FYI:   NEED-TO-KNOW NEWS  is a weekday/workday service.
 There will be no compendium Mon. Oct. 14 (Columbus Day).

 
NEED-TO-KNOW NEWS — For Friday Oct. 11

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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY — IN BRIEF

A Voice of Baltimore compendium, local and beyond.   Your weekday morning look  (with links)  at late-breaking news, current events, and what will be talked about wherever you may go on Friday:

Baltimore’s historic Senator Theatre, seen here in 2005 photo, reopened Thursday evening with a showing of John Waters’ iconic 1988 Charm City film ‘Hairspray.’

After a year-and-a-half-long $3.5 million renovation, Baltimore’s historic Senator movie theater reopened Thursday with a sold-out showing of local filmmaker John Waters’ 1988 film “Hairspray.”

Read More at:  WJZ-TV (Channel 13) | Baltimore Sun

•  FORMER NAVY FOOTBALL PLAYERS FACE TRIAL IN SEXUAL ASSAULT CASE

Two former members of the U.S. Naval Academy’s football team will be court-martialed on charges that they sexually assaulted a fellow midshipman while she was allegedly incapacitated at an off-campus party in Annapolis in April 2012, the academy announced Thursday. The judge in an eight-day hearing last summer recommended that no one be court-martialed.

Read More at:  Baltimore Sun

•  URBAN PANEL REJECTS WALMART’S REMINGTON PLAN

Calling revised plans for a Walmart in Remington “a utilitarian solution without any grace to it,” Baltimore’s Urban Design and Architecture Review Panel rejected a set of drawings Thursday for the proposed project.

Read More at:  Maryland Daily Record

•  MD. PANEL FINDS 3 APPLICANTS SUITABLE FOR STATE CASINO LICENSE IN D.C. SUBURBS

Three applicants — Prince George’s Racing Ventures, LLC, a subsidiary of Penn National; Maryland Casino, LLC, a subsidiary of Greenwood Racing, and MGM National Harbor, LLC, a subsidiary of MGM — were found suitable Thursday by the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Commission to pursue a license to open a casino near Washington, D.C.

Read More at:  Maryland Daily Record

•  CITY PANEL OK’S APARTMENTS FOR EXELON’S HARBOR POINT TOWER

Exelon Corp.’s $250 million Harbor Point tower moved a step closer to becoming a mixed-use development Thursday as a Baltimore City panel approved the addition of 103 studio and one-bedroom apartments where office space was originally planned.

Read More at:  Baltimore Messenger
 

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NEED-TO-KNOW NEWS — For Thursday Oct. 10
 

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY — IN BRIEF

A Voice of Baltimore compendium, local and beyond.   Your weekday morning look  (with links)  at late-breaking news, current events, and what will be talked about wherever you may go on Thursday:

Artist’s enhancement of long-shuttered Loew’s Parkway Theatre, at W. North Avenue & Charles St., which was sold by the city Wed. for $1.

•  BALTIMORE SELLS PARKWAY THEATRE TO DEVELOPER FOR $1

Only City Council President Bernard C. “Jack” Young voted against the $1 deal, arguing the city could have gotten a higher price for the land, as Baltimore’s Board of Estimates approved the sale of three properties to the Producer’s Club of Maryland, which plans a three-screen theater and live music venue at the North Avenue and Charles Street site as part of a $16.8 million renovation.

The city’s Board of Estimates is controlled by Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake. The Producer’s Club plans to transform the theater’s auditorium into one 419-seat theater and two smaller venues, which would seat 86 and 99 moviegoers, respectively.

Read More at:  Baltimore Sun

•  FORMER HOPKINS DR. BEN CARSON DEBUTS AS FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR

Retired Johns Hopkins neurosurgeon Benjamin S. Carson Sr. debuted as a Fox News contributor Wednesday night on the network’s show “The Kelly File” with Megyn Kelly. The announcement that Carson would be joining Fox News was made earlier in the day by the chairman and CEO of the conservative-leaning TV network, Roger Ailes.

Read More at:  Maryland Daily Record | Voice of Baltimore

•  CARDIOLOGIST SAYS STENTS PLACED IN CORDISH EXEC’S HEART MAY HAVE SAVED LIFE

Former highly respected St. Joseph Medical Center cardiologist Mark Midei took the stand Wednesday in a lawsuit alleging that three stents he placed in patient Glenn Weinberg’s heart were unnecessary and caused the plaintiff to lose $50 million in income from his employer, Baltimore-based developer The Cordish Cos., which owns, among other properties, the Maryland Live! Casino at Arundel Mills. Midei said in court Wednesday that he may have saved Weinberg’s life by performing the procedure.

