Adam Willis
@adampwillis.bsky.social
environment & climate reporter for The Baltimore Banner | formerly North Dakota | once finished 3rd in the Wilmington, DE marathon | [email protected]
Reposted by Adam Willis
In journalism we’re used to pointing out problems, not solving them. This was a chance to think differently and offer Baltimore kids and parents solutions.
Take a look and tell us what you think.
www.thebanner.com/education/k-...
Take a look and tell us what you think.
www.thebanner.com/education/k-...
School buses for every Baltimore student seemed impossible — until now
School transportation company HopSkipDrive used AI and a Banner analysis to map how yellow buses, vans and cars could get Baltimore students to school safely and on time for less than 5% of the distri...
www.thebanner.com
November 20, 2025 at 7:27 PM
In journalism we’re used to pointing out problems, not solving them. This was a chance to think differently and offer Baltimore kids and parents solutions.
Take a look and tell us what you think.
www.thebanner.com/education/k-...
Take a look and tell us what you think.
www.thebanner.com/education/k-...
Reposted by Adam Willis
We investigated just how bad the problem was. Turns out it’s terrible — a quarter of city buses that students take in the morning don’t show up on time. Or at all.
And the result is Baltimore’s kids are left behind — often failing their first-period classes.
And the result is Baltimore’s kids are left behind — often failing their first-period classes.
November 20, 2025 at 7:25 PM
We investigated just how bad the problem was. Turns out it’s terrible — a quarter of city buses that students take in the morning don’t show up on time. Or at all.
And the result is Baltimore’s kids are left behind — often failing their first-period classes.
And the result is Baltimore’s kids are left behind — often failing their first-period classes.
Reposted by Adam Willis
For more than a decade I’ve heard Baltimore students and parents complain about the messy and sometimes dangerous process of getting to school.
And for more than a decade school leaders have ignored the problem.
And for more than a decade school leaders have ignored the problem.
November 20, 2025 at 7:23 PM
For more than a decade I’ve heard Baltimore students and parents complain about the messy and sometimes dangerous process of getting to school.
And for more than a decade school leaders have ignored the problem.
And for more than a decade school leaders have ignored the problem.
Reposted by Adam Willis
Constellation CEO to Maryland: Don’t let Exelon build your power plant
Constellation CEO to Maryland: Don’t let Exelon build your power plant
Joe Dominguez took shots at the investor-owned utility company Exelon as competition to build more power plants in Maryland reaches a pivotal moment.
buff.ly
November 20, 2025 at 10:33 PM
Constellation CEO to Maryland: Don’t let Exelon build your power plant
Reposted by Adam Willis
State environmental officials estimate 1.7 million gallons of raw sewage drained into Baltimore's Jones Falls this week, the latest in the city's long struggle to get a handle on wastewater overflows. www.thebanner.com/community/cl...
Overflow of raw sewage into Jones Falls upped to 1.7 million gallons
The volume of raw sewage that flowed into the Jones Falls, the stream that cuts through the heart of Baltimore before emptying into the harbor, was bigger than first reported, Maryland environmental r...
www.thebanner.com
November 14, 2025 at 11:28 PM
State environmental officials estimate 1.7 million gallons of raw sewage drained into Baltimore's Jones Falls this week, the latest in the city's long struggle to get a handle on wastewater overflows. www.thebanner.com/community/cl...
State environmental officials estimate 1.7 million gallons of raw sewage drained into Baltimore's Jones Falls this week, the latest in the city's long struggle to get a handle on wastewater overflows. www.thebanner.com/community/cl...
Overflow of raw sewage into Jones Falls upped to 1.7 million gallons
The volume of raw sewage that flowed into the Jones Falls, the stream that cuts through the heart of Baltimore before emptying into the harbor, was bigger than first reported, Maryland environmental r...
www.thebanner.com
November 14, 2025 at 11:28 PM
State environmental officials estimate 1.7 million gallons of raw sewage drained into Baltimore's Jones Falls this week, the latest in the city's long struggle to get a handle on wastewater overflows. www.thebanner.com/community/cl...
Reposted by Adam Willis
For the fifth time, effort to clean-up the Chesapeake Bay gets a new deal and a later deadline, pushing the goal line farther away. Vy @adampwillis.bsky.social www.thebanner.com/community/cl...
Decades-long Chesapeake Bay cleanup pushed off to 2040. Some worry it’s not enough.
Officials from Maryland, home to the Chesapeake’s largest and most depleted waters, had pushed for loftier goals but were outvoted by other states.
www.thebanner.com
November 10, 2025 at 3:52 PM
For the fifth time, effort to clean-up the Chesapeake Bay gets a new deal and a later deadline, pushing the goal line farther away. Vy @adampwillis.bsky.social www.thebanner.com/community/cl...
