This may be one of my favorite posts so far to write. Mostly because I still get giddy over fireworks. The cacophony of fireworks and constant Sousa, popcorn and fried food smells… It’s the best.

We won’t provide an entirely comprehensive list of where you can find fireworks around the state, but here are a few spots to cover the Greater Baltimore area in case you’re in need of a fireworks fix:

Baltimore’s Inner Harbor will make the entire afternoon and evening a big Fourth of July party, starting at noon Monday. Children’s entertainment will start the fun events, including the ever-popular Milkshake Duo (hear your kids screaming yet?) The Pennsylvania Air National Guard Band plays at 4 p.m., followed by the Electric Brigade at 7:30 p.m. Fireworks start at 9:30 p.m.

Annapolis will start its Fourth of July with a parade at 6:30 p.m. on Amos Garrett Blvd. The parade ends in front of the Market House. Get your seats early.

Columbia will fire up the weekend with fireworks at Columbia Lakefront. Entertainment includes live bands on two stages and children’s entertainment.

Baker Park in Frederick is the place to be if you’re around there for the weekend. The 44-acre park is a natural locale for a day that lends itself for family fun. Holiday activities in Frederick include live music, a volleyball tournament, chili cook-off and a “most-patriotic” pageant.

And for you fellow Baltimore County residents, Oregon Ridge Park will have its usual Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Star Spangled Spectacular on Saturday and Sunday this year, starting at 8 p.m. I already hear Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture playing.

Powered by Bookmarkify™

UPDATE: The school’s board of trustees issued a statement around 2:30, to its Facebook page. In it, it assures students that classes going on now and up to Aug. 30 will not be impacted. And, the board is looking at appealing the decision, pursuing legal options in regards to the loss of accreditation or merging the school with another institution.  Read the full statement here.

Students past and present have been using Facebook to not only seek answers but also voice frustration about the possible closing of Baltimore International College, a non-profit school that trains students for careers in the culinary and hospitality industries.

The school, which has about 500 students and about as many faculty,  is in the process of losing a vital accreditation that would make it ineligible for federal student loan aid, which nearly half of the students get. If they can’t figure out a way around the loss of accreditation it could very well be the end of the school.

Since the story first appeared in The Baltimore Sun, students have been alternating between anger and uncertainty about what was going on with their school. Students and alumni as well as faculty have been kept in the dark as Baltimore International College’s officials and board of trustees hunkered down to figure out what to do.

Some have expressed the desire to go to another school and take parting shots at the college:

“I would like to thank Baltimore International College for taking my 35000 last year and now wiping their hands clean of every student that paid each and every teacher and instructor salary. Almost seems like fraud to allow students to attend an institution that doesn’t even know if they can open their doors the following year,” one student wrote.

The school’s official Facebook page has been the only portal of communication open to students and faculty since The Sun reported Wednesday about the possible closure of the school. Since that time the only response from the school, posted to the site, said the school’s board of trustees was meeting Wednesday and an announcement would be made on Thursday.

By 2 p.m. on Thursday though no announcement had been made and students past and present were voicing their frustration on the Facebook page. One student lamented the only information she was getting was from “hitting the refresh button” repeatedly.

“Any word on what time the statement will post? Early morning would be most professional,” read one post.

“I’ve been very understanding that it can take some time to get a public statement together to post online or whereever but I just went onto the Student Portal and my Leadership Grant has been cancelled. A few fellow students I know are seeing the same thing with their Financial Aid….so before people get extremely even more upset than they already are I think we need to hear from the school and get the offical word which should have happened before anything was changed on student accounts and conclusions are drawn.”

One student posted that she had tried calling the registration office only to speak to employees there unsure if they’re even going to have a job after today.

“They are all in the same situation as all of us. They don’t know anything yet and are awaiting information whether they have jobs or not. Rumors are rampant but the official word is what we all are waiting for.”

Some students posted positive remarks to try and calm others concerned about whether they would finish their programs and others concerned about the impact the school’s closing would have on the degrees they already received.

“To all students of BIC dont let here say let this situation make or break you. Those that are negative will be that way because its there outlook on life regardless. It is those who are using this situation to make excuses and shield the fact that they were slacking anyway,” reads one post.

“I am a product of the school as well (I attended twice when it was called BICAI, then BICC), I am sorry to see this happen. I hope the school can come back as the school I remember back when I first went there in 1982,” one alumnus wrote.

Other students cautioned against calling the school, saying the employees — whose jobs are on the line as well — were being inundated by callers trying to find out what was happening.

“If anything. For now, please don’t call the school!!! Ms. Carol and Caroline, Financial Aid, Accountants, Registrar, etc are on the same boat. None of them are board of directors, they don’t know anything more than we do. Let them be until we get details too,” reads one post.

