Friday, October 25, 2024 | Baltimore, MD
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Health, economic disparities continue to affect coronavirus hot spots

A few yards from Isabel Espinoza’s Langley Park apartment, the area shows signs of the labors of this working-class immigrant neighborhood: Carpet-cleaning trucks sit in parking lots, corner street vendors sell fruit cups with chile and lime, and men walk into three-story brick buildings, their jeans stained with paint. Then Espinoza pointed to the windows.

Defunct coal-fired plant towers to be ‘imploded’; Baltimore County weighs proposal to replace with almost 300 townhomes

The 300-foot-tall smokestacks that have towered over the Gunpowder River and its creeks for over a half-century are expected to fall Friday morning in Bowleys Quarters as demolition crews tear down the remaining structures of a shuttered coal-fired power plant. The planned destruction will remove the last remaining structures at the defunct Charles P. Crane Generating Station, and comes as Baltimore County planners are weighing a request by property owner Forsite Development Inc. to extend public water and sewer lines to the property.

CNN cancels ‘Reliable Sources’; host Brian Stelter, a Towson University alumnus, is leaving network

CNN has canceled its weekly “Reliable Sources” show on the news media, and said Thursday that its host, Brian Stelter, a Towson University alumnus, is leaving the network. The show’s last broadcast will be Sunday. CNN has been looking to cut costs but also to put forth a less opinionated product. Stelter has written a book, “Hoax: Donald Trump, Fox News and the Dangerous Distortion of Truth” and been critical of Fox News, making him a frequent target of CNN’s conservative critics.

Read More: Baltimore Sun
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Bank of America’s overdraft fees down 90% under new policy

Bank of America says the revenue it gets from overdrafts has dropped 90% from a year ago, after the bank reduced overdraft fees to $10 from $35 and eliminated fees for bounced checks. The nation’s largest banks are moving away from the practice of charging exorbitant fees on what are mostly small-dollar purchases after years of public pressure. Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan told The Associated Press that he expects whatever residual income the bank earns from overdraft fees will come from small businesses using overdraft fees as a convenience.

Read More: Times-News
Mariner Finance vows to fight lawsuit by five states, D.C. over ‘predatory tactics’

Mariner Finance faces a lawsuit by five states and Washington, D.C., that alleges the Baltimore-based mortgage lender charges customers for hidden additional products they either didn’t agreed to buy or didn’t know about. The suit, led by Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, claims Mariner added hundreds to thousands of dollars to the total amount consumers owed. The suit says Mariner charged Pennsylvanians $19.5 million for add-ons from 2015 to 2018 and charged another $8 million in interest for these premiums in the same period.

Developer agrees to make changes to luxury town home community in Annapolis

The developer of a new luxury town home development in Annapolis has pledged to alter his site plans, a move that appeases City Council members and neighbors in surrounding communities. Ward 4 Alderwoman Sheila Finlayson said Tuesday that she had a very productive meeting with Nelson Epega, CEO of Bando Investment Group and developer of Athens Annapolis, a 48-home luxury community under construction south of Aris T. Allen Boulevard. Most significantly, Epega agreed to seek approval from the State Highway Administration for an access road off the four-lane split highway.

Read More: Baltimore Sun
Commanders’ sports-betting license at FedEx Field gets final OK

The Washington Commanders’ bid for a sports-betting license at FedEx Field received final approval Wednesday. The Sports Wagering Application Review Commission in Maryland approved the application for a Class A-1 sports-betting facility at the Landover, Maryland, stadium submitted by Commanders owner Dan Snyder. Under Maryland law, the review commission can only approve sports-betting licenses it finds are in the public interest, which includes whether the proposal would enhance state fiscal resources, spur economic development and help regulate an otherwise-unregulated black market.

Read More: WTOP
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Mobile sports betting won’t come to Maryland until 2023; Orioles to partner with SuperBook Sports and add betting lounge

Marylanders could start placing mobile sports bets in 2023, and they might even do so from a sports lounge at Oriole Park at Camden Yards next season. The Sports Wagering Application Review Commission met Wednesday and Jim Nielsen, the deputy director and chief operating officer of the State Lottery & Gaming Control Agency’s gaming and regulatory oversight division, said that while it’s hard to give a specific timeline, he’s hopeful mobile betting will come early next year to Maryland.

Read More: Baltimore Sun
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Baltimore County-based lender Mariner Finance heaped insurance plans onto unwitting borrowers, attorneys general say

A Baltimore County-based lender deceived its loan customers by selling them insurance policies they didn’t ask for or know about in many cases, the attorneys general of a handful of states claimed in a lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court in Pennsylvania. The lawsuit — filed by the attorneys general of the District of Columbia, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah and Washington — alleges that Mariner Finance pressured its sales force to “add on” additional insurance coverage for customers seeking personal and other loans.

Read More: Baltimore Sun
CSX encouraged to work out a settlement in Curtis Bay coal facility explosion

The Maryland Department of the Environment is giving CSX the chance to work out a settlement with the state for its role in a December explosion at the coal terminal it operates in Curtis Bay. A letter from the Maryland Office of the Attorney General, sent on behalf of the Maryland Department of the Environment, cited CSX for violating Maryland’s ambient air quality control law and gives the company an opportunity to settle the matter rather than fight it out through litigation. The civil penalties that CSX face from MDE can be as high as $25,000 per day per violation.

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