Peggy Greenspan (left) of Community Support Services hugs Weinberg Foundation staffer Janna Krizman as Susan Ingram, also of Community Support Services, looks on.

Middle East residents expressed their anger Thursday night at a presentation from East Baltimore Development Inc. and Ravens games may be a little trickier to get into this year. Those stories and more in this week’s business top 5.

1. 15 Maryland nonprofits receive $10,000 grants – by Alissa Gulin

It pays to make a good impression on an employee of the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation — literally.

Fifteen Maryland nonprofits each received a $10,000 grant through the foundation’s fifth annual Employee Giving Program, which allows support staff to handpick an organization to receive the money.

2. Residents rebuke EBDI developer – by Melody Simmons

Saying they were excluded from the process, angry residents of Middle East shut down a presentation Thursday by the developer of the 88-acre redevelopment as he attempted to detail a series of recommendations for the future of the stalled $1.8 billion project.

Scott Levitan, senior vice president of the Forest City-New East Baltimore Development Partnership, was forced to halt the meeting after nearly an hour of protest over issues such as the renaming of the community and the process that Levitan employed to map the latest shift in the overall development.

3. Audit faults UB for lax financial controls – by Nicholas Sohr

State auditors criticized the University of Baltimore for lax financial controls and spotty student record keeping.

The audit, released by the Department of Legislative Services on Monday, raised issues with grade changes, unpaid student bills and the potential for mismanagement of large school contracts.

4. 2,500 terminate enrollment in BGE PeakRewards program – by Rachel Bernstein

About 2,500 customers have terminated their enrollment in Baltimore Gas and Electric Co.’s PeakRewards program after their air conditioning was cut off for hours during one of the hottest day of the year.

The PeakRewards program was started in 2007 to help customers save money while reducing energy use. The program offsets air conditioner demand during times of “peak” electricity use. The idea behind the program is to help reduce the chance of power outages happening during the summer, as well as giving the customers back a little change.

5. Getting in to Ravens games could be trickier this year – by Danielle Ulman

Baltimore Ravens season ticketholders couldn’t help but notice something strange when their tickets recently arrived in the mail.

The tickets, which were sent out before Monday’s agreement between National Football League’s team owners and players to end the lockout, came with no information other than the game number.

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On Falls Road, near the intersection with Lake Avenue, sits a development that has the best functioning garage in Baltimore.

Gone is the traditional carport. The place is now a high-class hotdog heaven.

The quaint Victorian that sits next door, home of Bonjour French Bakery and Cafe, is often overrun with those seeking a $5 Haute Dog, served on a bun of French bread and slathered with homemade tomato and onion jam, bacon and onion marmalade and Dijon mustard imported from France. Patrons stand on the sidewalk and wash it all down with a bottle of fizzy Perrier.

Only in Baltimore!

Owner Daniel Raffel, a former chef and onetime catering director at the Brass Elephant, said the stand has served as many as 300 ’dogs in 3½ hours.

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Ernst Valery

Could an abandoned parking lot soon be converted into an oasis of health?

That’s what a group of northeast Baltimore residents are working on Thursday as they gathered to construct two large hoop house gardens amid the blight and vacant houses of Aisquith Street near North Avenue.

The new urban garden will consist of a pair of 20-by-96-foot beds, said Ally Schonfeld, 23, the project manager and a recent graduate of Goucher College.

Schonfeld said as soon as the frames are completed, plastic will be placed over the asphalt and then woodchips, to help contain the nutrients of the soil that will go on next. Within a week, there will be the beginnings of crops there, she predicted.

The project is sponsored by the faith-based Lamb Inc. and the Ark Church, which is located nearby at 1263 E. North Ave. EVI Inc., a local investment group headed by Ernst Valery, is also a sponsor.

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Tuesday night, chefs from around the area will be squaring off in a crab cook-off benefiting the National Aquarium in Baltimore.

