Operators

After a months-long hiatus, the city-owned Hollywood Diner has reopened under new operators. Formerly known as the The Hollywood Diner presents Thomasino's, the restaurant is open for breakfast and lunch on weekdays, and on Sunday mornings during the Baltimore Farmers' Market. The breakfast menu includes omelets, pancakes and platters. The lunch line-up features panini, sandwiches, pastas and wings. Late last year, the city terminated its lease with the Chesapeake Center for Youth Development, the nonprofit organization that ran the diner since 1991. In July, the city announced that it had selected the bid of Thomasino's Pizza Subs & Pasta, LLC, owned by Richard T. White.

Baltimore's Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum should reopen Oct. 4, the group responsible for making it profitable announced this week. "That's the official goal. That's the date," said Baltimore-based actor and author Mark Redfield, vice president of Poe Baltimore. "Things are coming along. " Tentative plans call for the house to be open weekends until spring 2014, when hours would be expanded. Final details are still being developed, Redfield said, but plans call for a museum that will be similar to what had been available to visitors before the closing of the house in September 2012.

With a little more than two weeks to go before a contract extension between East Coast and Gulf dockworkers and port operators expires, the federal mediator said Thursday that progress is being made toward a long-term settlement. George Cohen, director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, said the International Longshoremen's Association representing 14,500 union members and United States Maritime Alliance, which represents 14 ports and shipping companies, met between Tuesday and Thursday, and have agreed "that the negotiations will continue under our auspices.

A weekend festival in Canton that promised classes on bondage, role play and other sexual techniques has been canceled after the new operators of the Clarence H. Du Burns Arena idecided the erotic exposition was not appropriate at a facility also used for children's sports practices. The organizers of the Touch of Flavor event sued the arena's managers this week, saying that their contract was breached. They also made an unsuccessful bid for a restraining order that would have let the festival go on. The two-day event was to have featured classes on the use of hot wax, sex-dungeon safety and "Rope Bondage You Can Actually Use. " "We feel like there's been a great interest due to books and things that have come out," said Cassie Fuller, one of the organizers.

A grand jury indicted two operators of a prescription drug clinic in Timonium arrested in a Tuesday raid on charges of conspiracy to distribute Schedule II narcotics. A Baltimore County Circuit Court judge set a $50,000 cash-only bail Thursday for Gerald Wiseberg of Boca Raton, Fla., and Michael Jacob Reznikov of Brooklyn, N.Y., operators at the Healthy Life Medical Group in the 1100 block of York Road. At a preliminary hearing, Wiseberg, 78, and Reznikov, 51, were prohibited from leaving the country and were ordered to give up their passports.

Anne Arundel County police have fired two emergency operators who they say botched a 911 call about the carjacking that resulted in the death of a Glen Burnie pharmacist, police and union officials confirmed yesterday. Officials from the union representing the operators said they will appeal the decision. Police commanders said the firings of the 911 call taker and dispatcher were in the best interest of public safety. Yvette A. Beakes was assaulted Aug. 8. She was later found shot to death.

Response to the easing of restrictions on assisted living housing has been so high that Baltimore County will hold a seminar today for prospective operators.The County Council passed a bill in January that allows homes for as many as 15 elderly residents without special zoning approval, if the house to be used needs no more than a 25 percent expansion.Construction of a building or any expansion of more than 25 percent would require a special zoning exception, a slow, expensive process that includes a public hearing.

The operators of the state's thoroughbred and harness track will meet Friday at Laurel Race Course to discuss their inter-track wagering agreement.On the agenda will be a renegotiation of the financial terms of the arrangement, which so far has weighed heavily in favor of the harness management.In a letter to harness officials last week, Joe De Francis, thePimlico-Laurel track operator, vowed to end the inter-track agreement unless the terms are changed.Jim Mango, general manager of the thoroughbred group, said yesterday that "it appears on face value that our operation at Rosecroft is not benefiting from this.

Anne Arundel's sand and gravel operators say they face financial ruin if the County Council doesn't soften a tough new bill governing the excavation industry.Representatives of the county's 31 sand and gravel firms who packed the council chambers Monday night said they will support the new county regulations -- if the council makes key changes regarding the permitting process, hours of operation and the kind of machinery that can be used on site."It's a very tough bill," said William Natter, president of Natter Services Inc., an Annapolis sand and gravel firm.

