Business

Maryland lawmakers passed a bill last week to increase the maximum fines for repeat liquor license violations in Baltimore from $3,000 to $20,000. Democratic Gov. Wes Moore is expected to sign it into law; it would take effect July 1. It’s one of multiple bills that passed during the Maryland General Assembly that impact Baltimore’s liquor laws. After the pandemic saw a loosening of those laws across the state, a push was made to improve the enforcement capabilities of the liquor board.

Inflation probably ticked down yet again last month, but the next moves for the Federal Reserve’s fight to slow the economy are still clouded by a recent shock in the banking sector and uncertainty about the path ahead. New data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics is expected to show that prices rose around 5.2 percent in March, compared to the year before.

Lorien Health Services, a family-owned and operated assisted living/nursing home company, Monday announced Lorien Columbia has been named one of America’s Best Nursing Homes 2023 by Newsweek magazine and Statista, a global data research firm. The announcement comes on the heels of five Lorien Health Services locations earning Best Nursing Homes status in a U.S. News & World Report survey achieving the highest possible rating of “High Performing” for Short-Term Rehabilitation and/or Long-Term Care, including Bel Air, Bulle Rock, Columbia, Mays Chapel, and Mt. Airy.

As she raises two sons, there’s a time Jamyla Bennu and her husband, Pierre, like to keep sacred as a family: doing their hair. The styling methods range from barber cuts to dreadlocks; as the boys aged, the background noise evolved from “The Backyardigans” to “Saturday Night Live” episodes. But they always do it together. “One of my kids would be getting a haircut from dad and one was getting his hair twisted with mom, and we’d be watching a movie and stuff,” Bennu, 47, said.

Is there a joke about a banker walking into a comedy club? If so, Irwin Weinstein, owner of Give a Hoot Comedy Club in Gaithersburg, probably wrote it. Weinstein, who’s day job is as a business banker at SECU, partnered with comedian and friend Ken Watter (who happens to be an accountant) to open Give a Hoot in late 2022. The club is the first and only comedy club in Montgomery County, and it operates in partnership with La Mexicana restaurant with shows every Friday and Saturday with occasional Sunday and weeknight shows.

The Maryland Public Service Commission has suspended the license of SunSea Energy LLC, a New Jersey-based retail energy supplier, claiming the company has racked up numerous violations in its dealings with gas and electric customers in the state. The PSC, the regulator of energy suppliers and utilities, on Friday said that SunSea must immediately cease enrolling new customers in Maryland and stop marketing.

The minds behind Silver Spring’s Quarry House Tavern are getting ready to open Charley Prime Foods, a steak-forward American bistro this month at Rio Lakefront in Gaithersburg. Longtime business partners and Quarry House Tavern owners Jackie Greenbaum and Gordon Banks aim to recreate the lively bar scene they have in Silver Spring in Gaithersburg.