I always thought the judiciary was our last protection against public policy extremism and a guardian of our rights. As far as our right to be safe from gun violence is concerned, that, sadly, is no longer true.

— Herb Cromwell, Catonsville

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Seasonal themes could include a Harbor Point like Sandlot with a Key West vibe in summer with maybe a fishing pier with fishing supply shack and rentals and even an enclosed netted swimming area now that the water is cleaner with all the trash wheels operating and lots of steamed crabs and corn on the cob on offer. Fall could have lots of fallen leaves with Halloween pumpkin patches and makeshift haunted houses with ghosts and goblins and goats and other animals for petting. Springtime is Flower Mart time in Baltimore so bring down the lemon sticks and potted plants and pansies.

Animate the walkways with a miniature train trolley connecting the Federal Hill area with Pier 5 and maybe even a smaller version of New York’s Little Island with its 650-seat amphitheater and lush plantings and water features on different levels out on the Hudson River near the Chelsea Market and the Whitney. We can bring down some of the stuff that’s in storage from the Baltimore Museum of Art and the Walters Art Museum and maybe even piano players from the Peabody Institute.

— Harvey Schwartz, Baltimore

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Although I have always just ignored The Baltimore Sun’s misguided editorials and gone on with my day, the recent editorial, “Time to prune gas-powered leaf blowers in Maryland” (Nov. 27), bothered me to the point where I must respond.

You have not fully considered how an immediate ban would affect a homeowner like me. First, with an immediate all-out ban there would suddenly be thousands of lawn mowers, blowers, trimmers, chain saws and snowblowers that are still useful and operable but can no longer be used or if used would subject the user to fines. The banned equipment would either sit in the homeowner’s garage or shed or be taken to a local trash collection facility. Does each county have the capacity to suddenly accept thousands of pieces of banned lawn equipment?

Second, my yard work still needs to be done but I would be forced to pay the cost of replacing all my gas-powered lawn equipment with battery operated equipment. I estimate it would cost me $8,000 to $10,000 to replace all my gas-powered lawn equipment with battery-operated equipment. Most of the battery powered equipment available on the market is not comparable to my gas-powered equipment. For example, there is not a battery powered leaf blower I could find on the market that has the power and capacity of my gas-powered blower so I can quickly clear the many leaves that fall or blow onto my property. The time for me to clear my leaves would increase substantially.

Carefully consider a more gradual, reasonable and practical approach.

— F. Lee Elrick, Phoenix

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Legalizing iGaming will reduce Maryland’s brick and mortar casino revenue by 10.2%, according to a report produced by The Innovation Group for the Maryland Lottery. It found that from 2019 to 2022, states with iGaming saw in-person revenues decline 8.2% while states without iGaming saw in-person revenues grow 2%, implying a “cannibalization rate” of 10.2%. There would be less money to local jurisdictions that get a percentage of the revenue from their casinos and benefit from the local business and taxes that are generated.

Maryland’s six brick and mortar casinos directly employ 6,715 people and generate an annual economic impact of $2.96 billion that supports 15,364 jobs in the state. A 10.2% reduction in gaming revenue would mean a loss of 685 direct jobs and 1,567 total jobs in Maryland.

Since Maryland legalized online sports betting, in-person sports betting wagers have fallen 42% in the state. This is already harming Marylanders who work at in-person sportsbooks as attendants, bartenders, servers and cleaners. Many rely on tips from customers.

In 2008, Maryland voters approved legalizing casino gaming for the promise of good jobs and economic development. Online gaming will endanger these economic development opportunities at casinos throughout the state, slashing future job creation.

Maryland, say no to iGaming.

— Tracy Lingo, Baltimore

— Paul Schwab, Washington, D.C.

The writers are, respectively, president of UNITE HERE Local 7 and executive secretary-treasurer of UNITE HERE Local 25. UNITE HERE is the largest union of gaming workers in the country, representing 100,000 casino workers nationwide.

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The shooting of three Palestinian college students last week near the University of Vermont campus was just the latest in a series of terrible tragedies impacting our college students. Hillel International, the Jewish campus organization, just reported that over half of Jewish students (54%) are scared, more than one in three say they have needed to hide their Jewish identity and around the same percentage say there have been acts of hate or violence on campus against Jews.

Your article is also a sharp reminder that we can and must act because hate is a problem whose solution does not rely solely on institutions such as universities, political leaders or even newspapers, as important as their efforts are. It’s a problem that can be addressed by us — by good people refusing to be silent. We can speak up among friends and neighbors, co-workers and co-religionists when we read about these troubling incidents. We can offer our personal support to victims and their communities.

Regardless of what divisive political or tech leaders may say, we can enforce an expectation that this behavior is not tolerated, not any longer, not in our communities.

— David Conn, Baltimore

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When tax rates have to go north of 75%, everyone will ask, “What the hell is this? Why didn’t George W. Bush have a war tax for his Iraq and Afghanistan invasions? Why was Barack Obama spending wildly and paying zero attention to the Simpson-Bowles fiscal responsibility and reform plan? Why did Donald Trump have a tax cut to help the well off that added $2.5 trillion to the debt? And why didn’t Trump and Joe Biden have a COVID-19 tax?”