This is the second year that the B&O American Brasserie and Hotel Monaco are hosting the event, which costs $35 to attend.

Crab dishes will be judged by attendees and guest judges, including Sam Sessa, entertainment editor at The Baltimore Sun, Suzanne Loudermilk, Baltimore magazine’s restaurant critic, morning radio personality Jojo Girard from MIX 106.5 FM and Dara Bunjon of Dining Dish.

The competing chefs will be:

• Thomas Dunklin, B&O American Brasserie
• Dave Newman, Brewer’s Art
• Cyrus Keefer, Maisy’s
• Derek Simcik, Atwood’s Cafe
• Meredith and Roger Rippel, Riptide By the Bay
• Shawn McClure, Ryleigh’s Oyster Bar
• Guillermo Tellez, Square 1682 in Philadelphia, Pa.
• Paul Healey, Domaso in Arlington, Va.
• Chris Becker
• Darrick Granai, Baldwin’s Station

Guests will be able to enjoy the chefs’ dishes, hors d’oeuvres and a cocktail.

For more information on how to go tonight, see B&O American Brasserie’s Facebook page for details.

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A new name for a Baltimore neighborhood, the possibility of a new hospital in Prince George’s County and a new funding for a Baltimore tech start-up. Here are the Top 5 business stories of the week.

1. Baltimore Internet company snags $750K in funding – by Alissa Gulin

410 Labs — which this month released to the public an email service called Shortmail.com — has garnered coast-to-coast support from both individuals and prominent venture capital firms, particularly from California’s Silicon Valley, the nucleus of national high-tech development and manufacturing.

That’s a fairly unique achievement for a new company like 410 Labs in a city like Baltimore, said several people involved with the year-old venture. And to some investors, Shortmail’s early success — 10,000 users registered within a week — indicates that co-founders David Troy, chief executive officer, and Matt Koll, chief operating officer, must be doing something right.

2. Middle East may become Beacon Park after a makeover – by Melody Simmons

Developers of an 88-acre site in East Baltimore will soon unveil a new blueprint for the stalled $1.8 billion redevelopment that includes a proposal to rebrand the area and change the name of the Middle East community to Beacon Park.

Sources close to the project say the study by the Baltimore advertising agency Carton Donofrio Partners includes plans to jump-start residential development there by 2014.

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The shelves will once again be stocked in the grocery at Fairgrounds Plaza in Timonium as a new ShopRite moves in next week.

The 57,000-square-foot anchor in the plaza at 37 West Aylesbury Road where the former Super Fresh once lived will have its grand opening July 31. A  soft open is scheduled for July 28 beginning at 7 a.m.

Bill Sumas, vice chairman of Village Super Market Inc., the parent company of ShopRite, was in Maryland this week working on the final touches to the store and another new ShopRite in White Oak, also in a former Super Fresh location.

Several former employees from Super Fresh have been rehired at both sites, he said.

“We’re hoping to see vigorous traffic,” Sumas said of the new stores, which will feature a pharmacy, a registered dietitian on staff to offer free advice and guidance, a coffee shop, sushi stand, prepared foods-to-go and web-orders for in-store pickup. “We’re family-driven in our stores. We say, ‘let’s make the most of the community.’ ”

That includes giving back, Sumas said. On Tuesday, the group will present a check for $10,000 to the Capital Area Food Bank and the Maryland Food Bank. The company supports local charities with annual donations.

The Sumas family has roots in the Macedonian region of northern Greece, in the village of Vithos. Brothers Nick and Perry Sumas immigrated to America and opened their first supermarket in 1937, and the business grew from there. Today, four generations of the family own and operate 26 ShopRite stores  in the mid-Atlantic. Opa!

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The Dew Tour is here! The Dew Tour is here!

The extreme sports event comes back to Maryland this summer starting today by kicking off in Ocean City. You can catch all sorts of skateboarding, BMX and other action now through Sunday. Tickets cost $24 to $29, and it’s all in the great locale of Ocean City. Double the reason to go this weekend, because it will definitely be hot enough.

