Opinion

Here are my predictions for Annapolis and Anne Arundel County in 2023. They are unscientific, unsupported by anything other than wild guesses and, in all but one case, remarkably unlikely to come true. That way, you can’t really come after me if I’m wrong.

One tradition says a man must be the first person to cross a home’s threshold.

Fully exempting military retirement pay from state income tax would help keep the retirees in Maryland along with the tax revenues generated from their post-military careers, retired Navy Rear Admiral Tom Jurkowsky says.

I know there are avid readers like me out there, so here’s a year-end wander through my personal book list, the top reads at the Anne Arundel County Public Library and some notes on what Annapolis (Annapolish?) authors published this year.

Kwanzaa’s tenets and values are important for African American people. Here’s how to incorporate them into your life without it being overwhelming.

A large investment of federal and state funding for skills training is needed to build the workforce for fixing Baltimore’s crumbling infrastructure, State Sen. Cory McCray and entrepreneur Mike Rosenbaum say. That kind of “Marshall Plan” for Baltimore would benefit workers and all residents of the Baltimore region, they say.

There’s no agreement on how to address a workforce housing crisis, or even if there is a one.

Residents, community activists and others took to the streets in protest one year after an explosion at the CSX coal storage facility in Baltimore’s Curtis Bay area. Residents spoke about their heightened fears of dangers to health, safety and the environment they believe the facility poses.

Inspired by the holiday song, here's my grown-up Christmas list — world peace, an end to racism and maybe a new car? Like on ”The Price Is Right”?

Incoming Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown must take the steps needed to release the report on alleged sexual abuse by priests in the Baltimore Archdiocese, the Baltimore Banner’s public editor says. Judge Anthony Vittoria’s decision to block release of the report “undermined the public’s expectation of judicial fairness,” DeWayne Wickham says.

In a year when antisemitism in the United States is soaring, a community built on discriminatory practices came together to celebrate its Jewish residents.

Annapolis is a town that puts a lot of effort into its holiday lights.

The solstice arrives at 4:48 p.m. on Wednesday, the longest night of the year. It’s when Annapolis shines the brightest, with tiny lights glowing from every surface, streetlamp post, tree, bicycle, restaurant and even sailboat.

Black representation brings vitality to Christmas celebrations and the worship experience in Baltimore this time of year, says Alanah Nichole Davis, who explains what Black Santa means to her.

Hanukkah has special meaning for many in the local Jewish community in this time of increased antisemitism.

Voters in November punished candidates whom they perceived as threats to fair elections, says the president of Get Money Out — Maryland, who warns that efforts are still underway to undermine elections and democracy.

A reader in Baltimore urges Congress to pass legislation that would assist in the resettlement of Afghan immigrants; a Baltimore neighborhood association wants the Grove Park Elementary School building saved.

While candidates aligned with Donald Trump can succeed in Republican primaries, Maryland voters will continue to reject those candidates in general elections, Towson University professor and political pundit Richard Vatz says.

A jury delivers justice in the case of a midshipman’s mother killed by a stray bullet, but answers to the problem of gun violence in Annapolis remain out of reach.

Stepped-up police interactions related to minor crime would help preempt violent crime and drug dealing in Baltimore, an attorney practicing in the city says. Such an approach can and must be carried out within constitutional bounds and without unjustly targeting people of color, he says.