Grand Prix

The National Aquarium announced Monday that it would issue a special Grand Prix-week ticket that will allow guests to visit the venue as many times as they like for seven consecutive days. The seven-day ticket can be purchased online at aqua.org or at the National Aquarium in Baltimore's Inner Harbor. All tickets issued for Aug. 27 through Sept. 3 will be good for seven full days, the aquarium said in a news release. Also, Grand Prix ticketholders can bypass the aquarium's general admission line by presenting their entry pass to the race, the aquarium announced.

Baltimore Racing Development said they will make things right and pay the hundreds of thousands of dollars owed to vendors and the Maryland Stadium Authority ("Grand Prix's financial troubles," Nov. 3). My question is, how? Don't they count on income from the race? The race is over. If they don't have income coming in and they don't have any money banked to pay their debts, where will the money come from - more loans? I'm thinking someone is delusional. Barry Dukes, Middle River

Earplugs are a must for all those who want an up-close look at the race cars in the Grand Prix of Baltimore this weekend, health officials are warning. “Using ear plugs preserves healthy hearing and doesn't take away from the excitement of the event,"said the Baltimore City health commissioner,Dr. Oxiris Barbot. She said exposure to loud noises over an extended period of time can cause hearing loss. That includes IndyCar races, music concerts and other loud events. Hearing loss can affect people of all ages, according to the National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders . The groups says approximately 15 percent of Americans between aged 20 and 69 have some level of hearing loss that can be attributed to exposure to noises over 85 dB. Racing spectators are often exposed to noise above 96 dB to 110 dB, according to the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health . Look for the information kiosks this weekend because Grand Prix organizers say they will be providing ear plugs.

Can this be? In a summer of record-breaking heat, have our leaders, who talk the talk about greening and increasing the livability of our city, somehow authorized the destruction of 136 trees downtown in order to improve sight lines for the upcoming Grand Prix ? ("Trees make way for race," Aug. 2.) It seems like an extremely short-sighted decision meant to please those with pockets and priorities vastly different from those of us who live here, care about the city and had been led to believe that we were moving in a more enlightened direction.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake was instrumental in landing Baltimore's first Grand Prix automobile race next month. It's destined to be a great profit-making extravaganza. But after the last car passes the finish line, the giddiness wanes and we clamber back to normalcy, the myriad problems facing our city will still be there. A high-profile automobile race will allow local folks only temporary respite from the real issues that somehow just don't seem to go away on their own. If only Mayor Rawlings-Blake could wave a magic wand like the Good Witch Glinda in "The Wizard of Oz" and eradicate homicides, the homeless situation, gang violence and rampant drug abuse.

The weather page in The Sun's Sunday print edition warned of a wet long-term forecast for Labor Day weekend and the Grand Prix of Baltimore. As the weekend nears, though, the weather is looking dry -- and hot. The National Weather Service is forecasting partly to mostly cloudy skies and highs in the mid- to upper-80s for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. AccuWeather.com is forecasting highs of 90 degrees Friday and Saturday and 86 on Monday. The biggest chance of rain appears to be on Monday, with about a 40 percent chance of precipitation, according to the Climate Prediction Center.

Baltimore City cuts down 139 trees, and then calls its grand prix road race "green"? Inconveniences thousands of motorists whose cars idle while they wait to get where they're going, then says the event is "carbon-neutral"? ("Race aims to be 'green,' but challenges remain," Sept. 2). The pinheads who created this monstrosity and foisted it off on Baltimore and the citizens of Maryland (who no doubt are helping pay for it) should be forced to spend a day breathing in the fumes from all the traffic backed up at the Camden Yards off-ramp.

Baltimore's fleet of food trucks have been invited to participate in the Grand Prix of Baltimore, but only a few have committed so far -- Chubby's BBQ, Four Brothers and the Cajunator. The food trucks, along with other Maryland cuisine, will be available in the fan area at Camden and Eutaw streets in front of Oriole Park -- it's referred to as DHL Speed Zone Central on the Grand Prix map. There was a local presence at last year's inaugural event, too. Restaurants like Bluegrass, Ryleigh's and Jimmy's Famous Seafood were part of the scene at the Budweiser Block Party on Conway Street, across from the Hyatt Regency.

What an event Baltimore put on this past weekend! I'm living in Wisconsin now, and let me tell you Baltimore shined in more ways then one with the Grand Prix. I was in a local watering hole watching the race and was amazed at the comments the people were making about Baltimore, all positive. It made me proud to say I am from Baltimore, and everyone in the bar knew that. The views from the TV standpoint were awesome. I'm hoping next year I will be there and try to make this an annual event to attend.

On Labor Day weekend, my extended family flew to Baltimore for the Grand Prix. We all got rooms at a downtown hotel and spent the entire weekend there. We ate, drank, spent money and most of all enjoyed the amazing spectacle that these hard working, forward thinking, risk taking visionary race founders had brought us. The city was breathtaking on TV. The drivers and their pit crews were kind, accessible and impressed and excited about the race. I learned so much about a sport that I was otherwise not involved in. Please don't let egos and small thinkers destroy all the good that this event has brought to our city.