rkobell.bsky.social - Profile | ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

This pretty kitty was helping me write my stories today. She’s a ragdoll cat. I’m allergic so I didn’t pet her, which displeased her.

submitted 1 day ago • 3 comments

The Klausmeier panel may be moot, because four of the seven councilmen have said they will only vote for Kelly Madigan. Two others support Madigan but won't commit to that. And one has not committed one way or the other. A new IG needs council approval. www.thebaltimorebanner.com/politics-pow...

submitted 1 day ago • 0 comments

Hard disagree. I rarely post to X, and when I do, it's only work-related. This has become my new home, flawed as it may be. #bluesky. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

submitted 1 day ago • 0 comments

You have to be able to see yourself in books. Carla Hayden did, and it brought her to this place: the country's top librarian. Then, Trump fired her in two sentences. www.thebaltimorebanner.com/carla-hayden...

submitted 1 day ago • 0 comments

Don't let the fact the Orioles are playing baseball tonight distract you from what's happening in LA and elsewhere. That's all I'll write. But don't let it become normal.

submitted 2 days ago • 12 comments

Floofing!

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

I tried for five months to get a sit down with the CE. I got one this week. A lot of the news we already pulled out and ran earlier this week, but you can see the rest of it here. You can't require public officials to do interviews. You can just ask a lot. www.thebaltimorebanner.com/politics-pow...

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

Can smell it for an entire block.

submitted 4 days ago • 0 comments

What REALLY happened with the decision not to re-appoint Inspector General Kelly Madigan? I've been on this story since it broke, and I still don't know. This story doesn't clarify matters, but it does make the denouement all the more interesting. www.thebaltimorebanner.com/politics-pow...

submitted 5 days ago • 0 comments

#BaltimoreCounty is changing. It's making history by altering the way its 850,000 people are represented. The process of change is not always pretty. In fact, historically, it's been quite ugly. But I try to explain what it means to us, and why it's vital. www.thebaltimorebanner.com/politics-pow...

submitted 5 days ago • 0 comments

Do you want to know why the #Baltimore County Executive Kathy Klausmeier did not re-appoint the popular Inspector General, who has been diligently investigating waste and fraud in the County of Spiro Agnew? I did, too, so I asked her. www.thebaltimorebanner.com/politics-pow...

submitted 6 days ago • 1 comment

They all think their sheriff is corrupt and should be in prison. They all think Trump should not have pardoned him. And they all voted for Trump, and probably will do so again. Journalists are doing their job informing the public. But if the voters don't act on the information, nothing ever changes.

submitted 6 days ago • 1 comment

Today, 23 years ago, The Wire premiered on HBO. It changed TV, it changed #Baltimore, and it helped to launch the careers of some of our best actors. (Hello, @wendellpierce.bsky.social.) Thanks to WTMD for playing me into downtown this morning with the Blind Boys of Alabama's "Way Down in the Hole."

submitted 7 days ago • 0 comments

The Trump administration has killed a $600 million grant to Moderna to develop an mRNA vaccine for H5N1 influenza. @helenbranswell.bsky.social reports. www.statnews.com/2025/05/28/m...

submitted 12 days ago • 7 comments

The Trump administration is shutting down a landmark lab for measuring the impact of air pollution on health. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

submitted 12 days ago • 0 comments

Everyone is trying to get away from midges, including me, especially today. But just when I think I'm out, they pull me back in!

submitted 12 days ago • 0 comments

You say #climatechange doesn't impact daily life? You'd feel differently if you lived on the #Chesapeake and could not open your door due to #midges. The cause: cycle of drought, followed by deluge. The cure costs millions, and takes years - if it works. www.thebaltimorebanner.com/community/cl...

submitted 12 days ago • 0 comments

In the past 14 months of covering #Baltimore County, I've called attention to many problems. And I will continue to do so. But it's nice to write about something that's working well, and the "Merf" seems to be one of those things. @sejorg.bsky.social www.thebaltimorebanner.com/community/cl...

