Dan Rodricks

Baltimore still has more than 13,000 vacant houses; some could be renovated and modernized, some torn down and replaced with new housing. Hope Village in East Baltimore offers a model for smaller, affordable homes that could be built on some of the city's many vacant lots. The mayor's office, the Greater Baltimore Committee and the … Continue reading Homers for Homes: How new Orioles ownership can create more homeownership in Baltimore

I hear it all the time, and more so since the events of the last week, with the special counsel's controversial report on President Biden's handling of classified documents: Joe is old, the Democrats should have nominated someone else to serve the next four-year term as president. Robert Hur, the former U.S. Attorney in Baltimore, … Continue reading Biden is old, Trump is old and dangerous

My column on Friday played off of a politician's public expression of a desire to "move on" from a series of financial difficulties and misleading public statements to continue his career in office. I speak of Nick Mosby, the president of the Baltimore City Council. He's seeking re-election despite personal problems that raise serious questions … Continue reading About a Robert Frost poem, and the darker meaning of ‘moving on’

My Sun column today is about the brief written for the Supreme Court by Mark Graber, the Maryland law professor whose constitutional expertise helped disqualify from office a New Mexico man who joined the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Graber’s conclusion in the brief — that Donald Trump’s words and … Continue reading In brief: Trump is an insurrectionist, and we can’t just “move on,” as Republicans would like

I just need to take a moment to congratulate the Baltimore Stars girls for their Bronze Division championship in the Chesapeake Bay Hockey League, and I do this for a couple of reasons: My daughter and son, Julia and Nick, coached them to this victory, and because we were among a handful of parents who … Continue reading Girls just wanna play hockey: Baltimore Stars

I received a notice the other day from the U.S. District Court in Maryland that I might be called for federal jury duty. It was not a summons, merely a request that I fill out a juror questionnaire. If I do not do as requested, the letter said, "you may be subject to a fine … Continue reading Mosby trial: Taking the laws of the land seriously

Each winter, I open my collection of Robert Frost poems and read them, starting with my favorite, “Birches.” After reading, reciting and studying the poem for nearly 50 years, I have a few things to say about it. When I see birches bend to left and right Across the lines of straighter darker trees, I … Continue reading On ‘Birches’ by Robert Frost

In my latest Sun column: Rep. Jamie Raskin, Maryland Democrat, talks about his bill to prohibit activities of the self-proclaimed militia we saw on display during the Trump years and at the Capitol on Jan. 6 -- the Oath Keepers, Proud Boys and other groups of camo-clad white men in protracted adolescence. Raskin often hears … Continue reading No, you don’t get to overthrow the government of the United States

The photo to the right is of the Staples parking lot behind the York Road store in Baltimore, a classic example of a place that needs to be turned back to urban forest -- or developed into a much-needed something else. I can't think of a time when, during fairly frequent trips to this store, … Continue reading Tear up unused parking lots, plant trees

Help me out here. What are the characteristics of people we like the least? Who is the person we are most likely to avoid, much less nominate for a position of honor or power? No one likes a bully, right? No one likes men or women who boast all the time, exaggerate or lie to … Continue reading The kind of person we little care for