Western Maryland

As the Maryland General Assembly debates whether to impose a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing to extract natural gas, a new study adds fuel to an already explosive debate over the climate impact of "fracking." Researchers with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimated that between 4 percent and 9 percent of natural gas can leak into the atmosphere during extraction. These leaks could reduce or eliminate the fuel's advantage over coal as a "clean" fuel, from a climate perspective.

Johns Hopkins and University of Maryland students are holding rallies this week under the banner, “My Generation Will be Free.” They want to end human trafficking, which is a major problem in Maryland, and getting worse for minors. We talk to one of the students hosting the events, and to the director of an organization that helps victims of trafficking.

How to best reforest western Maryland’s strip-mined land.

A review of Centerstage's production of "The Whipping Man," directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah.