Commentary

Here’s the open secret about the plastic bag ban that took effect New Year’s Day in Anne Arundel County. It’s not a ban. “We actually were trying to get folks to call it the ‘bring your own bag bill’ to focus on the behavioral changes,” said County Councilwoman Lisa Rodvien, author of the measure. “And you know, the focus really is on the behavior change, getting people in the habit of bringing their own bags. … Bag ban rolls off the tongue much easier.

The agreement on a plan to reduce the number of vacant and abandoned properties in Baltimore announced by Mayor Brandon Scott falls far short of the “landmark” status proclaimed in a press release. It includes unrealistic measures for financing the plan and no details on how the partnership to implement the plan — formed by the city, the Greater Baltimore Committee (GBC) and Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development (BUILD) — will operate.

In this final column on 2023, a look ahead to 17 things I’d like to know, see, do or hear in the coming year, plus one thing I will definitely not be doing: Things I’d like to see: Huge television production vans parked in Camden Yards for the World Series. Continued progress against gun violence in Baltimore. Significantly fewer lives were lost in 2023 after eight dreary years of 300-plus homicides each, and the trend is not merely organic.

They’re everywhere — in our water, farms, food, clothing, cosmetics, and countless everyday products. The per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as “forever chemicals,” are a group of nearly indestructible compounds used in manufacturing that have infiltrated our soil, water and air, presenting a host of health risks for everyone exposed to them.

About a month back, I spotted my neighbor Tim Hamilton working after dark in his yard. He was wearing a headlamp to see, and the sight of a man raking leaves under a powerful spotlight was unusual. Turns out his trees had dropped their cover two weeks ahead of schedule. “The leaves in this area may vary in intensity of autumnal colors, but they fall like clockwork,” said Tim, who keeps a precise garden journal.

The long, good deed is done. The last of the children of Marylanders killed on 9/11, a dozen boys and girls who received financial aid from the Maryland Survivors Scholarship Fund, have graduated from college. Established in the wake of the 2001 terrorist attacks to help the grief-stricken families of victims, the fund closed shop last week. Mission accomplished. The long, good deed is done.

Congratulations to Gov. Wes Moore (D), the Maryland Stadium Authority and the Orioles on getting a deal done that ensures the Orioles will play in Camden Yards for at least 15 more years. I can’t wait for opening day. In August when I first wrote about public ownership of the Orioles I thought a lease would be signed well before the end of the year. But when I went to The Warehouse at Camden Yards on Monday to see the special meeting of the Maryland Stadium Authority, it was clear that fans, taxpayers, and city and state government had been driven right up to the edge of a cliff by the Orioles’ Managing Partner John Angelos.

Reviewing the big stories of the year to determine what individual or organization made a significant impact on the state and deserved the title of Marylander of the Year, it quickly became clear that most were continuations of big stories from last year, including the tragic level of gun violence in Baltimore, the highs of an Orioles’ winning season, the urgency of ensuring access to abortion care and the righteous battle being waged to give survivors of sexual abuse the means to hold their abusers accountable.