financially distressed companies

• Baltimore City Paper

Rather than life in prison, 51 months is sought for Baltimore cocaine trafficker and money launderer George Frink

After being caught kilograms of cocaine, and after bank records showed him laundering money, George Sylvester Frink Jr. of Baltimore was looking at life in prison, but instead is like to get 51 months for his part in vast, sophisticated conspiracy that law enforcers say was responsible for bringing in as much as 3,000 kilograms of coke from California. Body builder Gerald Lamont Jones of Golds Gym and Pimlico Motors is the alleged leader of the scheme, but has not yet been charged.

• Sun Investigates

Maryland agencies need to improve oversight of group homes, officials say

State officials said at a legislative briefing Thursday that their agencies must do more to flag financial mismanagement at group homes — problems similar to those that went unheeded at an Anne Arundel County facility where a 10-year-old died this month.

• Maryland

Staff cuts bleed the public interest

• Companies and Corporations

New Hedwin Corp. owners scout for new sites

The new owners of a longtime Baltimore manufacturing company are considering moving operations to a new plant, possibly in Delaware, an executive with the firm said.

• Sun Investigates

LifeLine contracts received little scrutiny at Board of Public Works

Maryland's Board of Public Works, a panel that includes the governor and other top state officials, did little to scrutinize millions in contracts it awarded in recent years to the financially strapped operator of a group home where a 10-year-old boy died this month, records show.

• Companies and Corporations

Crumbs cupcake shops could re-open some locations

ust days after the financially troubled Crumbs Bake Shops Inc. closed all 48 stores, including three at malls in the Baltimore area, the New York specialty chain stands to be acquired as part of a voluntary bankruptcy.

• Laws and Legislation

Maryland lawmakers, child advocates seek probe into oversight of troubled group home

Maryland lawmakers and child advocates called Monday for an investigation into regulators' oversight of a troubled group home operator, asking why the state continued to give the company millions in taxpayer dollars despite long-standing financial and regulatory problems.

• Medical Research

Group home for disabled children struggled to provide adequate care

The recent death of a 10-year-old disabled foster child at an Anne Arundel County group home was just the latest in a series of problems at LifeLine, the state contractor that has been paid millions in taxpayer funds to care for "medically fragile" individuals, a two-month investigation by The Baltimore Sun has found.

• Baltimore County

Psychiatrist among those charged in Towson drug raid

Three people were arrested Wednesday in Towson following a drug raid

• Companies and Corporations

1st Mariner Bank buyers close on sale

Investors who tried for years to get a stake in 1st Mariner Bank have closed on their purchase of the Baltimore institution.

• Business

1st Mariner buyers win regulatory approval

The investor group buying 1st Mariner Bank in Baltimore said Monday that they've received necessary federal and state regulatory approvals and expect to close on the deal this month.

• Baltimore City Paper

Trib Files Chapter 11

• Baltimore City Paper

Andrews' Omission

• Baltimore City Paper

Tribune Bankruptcy Imminent

• Baltimore City Paper

Patterson Park CDC Files for Bankruptcy

• Baltimore City Paper

Prominent Realtor Appeals Bankruptcy Fraud Judgment

• Baltimore City Paper

Patterson Park CDC to Reorganize

• Baltimore City Paper

Putting Two and Two Together

• Baltimore City Paper

Kiss My Bumper? Senate Insurance in Bankruptcy, Called Ponzi Scheme

• Maryland

Super Couponing: Gift card caution

• Business

First Mariner says stock to be delisted in June

First Mariner Bancorp's days of publicly traded stock are coming to an end.

• Politics and Government

Social Security disability backlog in Md. among highest in nation

The Social Security Administration office that reviews disability claims for Central Maryland has the third-longest processing delay in the nation, prompting a member of the state's congressional delegation on Monday to call for action to address its expanding backlog.

• Health

Ex-Catonsville doctor charged with sexually assaulting patient in Western Md.

The practitioner of a shuttered Catonsville laser surgery center who was convicted of raping a woman at gunpoint in 1987 was indicted by an Allegany County grand jury last week for sexually assaulting a patient behind locked doors.

• Baltimore City

City bike-sharing program delayed until summer of 2015

The launch of Baltimore's anticipated bike-sharing program will be delayed until next summer after the hardware and equipment vendor selected by the city filed for bankruptcy, officials said Wednesday.

• Business

Japanese firm named winning bidder for Baltimore manufacturer

A Japanese firm that once licensed a key product made by Baltimore-based Hedwin Corp. was named the winning bidder in a bankruptcy auction Friday for the manufacturer.

• Features

Wood floors grow in popularity as options expand

Choosing wood floors for your home

• Business

Baltimore manufacturer awaits bankruptcy auction

Ten years after employees of Hedwin Corp. bought the company to save their jobs, the Baltimore manufacturer is headed to bankruptcy auction. But the jobs might once again be preserved. That's the intention of the initial bidder.

• Business

A bid to lower manufacturers' energy bills

A new program to reduce manufacturers' energy costs focuses on companies making products here for a simple, weighty reason. Energy eats up big chunks of most manufacturers' budgets. Organizers see reducing that expense as one way to keep companies around in an era pockmarked by moves and shutdowns.

