Baltimore

Tom Hall and Mark Hyman talk sports and we take a look at race for the city council seat in the third district. 

Picking up on the Occupy Wall Street movement that is inspiring nationwide activism, Occupy Baltimore protestors have been in the Inner Harbor’s McKeldin Square since October 4th. They aim to call attention to the glaring inequity between the 1 percent of Americans who own 40 percent of the nation’s wealth and the rest of us: what they call “the 99 percent”. This hour: a look at the Occupy Movement. Is this the long awaited rise of the left? Can growing populist anger over corporate greed and money’s influence on politics actually effect change? Is this the left’s answer to the Tea Party?

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This week (May 27 & 28, 2011) on The Signal…

When you hear the lush, layered musical arrangements on Wendel Patrick’s new CD, Forthcoming, you want to know how many people are in his band… The answer is surprisingly simple: It’s all one man, Wendel Patrick, and he explains how he makes it happen with nothing but a keyboard and a computer. 

A federal judge’s ruling allows Baltimore’s case against Wells Fargo to move forward. Sheilah talks about the case with Baltimore City solicitor George Nilson and Wells Fargo’s Vickee Adams. Sheilah then follows up with sociologist Louis Hicks, author of “The First Measured Century.”

Tom Hall visits our garden guru, Anne Raver, at her farm in Carroll County, and learns about all the tools needed to grow successful tomato plants.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake joins us in Studio A this hour. She’ll update us on the city’s plans to move forward with the Superblock development and other issues facing Baltimore.

Midday with Dan Rodricks features a two hour tribute to William Donald Schaefer, former Baltimore mayor and Maryland governor who died yesterday. Joining Dan for this show will be WYPR's Fraser Smith and Gil Sandler; Sandy Banisky, former Baltimore Sun deputy managing editor, who covered Schaefer as a reporter; Sen. Ben Cardin; developer David Cordish who share their memories of one of Maryland's most colorful and controversial political figures.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake has convened a task force to determine strategies to reduce downtown Baltimore office vacancies. One solution, offered by the Downtown Partnership, is to convert office space into apartments. We’ll talk with Kirby Fowler, executive director of the Partnership, about its plans to reduce downtown vacancies.