Make no mistake, members of Congress are at fault for all this, too — both Democrats and Republicans!

I will be long gone when this day of reckoning happens, but I feel sorry for my kids and everyone’s kids.

— Lyle Rescott, Marriottsville

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While I also appreciate negotiators’ attempts to protect employees they had originally planned to dismiss, turning the MSA, or any state agency, into a staffing firm makes little sense. The only solution is to remove the provision of the MOU which creates the employee problem in the first place — the dismantling of the MSA’s role at Camden Yards.

Under current terms of the MOU, the MSA’s statutory role managing the Camden Yards complex is eliminated. By doing so, the Orioles will control how billions of taxpayer dollars are spent with no oversight by the MSA staff, the board of the MSA and, most importantly, the Board of Public Works. This is unheard of. Meanwhile, the Orioles would, solely, decide how maintenance on the stadium will be done and how much they will spend on it annually with no MSA oversight.

Eliminating the MSA’s and BPW’s historic functions means no state-run procurements, no goals for Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) participation and no requirements for prevailing wage.

If the Orioles do not maintain the stadiums properly, the taxpayers of Maryland will once again be on the hook for the additional money to correct these problems. Because of the parity clause in both team leases, the Ravens will derive this exact same benefit — from state coffers. Essentially, both teams will have the benefits of ownership of the stadiums without any controls by the taxpayers who actually do own them.

Rather than accepting adhesive bandages for employees, negotiators must address the most egregious issue — the elimination of the MSA and BPW oversight of Oriole Park. This should be a non-starter. MSA stands, and has stood, in the shoes of the taxpayers and protected their interests since it was formed in 1986. The results speak for themselves.

— Thomas Kelso, Phoenix

The writer served as chairman of the Maryland Stadium Authority from 2015 to 2023.

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First and foremost, Meb’s transitioning the University of Baltimore from a private university to a public university was his greatest and everlasting achievement. Second, his extraordinary knowledge of real estate and recognition of the geographic limitations of the UB location in Midtown provided him the vision and ability to greatly expand the footprint of the campus and create development opportunities.

Meb will be remembered for his contributions to higher education and improving Baltimore.

— Stanley S. Fine, Baltimore

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You’ve already changed some elements of your decorating, replacing the live tree purchased at the high school lot and hauled home lashed to the top your car with an economical, hassle-free and eco-friendly artificial one (that comes pre-hung with hundreds of tiny LED lights). You’ve even neglected to hang all your ornaments, collected over a lifetime and stored 11 months a year in three crumbling boxes way back in the attic with the creaky pull-down stairs more wobbly and less stable each year.

You and your spouse go back and forth on whether “to tree or not to tree,” maybe changing your minds once or twice independent of the other. Concluding that you are still in good enough shape — this year — to carry the huge box containing the 6-foot tall everlasting Norway spruce from the shed to the living room, unpack it and assemble the parts, you put up the tree. You swear to yourself that you will not hang all the ornaments, but as you unload them it seems each piece triggers a special memory: The two boxes of red and green balls that you purchased for your first tree in your first apartment in 1974, the colorful wooden figures hand painted with your nephew and mother four decades ago, the flashing tree topper that is a remnant from spouse’s bachelor days and the tiny ballerina and stocky Santa that survive from your childhood tree decorations.

Later, sitting in the living room and gazing up at the tree with lights twinkling, we put off thinking that in less than three weeks we will have to take down the ornaments and store them in the attic and disassemble the tree and haul it back to the shed. The happy memories the tree inspires from Christmases past make us feel grateful and blessed in 2023. Whether you do or don’t choose to “deck the halls,” it’s the spirit of the holidays you’re never too old to celebrate which gives joy and hope to every season of life.

— Rosemary Faya Prola, Columbia

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Contrary to their argument, no one is claiming that Adnan Syed’s conviction should stand if it was obtained by unconstitutional means. All that Young Lee is asserting is that Maryland law allows victims a meaningful opportunity to be heard before a conviction is vacated. Had then-Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby supported a one-week postponement of the vacatur hearing so that Young Lee could attend it in person, there would now be no case. Perhaps she was too focused on her own upcoming criminal trial to extend that common courtesy to the Lee family.

I believe a large reason the Appellate Court of Maryland reinstated the conviction to allow for such a hearing was that the court was offended by this simple lack of courtesy on Mosby’s part. Syed need not have been incarcerated during that week. He could have been released on home detention. It is noteworthy that, although the Appellate Court reinstated the conviction so that there could be a new vacatur hearing, neither that court nor the Supreme Court has ordered that Syed be reincarcerated.

To me, that means that the most the Supreme Court will do is affirm the Appellate Court and require a largely symbolic opportunity for the Lee family to personally advise the trial court how it feels. I think the case ultimately will be much ado about very little.

— Sheldon H. Laskin, Pikesville

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