I’ve always been amazed that total solar eclipses are possible. The sun, an 870,000-mile-wide ball of gas over 90 million miles away from us gets completely blocked by the moon, a 2,100-mile-wide ball of rock 240,000 miles away. If the sun were a bit bigger or closer, or if the moon were a bit smaller or farther, totality would not occur. There’s no scientific reason for this; it’s a wondrous coincidence.

There are 11 cargo ships trapped in the Port of Baltimore behind the wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge — including four that are supposed to be able to set sail at a moment’s notice to support the overseas deployment of U.S. military forces. The four ships, the SS Antares, SS Denebola, Gary I. Gordon and Cape Washington, are part of the U.S. Maritime Administration’s Ready Reserve Force, a fleet established in 1976 to quickly supply American troops around the world. Two of them — the Antares and the Denebola — are capable of sailing from the East Coast to Europe in six days, making them among the fastest cargo ships in the world, according to a 2020 Facebook post by the Maritime Administration.

Grab your tote bags and get ready for spring produce. There are farmers markets almost every day of the week in the Baltimore area. Below is our guide to markets from Howard, Anne Arundel and Baltimore counties as well as in Charm City proper. Many stands accept the Farmers Market Nutrition Program as well as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.

In a bold stride toward redefining the approach to aging, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore signed an executive order in January aimed at expanding access to critical care and services for older Marylanders. The executive order, spearheaded by the Department of Aging, is not just a policy adjustment; it is an inspired shift toward creating a future where the state of Maryland could be recognized as a Blue Zone — an area of the world, like Okinawa, Japan, where people tend to live longer and healthier lives than average, consistently living to age 100.

The Army Corps of Engineers has a tentative timeline of restoring access to the Port of Baltimore to “normal capacity” by the end of May, it said in a statement Thursday night. “Engineers are aiming to reopen the permanent, 700-foot-wide by 50-foot-deep federal navigation channel by the end of May, restoring port access to normal capacity,” according to the news release.

Five hundred businesses have applied for financial assistance stemming from the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge last week, the administrator for the U.S. Small Business Administration announced Thursday. The SBA has deemed mid-Atlantic businesses impacted by the bridge collapse eligible for Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs) of up to $2 million to help overcome temporary loss of revenue from the collapse and Port of Baltimore’s closure to most maritime traffic.

The Democratic candidates for Baltimore City Council president made appeals to voters during a debate hosted by WBFF FOX45 on Thursday for why each is best positioned to hold the office. Appearing live from the station’s Baltimore studio, the Democratic field, which includes incumbent Council President Nick Mosby, Councilman Zeke Cohen and former Councilwoman Shannon Sneed, touted their legislative victories, noted connections to community groups and pledged to work for city voters.

Deep into a three-hour meeting, the talk of trees was growing wearisome. The Annapolis Historic Preservation Commission was considering whether to approve the city’s massive $78 million public works project to lift part of its downtown waterfront above where cascading floods driven by climate change often rise. But the trees envisioned in sketches were in the way. Of the view. Of the water. Of a decision.

President Joe Biden on Friday will take an aerial tour of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge, meet with families of the six men killed and receive an update on the massive cleanup and rebuilding efforts that he’s promised the federal government will pay for. Biden, a Democrat seven months away from an election rematch with former Republican President Donald Trump, has vowed to support Baltimore since a 984-foot shipping vessel hit the Key Bridge, sending it tumbling into the Patapsco River on March 26.

The only bank based in Dundalk has launched two programs to help businesses and individuals affected by the tragedy that happened in its backyard. Tim Prindle, the CEO of Bay Vanguard Bank (Nasdaq: BVFL), said the bank will start offering no-interest lines of credit and will allow eligible loan recipients to skip some interest payments. He hopes the programs could help some customers, including longshoremen, and others who were affectedby the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. The local bank joins federal and state agencies that are offering programs to help businesses impacted by the bridge collapse.