Few things separate Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen. Their offices often put out joint news releases touting their accomplishments together. Not much, it seems, has separated the senior senator from his younger colleague. Except Benjamin Netanyahu.

You hear Jimmy Buffett’s tropical-rock sound around the city, in marinas or wherever boaters raft up for a summer afternoon. Maybe it’s the laidback vibe Annapolis wears so casually. No socks, no ties but plenty of boat shoes. Maybe too many margaritas. Whatever it is, there’s a relationship. Understanding it is a chance to know Annapolis through song.

Here, my fellow swimmers in these unsettled seas, are five ways we can ride out the undertow of President Joe Biden’s decision to drop out.

I don’t get the appeal of tribute bands. But plenty of people do. There are eight through Labor Day at Rams Head On Stage, Annapolis’ most popular performance venue. Up first are two with similar but unrelated names: The Allman Others on Sunday and The Doobie Others on Tuesday.

Saturday night, I wrote a column reacting to the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally. In it, I confessed to the shameful feelings that I have sometimes thought the United States would be better off if this loud, divisive man were dead. You responded.

I wondered with the ugliest of speculation — for the briefest of instants — which way the bullet was traveling. Was it flying by his head or headed inward, toward his brain? Was the king of chaos dead? And then, a tiny, shameful whisper came from the darkest chamber of my heart.

This $50 million unmanned underwater vehicle was developed by Northrop Grumman over four years and constructed at its plant outside Annapolis. That’s a source of pride for the people who work there. But it also brings questions about military use of AI home to Maryland.

A busy summer season at Maryland Hall could be a glimpse of the future once the performing arts center completes a $5.6 million campaign for renovations in 2025, allowing it to put on two shows at once.

Annapolis is developing a plan to make it easier to get into the water. But swimming? It’s not on anyone’s priority list.

With clamor growing for President Joe Biden to step aside as the nominee, we all should suddenly care very much about who attends the convention in August. Because these Democrats, most of them people you’ve never heard of, could — maybe — have a say in what happens next in this craziest of presidential elections dramas.

There are three main July Fourth parades across Anne Arundel County — 10 a.m. in Severna Park, 1 p.m. in Galesville and 6 p.m. in Annapolis. Here’s a guide by the numbers, with a nod to a giant memorial flag, the weather forecast and Elvis for President.

What the heck did Thomas Jefferson mean by writing that we had a right to the pursuit of happiness? I asked Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, food historian Joyce White, Baltimore Orioles owner David Rubenstein, nonprofit leader and teacher Tatiana Klein and artist Jeff Huntington what it means to them. Here’s what they said.

Lines carved by the wind on the sand are no different than what followed the violence that ended five lives on June 28, 2018 — energy moving from one form to another.

Tuesday marks the 60th anniversary of the signing of the 1964 Civil Rights Act Tours and exhibits are available to help explore the role Annapolis played in reaching this landmark moment in American history.

In a season of change, the new owners of Baltimore Sun Media stopped publishing the Maryland Gazette, which carried news of the Declaration of Independence on July 11, 1776. The Big Glen Burnie Carnival ended a summer run that started in 1908. And down in Ocean City, the city is phasing out a century-old seasonal police officer program.

Republicans, Democrats and my colleagues in journalism alike would be wise to heed the ghost of Willie Horton, whose story still haunts us 26 years after his name entered the American lexicon.

We are in a season of replacements, of dominos lined up for the chain reaction fall. As many as six political vacancies in Annapolis either have been filled or will be by early next year. It’s a rare moment of political instability, and voters will have almost no say in the outcome.

Summer is a state of mind. Nothing sums that up better than a trip to the beach. But where can you go if you can’t make the six-hour round-trip drive to the Atlantic Ocean?

Long a sad tale of neglect, the Jabez Branch may represent the future — told through an $8 million project that incorporates ideas about climate change, water quality and habitat into a mile and a half of restored waterway.

The stench can be overpowering. A rotten egg cloud so sour it causes headaches and watery eyes. Residents weep as they describe the feelings of nausea and helplessness, sick with the frustration of suffering this miasma.