An Owings Mills medical device company, IZI Medical Products, will now have new owners from across the pond after a $153.5 million deal. IZI Medical will be a standalone subsidiary within Halma plc, a British conglomerate involved in several “life-saving technology” sectors, from smoke detectors to medical devices. The deal with Halma, a company with a market capitalization over $8 billion, closed on Sept. 30. Halma is not the first firm outside of Maryland to acquire the 90-person medical device company. IZI was acquired by Illinois radiation company Landauer Inc. in 2011, before becoming a portfolio company of private equity firm Shore Capital Partners in 2016.
British conglomerate acquires Owings Mills’ IZI Medical Products in $153.5M deal
United Way, Civil Justice to bring legal services to Baltimore-area tenants facing eviction
United Way of Central Maryland has partnered with Civil Justice Inc. to bring access to legal representation to Baltimore area residents over the course of the next four years. The group was awarded a $4 million grant by the Maryland Legal Services Corporation to create a first-of-its-kind initiative in Maryland that will address the need among residents facing eviction for legal representation. A study funded by the Abell Foundation for the Public Justice Center found that while 96% of landlords have legal representation during eviction proceedings, just 1% of tenants have legal representation. Of tenants without representation, 93% are displaced, while only 8% of tenants with representation are displaced.
Carroll school board’s Wednesday agenda includes votes on changes to public meeting rules, middle school family life lessons
The Carroll County Board of Education’s October meeting agenda includes an expected vote on changes to public participation at school board meetings and suggestions from the school system’s Family Life Advisory Committee on changes to middle school family life and human sexuality education to remove lessons about sexual orientation and gender identity. The board is set to meet from 5-8 p.m., Wednesday, at 125 N. Court St., Westminster. The meeting will be broadcast on the Carroll County Public Schools YouTube channel. At the meeting, the board could ratify changes to its Citizen Participation Policy.
After a lifetime of circling politics, Wes Moore picks his moment. Will Maryland voters hire him for his most ambitious job yet?
The first time the debate over Wes Moore’s future entered the national media spotlight, he wasn’t on a book tour or in the midst of prestigious programs like the Rhodes scholarship or White House Fellowship. He was a 17-year-old spectator at the NBA draft, watching Kobe Bryant and other teenagers he knew from Amateur Athletic League games and a camp for high school players take a leap he thought he might make one day. A standout point guard at Valley Forge Military Academy, Moore had once fantasized about being drafted by the New York Knicks. But playing against future all-stars had forced him to rethink his options. Maybe, he told a New York Times reporter at the draft, he’d go to law school and enter politics instead.
Maryland U.S. attorney establishes civil rights and special victims section
Melissa Etheridge performs concert at Havre de Grace’s STAR Centre to benefit Heather Mizeur’s campaign for congress
Congressional candidate Heather Mizeur first met rock singer Melissa Etheridge back in 2008, when the singer called Mizeur, a superdelegate at that year’s Democratic National Convention, on behalf of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. The pair spoke for two hours, bonding over their Midwestern upbringings and history of carrying pocket Constitutions — Etheridge recalled Mizeur being personable, real and upfront. They later met at one of Etheridge’s concerts at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. and again at the Democratic National Convention.
Crafting a dream: Baltimore brewery wins chance to collaborate with Samuel Adams beer
Judy Neff started brewing out of her basement 17 years ago. Soon, she’ll be brewing with national beer giant Samuel Adams. Checkerspot Brewing Co., the South Baltimore brewery that Neff runs with her husband, Rob Neff, is the winner of Samuel Adams’ 11th annual Brewer Experienceship, a philanthropic program that links one craft brewery a year with loan opportunities and mentorship from Samuel Adams’ Boston-based experts. Keep an eye out for a joint Samuel Adams/Checkerspot beer release, too: The program offers winning breweries a chance to collaborate with Samuel Adams brewers on a beer that would be distributed in several states, including Maryland.
How McCormick plans to cut $100M in costs as supply chain, demand normalizes
McCormick & Co. Inc. plans to cut $100 million in costs in the coming months as the spice giant begins to see demand and supply chain issues return to more normal levels. CEO Lawrence Kurzius said the cost-cutting initiative is part of Hunt Valley-based McCormick’s plan to better support customer demand and return inventory to pre-pandemic levels. That includes investing in areas of its business that have seen sustained high demand since the pandemic and right-sizing other areas that have seen a drop-off as the world has returned to more pre-pandemic modes. Kurzius discussed the cost-cutting plan during a call with analysts Thursday after the company posted its fiscal third quarter earnings, which saw McCormick (NYSE:MKC) grow sales by 3% and its profit increase nearly 5% year over year.
Term limits are popular, but experience says they have drawbacks
Baltimore voters in the November election will encounter a ballot measure with the potential to upend the flow of power in City Hall. If passed, Question K would limit the mayor, comptroller, City Council president and council members to two terms in office. The count for every official would begin in 2024. Local advocates for the measure argue it would empower voters and force a regular cycle of fresh blood into City Hall, while opponents question why term limits are necessary in a city rife with partially completed terms and high rates of executive turnover. While the idea has polled well, analysis from most political experts is more measured. Research suggests that while term limits can help youthful politicians rise quickly, career politicians who hop from one office to the next still exist.
Climate change lawsuits filed by Annapolis and Anne Arundel County can proceed in Maryland courts, judge says
Did global oil companies know that fossil fuel use causes climate change while still trying to convince consumers otherwise? Attorneys representing Annapolis, Anne Arundel County and dozens of other states and municipalities believe they did, and think corporations should be on the hook to pay for mitigating the harms of warming oceans, rising temperatures and other environmental crises. The joint legal action by Annapolis and Anne Arundel, filed last year, took a major step forward last week when a judge ruled their cases should be tried in state court rather than before a federal bench.