Royal Caribbean is the latest cruise line to change course due to the closure of the Port of Baltimore. The port’s Cruise Maryland Terminal is inaccessible because it’s blocked by the remains of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which collapsed into the Patapsco River after being rammed into by a massive container ship early Tuesday morning.

Crews working to clear the steel frame of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge and the 984-foot cargo ship that felled it face “an incredibly complex job” – one that is essential to reopening the Port of Baltimore and recovering the remains that may lie under the wreckage, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said Thursday. “When you have a chance to see that wreckage up close, you fully understand the enormity of the challenge,” Moore said in a news conference, noting,

Two state senators are proposing an extension of emergency powers for the governor following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. The bill — introduced Thursday with roughly a week left in the 90-day General Assembly session — comes two days after a massive cargo ship struck the Key Bridge. The 47-year-old span collapsed into the Patapsco River between Baltimore and Anne Arundel counties. The bodies of two workers were recovered Wednesday.

Like many others in Baltimore, Susana Barrios awoke early Tuesday morning to a flood of messages asking if she was okay. She soon learned that the Francis Scott Key Bridge had collapsed into the Patapsco River. As with all tragedies, Barrios, vice president of the Latino Racial Justice Circle, started to wonder if members of her community were affected.

It’s no secret that commercial real estate is in a bit of a slump right now. And it’s not just the market, but the activity, or lack thereof — fewer cranes, fewer new office buildings and fewer big projects in general. “I would characterize the outlook as paralyzed. The market knows what it needs — generally ‘more’ of everything — but everyone is waiting for greater certainty to act,” said Robert Gilbane Jr., senior vice president of development for Gilbane Development Co.

With less than two weeks left before they adjourn for the year, the Maryland General Assembly has continued its work in the face of the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. But, for some lawmakers, it tinges the remainder of the legislating to be done and their role as elected officials. Sen. Charles Sydnor, a Black Democrat from Baltimore County, stood on the Senate floor at the end of Thursday’s session, addressing his dismay at the racism and politicization of the bridge’s destruction that has flooded social media since Tuesday.

Mayor Brandon Scott has come to expect overt and not-so-overt racism. The latest example came in the aftermath of Tuesday night’s Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse. Within hours, Scott said he started to notice social media posts labeling him as a “DEI Mayor.” Scott immediately bristled at the dog whistle. “We know what these folks really want to say when they say DEI mayor,” he told The Banner.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore warned Thursday of a “very long road ahead” to recover from the loss of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge as the Biden administration approved $60 million in immediate federal aid after the deadly collapse. Meanwhile the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was moving the largest crane on the Eastern Seaboard to help remove the wreckage of the bridge, Moore said, so work to clear the channel and reopen the key shipping route can begin. (Photo: Peter Knudson/NTSB)

The patchwork system of safety regulations pertaining to massive cargo ships like the one that toppled a major bridge in Baltimore this week can allow freight transporters to skirt oversight, critics say, making maritime shipping what one expert called “the weakest link in the transportation system.” The thousands of container ships that carry more than 80% of all goods moved around the world are governed by rules established by the International Maritime Organization in London that are enforced by the various countries where ships are based and ports across the world.

A new county bill aims to combat human trafficking by adding more restrictions to current zoning law that make it harder to conduct illegal activities in massage parlors, spas and other bodywork businesses. Among the requirements are that a bodywork business get prior zoning approval by submitting copies of all state-required licenses to the county’s zoning administrator, as well as a list of current employees.