TOWERING INVESTMENT — Call it a 17-story sign of the times: The tallest building in Anne Arundel County is now Live Hotel at the Live Casino in Hanover, an attempt by the casino owners, the Baltimore-based Cordish Cos., to keep up with the Joneses — specifically, the MGM National Harbor hotel and casino 35 miles to the south, in Prince George’s County.
Obviously, the lavishly appointed $200 million hotel, which officially opened this week, is a huge company commitment. But it’s one that might not have been possible if County Executive Steve Schuh hadn’t engineered a payment in lieu of taxes in which the Cordish Cos. will be forgiven levies up to $1.2 million annually for 30 years. Eventually, in exchange, the 4,000 seats in the complex’s convention center will be available for free for high school graduations and other county events.
The county, like the state, is getting a slice of the casino’s earnings for its own use, and relies on the enterprise as a key part of the economic powerhouse of Arundel Mills mall. It’s one more example of the way, whatever economics texts say about the virtues of laissez-faire capitalism, governments and big private enterprises are increasingly tied together in complex symbiotic relationships.
BIKE SHARE — Both Schuh and Annapolis Mayor Gavin Buckley have been staunch advocates of building up biking infrastructure, and the county transit director, Ramond Robinson, is proud of his role in bringing a bike-share program to Savannah, Georgia. So it was less than an out-of-the-blue shocker when Buckley and other government officials marked last week’s Bike to Work Day by announcing that the city is drawing up a contract with a bike-share vendor.
Bike-share programs allow for temporary rentals of bicycles, paid for either by an app or at docking stations where the riders pick up and return bikes. Done right, they encourage one of the healthiest forms of convenient transportation, and enhance an area’s quality of life. We’re hoping for the best.
AVID FOR SUCCESS — The success of the Advancement Via Individual Determination program and the commitment of its participants was on display this week, as the county school board was told the 527 graduating public high school seniors had been offered a combined $40 million in scholarships and grants for college — an average of nearly $76,000 per participant.
The 38-year-old California-based national nonprofit focuses on students from groups historically underrepresented in college, preparing them for higher education by teaching study skills and SAT preparation, directing them to more rigorous courses and helping them cope with financial aid forms and college applications.
The students deserve a lot of credit for their hard work — just as the AVID program deserves credit for giving them a boost.
