financially distressed companies

After spending more than four years embroiled in a contentious Chapter 11 bankruptcy case, the reorganized Tribune Co. will emerge Monday under new owners and a newly appointed board, freed from its massive debt and facing an uncertain future, officials said.

Maryland's only ski resort says it has emerged from bankruptcy protection under a new management firm.

One of the owners of Sparrows Point broke its silence on the bidding process Thursday to say it didn't turn away any "qualified parties" interested in operating the steel mill, implying that the groups the local union said wanted to restart parts or all of the plant did not have the financial wherewithal to make the purchase.

Several hundred former Sparrows Point workers gathering Monday for details of their steel mill's demise heard from union leaders that at least two groups had wanted to restart the plant but weren't given the chance.

The effort to connect former Sparrows Point workers with training for new careers gained even more urgency last week as the final hopes of reopening the steel mill were dashed — and as the deadline to apply for the help or forever lose it fast approaches for hundreds.

The possibility that the Tribune Co. will sell its newspapers after its imminent exit from bankruptcy has set off a new round of speculation about The Baltimore Sun's future ownership — along with expressions of interest from potential buyers.

An out-of-state steelmaker has bought the most valuable piece of the Sparrows Point plant to use as spare parts, likely signaling the death knell for hopes that the steel mill would be purchased by an operator and reopened.

The federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation says it is taking control of two RG Steel pension plans.

Nostalgia for Hostess' iconic snacks and Wonder breads drove consumers to the outlet on Furnace Branch Road and area grocers Friday to buy Hostess products by the bag load.

The financially strapped owners of Wisp Resort, Maryland's only ski resort, say they have found a buyer for the western Maryland property.

Discount retailer Marshalls plans to open in the former Filene's Basement spot at the Inner Harbor early next year.

The United Steelworkers called a request by RG Steel to pay 21 of its remaining employees $767,000 in bonuses and health-insurance stipends "an inappropriate, unfair and outrageous effort."

Chemical maker W.R. Grace & Co. said Wednesday that its third-quarter profits fell 7.1 percent to $75.5 million as sales shrank.

Harborplace has been sold to a New York real estate investment firm that owns office and retail centers across the country, according to a statement Tuesday from Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.

Harborplace has been sold to a New York real estate investment firm that owns office and retail centers across the country, according to a statement Tuesday from Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.

Baltimore County's pension problem

Hundreds of computers, monitors, digital design tools and pieces of office furniture were auctioned Tuesday in Timonium to raise money for creditors of defunct Big Huge Games and its Rhode Island parent company, 38 Studios.

Hundreds of computers, monitors, digital design tools and office furniture were auctioned Tuesday in Timonium to raise money for creditors of defunct Big Huge Games and its Rhode Island parent company, 38 Studios.

Vertis Holdings files for bankruptcy protection again

Computers, desks, chairs and other office equipment and items that belonged to the now-defunct Big Huge Games, a Timonium-based video game maker, will be auctioned Tuesday as part of the company's Chapter 7 bankruptcy and liquidation.

Hundreds of Baltimore shoppers packed into the newly reopened Boscov's Friday morning, welcoming the department store back as if they were greeting an old friend

Boscov's department store will return to its former spot in Baltimore Friday as an anchor of White Marsh Mall.

The Maryland Food Bank said it handed out food Wednesday to hundreds of families affected by the mass layoffs at Sparrows Point.

Q&A with Baltimore lawyer Joel Sher, who is pursuing major mortgage-related actions against banks.

The buyers of Sparrows Point have settled disputes over the speed at which contractors and other companies must remove their equipment from the steel mill complex, removing a key barrier to finalizing the sale.

Shirley Jones will perform at opening of Boscov's department store in White Marsh Mall

The Sparrows Point steel mill is so intertwined with parts of eastern Baltimore County that everyone in the area seems to be affected — or knows someone who is.

The Sparrows Point steel mill's temporary closure — in danger of turning permanent — leaves its younger workers staring at the grim possibility of many years of making do with less.

A settlement agreement ending health benefits for Sparrows Point workers Aug. 31 was approved Thursday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del.

Sparrows Point workers packed a union hall Monday with urgent questions about the future of the recently sold steel mill — questions that largely don't have answers yet.

Sparrows Point workers age 60 and older have until the end of the day to retire if they want a $10,000 bonus.

The United Steelworkers union warned laid-off Sparrows Point workers Tuesday to brace for an imminent loss of benefits.

The Howard Hughes Corp. of Dallas, which succeeded Rouse and General Growth Properties as the master developer of Columbia, has a $20 million plan to convert the former Rouse headquarters on Little Patuxent Parkway from a single-occupant office building to a mixed use, mufti-tenant development with Whole Foods Market as the anchor.

The final chapter in the Sparrows Point steel mill's 125-year history could be at hand. A redevelopment firm partnering with a liquidator won the bidding for the Baltimore County complex at a court-ordered auction.

New court records show that the high bidder for the Sparrows Point steel mill is a Missouri redevelopment firm called Environmental Liability Transfer.

The mood was glum at a local bar as workers faced the harsh news that Sparrows Point had been sold to an industrial liquidator.

The Sparrows Point steel mill was sold Tuesday to a plant demolition company for $72 million after no steelmaking companies showed up at auction to bid, the union said.

Proposed legislation dealing with liability for dog bites would leave many victims without any meaningful recourse.

The Sparrows Point steel mill was auctioned off Tuesday, but no one — not the company, not its attorneys, not the union — would say who bought it.

An auction for RG Steel's Sparrows Point mill, delayed last week, remains scheduled for Tuesday — at least as of early Monday evening.

Jamal Lewis signed autographs for fans in Baltimore Friday and reiterated his innocence

The auction for RG Steel's Sparrows Point steel mill, expected Tuesday, will be delayed by a week.

Attorneys for RG Steel said the sale was not underway Tuesday as originally planned, and a lawyer for a creditor said the auction had been postponed by a week.

Support grows among government agencies to allow private student loans to be discharged in bankruptcy.