Commentary

The condolence calls and texts started coming in Tuesday night, steady and sad. “Just wanted to send a note letting you know I was thinking of you.” “I just heard.” “I just wanted to say I’m so sorry. I know what he meant to you.” The messages were about Brooks Robinson — Mr. Oriole himself — who died Tuesday at 86, taking an entire city’s heart with him. I only met him once, years ago, and corresponded with him briefly.

For longtime Baltimoreans, witnessing the once-proud and bustling Harborplace pavilions regress over their 43 years, from the focal point of downtown to its afterthought, has been a deeply painful experience. Where people once came from far and wide to shop, eat and stroll in what proved to be a masterstroke of urban redevelopment by developer James Rouse, now sits something akin to a boarded-up suburban mall, albeit with a still-spectacular view of the Inner Harbor.

Frederick County, once again you have made us proud. When our community see a real need, we reach into our pockets to help out. So it was for Jana Inskeep, an 11-year-old member of 4-H, who was diagnosed with leukemia and hospitalized just a few weeks before The Great Frederick Fair began. When the word spread about Jana, a wave of extraordinary generosity swept over the fair. Jana received an outpouring of support from friends in agriculture and from the Frederick County community at large.

Montgomery County has had a big last six months: In that time the county has passed an increase to the recordation tax, a property tax increase, and, most recently, passed a (pretty good!) permanent rent stabilization law. So…now what? How can we make sure that Montgomery County can become a more affordable place to live in the future and stay that way?

This is Baltimore, Queen City of the Patapsco Drainage Basin. It doesn’t take much to keep us happy around here. We want good neighbors and friendly dogs. We want to see tall ships in the Inner Harbor once in a while. Give us an excellent crabcake now and then, a cold beer, a juicy corned beef-on-rye, decent pizza, clean tap water and a snowball in July. We want strong schools and safe streets. We want an adequate supply of toilet paper for when it snows.

For ages, philosophers and others have contemplated and debated whether beauty is subjective or objective. The Greek philosophers, such as Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, spent a great deal of time considering the nature of beauty. Confucius is believed to have said, “Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.” Much later, in William Shakespeare’s “Love’s Labour’s Lost,” the princess says, “Beauty is bought by judgement of the eye.

A letter to the editor from Mike Heaps of Forest Hill suggests that John Denver’s “Thank God I’m a Country Boy” deserves a replacement at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, where the song has long been played during the seventh-inning stretch — the brief interlude when the visitors have finished their at-bats in the seventh inning and the home team Orioles are about to take their swings. It is traditionally a moment when fans are encouraged to stand and “stretch” (hence the name) as many have likely been sitting for two hours or so, and, let’s face it, can start to feel a bit drowsy, especially at a night game with requisite hot dogs and beer consumed.

In the realm of American politics, we frequently find ourselves in the unenviable position of choosing between the lesser of two imperfect options. The 2020 presidential election vividly illustrated this dilemma. On one side stood Donald Trump, a polarizing figure who was involved in the events of Jan. 6, 2021 — actions that remain a point of contention. On the other side was Joe Biden, a seasoned politician whose cognitive abilities appeared to be in noticeable decline and who carried his own baggage of potential legal problems.