Commentary

Columbia at 50 Part 11: Recreation and the Role of the Columbia Association

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Keeping a sports facility open that runs consistently at a big loss may seem like a poor financial decision. Yet it is completely consistent with the original philosophy behind the Columbia Association. As Columbia got started, every one of the amenities and facilities ran at a loss, not to mention the debt it took to build them. As Columbia looks to the future, CA not only wants to keep the pools and athletic facilities open, but to keep Jim Rouse’s vision alive.

News

Bay underwater grasses up 8%; highest acreage in decades is sign of health

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Underwater grasses, one of the most closely watched indicators of Chesapeake Bay health, surged to the highest levels seen in decades, according to survey results for 2016. This is the second straight year that grasses have set a record. Nearly 100,000 acres of the Bay’s and its tidal tributaries were covered by the underwater meadows, which provide habitat for juvenile fish and blue crabs, as well as food for waterfowl.

News

Sea Grant sustains many marine jobs, but faces uncertain future

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Once a month, Matt Parker and Suzanne Bricker drive along Penny Lane through a Southern Maryland forest until it dead-ends at the Chesapeake Bay. Then, they pull on their waders and hop into a skiff to maneuver out to aquaculture cages, where they grab samples of water and the oysters taking it in. Their results may eventually let oyster growers earn money not only for the bivalves they grow, but also for the water the shellfish clean under the state’s nascent nutrient trading program. But partnerships like Parker’s and Bricker’s won’t be happening in the Chesapeake, or anywhere else, if the Trump administration’s proposed budget is approved later this year. The work is funded by Maryland Sea Grant — one of 33 Sea Grant programs around the nation that help translate science into sustainable coastal economies.

Budget

Hogan strategy on Trump budget cuts works — Let Congress do its job

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Gov. Larry Hogan’s strategy on President Trump’s budget apparently worked: Shut up and let the Maryland’s members of Congress do their job. Democratic officials and party leaders had demanded the Republican governor stand up to Trump and resist plans to cut funding for Chesapeake Bay cleanup, medical research at the National Institutes of Health, and funding for the Affordable Care Act. Hogan said it was up to Congress to act on the president’s budget, and a spokesman said the governor would act if and when the cuts actually happened.

Commentary

Columbia at 50 Part 10: Arts at the Heart of the New Town

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This is the 10th part in a series of 12 monthly essays leading up to Columbia’s 50th birthday celebration in June. The Merriweather Post Pavilion was one of the first structures built before Columbia even had its first residents. Now it is being redeveloped and is at the center of the Merriweather District that is part of Columbia’s new downtown. But Merriweather is only part of the arts scene in the planned community.

Homepage Featured

State Roundup, April 18, 2017

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The Post editorial board urges the General Assembly to get its act together and fix the law that grants parental rights to rapists; Maryland, D.C. and Virginia could find compromises to repair Metro system; opioid crisis needs to be treated as a mental health issue, physician says; environmental activists want $100 million to continue Bay cleanup program, but Trump administrations suggest $0; Project Baltimore looks at ways to repair school funding situation; parents relieved that state ends suspensions of youngest students; and Del. Frick plans run for Congress.

General Assembly

A session ‘we can all be proud of,’ Hogan, Busch, Miller agree

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By Capital News Service and MarylandReporter.com

“It was a great session,” Gov. Larry Hogan said about the just closed 90-day meeting of the Maryland General Assembly. “This is the way government is supposed to work…. This was all about compromise.” “It was a session we can all be proud of,” House Speaker Michael Busch, sitting next to Hogan at a bill signing ceremony Tuesday morning. “This year your staff did a great job.”