Money

If you're a big fan, you already knew what was coming in the season finale. But it didn't make it any easier -- or less heartbreaking -- to watch. The majority of the Season 3 "Downton" finale, or the "Christmas special" as its called in the U.K., took place in Scotland, where the whole family (minus Branson) visits the Highlands home of the Dowager's niece, Susan, and her husband, Shrimpy. Most of the trip included bagpipes, hunting, more bagpipes and Scottish reel dancing. But more on that later (and more on O'Brien meeting her Scottish lady's maid doppelganger)

In reading the article ("CA explores heated pool open year-round," June 6) on the possibility of turning the Dorsey Hall pool into a heated year-round pool, my memory was jarred. CA currently has two heated outdoor pools, Stevens Forest and Swansfield. Wouldn't making necessary adjustments to either of those pools be more fiscally responsible than reconfiguring a third? Just a thought. Sue Heyman Columbia

Greg Cantori plans to downsize when he retires. Really, really downsize. His retirement home is 238 square feet - one-tenth the size of the average new American house - and sits in his Anne Arundel County yard. He and wife Renee can hitch it to a truck and take it with them wherever they go. "It's so cheap - that's what's so cool about this," said Cantori, 52, who envisions a surf-and-turf future, alternating between the house and a sailboat. "We bought the house for $19,000.

The compensation of Legg Mason Inc.'s CEO and chief financial officer more than doubled over the year that ended March 31, according to a proxy statement filed Wednesday with regulators. CEO Joseph A. Sullivan, who took the helm of the Baltimore-based money manager in February, saw his total compensation for the fiscal year rise to $7.29 million, up from nearly $3.23 million the prior year. This includes a $425,000 salary, a $2.7 million cash bonus and $3.77 million in stock awards.

Researchers hailed the Supreme Court ruling Wednesday that bans the patenting of human DNA, saying it would expand access to genetic testing for disease at lower cost to patients. In a unanimous decision, the justices said Myriad Genetics did not have exclusive rights to the BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 genes that are linked to significantly greater risk for breast cancer and thus should not be the only company allowed to test for it. "Myriad did not create anything," Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for his fellow justices.

On Thursday, the day the Supreme Court upheld Obamacare, a 47-year-old Baltimore woman went to the drugstore, and pulled out her debit card to pay for a prescription refill. But she didn't have enough money in the account to cover the $425 charge. So she asked the pharmacist and staff for a favor. "I asked them to break up the prescription to give me one-third," says the woman, who would not allow her name to be published because she didn't want to disclose her medical conditions.

Roberto Pagan-Franco didn't have a bank account for decades. His employer paid him in cash or with a check that the Baltimore resident took to a check-cashing store. A few years ago he lost his job after a severe illness and for a time was homeless. Not exactly the type of customer you'd expect a big bank to court. But Pagan-Franco enrolled in a PNC Bank program that targets consumers who otherwise might be shut out of the banking system. And today, the 54-year-old has checking and savings accounts at PNC and is in the process of getting a credit card.

April 1 is the official start to the blue crab harvest in Maryland. But don't reach for your mallet just yet. "It's not time for crabs," said Jessica Borowski, a manager at Midtown BBQ and Brew. "It's too cold out. " The crabs seem to agree. The Chesapeake Bay's water temperature hasn't risen enough for the crabs to become active - and catchable. Consumers set on Maryland crabs will see limited availability for now - and prices to match. Prices for Chesapeake Bay crabs are typically high at the start of the season, and people who want them in April will have to pay even more than usual.

Editor: I am sick and tired of the continuing myth implied in Allan Vought's column ( Most Underpaid People in the World? published in The Aegis Feb. 17), namely that teachers only work 10 months a year with summers off and are therefore are not underpaid. My husband and I are both retired public school educators (34-plus years and 37-plus years, respectively). If we weren't taking courses in the summer to get advanced degrees or to maintain our certification, one or both of us were working "summer jobs" to assure that the bills got paid and that no one in the family starved.

After reading Kathleen Hetherington's letter ("Pension shift would hurt community colleges," March 6), I can offer a few suggestions. What about getting involved with the exorbitant cost of textbooks as a result of collusion between the schools and the publishing industry. Schools might ensure that the same text isn't just rearranged and considered a new book, and whether required books are even going to be used in the actual classes. If the publisher won't lower the prices, maybe college could put it out for bid outside of the "good 'ol boy network.

Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger has a lot on his mind. As the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, he's had to defend the secret domestic surveillance program revealed to British Newspaper The Guardian by a former Maryland resident . And he's considering a run for governor . But on Thursday, he'll take time out for an event that, according to his news release, combines two "life-long passions: serving our troops and...

A Morgan State University professor accused of defrauding the National Science Foundation also paid out Department of Defense grant money to students in exchange for kickbacks, federal prosecutors allege in a court filing. Manoj Kumar Jha, director of the university's Center for Advanced Transportation and Infrastructure Engineering Research, handed stipend checks to students at the university, the document said, but demanded they pay part of the money back to him. The students were not asked to do any research in return, prosecutors wrote.

The Anne Arundel County Council vote this week to trim $5 million from the school's capital budget has led school officials to allege that the cut was retaliation for a squabble last year. On Wednesday, after the school board reviewed more than three dozen projects in jeopardy because of the cuts, Superintendent Kevin Maxwell said the board now has "the most contentious relationship we've had with the council. " "How we're going to work together going forward is as much a question as where we are now," Maxwell said.

Hampton "Skip" Auld does not mince words when he talks about the struggles of Anne Arundel County's library system the past few years. "We were devastated," the library director says. "We were on the ropes. " Years of government cuts during an economic downturn took its toll on the libraries. There was less money to buy new books, audio books and DVDs. Magazine subscriptions were canceled. Sunday hours were cut. Employees had no raises. During those years, Auld spearheaded a cheery but relentless campaign on the library's behalf.

T. Rowe Price said it was selling its bank to New York financier Jacob M. Safra for about $24 million in light of new banking regulations that would limit other aspects of the Baltimore-based money manager's business. The bank was launched in 2000 as an additional service to clients and had $149.5 million in assets invested in certificates of deposit at the end of March, said spokesman Brian Lewbart. New banking regulations, though, would restrict other aspects of the company's operations, such as limiting Price's ability to provide seed money to some overseas investment vehicles, he said.

Baltimore's two major mutual fund companies have joined a small but growing number of investment firms offering ultrashort-term bond funds, which may become an alternative to the traditional money market fund. The T. Rowe Price Ultra Short-Term Bond Fund launched in December and has $175 million in assets. Legg Mason Inc.'s California subsidiary this month filed to register the Western Asset Ultra Short Obligations Fund with regulators. There are now close to 50 ultrashort bond funds, with seven of them introduced last year, according to Morningstar Inc., which tracks funds.

Over and over again, we see that elections are ultimately not really about the issues or leadership qualities. They're about money. Whoever has the most money bribes, er, wins over the voters ("Ehrlich leads in donors; O'Malley leads in cash" and "Bernstein outpaces Jessamy in funds," Aug. 19). I suspect our nation's Founding Fathers are spinning in their graves. Mary Shaw, Philadelphia, PA

Your article on the final presidential debate included a paragraph stating that "with backing from casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson, the Republican Jewish Coalition is airing anti-Obama TV ads in South Florida, where most of the state's Jewish voters reside. " ("Final debate 'particularly big,'" Oct. 22). This is the same billionaire casino owner who suggested he would consider spending as much as $100 million of his personal fortune on the 2012 elections in order to defeat President Obama.

Surveys indicate that men tend to handle the investments for the family. But when it comes to managing other money matters, women might be the better choice. Experian, one of the top three credit reporting agencies, reported that men have more debt, they use up more of their lines of credit, have bigger mortgage loans and are more likely to be late with a mortgage payment than women. Perhaps more impressive, women are showing superior money management skills even though earn less.

I find it unbelievable that The Sun would editorialize that the story is not the IRS going after conservative groups or the Benghazi situation being mismanaged and the administration misinforming the public but how the GOP is overreaching ("GOP can't help itself," May 21). The manager of the IRS Tax Exempt Division is pleading the 5 t h , so she obviously knows something and is unwilling to tell the truth. She received big bonuses (approved by President Barack Obama) the last two years.