My estimable colleague Josh Kurtz, a columnist for Center Maryland, has written an enviable piece about the state of play in Annapolis.

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Can the national crisis of homelessness be ended? The answer is yes — and the solution may be closer than you think.

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A recent drive to work reminded me of a chaotic condition within the Maryland appellate court framework, which I meant to bring to the attention of the Maryland Rules Committee some time ago. As with other issues of a similar nature that have appeared on my radar screen sporadically, but with greater frequency than my UFO sightings, this one fell off because I misplaced the post-it note I had written to myself as a reminder to take action to try to remedy the situation.

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Maryland’s Thomas E. Perez was sworn in Wednesday as Secretary of Labor, a position that makes him a nearly perfect symbol of Washington’s ideology-driven paralysis.

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As you turn the final page of that sizzling summer novel and rush to get the last of the back-to- school supplies for your kids, think about checking out these must-read books. Perfect for women who want to get a seat at the table in the office, these three titles provide practical and proven strategies to help professional women negotiate their path to leadership success.

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It’s true that many of them are quite well-paid. And the job often comes with some nice perks, including a house and a car. Many university presidents are important and influential members of their communities. And whether the sports teams are any good or not, they are guaranteed really good seats, often in a presidential box.

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The General Assembly took a big step toward solving the state’s infrastructure needs when it passed the governor’s Public Private Partnership bill during the 2013 session. As with all significant pieces of legislation, the hard part is now in implementing it, which includes the drafting of detailed regulations. With the estimated revenue the governor’s transportation package is expected to raise — roughly $3 billion over five years — it is imperative that state agencies embrace the full potential of P-3 projects and work quickly to get projects moving and shovels in the ground whether initiated by the state or otherwise.

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Rushing to soothe the fears of their supporters, lawmakers in the U.S. loosed an epidemic of incarceration on this country.

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We shouldn’t be too surprised by new evidence that lawmakers — including presidents — don’t worry much about press freedom.

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Fifty years ago this summer, Maryland Gov. J. Millard Tawes signed the legislation creating the first regional planning agency for the Baltimore region. As a young planning intern that summer, I did not witness the signing ceremony, but I heard Franz Vidor, the first executive director of the Regional Planning Council, as the new entity was named, describe this as an opportunity for Baltimore and its five metropolitan county neighbors to plan their futures on a collaborative basis.

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