What’s New in Maryland
For you Merliners out thereArchive for General
Chesapeake Bay Bridge Lane Closed
The bridge is closing, the bridge is closing. Just one lane and it’s all for safety. Due to bolts beginning to deteriorate, repairs to the eastbound span of the bridge are needed. One eastbound span lane will be closed at least three weeks.
To avoid heavy delays, travelers can take Interstate 95 to Route 1, which becomes Coastal Highway through Delaware. Perfect timing. Just in time for Labor Day weekend. Is that a popular time to go to Ocean City?
HSBC Finance Corp. in White Marsh Closes
In addition to Boscov’s, the White Marsh area has another employer / customer-oriented business that will be closing — HSBC. The closing of HSBC in White Marsh will lay off 450 employees. Ironically, HSBC managed Boscov’s credit card offering. It’s always pretty congested in the area around the White Marsh Mall and the shopping center with the Target. Guess this will mean a little less traffic.
Boscov’s Will Close in Glen Burnie, Owings Mills, & White Marsh
Some Marylanders will have one less place nearby to buy clothes and home furnishings. Boscov’s has announced that it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and will be closing 10 stores.
Three of those stores that will be closing are right here in Maryland. They include the store in Marley Station Shopping Center in Glen Burnie, the one in Owings Mills, and the Boscov’s at the White Marsh Mall in Baltimore. If you’re near one of these locations, look out for the going-out-of-business liquidation sales. The 10 stores that will be closing will be trying to sell off their inventories.
Closing the stores and filing for bankruptcy allows the department store chain to reduce debt and other costs. After closing the 10 stores, the chain will still have 39 left in states that include Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and Virginia.
Maryland Minimum Wage Increases To $6.55 Per Hour
As of July 24, 2008, the mimimum wage in Maryland will increase $.40, from $6.15 to $6.55. The increase affects 64,000 employees in Maryland. Whoa. Keep in mind many of these workers are high school students. The raise will effect other workers as well, such as those who work 40 hours per week, raising their pay to $13,624 a year.
Win 50 or 100 Thousand Dollars by Attending an Oriole Game
The Baltimore Orioles have two exciting attendance milestones to celebrate this season.
Camden Yards opened on April 6, 1992 and is almost at the mark for welcoming 50 million fans to the games. If everything goes normally, that mark should be hit this season and the 50 millionth fan to enter the stadium will win…$50,000 courtesy of the Baltimore Orioles and the Maryland Lottery. If there’s something better than being the 50 millionth fan to enter the stadium this season, it’s being the 100 millionth fan to enter the stadium. That fan will win $100,000 to celebrate total attendance records in the history of the Orioles franchise.
In addition to the cash prizes, the winners will also receive season tickets and other prizes. Fans must be at least 18 years old to be eligible to win.
To keep track of fan attendance to Camden Yards or get more details about the countdown, visit http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/bal/ballpark/50_million.jsp
Fans who attend the game during one of these days, but do not win will receive a commemorative pin to celebrate the day.
Children in Booster Seats Until 8 Years Old
Maryland passed a new law saying children must be in booster car seats until they are at least 8 years old. Eight might seem like a little old but if children are at least 4’9” or weigh at least 65 pounds, they do not have to be in a booster seat.
The reason for the age increase with booster seats has to do with height. Seat belts can cut across children’s necks or stomachs if they are not tall enough and this can mean a life-threatening injury to children under 4’9″.
Though most people can understand the safety benefits of this new law, the worst could be for children who are say 7 years old. The current law states that children must be in booster seats until they are 6 years old and reach 40 pounds, and children under 4 years old and 40 pounds should be in car seats. So children who are 6 or 7 years old and not currently in a booster seat would have to go back to being in one.
The new law goes into effect Monday, June 30, 2008 and breaking this law means a $48 fine.
Wedding Proposal Idea
Comcast is accepting videos (between now and July 20, 2008 ) from Marylanders who would like to propose marriage on television. Ten finalists will be chosen by a panel of judges. If chosen, contestants will have their videos shown on Searchlight On Demand and at http://www.proposalman.com.
The grand prize is roundtrip airfare for two to any AirTran Airways Destination and a Solitaire engagement ring from Smyth Jewelers. The public votes on the grand prize video.
The video must be less than two minutes and should ask the question ‘Will you marry me?’. Interested participants can check out the details of the Proposal Man Contest at http://www.proposalman.com/ and select the area (Baltimore, Cumberland, Frederick, Hagerstown, or the Washington DC Metro Area) in which they live . The contest is also open to certain areas of Virginia, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania.
Giant, Food Lion Offer Lower Prescription Costs
In addition to Safeway lowering many of their generic prescriptions to $4, other grocery chains have as well.
Both Giant and Food Lion have lowered the costs of many prescriptions drugs. Giant has lowered the price of 350 generic drugs to $9.99 for a 90 day supply. Food Lion did something slightly different, lowering the price of some prescription drugs to $4 for a 30 day supply and $10.99 for a 90 day supply. By contrast, Safeway offers over 300 generic drugs for a price of $4 for a 30 day supply.
Don’t you love price competition.
Father’s Day Ideas
Don’t forget about Father’s Day, Sunday, June 15, 2008. It seems early this year. Sunday’s supposed to be sunny and in the 80s, good weather to be outside. And whether it’s golf, boating, food or the old standby of a new tie or shirt, there’s lots of gift ideas for Maryland dads.
Some of the best ways to get ideas is to check out your local newspaper for restaurants and other events. Visit http://baltimore.about.com/od/holidays/a/FathersDay.htm for events going on in Baltimore.
Public Transit Trip Planner Now Includes Baltimore Area
With a scarcity of free parking in Baltimore City, an increase in gas prices, and thus, an increase in public transportation, the Maryland Transit Administration has developed a trip planner in partnership with Google to help local travelers find the most effective and efficient public transportation. Check it out at http://www.mtamaryland.com/. The tool seems to be pretty useful, though if you live in an area farther away from public transportation, you may get a message that says your search appears to be outside the current coverage area as the tool only maps out routes you can ride public transportation to and reasonably walk to NOT drive to.
For people who think that looking at schedules is confusing, (many people!) this is a great tool; users can enter the time they plan to leave or when they would like to arrive, as well as the street or town name, and they will get an itinerary of which public transportation to take and where to meet it. Public transportation includes Baltimore’s light rail, buses, metro subway, and Marc train.
The trip planner is actually on Google Maps. After entering in the locations and time, you get how long the trip will take, a few suggested times to leave based on the time you want to leave or arrive, the ability to get reverse directions, and the public transportation to use (and the streets to pick it up at) to get there. People interested in using the trip planner can go to http://www.mtamaryland.com/
Another way to get the information is to go to Google Maps at http://maps.google.com/, click on Get Directions, and enter starting and ending addresses. Google Maps will automatically show the driving route so click on Public Transit to get directions without using a car. In addition to Maryland, other states and even countries provide public transit information on Google Maps. Find that information at http:http://www.google.com/transit/
