NewsTrust - Baltimore Business - Most Recent Stories

The Most Powerful Man in Baltimore Real Estate?

Sun, 16 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Baltimore Slumlord Watch - By Slumlordwatch - Oct. 16 (Opinion) - An interesting way to describe Paul Graziano, director of Baltimore’s Housing Authority. We received an email from the Baltimore Real Estate Investors Association, inviting us to a meeting where Paul Graziano will speak to the group (including slumlords and owners of blighted vacant homes) and address questions regarding Section 8 housing, vacant homes, and other

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Much acclaimed (and criticized) 25th Street Station project stalls

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Baltimore Brew - By Mark Reutter, Fern Shen - Sep. 26 (News) - Land records show that no property has changed hands on the 11-acre site centered at Howard and 25th streets. No building permits have been granted for the parcels, the city permits website shows.

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Best Media Watchdog Experiment: NewsTrust

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

City Paper - Sep. 21 (Editorial) - We got used to NewsTrust Baltimore’s e-mails very quickly. More than a thoughtful amalgam of Baltimore stories from around the web, the alerts came with an invitation to think about the stories in a critical way and comment via a strict form included on the site. Inveterate web commenters might at first be offended by this kind of formalism, but it worked: The idea of rating which news sources are “trustworthy” is, of course, not new. But in using this form to guide self-selected readers, NewsTrust helped its readers (and itself) understand something about the news ecosystem from the point of view of both newsmakers and consumers. NewsTrust, launched via a now-concluded six-month pilot program but with its site still active, was filled with thoughtful, constructive criticism of stories and articles both local and global, and was blessedly devoid of moronic flame wars. In this age of partisan rancor, that is no small thing.

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The Off Switch

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

WYPR - By Sheilah Kast, Lawrence Lanahan - Sep. 13 (News Analysis) - Can protest movements keep moving when governments try to shut down wireless networks? Sheilahasks our social media analysts Nathan Jurgenson and P.J. Rey.

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Baltimore's fledgling food-truck scene runs into a few potholes

Sun, 11 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Baltimore Sun - By Jill Rosen - Sep. 11 (Opinion) - After getting chased off the Johns Hopkins Hospital campus for the second time in two weeks, then shooed away from Harbor East where she only paused to strategize, Irene Smith pulled her orange truck, sloshing with soup, to a spot near Fallsway and Gay Street, trying to salvage the day.

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Legal wrangling over State Center project in Baltimore continues - Baltimore Sun

Sat, 10 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Baltimore Sun - Sep. 10 (News) -

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Realities of Real Estate: A Short History of the Home Mortgage

Fri, 09 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

The Daily Record - By Bob, Donna McWilliams - Sep. 09 (News Analysis) - As the federal government begins to grapple with the new reality that there are limitations on how much money our nation can borrow, we are starting to examine possible changes to the tax code, as well as how our tax dollars are spent. Topics that were previously taboo are now on the table.

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Art District Helps Transform Community

Thu, 08 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Post - Sep. 08 (News) -

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Baltimore Election 2011–The Red Line

Wed, 07 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

WYPR - By Sheilah Kast, Stephanie Hughes - Sep. 07 (News Analysis) - The Federal Transit Administration has given the go-ahead for Baltimore’s proposed Red Line addition to the light rail system to begin the preliminary engineering phase. What effect could Baltimore’s next mayor have on when we’ll be able to get on board--literally?

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Vacant city houses get property tax break meant for owner-occupied homes

Tue, 23 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Baltimore Sun - By Scott Calvert, Jamie Smith Hopkins - Aug. 23 (News) - Property tax breaks meant to encourage homeownership have been awarded to 465 vacant houses in Baltimore.

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8-16-11: A Cop in Your Pocket

Tue, 16 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

WYPR - By Sheilah Kast, Stephanie Hughes - Aug. 16 (News Analysis) - A look at a new mobile app being used by the Baltimore police.

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Stock Market Crash: What Should You Do?

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

WBAL-TV - Aug. 10 (Editorial) - Experts weigh in on what investors should do in these turbulent times on Wall Street.

