Friday, March 29, 2024 | Baltimore, MD
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Rockville biotech OpGen faces delisting threat from Nasdaq

Rockville’s OpGen Inc. (NASDAQ: OPGN) has fallen out of compliance with the Nasdaq Stock Market after its share price failed to crack a buck over a 30-day period. The 20-year-old biotech said in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it received a letter from the exchange June 5 about the need to maintain the minimum bid price of $1, per its listing rules. OpGen has 180 days to regain compliance.

Swimming pool ladder
Baltimore City recruiting lifeguards amid nationwide shortage

As summer break draws near and temperatures are on the rise, pool season is upon us. But Baltimore is in need of more lifeguards, and the city’s Department of Recreation and Parks is actively recruiting lifeguards for public pools. The city has 23 indoor and outdoor pools that serve more than 27,000 individuals each year. Rec and Parks currently has 90 lifeguards, but they are looking to have a total of 120 for the summer.

 

Poll: About 60% of Marylanders oppose plan to mandate electric car sales by 2035

Six in 10 Maryland voters oppose a plan to end the sale of gas-powered vehicles in the state in 12 years. Gov. Wes Moore (D) announced this year that the state would recommit to aggressive climate goals involving the sales of electric vehicles. A poll released by Annapolis-based Gonzales Research & Media Service found a majority of voters oppose the plan even if it meant significant reductions in carbon dioxide emissions.

Gay bars remain closed in Baltimore just as LGBTQ community needs them most

With Pride Month celebrations in full swing, the fate of Baltimore’s gay bars and nightspots remains uncertain just as the LGBTQ community faces a myriad of mounting concerns. Two of the city’s largest bars and venues — Central and The Manor — remain shuttered, with no indication that either will be open for Pride Week activities this month.

Sports gambling revenue increases in May even as bettors wager less

Despite Marylanders gambling less money on sports in May than in April, the state saw an increase in revenue from sports wagering, thanks in part to sportsbooks having more revenue left over from lost bets. Hold, or the revenue remaining after sportsbooks pay out winners, rose by 20% during a month that two underdogs teams from Florida — the Panthers in the National Hockey League and Miami Heat in the National Basketball Association — improbably rose from the bottom of their playoff brackets to their respective championship series.

 

Dwyer Workforce Development Center joins Resurrection Sandtown project as foundational partner

The Jack and Nancy Dwyer Workforce Development Center Inc. June 8 signed a Memorandum of Understanding to partner with Ames Memorial UMC-Ames Shalom Community Inc. and Pastor Rod Hudson to be the foundational partner of the Resurrection Sandtown project to help redevelop a long-neglected stretch of West Baltimore.

Winning bet on sporting event, money in sport and sports betting conceptual idea with american football ball and wads of cash isolated on green background
Maryland gambling regulators block sportsbooks’ play to ease oversight of offers to bettors

Leading sports betting companies, eager to gain footholds in the growing Maryland market, asked the state to roll back rules intended to safeguard bettors from misleading promotional offers, according to documents obtained by The Baltimore Sun in a public records request. The state records show mobile sportsbooks, which began operating in Maryland just over six months ago, sought this spring to significantly enhance their ability to offer a variety of splashy inducements, such as free or discounted bets to lure new customers.

Read More: Baltimore Sun
Pickleball courts, sports bar headed to abandoned Harbor East warehouse

A local entrepreneur plans to convert an abandoned warehouse in Harbor East into pickleball courts with a sports bar. The fast-growing sport is expected to take over the corner of tiny Spring Street and Eastern Avenue by the end of the year, said Jimmy Edgerton, a co-owner of the Harbor East Pickleball Experience venture. The complex at 409 Spring St. will hold five pickleball courts, two indoor and three outdoor, and a sports bar with other games like darts, corn hole and ping pong.

University of Maryland Medical System closing rehab center, moving services downtown

A new building that will transform the main entrance of the University of Maryland Medical Center and the downtown Baltimore skyline was already slated to house cancer care. Officials said Friday it will also house trauma rehabilitation services. The rehab services will move in the next three years from University of Maryland Rehabilitation & Orthopaedic Institute, formerly known as Kernan Hospital, near Woodlawn. That facility will close.

County to ask Airbnb platforms to collect accommodation tax

Allegany County is making preparations to have vacation rental companies add the county’s accommodation tax to their billing process. The Allegany County Board of Commissioners discussed the effort to collect the 7% hotel-motel tax from online platforms at its Thursday meeting. The number of rental units available locally through Airbnb, Vrbo, Evolve and others has increased sharply since the coronavirus pandemic subsided.

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