It seems food was never far from the minds of The Daily Record’s online readers in 2011. News about the comings and goings of supermarkets in Baltimore and Maryland are among the most-viewed business stories of the year online. The list also includes personnel changes at The Baltimore Sun and Rosecroft Raceway getting a new owner.

The Top 5 most-viewed business stories online of 2011 are as follows:

1. Fresh & Green’s opens in downtown Baltimore — July 1

Downtown Baltimore’s former Superfresh store reopened Friday, albeit a couple of hours later than officials said it would, with its new name, Fresh & Green’s, and new ownership.

Fresh & Green’s is owned by Scarsdale, N.Y.-based Mrs. Green’s Management Corp., which recently bought 10 local Superfresh stores in a joint venture. The  store at Charles and Saratoga streets was mostly full of inventory and new produce Friday.

Many of Superfresh’s employees who re-applied for jobs were hired at the new store, said Matt Williams, CEO of parent company Natural Market Restaurants Corp., which owns the Mrs. Green’s chain.

2. Baltimore Sun looking to buy out up to 25 employees — Aug. 10

Management at The Baltimore Sun gave a buyout proposal to the Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild Wednesday, looking to cut from 20 to 25 positions.

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Who doesn’t enjoy a good love story? The “engagement” of two of Baltimore’s beloved icons was the most-read Maryland Business blog post in 2011.

Other popular posts included the rebirth of a legendary Baltimore restaurant, new development in Canton and the search for a Hollywood star shooting on location in Charm City.

The most-read blog posts of the year are as follows:

1. Boh and wife –May 11

This Saturday, Natty Boh and Miss Salie Utz are getting hitched. Or chipped. Or whatever chips and beer do together.

You may have seen the billboard on the JFX. Natty Boh, mascot of National Bohemian Beer, proposed to Miss Salie Utz, of Utz Snacks fame, in 2007. Four years later the two are finally getting married.

2. Harris Teeter, Target announcement coming soon for Canton Crossing — Nov. 4

Owners of Canton Crossing, the new development now making its way through planning approvals in the city, are gearing up to announce two anchors: Harris Teeter and Target.

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Johns Hopkins made big news this week with the announcement of its new medical school dean, but they are also seeking the dismissal of a lawsuit over a life sciences complex in Montgomery County. Those stories and more in this week’s business top 5.

1. Rothman named dean of Hopkins medical school, CEO of health system - by Nicholas Sohr

Paul B. Rothman, the next dean of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and CEO of Johns Hopkins Medicine, will take the helm as the future of American health care remains all but inscrutable beyond the next election and major Supreme Court decision.

Rothman described a “a time of turmoil” at his introductory news conference Monday, referring to attempts to overturn President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act and a week’s worth of Supreme Court arguments on the law set for March.

2. Marchers demand jobs at EBDI – by Melody Simmons

Chanting “We want jobs” and “If we don’t work, nobody works,” about 200 city residents marched on East Baltimore Development Inc. headquarters Tuesday, demanding more employment opportunities at the 88-acre redevelopment site.

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Is John Paterakis Santa Claus?

That could be the case if a local church-based community group gets its wish for a $10 million donation, requested during a sit-down in the billionaire developer and bakery mogul’s Harbor East offices recently.

Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development, or BUILD, asked Paterakis to show them the money so they could dedicate it toward a fund for school construction. According to Rob English, BUILD’s lead organizer, the group made the ask, but was politely given no firm answer or commitment.

In mid-November, BUILD marched on Harbor East, once a rotting waterfront warehouse enclave now called the city’s “gold coast,” seeking to raise awareness of the need for wealthy developers like Paterakis to help support youth-based programs in the community and school renovations.

The city has given them large tax breaks, BUILD argues, and that has hindered revenues. It’s a debate that is certain to carry over into the new year.

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SG Partners LLC recently purchased a 13-building portfolio on Ambassador Road, Governor’s Court and Windsor Boulevard in Woodlawn for $32.4 million.

The mix of single-story and two-story commercial office product totals nearly 375,000 square feet of space and is 79 percent leased, officials said.

