Baltimore Sun

The Sun again stupidly goes after President George W. Bush for the Iraq War and the weapons of mass destruction, calling him a liar ("Misoverestimating Bush," April 28). Even you people know that no American president would send U.S. troops into battle for no reason. To call President Bush a liar while The Sun protects the biggest liar to ever sit in the White House is laughable and sad. I can refer to a couple of outstanding examples: The travesty in Afghanistan and the biggest lie of all, Obamacare.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake will preside over a mass wedding of same-sex couples at this year's Baltimore Pride Celebration, with the event drawing interest from couples as far away as Atlanta, according to organizers. In November, Maryland became one of the first states to have same-sex marriage approved by voters in a referendum. "After doing so much work on this — on the ballot initiative — we thought, how do we really celebrate this?" said organizer Carrietta Hiers, who plans to marry her partner of nearly 13 years, Tonya Cook, at the ceremony.

The recent article ("Beyond the Preakness," April 9) outlining the current reality of the Pimlico race track and its future highlights the need for broader and bolder thinking in order to advance a sustainable solution to make horse racing in Baltimore a thriving industry once again. As reported, the Jockey Club wants to attract better trainers and horses by investing 15 percent of projected earnings to renovate the stables. Yet this approach will do little to improve the fan experience.

On February 1, 2003, EDNA L. GOLDERMAN, employee of Black & Decker from 1941 to 1981. Daughter of the late Ray mond and Catherine Golderman, sister of Mary E. Emmart and the late Louis Golderman, aunt of Michael, Daniel, Thomas and Glenn Emmart, Joyce Schulte and Linda Brzeczko. She is also survived by several grand-nieces and one grand-nephew, step-sister of Al Wehner. A Vigil Service will be held at the family owned Leonard J. Ruck Inc. Funeral Home, 5305 Harford Rd., (at Echodale) on Tuesday, at 3 P.M. A Funeral Mass will be celebrated at St. Dominic Church on Wednesday at 12 noon.

I'm glad that the Baltimore Sun is speaking up about what readers have known for too long: Even though our economy is improving, this prosperity isn't reaching working families ("Labor reawakens," April 26). President Barack Obama is doing the right thing by trying to move Congress to increase the federal minimum wage. It would help millions of American families that are struggling to make ends meet. But we can't wait for Congress to get this done - it's too important. Right now, families in my community and across Maryland are struggling on minimum wage, making impossible choices like deciding between paying bills or getting medication.

Welcome to Gay Matters, a new home for gay news and commentary at The Baltimore Sun. As website real estate, this blog is something new and perhaps long overdue. But we've been doing this work -- covering news relevant to the gay community -- for a very long time. I took a look back -- all the way back to microfilm -- and found the evidence. In 1955, for example, there were 162 men and women arrested on charges of disorderly conduct at the Pepper Hill Club on North Gay Street in "the largest night-club raid ever made in Baltimore," after male patrons among the club's largely gay clientele were seen kissing each other.

The Sun's April 5 editorial ("The tricky question of involuntary commitment") misses two critical points about the bill to clarify mental health civil commitment standards in Maryland, and it misstates another. The bill's key component - making explicit that a person whose mental illness prevents him from meeting his basic survival needs of food, clothing and shelter is "dangerous to self" within the meaning of the law - goes unmentioned. It is hard to imagine a reasonable argument why such an individual would not need hospital care.

As a subscriber to The Baltimore Sun for fifty years or more, I just want to comment on the improvement to the newspaper lately. My husband and I had just about given up on The Sun and started a subscription to the Washington Post (we did not cancel our Sun subscription). In the past few months, the change has been noticeable. For a while, the paper came with two very thin sections. The feature sections have grown and there is more to read daily and on weekends. The news still isn't what it used to be and we still get the Post since it does provide more national news, but kudos to your new editor.

There's a delicious surprise in the new issue of Sun Magazine. You have to know what you're looking for, though. There's so much to read and see in the 175th anniversary celebration issue of the Sun Magazine, great pieces by Sun staffers, past and present, and charming essays by Marylanders whose lives have been affected by the Baltimore Sun. But the surprise I'm talking about accompanies an essay by retired dining critic Elizabeth Large...