Government

In four weeks, Maryland voters will decide whether some undocumented immigrants should receive in-state tuition rates for higher education. A new report out of University of Maryland-Baltimore County examines what economic impact the so-called Dream Act would have if voters approve it.  We talk with the head researchers.

Then, Nathan talks with Baltimore Sun technology reporter and blogger Gus Sentementes about the month in tech news.

And, J. Wynn Rousuck reviews Center Stage’s production of Arthur Miller’s “An Enemy of the People.”

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake has proposed her own plan to deal with the vacants in Baltimore.  It’s called Vacants to Value, and she launched it in November 2010.  The program focuses on selling the vacants in specific transitioning neighborhoods. 

Medicare reform has become a central issue in the presidential campaign with both candidates vying for the senior vote. The Romney team accuses President Obama of gutting Medicare to pay for Obamacare while the President says he’s strengthening the program. The future of Medicare, and the facts about how the Affordable Health Care Act will change it, with Jonathan Weiner and Brad Herring, professors in health policy and management at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

With the end to the American surge in Afghanistan, the 33,000 additional troops sent to the war-torn country two years ago by President Obama have returned home. This still leaves 68,000 troops there, with no foreseeable resolution in sight, and little attention paid by American politicians and the public to that area of the world.  This hour, NPR Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman on the end and the effect of the surge, the recent increase in insider (the so-called “green on blue”) attacks, what’s next and why the topic is rarely discussed by candidates.

Expect a complex ballot in November:  Once you finish voting for President, Senator, Congressperson, and multiple  referendum questions, then you might have a series of bond issues to vote on. UMBC political scientist Roy Meyers tells you what you need to know when you get there.

Then – Members of the local Muslim community respond to the film Innocence of Muslims, which has spurred international outrage and which some say led to the deaths of four Americans in Libya.

We live in an information age. Massive amounts of data are produced each day and stored in vast databases. In recent years, a movement has sprung up to put that data to good use. This weekend, a group of hackers and non-hackers alike will convene to figure out ways to use this data to solve problems in Baltimore. The conference is called "Groundwork".

City Councilman Bill Henry is sponsoring four charter amendments that would shift the balance of power in Baltimore.  We ask him what they would do.

Then, Regina McCarthy takes us through the history of winemaking in Maryland, all the way back to the catawba vines planted by Thomas Jefferson's friend John Adlum in the early 19th century.

And on the 11th anniversary of the terror attacks, Tom Hall takes a tour of the Maryland 9/11 memorial at Baltimore's World Trade Center in the Inner Harbor.

Baltimore City has what’s known as a “strong mayor” form of government, in which the executive branch has powers that far outweigh those of the council.  Now, one of the councilmembers is sponsoring a package of four charter amendments that would shift that balance of power.