Business

Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski on Monday announced that the county has maintained triple-A bond ratings from all three major rating agencies, which would allow the county to issue bonds at the lowest possible interest rate. Moody’s Investor Service, Fitch Ratings, and S&P Global Ratings have each confirmed the county’s triple-A rating. In the reports, the rating agencies highlighted Baltimore County’s “broad and diverse economy.”

The Maryland Supreme Court has delivered Amazon a legal victory, clearing the way for the online shopping and shipping service to operate a distribution center in Upper Marlboro over the objections of nearby residents. In a 7-0 decision, the high court said the Prince George’s County Council validly approved Amazon’s plan to use a 290,225-square-foot building in an industrial complex for a holding and distribution center for the online orders the company receives. The justices rejected the residents’ argument that Amazon’s facility qualifies as neither a permitted “warehouse” nor “distribution” center under the county’s zoning ordinance.

Unionized employees at Horseshoe Casino Baltimore have secured a new contract that union leaders say includes raises, paid holidays and a lower rate for health insurance payments.
The new contract, signed March 1 after roughly five months of negotiations, will run through October 2025 and cover around 500 workers.

At the Board of Public Works meeting last week, Gov. Wes Moore (D), Treasurer Dereck Davis (D) and Comptroller Brooke Lierman (D) were public and intentional about the need to restart the procurement process for a highly lucrative contract to operate concessions at BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport, which had fallen apart following allegations of favoritism weeks earlier. All three officials pledged their commitment to a fairer, more transparent process.

Maryland’s six casinos in February weren’t as busy as a year ago, as measured by total gaming revenue from slots and table games. Maryland Lottery and Gaming reports total gaming revenue of $167.1 million — $5.9 million less than February 2022, or a 3.6% decline. MGM National Harbor had the smallest decline in February gaming revenue, down 0.4% to $65.6 million. Live! Casino & Hotel remains the state’s second-busiest with $55.7 million in February revenue, down 6.3%.

When Tyra Thompson would pass the old Methodist church on East Monument Street, she rarely gave it any thought. Why would she? Sure, Thompson, a 38-year-old single mother, has lived in the nearby Latrobe Homes for the past seven years, but this wasn’t really her neighborhood. She’s from West Baltimore, not East Baltimore. She’s not a property owner, let alone a developer.

Maryland state lawmakers are considering a bill to put more money into the pockets of restaurant workers. House Bill 803 would give restaurant servers a base hourly wage of $15, plus tips. “We will make sure that people will always get a wage where they can at least pay their rent,” said the bill’s sponsor, Senate Assistant Deputy Majority Leader Arthur Carr Ellis, D-District 28.

Though a traumatic brain injury suffered in an automobile crash has limited some aspects of Robert Jaffe’s life, the engineer hasn’t let it slow down his contributions to a robotics program at the Westminster-based nonprofit Mid-Atlantic Gigabit Innovation Collaboratory (MAGIC). After the crash, Jaffe went through physical therapy and then moved to Carroll County in October 2020 to be closer to family.