The more things change, the more they stay the same.

That’s a good thing at the just-reopened tearoom of the Woman’s Industrial Exchange.

Irene Smith, new operator of the landmark Baltimore City restaurant located at 333 N. Charles St., placed a bright oil painting of the tearoom’s former waitresses above the mantle Tuesday. In their starched white aprons and blue uniforms, this legendary crew led by the inimitable Marguerite lends a nostalgic touch to the bright pink walls.

Talk about your welcoming committee!

Smith said business has been steady since the tearoom reopened Dec. 7. Patrons are still sticking with the old house favorite, the chicken salad, deviled egg and tomato aspic platter for $9.

Other menu items include vegetable pot pie, meatloaf and Tina’s mushroom pie with mixed greens — all served with delicious, bite-sized Maryland beaten biscuits.

Even Jacques Kelly, a staff writer at The Baltimore Sun and one of the city’s unofficial historians, has visited and loves the re-do, Smith said.

“We are seeing the old schoolers who are here who were skeptical,” she said. “And there have been lots of kids from Peabody coming in who we love seeing sitting next to the 70-year-old patrons.

“One guy comes in four times a week, orders the chicken pot pie and cleans his plate.”

Besides the new oil painting, by local artist Mark Becker, Smith has supervised other adornments.

The tearoom, open daily from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., is decorated and dedicated to Baltimore icons, cultural leaders and famous daughters. One dessert is dedicated to the two daughters of other local restaurateurs at the Chameleon Café in Lauraville: Fern and Gertie’s vanilla ice cream with chocolate Grenache.

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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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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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Look for construction to soon begin on the expansion of the Towson Circle development on Joppa Road near the traffic circle.

Sources say this $35 million extension and redevelopment is ready to launch after several years of uncertainty because of the sagging economy.

The local development team from The Cordish Cos. is planning to turn the space once known as the Towson Hutzler’s department store into a “thriving lifestyle retail project,” according to their website.

Included in the project’s expansion will be a 14-screen multiplex cinema and new retail and office space in a pedestrian-friendly town square design.

Immediate plans call for demolition and site clearing of the vacant former 1st Mariner Bank building and Burger King restaurant on Joppa Road to make way for the growth. A Cordish spokeswoman declined to reveal specifics Thursday, saying instead “we’ll be making announcements shortly.”

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Want to connect with your inner William Donald Schaefer?

The late mayor was famous for driving around his hometown streets, taking notes where potholes, trash, broken street lights and other eyesores were located, and demanding repairs in so-called “action memos” sent to agency heads who understood the order to “do it now.”

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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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A new Wegmans was announced for Owings Mills and a federal agency might hold up the Constellation/Exelon merger. Meanwhile, a legendary Baltimore Sun photographer’s prints are going to auction — much to his daughter’s chagrin — and plans for a downtown Baltimore casino are finally revealed. Here are the Top 5 business stories of the week:

1. FERC could delay Constellaton-Exelon decision until April — by Ben Mook

Constellation Energy Group Inc. and Exelon Corp. are calling on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to make a decision about the companies’ proposed merger by Jan. 5 after learning the regulatory agency could delay the deal until April.

On Oct. 13, the companies submitted to FERC an agreement they had come to with the independent market monitor for PJM, the regional power grid. The agreement resolved some possible issues the market monitor had. However, FERC said that the agreement effectively reset the clock on its approval process and it could have up to 180 days more to make a decision.

2. Caesars proposes ‘dramatic’ gateway for Baltimore casino — by Nicholas Sohr

The development group led by Caesars Entertainment Corp. touted its proposed 260,000-square foot casino on Russell Street as a “dramatic new gateway to downtown” Baltimore.

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If it’s the end of daylight-saving time, it’s budget time in Baltimore.

And with a projected $50 million budget shortfall for 2012, many in city government are already singing the blues.

That’s expected to be the case during two budget workshops scheduled for December and January with Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake announced Friday by City Hall officials.

(Rawlings-Blake, a Democrat, is expected to easily win her first, full term Tuesday when she faces Republican challenger Alfred V. Griffin III and write-in Republican candidate Steven H. Smith in the general election.)

