Bad

Although as a Towson resident I support redevelopment of the downtown, I hope the county will take measures so that weekend evenings at Towson Square do not resemble those outside the Towson Commons AMC ("Towson project building a buzz," Jan. 16). Large groups of noisy youths used to loiter outside the theater and play "chicken" with cars traveling along York Road long after the last movie ended. If the county executive doesn't recall what these activities were like on Fridays and Saturday nights, I am sure the police officers of Precinct 6 do. Should the former patrons of Towson Commons bring their unruly behavior to Towson Square, the county should be concerned that rather than bringing people to the county seat, some residents will choose to leave.

When will they ever learn? Probably never. We all know social media can be a figurative stick of dynamite in the hands of angry, frustrated NFL players. Now it's pretty obvious their wives should stay away from it, too. For evidence, look no further than Wes Welker's wife and her nasty Facebook rant about Ray Lewis, which has blown up in her face and in the face of the New England Patriots' organization, too. Not dealing well -- obviously -- with the Ravens' 28-13 win over her husband's Patriots in the AFC Championship game Sunday, Anna Burns Welker wrote this on Facebook about the Ravens' legendary and soon-to-be-retired inside linebacker: "Proud of my husband and the Pats.

A week after he won re-election, President Barack Obama said he was more than familiar with what the "literature" — the very use of the term cheered academics like me — says about re-elected presidents who over-reach during their second terms. They fail. Mr. Obama's second term began this week, following a first term defined by emergency challenges (largely economic) unlike those faced by almost any incoming American president. Theoretically, his second term ought to be easier.

While one commiserates with the property owners along the Windsor Mill Road stretch ("Roadside residents clamor for relief from speeders," Jan. 10) who have endured a variety of speeding-auto-inflicted damages, this section of roadway - stretching miles into the city and miles north into Owings Mills - is equally harrowing for the garden variety motorist. Over years of daily use, I am routinely passed on the double yellow while maintaining the 30 mile per hour limit, passed on the right without any warning, and furthermore abused by sight (flicking lights)

Ever wonder what life in the United States would be like without a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency? The people of China have gotten a whiff of what happens when there are minimal pollution controls, and they are choking on it. That the air in Beijing is badly polluted is not exactly a new development, but this is: Now, it's gotten so bad that the complaints are showing up in state-run media where the crisis is not only recognized but the...

Just when you thought life couldn't get more depressing for Edith, it does. Big time. Turns out the Gods of Aristocrats can't give poor Edith a break. Was her indiscretion with that farmer really worth so much karma? Look, it's not like her living happily ever (old person) after with the so-fragile-you-touch-him-and-he'll-fall-apart Anthony Strallan was ever a safe bet. 1) He's nice enough but sort-of creepy. 2) He looks like a ghost from a Henry James novel. 3) His arm = busted.

Ten years ago, a debilitating heart attack left Bernie Weisman unable to walk or talk, and yet the rabbi at his recent funeral said Bernie never had a bad day. With confidence the rabbi made that remark, having been assured by those closest to Bernie that the happy spirit he displayed for his first 55 years remained for the last 10. Such a spirit is not easily disabled. "At the end of his 65 years of life," Rabbi Dana Saroken of Beth El Congregation said at last month's funeral, "this is who Bernie was and who he always will be — a man who lit up the room wherever he was, a man who, despite any circumstances, never had a bad day, who smiled from morning until night; a man you could meet and within five minutes you would fall in love; the most generous and giving person who couldn't do enough for you, who never had an unkind word to say about anyone, who made time for everyone, and would even answer the phone lovingly — 'Hey doll!

Only a few days into the new year, the Grand Old Party has a huge political hangover from the events that rang in the tidings of 2013. First came the escape from the fiscal cliff that saw its speaker of the House, John Boehner, embarrassed by his flock's failure to back his 11th-hour Plan B to avert it. Passing the ball to the Democratic-controlled Senate was an abdication of responsibility. Then Mr. Boehner was hit with surrender of the GOP's never-new-taxes pledge. Worse, the abandonment came with a violation of the party leadership's so-called Hastert rule allowing bills to pass only with a majority of Republican members of the House voting in favor.

State officials were right last week to postpone approval of a Department of Juvenile Services contract to increase the capacity of the privately owned Silver Oak Academy juvenile residential treatment facility in Carroll County. The department wants to double the number of beds there, from 48 to 96, in order to reduce the backlog of youthful offenders awaiting treatment in overcrowded lockups. Getting more troubled young people out of detention centers and into treatment where they can receive the help they need is certainly a worthy goal.

Most of us have probably seen or heard the ubiquitous ads promoting domestic natural gas drilling. While they don't tend to use the word "fracking," their message about hydraulic fracturing of shale is clear enough - little kids playing happily on green patches of grass and the promise of bountiful clean energy, jobs and all-around happiness all rolled into one. Two things can be inferred from the ads. First, that those in the oil and gas industry...