As Congress works through its must-dos before the August recess, one headline-generating topic I hope they’ll deal with is an obscure federal regulation that has governed flights in and out of Reagan National Airport (DCA) for nearly 60 years. The “perimeter rule,” as it’s known, has stymied the airport’s growth and had a negative impact on travelers to and from our nation’s capital. It’s time to dispense with it.

The Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in college admissions Thursday, declaring race cannot be a factor and sparking strong reactions from many colleges, education leaders, politicians and students. The court’s conservative majority overturned admissions plans at Harvard and the University of North Carolina, the nation’s oldest private and public colleges, respectively.

You know that Supremes song “Up the Ladder to the Roof”? Last week, at the top of the Baltimore Convention Center, those lyrics weren’t just a wistful song of love but literal directions. I traveled up a narrow inner staircase on the Pratt Street tourism complex’s highest floor, across the roof to another set of stairs, and then climbed not one but two ladders to my destination, where a guy in a big helmet carefully handled a bee-covered screen.

As a pediatrician a big part of my work is to advise families on nutrition and healthy eating. These days, I find myself talking with parents and patients more often about how they prepare their food — as in what appliances they are using to cook. Several studies in recent years have examined the dangers of having a gas stove in the home.

Ahead of a five-cent hike Saturday in the state’s gas tax, Democratic Gov. Wes Moore is calling on the Maryland General Assembly to address the state’s automatic increases, which he said are harmful to the financial bottom lines of working-class families, when it reconvenes in January. Maryland’s tax on gasoline will increase Saturday from 42.7 cents to 47 cents per gallon. The tax on diesel will go from 43.5 cents to 47.5 cents per gallon.

McCormick & Company has promoted Brendan Foley to CEO, ending Lawrence E. Kurzius’ seven-year tenure that saw the Hunt Valley-based spicemaker embark on a spree of acquisitions and launch a pandemic-driven cost-cutting drive. Kurzius will remain as the company’s executive chairman, according to an announcement late Friday afternoon from McCormick’s Board of Directors.

Pikesville resident Sam Barsky recalls first learning of TikTok, the social media app that’s taken off across the globe, during an interview with 60 Second Docs, which produces short documentaries, in 2019. By the following year, Barsky, 48, was uploading TikTok videos of his nature walks and, eventually, of his hand-knit sweaters, which portray landmarks and destinations from Italy’s Leaning Tower of Pisa to the Inner Harbor of Baltimore.

One year after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ending nearly five decades of constitutionally protected abortion rights, the landscape of abortion access in the D.C. region remains precarious, with patients and providers alike bracing for an uncertain future. As East Coast states like Florida, West Virginia, and North Carolina passed legislation restricting – or altogether banning – access to abortion care, lawmakers in Maryland have acted in opposition, expanding who can provide abortions.

The acting Baltimore Police commissioner who’s been nominated for the permanent job has been working his way up the department’s ranks since 1998 — a 25-year history expected to be a key factor in his confirmation process. Supporters have praised Richard Worley’s track record, calling him someone who knows the department inside and out, while community activists have urged close scrutiny of those decades of policing within a force that has a documented history of unconstitutional policing.

Baltimore’s outgoing Police Commissioner Michael Harrison is no longer acting as commissioner but you wouldn’t know it from looking at his paychecks. Records requested by The Baltimore Sun show Harrison has continued to receive his regular biweekly paycheck from the city through the month of June despite stepping back from his duties on June 8.