Safe And Sound

Dan Rodricks 's commentary "Big fix: Buried power lines, anyone?" (Sept. 4) offered a creative idea to improve America's infrastructure. But something more radical is needed. Flooding or other environmental problems could still disturb buried power lines. Wireless electricity could solve the problem of transmitting electricity in a way that is both safe and economically sound. In the early 1900s, Serbian inventor Nikola Tesla saw wireless electricity as the wave of the future.

Exelon Corp. plans to sell its three Maryland coal-fired power plants for $400 million to a subsidiary of private equity firm Riverstone Holdings LLC, the Chicago-based energy giant said Thursday. Under the terms of the deal, buyer Raven Power Holdings LLC will maintain employment levels and offer pay and benefits comparable to those now received by the plants' 420 workers for at least two years. Exelon was required by the U.S. Department of Justice, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and the Maryland Public Service Commission to sell the three facilities — the Brandon Shores and H.A. Wagner plants in Anne Arundel County and the C.P. Crane plant in Baltimore County — by the end of the year as a condition of its $7.9 billion purchase of Baltimore-based Constellation Energy Group in March.

The United Way of Central Maryland's board of directors approved yesterday a dip into the organization's endowment funds to help bail out agencies that have been told they will receive less money this year.The $938,800 one-time boost will alleviate the cuts to agencies by 40 percent. But several directors of programs depending on United Way said they expect to still feel the pain.Despite a record 1998 campaign that raised $39.4 million, some of the organization's 140 member agencies and affiliates were told they will receive less money this year, as much as 13 percent less than last year's allocation.

Two private organizations announced separate initiatives yesterday to pay for programs designed to revamp the Baltimore Police Department, reduce crime and cut the city's homicides substantially by the end of 2002.The Abell Foundation is paying $140,000 to a team headed by crime consultants Jack Maple and John Linder to study police operations and implement a new crime-fighting strategy. The consultants are already at work at the behest of Mayor-elect Martin O'Malley.The Greater Baltimore Committee -- a group of business leaders who challenged the community to cut the city's annual 300-plus homicides in half in two years -- is giving the city's Safe and Sound Campaign $145,000 to pay for a special prosecutor and surveillance equipment.

Gubernatorial candidates Martin O'Malley and Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. are expected to sign on to a campaign promoting the expansion of programs helping young children and families. The More for Maryland Campaign, which is to be launched today in front of City Hall, is asking candidates for public office to sign a pledge to "create more opportunity, demand more responsibility and deliver more results for our tax dollars every day." The pledge is vague enough that spokesmen from both campaigns said they believe there is little in it not to like.

Employment, increased funding for youth programs and a living wage were a few of the reforms city residents demanded of City Council members during public meeting Wednesday evening. Before the annual "Taxpayers' Night" at the War Memorial Building, where council members hear comments on the mayor's preliminary budget, many residents rallied against cuts to after-school programs, recreation centers and other youth services. Although the City Council does not have the authority to allocate spending, residents took the opportunity to voice their objections to the mayor's budget, which trimmed $65 million from the city's $1.29 billion operating budget to balance expenditures and revenue.

The Tide Point Day Care and Early Education Center isn't closing after all. After months of scrambling to find other high-quality day care near downtown, parents learned last week that the seven-year-old center near the waterfront is keeping its doors open, thanks to help from the city and private donors. "We have been able ... to put together a way to meet our mission," said Tom Curcio, chief executive officer of the Board of Child Care of the United Methodist Church, which runs the day care center.

In response to what organizers call a "youth violence plague," city church leaders invited area churches and recreation centers yesterday to join them in providing a safe hangout for youths on some Friday nights this summer. Uniting churches citywide, "Kidz Nite Inn" offers a way for city youths to spend evenings off the streets and out of harm's way during the summer, organizers said in announcing the initiative at Koinonia Baptist Church in East Baltimore. "What we are doing is giving kids the opportunity to make their own decisions.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation, a national organization that moved to Baltimore from Greenwich, Conn., in 1994, has compiled its first "Baltimore report" on the impact it has on the city. Although the group's officials call the report an internal document, they say the $3 billion foundation, the 13th-largest in the country, plans to distribute $7 million in Baltimore this year and expects its staff and operations to generate an additional $4.5 million for the city's economy. The organization has a national focus, but the man in charge of Baltimore grants says the city benefits by having the Casey Foundation here.

TIP 47 Checking out the financial health of your bank In the last quarter of 2008, the government's list of "problem" banks grew by 81 to a total of 252. The Feds are hush-hush about whose name is on the list to prevent a run on the banks. So is there any other way for you to find out if your institution is safe and sound or on shaky ground? Luckily, there are a few sources for you to check: The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. site, fdic.gov, posts financial figures and data on specific banks under "Bank Find."