Read More at:  Baltimore Sun

•  MEN’S WEARHOUSE REJECTS $2.3B OFFER FROM JOS. A. BANK

A $2.3 billion offer by Maryland-based Jos. A. Bank to acquire rival Men’s Wearhouse and potentially create a suit and tuxedo juggernaut with close to 2,000 stores nationwide was rejected Wednesday by the leaders at Men’s Wearhouse, who called the offer opportunistic and inadequate.

Read More at:  WBAL-Radio (1090AM)

•  FEDERAL HILL LIQUOR BOARD HEARING POSTPONED

A Baltimore liquor board hearing scheduled for Thursday to allow the owners of Michael’s Cafe in Timonium to operate an establishment at the corner of South Charles and West Cross Streets in Federal Hill — that was gearing up to be a contentious battle — has been postponed. A new date has not yet been set.

Read More at:  Baltimore Sun
 

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NEED-TO-KNOW NEWS — For Wednesday Oct.9
 

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY — IN BRIEF

A Voice of Baltimore compendium, local and beyond.  Your weekday morning look (with links) at late- breaking news, current events, and what will be talked about wherever you may go on Wednesday:

Morgan State University is one of four traditionally black col- leges in Maryland affected by the state’s failure to help it and Coppin, Bowie and UMES overcome segregation-era policies.

•  TRADITIONALLY BLACK COLLEGES URGE MEDIATION IN ‘SEGREGATIVE’ LAWSUIT

In the wake of a U.S. District Court ruling Monday that Maryland hasn’t done enough to help the state’s four historically black colleges and universities overcome segregation-era policies that required separate programs for white and black students, attorneys represen- ting Morgan State University, Coppin State University, Bowie State University and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore called Tuesday for Maryland to embrace mediation to create high-demand academic programs at the four schools.

Past efforts in the State Legislature to address competing MBA programs at Morgan, for example, which is a traditionally black school in Baltimore, and nearby Towson University, a traditionally white school, have failed to pass, because of opponents’ arguments that the legislation would have enabled one state university to sue another, a change critics said would create a bad precedent.

Read More at:  WJZ-TV (Channel 13)

•  U.S POST OFFICE MANAGERS ARRESTED FOR BRIBERY, MAIL AND WIRE FRAUD

Two Baltimore area Post Office managers were among three people arrested by the FBI Tuesday as part of an ongoing investigation into bribery, mail and wire fraud, and drug trafficking. The managers of the Waverly Post Office and the Pikesville Post Office were charged with receiving bribe payments from landscaping and cleaning services in exchange for authorizing fraudulent checks.

Read More at:  WBFF Fox45-TV

•  YELLEN TO BE NAMED BERNANKE SUCCESSOR AT FED

The first woman to head the powerful Federal Reserve will be nominated Wednesday to succeed outgoing Chairman Ben Bernanke, the White House announced late Tuesday. Janet Yellen has been vice chairperson of the Fed since 2010.

Read More at:  New York Times | Washington Post

•  BOARD RULES BALTIMORE CITY BROKE LAWS BY MEETING IN SECRET

The city government —specifically the Baltimore Development Corp. — engaged in closed-door meetings that violated Maryland’s transparency law, according to a ruling by the Open Meetings Compliance Board issued Tuesday.

Read More at:  Baltimore Sun

•  CITY SAME-SEX NEWLYWED INVOKES SPOUSAL PRIVILEGE IN ASSAULT CASE

In what might be a first for same-sex couples in Maryland, a Baltimore City newlywed whose partner was charged in May with putting his hands on the witness’s neck, invoked spousal privilege Tuesday to avoid testifying in a domestic violence case against his husband of four days.

Read More at:  Maryland Daily Record
 

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NEED-TO-KNOW NEWS — For Tuesday Oct. 8
 

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY — IN BRIEF

A Voice of Baltimore compendium, local and beyond.   Your weekday morning look  (with links)  at late-breaking news, current events, and what will be talked about wherever you may go on Tuesday:

As Coppin State University prepares to mark its annual name- sake celebration event next week, a federal judge ruled the his- toric black college was one of four Maryland universities whose students’ civil rights were violated by other Md. state colleges.

•  JUDGE RULES MARYLAND COLLEGES
HAVE ‘SEGREGATIVE’ EFFECTS

Maryland’s four historically black colleges were shortchanged by the state’s unneces- sary duplication of their programs at nearby predominantly white institutions, a federal judge ruled Monday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore. Plaintiffs in the case are students and alumni from Coppin State University, Morgan State University, Bowie State Univer- sity, and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. The court ruled that state universities violated their constitutional rights by siphon- ing away students from the historically black institutions.

