The firm redeveloping Harborplace has taken control of the struggling Inner Harbor destination and on Thursday announced a design team to lead revitalization. MCB Real Estate said it has completed a deal to acquire Harborplace out of court receivership. The Baltimore-based developer closed on a multiyear receivership process on June 21 that officially transferred ownership of the twin pavilions, now an aging and mostly vacant retail center.

Baltimore’s Penn Station will soon be able to bring more high-speed trains in and out of the city. The last time the station underwent this type of major renovation was in 1984. The platform project is part of Penn Station’s multi-phase plan to revitalize the historic train station. The two high-level platforms, two and five, will allow Amtrak to offer more Acela service.

 

 

Some students at Bowie State University in Maryland may soon be eligible for more money and scholarships — thanks to a $50 million fundraising effort. It’s part of the BSU Bold: The Campaign for Excellence, according to the university’s website. “It’s thrilling to get to this point,” university president Aminta Breaux told WTOP.

 

The American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland filed an administrative complaint Tuesday, asking the federal government to investigate whether the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office 287(g) program should continue. The complaint was submitted to the Department of Homeland Security’s Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, an ACLU press release said.

 

Coppermine owner Alex Jacobs will spend close to $6 million on pickleball in the coming 12 months as he bets big on capturing the growing number of players from kids to seniors who want to learn the art of dink shots, dill balls and falafels. Jacobs is leading the charge alongside several other entrepreneurs, landlords and brokers in Greater Baltimore who are lining up to cash in on the sport that is morphing across the U.S. into a commercial real estate cash cow.

Facing an angry Baltimore City Council demanding answers about how an annual community festival devolved into one of the city’s largest mass shootings, Baltimore Police leaders acknowledged their failure Thursday to learn of the event in advance and further admitted responsibility for failing to mobilize additional resources once the party was discovered.

Orioles chairman John Angelos has repeatedly said that the Orioles will remain in Baltimore for years to come. Democrat Gov. Moore, a friend of Angelos’, has echoed the confidence, as have Mayor Brandon Scott and even MLB commissioner Rob Manfred. The prospect of the Orioles relocating remains a remote one. But until promises become agreements, there could be a bit of apprehension in Baltimore, where the NFL’s Colts’ midnight move 39 years ago feels fresh for many.

As a steady stream of people stopped by his table, Brian Dawkins, owner and creator of From Baltimore With Love, explained the inspiration of his clothing line brand to anyone who was interested. “A lot of the information that you see about Baltimore is negative, and people refer to [HBO’s] ‘The Wire’ and what’s going on in the news,” Dawkins said.

In the world of education, July isn’t just a month of squeezing in beach weeks or backyard barbecues. It’s a time of transition for school districts, when new superintendents begin the work of settling in to demanding jobs, and in Maryland, those jobs will require them to work through the implementation of a long-term school reform plan called the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future.

 

The Worcester County Board of Education voted unanimously this week to extend negotiations with the teachers association. The school board on Tuesday agreed to extend negotiations with the Worcester County Teachers Association (WCTA) and the Worcester County Education Support Personnel Association. Though the groups had initially agreed to certain salary increases for staff, administration said the school system could not afford those increases with the maintenance of effort (MOE) level of funding Worcester County provided this year.