On Wednesday, as the U.S. Supreme Court pondered whether to uphold a ban on “bump stock” devices, which can speed up the firing of semi-automatic firearms to near machine-gun rate, lawmakers in Annapolis were presented with concerns about the rising use of “Glock switches” which can likewise convert Glock semi-automatic handguns into fully automatic ones. In other words, in the war to keep the most destructive firearms out of the hands of evil-doers, yet another battlefront has opened up.
Steve Inskeep’s recent interview of Rep. Andy Harris on NPR’s “Morning Edition” revealed the utter shallowness of the Republican position on Ukraine and the Maryland congressman’s inability to credibly defend it outside of the right-wing echo chamber. Harris, a do-little rep for most of his seven terms, got time on NPR because he’s co-chair of the House Ukraine Caucus and because he’s changed his mind about funding the fight against Russia’s hideous invasion.
Episode 74 features Ascension Saint Agnes Hospital President & CEO Beau Higginbotham. Mr. Higginbotham joins the podcast to discuss what it’s like leading one of the premiere hospitals in the Baltimore region, hospital workforce issues and next generation of healthcare.
Despite some positive news about public transit in and around Baltimore in recent weeks — from a $213 million federal grant to replace the region’s aging fleet of light rail cars to the delivery of the Maryland Transit Administration’s first zero-emission electric buses — these are still challenging times for those who rely on the MTA to get from one place to another. Staffing and equipment shortfalls have been numerous.
Vehicles illegally parked at bus stops prevent Marylanders with disabilities from safely accessing transit buses, keeping us from reaching jobs, schools, healthcare appointments and more on time – if at all. This is a major problem that has gone unrecognized for a long time – but help is finally on the way thanks to Del. Robbyn Lewis and Sen. Arianna Kelly. To combat this problem, last year WMATA launched its Clear Lanes program to enforce illegal parking at bus stops with bus-mounted cameras.
As we near the end of Black History Month, it’s imperative to recognize that Black history is not merely a chapter in the annals of Maryland’s story; it is the very fabric of the state’s rich tapestry. From the bustling shipyards of Baltimore to the farmlands and waterways of Southern Maryland, the contributions and struggles of Black Americans are woven into every corner of Maryland’s history.
Supporting our Maryland multilingual learners’ work to graduate with a college degree is a pressing social and racial justice issue. The Credit for All Language Learning (CALL) Act seeks to level the playing field for multilingual learners who currently do not receive credit for their English Language Learning coursework (which is not considered credit bearing, but is eligible for Pell grants). This is definitely an equity issue, as we provide credit to most college students toward their degree for taking basic foreign language courses while multilingual learners who speak one, two, or more languages are not given credit for English courses that are equally, and many times more, rigorous.
Maryland farms are a crucially important food-producing asset of our state. Unfortunately, those rural areas and associated small-town economies are in the crosshairs of a giant land grab by out-of-state corporate energy interests. The energy industry (largely represented by solar developers) has weaponized “climate change” as a low-cost way to capture many tens of thousands of acres of Maryland’s food production capacity. Do we really have to let that happen?
Juvenile crime has been the subject of intense debate over the past few years, as Maryland has seen a major uptick in it. The crime ranges from the notorious “squeegee kids” who harassed people in their cars, to the “Kia challenge,” which saw numerous youths exploit the vulnerabilities of certain Kia and Hyundai cars to steal them, to murder, robbery, gang violence and more. Fox45 Baltimore provided me with the platform to sit down with the governor of Maryland, Wes Moore; Baltimore City State’s Attorney Ivan Bates; and Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy during a critical town hall Monday night to discuss the state of criminality among juveniles in the state
In 2022, Maryland passed the Child Interrogation Protection Act, which, among other things, requires that children speak with a lawyer before being interrogated by police. This year, the Maryland General Assembly is considering removing this safeguard by allowing parents, rather than attorneys, to act as children’s legal advocates. As psychologists who work in the legal system, we strongly oppose this change, which incorrectly assumes that parents provide the same degree of legal protection as lawyers do.
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