Commentary

How depressing it was as someone who loves the Chesapeake Bay to see David Kelsey’s letter regarding the dying Patuxent River, juxtaposed against the Metro section article “Maryland Democrats have long to-do list” [both Jan. 11]. The Patuxent, located entirely within the state of Maryland, is one of many tributaries to the Chesapeake Bay. We can’t blame the utter failure to clean up the bay on any other state or entity — this river’s decay is a Maryland problem, 100 percent.

A photograph now part of collections at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture and various other museums and galleries shows Martin Luther King with his outstretched right arm being grasped by Black women who pressed alongside his open car. The image was captured in Baltimore by photographer Leonard Freed, who became known for his coverage of the civil rights movement.

When I moved my family back to my native Baltimore City from West Palm Beach, Florida, in 2020, a lot of horrified people reacted as if I was building a house directly on the set of “The Wire.” Still, I was resolute in my choice, largely because I was unhappy with Florida’s response to COVID-19, and thought Maryland’s looked more solid. Nowhere has that response been more impressive than in the schools. When my son went back to in-person learning in 2021, I was relieved by the district’s mask mandates and weekly testing.

Political tides have shifted drastically over the past 10 years in Maryland politics. One of the major shifts has been the increased viability of progressive and more left-leaning policies. This shift is part of a national trend and is often tied to this notion of “wokeness.” Woke has become a caricature of aspects of leftist (mostly social media) discourse used to smear those of us who are advocating more radical politics. What has emerged is what I am calling the woke straw man argument.

Yet again, Marylanders find themselves amid a winter of spiking COVID-19, influenza and RSV cases and scarce hospital beds — all while employees face mounting pressures to return to the office. It’s a national problem, but without federal safeguards, workplace protections are drastically uneven from state to state. Many Maryland workers have had no protection against retaliation for seeking to avoid COVID exposure, or exposure to other respiratory illnesses, caring for sick children or family members or raising concerns about workplace COVID safety. With a new governor and legislative session kicking off next week, our state has an opportunity to right this wrong.

As we ready ourselves for the 2023 legislative session in Maryland, a new dawn is truly on the horizon. With the election of Wes Moore as our incoming governor and the turnover of so many executive office and committee leadership positions, we can expect a legislative session chock full of change. But with change comes opportunity. Gov.-elect Moore ran a campaign based on the premise to “leave no one behind.” At the Maryland Chamber of Commerce, we couldn’t agree more that no matter where you start in life, you deserve an equal opportunity to succeed. Every Marylander deserves access to a job that allows them to support their family and build wealth.

It’s hard to swallow, but the rising cost of your breakfast is a taste you will be forced to acquire. Egg prices are up, along with bacon, because of climate-influenced animal disease and a growing world population that demands more protein. One of the world’s largest producers of liquid eggs — already cracked and sold mostly in bulk to restaurants and bakeries — is practically in my backyard. Called Rembrandt Foods, the plant has been shut down since last spring over the bird flu. It’s the company’s second shutdown in seven years. Five million laying hens were destroyed. More than 200 workers, mainly immigrant, were laid off. There is no word on when the huge henhouse will cluck again.