Book sales to Kaiser Permanente come on top of Mayor Pugh’s book sales to the University of Maryland Medical System while she was on the board there. (Kevin Richardson / Baltimore Sun video)Book sales to Kaiser Permanente come on top of Mayor Pugh’s book sales to the University of Maryland Medical System while she was on the board there. (Kevin Richardson / Baltimore Sun video)Health provider paid Baltimore Mayor more than $100,000 to buy about 20,000 copies of her “Healthy Holly” children’s books during a period when the company was seeking a lucrative contract to provide health benefits...…Book sales to Kaiser Permanente come on top of Mayor Pugh’s book sales to the University of Maryland Medical System while she was on the board there. (Kevin Richardson / Baltimore Sun video)Book sales to Kaiser Permanente come on top of Mayor Pugh’s book sales to the University of Maryland Medical System while she was on the board there. (Kevin Richardson / Baltimore Sun video)Health provider paid Baltimore Mayor more than $100,000 to buy about 20,000 copies of her “Healthy Holly” children’s books during a period when the company was seeking a lucrative contract to provide health benefits...WW…

All children deserve the opportunity to learn, but the coronavirus pandemic is testing our ability to provide the necessary resources for them to access this right. Current learning conditions due to the pandemic are exacerbating the already stark divide in opportunity that exists for students who don’t grow up in wealthy school districts. A lack of access to the internet is shutting out many students completely. The solution is no-cost, high-speed internet for all students and educators. Internet giants Comcast and Verizon have the power to meet that need. Advertisement Online learning is...…All children deserve the opportunity to learn, but the coronavirus pandemic is testing our ability to provide the necessary resources for them to access this right. Current learning conditions due to the pandemic are exacerbating the already stark divide in opportunity that exists for students who don’t grow up in wealthy school districts. A lack of access to the internet is shutting out many students completely. The solution is no-cost, high-speed internet for all students and educators. Internet giants Comcast and Verizon have the power to meet that need. Advertisement Online learning is...WW…

Maryland’s ballot printing vendor cut ties with the state with less than 60 days before the presidential election when at least 50% of the state’s voters are expected to vote by mail, state officials announced Friday. Nonetheless, Deputy Elections Administrator Nikki Charlson said that thanks to a second contractor, Maryland remains on schedule to finish having mail-in ballots printed by late September. That’s when they are due to be mailed to voters. Also, ballots will be mailed on time next week to members of the military and Marylanders living overseas, she said. Advertisement SeaChange,...…Maryland’s ballot printing vendor cut ties with the state with less than 60 days before the presidential election when at least 50% of the state’s voters are expected to vote by mail, state officials announced Friday. Nonetheless, Deputy Elections Administrator Nikki Charlson said that thanks to a second contractor, Maryland remains on schedule to finish having mail-in ballots printed by late September. That’s when they are due to be mailed to voters. Also, ballots will be mailed on time next week to members of the military and Marylanders living overseas, she said. Advertisement SeaChange,...WW…

Nobody asked me, but if I was of Italian ancestry — and I am, on my mother’s side — I would see the as an opportunity to honor an Italian-American who has lived an honorable life. And a statue of someone from Baltimore who has served the public good would be even more suitable. Here’s an idea sent my way from Melanie Hood-Wilson, a Baltimore educator: Replace the statue of Columbus with one of — the former Nancy D’Alesandro of Albermarle Street, Little Italy, the daughter and sister of Baltimore mayors and a history-maker as the first woman to serve as Speaker of the U.S. House of...…Nobody asked me, but if I was of Italian ancestry — and I am, on my mother’s side — I would see the as an opportunity to honor an Italian-American who has lived an honorable life. And a statue of someone from Baltimore who has served the public good would be even more suitable. Here’s an idea sent my way from Melanie Hood-Wilson, a Baltimore educator: Replace the statue of Columbus with one of — the former Nancy D’Alesandro of Albermarle Street, Little Italy, the daughter and sister of Baltimore mayors and a history-maker as the first woman to serve as Speaker of the U.S. House of...WW…

After President Donald Trump melted down on Twitter Saturday, it's safe to say that virtually no one in America doesn't know that he is under FBI investigation, again. Although it's highly doubtful that former President Barack Obama ordered Trump Tower's phones tapped, the feds are reportedly looking into the Trump campaign's contacts with Russian government agents, trying to determine whether they colluded to illegally influence the election. Advertisement If he is confirmed, the longtime U.S. Attorney for Maryland, Rod Rosenstein, will oversee this investigation, since Attorney General...…After President Donald Trump melted down on Twitter Saturday, it's safe to say that virtually no one in America doesn't know that he is under FBI investigation, again. Although it's highly doubtful that former President Barack Obama ordered Trump Tower's phones tapped, the feds are reportedly looking into the Trump campaign's contacts with Russian government agents, trying to determine whether they colluded to illegally influence the election. Advertisement If he is confirmed, the longtime U.S. Attorney for Maryland, Rod Rosenstein, will oversee this investigation, since Attorney General...WW…

