Midday

Next, it's Midday's "Back to the Garden," our seasonal guide to home gardening and plant care... Joining us now is Carrie Engel, the Greenhouse Manager at Valley View Farms in Cockeysville… And Farmer Chippy , the founder and farmer at Plantation Park Heights Urban Farm in Northwest Baltimore. They both join us on Zoom... Email us at midday@wypr.org, tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-87...

In health news, more than 100 cases of monkeypox , a rare contagious virus, have been reported in Maryland. More than 4,600 cases have been reported across the US. Vaccines against the disease are effective, but here in the Baltimore area, they are in short supply. Dr. Letitia Dzirasa is the Health Commissioner of Baltimore City. Dr. Dzirasa joins us on Zoom… Email us at midday@wypr.org, tweet us:...

Tom's guest for the hour today is the award-winning author and journalist Mark Leibovich . He was the Chief National Correspondent for the New York Times for 10 years, before moving to The Atlantic three months ago. He’s the author of four books, including the number one best seller, This Town , in which he chronicles the incestuous relationship between Washington media and the political class. Hi...

And now, a story about determination and cooperation that led to a good outcome for a city resident, her neighbors, and the city’s plan to redevelop one of Baltimore’s historically Black neighborhoods. Almost 20 years ago, Sonia Eaddy and her husband Curtis’s home in Poppleton, on Baltimore’s West Side, was scheduled to be demolished to make way for new development. But last week, Mayor Brandon Sc...

It took a few days, and even now, there are some results in the primary election of July 19th outstanding, and races that haven’t been called. The deadline for jurisdictions to report their results is Friday, but historically, that deadline has been somewhat malleable. In the Republican primary for Anne Arundel County Executive, Jessica Haire has a lead over Herb McMillan of about 1,000 votes. In...

Tom's next guest is Anthony Barksdale . In 2013, he retired after a career as an interim Commissioner and senior commander in the Baltimore Police Department. Earlier this month, Mayor Brandon Scott appointed him Deputy Mayor for Public Safety. In that role, he will oversee several city agencies including the police department and the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement. He will b...

Today, conversations about reducing violent crime in Baltimore. A little later in the broadcast, Tom speaks with the city’s new Deputy Mayor for Public Safety, Anthony Barksdale , who oversees the police and fire departments, the Office of Emergency Management, and the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement. But Tom's first guest is Sean Kennedy . He’s a visiting fellow at the Maryla...

The property tax rate in the city of Baltimore is roughly twice as high as any other jurisdiction in MD. For decades, candidates for public office in the city have feigned interest in reducing taxes for homeowners and businesses, and some modest reductions have taken place from time to time. Now, a group of civic leaders have entered into the conversation determined to take decisive, dramatic acti...

Today on Midday, we’re going to talk taxes, and a proposal to dramatically reduce the property tax rate in Baltimore City. But we begin with a quick update on MD's 2022 primary election with WYPR’s John Lee , who covers Baltimore County… John Lee joins us on our digital line from Baltimore. Email us at midday@wypr.org, tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

Tom's guest today is Eric Holder , who served as the 82nd Attorney General of the United States during the first six years of the Obama Administration. He was the first African American to serve in that position. Today, Holder is working to advance voting rights with the organization he founded in 2016 and now chairs called the National Democratic Redistricting Committee . The NDRC works to remedy...

It's time for another visit with Midday theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck, who joins Tom each week with her reviews of the regional stage. Today, she spotlights the six plays being showcased at this year's Contemporary American Theater Festival in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. This year's plays include Whitelisted , by Chisa Hutchinson; The Fifth Domain , by Victor Lesniewski; Babel , by Jacqueline G...

Joining Tom now is the great singer, Maria Muldaur. Her career spans more than 56 years, 43 solo albums, six Grammy nominations and countless world tours. It was in 1974, when she cemented her place in music history with this mega-hit, " Midnight at the Oasis. " Maria Muldaur will be appearing tonight at Keystone Korner in Baltimore, and she joins us now on the phone… Email us at midday@wypr.org,...

Tom's first guest today on Midday is Lisa Snowden . She’s the editor-in-chief of the Baltimore Beat, a Black-owned and Black-controlled newspaper and online journal. After a brief run a few years ago, it will be back next month with substantial philanthropic funding, a new team and a focus on underserved and under-represented communities. Lisa Snowden joins us on our digital line from Baltimore. E...

