What do hunger pains and your workload have in common? Lots, according to a recent online poll.

Slightly less than half of employees queried in an August poll by Right Management and LinkedIn said they take a break for lunch – and 20 percent say they usually remain at their desk for the midday repast.

“Has the true lunch break become the exception rather than the rule?” wondered Stephanie Krizay, a vice president with Right Management, a career and workforce research and consulting company based in Philadelphia.

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Royal Farms will open another store at The Retail Village at the Baltimore Crossroads @ 95 development near White Marsh.

The Baltimore-based convenience store and gas station chain signed a lease with St. John Properties, Inc. for a 5,786-square foot store to be built on Maryland Route 43, which connects Interstate 95 to Eastern Blvd. near Essex.

Plans for The Retail Village business park call for up to 120,000 square feet of retail space with several full-service hotels and office buildings to hold at least 10,000 employees. While the park is in Baltimore County, it is located near the BRAC-designated area at Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Harford County.

The Baltimore Crossroads @ 95 project has 14 buildings completed to date, totaling more than 415,000 square feet. There are more than 30 tenants leasing space.

Royal Farms has more than 125 stores in Maryland, Delaware, Virginia and Pennsylvania. Construction of the new franchise is expected to begin next spring, and the store is scheduled to open in the fall.

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It’s been an on-the-one-hand-on-the-other-hand kind of week for anyone trying to get a handle on the state of our economic health.

It started with word from the Cambridge, Mass.-based National Bureau of Economic Research that the recession — the longest the U.S. had endured since World War II — had ended in June 2009.

Oh, really? As the Associated Press dryly pointed out, Americans are still struggling with a 9.6 percent unemployment rate, meager wage gains, struggling home values and sales, and a foreclosure plague that shows little sign of slowing.

And on that note, there was plenty of real estate news this week — none of it very good. Sales of previously occupied homes crept up in August, but not enough to keep the summer from being the slowest for sales in a decade. New home sales were actually worse in August — the second-slowest pace on record. One economist called it “a pitiful performance.”

On the other hand, home construction is up 25 percent from the bottom in April 2009. But on still another hand, it is 74 percent below the peak in January 2006.

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Three creditors of troubled developer Doracon teamed up this week in an effort to liquidate by filing an involuntary bankruptcy petition.

Concrete company Paul J. Rach Inc., of Middle River; Powell’s Trucking Company Inc., of Baltimore and excavation company Potts & Callahan Inc., also of Baltimore, filed the involuntary bankruptcy petition in U.S. Bankruptcy Court on Tuesday.

It is uncommon and might seem counter-intuitive for creditors to try and force their debtor into a Chapter 7, or liquidation bankruptcy. But, according to FindLaw.com, there are times where it can be advantageous:

“Creditors have several reasons for bringing an involuntary bankruptcy claim against a debtor or group of debtors, such as forcing the addressing of all creditors’ claims at once. Another reason these petitions are brought is to prevent the debtor from liquidating assets prior to an anticipated bankruptcy filing.”

According to court documents, Potts & Callahan is owed the most and listed a claim of $108,532 against Doracon. Paul J. Rach listed debts owed at $34,325 while Powell’s Trucking listed a $73,351 claim.

This is the latest blow against the once prominent developer. In August, The Daily Record reported that Doarcon, owned by Ronald H. Lipscomb, had stopped working in Maryland and moved its headquarters to D.C.

Lipscomb, the former boyfriend of former Mayor Sheila Dixon who was listed as a star witness in her corruption trial last year, moved just as he and the company were being targeted in multiple lawsuits for unpaid construction bills that total more than $1 million.

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The allegations surrounding unnecessary stent implants at St. Joseph Medical Center could lead to increased government scrutiny of Maryland hospitals and their medical practices.

That’s the main takeaway from a story the Baltimore Business Journal broke Wednesday morning. John M. Colmers, the state’s top health care regulator, is quoted in a nine-page report to Maryland Del. Peter Hammen suggesting ways to “enhance the state’s ability” to root out and prevent the types of medical fraud currently being investigated at St. Joseph Medical Center. Dr. Mark Midei, a cardiologist, is alleged to have performed unnecessary stent implants.

