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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The city of Annapolis found its way onto a Top 10 list recently, and it wasn’t for anything dealing with history or sailing.

Instead, as home to the U.S. Naval Academy, the city was deemed the tenth-most expensive college town in the United States. The designation came via Coldwell Banker’s 2011 College Home Listing Report.

“Annapolis (United States Naval Academy) ranks as the #10 most expensive college town in the nation, where an average three-bedroom, two-bathroom home costs $522,420,” the report states. “Comparably, the same size home in College Park (#26 most expensive, University of Maryland) averages at $257,107.”

Pricier abodes can be found in the hometowns of Boston College, University of Washington (Seattle) and the University of Hawaii (Honolulu). The most expensive college town in the U.S.? Westwood/Los Angeles, where the average three-bedroom home runs $1.27 million.

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The latest entrant in the deal-of-the-day websites targeting Baltimore kicked off today in the form of Google Offers.

The search giant, which had tried to buy Groupon, launched its beta Offers program today for Baltimore. It joins skads of others including, of course Groupon, but also Living Social and local deal site Chewpons.com.

Google’s inaugural offer? Thirty dollars in drinks and fare at Blue Hill Tavern in Highlandtown for $15.

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Discovery Network’s HD Theater, the first all-HD channel, is about to be shown the door after a nine-year run.

Silver Spring-based Discovery said Monday that HD Theater will be replaced later this year with Velocity, also a high def channel, but one that is positioned as an “upscale male lifestyle network.” Programming initially is going to be heavy on motorcycles, high-stakes gambling and classic cars — the channel’s logo itself would look right at home on the hood of a 1957 Chevy Bel Air. The channel will also feature “insider guides to the good life.”

“In the same way that a car once defined the person who drove it, Velocity will define the viewer who watches it,” said Robert S. Scanlon, senior vice president of Velocity, in the press release announcing the channel. “Whether you are a car aficionado or just someone who prefers fast-paced, high-stakes television, Velocity will become a must-have entertainment destination.”

Discovery is making the change in a bid to woo advertisers looking to woo customers who are looking for the good life their products and services claim to offer — like maybe these guys featured on the channel’s Facebook page.

The front of a 1957 Chevy Bel Air. Photo by Associated Press.

“As the first network devoted to the upscale men’s market, Velocity will be a hub for viewers within this key demographic, as well as the wealth of advertisers that target them,” said David Zaslav, President and CEO of Discovery Communications, in a statement.

The old HD Theater was founded in 2002 and is a staple of cable TV system lineups. The channel got its start simulcasting all of the Discovery stations’ programming from the Discovery Channel to Animal Planet. A look at this week’s schedule shows like “Mantracker,” “American Chopper,” “What’s My Car Worth? and “Chasing Classic Cars” on the lineup.

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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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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.

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I’d have to say the fear of having one’s job outsourced overseas is certainly a valid one. And, if you’ve ever wondered what your developing world counterpoint might be making if it were ever to happen, I might be able to shed some light for you.

Call centers and manufacturing are not the only things that have been shipped to other countries to cut costs. Heck it was not long ago that some news organizations shipped some U.S. business coverage out of the country.

A glimpse into why a company might consider outsourcing came in the form of an unsolicited email pitch I got last week from a company based in Cebu in the Philippines. I’m not quite sure why the company, eBusiness BPO Inc., thought I’d be a real hot lead for their offerings but nonetheless it did provide an interesting glimpse into how the other half lives.

From the email:

We can supply your company with a full time employee with a college degree starting from $6.00 an hour for outbound campaigns/inbound campaings [sic] (non toll-free) or $8.50 an hour for inbound campaigns (toll-free), all inclusive and tax free. This includes the agent, a computer, a headset, VOIP, fiber optic line and predictive dialer. We also have CPA’s on staff for $8.00 an hour, Virtual Assistants doing data entry for $5.25 an hour, Exec. Assistant for $6.00 an hour, and Bookeeping [sic] for $6.25 an hour.

As if the prospect of being able to boss around CPAs and college-educated folk for, what is in some cases less than minimum wage ($7.85) weren’t enough, eBusiness BPO throws in another tantalizing lure:

The benefits of outsourcing your employee frees you from liabilities such as unemployment insurance, workman’s compensation, Employee health insurance, employer taxes, 401k, HR costs, etc.

And, in case you might be worried about how your company would be represented:

Our agents are capable professionals and have excellent English accent. With our system, you can listen to your employees while they handle your customer support or telemarketing.

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There’s a lot to be said for allure of a star apparently — not to mention promises “life-altering” pizza — when it comes to opening a new restaurant.

