The Daily Record News Summaries: June 24, 2008

Daily Record, The (Baltimore), Jun 24, 2008

CapitalSource stock plunges

CapitalSource Inc., the Chevy Chase-based asset manager that bought the banking business of bankrupt California-based Fremont General Corp., fell the most in five years after saying it sold mortgage-backed assets at a loss of $36.1 million this quarter. In a regulatory filing, CapitalSource said it has sold $1.5 billion in investments backed by home loans since March 31. The company's stock fell $1.96, or 15 percent, to $11.19 at 4:01 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, the biggest decline since the company's initial share sale in 2003. The stock has declined 55 percent in the past 12 months.

Tech company to exit Salisbury

A Salisbury technology company is planning to close its doors by the end of the summer. The local office of Powerwave Technologies, formerly Philtronic Comtech, said the decision was made by its parent company in Santa Ana, Calif. About 100 workers will be left unemployed. The company makes technology for cell phones.

Royster joins distribution co.

Merchants Terminal Corp., of Baltimore, announced the hiring of F. Brooks Royster III, a former executive director of the Maryland Port Administration, as vice president. Royster left the state post in 2007 after only two years of a five-year contract, replaced by the administration of Gov. Martin O'Malley with current port Director James J. White. Royster had succeeded White as port director after White resigned following a dispute with former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s staffers. At Merchants Terminal, the oldest and largest temperature-controlled logistics company in Maryland, Royster will oversee new facility construction. He'll also manage international marketing and explore potential acquisitions.

Sommer to chair Lasker group

Alfred Sommer, dean emeritus of The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, has been elected chair of the board of the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation, a New York-based philanthropy that supports biomedical research aimed at conquering disease, improving human health and extending life. A director of the Lasker Foundation since 2004, Sommer is best known internationally for his long-term research and advocacy supporting the use of vitamin A to prevent blindness and child mortality in developing nations. That work earned Sommer the Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research in 1997.

LM to furnish IT to CDC

Lockheed Martin Corp., of Bethesda, the world's largest defense contractor, said it was selected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to provide information technology services to the agency's Coordinating Office for Terrorism Preparedness and Emergency Response in Atlanta. The task order, awarded under an existing blanket purchase agreement, has one base year and three option years, with an estimated program value of more than $24 million. Under the contract, Lockheed Martin will provide systems architecture, Web design, application development, and support, management and security.

AirTran adds San Juan flights

Discount airline AirTran Airways, of Orlando, Fla., announced that it will begin nonstop flights between Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport and Puerto Rico's San Juan Luis Munoz Marin International Airport on Dec. 20. The new flights will operate only on Saturday and Sunday, the airline said. With the new service, AirTran will offer 19 nonstop destinations from BWI, including eight to vacation spots in Florida and Puerto Rico.

Medco to service Coventry

Medco Health Solutions Inc., the biggest U.S. manager of prescription benefits, will provide retail, mail order and specialty pharmacy services for Bethesda-based Coventry Health Care Inc.'s 1 million Medicare members. The contract between Medco, of Franklin Lakes, N.J., and Coventry, begins Jan. 1 and covers Coventry members with drug spending of more than $2 billion a year, the companies said in a joint statement. The companies called the agreement multiyear without giving specifics.

Carroll Jaycees are history

The last Jaycees chapter in Carroll County has folded. Members of the Mount Airy Jaycees said the 34-year-old community service organization for young professionals was having trouble recruiting people between the ages of 21 and 40. Since the national organization requires 20 members, the 19-member group had to fold. The Mount Airy Lions Club president said his group will take over the Jaycees' annual fall and spring yard sales. In the past five years, Jaycees groups in Taneytown and Westminster have also folded.

Celsion adds an 'S'

Celsion Corp., of Columbia, a biotechnology company dedicated to the development and commercialization of heat-activated treatment systems for cancer, said it will change its Nasdaq stock ticker symbol from CLN to CLSN on June 30. The company said the change will improve its visibility with investors and associate it more closely with Nasdaq, which mostly uses four-letter ticker symbols. Celsion switched its stock listing from the American Stock Exchange to Nasdaq in February 2008.