The Towson hospital has identified nearly 600 heart patients who may not have had blockages considered severe enough to warrant the implants. Midei is no longer practicing at St. Joseph.

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I’ve been anticipating this day for more than a decade, but I guess I’ll have to wait one more week.

Today was (finally) the day MTA unveiled its CharmCard, an electronic fare payment system for public transit. As a veteran user (and big fan) of D.C.’s SmarTrip card, I hoped to be one of the first to tout the joys of cash-free transit rides in Baltimore.

But when I hopped on the Number 11 bus today, as I do only on Tuesday mornings, the fare box was covered in orange canvas with bold, black letters, saying “NOT IN USE.” What a disappointment.

A call to MTA spokesman Terry Owens led to a brief discussion with the woman who answered the phone in the MTA communications department. Read the rest of this entry »

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Tuesday’s auction of Towson Commons on the steps of the Towson Courthouse is expected to draw bidders and curious onlookers.

The sale, detailed in a story I wrote that published today, could mean the beginning of the end for the large mixed-use space in the 400 block of York Road, as county officials say a new owner could demolish the building for a new design and use.

One thing that won’t change is the office tower. The 10-story structure with 224,413 square feet of Class “A” space is the successful half of the development, along with the 887-space parking garage.

David Baird, of Cushman & Wakefield, which has marketed the site this summer, said he has received calls from potential buyers.

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Thomas Jefferson

For two accused burglars, it would seem that secreting tens of thousands of pounds of ferrochrome and nickel out of a Baltimore marine terminal undetected was the easy part.

The two men were charged last week with stealing seven shipping containers containing an estimated $3.5 million worth of metals from the East Biddle Street Terminal. The late night heist occurred sometime after the terminal closed for business on Friday, Sept. 3, and the next inventory was taken on Tuesday, Sept. 7.

Police believe Thomas Jefferson, 49, and James Robinson, 40, cut through a fence at the terminal and got hold of a forklift. The pair reportedly loaded the shipping containers onto trucks where, police say, they were taken to a scrap yard on Baker Street.

S.H. Bell & Co., which handles daily operations at the terminal, contacted police and brought in Castle Security Group, a private security firm, to investigate the theft.

Perhaps the alleged burglars didn’t realize that the market for tons of nickel and ferrochrome might be limited. Investigators got wind of an email sent to a metal company offering up 20 tons of nickel. The company that owned the nickel and ferrochrome had already put the word out in the metal industry of the theft.

James Robinson

The email was traced to the scrap yard, which was then put under surveillance. On Sept. 14, an investigator from Castle spotted a flatbed truck getting loaded up with bags similar to those used to haul nickel.

The truck was stopped on Monroe Street, and police found metal that was identified through lot numbers and tags as coming from the theft. On Sept. 15, a search and seizure at the scrap yard turned up 21 bags of nickel briquettes.

Jefferson and Robinson were both charged with second- and fourth-degree burglary as well as two counts of theft.

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Gino’s, the classic local fried chicken and burger joint named after a Colt legend, is making a comeback as Gino’s Burgers & Chicken.

The home of the Gino Giant — a large burger that some say was the precursor to the Big Mac at McDonald’s and the Whopper at the BK Lounge — will soon open its doors in King of Prussia, Pa. and later on in Baltimore. Locations are presently being scouted in and around the Beltway, foodie sources say.

The old red-roof restaurants, still dear to the hearts of many in Baltimore and immortalized in film by Barry Levinson, was founded here in 1957 by Colt greats Alan Ameche and team captain and NFL Hall of Famer Gino Marchetti and their partner, Louis C. Fischer.

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There’s a long way to go before the November election, and even longer before returning lawmakers and their newly elected colleagues head back to Annapolis to get down to business.

There are, however, some certainties that came out of Tuesday night’s primary election. And, of course, there are plenty of questions left unanswered.

Tuesday night’s results set up the expected matchup of old rivals — Gov. Martin O’Malley and former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., with both men seeking four more years in the governor’s mansion. And much of the attention in Baltimore will be on the state’s attorney race, where Gregg Bernstein holds a 1,400-vote lead over longtime incumbent Patricia Bessamy with 3,000 absentee ballots still to be counted.

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