Commentary

We are encouraged that the overdose crisis in Baltimore is receiving national attention through a series of articles published in The Baltimore Banner and The New York Times. The series describes in detail what those who work on overdose prevention in Baltimore have long known: This crisis has escalated locally during the past decade with widespread impact.

There was no public ceremony Monday evening at the spot on the Patapsco River that was formerly occupied by the Francis Scott Key Bridge. Instead, the clearing of Baltimore’s main shipping channel — all 700 feet wide and 50-feet deep of it — a mere 11 weeks after the disastrous collision of the container ship Dali with the Key Bridge was hailed Wednesday by Gov. Wes Moore and U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg from the comfort of firmer ground at the Port of Baltimore.

Newspapers — including The Frederick News-Post — and television broadcasts were filled this month with celebrations of the heroism of the men who stormed the beaches of Normandy on D-Day eight decades ago. The celebrations are tinged with sadness, though, as we acknowledge that the number of D-Day veterans is dwindling down to a precious few.

It was the summer of 1989, and my freshman orientation tour of the University of Maryland, College Park had led us to the campus chapel, rising high above Route 1 on a hill. Our guide pointed across the road to a horseshoe of identical stately brick buildings set around an expansive green lawn. “To your left,” she said, in a bored monotone that let us know she’d done this bit a lot, “is Fraternity Row, which you may recognize from the football scene in ‘St. Elmo’s Fire,’ featuring Rob Lowe.”

Who’s smarter in school, girls or boys? You would think girls are, based on lots of evidence. On the gold standard National Assessment of Educational Progress tests, boys trail girls in reading while math scores are roughly equivalent. In Maryland’s own tests, girls hold a big lead in reading while boys have a small edge in math.

Over the weekend, The Washington Post reported that an acolyte of Donald Trump is making big plans for a “post-Constitutional” government through a series of historic changes that would give the president far more power over all aspects of government. In Russ Vought’s vision of “radical constitutionalism,” the president would have broader authority to deploy the military to quash civil unrest, make the Justice Department less independent and withhold congressional appropriations, the Post learned.

The average Baltimore resident may have only a vague idea how the Board of Estimates works, but you can bet that every senior city official does. In a nutshell, the five-member board has a big say over city spending — from preparing the annual budget to overseeing contracts and even getting the final say on the sale of city-owned property.