Business

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.

A new group called Renew Baltimore is pitching a plan to slash the city’s property tax rate in hopes of rebuilding the city’s population, bringing about “greater economic equity” and increasing revenue and stability. Like almost all cities, Baltimore’s largest single source of revenue comes from property taxes. The city has a property tax rate more than double that of neighboring counties, and Renew Baltimore said it has been killing economic growth and driving residents to leave for decades.