Project Manager

Three years behind schedule, the $81 million worth of double-decker train cars once trumpeted as a turning point in Maryland rail commuting have become so mired in construction problems that it is uncertain when they might roll.Kawasaki Rail Car Co. of Yonkers, N.Y., won the state contract to build the cars five years ago, promising to deliver the first coaches in ready-to-run condition in January 1997.But a string of troubles has affected the project. State Mass Transit Administration officials sought the removal of Kawasaki's project manager, have threatened to exact millions of dollars from the company in penalties and are preparing for a possible lawsuit.

New positionsMcCormick names Fajardo quality assurance directorMcCormick & Co. has appointed Raul F. Fajardo as director of quality assurance. He will lead the quality assurance managers' group responsible for developing and implementing improvements to the Sparks-based spice maker's quality system. Formerly with Nabisco Foods, he is a member of the Institute of Food Technologists and the American Society for Quality Control. The Westminster resident is a native of Cuba and a graduate of Michigan State University.

With just more than two years to go before Baltimore's downtown football stadium is due to open as home of the NFL Ravens, the Maryland Stadium Authority has hired an $85,000-a-year project manager to make sure the $200 million project remains on schedule and on budget.Alice Minnette Hoffman, a 35-year-old civil engineer from New York State, began work Wednesday as the state employee responsible for overseeing design and construction of the 68,400-seat stadium south of Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

New positions* Baltimore Stationery Co. chose Ted Wasielewski senior vice president for administration. He will be responsible for human resources and supervision of operational and administrative managers.* The Industrial Sales Co., (INDUSCO), appointed Wayne McLewee purchasing manager and Heiko P. Spieker to the sales and management staff.* Alexander & Alexander Consulting Group announced that Peter A. Cole has been named senior consultant for the Baltimore office.* Harford Community College selected John W. Yeager, formerly with the University of Maryland and Howard County police departments, as chief of safety and security.

Daria Todor to head assistance programDaria M. Todor of Olney has been named director of the employee assistance program Columbia-based Century Mental Health, a private counseling practice.Ms. Tudor has lectured on topics such as conflict resolution, stress management and violence in the workplace.Michael DiProspero named project managerMichael DiProspero of Perry Hall has been named senior project manager for Columbia-based Constellation Real Estate's construction management and services division.

Project manager gains engineering licenseRobert M. Fernandez of Ellicott City-based Riemer Muegge & Associates has been licensed as a professional engineer in Maryland specializing in civil engineering.Mr. Fernandez is currently project manager of Piney Orchard, a 1,500-acre planned community in Anne Arundel County.Goucher to search for next presidentBruce D. Alexander of Columbia, chairman of the Goucher College board of trustees and senior vice president of the Rouse Co., will lead an 11-member search committee to select the college's ninth president.

The county has fired the Northeast Maryland Waste Disposal Authorityas project manager for the redesign of the troubled Millersville Landfill.The 3-year-old contract with the independent state agency, which provides solid waste expertise to Baltimore and the metropolitan counties, was severed soon after Department of Utilities Director Tom Neel took over management of the landfill nine days ago, county officials said.Yesterday, Neel said he was uncertain what services the authoritywas actually providing the county since Richard Waesche, the chief of the county's solid waste division, had been spending more time supervising the redesign than he had the 62-employee bureau.

New positionsGilroy Foods Inc., a Gilroy, Calif.-based subsidiary of McCormick & Co. Inc. in Hunt Valley, named Van V. Tunstall president.Monumental Paving Co. in Baltimore appointed Joseph K. Buckel estimator and project manager and Charles B. Wirts on-site superintendent for the Seton Business Park.Anne Arundel Community College appointed Mary S. Bodeassistant dean for fiscal services.Blue Chip Temporaries, a division of Don Richards Associates in Towson, named Lynn Srnec employment counselor for bookkeeping and administrative temporaries.

EngineeringWestinghouse Electronic Systems Group has appointed Kenneth A. Jones general manager of the newly established Command, Control, Communications and Intelligence Logistics Support Division. He will oversee all logistics support activities required by the Electronic Warfare, Space, Airborne Early Warning Systems and Communications divisions. His unit will also continue to provide logistics support for the company's anti-submarine warfare business segment. First National Bank of Maryland has appointed William F. Oppitz vice president in the bank's Northeastern Maryland region.

New positionsAmerican Office, an office furniture dealership in Baltimore, named Miriam D. Carter project manager and Pamela J. Forges marketing services associate.Clark Enterprises Inc., a Bethesda-based holding company, named Bruce J. Moldow assistant general counsel.Loyola College in Maryland appointed John C. McFadden executive director of telecommunications and computing services.F. E. Worthington Inc., a Baltimore-based communications, graphic design and consulting firm, named William Linthicum senior vice president.

