services and shopping

The Baltimore Ravens don't play their first preseason game until three months from now and veteran players aren't obligated to be in Baltimore until a mandatory minicamp next month. But that hasn't stopped many of the players from taking an active role in the community during the offseason. Matt Birk's charity event on Monday night is a great example.

Anne Arundel County Briefs

Reisterstown: Reisterstown Improvement Association is advocating revitalization for Main Street and the Reisterstown Road business corridor.

The County Council Monday unanimously passed a bill that will prohibit a property owner from obtaining a county rental license if they are more than 30 days behind on their condo association or homeowner association fees.

Building a house or undertaking a major home renovation is an expensive project for consumers — and a nightmare if the builder or contractor doesn't live up to its side of the bargain.

The Maryland attorney general's office argued in a lengthy legal brief, filed in the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, that a convicted child rapist serving four life terms should not be offered a second chance to take a plea deal years after the fact, despite a U.S. district court ruling demanding just that.

Sharron Dorsey, associated with the Long and Foster Real Estate Aberdeen office and a director with the Harford County Association of Realtors, was one of the 21 graduates from the Maryland Association of Realtors 12th annual Leadership Academy honored at ceremonies held in Annapolis

Do politicians who take gifts from developers really think they are doing nothing wrong?

Leggy star doesn't exactly reveal much -- informationwise -- in new cover spread

Green Spring Tower Square shopping center in Hampden is repositioning itself to attract national tenants, now that it has Giant has an anchor, says Mark Manzo, whose family owns the center. Manzo also says he wants to be a partner in redevelopment of the Rotunda and the building of 25th Street Station. And he hopes to get the on-again, off-again Skyview condo development off the ground, on land that overlooks the center, and that that project is closely linked with the repositioning of the

The thrill of potentially winning big bucks gets people to spend millions of dollars regularly on lottery tickets. Can this same concept excite Marylanders to become better savers?

Parking is banned for the ciclovia Saturday and a high number of police will be present. That has led to questions about how people will be able to go grocery shopping and how much police are too much.

John Waters opened his audience's eyes to a kind of film experience they'd probably never had before.

The Nationals held a pre-sale for the series in February and March open only to fans with credit cards linked to addresses in Washington, Maryland and Virginia. "We don't release ticket sales numbers, but I can tell you that this is the most successful pre-sale we've had," Nationals chief operating officer Andy Feffer said. The club also offered two free tickets for later games to fans who bought two seats for this weekend.

Supermarket chains like Wegmans and Harris Teeter are trying to find ways around Maryland's ban on groceries selling wine, drawing pushback from Maryland's powerful liquor lobby and package goods stores but support from consumers hoping for one-stop shopping.

Supermarket chains like Wegmans and Harris Teeter are trying to find ways around Maryland's ban on groceries selling wine, drawing pushback from Maryland's powerful liquor lobby and package goods stores but support from consumers hoping for one-stop shopping.

Howard County datebook

Kevin Britton pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen motor vehicles.

Award-winning Carroll County photojournalist, fine art photographer and author Phil Grout will appear for the opening of his latest exhibition Friday, May 4, at Off Track Art in Westminster.

No matter whose version of events you believe, one thing is clear about the confrontation between the Werdesheim brothers and Corey Ausby: It wouldn't have happened if the brothers had stayed in the car and called the police.

Baltimore Reads' book drive runs 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at Falls Road and Cold Spring Lane

Congressman makes it clear to Howard University audience that he's not living the posh life.

The judge presiding over the trial of two brothers accused of assaulting a teen in Northwest Baltimore said after the attorneys' arguments concluded Wednesday that she planned to give her ruling in the case Thursday afternoon.

Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz and some County Council members accepted thousands of dollars worth of sports tickets from developers and others last year.

The Under Armour brand is poised for continued growth thanks to new product offerings and the company's continuing push into international markets, executives told stockholders Tuesday.

Future movie theaters

The Travel Channel's "Bizarre Foods" star will speak at 6 p.m. following the grazing and tasting part of the event

Lisbon/Woodbine: There will be an all-you-can-eat spaghetti dinner on Saturday, May 5 from 4 to 7 p.m. at Jennings Chapel Church, 2601 Jennings Chapel Road.

Just four months before high-speed cars are set to whirl through downtown streets, the IndyCar Series is seeking a new team to take over the Baltimore Grand Prix.

A Reisterstown synagogue is facing foreclosure as an increasing number of houses of worship are being swept up in the financial crisis.

As the leading advocate for homeownership and housing issues, the Harford County Association of Realtors joined the National Association of Realtors in honoring Fair Housing Month this April and received a proclamation from the Harford County Council declaring April Fair Housing Month

'Mad Men' recap: Season 5, Episode 7, 'The Codfish Ball'

Annapolis is arguing over the future of a little park, long considered the keystone to a waterfront makeover that one City Council member likens to the transformation of Baltimore's Inner Harbor.

Finally, a spotlight will be shone on a widespread business practice that forces unhappy customers to settle disputes through binding arbitration rather than by telling their story in court.

About 200 condos at the Ritz-Carlton Residences and Silo Point, two luxury condo developments along Baltimore's Inner Harbor, are taxed as if construction never got off the ground even though they were built between 2007 and 2009.

A North Carolina-based nonprofit group launched an ambitious affordable housing program Friday to rehabilitate 500 vacant or foreclosed homes in Baltimore near Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Anne Arundel County Briefs

Afghanistan: L.A. Times photographs of U.S. soldiers with corpses raise disturbing questions for all of us

The couple is expressing the easy, relaxed nature of their relationship with a "beach-y chic" wedding in Ocean City

From the moment you get engaged, immediately after showering you with excitement and congratulations, everyone wants to know where and when the wedding will be.

First Mariner Bancorp reported Wednesday its first quarterly profit in five years, posting net income of $1.8 million.

Today, dear readers, is National Arbor Day (April 27). Plant a tree. HdG has been designated Tree City USA for more than the past 10 years by the National Arbor Day Foundation

Baltimore County Police are investigating a report that three people apparently robbed a man of a bottle of Oxycodone — after two of them gave him a ride from Timonium to Glen Burnie to get his prescription filled.

Elkridge: Jeanne DeBoy would like to thank all those who participated in, assisted with and supported Elkridge Elementary School's second annual Elkster 5k, which was held on Sunday, April 15 on the school grounds. A total of 142 students, parents, staff and teachers at Elkridge Elementary and other schools participated in this event, hosted by Elkridge Elementary's PTA.

Members of the news, editorial, sports, photography and web design staffs of The Aegis, The Record and APG News received 37 awards in the 2011 Maryland, Delaware, D.C. Press Association's Editorial Contest. In addition to individual and team awards, The Aegis was named Newspaper of the Year among the association's non-daily newspapers with a circulation of more than 20,000.

A traveling EDM festival might have seemed like a far-fetched notion last year, but Live Nation's IDentity is returning this year, with a show planned at Jiffy Lube Live again. Plus: the Hives, Linkin Park, Lucinda Williams, +