Commentary

Building homes is a fickle business. Over the last twenty years, the United States has weathered a dramatic sequence of ups and downs in the residential housing market. An enormous construction boom from 2004 to 2006 gave way to a spectacular crash, bringing the entire global economy to a screeching halt in 2008. A slow and sluggish recovery followed, eventually picking up steam in the mid-2010s before accelerating into a second boom in the pandemic era, 2020 through 2022.

Most Americans, at least those who follow Capitol Hill politics, are surely aware of the House Freedom Caucus, the Republican subgroup that wields considerable influence in the U.S. House of Representatives. The far-right group, which spun out of the Tea Party movement and tussled prominently with GOP House Speakers John Boehner and Kevin McCarthy, is closely aligned with former President Donald Trump and is somewhat secretive about its membership (which is reportedly by invitation only).

The debate over Maryland’s energy future has been heated, from unwanted high-voltage power lines to a dispute about how best to provide electricity to proposed data centers. But for those of us still on the learning curve, let’s add a vocabulary word: “agrivoltaics.” That’s the term now applied to efforts to merge or “co-locate” farming with solar power. The goal is not for new solar “farms” to displace traditional agriculture but for the two activities to work together.

Fining unhoused individuals for sleeping in public spaces exposes a critical flaw in the U.S.’ approach to its most vulnerable. The recent Johnson v. Grants Pass ruling underscores the harsh reality faced by those without shelter, penalized for sleeping in public areas with no viable alternatives. This brings to light urgent questions about the broader impact of criminalizing homelessness—how will it affect housing shortages and shape state and national policies?

Last year, Ocean City rolled out a new slogan, “Somewhere to Smile About” with a smiley face logo incorporating its OC initials. It was perfectly fine for the mass market crowd, we imagine, especially those who love laying on the beach and perhaps a handful of Thrasher’s fries once in a while. But if you really want to capture the excitement of Maryland’s Atlantic Ocean resort, here’s the one that best applies this week: “The White Marlin Capital of the World.”

In medical training, we learn strategies to deliver bad news. One strategy is called “the warning shot”: words you say to signal to patients and family members that you are about to share tragic news, to give them a moment to mentally prepare and brace themselves to hear that news. In our pediatric primary care clinic, an email subject title “Sad News” has become that too-frequent warning shot informing us that one of our patients has died.

Welcome to episode 1 of Center Maryland’s The Trail podcast series leading up to the 2024 Presidential Election. Each week our hosts (Damian O’Doherty, Candace Dodson-Reed, & Don Mohler) will discuss topics about the campaign and beyond. In this week’s episode, the gang talks about the events leading up to Kamala Harris becoming the presumptive nominee for the 2024 presidential election, who the Vice President will pick as her running mate, and more.