The handwritten message was attached to a stop sign near Deep Creek Lake. "NON-RESIDENTS PLEASE LEAVE,” it said in black letters. Below was the word “NOW” in red. Advertisement “I was shocked when I saw that,” said Joe Zamoiski, a mortgage lending executive who splits time between his homes in suburban Montgomery County and the Deep Creek Lake area of Garrett County, Maryland’s westernmost county. “I just don’t think that’s who we are." Garrett, like many other lake, beach or mountain destinations in Maryland and across the country, is now managing tensions between locals and visitors or...…The handwritten message was attached to a stop sign near Deep Creek Lake. "NON-RESIDENTS PLEASE LEAVE,” it said in black letters. Below was the word “NOW” in red. Advertisement “I was shocked when I saw that,” said Joe Zamoiski, a mortgage lending executive who splits time between his homes in suburban Montgomery County and the Deep Creek Lake area of Garrett County, Maryland’s westernmost county. “I just don’t think that’s who we are." Garrett, like many other lake, beach or mountain destinations in Maryland and across the country, is now managing tensions between locals and visitors or...WW…

Here’s a key question for the Rev. Derrick DeWitt, director of the Maryland Baptist Aged Home in West Baltimore, a 100-year-old nursing facility that has had no coronavirus infections: What was the moment you realized the threat was real and that you had to take action to protect your residents and staff? “Right after President Trump said we had 15 cases and it would soon be down to zero.” Advertisement I dare not put words in a Baptist minister’s mouth, but it sounds like he listened to what the President of the United States had to say, then decided just the opposite would be true. “It...…Here’s a key question for the Rev. Derrick DeWitt, director of the Maryland Baptist Aged Home in West Baltimore, a 100-year-old nursing facility that has had no coronavirus infections: What was the moment you realized the threat was real and that you had to take action to protect your residents and staff? “Right after President Trump said we had 15 cases and it would soon be down to zero.” Advertisement I dare not put words in a Baptist minister’s mouth, but it sounds like he listened to what the President of the United States had to say, then decided just the opposite would be true. “It...WW…

The Gordon Outdoors mega-screen made its drive-in debut at the Rosenbloom Owings Mills Jewish Community Center on Gwynnbrook Avenue on Saturday, Sept. 12, and it was an opening night success. The movie “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” drew 75 cars on the inaugural night. Advertisement Going forward, movies will be shown on Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays through Nov. 21. Films will not be shown on the Jewish holidays. Films start at 8:30 p.m. in Sept., 8 p.m. starting in Oct. and 7:30 p.m. starting in Nov. The 52 x 26-foot movie screen structure rests on the exterior wall of The Peggy and Yale...…The Gordon Outdoors mega-screen made its drive-in debut at the Rosenbloom Owings Mills Jewish Community Center on Gwynnbrook Avenue on Saturday, Sept. 12, and it was an opening night success. The movie “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” drew 75 cars on the inaugural night. Advertisement Going forward, movies will be shown on Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays through Nov. 21. Films will not be shown on the Jewish holidays. Films start at 8:30 p.m. in Sept., 8 p.m. starting in Oct. and 7:30 p.m. starting in Nov. The 52 x 26-foot movie screen structure rests on the exterior wall of The Peggy and Yale...WW…

The two-story Barnes & Noble bookstore stood over Baltimore’s waterfront for more than two decades, a one-of-a-kind spot to browse, gather, work or sip coffee among thousands of book titles and CDs in a former steam-generating plant. The store’s in the Power Plant complex hit hard, followed by the closing of the restaurant Dick’s Last Resort. The blows keep coming for the Inner Harbor, already beset by store and restaurant closures, thinning crowds amid fears of city crime, and the financial woes of the owners of Harborplace. Advertisement The coronavirus pandemic decimated demand for the...…The two-story Barnes & Noble bookstore stood over Baltimore’s waterfront for more than two decades, a one-of-a-kind spot to browse, gather, work or sip coffee among thousands of book titles and CDs in a former steam-generating plant. The store’s in the Power Plant complex hit hard, followed by the closing of the restaurant Dick’s Last Resort. The blows keep coming for the Inner Harbor, already beset by store and restaurant closures, thinning crowds amid fears of city crime, and the financial woes of the owners of Harborplace. Advertisement The coronavirus pandemic decimated demand for the...WW…

The Supreme Court on Wednesday temporarily prevented the House of Representatives from obtaining secret grand jury testimony from special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. The court's unsigned order granted the Trump administration's request to keep previously undisclosed details from the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election out of the hands of Democratic lawmakers, at least until early summer. Advertisement The court will decide then whether to extend its hold and schedule the case for arguments in the fall. If it does, it's likely the administration will...…The Supreme Court on Wednesday temporarily prevented the House of Representatives from obtaining secret grand jury testimony from special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. The court's unsigned order granted the Trump administration's request to keep previously undisclosed details from the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election out of the hands of Democratic lawmakers, at least until early summer. Advertisement The court will decide then whether to extend its hold and schedule the case for arguments in the fall. If it does, it's likely the administration will...WW…