Metro Area

From the Real Estate Wonk blog: Here's a snapshot of how the housing market in the Baltimore metro area looked in October: --Home sales dropped 30 percent vs. a year earlier, when buyers were rushing to get the first-time home buyer tax credit --The number of homes changing hands totaled less than 1,600, the smallest amount in the month of October for at least 12 years (that's how far back the records go) --Average prices fell just over 1 percent, to about $272,000 (though remember to take this calculation with a grain of salt)

One too many margaritas isn't hard to manage during Cinco de Mayo. So a number of organizations have teamed up to make sure no one in Baltimore gets behind the wheel with tequila breath that would break a breathalyzer. AAA Mid-Atlantic, the Maryland Department of Transportation and Yellow Cab created "Tipsy? Taxi!" to offer drunken revelers a way to get home without driving. From 4 p.m. Saturday to 4 a.m. Sunday, anyone that calls a certain number to order a cab gets the ride free.

Although it may sound like a desperate -- to a legalistic loophole, a group of major Baltimore businesses wants to improve the region's air quality rating by combining the greater Baltimore and greater Washington areas.Under the broader identity of the combined Washington-Baltimore metropolitan area, officially recognized by the Census Bureau in 1993, the area would have only a "serious" ozone pollution problem, instead of the "severe" ozone problem ascribed to the Baltimore area alone.This downgrading would allow some 2,000 larger Baltimore employers to avoid the difficult and costly task of reducing the number of auto commuter trips made by their employees, a requirement of the federal government under the Clean Air Act for the nation's worst ozone areas.

By several measures, metropolitan Baltimore's economy is doing better than fine. In 2010, median household income was nearly $15,000 higher than the national average, and during the last decade, real incomes grew even as they shrank nationally. Metro employment increased, while it declined across the country, and when the economy went south, the region's unemployment rate remained lower than that of most if its metropolitan peers. But as legitimately rosy as these numbers are, they mask - as averages will do - the steep opportunity challenges facing many of the region's residents.

Newly signed contracts for home purchases plummeted more than 30 percent in May compared with a year earlier in the Baltimore metro area, a worrisome first glimpse at how the housing market is faring without the support of an $8,000 federal tax credit for first-time buyers. Regional housing numbers released Thursday also pointed to other challenges for sellers: Average year-over-year sale prices fell nearly 3 percent, and the number of unsold homes on the market rose to an 18-month high.

The number of workplace deaths in metropolitan Baltimore increased by three last year to 38, with more than a third accounted for by homicides, the U.S. Labor Department said yesterday.All but three of the 14 homicides happened in Baltimore City; the 11 homicides were among 16 total work-related deaths in the city, the report said. All but one of the work-related homicides in ,, the metro area were shootings. Overall there were 325 homicides in Baltimore City last year.Almost half of the metro-Baltimore work deaths last year occurred in the retail trade and construction sectors, the government said.

St. John's Prospect Hall of Frederick, USA Today's No. 1-ranked boys high school basketball team, will be one of eight teams participating in the First National Bank Charm City Classic on Jan. 30-31 at Towson Center.Two metro area schools -- No. 4 Towson Catholic and No. 7 Spalding -- will be playing, both in the Southeast bracket. The Owls will play Strake Jesuit of Houston at 3: 45 p.m. on Jan. 30, while Spalding meets St. Raymond's of New York City.The Northwest bracket will have Prospect Hall facing Newport Prep of Montgomery County, ranked No. 3 in the Washington area and featuring 6-foot-9 guard/forward DeMarr Johnson, considered to be the best junior in the nation.

When people think of Baltimore, things such as the aquarium, Camden Yards, the Ravens, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Chesapeake Bay, blue crabs and perhaps past crime shows immediately come to mind. But I believe we have another asset that is unappreciated and worthy of recognition. The Boston metro area has a thin, green, linear, 1,100-acre open space area consisting of parks, waterways and parkways that, when viewed from the air, resembles an emerald necklace. This feature is difficult for most Bostonians to visualize from ground level but is, nonetheless, a symbol of the area and a source of local pride.

For a Liberty volleyball team that was nearly perfect last fall, opening night this season was anything but. The defending Class 2A state champion Lions touched balls headed out of bounds, made contact on the wrong side of the net and committed error after error. They also did something they did just once in 58 games last season. Lose a game. "Oh, we were so nervous. We made mistakes ... we were terrible," said coach Dave Trumbo, who called a timeout to calm his players. "I said, `Listen, let's just relax.

