Proposals

Baltimore's economic-development arm said Tuesday that it is requesting proposals from firms for a mixed-use redevelopment of five properties in the Pigtown neighborhood. The properties — at 925, 927, 929, 931 and 937 Washington Blvd. — are a mix of commercial and residential space. The Baltimore Development Corp. said it wants developers to propose plans that will anchor the Pigtown/Washington Village Business District. The quasi-public agency wants to see proposals to rehabilitate the buildings "to the largest extent possible.

For the fourth consecutive year, Baltimore officials are proposing a 9 percent increase to water and sewer rates — and the charges will continue to grow indefinitely to cover the costs of major projects, they say. The proposed rate increases come as the Department of Public Works has been grappling with high-profile billing problems that have been attributed to faulty water meters, outdated computer programs and, in some neighborhoods, fictitious meter...

An 18-hole miniature golf course on Rash Field, a 28-passenger "trackless train," a tethered balloon, a zip line and a variety of other outdoor-related activities are among nine proposals that aim to enliven Baltimore's Inner Harbor shoreline. The Baltimore Development Corp., which oversees downtown development for the city, received the bids after it issued a request for proposals from groups interested in adding family-oriented attractions to the Inner Harbor in time for the 2012 summer tourist season.

Proposed changes to the student behavior policy for Baltimore County schools sparked a lively debate among county Board of Education members at a work session Tuesday night - with some arguing for their immediate passage and others requesting more time to review them. The considered changes would tweak the school system's current policy, namely to allow principals to use their own discretion when considering how to punish a student for committing infractions that currently require the student be expelled or assigned to an alternative academic program.

Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold's proposals to step up oversight of school board spending are being denounced as "unnecessary" by the county schools chief. At a county House delegation meeting Friday morning, Superintendent Kevin M. Maxwell, who has long butted heads with Leopold, spoke out against the legislation and hinted that the proposals are personally motivated. School officials said the legislation would impose rules on Anne Arundel that no other school system is required to adhere to. The proposed legislation, in the form of two separate bills, is being discussed by the county's delegation, though no lawmakers have agreed to sponsor the bills.

WESTMINSTER - Carroll County's Delegation in the General Assembly will hold its annual public hearing on proposed county legislation on Tuesday, Dec. 13, at 7 p.m. at the Carroll County Office Building, room 003, 225 N. Center St, Westminster State senators and delegates who represent the county in Annapolis will discuss proposed legislation for the 2012 General Assembly session, which begins in January. Among the proposals will be an updated map for Carroll County Commissioner districts.

The Baltimore Development Corp. is seeking proposals for five city-owned properties on the west side of downtown, including the former site of The Peanut Shoppe at Lexington and Liberty streets. The quasi-public development agency has set July 6 as the deadline for "qualified developers" to submit proposals for: 124 N. Liberty St.; and 101, 103, 114 and 116-120 W. Lexington St. BDC President M.J. "Jay" Brodie said some of the buildings are being readvertised, others are being put out for bid for the first time, and all are being offered in "as is" condition.

Now that Health Care for the Homeless has moved to a new headquarters on the east side of downtown Baltimore, the Baltimore Development Corp. is helping the agency sell its former location on the west side. The quasi-public development corporation announced Monday that it has set June 7 as the deadline for proposals from developers interested in redeveloping the former Health Care for the Homeless building at 111 Park Ave. The development agency also is seeking proposals for five city-owned properties on the same block: 142 and 144 W. Fayette St. and 102, 104 and 106 N. Liberty St. It intends to award all six properties to one team as one parcel for a mixed-use development, which could include housing, offices, retail space or a hotel.

On the day that Washington began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, a Maryland Senate committee heard a proposal that would bar the state from recognizing such unions. Sen. Norman R. Stone Jr., a Baltimore County Democrat, wants to override an opinion issued last week by Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler saying that the state should extend benefits and rights to same-sex couples lawfully married elsewhere. Same-sex marriages currently are not legal in Maryland, but senators on Wednesday also considered a plan by Sen. Richard S. Madaleno Jr., a Montgomery County Democrat, to legalize them.

The city of Baltimore is seeking a developer to buy and renovate a former high school at North Avenue and Broadway. The Baltimore Development Corp. announced Thursday that it has set Aug. 16 as the deadline for groups interested in redeveloping the Gompers Building to submit proposals. The four-story structure, which dates from 1905, was converted to apartments in the 1980s but has been vacant since the late 1990s, when the owner defaulted on a loan. The development agency is seeking proposals that would convert the building for use as offices, stores, a school or an institution.

