Op-ed columnist

Dan Rodricks has been a columnist for the Baltimore Sun since 1979. His column has won regional and national journalism awards, and he has frequently been cited as the Baltimore's favorite news columnist by Baltimore Magazine and the City Paper. In addition to writing three columns a week, Dan is host of Midday with Dan Rodricks on WYPR (www.wypr.org/midday.html), Baltimore's NPR station. Previously, Dan was for several years a contributing commentator to WBAL-TV, host of a talk show on WBAL-AM, host of documentaries on Maryland Public Television and, from 1995 to 2000, he was host of the popular Rodricks For Breakfast show on WMAR-TV. He is the author of two books about Baltimore.

What downtown needs: More cops, fewer knuckleheads 5/18/2012
After fighting bad guys with guns and stemming homicides, Baltimore police need to make the city center safe During a stroll Thursday night from Little Italy to Harborplace, I bought jelly beans in The Best of Luck candy store, listened to a sidewalk trumpeter play the blues, noted several dead lights that left unappealing darkness along Pratt Street, and watched a Baltimore police officer train his flashlight into cars approaching the stop at Pratt and South, apparently looking for anyone not ...

Water bills and government's fragile reputation 5/16/2012
Baltimore's Great Water Bill Commiseration goes on midst a national debate about the scope and efficiency of government I want to thank Ms. Nina Platt of Homeland for providing me with a copy of her outrageous water bill — and her neighbor's — because, until this happened, I was feeling left out of the Great Baltimore Water Bill Commiseration. It seems like everybody in the city but me has a goofy and outrageous water bill to brag and gripe about. My bill looks normal, boring and puny compared ...

Of Mitt Romney's high school hijinks and the effects of cruelty 5/14/2012
Mitt Romney misses an opportunity to acknowledge bullying and why it must stop Stories about Mitt Romney's bullying behavior during his prep school days in Michigan made me think of a message that popped up on my Facebook page last year: A woman from my hometown wanted to know why, 40 years ago, I had laughed at the news that her brother had been killed in a car accident.

Mother's Day could be any day 5/13/2012
However crazy-busy life gets, a mother's presence is often evident, and when you least expect it We get busy. We have work to do. We have long days crowded with chores and commitments, and we get caught up in things that seem in the moment so important — a project, a decision, a purchase, a deadline. And this is your life, and it moves faster than you expected it would. Before you know it, you're not a kid anymore; your parents are gone and you're the only adult in the room.

On slots: A deal's a deal, baby 5/9/2012
National Harbor would be a great location for a casino, but that's not the deal Maryland voters OK'd The approach to National Harbor, where three highways meet on the Maryland side of the Potomac River, is pretty much a wow, with the arched 18-story atrium of a massive convention hotel its centerpiece. National Harbor is a still-new resort town on a slope overlooking the big river, with six hotels, upscale shops, restaurants, condominiums, marinas and a busy schedule of events that attract heal...