Commentary

In response to The Baltimore Banner article, “Almost 6,000 dead: How Baltimore became the U.S. overdose capital,” the present is bleak, but the future is bright. Substance use disorder is a preventable and treatable disease. It is a shameful commentary on our society that we have become desensitized to the sight of people overdosing on the streets. We cannot continue to accept this.

“Thanks mom.” Yep, that’s right. Thanks mom. I know it’s Father’s Day, but sorry dads. No matter how many games of catch you played, no matter how many fishing lines you untangled, or how many tears you wiped away with ice cream, when the big moment arrives, the first words out of our sons’ and daughters’ mouths will be, “Thanks mom.”

One of the great obstacles to developing political will for more mass transit is that politicians, particularly those who represent the suburbs and rural areas, never take a bus. They have little personal experience with public transportation and represent people who want nothing to do with it and live happily in places where it does not exist.

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.