There was no question five years ago this week why the Orioles hired Mike Elias to head up baseball operations and shepherd a rebuild that felt long overdue: for his scouting and player development acumen. Orioles’ ownership said as much when Elias was introduced, on a day when he promised an “elite talent pipeline” that would support the organization’s goals for years to come.

I love the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. I know that is a controversial statement for legions of people who commute over it every day or spend hours crossing it for vacations or are trapped in their neighborhoods by the miles-long anaconda of slowly moving cars. I know some people fear driving across it. But I love the bridge.No other engineering marvel shapes Maryland like the William Preston Lane Jr. Memorial (Bay) Bridge.

The U.S. House took a broadly bipartisan vote Tuesday to fund the government into the new year, though the measure must pass the Senate by the end of the week if Congress is going to avoid a partial government shutdown. The 336-95 House vote was the first major legislative test for Speaker Mike Johnson, the Louisiana Republican who took on the role after the former speaker was ousted after passing a similar bipartisan short-term funding bill in late September.

At a long-anticipated hearing Tuesday evening, representatives from Mayor Brandon Scott’s administration urged members of the Baltimore City Council to pump the brakes on a package of bills designed to increase the city’s supply of affordable housing units. The administration, wary of the two bills’ possible cost to the city and the ways they could detract from other ongoing housing initiatives already underway, asked for more time to study the proposals and find middle ground.

The application process for Maryland’s first round of cannabis business licenses, set aside for social equity candidates, opened Monday after over 1,000 people were granted the status. As part of the Cannabis Reform Act of 2023, the state established at least two distinct licensing rounds. The application period for the first round, which is open only to those who qualified as social equity applicants, closes Dec. 12. Those who apply will be granted licenses based on a lottery system that will begin by Jan. 1.

Fewer than 9,000 Marylanders lost Medicaid coverage last month, the lowest number of terminations since April, when the state began discontinuing coverage on a monthly basis in what’s called the “Medicaid unwinding.” During the COVID-19 pandemic, people were not required to reapply for the low-income federal health insurance program annually, with the goal to insure as many people as possible during the global health emergency.

The redevelopment is supposed to take place on an empty parcel of land off Ridgely Road. Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski wants to move things ahead. “A mix of housing and commercial, which is where we think the future is going in Baltimore County. We’re largely built out. We’re up against our developed land. We need to be creative and thoughtful about creating new opportunities to create housing, but also invigorate and reinvest in our existing neighborhoods,” Olszewski said. The Maryland Transit Administration plans to expand mass transit options in the area, but nothing can happen without proper zoning, and that’s before any permits can be issued.

The Frederick Planning Commission unanimously voted on Monday to reconsider its approval of the Brickworks master plan to review one specific condition for the developer. On Oct. 17, the Planning Commission approved the master plan 3-2 with nine conditions for the developer, Greenberg Gibbons, to meet. The ninth condition required that Greenberg Gibbons work with the Maryland Department of the Environment on a mitigation plan for possible environmental contamination on the property.

 

Principals of two West Baltimore public schools asked the Baltimore school board Tuesday to merge into one high school because of low enrollment and diminished funding. LaWanda Wilson, who leads Bluford Drew Jemison STEM Academy West, said the all-boys middle/high school has seen a 63% drop in middle school enrollment since 2019. The school, which focuses on science, technology, engineering and math, had just 42 middle schoolers and 98 high schoolers this year, a 37% decline overall.

I have wanted to be an architect since I was a kid. More than 60 years later, I am proud to have chosen this profession because I believe that each of us should do whatever we can to leave the world better than we found it. And architects naturally envision a better future and balance that vision with reality to create positive change.