Commentary

Near the geographic center of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, a narrow creek winds through a small rural Pennsylvania valley. Here, in the early 1700s, settlers built a dam that unwittingly damaged one of nature’s best water pollution filters — valley bottom wetlands — ushering in an era of water quality decline throughout the region. The 20-foot dam powered a grist mill and formed a pond extending more than a mile upstream, large and deep enough (as much as 20 feet) for people to boat, fish, skate or swim.

Michael Razzi shared his story during this year’s General Assembly session about how he began to experience memory problems at age 58. A battery of cognitive tests did not provide a definitive answer, and by his own admission, the St. Mary’s County resident “was in a pretty dark place.” He was later diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease, finding help and hope through counseling and a community support group. Michael now tells his story publicly, knowing — over time — he will lose the ability to respond to his environment, to carry on a conversation and, eventually, to control movement.

On Monday in Baltimore, the Orioles will host the Milwaukee Brewers for the 2022 home opener. With any luck, some 40,000 to 50,000 fans will head downtown to take in the festivities; starting in and around the hotels, restaurants and bars near Camden Yards. Many will eventually file into our city’s beautiful baseball stadium, celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. And not a moment too soon. For one afternoon, toward the end (we hope) of a global pandemic and in a city that can use a boost of positive energy, here’s hoping the day will serve as a wonderful throwback to what once was, and what can be again.

Job vacancies are bedeviling countless industries, not least health care, where employers are at wits’ end trying to fill nursing and other critical jobs. State lawmakers can help alleviate that problem by waiving citizenship as a requirement for licensure, a needless encumbrance. Yet even as hospitals and other facilities plead for relief, they face an uphill battle in many states, particularly ones dominated by Republicans determined to impede opportunities for undocumented immigrants, no matter how badly their skills are needed.

After all else failed — the naked partisan trickery; the cartographical sleight of hand; the threats of months of litigation — Maryland’s political tribes finally agreed on a redrawn congressional map. What a waste of time. Gov. Larry Hogan (R) had pressed for years for redistricting reform that could have ended the decennial brawls in Annapolis over electoral-district line-drawing by turning it over to a bipartisan commission. That might not have been a panacea, but it would have rated as an improvement, because almost anything would have. Democrats who rule the legislature refused, repeatedly.

As we start another baseball season, it’s time to confront a painful reality: The Orioles have a terrible cap. “Which cap,” you ask? The goofy cartoon bird? The “ornithologically correct” one from the ‘90s? The various folk-art birds from the ‘50s and ‘60s? The one that says “O’s?” The one with the “B?” This is the heart of the problem: The Orioles lack a definitive cap.

As a former state delegate of 20 years, I’ve heard the old quip about the 90-day legislative session: 90% of the work gets done in the last 10 days. That may be a slight exaggeration, but the statement conveys a general truth: some bills emerge from out of nowhere and move at breakneck speed to win passage, while others get bogged down in parliamentary technicalities that spell its demise. Essentially, if leadership wants to either get something across the finish line or stuff it in the drawer, it doesn’t matter how many days or even hours remain in the session.

Greater Baltimore Committee president and CEO Donald C. Fry discussed inclusionary housing. Inclusionary housing taps the economic gains from rising real estate values to create affordable housing for lower-income families, according to the Inclusionary Housing Database. Legislation has been introduced in the Baltimore City Council to increase more housing units for low-and middle-class residents.