Economic survey: Job losses to bottom out in 1Q

BY: Ben Mook
POSTED: November 22, 2009

Economists expect the joblessness that has weighed down the nation’s economic recovery will start to slowly abate in 2010, but they predict consumers will continue to keep a tight rein on spending, according to a new survey.

While signs have pointed to the end of the recession, joblessness remains rampant. The national unemployment rate jumped to [...]

Rising unemployment taxes could hinder hiring

BY: Associated Press
POSTED: November 22, 2009

As if small businesses needed another reason not to hire, consider their latest financial burden: The cost of rising unemployment itself.

Employers already are squeezed by tight credit, rising health care costs, wary consumers and a higher minimum wage. Now, the surging jobless rate is imposing another cost. It’s forcing higher state taxes on companies to [...]

No recovery in sight for region’s food charities

BY: Associated Press
POSTED: November 22, 2009

In the midst of the busiest months for food pantries, many aren’t seeing or celebrating the end of the nation’s recession, wondering instead how to help so many without as much.

“I don’t know what economic recovery people are talking about, because we’re seeing things get worse,” said Amy Ginsburg, executive director of Manna Food Center [...]

Hopes are high for expanded Seagirt

BY: Nicholas Sohr
POSTED: November 22, 2009

Maryland leased Seagirt Marine Terminal to a private port operator with 2014 in mind, when an expanded Panama Canal will allow longer, taller and wider ships to pass from the Pacific Ocean to the East Coast.
The public-private partnership gives control of the terminal, the main on- and off-loading point for shipping containers in the Port [...]

Consensual disbarment remains a mystery 

BY: Caryn Tamber
POSTED: November 22, 2009

Last Monday, the Court of Appeals indefinitely suspended David M. Robaton from the practice of law. On Tuesday, the court filed an order stating that Robaton had consented to disbarment.
The change in punishment, which one attorney who defends lawyers against grievance actions called “bizarre,” is a mystery.
Robaton was disciplined for practicing in the U.S. Bankruptcy [...]

Mediation an increasingly popular appellate alternative 

BY: Steve Lash
POSTED: November 22, 2009

Win or lose at trial, civil litigants seeking review by Maryland’s intermediate appellate court might soon be sent to mediation rather than have their cases heard by the appellate judges.
The Court of Special Appeals, Maryland’s mid-level tribunal, expects to formally announce by the end of the year that court-ordered mediation — common at the trial [...]

Interrogatory: Why did you come to watch the Dixon trial? 

BY: Brendan Kearney
POSTED: November 22, 2009

Lots of local attorneys turned up to watch parts of Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon’s trial: federal prosecutors, former federal prosecutors who are former colleagues of one of the defense lawyers, lawyers asked by local TV stations to watch and comment on camera later, and courthouse regulars who dropped by in between cases. Here are the [...]

Press and partisans camp out in court, waiting for a verdict in Dixon case

BY: Brendan Kearney
POSTED: November 22, 2009

After issuing a flurry of notes on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning, the jury considering the gift card theft allegations against Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon went silent to the outside world for five hours before asking to be sent home for the weekend.
And while those dozen city denizens deliberated, the rest of us waited.
BlackBerries and [...]

Who loves a parade? Evidently, not enough people in Baltimore 

BY: Liz Farmer
POSTED: November 22, 2009

Most days of the year, blocked-off city streets, throngs of pedestrians and slow-moving vehicles are just traffic obstacles to be endured.
But add in a viewing stand, some television cameras, a marching band and confetti, and it becomes a spectacle to behold.
“When you’re walking down the street holding a balloon, people clap like you’re a celebrity [...]

Baltimore County gets win in suit over land-use letter 

BY: Danny Jacobs
POSTED: November 22, 2009

A judge has thrown out a Cockeysville man’s lawsuit seeking damages from a county planner for allegedly providing incorrect information on zoning for his lawn mower repair shop, resulting in a continuing six-year legal dispute.
Judge Ruth Ann Jakubowski granted the county’s motion for judgment following the conclusion of James G. Hammond’s case in Baltimore County [...]