One of the longest and weirdest primary election campaign season is over. In this low turnout election, more than a half a million people requested mail-in ballots, and not one of them has been counted. A Maryland law, unique in the country, requires that election officials wait until tomorrow at 10:00 in the morning to start counting the ballots in the form that most voters chose to cast them. So...

It’s Primary Election Day in Maryland . Polls opened at 7:00 Tuesday morning. They will remain open until 8:00 tonight. If you’re voting with a mail-in ballot, you have until 8:00 tonight to drop your ballot in a drop box, or have it postmarked. If you are an eligible voter who has not yet registered to vote, it’s not too late. You may register at your polling place. Go to the MD Board of Election...

We begin today with a conversation with astronauts Jessica Watkins , and Kjell Lindgren , two members of the Space X Crew 4  that rocketed to the International Space Station on April 27 aboard the Space X Falcon/Dragon capsule. Along with Robert Hines and Samantha Cristoforetti, an astronaut from the European Space Agency, they are now nearly three months into what is expected to be a five to six...

It’s the Midday Healthwatch , with Dr. Leana Wen. The BA.5 variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus is causing COVID cases to spike yet again. How long will this current uptick last? Today on Midday, what this new, highly transmissible variant tells us about the future of COVID. Vaccines are readily available for children, but parents don’t appear to be eager to get their kids a jab. And what about monkeyp...

Nike coined the famous phrase, “Just do it.” For William Donald Schaefer, a powerhouse of Maryland politics at the local and state level for 50 years, it was “Do it now.” That phrase, for years, scribbled on memos to Mr. Schaefer’s cowering staff, is also the title of a new musical based on Schaefer’s life. The musical opens a sold-out debut run at the Fells Point Corner Theater tonight. It’s part...

And now, a conversation with the man in charge of keeping Baltimore’s 262 parks, 43 recreation centers, and dozens of pools, athletic fields, tennis and basketball courts and hiking trails in good order. Reginald Moore was appointed the executive director of the Department of Recreation and Parks in 2017. Rec and Parks Director Reginald Moore joins us on Zoom. You are welcome to join us too. What’...

An arrest has been made in the investigation into the murder of Timothy Reynolds, who was fatally shot during an altercation with boys who were squeegeeing in the Inner Harbor last week. Baltimore City Police Commissioner Michael Harrison joins Tom on Zoom from his office in downtown Baltimore with the latest on the investigation… Email us at midday@wypr.org, tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 4...

It's time for another visit with Midday theater critis J. Wynn Rousuck , who joins Tom each week with her reviews of Maryland's regional stage. Today, she spotlights Mean Girls, the hit Broadway musical whose touring company production is now on stage at Baltimore's Hippodrome Theater. The satirical musical comedy about high-school social pecking orders is the product of an award-winning creative...

Today, we continue a series of conversations with educational leaders in the state of Maryland. We began our Midday on Higher Education series in 2018, speaking with college and university presidents throughout Maryland about the ways their institutions, large and small, fit into the communities in which they are located, and what they contribute to the state’s workforce and quality of life. We su...

Now, we turn to the Baltimore-based author and journalist Baynard Woods . His last book, written with Brandon Soderberg , was a chronicle of corruption in the Baltimore Police Department’s Gun Trace Task Force. It’s called I Got a Monster: The Rise and Fall of America’s Most Corrupt Police Squad. His latest book is a memoir that chronicles his reckoning with the legacy of his own family’s moral co...

We begin today with another edition of Midday with the Mayor,  our monthly series of live conversations with Baltimore City Mayor Brandon Scott, in which he addresses Tom's questions about important issues facing the city. Last week, the Mayor released what he called a one-year progress report on his violence prevention plan. He calls the last 18 months a “foundational” period for his Office of Ne...

In 1985, in response to complaints about squeegeeing, the Baltimore City Council passed an ordinance prohibiting selling goods or services on the street by a vote of 18-1. The bill was initially opposed by the seven African American members of the council at that time, but they were eventually convinced that the bill wasn’t a racist attempt to fine and jail young Black men. Concerns at the time in...