But if you’re just too hot to get in the car and drive this weekend, you can catch some local entertainment at Druid Hill Park. Performance art group Fluid Movement will put on a production of “Mobtown Murder Mystery,” which sounds like some kind of synchronized swimming presentation you have to see to truly understand.

To get the kids out of the heat this weekend, take them to the Maryland Science Center’s “Bubble Days” on Saturday and Sunday. Taking part of the bubble games and experiments celebration is free with paid admission ($4 through $18.95). A bubble artist will also be on hand at the museum.

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The historic Manor Tavern in rural Monkton has been sold to a group of local investors who also own An Poitin Stil, Kooper’s Tavern and Slainte.

The sale was announced Wednesday by MacKenzie Retail LLC.

The new owners are local restaurateurs who include William and John Mitcherling, Patrick Russell, Bill Irvin and Jim Franzoni.

The Manor Tavern, located in 5.5 acres at Monkton and Old York roads, is the unofficial entrance to a pristine, picturesque Baltimore County community known as “My Lady’s Manor.”

The tavern was once a rustic watering hole for the landed gentry of that area and has since undergone numerous renovations and expansion. To this day, it continues to draw patrons from Baltimore and Harford counties who delight in menus featuring local flavors.

“We’re thrilled at the opportunity to continue Manor Tavern’s legacy,” Russell said in a statement. “It’s one of the last, true operating landmarks in our community, so we see this as an opportunity to preserve a bit of history for future generations as well as get back to our roots.”

Added MacKenzie Senior Vice President John F. Harrington: “The sale and revival of this historic landmark is a testament to the community’s love of history and creativeness in keeping its landmarks alive for future generations to enjoy.”

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With a demand for rentals increasing in Baltimore because of the housing crisis, a new apartment development in Mt. Vernon is hoping to capitalize on the market.

The old classrooms that once held the Calvert School at 10 W. Chase St. have been renovated to hold 13 upscale studio lofts and one- and two-bedroom apartments.  Most have been leased, officials reported Monday.

The building was converted by Walid Hajj, owner of  WRH Property Holdings, LLC, which specializes in returning abandoned or under-utilized buildings to residential

The Calvert School originally opened in 1901 at the site, and is now located on a campus in north Baltimore. Each apartment is between 600- and 1,400-square feet and has unique architectural features that incorporate some of the old classroom functions.

Mullan Contracting Co. was the contractor.

“In the preliminary stages of the construction we uncovered early 20^th century wood flooring that cannot be presently replicated, as well as a dramatic wood staircase that adds a significant amount of character and charm to the building,” stated Joseph Rode, president of Mullan.

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I got a pretty unusual press release in the old inbox the other day from a company calling itself “DNA Live Forever” that claims to have come up with a way to travel in time — by cloning yourself.

In a nutshell, the company’s business model is you send them $120 and a baggie of your nail clippings that will be stored until the technology exists so you can be “regenerated” with your DNA.

And, minus the initial $20 fee and 10 percent of the interest earned, you’ll get that $100 back with decades of interest. Or, rather, your clone in 300 years will get the money.

(For some extra scratch you can also send DNA of your dog or cat and they’ll be regenerated as well whenever you want.)

The company hails from Zephyrhills, Fla. which, according to its website, is a city of 10,833 located northeast of Miami. It is home to Nestle bottled water subsidiary Zephyrhills Water and the Zephyrhills World War II Barracks Museum.

The proprietor of DNA Live Forever is one Max Stevens, according to the press release. He likens the approach to cheating death and setting yourself up for a comfortable life once you come back:

A famous man once remarked that the opinion of history won’t matter because in the future we’ll all be dead. Maybe…maybe not. Why let today’s science dictate your fate? Max Stevens and a growing number of scientists believe you may just want to bank on the future with DNA Live Forever LLC.

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