Have your kids ever wondered what it feels like to wear an Olympic gold medal? They will have the opportunity to find out Sunday at the grand opening of the Dominique Dawes Gymnastics & Ninja Academy in Rockville. It’s the second location for the gym operated by gold-medal-winning Olympic gymnast Dominique Dawes, 46. She’ll be signing autographs, the gold medal will be available for children to try on and take photos with.
One day soon, I should receive from the U.S. Postal Service the annual count of dog attacks inflicted on the nation’s hardworking, all-weather letter carriers. The number for the previous year comes out every spring, along with the perennial request that Americans be “responsible dog owners” by keeping their pets away from the men and women who deliver 162 million pieces of first-class mail each day.
In recent years, across America, we have witnessed substantial consolidation of broadcast and print media. Time after time, hedge funds and other firms have bought up and decimated local news outlets and local newspapers. The result has been layoffs, shuttered newspapers, scaled back operations, diminution of program content, and increased costs for cable subscribers.
Every once in a while, I’ll wistfully watch NBC’s “The Voice” and imagine what might have happened if my two auditions for the talent competition had been successful and I’d become one of those people whose life is changed with the spin of a red chair. And then I stand a few feet away from recent contestant Talia Smith, hear the impossibly gorgeous sounds coming out of her mouth, and understand.
The Maryland Department of Aging is warning state residents who may have received a COVID test kit they didn’t order that their personal information may have been used fraudulently. Although the COVID pandemic has technically ended, investigators are saying they’re seeing fraudulent COVID test kits arriving on doorsteps across Maryland.
Preakness organizers took a different approach to the 2023 version of the storied event, welcoming an international pop star to take the stage following the race. Instead of performing during the day or Friday, the weekend’s biggest performer — Bruno Mars — played shortly after the running of the 148th Preakness Stakes. The result was an attendance total that was slightly higher than last year’s, when Megan Thee Stallion and Lauryn Hill performed on the eve of Preakness 2022, but one that still paled in comparison to the previous decade.
Allegany County’s housing prices have far surpassed the pay scale for many local would-be buyers. According to Maryland Realtors, from April 2023 compared to April 2022 the county saw 9.7% fewer housing units sold with the average sales price up by 19.4%. Home sales across the state dropped by 33.8% year over year in April.
As politicians mingled and wooed donors and business executives at the 148th Preakness Stakes on Saturday, they once again considered how to keep the thoroughbred horse racing industry in the state alive. “I want this to be the last Preakness where there is uncertainty about what the future of Pimlico and horse racing in Maryland is,” said Senate President Bill Ferguson, a Baltimore Democrat.
Thousands of Marylanders could be out of a paycheck or other benefits if federal leaders fail to reach an agreement to increase the nation’s debt ceiling. With roughly two weeks left before the so-called X Date, lawmakers from both parties are negotiating to avoid defaulting on debt payments. Economists and state leaders warn of unpleasant short-term effects that could become painful long-term if negotiations stall.
Maryland’s high-profile race to replace U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin is off to a quick start, with four Democrats almost immediately jumping in for the rare chance to win an open seat in Washington, D.C., next year. Cardin, a three-term senator who’s been involved in Maryland politics for nearly six decades, is not seeking reelection in 2024.