Nine Months

The Baltimore liquor board suspended the license this week of a Brooklyn bar — the site of a fatal beating over a pool game in May — for nine months. The license holders for Ravens House in the 3700 block of S. Hanover St. were found guilty Thursday of several violations during the hearing, including running an establishment that is a threat to peace and safety of the community. A neighborhood organization petitioned the board to have the bar's license revoked after the attack, sparking the hearing.

With the season for legislating over in Maryland as of last Monday, the season for raising cash for campaigns has begun. For the next nine months, until the General Assembly convenes in Annapolis Jan. 8, candidates for the legislature, governorship and other statewide offices will be making an all-out push to fill their campaign chests before next year's session puts a damper on such activity. Lawmakers and statewide officials are forbidden by law to raise money during the annual 90-day session.

After acquiring four companies in the past nine months, the Atlantic Beverage Co. Inc. yesterday reported earnings of $671,872, or 5 cents a share, for the third quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with a loss of $118,463 for the corresponding period in 1995.The Baltimore-based company's revenues increased significantly, to $39.7 million in 1996 from $6 million the year before.Atlantic Beverage manufactures and distributes meat products and beverages in 10 states.Locally, it distributes specialty, nonalcoholic drinks in the Baltimore and Washington areas.

Maryland's legislative auditors criticized the State Highway Administration for inadequate monitoring of its speed camera program in an audit report released Tuesday, saying the state began using the cameras without conducting sufficient tests to ensure they could accurately record a vehicle's speed. The report also said the state used its mobile cameras to catch speeding motorists for nine months without having the devices independently calibrated to ensure they were functioning properly.

This Baltimore parent of Atlantic Federal Savings Bank dramatically increased earnings for its third fiscal quarter and first nine months by catering to first-time homebuyers and residential construction companies, according to Chairman and President Richard E. Funke. The company originated a total of $123 million in new loans during the nine months that ended Dec. 31, up 44.7 percent from the previous nine-month period.Three months ended 12/31/91.. .. .. Income .. ... ...Share'91 .. .416,899 .. .. ..0.44'90 .. .160,191 .. .. ..0.17% change +160.

Trak Auto. Corp.This Landover-based company, which operates 331 discount auto-parts stores in six cities, reported a 35 percent increase in earnings in the third quarter and a nine-month earnings increase of 67 percent. Chairman Herbert H. Haft said the increases resulted from the opening of 10 new stores in the quarter and 23 stores in the nine-month period. But sales from stores open more than one year were up only 2.4 percent in the quarter and were down 3.3 percent in the first nine months of the year.

Despite a drop in electric usage because of an unseasonabl cool summer, Baltimore Gas and Electric Co.'s third-quarter earnings rose 6.8 percent, thanks to a rebound in the company's non-regulated operations.Although earnings rose, income per share remained flat, at 84 cents, because of the increase in the number of outstanding shares following two stock offerings this year.Earnings for the company's non-regulated subsidiaries, Constellation Holdings, jumped to $7.5 million from a loss of $4.2 million in the same period a year ago. The 1991 third-quarter results were depressed by a $9 million write-down in an investment security.

Environmental Elements Corp. announced yesterday that it would lose money for the last nine months of its fiscal year, blaming its weakened prospects on the sour economy and the fact that utilities have been slow to place orders for anti-pollution equipment.The company said in July that it expected to make money in the last nine months of its fiscal year, which ends in March. The company lost $1.7 million, or 26 cents a share, in the quarter that ended in June because of technical problems on a contract that involved installing new technology, company spokesman John S. Lalley Jr. said.

Super Rite Corp., a Harrisburg, Pa.-based grocery wholesaler, yesterday reported a 76 percent gain in profits for the nine months that ended in November. Sales rose 13.9 percent.Super Rite owns the Basics chain in the Baltimore area. It also has stores in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Virginia and West Virginia.The company attributed the gains to a new supply agreement with Shoppers Food Warehouse Corp., a chain of 29 high-volume supermarkets in the Washington area.Three months ended 11/30/91.

Delmarva Power & Light Co.This utility, which provides power to the Eastern Shore, reported strong results for the third quarter.However, earnings for core operations in the first nine months dropped to $1.45 a share from $1.56 a share because of milder weather, which reduced air-conditioning use, and the capital costs for expanded capacity.The company provided financial information for the 12 months that ended Sept. 30, but not for the nine months.The current 12-month results include 21 cents a share received from a settlement of a lawsuit with Philadelphia Electric Co.Last year's 12-month figures include an 86-cent-per-share write-off in the value of a joint venture investment and a gain of 25 cents per share from an accounting change.

