Montgomery County is currently debating 5G cellular technology and improving infrastructure. While MedChi, the Maryland State Medical Society, does not normally get involved in local zoning matters, we do think Montgomery County needs to consider health care as it considers its technology infrastructure. One only needs to look to the recent pandemic to see the importance of access to high-speed internet.
In April 2020, with the pandemic in full swing, The Economist published: “A Grim Calculus: COVID-19 presents stark choices between life, death and the economy.” Soon Americans were blaming the lockdowns for recession and, in the words of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, “the destruction of millions of lives across America … without any corresponding benefit in COVID mortality.” Before the end of the year, some states, notably Texas, were ending COVID restrictions with the goal of improving their economic activity.
If we needed any more proof about how unhealthy the American population is, and how bad the health care system is at addressing it, COVID-19 provided it. The lives taken by the virus itself made for the country’s deadliest year in history. But also contributing to the unfortunate milestone were increases in deaths from what have become some of the most chronic, yet preventable, diseases.
The past three elections saw record turnout and ushered in a new wave of reform-minded progressive officials in Baltimore City government and on the Baltimore City Democratic State Central Committee. In 2018, I joined a wave of young and diverse candidates seeking to reform and reenergize the central committee. We ran on a platform of increased voter engagement, reforming the Maryland General Assembly legislative vacancy appointment process, and ensuring the committee truly elevated younger, community-driven and diverse political talent, not just serving as a club for insiders and their family members.
I’m one of many Baltimoreans struggling to combat the plastic pollution crisis through my everyday actions, and, I’d like to say on our collective behalf: We’re beyond frustrated. No matter how hard we try, it is impossible to avoid single-use plastic. Take food delivery services, for example. At least one of the apps primarily used for restaurant delivery in Baltimore has a default for all orders: no plastic utensils included. If customers want plastic cutlery, they have to check a box
Within months of the first shots of what was to become America’s Revolutionary War, Maryland mustered troops to join the Continental Army and help newly appointed general George Washington drive the British from Boston. But the willingness to support the armed struggle did not correspond with an inclination toward independence.
The Baltimore skyline has looked a little dim ever since March 1, when a 70-year piece of history disappeared from sight. That’s when the lights were shut off on the iconic “Domino Sugars” sign, which brightened up the Inner Harbor and could be viewed from various vantage points around the city. To Baltimore, the Domino sign was as much a part of its fabric as the Radio City Music Hall sign that blazes across New York City’s Rockefeller Center, or the dozens of similarly lit marquees that make it seem like it’s always daytime in Times Square.
In preparation for Independence Day, some of us ritualistically reread Frederick Douglass’s greatest speech, “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” That speech, which Douglass delivered in Rochester on July 5, 1852, calls on Americans to live up to the nation’s egalitarian ideals. Douglass gave the speech on the fifth because he refused to celebrate the Fourth of July while slavery remained the law of the land. The speech continues to inspire today, with its soaring rhetoric and commitment to human equality. But could it be taught in states with Republican-controlled legislatures intent on banning from the classroom an honest engagement with the nation’s history of slavery and racism?
Happy birthday, America! It’s time for summer fun, and for celebrating with friends and family at picnics, fireworks, parades, beach and boat outings, and backyard barbecues. Maybe you are choosing to do something entirely different this weekend, and that is a celebration of freedom, too. We have an abundance of choices in our daily lives due to the adoption and signing of the Declaration of Independence 245 years ago.
On June 15, Gov. Larry Hogan announced that Maryland’s coronavirus state of emergency would end today, July 1. This will effectively terminate all emergency mandates and restrictions, including mask orders. Although the number of COVID cases has dropped, this still leaves many unvaccinated and vulnerable populations at risk. That day, the Baltimore City health commissioner said, “I’m aware that many will view this as the end of the pandemic. However, I want to be clear, while we have made significant progress as evidenced by our COVID-19 metrics, the public health threat of coronavirus remains high for our unvaccinated population specifically.”
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