Commentary

Seven years ago, a student lingered in my classroom after school. Seventeen and already shouldering an adult’s burdens — buying food for younger siblings, paying the electric bill — he’d made a choice he regretted. A crew of hustlers near his block had talked him into working as a lookout. They were neighborhood guys, and he was cool with them. He could’ve declined. So I said the obvious thing: “You won’t be able to help anyone if you’re locked up or worse.”

The future of horse racing in Maryland in general, and the fate of the Preakness Stakes in particular, hangs in the balance. The deal announced in October 2019 and approved by the General Assembly in 2020 to renovate both Pimlico and Laurel Park racecourses and keep the Preakness in Baltimore is in deep trouble. And there are no cheap or easy alternatives.

Last year doctors like myself were thrilled when the Maryland General Assembly passed the Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) program. As we look forward to watching the program benefit our patients and their families, we urge the General Assembly to ensure that the costs to implement the program are shared equitably. The Time to Care Act passed in 2022 was a huge step forward for Marylanders and their loved ones.

There was a time when indoor retailing space, with restaurants and food courts and major department store “anchors,” dominated not just retailing but the social scene. “See you at the mall” was a common refrain a generation ago — before the enormous popularity of online shopping made them largely extinct and COVID-19 drove a final nail in that coffin. So-called “dead malls” now can be found all over this country, empty shells of their former selves.

Ever come across a place and try to imagine what it was like 300 or 400 years ago? It’s not something you do every day, when you have errands to run, work to do, children to care for, meals to fix, politics to abhor. But sometimes and some place, you surrender to the moment and try to squint away all the clutter of the modern world — office buildings in the distance, plastic bags in trees, the board fence on the edge of a pasture.

The Maryland General Assembly is considering a gun control bill that would absolutely save lives in this state. And it isn’t the one you are probably thinking about. The state Senate is moving forward on a needed revision to the concealed-carry law, in the wake of a Supreme Court decision that struck down a similar law in New York. We believe that measure deserves support to reinstate limits on the ability to carry a gun in many settings to preserve public safety.

While Montgomery County is dominated by elected leaders who are concerned with things like adding bike lanes on Old Georgetown Road, which don’t get used but severely clog traffic, and who promote drag shows for minor children at local libraries, Northern Virginia continues to grow its economic base and generate revenue that will lessen the financial burden on working taxpayers.

Dan Rodricks’ recent column (”Dan Rodricks: Fox45 ignores context on Baltimore’s post-pandemic test scores,” March 3) as well as Roberta E. Sabin’s letter to the editor about Baltimore City Public Schools’ test scores (”This retired teacher wants to help tutor city students. Any takers?” March 10) illustrate a key question: What can community members do to support our city’s future leaders?