Commentary

On a recent panel about addiction, one panelist said she wished she had resisted the stigma many had tied to substance use, stating that many of her friends were simply trying to have fun and a society obsessed with “respectability” viewed them as deviant and not worthy of care. After that, another panelist relayed a heartbreaking story of his mother being so deep in the throes of addiction that she would rather leap out of a moving car to pursue drugs than visit her sick daughter in the hospital.

Meredith R. Weisel is the Regional Director of ADL Washington, D.C. Meredith is one of the most sought-after voices against extremism in the DMV – and across the country. Meredith is an experienced attorney and government relations professional who has spent decades engaged in public policy and community issues in the Greater Washington area. Weisel discusses the recent Rally for Israel in Washington, DC with her teenage daughter, the war on Israel, global antisemitism, and her first march for human rights for Jews in 1987.

For those who may not be attuned to the state of offshore wind energy, the fledgling industry has hit a patch of rough seas in recent weeks. Sharply rising costs for such essential components as giant turbines and cables caused the cancellation of two large New Jersey projects by Ørsted, the Danish multinational company that just so happens to be developing one of two coastal Maryland wind farms.

Maryland has long been a center of invention. That’s one reason I located Cloudforce, my own rapidly growing cloud consulting company, in the National Harbor area. I knew that here I would find the talent, creativity, and business opportunities needed for Cloudforce to thrive. Since that time, I’ve learned that a flourishing tech sector doesn’t happen by accident. While smart people executing big ideas are an essential ingredient, they’re not enough on their own.

The future of public transit for the Baltimore region is at a critical juncture. Those of us who have been advocating for a reliable, efficient and equitable system were heartened by the announcement in June 2023 by Gov. Wes Moore that he is committed to restarting planning and construction of the Red Line east-west transit service that was abandoned eight years ago by the previous administration. The region has missed many opportunities to invest in a robust public transportation system in the past and cannot afford to do so again.