Commentary

We took up the entire row “J” of the Senator Theatre in Baltimore, my 21-year-old daughter, her best friend, my friend, her 18-year-old daughter and my mother, all in our pink and glitter. My 12-year-old son, dressed in coral shorts and a salmon colored button down hawaiin shirt wanted to sit in his own row, a row behind us with his bag of popcorn.

When the trial was over last week for a teenage squeegee worker who fatally shot a Hampden man after a confrontation at a Baltimore intersection, a unanimous guilty verdict on manslaughter charges had been rendered. Their deliberations done, the jury filed out. But witnesses noticed one tearful juror, a woman, who looked at the defendant and mouthed “I’m sorry” as she left the courtroom.

While on a self-imposed paid leave of absence since his indictment on federal gun charges, Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins has continued taking part in administrative work and attending executive-level meetings and events. As he appeals to a federal judge to let him carry his service weapons again, he has indicated that he is thinking about ending his leave.

Esther Reaves made the most of her time on Earth, not by accumulating wealth, building skyscrapers or sending rockets into space. She devoted her life to helping people mired in poverty, people who were sick, hungry, lonely and homeless. She found her calling in the Gospel of Matthew: “I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. … I was a stranger and you invited me in.”

Close to 35,000 Maryland residents lost access to Medicaid as the state returned to checking eligibility for the public health insurance program, after a COVID-era requirement to keep recipients continuously enrolled expired May 31. Most people — 71% — lost the safety net because of procedural problems, such as failing to file forms or responding to requests for information too late. They are among millions of others who are losing Medicaid coverage, meant for low-income families and individuals, nationwide.

The Chesapeake Bay has no rich culture of solo sailing. Sure, there are exceptions. But it’s a body of water where it’s easy to run aground, easy to go for a yacht club race and easy to party with friends on a day sail. “I know people who have sailed their whole lives and have never gone south of Solomons Island,” said Matt Rutherford, an Annapolis sailor and explorer who was the first to sail solo around the Americas in 2012.

Over half a million Americans responded to the U.S. Forest Service’s request for public comment before late July’s deadline for the Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. The question: “How should the Forest Service implement the President’s Executive Order to protect mature and old-growth in our national forests in the face of climate change?”