• Sun Investigates

Conflict-of-interest questions raised in 1st Mariner fight

High finance is a small world, just as Baltimore is a small town, and it showed as potential conflicts of interest cropped up during a fight over ownership of the city's biggest local bank.

• Business

Group with local ties wins battle to buy 1st Mariner

In a stunning reversal, the spurned bidder for 1st Mariner Bank got approval Tuesday to purchase it — preserving the city's largest independent bank as a Baltimore-based institution..

• Business

Bidders battle over 1st Mariner Bank

An all-out battle over Baltimore's last major independent bank broke out Monday in a contentious court hearing, leaving a judge to decide — potentially later this week — whether the institution is sold to an investment group with local ties or a Pennsylvania bank.

• Business

Pennsylvania bank submits highest bid for 1st Mariner

National Penn Bank — a regional bank that mostly operates in Pennsylvania — emerged as the highest bidder for 1st Mariner Bank Friday, dashing the hopes of group of investors who wanted the bank to remain based in Baltimore.

• Business

Coldwater Creek retailer files bankruptcy, will close stores

Women's clothing retailer Coldwater Creek Inc. on Friday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after failing to find a buyer said it plans to close its stores by early summer

• Auction Service

Two bidders will vie for 1^st Mariner Bank

1st Mariner Bank, Baltimore's largest independent bank, will go to auction Thursday morning with more than one bidder.

• Bankruptcy

1st Mariner Bank heads to auction

A bankruptcy judge had approved First Mariner Bancorp's request last month to sell its bank as part of the parent company's bankruptcy filing. Bids for the Baltimore-based bank, which is not part of the bankruptcy, were due Monday by 4 p.m.

• Laws and Legislation

Apartment tower proposed for Inner Harbor site

The Questar Properties building would stand 40 to 45 stories high — less than 500 feet — and contain 350 to 370 luxury apartments, said Stephen Gorn, chairman and CEO of the Pikesville-based company. The design remains fluid and will depend in part on feedback during the public process.

• Business

First Mariner swung to loss in 2013

First Mariner Bancorp's losses mounted last year before the parent of 1st Mariner Bank filed for bankruptcy protection in February.

• Foreclosures

Bankruptcy cancels Westport auction for a second time

A foreclosure auction of Westport property connected to developer Patrick Turner's ambitious, 42-acre waterfront plan was canceled Friday for a second time.

• Business

Daily Record parent Dolan to file for bankruptcy-law protection

The Daily Record's parent company plans to file for bankruptcy protection next week, the newspaper reported.

• Foreclosures

Judge denies extension to Westport team

U.S. bankruptcy judge Robert Gordon Tuesday denied a bid for more time sought by Westport developer Patrick Turner, who has been trying for a decade to turn an empty piece of Baltimore's western waterfront into a high-end, mixed use community.

• Property

Clock could run out for Westport developers

A U.S. bankruptcy court is scheduled to decide Tuesday whether to grant more time to developer Patrick Turner, who has tried for 10 years to transform a piece of the Westport waterfront from grassy marsh to a bustling downtown neighborhood.

• Business

1st Mariner Bank auction set for April

A bankruptcy judge has approved First Mariner Bancorp's request to speedily auction off its Baltimore bank, a process that drew heated objections from the creditors' committee and U.S. trustee.

• Bankruptcy

W.R. Grace to pay executives bankruptcy-exit bonuses

Columbia's W.R. Grace & Co. said Thursday that it will give CEO Fred E. Festa a $1.5 million cash payment, part of a package of "emergence" bonuses in the wake of its exit from a nearly 13-year-long bankruptcy case.

• Business

Gregory Thornton announced as new city schools chief

Before a crowd of students, education leaders and activists, Gregory Thornton proclaimed that he was "coming home" to Maryland, where he will take the helm of one of the state's lowest-performing, but high-profile, school district this year.

• Business

Jos. A. Bank to acquire Eddie Bauer in deal worth $825 million

Hampstead-based suit seller Jos. A. Bank Friday acquired casual clothing chain Eddie Bauer for about $825 million in cash and stock.

• Business

1st Mariner Bank to be sold to investors

1st Mariner Bank will be sold to a group of investors who will recapitalize it with about $100 million to meet regulatory standards, its parent company said Monday.

• Business

For Grace, a long road out of bankruptcy court

Columbia chemical maker W.R. Grace is about to go where it hasn't been for nearly 13 years: out of bankruptcy court.

• Insurance

Md. insurer, seized by regulators, could be liquidated

A Sparks-based insurance company that was seized by Delaware regulators faces possible liquidation in a wild case — with dueling allegations of fraud, forgery and a vendetta, plus a sanction involving an Aston Martin sports car.

• Opinion

FDA can ensure adequate drug supply [Letter]

Here's what the federal government can do to make sure important generic drugs are always available

• Business

Grace settles final appeal to its reorganization plan

Columbia-based W.R. Grace cleared the last major hurdle to its exit from nearly 13 years of bankruptcy protection Monday, settling the final remaining appeal to its reorganization plan.