Reposted by Adam Willis
Maryland says Patapsco needs radio tower for safety. Neighbors call it a ‘Tower of Terror.’
Why are neighbors against a safety tower for Patapsco Valley State Park?
Patapsco Valley State Park needs a radio tower for better communication. Neighbors, however, call it a 'Tower of Terror' and are against the project back by Maryland officials.
buff.ly
November 8, 2025 at 11:00 AM
Maryland says Patapsco needs radio tower for safety. Neighbors call it a ‘Tower of Terror.’
An industrial menhaden fishery out of Virginia is the last of its kind on the Atlantic seaboard. Some say it's decimating a keystone Chesapeake fish with big fallout for other bay species.
But, perhaps thanks to industry political donations, no one can prove it: www.thebanner.com/community/cl...
But, perhaps thanks to industry political donations, no one can prove it: www.thebanner.com/community/cl...
The little fish at the center of a big debate in the Chesapeake
No one — fisherman, conservationist or scientist — can say for certain how “the most important fish” is really faring in the Chesapeake Bay.
www.thebanner.com
November 3, 2025 at 3:32 PM
An industrial menhaden fishery out of Virginia is the last of its kind on the Atlantic seaboard. Some say it's decimating a keystone Chesapeake fish with big fallout for other bay species.
But, perhaps thanks to industry political donations, no one can prove it: www.thebanner.com/community/cl...
But, perhaps thanks to industry political donations, no one can prove it: www.thebanner.com/community/cl...
Reposted by Adam Willis
This little fish is the center of a big debate in the Chesapeake Bay
The little fish at the center of a big debate in the Chesapeake
No one — fisherman, conservationist or scientist — can say for certain how “the most important fish” is really faring in the Chesapeake Bay.
buff.ly
November 3, 2025 at 11:00 AM
This little fish is the center of a big debate in the Chesapeake Bay
Reposted by Adam Willis
A must read, not for the portraits, but the uncomfortable question: How much power does any mayor of a legacy city have to reverse the harm caused by bigger forces outside his/her control: deindustrialization, white flight & the tax base “sucked out each time a commuter drives past the city limits?”
4 former Baltimore mayors had their portraits unveiled. How should we remember them?
4 former Baltimore mayors had their portraits unveiled. How should we remember them?
Mayor Brandon Scott, perhaps knowing he will one day have a portrait unveiling, kept his remarks gracious, respectful and relatively vague.
buff.ly
November 3, 2025 at 12:10 AM
A must read, not for the portraits, but the uncomfortable question: How much power does any mayor of a legacy city have to reverse the harm caused by bigger forces outside his/her control: deindustrialization, white flight & the tax base “sucked out each time a commuter drives past the city limits?”
After putrid green waters overwhelmed the Baltimore harbor and triggered historic fish kills, local scientists remain stumped about why this season’s pistachio tide was so bad.
But they think the billion dollar revamp of the downtown waterfront could help solve it: www.thebanner.com/community/cl...
But they think the billion dollar revamp of the downtown waterfront could help solve it: www.thebanner.com/community/cl...
Can Baltimore’s Inner Harbor makeover prevent another stinky pistachio tide?
While thermal inversions like the one Baltimore’s harbor just experienced happen naturally, humans have made the consequences worse.
www.thebanner.com
October 27, 2025 at 3:08 PM
After putrid green waters overwhelmed the Baltimore harbor and triggered historic fish kills, local scientists remain stumped about why this season’s pistachio tide was so bad.
But they think the billion dollar revamp of the downtown waterfront could help solve it: www.thebanner.com/community/cl...
But they think the billion dollar revamp of the downtown waterfront could help solve it: www.thebanner.com/community/cl...
Reposted by Adam Willis
After ecological crisis, could redevelopment stem Baltimore’s pistachio tide?
Could redevelopment stem Baltimore’s pistachio tide?
While thermal inversions like the one Baltimore’s harbor just experienced happen naturally, humans have made the consequences worse.
buff.ly
October 27, 2025 at 10:00 AM
After ecological crisis, could redevelopment stem Baltimore’s pistachio tide?
Had fun thinking out loud about the Baltimore harbor's huge, maybe historic? pistachio tide with Lindsay Smith Rogers at Johns Hopkins.
A year ago, Lindsay did a deep dive into Baltimore's progress toward a swimmable harbor. Things have felt different the last few weeks...
