Commentary

In 1998, two cousins from different sides of the track, one from East Baltimore and the other from West, were both charged with murder in two separate cases. The 18-year-old from the east side intentionally hunted down a perceived enemy and shot his victim a dozen times for what was later confirmed to be a case of mistaken identity.

Last week’s disastrous collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge over the Patapsco River after being rammed by a giant container ship five times as long as Baltimore’s Washington Monument is tall in the early morning hours of March 26 shocked the world. It led to the death of a half-dozen men; crippled the Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore, putting thousands of jobs in jeopardy; disrupted supply chains; dead-ended the Baltimore Beltway’s eastern half and raised critical maritime safety issues.

Authorities have suspended search-and-rescue efforts for four construction workers lost in the Patapsco River after the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. Two others were pulled from the wreckage Wednesday, and two survived the catastrophe. Each of these men helped make the Baltimore region a thriving, vibrant and safer community.

There is a certain rhythm to the writing of any governmental budget, and every chief executive must dance to the tune. The lyrics go something like “We have so many needs. We have so little money. We can’t pay for everything.” It is predictable precisely because it is always true. The requests for more spending always outstrip the funds available.

In his op-ed (‘‘Maryland businesses under threat,’ March 26, 2024), Doug Gansler grossly misrepresents the effects of a recent Maryland Supreme Court decision as it relates to the Maryland Telephone Solicitations Act (MTSA) and its application to calls from customers to businesses. In addition, Mr. Gansler has found someone to introduce an amendment to pending legislation, House Bill 1228, that would effectively overturn the Supreme Court’s decision and put Maryland consumers in harm’s way.

LaVonda N. Reed will become the new dean of the University of Baltimore School of Law beginning July 1. We would like to take this opportunity to welcome UB law’s first woman dean to Baltimore, and we wish her all the best in her new endeavor. Reed is currently the dean of the Georgia State University College of Law in Atlanta, where she has served since 2021.

The haunting videos and images of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsing into the Patapsco River are powerful and terrifying. The world will never be able to unsee them. Combined with the 2021 snapshots of container ships lining up at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, California, these images will become iconic tools in teaching supply-chain management for years to come.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but boy, does Baltimore need the good feelings that come with an Orioles Opening Day right about now. From Tuesday’s traumatic bridge collapse to the more everyday challenges of concentrated poverty, drug addiction, crime and urban blight, today’s home opener against the Angels — assuming weather permits — looms large. And not just as a distraction from unhappy circumstances.