Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake has pledged to seek a three-cent increase in the bottle tax this year as a way to help raise $300 million to help fund school construction and renovations.

In her first State of the City address since she was elected to a full term last fall, Rawlings-Blake challenged the City Council to pass legislation raising the bottle tax from two cents to a nickel next year “to be real” about helping to fix many of the city’s decaying schools. Other proposed revenue streams include revenues from slots parlors.  Both would be used to help secure $300 million in bond sales for the construction.

“State budget experts have warned that these financing proposals need more vetting — and so, together we must exercise due diligence,” a draft of Rawlings-Blake’s speech given Monday afternoon at City Hall said.

“The special interests and lobbyists will tell you there’s another way, but they won’t tell you how — they can’t. We need to be real. This is a big problem that requires shared sacrifice. It can’t be fixed with accounting gimmicks. It’s a new tax and its one we need to pass now to invest in our kids and our future.”

The mayor pushed the first bottle tax two years ago amid a bruising fight with the council and city businesses.

In her speech, she also highlighted her plan, unveiled late last year, to increase the city’s population by 10,000 over the next 10 years. She said the city is creating community job hubs in “areas with high unemployment and poverty, fully funding our one-stop career centers and adding year-round job opportunities for young people” and pledged to continue full funding of the Neighborhood Main Streets program as a way to help support small businesses.

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Tax increment financing in the district surrounding Harbor Point could change just as Exelon Corp. prepares to build its Baltimore headquarters there. McCormick & Co. Inc. also announced this week they will be opening a retail store at the Light Street Pavilion this summer. Those stories and more in this week’s business top 5.

1. Lawsuit filed to void state lab construction contract at EBDI – by Melody Simmons

A lawsuit seeking to void the $170 million construction contract awarded for a new state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene lab at the East Baltimore Development Inc. site was filed Monday as plaintiffs charge that the contract was awarded to Turner Construction Co. without competitive bidding.

The 82-page suit was filed in Baltimore City Circuit Court against the state Department of General Services, DGS Assistant Secretary Michael Gaines, the Maryland Economic Development Corp., Forest City-New East Baltimore Partnership LLC and Turner Construction by Arnold M. Jolivet, his wife, JoAnn, the Maryland Minority Contractors Association Inc., and JCM Control Systems Inc., a minority-owned business based in Baltimore County. Jolivet is managing director of the contractors association.

2. Exelon’s $250M Harbor Point project to include retail and residences – by Melody Simmons

Exelon Corp.’s new building on the city’s waterfront in Harbor Point will be part of a $250 million development and will attract about 4,500 permanent jobs, company officials said Wednesday.

Details of the project were unveiled Wednesday by Exelon executives and the developer, Harbor East Development Group LLC, less than a week after the energy giant announced it planned to build a tower reaching up to 20 stories on a 27-acre tract that once held the AlliedSignal chemical plant.

3. Changes to Harbor Point TIF district proposed – by Melody Simmons

In the wake of Exelon Corp.’s decision to locate its Baltimore headquarters at Harbor Point, the city’s development agency is seeking to fast-track consideration of broadening the scope of a 27-acre tax increment financing district there approved a year ago.

The move is part of sweeping changes proposed for Harbor Point that include the $120 million building and a new roadway and bridge crossing over Central Avenue and linking the now cobblestone street to the headquarters, Baltimore Development Corp. officials said Friday.

4. McCormick to launch first retail store at Inner Harbor – by Maria Zilberman

Sparks-based McCormick and Co. Inc. is venturing into retail, launching its first store this summer in the Light Street Pavilion at Harborplace.

The “McCormick World of Flavors” 3,800-plus square foot-center will showcase the company’s products as well as hold cooking demonstrations by McCormick’s chefs and celebrity chefs using the firm’s products. There will be a gift shop and interactive family activities, such as finding your personal flavor profile and tracking the origin of spices.

5. TIF use could grow in Maryland with new legislation – by Melody Simmons

Legislation to expand the use of tax increment financing in certain growth areas of the state is expected to be introduced in the General Assembly next week, according to Jon Laria, chair of the Maryland Sustainable Growth Commission.

During a hearing before the House Environmental Matters Committee on Tuesday, Laria said the bill would allow for “more tools in the toolkit” to attract development and help promote smart growth with TIFs.

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What’s so great about Wegmans Food Markets? According to a recent report by Fortune magazine, the mega-grocer and specialty foods store has never laid off an employee.

That’s good news for Marylanders, who are awaiting the opening of a Wegmans in Columbia in June, with additional plans for a store in Owings Mills.

“When Wegmans Food Markets has to eliminate a position, they make sure they find the displaced employee another job that they will be passionate about within the company,” the report said.

“When their Britton Road store in Rochester, N.Y. closed last summer, they offered all of the store’s employees a job at another location in the same city. Within two weeks, all 250 employees from the Britton Road store knew exactly what they were going to be doing.”

