided to relocate to the Baltimore area, opening a headquarters in White Marsh and a warehouse distribution center near the city's port.The company, a subsidiary of Pennsylvania-based Berwick Industries, has leased 7,000 square feet of space in White Marsh next to White Marsh Mall for a headquarters and showroom.The company has leased an additional 75,000 square feet of warehouse distribution space at the Point Breeze Business Center in East Baltimore, near the Seagirt Marine Terminal.

Although the worst seems to be over for the region's economy, a look at second-quarter earnings reports of the area's major companies supports the notion that any recovery is modest at best. With a few exceptions, Maryland's corporate mainstays didn't do much differently in the second quarter than in the first, which was not exactly a stellar period, either.Area firms apparently have lots of company, too. Although Wall Street has reportedly liked second-quarter results, a Wall Street Journal review of corporate performance nationally found profits off 25 percent from last year.

The war of words at Baltimore Bancorp escalated in a very public way yesterday.Wracked by a power struggle between management and a group of dissident shareholders, Baltimore Bancorp put it's side of the story in The Sun, The Evening Sun and the Daily Record. In an ad addressed to shareholders, the firm attacked the credentials and abilities of the 16 shareholders trying to wrest control from Chief Executive Officer Harry L. Robinson and his board.The insurgents, who claim that Baltimore Bancorp is TC mismanaged and a chronic underperformer, are led by Edwin F. Hale Sr., the owner of Baltimore-based trucking and shipping companies.

When Jan Darrah chose a place to do her banking about 10 years ago, she picked Provident Bank because it was small and was based right here in town. "I like to do my business locally as much as possible," the Butchers Hill art teacher said, "because I like to give my money to local business people." Yesterday, however, she learned that her bank is no longer as small or as local, after Buffalo, N.Y.-based M&T Bank Corp. agreed to purchase Provident Bankshares Corp., the largest remaining Baltimore-based banking company, in a deal worth $401 million.

Lois K. Pilla, a former bank employee and longtime Homeland resident, died of breast cancer Sept. 8 at Gilchrist Hospice Care. She was 65. Lois K. Yates was born in Philadelphia and raised in Merion, Pa. After graduating from Harriton High School, she earned a bachelor's degree in English from Cedar Crest College in Allentown, Pa. After her 1965 marriage to Kenneth J. Pilla, an attorney, the couple settled in Homeland. Mrs. Pilla worked as a credit investigator for Household Finance and later was a sales associate at Hess Shoes.

A former Westminster bank teller pleaded guilty yesterday to embezzling between $400,000 and $1 million from her bank over nine years and using the money to buy a Hummer, a Corvette and snowmobiles, according to the Maryland U.S. attorney's office. Karen L. Baer, 46, admitted committing bank fraud and faces a maximum prison sentence of 30 years and a $1 million fine, federal prosecutors said. She is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 3 in U.S. District Court in Baltimore. Prosecutors said Baer worked as a teller from 1998 to Oct. 25 last year, when she was fired.

Two office towers in the heart of downtown Baltimore's business district have been sold for $78.9 million, handing a Norfolk, Va., investment group an $11 million profit in less than three years. Harbor Group International LLC said yesterday that it sold the Mercantile Bank and Trust Building, a 21-story tower at 2 Hopkins Plaza, and the 16-story W. R. Grace Building, at 10 E. Baltimore St., to USA Realty Fund. Harbor Group International bought the buildings, just a block apart, in 2004, paying $67.6 million - $51.2 million for the Mercantile building and $16.4 million for the W.R. Grace building at Baltimore and Charles streets.

Frederick J. Davis Sr., a retired banker who enjoyed winemaking and woodworking, died Friday of complications from a broken hip at his Bel Air home. He was 93. Mr. Davis was born in Baltimore and raised on East 28th Street and in Hamilton. He attended City College until leaving to help support his family during the Depression. He began his banking career in 1929 as a runner for Mercantile Bank & Trust Co., and later rose to teller and loan officer. In 1942, he enlisted in the Navy and served as a chief in naval communications in Washington and Hawaii.

Morton B. "Sonny" Plant, a retired metal recycling executive and philanthropist, died Wednesday from head injuries after falling on stairs at a friend's home in Baltimore. The lifelong city resident was 70. Mr. Plant, who preferred using his childhood nickname, started his career in the scrap metal industry at H. Klaff and Co. in Baltimore, his family's business. He retired in 1998 as chairman of the board of Keywell Corp. During his career, he served as president of the Institute of Scrap Iron and Steel, the industry's trade organization, which two years ago gave him its lifetime achievement award.

A car driven by an 89-year-old man jumped the curb outside Mercantile Bank & Trust in Roland Park yesterday, injuring a security guard and causing minor damage to the building, police and a bank official said. Gary Williams, an employee of Abacus Security Services, was outside the bank in the 5100 block of Roland Ave. shortly before noon when a 2003 Honda Accord driven by Jacob Radin jumped the curb, and struck and ran over him, according to a police report. Police Sgt. Wanda Campbell said Radin, of the 3000 block of Fallstaff Road, intended to drive forward but put his car in reverse instead and lost control of it. Police said Williams sustained cuts to his face and head and was in good condition at Sinai Hospital.

City firefighter killed A veteran Baltimore firefighter responding to a rowhouse blaze was killed in a flashover - a phenomenon that occurs when a fire gets so hot that nearby items burst into flame. Allan M. Roberts, 40, a father of four, was the first city firefighter in 11 years to die battling a blaze. Officer convicted in Smoot case A former correctional officer was convicted of second-degree murder in a stomping death at the city jail. Jurors deliberated for five days before convicting Dameon C. Woods of killing Raymond K. Smoot, 51, in 2005.

BUSINESS +DOW+7.60 11,857.81 +NASDAQ+11.78 2,311.77 +S&P+1.08 1,350.66 +SUN INDEX+2.94 346.71NATIONAL House steps up scandal inquiry The House Ethics Committee is ramping up its investigation into a sex scandal that has roiled the Republican-controlled Congress, with the first witnesses coming to an otherwise quiet Capitol to testify this week behind closed doors on what they knew, and when, about ex-Rep. Mark Foley's contacts with male pages. pg 3A Bush steers through test fallout North Korea's claim to have tested a nuclear weapon offered a new opportunity for President Bush to turn public attention from domestic scandals to foreign threats, analysts said, but it also prompted fresh criticism of Bush's policy toward the Pyongyang regime.

Underprivileged youths have been able to attend camps in Harford and Cecil counties. My Sister's Place, a day program for homeless women and their children in Baltimore, has been given money for an expansion. And for the past 25 years, students from the middle Eastern Shore have received $7,000 scholarships to attend Washington College in Chestertown. Since 1981, Baltimore-based Mercantile Bank & Trust has donated more than $27 million to local organizations through its charitable arm, the Mercantile Trust, in partnership with the Baltimore Community Foundation.