Commentary

There is a memorial by the water in Annapolis: five granite pillars bounded by a curving brick wall. Most days, people walk past without giving it much more than a glance. Wednesday will be different. The city will host a morning ceremony at the Guardians of the First Amendment memorial, marking five years since journalists Rob Hiaasen, Wendi Winters, Gerald Fischman, John McNamara and Rebecca Smith were killed in the Capital Gazette newsroom.

ChatGPT, its GPT-4 iteration and the broader advancement of generative AI are raising the stakes for companies that are expected to incorporate this technology. CEOs, boards and top executives in such a spot should step back and meet the challenge with a big picture approach that systematizes a set of proven strategies. AI as the next competitive weapon for business relevancy, and profitability means companies must transform from digital enterprises to intelligent enterprises.

In my experience with community organizing, labor organizing and political campaigns, we often use a 1-5 ranking scale to assess people’s support for a cause. One equals strong support, 2 equals support, 3 equates with neutrality or unknown support, 4 means opposition and 5 equals strong or coordinated opposition.

Mississippi is far ahead of Maryland in initiatives to teach all children to read. We Marylanders should be aghast and ashamed. How come deep south Mississippi, with the highest child poverty rate in the country, ranks side by side with Maryland in the middle tier of states in fourth grade reading scores? More startling, how come between 2011 and 2022, Mississippi ranks first among states in gains in fourth grade reading while Maryland is tied for last?

The celebrations of summer have begun in Frederick County, and even the weather has chimed in with a brief preview this week of the sweltering days to come. A few hot days were hardly enough to diminish enthusiasm for the sunny and bright weeks coming our way. Days with high temperatures in the 90s are commonplace here. We have become adept at cooling off in pools, lakes, sprinklers and air conditioning.

Five years ago, the newsroom in Annapolis where I was editor was attacked. Five people were shot to death. In the aftermath, as I’ve recently been reminded, I started asking what we could do to prevent the next mass shooting. There were good answers. Mike Busch, then the speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates, told me he’d seek a ban on ghost guns. It passed three years after he died in 2019.

It is beyond disappointing to see that restrictions on the public display of flags — surely among the most foolish, undemocratic and anti-social policies to haunt public bodies in recent years — is back on the agenda in Anne Arundel County. It was just last year that the Anne Arundel County Council considered banning all flags other than the U.S. flag and those representing the state and county from government property, a measure that came under well-deserved fire and was eventually withdrawn by the councilman who submitted it, Nathan Volke.