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Commentary

Vidal: Is School Re-Opening Debate About COVID or Politics?
February 15, 2021 -

An elementary school girl disconnected from virtual class for months; a conscientious student unable to attend school due to caring for her preschool siblings; seniors who dropped their plans to go to college or left home; and several adolescents struggling with new symptoms of depression in their dragged-out days of turned-off cameras and isolation.

Read More: Maryland Matters
Our View: Success of Carroll County school board decision dependent on safe plan, teacher buy-in
February 15, 2021 -

The Board of Education is proceeding with the confidence of a red-hot blackjack player at a Las Vegas casino, doubling down, emboldened by the relative paucity of COVID-19 cases in Carroll County Public Schools over the past month of hybrid learning and the shifting opinion of the general public, politicians and the scientific community. The board, at its Wednesday meeting, voted to allow all students to return to schools in person four days a week by March 22 and five days a week at certain facilities (such as the Career and Tech Center).

Read More: Carroll County Times
Meet the man who defied skeptics to build a journalism school at Morgan State University in record time
February 12, 2021 -

The photo accompanied DeWayne Wickham’s last column at USA Today. He sits next to President Barack Obama around a large table in the Roosevelt Room of the White House. Presidential aide Valerie Jarrett is there too, as well as other Black journalists. Obama listens as Wickham speaks. The image is a snapshot of the journalism prestige Wickham has gained in 40-plus years in the business.

Read More: Baltimore Sun
Maryland needs paid family leave
February 12, 2021 -

Remember the days when they thought of an unexpected illness in the family was a scary yet seemingly remote possibility? If there’s one thing the COVID-19 pandemic has done, it’s to demonstrate that such emergencies — from an incapacitated parent to a seriously ill spouse or child — are far more than theoretical. Further, it’s demonstrated that a lot of families, particularly those of limited means, reside dangerously near a financial precipice. Leaving a job behind temporarily with unpaid leave, a benefit all Americans enjoy under a 1993 federal law, is one thing. Keeping a single parent and the rest of her family above water during an extended emergency is quite another.

Read More: Baltimore Sun
What we can learn about cancer drug development from the COVID-19 approach
February 12, 2021 -

As an oncologist, I recognize the arduous path to make a new drug. It is a hard trek that lies between the bench and the patient’s bedside. Ordinarily, it takes five or more years just to get a new drug into the clinic for testing. Similar time is needed for clinical trials. Then comes Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval, followed by the time it takes for licensing, manufacture, distribution and adoption by physicians. Ordinarily, this means that 12 or more years might pass before the FDA even begins its evaluation of a new drug or regimen. This is before any therapy becomes part of our disease-fighting armamentarium.

Read More: Baltimore Sun
Protective masks, normally used for surgery, are now in use to fight the Corona Virus SARS-nCov-19.
Free masks: the best thing the federal government can do to save lives right now
February 11, 2021 -

One day after taking office the Biden Administration released a National Strategy for The COVID-19 Response and Pandemic Preparedness, a comprehensive plan for mitigating the significant impact that COVID-19 has had on our country. And, while the seven-point plan focuses necessary attention on the distribution of very promising vaccines and expanding masking, testing and treatment, one small omission may have a greater immediate impact than all of the other plans combined.

Read More: Baltimore Sun
Del. Reznik: Everyone for Themselves in the State’s Vaccine ‘Thunderdome’
February 11, 2021 -

My wife is on a daily mission. She has taken it upon herself to get her immediate family members vaccinated. Her grandmother is 92.  Her parents are 70 and 68. Her sister is an elementary school teacher. Her brother works at a state university directly with student athletes. Everyone but her is eligible under some part of Phase 1 for vaccination. In fact, according to the Department of Health, over 2 million Marylanders (approximately one-third of the population of Maryland) is eligible under Phase 1, while we are only getting approximately 12,000 vaccine doses a day from the federal government.

Read More: Maryland Matters
Maryland’s senators must ensure Biden’s judicial nominees embrace reform
February 11, 2021 -

The onset of a new administration means plenty of attention on high-profile Cabinet appointments. But beyond the Beltway, nominations that take place with far less scrutiny may have a bigger impact on the everyday lives of Marylanders. The nomination of federal judges and U.S. attorneys who would serve exclusively in Maryland presents a unique opportunity for Sens. Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen (both D-Md.).

Read More: Washington Post
Prioritize Maryland’s health: Remove flavored tobacco products from the market
February 11, 2021 -

This year, the Maryland General Assembly has a historic opportunity to save lives, address racial health inequity, and support our economy by removing all flavored tobacco products — including menthol cigarettes — from the market. We strongly support this critical policy and urge state lawmakers to protect our youth and Black and brown communities. Big Tobacco has one goal: profit. Since their products kill or gravely harm many of their customers, they need to recruit the next generation of users to maintain their revenue stream — our kids.

Read More: Baltimore Sun
Rubin: Jamie Raskin won the impeachment trial before it began
February 10, 2021 -

“Winning” the impeachment trial means removing any reasonable doubt in the minds of Americans that President Donald Trump incited a riot, that he let it continue in desperate attempt to keep power and that Republicans simply do not care. The House impeachment managers did a masterful job on all points in their opening arguments on Tuesday. Rep. Jamie B. Raskin (D-Md.), the lead House manager, demolished the notion that presidents get a free pass to commit high crimes in the waning days of their terms.

Read More: Washington Post

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