The first workshop will be held on Dec. 14 at the American Brewery Building, 1701 N. Gay St., from 6-8 p.m. The second one will be Jan. 21 at Cylburn Arboretum’s Vollmer Center, 4915 Greenspring Ave., from 10 a.m until noon.

The workshops are described as hands-on — and likely will require the use of a red marking pen.

“The Mayor’s Budget Workshops provide an opportunity for citizens to roll up their sleeves,” a release from Rawlings-Blake’s office said. “The workshop will begin with a short presentation and Q&A about the City’s fiscal situation.  Participants will then complete a realistic budget balancing exercise: deciding which services to cut, and which ones to protect.”

After the cost-cutting exercises, the mayor will open up the floor to recommendations on how to craft her budget “at a time of unprecedented fiscal stress.”

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Occupy Baltimore’s deadline of evacuating McKeldin Square is looming, and with it, looms the future of the city’s offshoot of the movement.

The city has asked the group to reduce its presence at the square to two people overnight. In exchange, they have offered to provide 10 pop-up shelters for daytime use.

I’ve been down to McKeldin Square about a half-dozen times since they first set up on Oct. 4, and each time it has been different — in the mood and in the setting.

On Tuesday morning, I noticed something I hadn’t seen before: a small child, maybe 2 or 3 years old. She was hanging around a group of Occupy Baltimore participants playing a game of chess. She was also wearing a bag of Utz Salt’n Vinegar chips on her sleeve, removing her arm every few minutes to eat a chip. It was not clear who the child’s parents were.

I spent some time watching this group and the child. When one of the chess players stepped away to go to the food tent, the child — with her Utz bag in-tow — took his place and curiously began reaching for the pieces on the board.

As she did, a young woman, also sitting around the table reached out with a broom handle and began to prod and lightly whack the child’s hand to keep her from ruining the game.

About 100 feet away, in the small village of camping tents, Whitney Saraglou and Cody Parsons (who both appeared in this video) were waking up and climbing out of their tent — which was donated to Occupy Baltimore. The two had been living on the site for five days, and both said they would be willing to go to jail for the cause. Both are unemployed, and Saraglou said she had been sleeping under an overpass until recently.

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This week, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake joined Department of Public Works Director Alfred H. Foxx for the re-opening of the Northwest Sanitation Yard – gussied up to become the new “Super Citizen Convenience Center.”

The center, at 2824 Sisson St., offers what city officials call “easier access for residents to dispose of trash and recycling” and will be a site to dump hazardous waste in a collection container. In the past, city residents had to dispose of trash or recycling at the open gate or toss it over the side of the fence there into a large container.

City officials lauded the new drop-off design, which features a raised, permanent platform for easy, drive-by trash and recycling dumps. Who said city government was out of touch?

“It is important that we are always looking for creative and innovative ideas that will make the services we provide more convenient for residents,” the mayor said in a statement. “We need to constantly evaluate ourselves so we can improve City services and grow our city.”

The site will also be the new home for the Bureau of Solid Waste’s entire Mechanical Street Sweeping Operation where 10 new street sweepers will be housed.

*****

All is right with the world again. The lunchroom at the Woman’s Industrial Exchange at 333 N. Charles Street in Mt. Vernon will soon reopen.

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Solar energy company SunEdison announced it will be moving its headquarters to California, and speaking fees for pharmaceutical companies are going down. Those stories and more in this week’s business Top 5.

1. Maryland’s top lobbyists got $15.5M during 2011 session – by Nicholas Sohr

Maryland’s biggest businesses, interest groups and labor unions increased spending on lobbyists to $15.5 million during the 2011 General Assembly session, according to the State Ethics Commission.

That was a 14.4 percent bump over the 2010 session, when the top spenders had $13.5 million in lobbying expenses.

2. Speaking fees declining for pharmaceutical firms – by Ben Mook

The amount of money paid by pharmaceutical firms to physicians and other health professionals to speak about their products seems to be slowing, but a look at 12 companies that disclose those figures shows it still amounts to millions of dollars in Maryland.

A review of the payments reported by eight major pharmaceutical firms including Eli Lilly, AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Pfizer and Novartis show that in 2010 in Maryland, doctors were paid more than $4 million in speaking fees. This compares to the first half of 2011, when reporting companies paid only $836,330 in speaking fees.

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