Today marks a year since the gun insanity in Baltimore reached the McKemy family. Scott and Angie McKemy received the shocking news about the death of their 27-year-old son, Bryan, in the early afternoon of Aug. 7, 2018. Bryan was employed by a home-improvement contractor, and he was working on the rear of a house … Continue reading A year since Bryan McKemy’s senseless death; his parents among many in the long wake of Baltimore’s gun violence
Trump and the Nightingale’s song
Presidents have lied to us before -- Democrats and Republicans about the war in Vietnam, a Republican about the war in Iraq, a Democrat about sex with a White House intern -- but none ever looked so shallow, so hollow, so unmasked as a fraud as Donald Trump on Monday, Aug. 5, 2019 in his … Continue reading Trump and the Nightingale’s song
When you can no longer compartmentalize climate change
In my recent Baltimore Sun column about Wolf Den Run State Park in western Maryland, I held back personal feelings about the state’s nascent plan for the place. The column represented the Sun’s first story of any kind about the new park, and it required a lot of reporting; facts took up most of my … Continue reading When you can no longer compartmentalize climate change
Overnight: The evidence of life in Father’s Day Creek
I almost always find the shucks of numerous stoneflies on the boulders along Father’s Day Creek, my secret trout stream and “spirit-home” in Pennsylvania. I am impressed by three things -- the size of the shucks, the abundance of them, and the fact that the transition from such a large nymph to fly takes place … Continue reading Overnight: The evidence of life in Father’s Day Creek
An outpouring of concern I have not seen since the 9/11 attacks
We know that people around the world are appalled that Donald Trump is president of the United States, but I am hearing directly from them this week. The response so far to my column on Trump and, even more so, the Sun’s “rat” editorial about him has been off the charts. We are hearing from … Continue reading An outpouring of concern I have not seen since the 9/11 attacks
Vietnam War protests were bitter, but they were about policy. In the Trump era, it’s all personal
Since the founding of the Republic, people have always been at odds, based on their personal interests, their religious beliefs, their life experiences, their political loyalties and prejudices. I witnessed American debate at its most intense -- over the U.S. involvement in the war in Vietnam in the 1960s and 1970s. But where we are … Continue reading Vietnam War protests were bitter, but they were about policy. In the Trump era, it’s all personal
Maryland is the wealthiest state. Millionaires need to step up and save the BSO
Maryland is the richest state per capita, with a median household income of $80,766 and one in 12 households the home of millionaires. Kiplinger last year estimated close to 180,000 millionaire households in the state. So why is the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra struggling to stay alive? It should not be -- not with the kind … Continue reading Maryland is the wealthiest state. Millionaires need to step up and save the BSO
Heaven-on-Earth Moments
Over the last two years, heavy and record-setting rainfalls have washed away numerous fishing days, both on our home waters near Baltimore and in the trout streams of western Maryland. I am a regular reader of the U.S. Geological Survey’s online river data; gage readings from the National Water Information System are just as important … Continue reading Heaven-on-Earth Moments
How the Founding Fathers Fished
I went to the Pennsylvania Fly Fishing and Film Show in Carlisle Saturday morning for the purpose of giving some exposure to Father's Day Creek in the commonwealth of the book’s setting. I was fortunate to be assigned a vendor table near Ye Olde Colonial Angler. While I’m sure I would have spotted him no … Continue reading How the Founding Fathers Fished
In Baltimore and other cities, many are called for jury duty but few chosen, and why is that?
Citizens of Baltimore are used to (or sick of) it by now -- getting summoned to jury duty at the historic downtown courthouse, sitting around all day, and never getting called to serve on a trial jury. . . . Obviously, there are trials. Obviously, people serve -- I have, on two criminal cases -- … Continue reading In Baltimore and other cities, many are called for jury duty but few chosen, and why is that?
Dan Rodricks 