Author: Dan Rodricks

My Sun column today is about the billions in settlements that Baltimore and other jurisdictions — cities, counties, whole states — are in the process of receiving from pharmaceutical companies, pharmacy chains and distributors for their roles in the horrible opioid epidemic. Municipalities compute the costs of responding to overdoses, treating the addicted and dealing … Continue reading The things we leave out

My Sun column this day tells of a young Black clergyman, William Levington, who went south to establish the first Episcopal church for African Americans in a slave state with the help of a white benefactor, James Bosley. It's a piece of Baltimore history that comes to us as the church, St. James Episcopal, celebrates … Continue reading An extraordinary gesture across racial lines, 200 years ago in Baltimore

Step by step, the MAGA Republicans have joined Trump in taking a torch to American institutions at the foundation of democracy. They’ve given him a pass on being an extortionist in foreign policy (his first impeachment), approved of his stacking of the Supreme Court with anti-abortion zealots (after refusing to even consider a moderate during … Continue reading Trump’s disgusting enablers violate their oaths to defend the Constitution

View Post A fishing companion, an experienced hunter I call Hawkeye, spotted an adult whitetail deer in brush along a ridge 150 feet above the fern-covered floor of Youghiogheny forest in western Maryland. The deer stood still as a stone and yet my companion said he could see the animal’s head through trees, rhododendrons and … Continue reading Another reason to spend time outdoors: Kids are less likely to develop nearsightedness

Theater news: We are staging my first play again. "Baltimore, You Have No Idea" will have five performances in the Meyerhoff Theater at the Baltimore Museum of Art on Dec. 11 through Dec. 15. That includes two weekend matinees. The tickets will be on sale with a discount for BMA members in September. The play … Continue reading Dates announced for third run of “Baltimore, You Have No Idea”

Public service announcement from the good people at St. Ambrose Housing Aid Center in Baltimore: The pace and pressure of life can take a toll on your mental health. Taking care of your mental health can significantly impact your physical health and how you show up in the world for yourself, your family, and your … Continue reading A Mental Health Day at St. Ambrose Housing Aid Center

The sentencing of the young BGF member who killed Bryan McKemy took three hours Tuesday morning in federal court in Baltimore. There was more to it than I was able to pack into my column today, largely because the presiding senior judge, James K. Bredar, took the opportunity to comment on sentencing practices and express … Continue reading Bryan McKemy would have been 33 today

In my columns over the years I’ve argued that judges should not have to run for election, as they do in Maryland. I’ve also argued that the Baltimore State’s Attorney and the State’s Attorneys for each Maryland county should be appointed, not elected. The state should follow something like the federal system, with the executive … Continue reading Alito’s flag: Active, arrogant disregard of the Supreme Court’s legitimacy

Do you think, for one stinkin’ minute, that Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, JD Vance, Rick Scott and the rest of the obsequious Republican “leaders” who went to Trump’s trial in New York ever, for one stinkin’ minute, attended a trial of anyone else? Ever showed moral support for a defendant who they believed … Continue reading The repugnant Republican posse in New York for the Trump trial

For Mother's Day, my Sun column tells the story of Pam Rostek-Kuwazaki and Margie Kaniecki, the next door neighbor who became Pam's Other Mother as she was growing up in the Canton section of Baltimore. The photo at the top of this post shows Margie with Pam at age 5, goofing around on Pam's bike. … Continue reading Margie, the Other Mother