Author: Dan Rodricks

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

If you hike each year through woods, or if you go fishing for trout and pay attention to your environment, or if you just like words, you probably know what a tributary is. You learn the difference between a river and a creek. And you learn that the tributaries to rivers and creeks can be small … Continue reading Prong, not a lick

A guy stopped me on an MTA bus in South Baltimore a few years ago and said he recognized and appreciated my homage to Jimmy Cannon, a sports columnist back in the day and a favorite of his dad's in one of the New York City papers. His father had read Cannon in the Post, … Continue reading Nobody asked me, but . . .

On Tuesday, the Baltimore Police Department sent out a news release reporting significant drops in crime categories from April 2023 to April 2024. These news releases arrive from time to time – whenever the BPD has good news to report. (They do not arrive when crime is on the rise.) I’m sure some will call … Continue reading Baltimore police reporting drops in several crime categories, April to April

My weekend column in The Baltimore Sun represents something that has become an annual ritual for me — visiting a Maryland river where fish from the ocean come to spawn. I know this spring ritual is as old as the sea, but I still am amazed at the phenomenon: Herring, shad and eels that swim … Continue reading A lifelong fascination with life in water

A friend notes that, when she visits Italy, the question Italians ask is, “Why Donald Trump?” They think Americans were foolish for making him president in 2016 and for making him the Republican nominee again this year. They consider Trump an international joke. Of course, Italy had as prime minister through four governments Silvio Berlusconi, … Continue reading America: Exceptional for all the wrong reasons

As mentioned in my column of April 4, starting with the current production of “Gem Of The Ocean” at Arena Players, a collaboration of Baltimore theater companies will stage August Wilson’s 10 plays about 20th century Black life over the next three years. That means a whole new generation of theatergoers will get to see … Continue reading Thank you, Arena Players, for an excellent ‘Gem of the Ocean,’ start of the August Wilson series