Katz: Baltimore’s squeegee action plan: Laws and legal precedent make a strong case against it.
Last month, Baltimore Mayor Scott released the Squeegee Collaborative Working Action Plan, designating six pilot zones where a city ordinance prohibiting panhandling and solicitation activity would be enforced, effectively banning the practice of washing windows for money on city streets in those areas. Some hailed the plan as a good compromise in a bad situation. But it is deeply flawed and merely kicks the proverbial can down the road, as well as makes the squeegee workers accidents waiting to happen. Among its biggest flaws is the plan’s failure to address what occurs in the remaining intersections. It is grossly irresponsible for the mayor and City Council to allow youths, as the plan acknowledges, to “dart across high traffic intersections washing windshields to earn money” in any scenario.
New B&O Railroad Museum exhibit shows for some on Underground Railroad, there was an actual train
Henry “Box” Brown contorted himself to fit inside the 3-by-3 foot cargo box with only a bladder of water and a hand drill in case he needed holes for air. The box was loaded onto a train headed north. He was hoping to set himself free. After mailing himself to Pennsylvania in 1849, Brown continued to advocate for abolition, later living in England and Toronto as a speaker and touring musician. Jonathan Goldman, chief curator at the B&O Railroad Museum, figured Brown’s journey to freedom brought him through Baltimore. The only train from the south to Washington D.C. was the B&O, so therefore if Brown took the train to Washington, he may have continued on to Baltimore.
Hutzell: Hey Army-Navy, Congress says none of you can go pro — just yet
Congress just sneezed in your beer, Army-Navy fans. Two days before the 123rd football classic in Philly, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the National Defense Authorization Act — stay with me, there’s some jargon ahead. It includes $858 billion for the Department of Defense and, because this is really important, bars service academy athletes from turning pro until two years after graduation. It also revokes the DOD policy requiring COVID vaccines, so huge chunks of the Navy, Marine Corps, Army and Air Force can all call out sick on the same day if the virus numbers swell again. Whatever you think of that policy, the decision will probably keep Vice Adm. Sean Buck, the Naval Academy superintendent, from having to explain at Republican-led congressional hearings next year why 18 mids were denied exceptions from the shots on religious grounds.
State puts off awarding controversial airport concessions contract — but not before current vendor sues
The Maryland Aviation Administration has halted the process of awarding a lucrative contract to manage the expansive concessions operations at BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport. The MAA, which runs the airport, issued a terse, one-paragraph notice to bidders late Friday afternoon informing them of the decision, but providing few details. “In light of legal concerns raised by the Office of the Attorney General, the Maryland Department of Transportation is seeking additional clarification about the Maryland Aviation Administration’s solicitation for a new concessionaire,” the notice said. “The contract will not be scheduled for the Board of Public Works at this time.”
Md. labor chief: Problems paying jobless claims probably derailed fraud attempts
Computer system problems that delayed payment of thousands of unemployment benefit claims during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic were unavoidable and saved the state hundreds of millions in potentially fraudulent payments, Maryland’s secretary of labor told lawmakers Tuesday. Tiffany Robinson defended her agency during a hearing on two legislative audits that found problems with both how the state paid claims and how it ensured businesses properly paid into the system. The outgoing secretary, speaking to members of the Joint Committee on Legislative Audits, told lawmakers the state had no choice but to fight fraudsters even as it means significant delays in paying “honest claimants.”
Susarla: Lifting Twitter ban on COVID misinformation is a risk to public health
Twitter’s decision to no longer enforce its COVID-19 misinformation policy, quietly posted on the site’s rules page and listed as effective Nov. 23, 2022, has researchers and experts in public health seriously concerned about the possible repercussions. Health misinformation is not new. A classic case is the misinformation about a purported but now disproven link between autism and the MMR vaccine based on a discredited study published in 1998. Such misinformation has severe consequences for public health. Countries that had stronger anti-vaccine movements against diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP) vaccines faced a higher incidence of pertussis in the late-20th century, for example.
Baltimore County school board elects newcomers Jane Lichter, Robin Harvey to top posts
Two new Baltimore County school board members, Jane Lichter and Robin Harvey, were elected the panel’s chair and vice chair at Tuesday night’s meeting. Lichter was nominated to be chair by board member John Offerman, while Harvey was nominated for vice chair by new member Brenda Hatcher-Savoy. Each nomination was unanimously approved, a change from a more divisive contest three years ago when the highest vote-getter was bypassed because she received one vote shy of the seven votes that board guidance said was needed. Lichter succeeds Julie Henn, who announced last month that she no longer wanted the role. Harvey replaces Rod McMillion as vice chair.
Gillihan: How to find freedom from ‘worst-case scenario’ thinking
As a recession looms on the horizon, many people understandably are worried about their finances and job security. While these concerns are not unfounded, constant worry and stress about things that might go wrong take a toll on a person’s mental and physical well-being. That was the situation my patient M. found herself in when she came to me several years ago for psychotherapy. She was terrified of being fired and teetering toward depression. “I don’t know what I would do if I lost my job,” she lamented in one of her first sessions with me. “Who’s going to hire a 55-year-old?” As a psychologist who specializes in cognitive behavioral therapy, a treatment approach that aims to change thinking patterns, my job was to guide M. in challenging the thoughts that stoked her fears and fueled her stress.
One of employers’ biggest pay headaches is likely to persist in 2023 — with a troublesome new twist
CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield Invests $7.9M to address behavioral health crisis
CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, a not-for-profit and the largest health plan in the mid-Atlantic region, announced $7.9 million in investments to 19 community-based organizations in Maryland, Washington and northern Virginia. These multi-year grants will work to address the unprecedented impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of the region’s children, adolescents, and families. With a focus on eliminating barriers in access to services and expanding the number of providers available in the behavioral health workforce, the initiatives stand to collectively impact nearly 25,000 people.
