Power Plant

For years, restaurants at Power Plant have served food and drinks on floating piers along the Inner Harbor, allowing tourists and locals to enjoy the summer sunshine. But recent plans to expand or improve the facilities have triggered hefty bills from state regulators - with one approaching $800,000. State officials say the proposed charges are based on the cost of real estate in the area, and the use of a state waterway. But the affected businesses contend the charges are prohibitive: $779,275 for Phillips, $585,850 for Dick's Last Resort and $378,000 for Hard Rock Cafe.

 Candy retailer The Best of Luck Candy & Gifts has moved to larger quarters at Power Plant in downtown Baltimore, next to Phillips Seafood. The Inner Harbor store, which specializes in bulk and nostalgia candy, gift baskets and custom favors, is double the size of the former location in Harbor East, with entrances on Pratt Street and the Power Plant promenade.  Besides candy such as Blow Pops, Pop Rocks and Charleston Chews, the store sells...

 Candy retailer The Best of Luck Candy & Gifts has moved to larger quarters at Power Plant in downtown Baltimore, next to Phillips Seafood. The Inner Harbor store, which specializes in bulk and nostalgia candy, gift baskets and custom favors, is double the size of the former location in Harbor East, with entrances on Pratt Street and the Power Plant promenade.  Besides candy such as Blow Pops, Pop Rocks and Charleston Chews, the store sells...

In their quest to cure Baltimore's ailing harbor, advocates and authorities have tried one gadget after another: floating wetlands, a solar-powered aerator, even a trash wheel. Add now the "algal turf scrubber," a long wooden sluiceway through which harbor water is pumped over a bed of slimy green algae. The gutter, 350 feet long by a foot wide, uses native algae to strip nutrients, suspended sediment and carbon from water and inject oxygen into it before returning it to the harbor.

Maryland energy regulators Thursday ordered the construction of the state's first new natural gas power plant since the state's electric power market was deregulated more than a decade ago. In a decision questioned by other power producers, the Maryland Public Service Commission said it awarded a contract to CPV Maryland LLC to build the new $500 million facility in the Charles County town of Waldorf. The order calls for three of the state's largest publicly regulated power companies, including Baltimore Gas and Electric Co., to buy electricity from the plant.

Kettle Hill has announced an opening date. Inspired, its operators say, by the life and spirit of Theodore Roosevelt, Kettle Hill will open April 20 on Market Place as the anchor restaurant in the Power Plant Live complex. The restaurant's name is inspired by the military exploits of Roosevelt and his Rough Riders during the Spanish-American War. San Juan Hill is better remembered today than Kettle Hill, but Kettle Hill is a great name for a restaurant. The team behind Kettle Hill is made up of Keystone Hospitality partners Desmond Reilly and Kristopher Carr, whose infatuation with Roosevelt's take-charge ethos has also inspired the name for the bar within Kettle Hill.

Kettle Hill has announced an opening date. Inspired, its operators say, by the life and spirit of Theodore Roosevelt, Kettle Hill will open on April 20 on Market Place as the anchor restaurant in the Power Plant Live complex. The restaurant's name is inspired by the military exploits of Roosevelt and his Rough Riders during the Spanish-American War. San Juan Hill is better remembered today than Kettle Hill, but Kettle Hill is a great name for a restaurant. The team behind Kettle Hill are Keystone Hospitality partners Desmond Reilly and Kristopher Carr, whose growing infatuation with Roosevelt's take-charge ethos has also inspired the name for the bar within Kettle Hill.

This seems to be the time of year that employers with exclamation points in their names hold job fairs! Good news for job seekers! Maryland Live! Casino is holding its meet-and-greet with candidates on Saturday, March 17 - or St. Pat's - from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Maryland Live! Employment Center, 7270 Park Circle in Hanover. Or, you can go to the casino's Facebook page and apply online ahead of time . Maryland Live! Casino says applicants should apply via its job site . Then on Wednesday, March 21, Power Plant Live!

Here's a round-up of our week at Midnight Sun: Erik and I wanted to aid in your romantic endeavors so we handcrafted Valentine's Day Spotify playlists. He went with Maxwell, Janelle Monae and Robyn. I chose The-Dream, Jeff Buckley and Ghostface Killah. Just because it's no longer V-Day doesn't mean these won't help set the mood. Erik's is here . Click here for mine. We also ran down the Best Baltimore bars for the "holiday," including Vino Rosina and Pazo. In need of a good date spot or a place to spend an anniversary dinner?

An aging, little-used power plant in Williamsport is slated to be closed later this year rather than meet new federal air-pollution limits, its owner announced Thursday, in what could be a spate of such shutdowns resulting from the controversial Obama administration regulation. FirstEnergy Corp. said it intends to retire six of its older coal-burning plants in three states, including the R. Paul Smith generating station in Western Maryland on the banks of the Potomac River. The company, based in Akron, Ohio, said it had decided it wouldn't be worth it to invest in new air-emission controls to comply with the Environmental Protection Agency's recently finalized regulation requiring steep reductions in mercury and other hazardous pollutants.