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refuel, petrol stations, gas pump
Going electric in Maryland means no gas, no anxiety, no panic at the pump
May 24, 2021 -

The panic at the pump caused by the Colonial Pipeline hack might have been brief, but it reminded Americans of a certain age of the unpleasant gasoline shortages of the 1970s. It also gave motorists in Maryland and at least 10 other states a dose of something we already have in abundant supply — anxiety. But I have a hunch it did some good, too. The panic probably pushed people who’ve been thinking about buying an electric car to automotive websites to see what’s going on.

Read More: Baltimore Sun
City man people woman
Look to HBCUs, not just flagship schools, to diversify professional talent pools
May 21, 2021 -

A recent Hechinger Report highlighted the persistent disparity between coveted admission to select state-supported flagship universities and the percentage of Black and Latinx high school graduates in those states. Admission to a flagship state university purportedly enhances career success opportunities based on prestige of the university as well as extraordinary educational opportunities both curricular and extracurricular available on these campuses. In Maryland at the College Park campus, the disparity was undeniably evident, a 24% difference between African American admission and African American high school graduation. Why is it critical to erase this disparity?

Read More: Baltimore Sun
Jimmy Tarlau: Many Workers in Md. Don’t Have the Right to Form a Union. That Needs to Change
May 21, 2021 -

Most people think Maryland is a state where all workers have full union rights. Unfortunately, this is not true. Thousands of public employees in our state do not have the right to form a union. Even if they want to form a union, it is not legal for them to form a union and negotiate with their employer. Public workers in Gaithersburg have no more rights than public workers in Hattiesburg, Miss. Why is this true?

Read More: Maryland Matters
Our Say: To find the news in Doug Emhoff’s visit to Annapolis, look close to home
May 20, 2021 -

As political events go, the visit to Annapolis by the second gentleman — a phrase we’ll all have to wrap our heads around now — was lowkey. Doug Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, came to Annapolis to hear from small business owners about their experiences surviving the COVID-19 recession and how federal aid programs expanded by President Joe Biden helped them through it.

Read More: Capital Gazette
Kalman Hettleman: The Biden Deal to Revive Public Education
May 20, 2021 -

Ronald Reagan made famous the punchline, “The most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” But Joe Biden is turning that on its head. He is, according to friends and foes alike, attempting a bold social contract on a scale not seen since FDR and LBJ. And public education is a big piece of the action. Two COVID-19 relief and recovery laws have already poured about $180 billion into state and local school budgets nationwide. In Maryland alone, the bounty is around $3 billion.

Read More: Maryland Matters
Josh Kurtz: Missing the Guy Who Might Have Been Able to Explain the Madness of the Last 5 Years
May 20, 2021 -

Other than my mom, who left this Earth a decade ago, the deceased person I’ve probably missed the most over the past five years has been Wayne Barrett, my mentor and role model in the journalism business, who died on Jan. 19, 2017 at the age of 71. That’s a significant date that we’ll get back to shortly. When I think about the madness of the last five years, I think maybe Wayne would have made sense of it all. He knew and understood some of the major players of the past half-decade better than anyone.

Read More: Maryland Matters
Why Don’t We Have an HIV/AIDS Vaccine After All These Years?
May 19, 2021 -

Smallpox has been eradicated from the face of the Earth following a highly effective, worldwide vaccination campaign. Paralytic poliomyelitis is no longer a problem in the U.S. because of development and use of effective vaccines against the poliovirus. In current times, millions of lives have been saved because of rapid deployment of effective vaccines against COVID-19. And yet, it has been 37 years since HIV was discovered as the cause of AIDS, and there is no vaccine.

Read More: Maryland Matters
Missing the Guy Who Might Have Been Able to Explain the Madness of the Last 5 Years
May 19, 2021 -

Other than my mom, who left this Earth a decade ago, the deceased person I’ve probably missed the most over the past five years has been Wayne Barrett, my mentor and role model in the journalism business, who died on Jan. 19, 2017 at the age of 71. That’s a significant date that we’ll get back to shortly. When I think about the madness of the last five years, I think maybe Wayne would have made sense of it all.

Read More: Maryland Matters
Help us provide Light for All
May 19, 2021 -

When Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong bought the Los Angeles Times three years ago, he demonstrated that good journalism is worth paying for. Navigating the 21st century newspaper business may not be easy, but it is necessary for the good of our communities. Now, there is a chance to begin a movement to set other vulnerable news institutions on a similar path. It would be a revolution that began with a campaign we helped launch a year ago as reporters at The Baltimore Sun. We knew something had to be done to save our newspaper, and that we couldn’t do it alone.

Read More: Baltimore Sun Guild
DeFilippo: Gas and Toilet Paper are Interchangeable Goods for the Selfish During Panic Buying
May 18, 2021 -

Forget the momentary shortage of gas. There’s an abundance of toilet paper. Most people are not hoarders. But those are the two commodities that seem to bring out the selfishness and impatience in people, though the correlation between the combustion engine and America’s bowel habits is difficult to discern. At the peak of the pandemic, toilet paper and disinfectant wipes were premium goods, nearly at cryptocurrency value.

Read More: Maryland Matters

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