Commentary

When you’re deeply immersed in a project like I am in this one about single motherhood, you find yourself frequently falling down Google rabbit holes, some completely random and others more fruitful. It was during one of the latter that I came across “The Two-Parent Privilege: How Americans Stopped Getting Married and Started Falling Behind.”

The increasingly absurd and grossly inhumane conflict over immigration reached a new height of idiocy in recent weeks with the reports that border states are now changing tactics as they continue to ship busloads of undocumented immigrants north to sanctuary cities. As cities like Chicago and New York — their resources to house and feed new arrivals stretched woefully thin — attempt to limit such traffic by regulation or lawsuit, bus operators are being directed by their overseers to drop off their human cargo in the suburbs.

If you have shopped in the city of Frederick since New Year’s Day, you probably noticed a change when checking out: No more plastic bags. For those who like to bring home their packages in plastic, the city’s new ban on single-use plastic bags might be an inconvenience or even an annoyance. But it is an important step in protecting the environment, one that local governments in Maryland and around the country are increasingly taking.

Homeownership represents the ultimate American dream — success, safety, opportunity and wealth. Despite numerous legal obstacles and the longstanding history of racism, many families of color still managed to purchase homes, creating the largest source of wealth for their families. But homeownership has its challenges, which often intensify when determining how the government and commercial housing industry value Black-owned homes.

Parenting is one of the toughest jobs around. As a father to three daughters, I am constantly asking myself: Am I giving my girls enough space to be themselves? Are they safe from harm? Am I parenting enough, or too little? Now, add cellphones and social media to the mix, and it gets even harder. As parents, we understand the need to strike a balance between our kids fitting in with their peers, focusing on their education and realizing their dreams.

So, as Groucho Marx used to say, “Pardon me while I have an interlude.” This won’t take long. First of all, with regard to Mr. Sperandeo’s complaint that “all we ever hear from you” is negativity about Trump. That’s way out there in imagination land. I make reference to Donald Trump from time to time — as I did in Wednesday’s column, referring to the former president as an insurrectionist — but this column sticks mainly to local topics. I don’t recall referring to Trump’s sons recently, either.

Jessica Pachler called me two days after Christmas. There was another pop pop-pop pop outside her home, a sound instantly recognizable as gunfire to anyone living in parts of Annapolis. “My kids were outside playing with their new Nerf guns,” she said. “And they came running in and said, ‘That was not a Nerf gun.’” Police responded three times to Pachler’s street for gunshots in the days after the holiday.

I’m no stranger to doomscrolling on my outdated iPhone, but lately the Nextdoor app is my least favorite place to do so. I don’t mean to shade the creators of the private social network for neighbors, but I’m concerned with posts that sometimes perpetuate racial profiling and misinformation. Too often, people use Nextdoor thinking they’re being helpful neighbors by posting about “suspicious” folks in their neighborhood, including children, that are many times people of color.