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A millionaire fleeing Maryland taxes speaks out

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Baltimore Sun - By Jay Hancock - Aug. 10 (Opinion) - MarylandReporter.com's Len Lazarick has accomplished something that has eluded me for years: getting somebody who moved because of Maryland's high taxes to go on the record. Maryland tax flight is real, but most folks changing their residence to Florida or Virginia don't want to be quoted in the paper, for obvious reasons. Individuals who disclose their income and suggest that high taxes will change their behavior tend to get, uh, criticized, to put it mildly. Last year a guy at the University of Chicago opined that $250,000 a year wasn't really that much income and described how his household spending might change if the Bush tax cuts were allowed to expire. He was blasted and soon took down the post. But here's MarylandReporter.com, reporting on GTI Federal's Mark Gaver changing his residency to Florida. The move is not taken lightly. Ten generations of Gavers have lived in Frederick County since 1762; his wife’s family has lived in Maryland for eight generations. “The move is primarily to get out of the cold weather, but the tax benefits are certainly substantial,” Gaver said in an interview. Gaver earns about $750,000 a year. With state and local income taxes his top marginal rate comes to 8.5%. That’s more than $60,000 in taxes per year, a little less than the total income for half of Maryland households. I've talked to many people like Gaver, but I could never get them to agree to be quoted. Maryland tax flight is real.

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A guide to Baltimore’s online news ecology

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

City Paper - By Michael Byrne - Aug. 09 (Special Report) - For six months, Baltimore was fortunate enough to have an organization here dedicated solely to analyzing the city’s journalistic output, NewsTrust Baltimore (the local pilot project of the larger NewsTrust organization). It was a bit like Yelp crossed with the Columbia Journalism Review. The project ceased operations on July 31 (it was always intended as a six-month pilot), leaving behind a collection of reports, one of which is a final comprehensive analysis of sorts. It eventually concludes, “The local news scene is in a state of flux with more than a little creative chaos. But patterns are emerging. As news startups and impassioned individuals become more rigorous and as traditional news organizations become more open and responsive to the public, there is a growing opportunity for collaboration across the local journalistic community.“

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Tech Talk

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

WYPR - By Nathan Sterner - Aug. 09 (News Analysis) - Mike Subelsky on starting tech startups.

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Debt Deal Lowdown

Mon, 08 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

WYPR - By Katherine Gorman, Sheilah Kast - Aug. 08 (News Analysis) - How will the free state fare in the face of federal cuts?

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To Be a Thirsty Tomato

Tue, 02 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

WYPR - By Sheilah Kast, Stephanie Hughes - Aug. 02 (News Analysis) - How the extreme heat and dryness is affecting the region's farmers.

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Charles Street corridor sees post-recession resurgence

Sun, 31 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Baltimore Sun - By Lorraine Mirabella - Jul. 31 (News) - Walid Hajj is happy he followed his instincts and bought an incomplete condo redevelopment in Baltimore's Mount Vernon neighborhood last fall.

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Independent bookstores look to life after Borders

Sun, 31 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Baltimore Sun - By Jay Hancock - Jul. 31 (News) - Is the death of Borders a bell that tolls for the book trade? Or a business opportunity?

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Utility costs cripple Hippodrome

Sat, 30 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Baltimore Sun - By Mary Carole McCauley - Jul. 30 (News) - Seven years after the Hippodrome Theatre reopened with a citywide celebration and an outpouring of civic optimism, the historic venue is struggling, beset by exorbitant utility expenses and an audience that is seemingly deserting in droves.

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Lift Off

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Urbanite - By Holden Warren - Jul. 28 (News) - It used to be they could ride around Druid Lake undisturbed, but the city outlawed it. Now, the Sunday rides are a wild safari hunt through every corner of the city, the police shadowing the bikers, looking to pick off stragglers or tracking them to where they live to seize their bikes.

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How to keep the Fort Avenue bridge open

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 06:34:06 -0700

Baltimore Brew - By Gerald Neily - Jul. 28 (Opinion) - The city and CSX Transportation think it’s impossible to keep the Fort Avenue bridge over the railroad tracks open during construction. So they have concocted several convoluted ways to detour around the closed bridge during the nearly one-year construction schedule. Residents are highly skeptical.

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Clear-Eyed Capitalists Take Baltimore Investment Community Into the Future

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Baltimore Fishbowl - By Michael Yockel - Jul. 28 (Interview) - Meet five local financial leaders armed with enough savvy, innovation, and responsibility to make us feel semi-optimistic about the economic future.

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W. Lexington Street makeover: sign of brighter future or million dollar headache?

Wed, 27 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Baltimore Brew - By Fern Shen - Jul. 27 (News) - After nearly 30 years owning a business in the shadow of Baltimore's still-uncompleted Superblock, Young Cho and her husband are trying to believe in city officials' vision of a brighter day. But it's been, increasingly, a retail Dead Zone and even a nearly-million dollar street makeover has been, so far, a headache.

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Teacher Features

Wed, 27 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

City Paper - By Edward Ericson Jr. - Jul. 27 (News) - In this year’s Democratic primary election, Kraft faces two challengers, both political newcomers, both schoolteachers. Both say that Kraft is not sufficiently responsive to community concerns and has acquiesced to high property taxes. Neither challenger, however, is so far running the kind of aggressive campaign that shook up the last election.

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