Three members of a key City Council committee say they oppose Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake's proposal to more than double the city's bottle tax — enough to kill the bill. That has angered supporters of the bill, who accuse Councilman Carl Stokes, the chairman of the council's Taxation, Finance and Economic Development Committee, of holding back public education. The tax increase is part of the mayor's plan to fix dilapidated schools. Stokes is one of the three council members on the five-member committee who oppose it. "Councilman Stokes is standing as a roadblock toward improving the quality of our schools for our children," said Bishop Douglas Miles, chairman of the interfaith group Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development.

A carefully choreographed strategy to raise state income taxes to stave off so-called doomsday budget cuts faces a challenge in the General Assembly after several Democrats defied party leaders with a proposal to raise the sales tax instead. The brewing discontent within the Montgomery County House delegation stems from a belief that the governor's plan relies too heavily on their wealthy constituents. And though it faces little chance of passage, the proposal reveals a geographic fissure within the ruling Democratic caucus while underscoring the difficulty of forging consensus on a tax increase.

The Harford County Department of Public Works, Division of Highways and Water Resources, will conduct a public meeting Wednesday, May 16, to discuss a petition to modify the western portion of Church Lane in White Hall from an earth to a tar and chip surface. The meeting will start at 6 p.m. in the offices of the Department of Public Works, 212 S. Bond Street, Third Floor, in Bel Air. Interested persons who cannot attend may send written comments to H. Hudson Myers III, Deputy Director, 212 S. Bond Street, Bel Air, MD 21014, or by e-mail to hhmyers@harfordcountymd.gov .

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blakesays the new organizers she has selected for September's Baltimore Grand Prix - including a member of the legendary Andretti family - "have what it takes to move forward and make this world-class sporting event successful for Baltimore. " Isn't that what she said about the last group of people she brought in to save the race? That the lead promoter, Dale Dillon, was a race-savior who would make sure everything went smoothly this year? (Unless, as it happened, he stopped talking to his Baltimore-based partners and dropped off the face of the Earth?

It was recently reported thatExxon Mobil Corp.earned $825 billion in revenue in 2011. Think about that for a moment. That is nearly one trillion dollars in just one year, made largely on the backs of hard-working Americans forced to pay $4 per gallon at the pump. And where is all this money going? No doubt to pay for fat executive bonuses and to bribe corrupt members of Congress to continue doing the bidding of the oil industry. Clearly, a change is in order, and with that in mind I propose the following: Since we are now in the business of invading countries in order to steal their oil (under the guise of a war on terror)

Gov. Martin O'Malley, House Speaker Michael E. Busch and Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller are making the best of the embarrassing situation caused by their failure to pass a balanced budget when the legislature adjourned in April. The special legislative session due to begin on Monday will focus only on the budget and taxes — not casino gambling or any of the other issues that were still on the table when time ran out — and will follow closely the compromise worked out by House and Senate negotiators on the regular session's final night.

As the General Assembly session rushes to a close, many conservative lawmakers and local officials are battling to halt a series of bills, large and small, that they say would shift decision-making power from counties to the red brick buildings of Annapolis. One measure would force counties to require sprinkler systems in all new housing. Another would make local governments levy a new fee on their citizens. Even the ethics forms of county officials would be controlled by the state under proposed legislation.

Harold Burns, president of the Falls Road Community Association, stepped to the microphone at the Oregon Ridge Lodge Tuesday night and threw down the gauntlet before representatives of a gas company proposing an underground pipeline through his part of Baltimore County. "This is Baltimore, Hon," said Burns. "We're from here … we are going to stay here and fight you. " Burns was one of more than 100 people who showed up at the Lodge for a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission hearing on Columbia Gas Transmission LLC's plan to install a 21-mile line from Owings Mills to Fallston.

Wooden stakes mark the path that a proposed underground gas pipeline would cut through Jonathan Guth's property in Baltimore County along its 21-mile route northeast to Harford County. The project would take out about half a stand of woods that Guth says makes a fine noise and privacy buffer between his four-bedroom house and the main road, and he's not happy about it. "If all that wasn't here, we probably wouldn't have bought the house," said Guth, pointing to about an acre of 50-foot-tall trees along Ridge Road that provide accommodations for deer, cardinals, blue jays, foxes and at least one red-tailed hawk Guth has grown rather fond of. He and his wife moved in 2009 to this spot southwest of Oregon Ridge Park from a more densely populated county neighborhood, in part for "all the benefits of the natural environment.