Powered by Bookmarkify™

Mario Armstrong, the Baltimore techie and media personality, won his first Emmy Award last week.

Armstrong, who is president of Mario Armstrong Media, was named Best TV Show Host/Moderator for his work on the Maryland Public Television Program “You Can Afford College.”

The National Capital Chesapeake Bay chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences had given the award as part of 20 categories at the 53rd Annual Capital NATAS Emmy Awards in Washington, D.C.

“I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Maryland Public Television for believing in me,” Armstrong said in a statement.

In the 2010 “You Can Afford College” program, Armstrong gave parents and students a plan for finding financial aid.

But his MPT stint isn’t the only place you can find him. He’s continually helped consumers on latest technology issues, trends and products on different radio and TV segments. Armstrong has been on CNN, NBC’s “Today Show,” heard on WYPR, NPR’s “Morning Edition,” and he hosts a daily digital-lifestyle talk show on SiriusXM radio.

Powered by Bookmarkify™

Wanted: 60 Realtors.

Despite the deep recession that has impacted housing sales across Maryland, a prominent Baltimore realty group Tuesday put out an all-call to hire 60 new realtors.

Officials of Yerman Witman Gaines and Conklin Realty say they need the personnel to operate a full-service office in Bel Air at the Greenbrier Shopping Center, located at 223 Brierhill Rd.

The expansion is in response to BRAC growth in the Harford County area and is the company’s eighth full-service residential real estate brokerage office.

“Due to a number of emerging national and local trends, we are extremely bullish about this area and are investing significant resources to achieve additional market share,” said Billy Yerman, CEO of The Strata Group, which owns YWGC Realty. “The influx of new residents into Harford County continues at a strong and healthy pace.”

The Strata Group operates full-service residential real estate services in house including mortgage funding, title and escrow and individual financial products.

Last month, YWGC opened an office in the state’s other BRAC-centered area, Anne Arundel County, at the Severn Square Shopping Center.

Powered by Bookmarkify™

Volunteers from Morgan Stanley’s Baltimore office took part in a clean-up effort last week to help get a head start on making the Inner Harbor healthier by 2020.

Volunteers worked with Waterfront Partnership staff to prepare for Baltimore’s Fourth of July celebration, which is always a big treat at the harbor.

Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts puts on a fireworks show at the harbor every year. This year, fireworks start at 9:30 p.m. You can see a full schedule of the events here.

The crew helped stain picnic tables at West Shore Park, painted light poles and metal cleats around the Inner Harbor, as well as the anchors and cannons at a few historic landmarks.

The Healthy Harbor initiative was started by Waterfront Partnership to restore the harbor by 2020 and keep the waters safe and sustainable.

Powered by Bookmarkify™

Rise and Conquer, the two Baltimore Ravens mascots, will soon be joining visitors at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore for breakfast.

The event will be held for members of the Ravens Rookies Kids Club on July 16 from 8 to 11:30 a.m. Members and their families will get a buffet-style breakfast, football activities and interactions with Ravens cheerleaders, Poe the mascot and zoo staff.

Participants will also get a pass to the zoo for the day. The event is free for all Ultimate Ravens Rookies members, and discounted tickets for Official Ravens Rookies members are $15. Additionaly child and adult tickets go for $25 and $35, respectively, and are on sale here.

Powered by Bookmarkify™

Have you noticed “CODE X-RAY” on Baltimore’s streets?

No, it’s not an alien invasion or early signs of the zombie apocalypse.

It’s a new program by the Baltimore City Fire Department to warn firefighters that certain dwellings are vacant and unstable.

Chief Kevin Cartwright, director of communication for the department, said these structures bear a large red square marked by a reflective silver X. You can’t miss them when driving through some city neighborhoods pockmarked by blight and block after block of vacant rowhouses.

The squares are installed by local firehouses and serve as a warning to firefighters.

“It will help so they don’t run into a building looking for a person – and it also lets them know the integrity of the structure is compromised” by blight, Cartwright said.

If they went into some of these buildings that were engulfed in flames, he added, “we could have a serious incident on our hands” because many don’t have stable flooring or have been stripped bare by vandals.

Cartwright said he did not know how many CODE X-RAY squares have been installed on the city’s vacant dwellings. The U.S. Census Bureau lists the city as having 47,000 vacancies. The city Department of Housing and Community Development say there are only 16,000 – and 4,500 of those are owned by the city.
*****

News this week that Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s Investors Service have affirmed the Baltimore’s AA- bond rating was celebrated at City Hall.

Officials in the mayor’s office and the Department of Finance said the rating agencies cited the city’s strong financial discipline and what they noted as a “strengthening of fiscal policies.”

“Being fiscally responsible enables our City to reduce crime and violence, improve public education, and help create jobs for the future.” said Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.

