Commentary

Nobody asked me, but the new left field wall at Oriole Park is going to need a name. When the alteration is complete, the wall will be 26 1/2 feet deeper, at 384 feet from home plate, and about 13 feet high. That’s only about a third as high as Fenway’s Green Monster. But a 13-foot wall in a big, strange nook of left field has great potential for high drama. In fact, the wall could become notorious, and notorious will deserve a name. Please send suggestions, O’s fans, after you get a look at the thing.

On March 1, Ivan Bates, a Democratic primary candidate for Baltimore City state’s attorney, released his plan for decreasing violent crime in Baltimore City. One change that Bates would make: to resume prosecution of prostitution, something Marilyn Mosby has discontinued as state’s attorney. Bates contends that such prosecutions would allow for positive intervention in the lives of victims of sex trafficking. He could not be more wrong.

It is no secret that the American health care system is broken and immoral. While other industrialized nations have achieved universal coverage, we have millions underinsured or uninsured and can’t afford the care they need. We’ve prioritized profits over people for way too long. While it is true the expansion of Medicaid in Maryland has caused a significant decrease in the rate of the uninsured, there are still major gaps in health care access. Almost 6% of Marylanders are still uninsured, and Marylanders living in or near poverty are almost three times as likely to be uninsured.

In 1994, I was a young journalist in the information graphics department at The Detroit News, just two years out of college. In April of that year, the Rwandan genocide — a war of ethnic tensions — erupted, resulting in 100 days of unspeakable carnage. The United States, still stinging from its failed peacekeeping mission in Somalia the year before, refused to fully intervene. I saw it as an unconscionable abdication of moral leadership. I felt angry and helpless. It seemed to me that no one really cared.

When it comes to transit, Maryland hasn’t been lacking for studies or plans in recent years. Whether it be the MARC Cornerstone Plan of 2019, the 2020 bill to study extending MARC Penn Line service south to Alexandria and north to Newark, Del., the 2021 bill to study extending MARC Brunswick Line service west towards Hagerstown, or Prince George’s County’s 2021 plan to boost transit-oriented development (TOD) around its four Blue Line stations, the state has had no shortage of schemes to expand and improve its rail lines and the development that springs up around them.

A problem with having a big influx of funds, in this case hundreds of millions of dollars from the American Rescue Plan Act, is that it’s often accompanied by a long line of organizations with their hands out, advocating for one worthy cause after the other. The needs are almost always greater than the windfall, no matter how large, and many will leave empty-handed, despite the meaningful benefit their projects could offer individuals. One such worthwhile proposal that’s in jeopardy before the General Assembly would provide subsidies to certain small businesses and nonprofits to help them and their employees better afford health insurance plans on the Maryland Health Connection, the state’s health insurance marketplace.

After years of consideration Maryland should join 38 other states that have laws requiring animal owners, not taxpayers, to pay the cost of care for lawfully seized neglected and abused animals. The Maryland Cost of Animal Care Act “COAC” (HB1062/SB877) is common-sense legislation saving lives and taxpayer dollars and should be passed this session without hesitation. There are currently hundreds of seized animals being housed and cared for in shelters throughout Maryland while their owners await trial. There is no clear legal process for the disposition or assessment of costs of care for these animals.

In a rare display of like-minded thinking across the aisle, politicians on both the left and right are calling for cuts or suspensions to their state’s gas tax or the federal government’s. It’s happening in California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Wisconsin and right here in Maryland. In fact, this week our state is set to become among the first in the country to officially pause collection of its gas tax for 30 days in the wake of rising prices at the pump.