NEWS
By Yvonne Wenger, The Baltimore Sun | May 8, 2013
More than 250 bicycles would be available for short-term rentals at 25 stations throughout Baltimore by this time next year under a bike-sharing program similar to those in Washington and London, city officials said. The city's financial oversight panel approved an agreement with the state Wednesday to establish Charm City Bikeshare. Stations — much like the drop-off and pick-up spots for "Zipcars" — are planned for downtown, midtown and Southeast Baltimore. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said the rental bikes build on the city's effort to bolster its renewable transportation system, including on-street bike lanes and bike parking in Charles Village.
NEWS
May 2, 2013
Reading about the rain water tax, I see that government buildings do not have to pay this tax. The government evidently knows how to keep their runoff from causing pollution in the Chesapeake Bay. Why not tell the rest of us their secret so we can keep our rain water from being contaminated and the Bay will quickly become pristine clean? Believe that and I'll tell you another one. Mary Chesney Schwind Cockeysville
BUSINESS
By Lorraine Mirabella, The Baltimore Sun | May 2, 2013
Hunt Valley-based Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. said Thursday it has closed on the planned purchase of four television stations owned by Cox Media Group for $99 million in cash. The broadcaster also priced its previously announced offering of Class A stock at $27.25 per share and said it is offering 18 million shares. The offering, to raise money for pending and future potential acquisitions, is expected to close May 7. The Cox deal is one of three acquisitions the television station owner and operator announced in the past two months.
BUSINESS
By Lorraine Mirabella, The Baltimore Sun | April 29, 2013
Hunt Valley-based Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. reported a 42 percent drop in profit for the first quarter, as operating and interest costs rose and revenue increased but fell short of analysts' expectations. The television station owner and operator said Monday that its income fell to $17 million, or 21 cents per common share, from $29.4 million, or 36 cents per share, during the three months that ended March 31. Its earnings did beat Wall Street's expectations of 17 cents per share, yet its stock fell Monday, closing at $26.69 per share, down 2.9 percent.
NEWS
By Scott Dance, The Baltimore Sun | April 28, 2013
Two people were beaten outside a Baltimore County restaurant Friday night, police said, an attack that was captured on a cell phone video and shared on Facebook. Jesse Agusto, 30, and Denise Thompson, 24, both of the Baltimore area, were assaulted by a crowd outside the Windsor Inn in the Windsor Mill area of western Baltimore County, police spokesman Lt. Robert McCullough said. They sought treatment at Northwest Hospital and were released, he said. A third person was also assaulted but did not seek medical treatment, McCullough said.
NEWS
By Ian Duncan, The Baltimore Sun | April 27, 2013
Friends and former classmates gathered Saturday at Johns Hopkins University to remember Anne Smedinghoff, a Foreign Service officer who was killed in a bombing in Afghanistan earlier this month, sharing stories of a too-short life marked by adventure. As photographs of Smedinghoff in front of monuments and ruins around the world flashed by on projector screens, friends recalled her various escapades, including a coast-to-coast cycling trip, which saw the young woman eat a live bug to fulfill an item on a scavenger hunt list.