Commentary

The Aug. 3 Health & Science article “Is medicine a threat to horseshoe crabs?” focused on the threat to these ancient mariners from their capture, bleeding and release for use of their processed blood cells to assure the purity of injectable drugs and implants. A greater source of mortality affecting horseshoe crab populations are the 832,755 crabs landed and killed for bait coastwide in 2019 alone. The crabs are mostly cut up and used in conch pots and for catching catfish and eels. The mortality count was up 25 percent from 665,278 in 2018.

Amid the aroma of deep fried Oreo cookies caked in powdered sugar and the shrieks of middle schoolers on carnival rides, there is no better place to learn about the opioid crisis than from the first responders working the county fairs this summer. Public health officials, law enforcement and addiction counselors all tell the same story: Opioids are killing rural communities in Maryland. The COVID-19 pandemic, social isolation, widespread job loss and increasing supplies of illicit drugs are fueling the already raging fires of opioid addiction and death.

The offshore wind industry in Maryland is having a coming-out party — and not a moment too soon, with the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report from the U.N., released Monday, showing just how endangered every inch of the planet is by global warming. The party began last week at Tradepoint Atlantic, the massive industrial development in eastern Baltimore County, where hundreds of dignitaries, including Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R), came to hear the CEO of US Wind, one of two companies attempting to erect wind energy turbines in the waters off of Ocean City, announce major expansion plans.

Frederick’s aldermen were discussing a proposal to let homeowners build smaller, secondary homes on their property. The question arose whether that would create more affordable housing. A planner summed the best argument in favor. “It’s a tool in that toolbox,” said Director of Current Planning Gabrielle Collard. She explained that accessory units generally are not significantly more affordable than apartments, but added that the more places where you can create lower-cost housing options, the better.

During Larry Hogan’s campaign to become governor in 2014, he explicitly stated that Maryland must hold Exelon accountable for its pollution coming out of the Conowingo Dam. However, Gov. Hogan has not followed through on his word and has now fumbled on his duties to protect the citizens of Maryland. Instead, Hogan is protecting the most profitable utility in the nation. The Conowingo Dam has continued to impact Chesapeake Bay health since Hurricane Agnes swept through the region in 1972.

Last week, Maryland’s Chris Van Hollen and a handful of fellow liberal Democrats in the U.S. Senate announced legislation to tax the oil industry on the basis of their greenhouse gas emissions. The Polluters Pay Climate Fund Act, whose sponsors include Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, would charge both U.S. and foreign-based oil extractors and refiners based on the harm their U.S. sales have already done to the planet, meaning Companies like ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron and others would be assessed for past, not current, production.

A former student in my financial literacy class approached me at the local public library. I remembered he had considered my class a “dumb” elective, something mindless to fill a gap in his class schedule. The young man had moved to Chicago after graduation, and he had made some mistakes there that forced him to move back home to Maryland.

Gunther Hashida killed himself last month. We don’t know why. At this writing, we don’t even know how. What we do know is that Hashida, an 18-year veteran of the D.C. police force, is the fourth cop to die by his own hand after responding to the Jan. 6 insurrection by Trump supporters at the U.S. Capitol. What we do know, having heard testimony from four of Hashida’s colleagues recently before a House select committee, is that the cost of defending the Capitol was high, both in physical terms — bones broken, eyes gouged, skin split — and in emotional ones.

Just who is Chris Phipps? He is the director of the county Department of Public Works and responsible for many essential daily aspects of our lives that we may take for granted. He is a registered civil engineer and has worked at the department for 26 years, serving as deputy director for 11 years before being appointed to his present position in August 2013. The Department of Public Works operates with a budget of $307 million and 762 employees dedicated to serving 587,000 county residents.

Celebrated PBS documentarian Ken Burns says, “ … everything in American history led up to (the Civil War), and everything since has been a consequence of it.” As startling as his words are, they ring true. Equally true is that public conversations about race and race relations are complicated and fraught with strife, particularly when it comes to the issue of housing. Annapolis is alive with opportunities and traditions. My time here has introduced me to wonderful people who call “Crabtown” home.