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The Daily Record will release next week our list of the top stories of 2011. But before we do, we want to hear from you. What do you think were the top stories of the past year?

If you’re looking for suggestions from us, sorry. We don’t want to influence your choices. Besides, as a loyal reader, you already know the big business and law stories from the past year.

Leave your nominees as a comment on the blog or, if you prefer, send me an email with the subject line “Top stories of 2011.” We need to hear from you by Tuesday; our list will appear in Friday’s paper.

Thanks and happy holidays!

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As a side benefit to its May 27 purchase of StarTex Power, Constellation Energy Group is now the official naming sponsor of the Sugar Land Skeeters’ new minor league baseball stadium in Texas.

The Sugar Land City Council on Tuesday approved the name change of StarTex Power Field to Constellation Field, reflecting the change in ownership for Houston-based StarTex. Constellation agreed to buy StarTex Power, a retail electric provider with approximately 170,000 customers, in May for $142.5 million.

“Constellation’s merger with StarTex enhances an already strong partnership,” said Matt O’Brien, President of the Sugar Land Skeeters. “Adding more resources and community initiatives while maintaining local relationships will only bring greater good for Skeeters baseball and the entire Sugar Land community.”

The Skeeters, an expansion team debuting in April, will play in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, a minor league system not affiliated with Major League Baseball. The team will be the first in the league not located in the Mid-Atlantic. (The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs of Waldorf and Lancaster (Pa.) Barnstormers are also in the league.)

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Douron Commercial Interiors has purchased a new headquarters at 10 Painters Mill Rd. in Owings Mills. The 100,000-square-foot building on 7.5 acres is located just half a mile from Douron’s current location, said company President Ronald Hux.

It’s definitely location, location, location as that site is across from the planned development of Foundry Row that will feature a new Wegmans and will be close to Baltimore County’s new Metro Centre.

Douron employs 115. The new facility will hold a 9,000-square-foot showroom, the largest in the area for commercial, educational and library furnishings, Hux said, adding: “Furniture is a very touchy-feely product. Meaning, for example, folks want to see what they are buying. They want to sit in a chair to make sure it fits them. The showroom will also serve as a training center and meeting space which we intend to share with the business community.”

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Is the Cos soon to be an honorary citizen of Charm City?

The St. Frances Academy will rename its community center after Drs. Bill and Camille Cosby in a ceremony on April 20.

The community center’s mission is to invoke the loving and gracious spirit of Mother Mary Lange and the Oblate Sisters of Providence, the order of nuns that run the school. The school is an independent Catholic high school founded in 1828 and located at 501 E. Chase St.

The naming will be celebrated at a gala fundraising event at Martin’s West.

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Righttime Medical Care is expected to open a new branch near the intersection of Route 108 and Georgia Avenue in Olney.

Mullan Contracting Co. will serve as the general contractor, and the project is expected to be completed in time for a grand opening this month.

It will be the ninth location for Righttime, founded by Dr. Robert G. Graw Jr. in 1989 as a community-based alternative to a hospital emergency room. Today, the business has locations in Anne Arundel, Howard and Montgomery counties and employs 350.

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The yuppie decorating store Restoration Hardware recently signed a 15-year lease for 1.2 million square feet of warehouse space in Cecil County and plans to move into the existing 600,000 square feet of the facility in January. The transaction was first reported by CityBiz.

Developer Weeks Robinson Properties plans to build another 600,000-square-foot facility adjacent to the existing warehouse, which Restoration is scheduled to occupy in the fall of 2012. The complex will serve as Restoration’s distribution center on the East Coast. Atlanta-based Weeks Robinson bought the property, which includes the existing building and about 30 acres and is known as Trade Center95, this summer for about $21 million.

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The Arbors at Baltimore Crossroads is showing off the recent installation of 360 solar panels on the rooftop of its six-story parking garage. Nearby, a 365-unit luxury market rate rental apartment home community is under construction and in the hunt for a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) designation with the panels.

