OTHER VOICES

Drag Queen Storytime

On Aug. 18, the Glen Burnie branch of the Anne Arundel Public Library hosted the first ever Drag Queen Storytime in the county. Children were laughing, parents were smiling, and the room filled with joy as Balena Canto led attendees through songs and read from classic children's books.

It was a special performance, captivating more than 100 parents and children from across the state. On Aug. 19, The

Capital featured a front-page article about drag, which appears to have caught many readers off guard. It may shock people to know that the residents of Anne Arundel County are not all exactly the same, they are actually made up of people who vary in gender, ethnicity, and sexual orientation.

For some, seeing a drag queen highlighted on the front page made them feel uncomfortable. For us, it was inspiring.

The more attention we bring to events like these will help us build stronger and more inclusive communities.

Members of the LGBTQ community have a hard time finding safe spaces in the county and the City of Annapolis, forcing them to travel to larger cities, like Washington, D.C. or Baltimore. This was the catalyst for the creation of Annapolis Pride, an organization founded in May that celebrates the LGBTQ community and engages local residents, businesses, and groups to unite in welcoming and embracing diversity.

Annapolis Pride is working closely with the Mayor's Office and the Annapolis Police Department to ensure all residents feel welcome and safe. JEREMY BROWNING Annapolis

Jordan McNair

College sports medicine 101 teaches that heat stroke or exhaustion requires immediate professional attention. Temperatures must be taken after each session and then into an ice bath within 30 minutes.

This did not happen in the case of Jordan McNair at the University of Maryland. Good protocol would have saved him. He did not have to die.

Had interim Athletic Director Damon Evans and university president Wallace Loh had best practices in place as in other Big Ten Universities like Ohio State and Michigan (my alma mater) Jordan would be alive today.

Damon Evans was overseeing all sports activities at Maryland. He allowed a claimed dysfunctional atmosphere with second-rate safety precautions and rejected adopting the best practices guidelines proposed by former Athletic Director Kevin Anderson.

Had both Evans and Loh done their jobs, McNair would be with us today. For their respective failures both must resign forthwith, or be removed by the Board of Trustees.

Nothing else will suffice, except maybe cancelling this season's schedule. MICHAEL RAUGH Annapolis

Tree triming

First, I agree with Jimmy DeButts' points that drastic cutting of trees, solely to clear overhead powerlines, not only makes trees ugly, but also can make them unbalanced and dangerous

Aug. 19). And the only safe place to put new powerlines is underground.

But DeButts cites a utility company objection that “locating damaged underground lines is harder than seeing a line laying (sic) on the road,” and asks “wouldn't there be an incentive to develop technology to more rapidly detect damaged-line locations?”

The answer is that such technology has already existed for many years. For one example, my father-in-law, Thomas G. Humphreys Jr., received US Patents and a design patent for exactly such a device. It has been manufactured since 1971, with further improvements over the years, and sold by the Utility Tool Company of Irondale, Alabama, as the Pipe Horn, and is widely used by many utility companies across the country.

Other companies have also developed and sold devices for this purpose. The technology has long been available. It is BGE that needs to come into the 21st century.

STEPHEN R. TROY

Arnold