WARRENTON, Va. -- Potential operators of a racetrack in Virginia met for the first time in one public forum yesterday at the annual meeting of the Virginia Thoroughbred Association and disagreed sharply on how racing should be conducted in the state.Five of the six potential operators, who must file an application with the Virginia Racing Commission by Oct. 1 to gain licensing approval, either attended the meeting at the Airlie Conference Center or sent a representative.At one end of the spectrum is James J. Wilson, a Middleburg, Va., farm owner and president and chief executive officer of Interstate General Company, L.P., a real estate firm that operates El Comandante Race Course in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

State Del. Donald H. Dwyer Jr. of Pasadena, who was involved in a powerboat crash last August that injured him and several others, will plead guilty Tuesday in Annapolis District Court to operating a boat while drunk — part of plea deal that his attorney said includes prosecutors not seeking a jail sentence. "I truly regret the incident of Aug. 22 of last year," said Dwyer, 55, at a Monday news conference in Glen Burnie. The collision of his boat with another vessel injured Dwyer — he suffered a broken foot and neck injuries — and six others, including four children, on the other boat.

Two more bidders emerged Friday to compete against MGM National Harbor for the right to build a casino in Prince George's County. Penn National Gaming submitted a proposal to the state's gaming control agency for a $700-million Hollywood Casino Resort at its Rosecroft Raceway site. And Maryland Casino LLC, a subsidiary of Greenwood Racing Inc., bid to build an $800 million Parx Casino Hotel & Spa in Fort Washington. MGM National Harbor dropped off its own proposal — outlined in 13 boxes of materials — Thursday for an expected $800-million project.

The Hollywood Diner will continue with its current operator, Richard T. White, at least for the immediate future. The Board of Estimates pulled the diner's lease termination from its agenda after Comptroller Joan M. Pratt agreed to give White more time to secure funding. The board was to decide at Wednesday morning's meeting whether to terminate White's 18-month lease early; the original lease wasn't set to expire until next spring. But in a side room prior to the Board of Estimates meeting, Pratt informed White that her office was granting him more time to right the diner's finances.

The Baltimore City department responsible for leasing the Hollywood Diner is asking the Board of Estimates to to terminate the rental agreement with the restaurant's operator. But Richard T. White, who runs the diner, is vowing to continue at the city-owned property, made famous by Barry Levinson's nostalgic 1982 movie “Diner.”  In its first six months of operations, the diner reported revenue of about $18,900 and expenses of $24,600, according to a report by the Department of Real Estate. In addition to being a traditional diner, it also serves as a culinary-arts youth training program  - a requirement for operators of the city-owned property.

Baltimore design firm Chambers, which specializes in the planning, architecture and interior design of private clubs, announced Friday that it has acquired a rival based in Texas. CCI Club Design will be changing its name to Chambers but will continue its Dallas operations, according to a statement from Chambers. Chambers will remain headquartered in Baltimore, the statement said, and no one will lose their job because of the acquisition. "Once friendly competitors, we're now combining the tremendous talents of both firms to enhance the services we provide to our clients within the private club industry," said Rick Snellinger, president and CEO of Chambers.

Following a two-month impasse, the Baltimore City school board voted Tuesday to extend a one-year contract to the operators of Baltimore Talent Development High School. The school board voted unanimously, with one recusal, to allow the Center for Social Organization of Schools at the Johns Hopkins University to operate the school for one more year, during which the district will monitor its progress. In January, after a months-long review of more than two dozen schools with external operators, city schools CEO Andres Alonso recommended severing ties with the school's operator at the end of the school year and slating the school for closure in 2014.

"Ride The Ducks" sightseeing rides - recognized by their distinctive amphibious vehicles and passengers blowing duck calls - ceased in Baltimore as of Tuesday. Company officials said Wednesday that they had decided to focus investments in other cities. Union representatives say the company closed to retaliate against tour guides who were trying to organize. Phil Ornot, a United Steelworkers organizer, said he filed charges Wednesday with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging that the company intimidated, coerced and threatened staff.

For the first passengers on the Howard Street section of the light-rail line, it was deja vu.Years ago, these veteran Mass Transit Administration employees, most in their 50s and 60s, operated the city's fleet of streetcars and trackless trolleys. Today, they are training as light-rail motormen.They clearly enjoy their new jobs. When their big white streetcar coasted through the longtime retail district yesterday, awed pedestrians waved their hands. The streetcar's operator rang its bell in response.

Southwest offers flights to four new cities from BWI Southwest Airlines is now operating flights from Baltimore to four new cities as it continues its integration of subsidiary AirTran Airways. As of April 14, passengers can book flights on the airline from BWI-Marshall Airport to Charlotte, N.C.; Flint, Mich.; Portland, Maine; and Rochester, N.Y., all cities where AirTran has ended service. In addition, Southwest is now offering flights beyond the contiguous 48 states for the first time in its history.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has lifted a cease and desist order that 1st Mariner Bank has operated under since April 2009, the bank announced Monday. The order required 1st Mariner to strengthen its fair lending practices because the FDIC suspected 1st Mariner of discriminating against Hispanic, black and female mortgage borrowers. The bank charged some of these borrowers more than "similarly-situated" white and male borrowers in 2005, 2006 and 2007, the regulator said.