The development is located near White Marsh. The solar panels combine to form a steel canopy that covers the roof of the garage. The installation of the panels is expected to eliminate more than 60,000 pounds of carbon dioxide from the air over the first year, the equivalent of planting nearly five acres of trees or reducing the use of an automobile by more than 73,000 miles, experts say.

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TIDBITS: Merritt Properties LLC has leased 2,213 square feet of office space to the IT company Vartopia LLC at 8850 Stanford Boulevard, Suite 1850 in Columbia. Brokers Jamie Campbell, Liz Tarran-Jones, Vince Bagli and Steve Shaw closed the deal … Baltimore Free Farm, the back-to-roots urban farming operation on vacant lots in Hampden, will host a “fancy dinner” Dec. 17 at St. John’s Church, 2640 St. Paul St. The good grub will be served beginning at 5 p.m. Tickets are $25 per person, but it is a fundraiser. Fresh geese and duck, stuffed peppers and mushroom are on the menu, to be washed down with homebrewed beer and apple cider. A documentary on the urban green-thumb development will be featured. Go to www.baltimorefreefarm.org for details and reservations.

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The former St. Stanislaus Kostka Roman Catholic Church in Fells Point, a landmark for working class Polish immigrants for decades, is being converted into an expansion of a private Montessori school, the developer said Tuesday.

Now located in the convent building, The New Century School will expand in size and enrollment next fall, said developer Larry Silverstein, of the Union Box Co., owner of the church.

Silverstein had tried to sell the church, asking $850,000 for the historic red brick building with a tall steeple that juts into the skyline of Fells Point.

But he said there were no buyers, and the school sought to expand, setting up the new development.

“We had interest,” Silverstein said, of potential tenants for St. Stanislaus. “We had a bicycle shop, theater groups, a yoga studio and even a mystic. But the deed stated that we could not lease it to any other church groups.”

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St. Joseph Medical Center in Towson might have a buyer soon, and Locust Point finally got its Harris Teeter grocery store four years since they began planning it out. Those stories and more in this week’s business top 5.

1. 4 local suitors contend for St. Joseph Medical Center – by Melody Simmons

Four area medical institutions are contenders to merge with or purchase the beleaguered St. Joseph Medical Center in Towson and are combing through the hospital’s financial records in a due diligence phase, sources close to the hospital said.

Two finalists for the sale or merger will be selected by the hospital’s board of directors in the first week of January, said Dr. Paul McAfee, chief of spine surgery at St. Joseph.

2. Brody, Manning and Daniels highest-paid private college leaders – by Mark Miller

William R. Brody of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore was the second highest-paid president of a private college in the United States in 2009, according to a list published Monday by the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Brody was the most highly compensated private college president in Maryland in 2009. Kevin J. Manning, president of Stevenson University, and Ronald J. Daniels, who succeeded Brody partway through the year, were ranked second and third in the state, respectively.

3. East Baltimore group demands hires come from community – by Melody Simmons

Saying it has organized 900 residents, Baltimore Churches & Community United vowed Thursday to protest at East Baltimore Development Inc. if half of the workforce for upcoming construction projects does not live in the community.

During an angry two-hour meeting inside Triumph Christian Church at 2200 E. Oliver St., more than 300 city residents shouted approval of a plan to demand jobs on the $1.8 billion redevelopment of 88 acres of Middle East, a project to which $564 million has been committed so far, $212.6 million of it in public money.

4. Harris Teeter’s opening is a happy ending – by Melody Simmons

Four years ago, the McHenry Row development in Locust Point began a roller-coaster ride toward completion as the recession forced fits and starts on the project.

Wednesday morning, those woes were a distant memory.

Developer Mark Sapperstein beamed as he led tours of the new 61,000-square-foot Harris Teeter grocery store following a dedication at the front door with 30 people wielding scissors against a green ribbon.

5. State Center compromise fails – Melody Simmons

On the eve of her inauguration this week, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake called representatives of both sides of the contentious State Center lawsuit to her City Hall office for a private meeting.

The mayor’s spokesman, Ryan O’Doherty, said Rawlings-Blake sought to gather the key players in the bitter dispute and attempt to strike a compromise.

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