Commentary

Business development is essential to a thriving community. This fact is too often ignored in political debates about how to revive Baltimore, and it’s time to recognize such efforts. Despite population loss, a struggling school system, rising crime and a host of other issues plaguing the city, companies such as Under Armour, CSX and T. Rowe Price continue to invest in their community. Their resolve offers a dose of positivity and are examples that leaders and residents of the city should encourage others to follow.

The debate over the location of the new FBI headquarters has been going on for years, with Virginia and Maryland competing for the massive complex and its thousands of jobs [“Maryland gets a lift in fight for new FBI HQ,” Metro, July 15]. This has caused delays and uncertainty for the FBI and the communities involved. But instead of choosing one state over the other, why not have two headquarters, one in each state, for resiliency, flexibility and effectiveness?

The horrific event in Baltimore’s Brooklyn neighborhood July 2 caused the tragic loss of two young lives, with many more injured and countless people left traumatized. Among the traumatized members of the community were a small group of remarkable people wearing orange shirts who spend every workday walking trouble spots around Brooklyn and nine other city neighborhoods. These are parts of the city where, sadly, the data tells us shootings are most likely to occur.

I once gave a drug dealer some career advice: Sell cars, not cocaine. The guy seemed open to that idea. He had come to me in the summer of 2005, after reading one of several columns in which we offered advice for “getting out of the game.” He was about 30 years old, dressed in a white shirt, black slacks and two-tone shoes. I found him congenial and confident.

Record high temperatures and record low air quality. The summer of 2023 has barely begun, and it already feels oppressive. If it’s not the Canadian wildfire smoke, it’s the heat, humidity and pop-up thunderstorms plaguing the region. The toxic cloud originating from forest fires in eastern Canada is again infiltrating America, with smoke wafting into Maryland through Tuesday, according to the Maryland Department of the Environment.

During the 2022 legislative session, we were elated by the news that the Maryland General Assembly passed the Healthy Babies Equity Act, which would extend Medicaid coverage to pregnant people who would otherwise be eligible if not for their immigration status. But our moods dampened when we realized it would not be implemented until July of this year. There was already a great need.