Read More at:  WBAL-TV (Channel 11)

•  FURLOUGHED WORKERS AT NAVAL ACADEMY, FORT MEADE RETURN TO WORK

Under legislation known as the Pay Our Military Act, which was signed into law shortly before the government shutdown began at midnight Oct. 1, most furloughed workers at the U.S. Naval Academy and Fort George G. Meade began returning to work Monday. Only a very small number of Naval Academy staff whose jobs do not meet the requirements of the act will not be allowed to return to work while the shutdown continues.

Read More at:  The (Annapolis) Capital

•  MD CASINOS’ SEPTEMBER REVENUE TOPS $65 MILLION

Maryland’s four casinos raked in $65.3 million in revenue last month, a drop from $71 million during August, the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency reported Monday. The state’s largest casino, Maryland Live! in Arundel Mills, took in about $50.5 million, while Hollywood Casino in Perryville made the next highest amount of $6.6 million for the month.

Read More at:  WBAL Radio (1090AM)

•  SHOPS AT CANTON CROSSING SET TUESDAY OPENING

Although some two-thirds of the 30 shops and restaurants at the sprawling $105 million shopping center on Boston Street in Canton have already opened or are on the verge of opening, the center’s inaugural will take place this afternoon.

Read More at:  Baltimore Sun

•  FORMER EHRLICH, STEELE AIDE TAPPED TO HEAD MARYLAND GOP

The Maryland Republican Party has hired a former aide to ex-Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. and Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele to head the state’s minority party, replacing David Ferguson, who resigned abruptly in August. Joe Cluster, 34, the son of Baltimore County Republican State Del. John Cluster, most recently served as an aide to Harford County Councilman Joseph M. Woods.

Read More at:  Baltimore Sun
 

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NEED-TO-KNOW NEWS — For Monday Oct. 7
 

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY — IN BRIEF

A Voice of Baltimore compendium, local and beyond.   Your weekday morning look  (with links)  at late-breaking news, current events, and what will be talked about wherever you may go on Monday:

Baltimore’s historic Senator Theatre, seen here in 2005 photo, is scheduled to reopen Thursday with a showing of John Waters’ iconic 1988 Charm City film ‘Hairspray.’

“Hairspray” will be the featured attraction Thursday as the remodeled Senator Theatre reopens with much fanfare, including its majestic main auditorium and three new smaller theaters. The iconic 1988 film was written and directed by John Waters and stars the late Sonny Bono and Divine, along with Jerry Stiller, Ricki Lake and Deborah Harry, plus locals Josh Charles and Rhea Feikin. The theater opened in 1939 with Spencer Tracy in “Stanley and Livingstone” and will begin showing newly released feature films Oct. 11.

Read More at:  Maryland Daily Record

•  NIGHTTIME DEMOLITION OF PRATT ST. PEDESTRI- AN BRIDGE TO CAUSE TRAFFIC, BUS DIVERSIONS

Beginning late Monday evening and continuing through Thursday, Pratt Street will be closed to through traffic between Howard and Charles Streets from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. for the demolition of a pedestrian bridge, weather permitting. Motorists will be guided by detour signs onto Baltimore Street as an alternate route and buses will be diverted.

Read More at:  MTA Maryland

•  LADY BALTIMORE MOVES FROM COURTHOUSE SQUARE TO NEW INDOOR HOME

Charm City’s Lady Baltimore statue, which has stood atop the Battle Monument at Calvert and Fayette Streets since 1822, was moved Saturday from its 190-year-old home overlooking Courthouse Square and taken to a new residence at the Maryland Historical Society Museum and Library in Mount Vernon that will shield it from outside elements which have worn away its features.

Read More at:  Baltimore Sun

•  LIBERALS, CONSERVATIVES OPPOSE ‘COMMON CORE’ IN MD. SCHOOLS

In a rare show of unity, liberals and conservatives joined together this week in opposition to the implementation of standards known as the “Common Core” in Maryland schools.

Read More at:  Baltimore Sun

•  ARUNDEL EXEC NEUMAN NAMES FIRST COUNTY ECONOMIST

Anne Arundel County now has its first “staff economist,” hired by County Executive Laura Neuman to fill a newly created position in her office at a salary of $110,000. The new employee, Scott Shaffer, will assist the Office of the Budget and the Office of Finance in data collection and analysis, and will analyze and find spending efficiencies within county departments.

Read More at:  The (Annapolis) Capital
 
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