Revenue

A single winning ticket for a record Powerball lottery jackpot worth $590.5 million was sold in Florida, organizers said late Saturday, but there was no word about who won. The winning numbers from Saturday night's drawing were: 10, 13, 14, 22 and 52, with a Powerball number of 11. The odds of winning were put at one in 175 million. The winning ticket was sold at a Publix supermarket in Zephyrhills, a suburb of Tampa, according to the Florida Lottery. The prize tempted many Marylanders to buy tickets for the lottery game before the 11 p.m. drawing.

Loyal readers of this page are likely aware that we have not been great supporters of the tea party movement. Too often, we have found those anti-tax crusaders who call themselves tea party patriots are simply rebranded John Birch Society members of an earlier time with all the extremist anti-civil rights, anti-immigration, and anti-United Nations rhetoric that comes with it. But the latest disclosure - gleaned from a draft inspector general's report...

On Thursday, the day the Supreme Court upheld Obamacare, a 47-year-old Baltimore woman went to the drugstore, and pulled out her debit card to pay for a prescription refill. But she didn't have enough money in the account to cover the $425 charge. So she asked the pharmacist and staff for a favor. "I asked them to break up the prescription to give me one-third," says the woman, who would not allow her name to be published because she didn't want to disclose her medical conditions.

Hunt Valley-based Tessco Technologies Inc. said Wednesday that revenue and profits both fell about 18 percent in its most recent quarter compared with a year earlier, driven by its exit from a high-revenue business it considered too low margin. The provider of products for wireless broadband systems produced $2.9 million in net income in its fiscal fourth quarter, which ended March 31. That's down from about $3.5 million in the year-earlier quarter. Revenue fell to about $158 million from almost $195 million a year earlier, while earnings fell to 35 cents a share from 43 cents.

Baltimore-based apparel manufacturer Under Armour announced fourth-quarter profits of $506 million, representing a 25 percent increase from the same period in 2011. The company also announced its full-year revenues of $1.835 billion represented a 25 percent increase, year over year. "We closed 2012 strongly, delivering net revenue growth of at least 20% for the eleventh consecutive quarter in Q4 by building upon key apparel technology platforms like Storm Fleece and Charged Cotton," Under Armour founder and CEO Kevin Plank said in a statement.

I understand why speed cameras are needed at all times in construction zones; even if there are no workers present, the highway lanes are often narrow and twisting and require a lower speed ("Delays, detours and dead ends on cameras," Nov. 25). Regarding school zone cameras, however, are we supposed to believe that a child hit by a vehicle traveling 12 mph over the speed limit sustains more serious injuries than a child struck by car going only 11 mph over the limit? Since the answer is obviously not, why then are vehicles ticketed only if they exceed the posted limit by 12 mph or more?

Shares of Ciena Corp., a Linthicum-based maker of telecommunications networking equipment, slid 10 percent Monday after the company posted a fiscal first-quarter loss and predicted that revenues in the second quarter would be lower than expected. The company's net loss widened to $79 million this past quarter compared with $53 million a year ago, largely because of integration costs tied to its purchase last year of Nortel's Metro Ethernet Networks division for $769 million. Ciena said it tallied more than $24 million in merger costs in the first quarter.

United Airlines said Monday that January traffic rose, and it collected more revenue from each passenger. United said it collected 9.5 percent to 11.5 percent more for each passenger flown one mile in January compared with January 2009. Throughout last year airlines struggled to raise fares, so any increase in so-called unit revenue should be welcomed by the industry. - Associated Press div.talkforum #creditfooter { display: none; } div.talkforum .feedItemAuthor { display: none; }

Your front-page article "Speed cameras called a success" (Oct. 25) is going to earn you a flood of letters from those who want to break the law and escape the consequences. Everyone is all hot for "personal responsibility" these days, so why don't we start there? But if that doesn't work, and people won't regulate their own behavior, the state will do it for them, because the state will have order. But what really bugs me about the camera controversy is the almost binary nature of the debate.

We wish to recognize the leadership of U.S. Senators Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin on behalf of the Land and Water Conservation Fund. LWCF is the program that ensures Maryland has the resources our parks, forests, and wildlife areas need to provide opportunities for outdoor recreation and to strengthen our economy. If you enjoy visiting a neighborhood or state park, the odds are that the fund helped to make this possible. LWCF has also preserved for future generations the experiences of canoeing Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge's water trails, visiting Antietam National Battlefield, and camping at Assateague Island National Seashore.