The Rochester, N.Y.-based chain opened a store in Hunt Valley in 2005 and another in Abingdon in mid-September. There are also locations in Lanham and Frederick.

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Ellen Valentino agrees with Gov. Martin O’Malley: Maryland business needs fewer regulations.

In a statement addressing the governor’s State of the State address Wednesday, Valentino, the state director for the National Federation of Independent Business, said the average small business spends $10,500 per year, per employee, in order to comply with federal regulations.

“We can only imagine that the state costs mirror federal compliance, and the irony of it is that federal and state regulations are duplicative, or even conflicting,” she said.

O’Malley, who in October issued an executive order for agencies to assess ways to streamline the state’s regulatory processes, reiterated the call in his speech Wednesday.

“This session, we are submitting 750 pages of regulations for you to reform, reduce and remove from the books,” he said.

That equals “more than 150 current state regulations to be repealed and/or streamlined,” according to the governor’s website.

“If the governor’s initiative can reduce the burden in terms of money [spent] and time wasted, we’ll see positive results in the economy,” Valentino said.

Less appealing are the governor’s proposed tax hikes.

“Small businesses and consumers are struggling in this economy, and the governor’s heavy emphasis on higher taxes is disappointing,” she said.

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In an effort to cut costs and maintain the right level of staffing during busy hours,  Walmart has removed greeters from its 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift. Over the past six months, the company has been reassigning these people to other positions, such as stocking shelves and manning cash registers.

The majority were able to find positions within the same store or another one close by, said company spokeswoman Ashley Hardie.

“Same-store sales at Walmart’s namesake U.S. locations declined for nine straight quarters before snapping the streak with a 1.3 percent gain for the quarter ended in October,” according to a report by Bloomberg.

Greeters have been a 32-year tradition at Walmart. The superstore chain has more than 3,000 locations nationwide and 45 stores in Maryland, including 16 Supercenters, which are typically open 24/7.

What do you think — will you miss someone standing at the door when you come in for a midnight snack?

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A Mt. Vernon landmark restaurant that closed down could be open again by spring and three annual coin shows threatened to leave Baltimore if Gov. Martin O’Malley’s budget eliminates their tax breaks. Those stories and more in this week’s business top 5.

1. Brass Elephant could reopen by spring – by Melody Simmons

The “old lady” is coming back.

Baltimore’s historic Brass Elephant restaurant could reopen as early as spring with new owners, a real estate agent said Wednesday.

Workers were busy Wednesday inside the Mt. Vernon landmark checking the restaurant’s kitchen and operating systems, and the sale could close within 30 days, said Martin Kibbe, a ReMax Studio Realtor who listed the upscale eatery.

2. Coin show threatens to leave Baltimore over O’Malley budget – by Nicholas Sohr

An Atlanta company threatened to uproot three annual coin shows from Baltimore and move them out of state Thursday after Gov. Martin O’Malley’s proposal to cut a tax break for precious coins and bullion sales.

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Call it the “old hat” syndrome.

That’s the likeliest explanation for why prices for AFC Championship game tickets on StubHub, an online ticket market place, are lower than those for the NFC Championship game.

As of 2:45 p.m. Tuesday, for $180 on StubHub, fans could see the Baltimore Ravens take on the New England Patriots for the AFC title at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. The most expensive seats were going for $2,895.

Tickets for the NFC title game, which has the New York Giants taking on the San Francisco 49ers at Candlestick Park in San Francisco started at $309 on StubHub, with two tickets topping out at $20,000.

“Fans haven’t been waiting as long for an AFC Champ[ionship] in Foxborough as they have in San Francisco,” said Joellen Ferrer, spokeswoman for StubHub.

The last NFC Championship game at Candlestick Park was in 1998, when the 49ers took on the Green Bay Packers. The Patriots played for the AFC title at home in 2008 and 2004.

But Ravens fans will be holding their ground in Foxborough this Sunday. More than 2,000 AFC Championship tickets have been purchased through StubHub, with Marylanders counting for 29 percent of the purchases, Ferrer said. Bay Staters came in at 26 percent. Buyers from Connecticut, New York and Ontario are also scooping up tickets, at 7, 5 and 3 percent, respectively.

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Lots of news from the General Assembly this week as the 90-day session began, and the Baltimore Ravens’ first home playoff game in five years means big things for local merchandise retailers. Those stories and more in this week’s business top 5.

1. Tremont Plaza to become apartments — by Melody Simmons

Baltimore’s Tremont Plaza Hotel will soon convert back to its original purpose: apartments.

The 390-suite property’s owners said Monday the rooms would soon be altered into apartments and long-term stay places.

Five members of the hotel’s sales staff were laid off on Friday after the renovations were announced, said Carol Chatham, a spokeswoman for the hotel’s owner, William C. Smith + Co. of Washington, D.C.

2. Miller, Busch consider different approaches for transportation – by Nicholas Sohr

Maryland’s top legislative leaders agree the state needs to spend more on transportation projects but they’re not willing to go along with the proposed 15-cent gasoline tax hike over three years.

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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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