Uncertainty

Sergio Kindle's status and ability continue to be sources of curiosity from fans, but Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome said yesterday that the team has a much better understanding of what the linebacker can do. “I think we have a very good handle on what his strengths and weaknesses are, and it's going to be interesting to see how we can integrate him into the defense,” Newsome said. “We think we have a very good handle on it. I think this offseason is going to be very big for Serg.

Columbia-based office developer Corporate Office Properties Trust, or COPT, posted an $87.2 million loss in the fourth quarter, the company reported Thursday, blaming a weak economic recovery and uncertainty over federal budget cuts. The net loss for the three months ended Dec. 31 compared with a profit of $16.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2010. "The on-going difficult operating environment, caused by the weak economic recovery and uncertainty surrounding federal budget cuts made 2011 a challenging year for COPT," Randall M. Griffin, chief executive officer, said in a statement.

The long, circuitous ride that is Ricky Williams' football career again swerved abruptly Tuesday when the Ravens' enigmatic reserve running back announced that he was retiring from the NFL. Since early last week, Williams, who reached the 10,000-yard career rushing plateau in 2011, his only season in Baltimore, had been mulling the decision to walk away from the NFL (again) to explore other interests and focus on his foundation. The 34-year-old acknowledged he could change his mind.

An airport food company warned state regulators Thursday that it is laying off 112 employees as it hands off the management of restaurants and bars at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport to another firm — which could decide to hire all the same workers. SSP America said the switchover began in early January and would be complete by the end of March, according to its notice to the state Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. BWI spokesman Jonathan Dean said SSP had a sublease with concessions developer AIRMALL USA to operate six restaurants and bars but decided to leave.

Kirk-Habicht Co. in Essex doesn't do much business in Europe, but problems on the continent are buffeting the manufacturer all the same. Its employees rely on a heavy wire to make springs tough enough for trucks, and the only plant they know of that makes what they need is in Germany - or was. The factory shut down. Company president Mark Habicht is struggling to find an alternative. "What's going on there is definitely affecting us," he said of events in Europe. "It's causing us to scramble and search the far corners of the world to see if there's anyone who can make this material for us. " As world economies knit ever closer together, the debt woes and economic slowdown in Europe are sending ripples across the Atlantic - giving pause to Maryland companies anxious about recessionary contagion and offering business opportunities to others.

Maryland Business for Responsive Government this week slammed the state government for its profligacy based on a new report from the National Governors Association and the National Association of State Budget Officers showing Maryland has the largest general fund budget growth in the Mid-Atlantic and the seventh highest in the nation. “These numbers clearly show that Maryland has a spending problem,” MBRG President Kimberly M. Burns said in the release. Trouble is, the report, by its own admission, reveals only part of the state spending picture - and one that is decreasingly relevant as a guide to the overall fiscal situation in the states.

The County Council should delay a proposed change to the county charter's provisions for local referenda until state lawmakers ensure that the local Board of Elections won't reject valid petition signatures because of technicalities. The county's Charter Review Commission has recommended an amendment with the potential to raise the number of voter signatures required to bring local laws to referendum. There's nothing inherently wrong with that. As the commission notes, the charter language dates from a time when the county was a lot smaller, and the suggested change would allow for future shifts in population.

Veteran money manager Brian Kroneberger Jr. didn't sleep well last week — and neither did his clients — as markets whipsawed and the Dow Jones industrial average posted Tums-popping losses and heart-pounding gains on a daily basis. Nervous clients phoned incessantly, he attended frequent meetings to discuss developments, and investors emailed him in the middle of the night, apparently unable to sleep and seeking advice. Do we sell now? Do we move it all to CDs? Is this a buying opportunity?

The fight between billionaires and millionaires may be close to ending. That is how many Americans, including President Obama, viewed the labor dispute between the owners and players in the National Football League. There were other, legitimate debates between the two sides about safety and the care of retired players, but on the whole, the dispute was about money, lots of it, and that wasn't something that endeared either side to an American people muddling through the lingering aftermath of the Great Recession.

What's certain is that Orioles right-hander Alfredo Simon is scheduled to start against the Cleveland Indians on Saturday night before heading to his native Dominican Republic on Sunday. What's uncertain is what comes next for Simon. The team hopes Monday's hearing in the Jan. 1 shooting death of Simon's cousin will be the end of the case, but based on how things have progressed this year, the Orioles aren't sure what will happen. "We simply don't know. It's a legal process," Orioles director of player development John Stockstill said.