A year ago, Lindsay did a deep dive into Baltimore's progress toward a swimmable harbor. Things have felt different the last few weeks...
A year after our episode on the fight to make Baltimore’s harbor safe for swimming, the harbor is recovering from “the ecological equivalent of a heart attack”.
@thebaltimorebanner.com’s @adampwillis.bsky.social gives an update on the "pistachio tide".
podcast.publichealth.jhu.edu/967-an-updat...
@thebaltimorebanner.com’s @adampwillis.bsky.social gives an update on the "pistachio tide".
podcast.publichealth.jhu.edu/967-an-updat...
October 23, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Had fun thinking out loud about the Baltimore harbor's huge, maybe historic? pistachio tide with Lindsay Smith Rogers at Johns Hopkins.
A year ago, Lindsay did a deep dive into Baltimore's progress toward a swimmable harbor. Things have felt different the last few weeks...
A year ago, Lindsay did a deep dive into Baltimore's progress toward a swimmable harbor. Things have felt different the last few weeks...
Reposted by Adam Willis
A year after our episode on the fight to make Baltimore’s harbor safe for swimming, the harbor is recovering from “the ecological equivalent of a heart attack”.
@thebaltimorebanner.com’s @adampwillis.bsky.social gives an update on the "pistachio tide".
podcast.publichealth.jhu.edu/967-an-updat...
@thebaltimorebanner.com’s @adampwillis.bsky.social gives an update on the "pistachio tide".
podcast.publichealth.jhu.edu/967-an-updat...
October 23, 2025 at 1:24 PM
A year after our episode on the fight to make Baltimore’s harbor safe for swimming, the harbor is recovering from “the ecological equivalent of a heart attack”.
@thebaltimorebanner.com’s @adampwillis.bsky.social gives an update on the "pistachio tide".
podcast.publichealth.jhu.edu/967-an-updat...
@thebaltimorebanner.com’s @adampwillis.bsky.social gives an update on the "pistachio tide".
podcast.publichealth.jhu.edu/967-an-updat...
Reposted by Adam Willis
Millions of taxpayer dollars go toward restoring Chesapeake Bay beaches to their natural marshy state and cleaning the water. Signs on those shorelines also read: "RESIDENTS ONLY." Important story by @alexmann.bsky.social @leeosanderlin.bsky.social @adampwillis.bsky.social @thebaltimorebanner.com:
The hidden cost of saving the Chesapeake Bay: millions for private waterfronts
Virtually all of the Chesapeake Bay’s shoreline is privately owned, which means taxpayer-funded waterfront improvements go to properties with limited public access.
www.thebanner.com
October 20, 2025 at 5:29 PM
Millions of taxpayer dollars go toward restoring Chesapeake Bay beaches to their natural marshy state and cleaning the water. Signs on those shorelines also read: "RESIDENTS ONLY." Important story by @alexmann.bsky.social @leeosanderlin.bsky.social @adampwillis.bsky.social @thebaltimorebanner.com:
Reposted by Adam Willis
Alex Mann, @leeosanderlin.bsky.social and @adampwillis.bsky.social get at a central environmental tension in Anne Arundel County: A desire to protect the Chesapeake Bay and its shoreline meets the reality that almost all shoreline in the county is privately-owned. Read in @thebaltimorebanner.com —
The hidden cost of saving the Chesapeake Bay: millions for private waterfronts
Virtually all of the Chesapeake Bay’s shoreline is privately owned, which means taxpayer-funded waterfront improvements go to properties with limited public access.
www.thebanner.com
October 20, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Alex Mann, @leeosanderlin.bsky.social and @adampwillis.bsky.social get at a central environmental tension in Anne Arundel County: A desire to protect the Chesapeake Bay and its shoreline meets the reality that almost all shoreline in the county is privately-owned. Read in @thebaltimorebanner.com —
Just one in 533 miles of Anne Arundel County shoreline is open to the public while taxpayers fund millions for private waterfronts.
Can Maryland balance what’s best for the Chesapeake Bay with the public’s right to enjoy it? w/ @leeosanderlin.bsky.social &Alex Mann
www.thebanner.com/community/cl...
Can Maryland balance what’s best for the Chesapeake Bay with the public’s right to enjoy it? w/ @leeosanderlin.bsky.social &Alex Mann
www.thebanner.com/community/cl...
The hidden cost of saving the Chesapeake Bay: millions for private waterfronts
Virtually all of the Chesapeake Bay’s shoreline is privately owned, which means taxpayer-funded waterfront improvements go to properties with limited public access.
www.thebanner.com
October 20, 2025 at 1:39 PM
Just one in 533 miles of Anne Arundel County shoreline is open to the public while taxpayers fund millions for private waterfronts.
