Commentary

Was there ever a weekend like this? On Friday evening, gunfire erupted in Baltimore again, this time stopping a high school football game between a private school team from Baltimore County and one of the city’s best public school teams. It was a sudden horror, traumatizing for anyone who was there, and another setback for the city.

The history of organized labor in the United States is one of struggle against seemingly hopeless odds, with victories often decades in the making. It’s a history in which Baltimore plays a proud part. In fact, the city can lay some claim as the birthplace of the national organized labor movement, more than 150 years ago. We recount the tale each year, our own Labor Day tradition.

A 16-year-old was shot to death in Annapolis over the summer. The death of Robert Clark on a July night near his home in the Bywater neighborhood remains unsolved. It is a tragedy for those who knew and loved him, but also for Annapolis as a whole. Maryland’s state capital is not an overly violent place, most days. There are about 11 shootings a year, with an average of one homicide every three months. Sometimes the pace is slower, sometimes faster.

Following the June 8 nomination of acting Baltimore City Police Commissioner Richard Worley to fill the position on a permanent basis, as violent crime spiked, one question frequently arose: “Can Baltimore’s new police commissioner keep the city safe?” Baltimore has had a succession of police commissioners in recent years, some good and some not so good. One constant during their tenures has been how violent crime persists.

Upon entering my classroom this summer, students would ask immediately: What are we creating today? My answers varied from comic strips to rhythmic skip counting to 3D self-portraits and morning virtue bracelets. Meanwhile, the sound of students discussing their aspirations and visualizing how to create something tangible has made the Summer Arts for Learning Academy — where I taught this summer — a unique space for learning.

Though they have big brains, the Atlantic bottlenose dolphins that visit the Chesapeake Bay cannot be expected to have the capacity to read a report card. They have no way of knowing the waters they’ve been cruising all summer received a D+ grade last semester. “Efforts to restore the bay are struggling to reduce agricultural pollution,” the Chesapeake Bay Foundation said in its annual report card in January.

Giving children independence to stride unaccompanied to school is a perplexing decision for parents, given the preponderance of unsafe traffic conditions, especially around school zones. In her Aug. 27 Metro column, “A back-to-school quandary for parents,” Theresa Vargas pointed to the multitude of vehicles that speed through school zones, ignoring regulations to slow down, and the vulnerable stream of children crossing roads.