This weekend marked the soft launch of Chazz: A Bronx Original a venture between the actor/writer Chazz Palminteri and Aldo’s Ristorante’s Sergio Vitale and Alessandro Vitale. The restaurant features mostly Italian fare including pizza cooked in a coal-fired oven and pasta options, as well as staples like limoncello and bruschetta.

Palminteri, who according to the Internet Movie Database was born Calogero Lorenzo Palminteri, is known for appearing in such films as: “A Bronx Tale” (the inspiration also for the restaurant), “The Usual Suspects,” “Analyze This” and “Bullets Over Broadway.” And, hey, IMDb says he was also “Sonny Cappelito” in “Hill Street Blues.”

Appearing in as movies and TV shows as Palminteri has apparently translates into a healthy following. As a fan myself of pizza and Palminteri’s work, my girlfriend and I went to Chazz’s on Sunday night about 7:30.

The first sign of activity arose when I tried to book a reservation online and learned there were no 7 p.m. slots open. And, while Palminteri was not there, at 7:30 on a Sunday, the place was still hopping and there did not appear to be many tables open.

Once seated, it did not take long before the Paliminteri’s name started wafting in on the air. It seemed people where dropping his name whenever possible whether it was to neighboring tables or wait staff. The couple at the next table must have said “I know Chazz” a good dozen times while I was there.

But, if the restaurant can keep the hype going, I’d say they should do pretty well for themselves. I liked the place and the décor worked for me – kind of a mix of a traditional Italian restaurant with a dash of what to me seemed art deco.

As for the pizza — I opted for the margherita —while I can’t say it altered my life so-to-speak, it was pretty darn good nonetheless.

Watch our video report on Chazz: A Bronx Original.

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Sen. Ben Cardin at a press conference in Baltimore on Monday calling for an end to federal subsidies to big oil companies.

The call to end federal subsidies to the big oil companies was pretty short-lived.

Spurred in part by anger of gas prices north of the $4 mark, the so-called “Close Big Oil Tax Loophole Act” was supposed to punish oil companies like Exxon Mobil, BP, Shell, Chevron and Conoco Phillips by repealing the $4 billion in tax breaks the companies get courtesy of Uncle Sam.

U.S. Senator Benjamin L. Cardin, D-Md., even held a press conference at a Baltimore gas station to call for passage of the bill as a good way to send a message to the top five oil companies who, together, pulled in more than $30 billion in net profits for the first three months of the year.

But, big oil has friends in high places apparently and the bill died on Tuesday. According to a Bloomberg News story the day after the vote on the bill:

“Supporters fell short [Tuesday] of the 60 votes needed to advance the bill after Republicans said the legislation would raise gasoline prices and increase dependence on foreign oil. Fifty-two senators supported proceeding and 48 were opposed, including Democrats Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Mark Begich of Alaska. Maine Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, both Republicans, joined the Democrats.”

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said support would bring the measure back later during discussions over raising the U.S. debt limit. Democrats in favor of the defeated bill had recommended applying the $4 billion toward the federal deficit.

Watch a video from Cardin’s press conference on Monday:

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It sure didn’t take long for law firms specializing in shareholder lawsuits to latch on to the Constellation Energy/Exelon deal.

Exelon is looking to buy Constellation in an estimated $7.9 billion, all-stock deal that was announced on April 28. The first press release I came across that day from a law firm announcing an “investigation” into the deal came about an hour or so after the formal announcement.

Law firms from across the country started looking for shareholders so they could file a lawsuit claiming to represent the entire “class” of Constellation stock owners. Being named “lead plaintiff” is a situation specific to federal securities law that lets one plaintiff be recognized as representative of the entire class.

Having your client named lead plaintiff is important for lawyers because the lead plaintiff chooses the lawyer who will try the case — and will get paid for trying the case.

In a Monday Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Constellation said there have been six lawsuits filed in Circuit Court for Baltimore City challenging the deal. Three of the lawsuits were filed by the close of business the day the deal was made public.

The lawsuits generally allege the company “failed to maximize the value that the shareholders would receive from the merger, and failed to disclose adequately all material information relating to the proposed merger.”

Of course, the landscape for class action shareholder lawsuits has changed a bit in recent weeks. The ramifications of an April Supreme Court decision regarding class actions remain to be seen.

According to an April 28 Associated Press article: “In a 5-4 ideological split, the high court’s conservatives said businesses can block their customers from using class actions. The court said the federal arbitration law trumps state laws that invalidate contracts requiring class actions.”

At the time, consumer advocates warned the ruling could affect shareholder lawsuits. But, it hasn’t stopped the firms from trying.

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