Can Maryland balance what’s best for the Chesapeake Bay with the public’s right to enjoy it? w/ @leeosanderlin.bsky.social &Alex Mann
www.thebanner.com/community/cl...
Can Maryland balance what’s best for the Chesapeake Bay with the public’s right to enjoy it? w/ @leeosanderlin.bsky.social &Alex Mann
www.thebanner.com/community/cl...
Reposted by Adam Willis
The hidden cost of saving the Chesapeake Bay: millions for private waterfronts
The hidden cost of saving the Chesapeake Bay: millions for private waterfronts
Virtually all of the Chesapeake Bay’s shoreline is privately owned, which means taxpayer-funded waterfront improvements go to properties with limited public access.
buff.ly
October 20, 2025 at 12:00 PM
The hidden cost of saving the Chesapeake Bay: millions for private waterfronts
Reposted by Adam Willis
Maryland, Constellation reach $341M deal over pollution through Conowingo Dam
Maryland, Constellation reach $341M deal over pollution through Conowingo Dam
The Conowingo Dam would power Maryland homes and businesses under a new deal that requires Constellation Energy to spend millions to limit pollution.
buff.ly
October 2, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Maryland, Constellation reach $341M deal over pollution through Conowingo Dam
Reposted by Adam Willis
With an email, Salisbury plant gets a pass on EPA rules for toxic gas
With an email, Salisbury plant gets a pass on EPA rules for toxic gas
In July, Trinity Sterile got a waiver from the EPA to keep releasing the same amount of toxic chemical ethylene oxide until at least 2028.
buff.ly
September 30, 2025 at 10:00 AM
With an email, Salisbury plant gets a pass on EPA rules for toxic gas
Hidden in the D.C. suburbs are thousands of acres of experimental farmland, home to the scientists who helped eradicate screwworm & invented the Roma tomato.
USDA's Beltsville lab is the crown jewel of American farm science. Will Trump close it forever?
www.thebanner.com/community/cl...
USDA's Beltsville lab is the crown jewel of American farm science. Will Trump close it forever?
www.thebanner.com/community/cl...
The crown jewel of U.S. farm science is in Beltsville. Will Trump shut it down?
The Trump administration plans to close the Maryland's Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, or BARC, just outside Washington. The USDA wants to move the farm research “closer to the people,” but p...
www.thebanner.com
September 23, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Hidden in the D.C. suburbs are thousands of acres of experimental farmland, home to the scientists who helped eradicate screwworm & invented the Roma tomato.
USDA's Beltsville lab is the crown jewel of American farm science. Will Trump close it forever?
www.thebanner.com/community/cl...
USDA's Beltsville lab is the crown jewel of American farm science. Will Trump close it forever?
www.thebanner.com/community/cl...
Reposted by Adam Willis
The crown jewel of American farm science is in Beltsville. Will Trump close it forever?
The crown jewel of U.S. farm science is in Beltsville. Will Trump shut it down?
The Trump administration plans to close the Maryland's Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, or BARC, just outside Washington. The USDA wants to move the farm research “closer to the people,” but...
buff.ly
September 23, 2025 at 10:00 AM
The crown jewel of American farm science is in Beltsville. Will Trump close it forever?
It's been a rough summer for Maryland's fledgling offshore wind sector. Trump wants to revoke approval for the state's only permitted farm, which also looks very unlikely to meet the admin's new deadline for huge tax breaks.
Is offshore wind doomed in Maryland?
www.thebanner.com/community/cl...
Is offshore wind doomed in Maryland?
www.thebanner.com/community/cl...
Is offshore wind doomed in Maryland?
The Baltimore-based US Wind project off Ocean City is Maryland’s only offshore wind farm close to construction, but federal tax breaks and courtroom battles may decide its fate.
www.thebanner.com
September 17, 2025 at 6:44 PM
It's been a rough summer for Maryland's fledgling offshore wind sector. Trump wants to revoke approval for the state's only permitted farm, which also looks very unlikely to meet the admin's new deadline for huge tax breaks.
Is offshore wind doomed in Maryland?
www.thebanner.com/community/cl...
Is offshore wind doomed in Maryland?
www.thebanner.com/community/cl...
Reposted by Adam Willis
"The state’s fledgling industry may face its doomsday in President Donald Trump, who has a longtime grudge against turbines." Great read by @adampwillis.bsky.social
September 17, 2025 at 3:33 PM
"The state’s fledgling industry may face its doomsday in President Donald Trump, who has a longtime grudge against turbines." Great read by @adampwillis.bsky.social