Ronald Weich, an assistant U.S. attorney general and former aide to Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, is to be named the next dean of the University of Baltimore School of Law on Wednesday, nine months after his popular predecessor resigned amid a public dispute with the university's president. Given his lengthy experience on Capitol Hill and his lack of time in academia, Weich, 52, is an unconventional choice to lead the law school. But faculty leaders, alumni and students said that's part of the reason they're excited about him after last year's tumult involving former dean Phillip Closius.

A Joppa man was sentenced Tuesday to nine months in prison for stealing funds from the Housing Authority of Baltimore and other public housing agencies across the country through software that his company developed and maintained for the agencies' use, prosecutors said. Jack G. Stout, 65, "illegally transferred funds from public housing authorities in Baltimore and in other states" using a computer program called Public Housing Authority Software that his company, Modern Software Technology Inc., developed and maintained, according to a statement Tuesday from Maryland's U.S. Attorney's Office.

Kyle Durrie had established a decent living, handcrafting and printing wedding invitations, but truth be told, she was at the end of her creative rope. As in the cowboy songs she loves, the open road called to the resident of Portland, Ore. The life of a vagabond, however, didn't seem to jibe with that of a craft printer, whose equipment doesn't fit into a knapsack. Flying by the seat of her pants, Durrie dreamed up a way to squeeze her studio into the back of a 29-year-old van. Instead of feeding the wedding industry, she decided, she'd drive the country, spreading the gospel of letterpress printing at art shops, schools and flea markets.

in just a few weeks from now, Indigma will take up temporary residence in the old Tony Cheng's space at the corner of Charles and Madison. Tony Chemmanoor's posh Indian restaurant was one of the casualties of the December fire that totated Mount Vernon's Park Plaza buidling.. Chemmanoor plans to move back to the Park Plaza building when it reopens, which won't happen for another nine months, min. I'll keep you posted about the opening date for Indigma's temporary home.    

Baltimore County Republican Central Committee chairman Tony Campbell said he will step down by the group's next gathering after most of its members called for his ouster Monday. Members demanded a quick end to Campbell's stormy nine-month tenure, saying a series of political gaffes had diminished its stature among local elected officials and other Republicans. Campbell was elected last fall to a four-year term. "I think we're headed towards a unified front," Hillary Pennington, a committee member, said after the meeting.

The Baltimore liquor board suspended the license this week of a Brooklyn bar — the site of a fatal beating over a pool game in May — for nine months. The license holders for Ravens House in the 3700 block of S. Hanover St. were found guilty Thursday of several violations during the hearing, including running an establishment that is a threat to peace and safety of the community. A neighborhood organization petitioned the board to have the bar's license revoked after the attack, sparking the hearing.

Optelecom Inc.This Gaithersburg-based maker of fiber optics and laser systems said its earnings for the third quarter grew 5.7 percent because of the rising popularity of fiber optic systems.Optelecom Chief Executive Officer William H. Culver said yesterday that the company's work on night vision and missile guidance systems also is increasing.Three months ended 9/30/91.. .. .. .. .. .Revenue.. .. .. .. Net.. .. .. .. .. Share'91.. .. .. . 1,128,135.. .. .. 33,453.. .. .. .. .. 0.01'90.. .. .. . 1,072,797.

Mid Atlantic Medical Services Inc.This Rockville-based managed-care company, the largest in the Maryland-Virginia-Washington area, reported record earnings for the three months and nine months that ended Sept. 30. The company reported an increase of 8,000 members, to 443,000, in its health maintenance organizations for the quarter. Operating revenues for the year's first nine months were up 50 percent.George T. Jochum, MAMSI's chairman, president and chief executive, said the company's growth came despite a lack of any major improvement in the local economy.

A 68-year-old music teacher was sentenced Friday to nine months in the Howard County Detention Center for sexually abusing an 11-year-old girl who took violin lessons in his home. Ming Yueh Liang of the 2800 block of Deerfield Drive in Ellicott City was convicted by a jury in February of two counts of fourth-degree sexual offense and two counts of second-degree assault. He was sentenced to 18 months, half of which were suspended. The abuse took place in April and May of 2009, prosecutors said.

This time, there was no last-second floater to win the game, no upset to win the conference title and no question which was the superior team. Morgan State dominated crosstown rival Coppin State almost from the onset, received a strong defensive performance from Rogers Barnes, who was guarding Eagles star Tywain McKee, and romped to a 62-48 victory last night at Hill Field House in a game that was not as close as the score indicates. Coppin State (1-4), which lost its fourth in a row, didn't lead after the early moments, McKee was held to 4-for-16 from the field and Morgan State pulled ahead by as many as 18 points (41-23 and 43-25)