JEFFREY A. GREEN, 47, of Orefield residing in Catonsville, MD died Thursday, January 1, 2009 at Harford Memorial Hospital, Havre de Grace, MD. Born in Allentown, he was the son of Shirley W. (Bowman) Green of Orefield and the late Russell H. Green. He was a project manager of Specified Wood Working Inc. in Laurel, MD; prior to that he was Project Manager at Shelly Enterprises and Lehigh Lumber. Jeff also worked for J.C. Wood working as a cabinet maker. He enjoyed Salmon fishing, bowling and billiards.

In a week, Holly Beatty, 34, and her partner of seven years, Jessica Leshnoff, 30, will be married in a Jewish ceremony in Washington, where they met. They'll celebrate at a reception for 200 guests with Middle Eastern food, a disc jockey and dancing, and a large wedding party with a dozen attendants. The reception hall will be awash in romantic hues of ruby - on the tablecloths, vases, silk flowers and lighting. And the couple, engaged since December, have vowed to banish all thoughts of Beatty's recent layoff.

Patricia Beere Ruby, a Towson University project manager, died of cancer complications March 29 at Franklin Square Hospital Center. The Hamilton resident was 56. Born Mary Patricia Beere in Baltimore and raised in the Hampton section of Baltimore County, she moved with her family in 1964 to Westfield, N.J. She attended Marquette University, then earned a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She earned a master's degree in education from the Johns Hopkins University in 1981.

With the construction and renovation of the Annapolis police headquarters more than a year and a half behind schedule and riddled with flaws, city officials say they are seeking at least $5 million in corrective work from the project contractor, who said a lawsuit appears inevitable. The city kicked Hyattsville-based contractor J.G. Garcete Co. off the job in August, three months after issuing a stop-work order. Since August, officials have unsuccessfully tried to negotiate a settlement over millions of dollars in corrective work.

Darrel J. Karl, a retired Westinghouse Electric Corp. engineer and project manager, died of lung cancer Sunday at his Catonsville home. He was 73. Mr. Karl was born in Decatur, Ill., and raised in St. Louis. He earned a bachelor's degree in electronics engineering in 1952 from St. Louis University. He served with the Army Ordnance Corps from 1953 to 1955 at the White Sands missile range in New Mexico, working with surface-to-surface missile systems. Mr. Karl was working at McDonnell Douglas when he joined Westinghouse in 1962 at its Linthicum facility.

William B. Spiva Jr., a retired contract administrator and construction project manager who had worked on the building of the Maryland Pavilion at the 1964 World's Fair in New York, died of lung cancer Tuesday at his Timonium home. He was 80. Born and raised in Princess Anne, Mr. Spiva was a graduate of Princess Anne High School. He briefly attended the Johns Hopkins University before enlisting in the Army in 1943. He served as a machine gunner with Gen. George S. Patton Jr.'s 3rd Army at the Battle of the Bulge.

Advertising JDM Communications appointed Walter Hampton as chief creative officer and Kevin Kleppinger as art director for the Annapolis-based ad agency. Piccirilli Group added Lisa Sparr to the staff of the Bel Air-based marketing and ad firm. She will develop new business and serve as a client liaison. Banking and finance The Bank of Glen Burnie promoted Linden Monaghan to branch officer of its Severna Park location. She lives in Millersville and is a graduate of Towson University.

A state engineer's rejection of advice from a subcontractor in January 2002 might have contributed to the failure of more than $7 million in concrete work on the Bay Bridge and to the weeks of excruciating lane closings it took to fix the problem this fall. A memo obtained by The Sun shows that a project manager for Pioneer Contracting Co. of Odenton warned that using a chemical as directed by the Maryland Transportation Authority could break the bond between layers of concrete applied to the westbound span as part of a $70 million deck rehabilitation project.

Ralph Frank Michaels, a retired project manager for the city water department, died of mesothelioma May 16 at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He was 68 and lived in Catonsville. Mr. Michaels was born and raised in West Baltimore. He was a 1955 graduate of Polytechnic Institute and earned a degree in business from the Johns Hopkins University in 1973. After serving in the Army from 1955 to 1957, he worked as an engineer at Montgomery Ward's retail and mail-order facility on Monroe Street. After the Ward's store closed in 1978, he worked as a consultant for several years before joining the city Public Works Department's Bureau of Water and Wastewater as a project manager.

The Army will meet with residents of Harford and Kent counties this week to update them on its plans to begin destruction March 3 of a chemical warfare agent that has been stockpiled at Aberdeen Proving Ground since World War II. The 1,621 tons of mustard agent -- a banned, carcinogenic liquid that blisters the eyes, skin and lungs -- will be destroyed two years ahead of its original schedule, said Kevin J. Flamm, project manager for alternative technologies...