Standard & Poor’s assigned its AA- long-term rating and stable outlooks to the City of Baltimore’s general obligation bonds. The rating house was optimistic about economic development projects here, saying a “trend of economic expansion” now afoot – at least on the drawing board while the recession continues to play out and hinder recovery and development efforts.

*****

This week at City Hall, the Housing and Community Development subcommittee of the City Council held a hearing on the Vacants-to-Value Program.

The program, a signature of the Rawlings-Blake’s administration, allows for the use of tax credits and down-payment assistance to help individual investors and developers purchase some of the thousands of vacant and blighted homes in the city.

Code enforcement is also used. Deputy Housing Commissioner Michael Braverman, who oversees code enforcement, told the council there have been 500 housing code violations issued since the group voted last year to approve enabling legislation for the V-2-V program. Those code violation notices carry an initial penalty of $900 each.

How much has been collected so far on those violation notices, Braverman was asked by Councilman James Kraft?

That’s where things got mushy.

Braverman said land owners have been slow to pay those fines, and that he didn’t have a figure. He explained that many are expected to let the fines ride until next spring’s city tax sale.

Question is: If the property owners fail to pay the fines then – will they forfeit the property to the city via default? If so, the city will “inherit” hundreds more derelict and vacant properties to add to its list.

Sounds like a Catch-22 in the making.

*****

Bozzuto Homes is expected to be the lead developer of market-rate residential units at the new 100-plus acre Uplands redevelopment on the Westside, city Housing Commissioner Paul T. Graziano said during the hearing at City Hall.

The Greenbelt-based firm, which recently developed The Fitzgerald apartment complex near the University of Baltimore, is expected to break ground on the Uplands dwellings to be listed for sale in the fall, Graziano said.

In addition, just over 100 new rental units at the massive site located near Edmondson Village off of Route 40 west are expected to break ground in early July.

*****

Get ready to wish Mercy Ridge a Happy 10th birthday on July 11.

The Timonium retirement community located on Pot Spring Road stretches over 32 acres and is jointly owned by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore and Mercy Health Services.

The July 11 celebration will include presentation of a LEED Silver certification – the first such designation for a retirement community in the U.S. to be given by the U.S. Green Building Council.

Powered by Bookmarkify™

There are lots of productions going on this weekend, so make sure you get to catch at least one while you’re out and about in Baltimore.

Vagabond Players will put on “Abducting Diana,” the comedic tale of a media titan’s kidnapping by some kidnappers who could use a crash course in the concept.

Fells Point Corner Theater off S. Ann Street will put on “The Fool’s Lear.” The Nomad Theatrical Company brings to audiences the story of King Lear and his Fool, always an interesting dynamic from the original play.

Check out Stephen Sondheim’s “A Little Night Music” at Spotlighters Theater at 817 St. Paul St. while you’re at it too. The musical is about a frustrated middle-aged lawyer and his young wife.

And everyone’s favorite parrot impersonator will be in town! Gilbert Gottfried visit Baltimore Comedy Factory on Sunday at 8 p.m. Tickets are $22.

And if you want to catch a free movie this Saturday, the Village of Cross Keys is showing 2008′s Academy Award for best picture winner “Slumdog Millionaire” as part of its free movie series at the courtyard. The movie starts at 6 p.m.

Powered by Bookmarkify™

Charles Village welcomed Tuesday a fresh new addition to the neighborhood, Freshii.

Located at 3113 St. Paul St. in the space formerly occupied by Gordon Florist, the Charles Village Freshii is the first location for the quick-service restaurant chain in the Baltimore area.

“With sustainability at its core and customized meals made of 100 percent fresh ingredients, Freshii is a truly unique concept to Baltimore,” said Baltimore locations co-owner Rebecca Fielding in a statement. “As a Baltimore resident, I recognized the need to bring an affordable, healthy and quick dining option to the city. I’m excited to introduce Baltimore to the Freshii experience.”

Free coffee will also be available with any purchase this week, along with other daily promotions.

The Charles Village Freshii is 2,500 square feet and features a convenient outdoor patio area. Freshii is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and offers a menu of  salads, wraps, rice bowls, yogurts and soups. Off-site catering is also available for parties, meetings, receptions and special events.

The restaurants operate without energy-devouring dishwashers, hoods, ranges and ovens and with smaller store fronts. The packaging (bowls, straw, cutlery, fountain cups, etc.) is made from eco-friendly vegetable starches, like corn or potatoes, biodegrading quickly, leaving behind only carbon, biomass and water. What is more, if a customer brings in a bowl, it is washed and filled by Freshii employees.

Freshii has 50 locations currently opened, with an expected 80 more to open by 2012. Three hundred have signed to open by 2015.

Powered by Bookmarkify™