Environment

Assessing the environmental impact of the 2013 Maryland General Assembly session with Rona Kobell, Midday contributor and reporter for the Chesapeake Bay Journal, and Pamela Wood of the Capital Gazette newspapers.

Our always-interesting environmental contributor tells us about the annual perch run and the development of oyster farming in the Chesapeake. In addition, Rona lists the kinds of environmental issues that should be of concern to parents of young children -- and those that shouldn't. Rona Kobell is a staff writer for the Chespapeake Bay Journal. She appears once monthly on Midday.

We hear the story of how the valleys north of Baltimore -- those vast green vistas of paddocks, horses and four-board fence -- came to be preserved through a landmark plan by architect Ian McHarg. Filmmaker Allen Moore documents the efforts of McHarg and his collaborators to devise one of the first land-use plans to use nature as its central theme. In addition to Moore, our guests are Bill Roberts, one of the original authors of The Plan for the Valleys, and J.

Although Pennsylvania farms contribute a significant amount of pollution to the Chesapeake Bay, half of the 40,000 farms in the state's part of the Bay watershed do not have pollution control plans required by law to reduce runoff of manure and soil into streams. One　farmer who is doing an exemplary job of following the state's clean streams requirements is Leroy Walker, above, who recently built new manure management pits, a shed, and barn to reduce runoff pollution.

Virginia blueberry farmer Mike Drewry's life changed when a power company proposed to build a 1,500 megawatt coal-fired power plant near his family's 400 acres. He filed a lawsuit to stop the Old Dominion Electric Cooperative's proposed plant south of historic Jamestown, and found himself in the middle of a bitter fight for clean air and water.

For the first time in more than a decade, Pennsylvania this spring will close most of the Susquehanna River to fishing for smallmouth bass, whose numbers have been declining because of a mysterious disease.  The closure will be hard on fishing guides like Juan Veruete (left) and Jeff Little (right), whose lives and livelihoods are caught up in the river.

Chris LaMartina is brewing up something horrifying!

How much chicken litter does it take to power up a light bulb?

Certain people become focused on healthy eating to an extreme degree–a condition that’s been termed “orthorexia.” It’s not been accepted to the DSM. Tom Hall talks with nutritionist Monica Reinagel and psychologist Angela Guarda about how it works.

Treats for aesthetes!

With same-sex marriage becoming legal in a growing number of states outside of Maryland, how will Maryland and its counties handle benefits for the same-sex spouses of public employees?

Is the end near for most of Baltimore’s street trees?

Tom takes a tour of the new sculpture exhibit at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum.

Maryland Morning Theater Critic J. Wynn Rousuck has been to see “As You Like It” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” both of which are playing at outdoor venues in Maryland this summer. She brings us these reviews.

We’ll talk with Brian Schilpp, project manager for the Back River Restoration Committee.  Brian and his team have been cleaning up one of Maryland’s most polluted rivers. We’ll learn about the return of Back River and what you can do to help restore this natural resource in Baltimore’s backyard. Also taking part in the conversation are Candace Croswell, Baltimore County Project Manager for the Back River Restoration Committee and Rachel Kehs, a student volunteer.