Table games at Maryland Live Casino generated $8.4 million in revenue in their first month at the Anne Arundel County facility, on top of $38.2 million from its slot machines, the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency reported Monday. While overall revenue at Maryland Live was up $1.95 million in April from March, revenue from slots fell about $6.45 million in April from the month before. By far the largest of Maryland's casinos, Maryland Live operates 4,217 slot machines and 122 table games.

Area billboard companies are speaking out against a proposed tax introduced this week by Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake. In a hearing before the City Council's taxation committee Thursday, the global billboard firm Clear Channel Outdoor offered to give the city more than $1 million in free advertising if the administration would drop plans for a tax on billboards. If not, the company's local general manager said, the city could face a lawsuit. "Will this legislation stand up to a legal challenge [that could]

Higher airfares and lower fuel prices combined to give Southwest Airlines $59 million in first-quarter net profits, or 8 cents a share, beating Wall Street's predictions. The Dallas-based airline's earnings fell 40 percent from $98 million, or 13 cents a share, of a year ago. Revenue rose 2.3 percent to a record $4.1 billion. The report exceeded the First Call consensus estimate of 2 cents per share. Southwest and its subsidiary AirTran Airways are the largest carriers at BWI Marshall Airport, accounting for 71 percent of all commercial passenger traffic.

We were told the gas tax increase was needed to pay for roads and mass transit. Yet right there in the March 28 Flier on page 16, "Turner: Transportation needs Gas Tax Revenue," Guy Guzzone states that funding created by the increase will be used for the expansion of the emergency medical system and a new digital communications system for emergency responders. That doesn't exactly sound like roads, bridges, or mass transit. Either they lied about it or are stretching the definition of transportation beyond all credulity.

Robert Reich's op-ed ("Obama should not compromise on Social Security and Medicare" April 3) prompts me to write. Mr. Reich's prescription for these programs isn't completely off the mark. But there is a much more comprehensive solution to each. Social Security: eliminate the cap on income subject to Social Security taxes. Then lower the rate dramatically. There is no rationale for having any cap on earned income subject to taxes in the first place. This change would dramatically increase revenue into the system without changing benefit formulas.

Revenue at Maryland's three casinos in March reached $58 million, with two that have been opened for at least a year seeing a decrease from a year earlier, the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency reported Friday. Hollywood Casino Perryville in Cecil County generated $9.48 million for the month from slot machines and newly introduced gaming tables - a decrease of $4.24 million, or nearly 35 percent, from a year ago. The Casino at Ocean Downs in Worcester County reported revenue of $3.95 million - a decrease of $130,622, or 3.2 percent, from the year before.

Higher airfares and lower fuel prices combined to give Southwest Airlines $59 million in first-quarter net profits, or 8 cents a share, beating Wall Street's predictions. The Dallas-based airline's earnings fell 40 percent from $98 million, or 13 cents a share, of a year ago. Revenue rose 2.3 percent to a record $4.1 billion. The report exceeded the First Call consensus estimate of 2 cents per share. Southwest and its subsidiary AirTran Airways are the largest carriers at BWI Marshall Airport, accounting for 71 percent of all commercial passenger traffic.

While Under Armour's core apparel lines drove strong revenue results in the third quarter, the company is preparing to launch even more products, including sneakers, as well as to enter new markets, such as China, company officials said Tuesday while announcing earnings. "We're seeing great success in our two-fold strategy of innovating to drive better performance product with higher prices in our core while expanding our reach beyond our core with new products," President and CEO Kevin Plank told investors during a conference call.

I found your recent article about speed cameras most disturbing ("Losses claimed on speed cameras," March 13). It brings to light why this program was a failure from the start. Not once is it mentioned that the main purposes of the cameras to protect public safety by curbing speeding and aggressive driving. Your story only mentions the cost of the equipment compared to the revenue it generates and how much the city and the camera operator make off the devices. Have we lost sight of the fact that these tools are to intended to increase safety on the roadways, not become a primary source or revenue?

Democrats in the House of Delegates, who for the first half of this legislative session shied away from the issue of raising money for transportation, will draft a revenue package of their own in answer to one proposed earlier by Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller. House Speaker Michael E. Busch said his party will consider various tax options in a bid to raise at least $600 million a year for transportation. Democratic delegates have been spurred into action by the Virginia legislature's approval last week of a plan to raise $880 million for transportation through a combination of tax increases and transfers of funds from other budget priorities.