Commentary

We’re glad Gov. Larry Hogan saw reason and requested the release of funds critical to the crime fight in Baltimore City, announcing plans Thursday to spend $6.5 million to bolster Baltimore’s Warrant Apprehension Task Force and to have Maryland State Police take over traffic patrols on Interstate-83, among other initiatives. Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott met with the governor last month and specifically asked for help with warrants, facing a backlog of thousands. And city officials for years have been asking for assistance on I-83, where frequent crashes on the poorly designed road regularly tie up a couple of patrol cars for hours at a time.

In response to the rapid rise in prices at the pump, Gov. Larry Hogan and the leaders of the General Assembly quickly got together to adopt a 30-day “emergency” suspension of the state’s 37 cents per gallon gas tax. Since the suspension became effective on March 18, prices at the pump have dropped by roughly the amount of the tax reduction. All well and good. I’ll cheer along with Maryland’s other drivers at the tax holiday. But don’t mistake the temporary gas tax suspension for the broader, deeper permanent tax relief Marylanders deserve, especially now with the state projecting a huge near-term budget surplus.

In many of the three dozen states holding gubernatorial elections this year, Republican primaries have become a battleground between extremists backed by former president Donald Trump and more traditional candidates. One of them, Maryland, poses an especially stark choice given its overwhelming antipathy toward Mr. Trump, who lost the state in 2020 by a 2-to-1 margin. If the Free State’s GOP opts for the Trumpist candidate in the July 19 gubernatorial primary, it only increases its prospects of getting trounced in November’s general election. If it backs a traditionalist, it has a fair chance of winning.

Over the past several years the Baltimore Museum of Art has been at the forefront of activating groundbreaking initiatives that inspire people to think differently about art and its impact, and the exhibit “Guarding the Art,” opening Sunday, is a clear example of this. I sat in Director Chris Bedford’s office two years ago and explained I had an idea that I felt was in this groundbreaking category, and I was prepared to stay in his office until he agreed to pursue it. I felt confident that he would see the idea captures the essence of everything the BMA can and should be. And he did. Guarding the Art became official as of that conversation.

In response to Kalman Hettleman’s commentary, let us begin from a point of common ground: it is imperative that, for the successful implementation of the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, and for it to truly have a transformative role in the education of Maryland’s students, all education workers engaged in the effort to improve our schools must be adequately compensated, including the dedicated staff employed at the Maryland State Department of Education.

A massive explosion at Friendly Garden Apartments in Silver Spring on March 3 “will be ruled accidental,” officials said, “after investigators concluded that a maintenance worker mistakenly cut through a gas line in a basement utility room while addressing a plumbing problem.” Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich “questioned what kind of training the apartment complex’s management required.” Fire Chief Scott Goldstein explained what could have sparked the blast: “Could be a pilot light. Could be a cigarette. Could be the simple flick of a light switch. Could be a motorized tool.”

Climate change has gotten so bad that any pause in the transition to a clean-energy economy will literally kill people. “Delay means death,” says United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres. He uttered those words after another blockbuster and depressing climate study came out last month.