Business

A ‘hush trip’ has emerged as one of the employee abuses made possible by remote and hybrid work, and in a ResumeBuilder survey of Gen Z workers under age 27, a surprisingly large share admit to having done it.  A hush trip is working from a vacation destination without telling their manager they are on vacation, and sometimes working very little when they go. The survey found 44% of the 900 or so Gen Z office, remote or hybrid workers responding had taken such a trip, and many have taken those trips to an extremely deceptive level.

A federal judge threw out a lawsuit Monday in which Erie Insurance accused state regulators of acting illegally in determining that the insurer engaged in insurance “redlining” of predominantly Black neighborhoods in Baltimore. Judge Julie R. Rubin dismissed the case against the Maryland Insurance Administration, according to an order filed in U.S. District Court in Baltimore. The judge issued the order after holding a proceeding in open court Monday.

A firm led by a former special forces officer and graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy has acquired the Westin Annapolis hotel for $51 million. The 225-room, 11-suite luxury property at 100 Westgate Circle sold last month to an entity of District Hospitality Partners, a private hospitality real estate investment trust (REIT) led by Fred W. Malek, a graduate of the Naval Academy who later served in Navy Special Forces. Malek is CEO of the Bethesda firm that has a portfolio of properties across the U.S., Mexico and the Caribbean, according to its website.

Shop Maryland Tax-Free Week will return Aug 13-19 in time for back-to-school shopping, the comptroller’s office announced. “This tax-free week is a way for Marylanders to save a few dollars, especially as their wallets are tight,” Comptroller Brooke Lierman told 11 News. “This is a great week in which to do that back-to-school shopping that maybe you’ve been putting off or waiting on this week to do.”

At the center of the Francis Scott Key Mall on Saturday, tables featuring a range of products and services stood surrounding the large fountain. Some offered jewelry and apparel. Others featured handmade skin and hair products. The small businesses at the tables were participating in Marketing Solutions and Events’ third annual Black-owned business showcase. The company hosted a series of Black-owned business showcases on Saturday at different malls across the country, including the Francis Scott Key Mall in Frederick.

As Maryland’s sports wagering market continues to grow, attention has been turning to the state’s next betting frontier — iGaming, which involves wagering on virtual slot machines and other casino games. The number of mobile sportsbooks in the state jumped to 11 in July and then reached 12 on Thursday, with license approval for Greenmount Station and its operator partner Parx Interactive, according to the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency, which oversees betting and casinos in the state. There are also 10 retail sportsbooks.

We noticed something about our List this year of the biggest ongoing construction projects. Do you see it? There’s a distinct lack of new office projects. With the next phase of Amazon’s HQ2 campus on pause, the only private office developments on our List this year are 17xM, a new Skanska office building at 1700 M St. NW, and the renovation and repositioning of Metro’s former headquarters as 600 Fifth, at 600 Fifth St. NW in Penn Quarter. Compare that with 2019, when we had nine major office projects on our List.