Commentary

We recently joined the leaders of the Severn River Association and the Oyster Recovery Partnership, along with Annapolis Mayor Gavin Buckley, to kick off the 2021 Severn River Build-a-Reef campaign, aimed at planting 20 million juvenile oysters in our beloved and beautiful hometown river. This is the third year SRA and ORP have joined forces to help rebuild oyster populations in the Severn.

For generations, working on a farm has been more than just a way of life in my family — it is part of our DNA. Growing up, it was my dream to take over my family farm and carry on the legacy started by my grandfather. Over time, that dream has evolved from dairy to grain, vegetable and organic production, but I am proud to work on one of Maryland’s 12,429 farms, providing the foundation of a community that sustainably feeds, clothes and fuels our nation.

A recent article by Kaiser Health News and reprinted in The Baltimore Sun and other newspapers, (“Some dentists push unnecessary procedures” June 7), sadly cherry-picked a select few dentists performing unnecessary procedures across the country to boost profits for their practice, some as many as 30 years ago, while ignoring the hundreds of thousands of honest, hard-working dentists providing oral health care to their patients. It was as if the reporter simply searched “nightmare dental cases” in Google.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. Larry Hogan signed a statewide order shutting down all “nonessential businesses” on March 23, 2020. If not designated an essential business by the order, a business had either severely restricted operations or was unable to operate altogether. While affected by the order, many businesses have looked to their leases to determine what contractual rights are available to tenants to avoid paying rent while unable to operate at full capacity.

The commentary “Legislature Must Act to Save the Bay in Light of Conowingo Dam Decision” [Maryland Matters, June 10] was misleading and inaccurate. As an Exelon Generation employee and environmental advocate, I’d like to set the record straight. The Waterkeepers Chesapeake organization claims Exelon Generation and the dam have caused pollution in the Bay when, in fact, the opposite is true.

This week, many people throughout Baltimore and beyond are celebrating Juneteenth, which commemorates the moment enslaved people in Texas received the news that they were free. It marks the end of the institution of slavery and the beginning of the generational pursuit of freedom. Though the war had already been won and their emancipation proclaimed, the arrival of the news caused great celebration, and today, we celebrate Juneteenth with reflection, celebration and education.