Business

The University of Maryland Children’s Hospital is planning a $600,000 renovation to its pediatric emergency department to accommodate the increased number of children and adolescents that need emergency psychiatric care. Construction is expected to begin this year and will focus on transforming a portion of the existing pediatric emergency department into a more private and dedicated space to triage patients experiencing a mental health emergency, the hospital announced Thursday. Plans call for four rooms for patient care, a dedicated play and occupational therapy room, a bathroom with a shower and a workstation for staff. CRGA Design is the architect for the project, which is expected to be completed by summer 2023.

MCB Real Estate unveiled plans for a 154-unit apartment building that would overlook Druid Hill Park, prompting discussion among Baltimore city’s design panel on whether the proposed building fit into the historic neighborhood. The Linden will be developed by MCB Real Estate on what today is a city-owned vacant and blighted lot. The six-story project, presented to the city’s Urban Design and Architecture Advisory Panel, or UDAAP, showed a modular, modern brick complex with three distinct sections that hold balconies and bay windows to showcase the waterfront of Druid Park Lake Drive. A 1,400-square-foot retail space will be at street level.

As a mother of four young children, Kirsten Quigley often found herself packing 20 school lunches a week — and, in doing so, using and throwing away dozens and dozens of single-use plastic baggies. It was this weekly routine that made her aware of how much plastic is tossed into landfills each year — 27 million tons in 2018, according to the Environmental Protection Agency — and led her to find a solution to replace single-use plastic bags for food storage.  

Volo Sports will build its own recreational center in Brewers Hill, in a bid to do for social sports leagues “what Topgolf did for golf.” Giovanni Marcantoni, founder and CEO of the Baltimore-based social sports company, said this week that the planned complex will be a “sort of Volo clubhouse” combining athletic fields and facilities, a bar and grill and a stage for live entertainment. “You’re going to have sports there, you’re going to have entertainment, you’ve going to have food and beverage,” he said. “It’s kind of like everything we do into one.”

Flying Dog Brewery is jumping into the canned cocktail game through a new partnership with two well-known East Coast breweries. The Frederick-based company has joined Harpoon Brewery and Saranac Brewing Co., to form Right Coast Spirits, with initial plans to release four flavors of vodka-based ready-to-drink cocktails, Orange, Wild Berry, Watermelon and Pineapple. The canned Vodka Whips are made with vodka and real fruit. “The idea for Vodka Whips was inspired by the Orange Crush cocktail, a wildly popular drink in the Mid-Atlantic,” said Ben Savage, chief marketing officer at Flying Dog Brewery.

Several states are trying to give drivers a break from high gas prices by temporarily suspending their gasoline taxes. But consumers don’t receive the full benefit of gas tax holidays, according to a recent analysis by the nonpartisan Penn Wharton Budget Model, which looked at suspensions in three states through mid-May. Instead, they have to share the savings with gas suppliers, which capture part of the economic benefit if pump prices don’t fall by the full amount of the suspended tax.

Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder conducted a “shadow investigation” that sought to discredit former employees making accusations of workplace sexual harassment, hired private investigators to intimidate witnesses, and used an overseas lawsuit as a pretext to obtain phone records and emails, according to a document released by a House committee on Wednesday.

Three Republican hopefuls are running to unseat Anne Arundel County Sheriff Jim Fredericks in the July 19 primary. The incumbent Fredericks was elected in 2018 after edging then-Sheriff Ron Bateman in the primary. His opponents include Warren Porter, a 10-year veteran of the sheriff’s office; Joe Delimater, a deacon and electrical worker; and James McNeill, a former Annapolis Police officer.