There’s encouraging news about crime rates in the United States. After a spike in both violent crime and property offenses after the pandemic-and-protest year of 2020, statistics show that crime is reverting to 2019 levels. That’s according to a newly released midyear report by the Council on Criminal Justice, a nonpartisan think tank, based on monthly offense rates for 12 violent, property and drug crimes in 39 cities that have consistently reported such data over the past six years.

Maryland is counting on private child care providers to take part as the state expands its pre-K program — but many providers don’t plan on becoming involved. In a spring survey of the state’s child care providers conducted by the Local News Network, only 12.9% of respondents said they plan to or were already involved in the pre-K program created under the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, the state’s expansive education reform plan.

Kamala Harris’ emergence as likely new Democratic presidential nominee has brought renewed enthusiasm and a flood of dollars to the party. And Democratic leaders are hoping the shine rubs off on their candidates down the ballot — especially U.S. Senate nominee Angela Alsobrooks. As Alsobrooks worked the room at a meet and greet in Columbia this week, she fielded questions about foreign policy and posed for selfies.

Baltimore native Ricky Smith started as a budget manager for BWI in 1989. Since his appointment in 2015 as head of the Maryland Aviation Administration, he has managed its operations. One of Smith’s goals has been to better connect the airport, now called Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, to its community.

Like many D.C. dwellers, Jasmine Clemons never saw the need to venture north to visit the nation’s Capital Beltway neighbor, Baltimore. “The closest I ever got was going to BWI airport,” the 40-year-old said, laughing. A burgeoning senator named Kamala Harris changed all of that. Clemons dropped her life in the nation’s capital for a downtown apartment in Charm City filled with long workdays sprinkled in with visits to local haunts recommended by native-Baltimore staffers during her time working for the campaign.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, D, brushed off concerns about Vice President Kamala Harris’ short-lived 2020 campaign as she ramps up her presidential campaign this year. “This Week” co-anchor Martha Raddatz pressed Moore on if anything “gives you pause” after Harris’ 2020 campaign ended before any primary votes were cast.

 

President Joe Biden is an American hero in his own way. To be sure, he is no George Washington, Thomas Jefferson or Abraham Lincoln. But as late Republican Sen. Roman Hruska observed about the U.S. Supreme Court justices, “We can’t have all Brandeises and Frankfurters and Cardozos.” President Biden withdrew his reelection bid on July 21 not because he loved the White House less but because he loved America more.

The Maryland Transportation Authority is heightening its watch over what kinds of materials are passing through Baltimore’s tunnels on trucks since the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in late March. The loss of the bridge has rerouted trucks to tunnels, including the Fort McHenry Tunnel along Interstate 95 and Baltimore Harbor Tunnel along I-895.

Every day, Whole Foods, as well as other markets and restaurants, sell lots of prepared meals, and fresh-baked goods. But not all of the food will sell by the end of the day. You can buy those leftovers for a bargain. Recently, a handful of Whole Foods Market stores in the D.C. area joined others nationwide that have partnered with the Too Good To Go app to sell end-of-day leftover prepared meals and baked goods at a steep discount.

Food from the restaurant of your choosing, delivered right to your door — at what cost? Third-party food delivery is becoming the norm for American consumers, as delivery apps like Grubhub, DoorDash and Uber Eats take hold in day-to-day dining. It’s also presenting customers and restaurants with an increasingly complicated equation of service fees, delivery costs and worker tips.