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Commentary

The Chesapeake bay bridge.
Opinion: Accountability for thee but not for me on Bay pollution

After the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced it may extend a 2025 deadline for reducing pollution in the Chesapeake Bay, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) quickly responded with the following statement: “Going forward, the Chesapeake Bay states must demonstrate the leadership necessary to complete the job and the EPA must hold all of us accountable.” At the Delmarva Fisheries Association, we agree — especially if holding “all of us” accountable includes CBF.

It’s time for Maryland to end open judicial elections

Should judges be elected or appointed? While neither system is perfect, the risks of electing judges by popular vote are too great to ignore — from the potential for causing judges to shy away from decisions that might make them less popular with the general public to the ethics of judicial candidates accepting campaign donations from lawyers who are likely to appear in their courtrooms.

Read More: Baltimore Sun
Opinion: New attorney general must move to release report on abuse by priests in Baltimore archdiocese

Once Anthony Brown is sworn in as Maryland’s attorney general Jan. 3, he must move expeditiously to seek permission to release the delayed report on alleged sexual abuse by priests in the Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore. The result of a four-year investigation led by Brian Frosh, the state’s outgoing attorney general, the 456-page document identifies 158 priests who allegedly abused more than 600 boys and girls — some of them preschoolers — over a period of 80 years.

Perspectives and realities of the season

‘Tis the season when many people look forward to celebrations, family gatherings, traditions and spiritual connections while serving up platters of love and generosity. As a general rule, society expects us to put on our best face possible, work hard to please others, and go with the flow. Many of us thrive during this holiday season as we experience joy, fellowship and spirituality. However, the reality is that not everyone sees the holidays through the same lens. The holidays may bring great joy or negative feelings from past experiences that may bubble to the surface during this time. Unfortunately, these negative feelings may impact our ability to enjoy or tolerate this time of year.

Opinion: The ABC’s of 2022 in Maryland and beyond: The news year remembered

A is for Adnan Syed, who served more than 20 years in prison for the killing of Hae Min Lee in 1999, the focus of the groundbreaking podcast “Serial.” He was released in September, his conviction vacated and Baltimore’s top prosecutor ultimately deciding not to pursue further charges. Yet questions still linger, including over the treatment of the victim’s family, who would like a redo of the hearing that led to Syed’s release. B is for Baltimore City Fire Department and the loss of three firefighters in a Jan. 24 blaze in a vacant house on South Stricker Street. The community mourned the loss of Paul Butrim, Kelsey Sadler and Kenny Lacayo, and the tragedy already has spurred reforms in how empty dwellings — potential tinderboxes — are tracked, as well as raised questions about whether stations are adequately equipped. Fire Chief Niles R. Ford resigned from office with the release of a 182-page report critical of the city’s performance.

Read More: Baltimore Sun
Opinion: China’s new covid nightmare could become a global catastrophe

China’s “zero covid” policy was unsustainable and abruptly scrapped, but the absence of a coherent fallback strategy threatens a fresh set of nightmares for its population, its economy and the Communist Party leadership. A new crisis could shake the whole world. As the Wuhan outbreak demonstrated three years ago, what begins in China does not necessarily stay there. President Xi Jinping’s government had imposed draconian requirements for lockdowns, tests and forced quarantines during most of the pandemic. But once lifted on Dec. 7, the measures were followed by little guidance from the top. China’s party-state usually declares that everything is under control. Now, it appears to be quite unsettled. A wave of omicron infections is sweeping Beijing and might soon hit the rest of China.

Dolar: Why doesn’t the Federal Reserve target another number?

What’s so special about the number 2? Quite a lot, if you’re a central banker – and that number is followed by a percent sign. That’s been the de facto or official target inflation rate for the Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and many other similar institutions since at least the 1990s. But in recent months, inflation in the U.S. and elsewhere has soared, forcing the Fed and its counterparts to jack up interest rates to bring it down to near their target level. As an economist who has studied the movements of key economic indicators like inflation, I know that low and stable inflation is essential for a well-functioning economy. But why does the target have to be 2%? Why not 3%? Or even zero?

Where was everyone when Southwest Baltimore flooded?

There have been no anniversary celebrations to commemorate the Irvington flood, no news articles a year or five years later where residents of the Southwest Baltimore neighborhood recount where they were when the waters surged down the street in 2016 and again in 2018. In order for an event to be commemorated, it has to be recognized in the first place — and Irvington’s flooding never was.

Alanah Davis: We’re just fluffy

If the desire for lighter skin and smaller waists is so well documented in what we see in beauty trends, diet fads, social media and even the relationship choices of so many people around us from celebrities, close friends and even couples we might admire from afar on the internet through the scope of hashtags like couple goals or #blacklove, why is it so confusing when I bring up my literal experience of who gets chosen in relationships when we know who often gets picked for long-term, loving, marital or even platonic connections? People who look good.

It’s time to rethink the role (and regulation) of Maryland’s marine pilots

Many were undoubtedly surprised to hear that the grounding of the MV Ever Forward was the fault of a marine pilot who was paying more attention to his cellphone than keeping the ship on course, leading the container ship to spend a month stuck in Chesapeake Bay mud last spring. But that was the recent finding of U.S. Coast Guard investigators looking into why the Ever Forward drifted off course in its passage from Seagirt Marine Terminal to Norfolk, Virginia, on March 13, 2022. Among other things, their 27-page report also strongly recommends that vessel owners and marine operators develop a better policy on cellphones.

Read More: Baltimore Sun

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