Business

The Maryland Cannabis Administration selected 179 businesses out of over 1,500 applications Thursday in a lottery to get the chance to enter the nascent Maryland cannabis industry. The selection process put an end to a process fraught with weeks of delays as the MCA processed over 1,700 applications and lawsuits that threatened to stop the rollout of new cannabis businesses. After the first winners of the lottery were selected, MCA Executive Director William Tilburg smiled as a group of local entrepreneurs got one step closer to opening their own dispensary business.

If you, like The Be. Org, have been in Baltimore for a decade or more, nostalgic and catchy commercials like this one for a now-defunct, Baltimore-based shoe store ought to jog a memory or two. Although that commercial was specific to one shoe store, it speaks volumes about the significance sneakers hold in the local community. This importance is something founders like Tonee Lawson have recognized, as evidenced in her nonprofit The Be. Org’s fifth annual Sneaker Ball fundraising gala on April 6.

Hundreds of hopeful entrepreneurs will learn on Thursday if they’re one step closer to starting a cannabis business in Maryland, a state-regulated industry experts have estimated could take in more than $1 billion in annual sales. Each of the more than 1,500 eligible applicants have checked all the boxes in a multistep vetting process to qualify as what’s been dubbed a “social equity” applicant for their shot at one of the 179 licenses being distributed in this first of three possible licensing rounds.

Ted Vlahoyiannis has sat in the same seats in M&T Bank Stadium’s west endzone since the stadium opened 25 years ago, but soon he’ll have a different view of the action. Vlahoyiannis is one of hundreds of Baltimore Ravens permanent seat license (PSL) holders in the west endzone who will have their seats moved to make way for new field-level endzone suites. Vlahoyiannis said he feels betrayed by his favorite team, and that the organization is prioritizing executives and money over the Ravens’ loyal fanbase.

When Maria Duran first came to the United States in 1995 from El Salvador, she was seeking a better life, and she embarked on a journey that would ultimately help her reach her American dream. “I started making food at home and selling it outside,” Duran said. Duran developed a passion for food and flavors when she was young, and was able to turn that passion into opportunity when she settled into her new home in the D.C. region. During the day, Duran would go to small businesses, salons, stores, soccer fields and pretty much anywhere else people wanted her food.

Eli Lilly on Wednesday said Amazon Pharmacy will help send certain prescription drugs, including the red-hot weight loss treatment Zepbound, to patients’ homes through the drugmaker’s new direct-to-consumer program. Starting Wednesday, Amazon Pharmacy can deliver certain drugs from Eli Lilly that are prescribed for obesity, diabetes or migraine to patients who order them from the drugmaker’s direct sales website, according to an email from Eli Lilly.

In the 1970s, two men came together to answer a thorny question: After decades of white flight, neighborhood demolition and the suburbanization of America, how could cities bring people back downtown? One was an architect in Massachusetts who drew inspiration from the casbahs of North Africa and the public squares of Europe. The other was a developer in Maryland who once called Disneyland the “greatest piece of urban design in the United States.”