Commentary

Last month, the Supreme Court declined to block Texas’ restrictive 6-week abortion ban. And later this year, the same nine justices will decide whether to overturn Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion in the U.S. exactly 49 years ago as of Jan. 22. While the legal right to an abortion is vital, the truth is Roe has never been enough. We at the Baltimore Abortion Fund (BAF) continue to witness how systemic racism creates unnecessary obstacles to care, especially for people of color and those working to make ends meet.

It’s that time of year when everything feels bright, shiny and new. Except it doesn’t. Not here in Baltimore. Our foe, COVID-19, is in the throes of a hellish comeback; a funeral was just held for one of Baltimore’s finest; another city official was indicted on a charge of lying and betraying our civic trust; and there have been nearly as many murders as days so far in January. It’s hard to hang onto hope that 2022 will be better.

The authors want to acknowledge after submission of this commentary, but before its publication two positive developments: MSDE staff communicated willingness to talk with the coalition and added a feedback form to its website. Labor Day weekend, we began the work of forming a grass-roots coalition to monitor, provide input to and improve the policy recommendations of the Workgroup on English Language Learners in Public Schools, which was created by the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future/Kirwan legislation and housed within the Maryland State Department of Education.

Electric-powered vehicles are undoubtedly the transportation choice of the future, as the world seeks to reduce the carbon pollution from automobiles which contributes heavily to climate change. Someday, every home may need a private charging station for the family’s electric vehicles. However, a proposal by County Council President M.C. Keegan-Ayer to require most new homes in Frederick County to be wired for vehicle charging is an idea that goes too far, too fast.

Before you take that ramp onto I-95, put your foot on the gas and speed while you weave in and out of traffic, I would like to introduce myself to you. My name is Paula, and I am right over there in the right-hand lane. You might be wondering why I am traveling on I-95, selfishly trying to share the road with you while you have your “fun” playing the dangerous and deadly game of “Indy 500″ with the lives of drivers around you.

Baltimore City’s leadership, particularly as the Omicron infections rates surge, must focus on supporting the majority of residents in need of dire assistance: renters. As outlined by Baltimore Renters United during our news conference on Jan. 4, 2022, hundreds of evictions are currently scheduled, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Indeed, 23,228 Baltimore families — the vast majority of whom are Black — are behind on rent, thus facing possible eviction according to the latest census data.

After 12 years as Maryland’s chief public defender, Paul DeWolfe is retiring in June. As president of AFSCME Local 423, the Maryland Defenders Union, I know just how important the selection of a new public defender is, not only to the nearly 700 workers at the Office of the Public Defender but also to the hundreds of thousands of indigent clients we serve each year. But in the past, OPD workers have not had a voice in the selection process or in almost any aspect of agency policy.

Stephen H. “Steve” Sachs should have been the governor of Maryland. He radically changed and reformed the attorney general’s office during eight years on the job and believed he was ready for the next step in 1986. There was one problem: The men (and they were all men in those days) running the state’s Democratic Party thought Sachs was too liberal. So, they convinced wildly popular Baltimore Mayor William Donald Schaefer to run against Sachs, and Schaefer beat him handily.

When the pandemic first hit Maryland in 2020, it sent us all into a tailspin from which we have yet to recover. In the wake of rising cases and deaths, a statewide lockdown was declared, though due to the lack of information we had at the time due to its spread, after Gov. Larry Hogan’s state of emergency declaration, the extent of the lockdown was piecemeal and took too long to fully implement.

As state legislators convene on Wednesday, there will be even more frenzy than usual. The pandemic will cast its viral spell over every deliberation, and it’s an election year to boot. How then will schools and schoolchildren fare? What legislative action should be sought? For sure, the education landscape is far different than it was three years ago.