Sara Gustafson says she doesn't care if she never scores another goal all season, as long as her No. 10 Franklin soccer team keeps winning.But holding the Indians' striker scoreless won't be easy for any opponent. In four games, Gustafson has tallied 14 goals to lead the metro area. She has scored or assisted on all but five of the unbeaten Indians' 21 goals.Although only a sophomore, Gustafson has had more experience than many of her teammates. A second-team All-State pick last year, she started playing at 5, has two years of Olympic Development Program experience and plays for the Columbia Soccer Club's Maryland Majestic, the current state champ.

A much-needed rainfall is expected to intensify throughout the day Sunday in the Baltimore metro area, accumulating up to an inch and a half before dropping off this evening, just as the wind gusts pick up, according to the National Weather Service. "What's causing all this rain is a low-pressure system moving northward along the coast, and as that low-pressure system gets closer, you are going to see an increasing north wind," said meteorologist Carrie Suffern. "By early evening hours, you'll see some gusts around 20 miles per hour or so, maybe even 25. " Winds will lessen during the night, but it will remain "breezy" into Monday, Suffern said.

The notion that poor students are less likely to have access to high-quality educational options isn't new, but a report released today by the Brookings Institution sheds light on a factor that hasn't yet been highlighted as a driver of the achievement gap. The report examined test scores and housing costs in 100 of the largest metropolitan regions in the nation, including the Baltimore-Towson area, and found that  stringent zoning...

Baltimore ranked sixth in a survey of the least-costly U.S. cities in which to do business, tax firm KPMG reported Thursday. KPMG's study — which reviewed 27 large metropolitan regions — examined 26 cost factors in each market, including labor, taxes, real estate and utilities, in 19 industries over a 10-year period. The tax firm cited Baltimore's lowest suburban office lease costs and low property-based taxes as reasons for its high rank. Cincinnati topped the list, followed by Atlanta; Orlando, Fla.; Tampa, Fla.; and Dallas-Fort Worth.

A chance of rain and snow is forecast for the Baltimore metropolitan area Saturday night, but snow was already falling in some parts of the area by late afternoon, according to the U.S. Weather Service in Sterling, Va. Harford and Baltimore counties, as well as areas in the western areas of the state such as Allegany County, were seeing rain turn to snow by 3:15 p.m., according to meteorologist Carrie Suffern. But the accumulation was not expected to amount to more than a half an inch overnight, because the low temperature for the metro area was forecast to be 35 degrees.

Nearly four years ago, Tyrone Lamont Webb Jr. reported his girlfriend missing. This week, a jury convicted the 31-year-old of first-degree murder for shooting her twice in the head. He had been charged in 2009 after the woman's body was found by hunters in the woods in Woodlawn. Mia Nichols, 27, was a mother of three. She had been shot and her body discarded, police said at the time, until her partially clothed skeletal remains were discovered off Dogwood Road near Ridge Road. Nichols had worked for Volunteers of America, where she was last seen on Oct. 28, 2008, nearly a year before her body was found.

When people think of Baltimore, things such as the aquarium, Camden Yards, the Ravens, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Chesapeake Bay, blue crabs and perhaps past crime shows immediately come to mind. But I believe we have another asset that is unappreciated and worthy of recognition. The Boston metro area has a thin, green, linear, 1,100-acre open space area consisting of parks, waterways and parkways that, when viewed from the air, resembles an emerald necklace. This feature is difficult for most Bostonians to visualize from ground level but is, nonetheless, a symbol of the area and a source of local pride.

The first time Chandrea Jones walked onto the court in an Institute of Notre Dame uniform in December, she didn't play like a freshman. She had 29 points and 12 rebounds in a 73-72 overtime loss to Bullis Prep. "I fit in pretty good," said Jones, a versatile 5-foot-8 guard. "At first I was pretty scared, but I got used to my team and we just clicked. I felt pretty confident pretty quickly." Jones now leads the No. 2 Indians in scoring with 18.7 points a game and ranks second in the area's toughest league, the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference.

Oakland Mills senior point guard Joe Kiely knew it was coming, and so far, he's been up to the task. The Scorpions were loaded with returning talent and pegged the decisive favorites to win the Howard County title. Ranked No. 9 in the Metro area, the Scorpions are 14-0 and their fearless point guard is a big reason. In his third season as a starter, Kiely is averaging 8.2 points, 5.7 assists, 4.7 rebounds and 2.8 steals as the team's catalyst. Just as impressive, he has turned the ball over only 21 times as the team's primary ballhandler.

A winter weather advisory remains in effect for the Baltimore area until 1 p.m. Saturday, as rain continues to fall on top of last night's snow, creating an icy mess. The wintry mix left less than an inch of snow around Baltimore City, but higher accumulations in the outer suburbs, according to observations from the National Weather Service, which lists 1.9 inches near Bel Air and 1.4 inches near Laurel. Freezing rain will continue to fall in the morning, changing to rain in the early afternoon, the National Weather Service says.