submitted 12 days ago • 1 comment

Anyway we all know that reality-TV is merely bread and circuses to distract us, and that understanding it will give you no insight into politics and the currents of history. Unrelated, here's what the host of The Apprentice did for the stars of Chrisley Knows Best www.nytimes.com/2025/05/27/u...

submitted 12 days ago • 0 comments

Life hack: When @rkobell.bsky.social leads a headline with the word “yes,” read that story. www.thebaltimorebanner.com/community/cl...

submitted 12 days ago • 1 comment

My beat may no longer be the environment, but you can't take caring about the planet out of the girl. Any excuse to wear a hardhat and safety vest? I'm suiting up! This story also busted a popular myth that #Baltimore County doesn't recycle. It does. www.thebaltimorebanner.com/community/cl...

submitted 12 days ago • 0 comments

Scarlet tanager.

submitted 13 days ago • 0 comments

Tunnel of love #bunnies.

submitted 14 days ago • 0 comments

“Lecherous and proud,” declared the shirt. Sir, respectfully suggest you not wear it near the HR department.

submitted 15 days ago • 0 comments

Beavers not taking the weekend off! @bengoldfarb.bsky.social

submitted 15 days ago • 1 comment

I am not ashamed to say I take Lexapro. And that if you met me before I began, vs. after, you would see differences. Like many people have said, the right one of these medications flips a switch in your head. I am not a different person, but a better version - better wife, mom, and journalist.

submitted 17 days ago • 1 comment

JohnnyO promised a friend of his father's a beautiful new golf course, courtesy of the taxpayers. But the Baltimore County Council said no to the $6.6 million for Rocky Point. In a nearly $5 billion budget, it was the only thing they cut. I'm proud of my reporting on this one.

submitted 18 days ago • 0 comments

This is the second lowest count since the crab survey began in 1990. What happened after the first lowest count, in '08? Md and Va declared an emergency; Mikulski and Kaine brought in $15 million to help, and crabbers suffered from harvest cuts. www.thebaltimorebanner.com/community/cl...

submitted 18 days ago • 0 comments

Grateful to @kyoshino.bsky.social for hiring me more than a year ago and bringing me into a wonderful newsroom at @thebaltimorebanner.com. Wishing her all good things at The Post! May the stories all be relentlessly interesting!

submitted 18 days ago • 0 comments

In 1999, Bill Clinton was president. 9/11 hadn't happened. Neither had the wars in Ukraine or Afghanistan. Prince was alive! The party ended for #Baltimore Co developers only last year. Until then, they paid into bond funds at 1999 prices. Say WHAT? www.thebaltimorebanner.com/politics-pow...

submitted 19 days ago • 0 comments

Another day, another SCOOP: Councilman Patrick Young becomes the first Baltimore County Executive candidate to take public financing. Pat Young. www.thebaltimorebanner.com/politics-pow...

submitted 19 days ago • 0 comments

SCOOP: At a time of immense inflation for construction items like wood, asphalt (tied to oil prices) and metal piping, Baltimore County developers were paying 1999 prices into a bond fund to finish projects. The county allowed it for a quarter century. www.thebaltimorebanner.com/politics-pow...

submitted 19 days ago • 0 comments

New favorite activity - watching badass women give the business to bewildered Trump appointees. If you come for these queens, you best not miss.

submitted 20 days ago • 0 comments

Your periodic reminder that Jake Tapper's journalism career began when he wrote a story for The Washington City Paper about his date with a nice Jewish California girl named Monica Lewinsky.

submitted 20 days ago • 6 comments

Maryland environmentalists are blue today - because they say their Blue-state governor did not go far enough. He says he's exercising fiscal restraint. @sejorg.bsky.social www.thebaltimorebanner.com/politics-pow...

submitted 20 days ago • 0 comments

She's great on Law and Order. Now, it's her time for a bigger stage. Lovely interview with the great Tamara Tunie by the one and only @lesliegraystreeter.bsky.social, who was made for this moment as a dedicated L and O fan! www.thebaltimorebanner.com/opinion/colu...

submitted 20 days ago • 0 comments

I think we learn what Habeas corpus is in 6th grade.

submitted 20 days ago • 0 comments