Stephen Von Worley has a great graphic that shows the "contiguous United States visualized by distance to the nearest McDonald’s". I remember back in the day when Radio Shack used to brag that 90% of Americans lived with 20 minutes of a Radio Shack. I think McD’s has them beat:

The Parkside High School Marching Rams and the Parkside Band Boosters will host the 2009 Delmarvacade of Bands on October 17, 2009 at Wicomico County Stadium.  This event is in its 32nd year, and features marching bands from across the Delmarva Peninsula and Maryland.  Yours truly marched in this great event two times (1986 and 1987) and led the Parkside Marching Rams on the field as Drum Major in 1987.  It’s a truly spectacular event, and if you are a fan of great music, big bands, precision marching and a good time, you definitely don’t want to miss this.

The past three years since the election of O’Guvnah Martin O’Malley have been quite illustrative in some of the major weaknesses of budgeting in Maryland.  It’s time that Maryland’s elected classes in Annapolis begin to come to terms with the facts on the ground, and not be lured by the siren song of power-hungry wet dreams when it comes to state finances and state budgeting.

What do you do when the people tasked with keeping an eye on everyone else start stealing from you? The Baltimore Sun reports that a University System auditor has been charged with inflating hours.  It’s not really a lot of money – and I am surprised that someone at an auditor’s level isn’t classified as “exempt”.  Which is why, when I submit my timesheet (and I am exempt), I also put the *actual* hours worked.  Those are legal documents after all, no matter what my IRS status might be.

The Baltimore Sun is reporting that a French Bank – Paris-based Natixis SA – has scheduled an auction for Ed Hale’s Canton Crossing tower and the surrounding land on October 21 after Hale’s Canton Crossing, LLC defaulted on an $84 million loan.  According to the article, Hale is reportedly considering the sale of the building that opened three years ago.  My how the mighty have fallen.

Rumors are running rampant on the campus of University of Maryland, Baltimore today about what the final furlough package will look like when it comes through.  Apparently, some details have been circulated to managers and faculty, but the full plan hasn’t been published.  The University System operates under a separate personnel system from the rest of the state employees in the Executive Branch, and the Regents have left it up to each campus to devise a plan to cut their budgets through salary reductions.  I should say from the start that what I have heard is RUMOR, and not confirmed.  As I get more information, I will post it here.

Back in August, we first reported on the story that Ed Hale was being sued by Constellation Energy for a paltry $500k, and he was countersuing them for $65 million, alleging fraud in their deal to build a power distribution plant to serve Canton Crossing, LLC tenants.  The Baltimore Sun is now reporting that Ed Hale has gone hat in hand to the courts asking them to stop Constellation from turning off the lights.  My question is this:  as landlord to CareFirst, Prometric, 1st Mariner, and others, Ed Hale’s Canton Crossing, LLC has been collecting rent all these many months.  Supposedly, as with many commercial properties, that rent includes utilities.  So where did the money for the utilities go?

Just days after we criticized 1st Mariner Bank for issuing an acquisition loan of $5.3 million to Leroy Merritt to purchase the Merritt Athletic Club building in Canton Crossing (thereby helping 1st Mariner Chairman Ed Hale avoid an embarrassing foreclosure by Carrollton Bank), 1st Mariner has announced that it has received a CEASE AND DESIST ORDER from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Maryland Division of Financial Regulation, dated and effective September 18, 2009.

Ed Hale & 1st Mariner Bank are really pushing the limits in Ed’s sale of the Merritt Athletic Club building to Leroy Merritt.  The Baltimore Business Journal is reporting that Ed Hale has avoided a bank foreclosure of the property by selling the building on September 10 for $6.2 million, a tidy little sum considering he only paid $3 million in 2001. Of course, he could only pull sale off after 1st Mariner Bank – which Eddie heads as Chief Executive Officer – agreed to load Merritt $5.3 million in the form of an acquisition loan.

Rumors continue to swirl about the impending plan coming out of the Regents for the University System.  One rumor is that instead of furloughs, the system will choose straight temporary salary reductions (without coupled time off), possibly coupled with increases in administrative leave.  It’s not clear how this would be legal at this point:  many USM employees (like yours truly) have CONTRACTS that don’t provide for this.  As I hear more, I will post it hear.