Nobody asked me, but I think it's pathetic that Bobby Prigel's well-to-do neighbors and their lawyer in the Long Green Valley persist in trying to keep him from opening an organic creamery on his farm because they think the barn-like building will spoil their view. What a waste of time and money - and bad feelings for no good reason.
Prigel has a great idea - a local, fourth-generation family farmer doing local farming, and in an organic, earth-friendly way - and he ought to be supported. Instead, his neighbors are trying to stop him in a legal fight that has cost Prigel $100,000. The Baltimore County zoning commission ruled in his favor a couple of times, concluding: "It is hard to imagine a negative impact stemming from the operation of a family-run organic dairy farm stand in the center of many acres of farmland owned by that same family."
Still, the fight goes on. Nobody asked me - starting with Prigel - but Baltimore-area locavores should rally behind this man.
Nobody asked me, but ...
I find it sad, troubling and predictable that Magna Entertainment, the parent company of the entity that owns Laurel Park and Pimlico, could not make a loan payment on a $40 million line of credit and now faces Chapter 11. This just goes to show what's happened to the horse racing industry - there aren't enough saps like me betting on horses and giving our money to the track owners. I mean, I did what I could. I lost a chunk of change at the track last year. It just wasn't enough.
Nobody asked me, but maybe it's time for new ownership. Halsey Minor, the wealthy Internet investor, has had his eyes on the tracks for some time. Last fall, he made a public overture, but apparently the offer to take on Magna debt didn't go anywhere. Minor was opposed to slots and said he thinks he knows how to generate new business and revenue for the tracks without them.
"I have a deep personal interest in the horse racing industry and a long history of creating profitable business ventures," he said. Imagine such a guy running our tracks!
Nobody asked me, but maybe the state should sit down and hash out a deal among Magna, Minor and the developer David Cordish to save and renovate Laurel and Pimlico, keep the Preakness in Baltimore and establish a casino at Arundel Mills.
Nobody asked me, but ...
