While growing up in Upton in West Baltimore in the 1950s, the Rev. Alvin Hathaway says, barely a day went by when he didn’t interact with some of the teachers, doctors, lawyers and political figures who lived nearby and whose success made it the envy of the city’s Black population. It pained him over the years to see poverty and social decay swamp the neighborhood. He wanted people to recall what had made it special and decided to do something about it someday. (Photo: Kevin Richardson/Baltimore Sun)

Americans are paying too much for prescription drugs. It is a common, longstanding complaint. And the culprits seem obvious: Drug companies. Insurers. A dysfunctional federal government. But there is another collection of powerful forces that often escape attention, because they operate in the bowels of the health care system and cloak themselves in such opacity and complexity that many people don’t even realize they exist.

A Baltimore restaurant has once again made a New York Times list, but this time solely for its pizza. Little Donna’s in Upper Fells Point was named one of the best pizza places in the country in a list published Tuesday. It is the second time the Baltimore restaurant has been recognized in the last year, with the New York Times including it among America’s 50 best restaurants in 2023.

Maryland’s legalization of recreational marijuana just over a year ago has obviously been a boon to users. But it has also benefited the state, bringing in more than $26 million in tax revenue during the second half of 2023. Meanwhile, citizens with possession convictions on their records, most of whom committed crimes that wouldn’t be punished at all anymore, were left behind. Last week, Gov. Wes Moore (D) did the right thing and pardoned them.

Perhaps the next time Heston Kjerstad and Coby Mayo share a field will be in Baltimore, where their slugging should supplement the Orioles’ playoff push later this summer. If so, Kjerstad’s recent assessment of Mayo may help explain why. The pair have spent much of the last two years hitting together, both breaking out at Double-A Bowie early last season and spending a majority of the time since mashing at Triple-A Norfolk (though Kjerstad was recalled Monday and had two hits in a loss to the Guardians).

Four long years ago, Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby halted prosecution of low-level quality-of-life crimes in hopes of containing the COVID-19 pandemic by diminishing the number of jailed inmates. After the COVID rationale disappeared with vaccines, she made permanent the non-prosecution of quality-of-life offenses, insisting such crimes are not a gateway to serious felonies.

Even in a nation that likes its major public events with a hefty dose of superlatives (the NFL championship game isn’t the Pretty Good Bowl for a reason), the buildup to Thursday’s debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump has already produced some all-pro hyperbole. Speculation has been running rampant.

For the first time in about 15 years, Virginia officials voted to lift a prohibition on a winter dredge fishery for blue crabs in the Chesapeake Bay. Maryland officials and nonprofit leaders quickly objected to and denounced the Virginia Marine Resources Commission’s 5-4 vote on Tuesday. Maryland Department of Natural Resources Secretary Josh Kurtz said in a statement the reason blue crabs have seen a rebounding population since a steep drop in the 2000s can be “directly traced” to collaborative management between Maryland and Virginia.

 

Frederick police officers have a new agreement with the city that includes a pay increase over the next three years, and creates a new rank for veteran officers. The city’s aldermen on Thursday approved new collective bargaining agreements for both commissioned and non-commissioned officers between the city and Francis Scott Key Lodge 91 of the Fraternal Order of Police, which represents members of the Frederick Police Department.

 

Minimum wage workers in Montgomery County will see a bit of a pay bump next month as hourly pay will be increased starting July 1. The minimum wage rate for large employers, who staff 51 or more workers, will increase to $17.15 per hour. Additionally, employers who staff 11-50 workers, also known as mid-sized employers, their minimum wage requirement will increase to $15.50 per hour.