Midday

When former Del. Brooke Lierman was running for Maryland Comptroller, she promised to use the office as a platform for activism, to shake-up systems and to bring a different management perspective to running the state’s tax collection and finances.

Since taking office in January, Comptroller Lierman has implemented a number of changes, and the legislature has given her new tools to work with to reform and update the way the Comptroller’s office does business.

She joined Tom to discuss her time in office so far.

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Now, the reimagining of Harborplace has begun. Late last year, a local developer named P. David Bramble purchased the property, and pledged to revive this centerpiece of downtown that was once a proud symbol of Baltimore’s Renaissance. Bramble is the managing partner at MCB Real Estate.

We return to this conversation from earlier this month with Bramble and Christopher Mfume, a son of Congressman Kweisi Mfume and managing partner of CLD Partners. Mfume's development portfolio includes a number of residential properties across Baltimore.

David Bramble and Christopher Mfume joined Tom in Studio A.

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t's time for another visit with Midday theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck, who joins us each week with her reviews of Maryland's regional stage.

This week she reviews “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” which is showing at the Vagabond Players at 806 S. Broadway through June 11. 

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On Midday today, we hear music from some members of the Peabody Consort, a group that specializes in music of the Renaissance. The consort is a smaller, select group of student musicians from the Peabody Renaissance Ensemble, which Mark Cudek founded 25 years ago. The band includes Cudek, who plays guitar, cittern, percussion, Mira Fu-En Huang, a soprano, Sarah Shodja with recorders and Cameron Welke on the lute.

They will be performing at an international confab of like-minded artists this summer in Indianapolis. They are also set to play Sunday afternoon at the Church of the Redeemer here in Baltimore.

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A new novel by Celia Bell explores the court of Louis XIV in 17th century France, where two noblewomen fall in love amongst dark magic and intrigue. From the most elite salons to the grittiest quartiers, the Bell weaves a tale that is complex and compelling.

Bell joined Tom in studio to talk about The Disenchantment.

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Earlier today, the Baltimore County Council passed the $4.9 billion dollar budget proposed by County Executive Johnny Olszewski, Jr.

The package includes raises for county employees, teachers and police, school construction, two new senior centers, and improvements to parks.

County Executive Olszewski joins Tom to talk about the budget, and his priorities for the next couple of years.

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Memorial Day weekend is often the time when gardeners get to work digging, pruning and planting.

It’s a perfect time to head Back to the Garden here on Midday, where we have the answers to all of your gardening questions.

Our guests are Farmer Chippy, the creator of the Plantation Park Heights Urban Farm, and Carrie Engel, the Greenhouse Manager at Valley View Farms in Cockeysville, MD.

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Associated Black Charities was founded in 1985 to advocate on behalf of African Americans in the Baltimore metropolitan region. The organization has recently gone through a re-examination and re-tooling of its mission.

To navigate the transition, ABC's board hired Chrissy Thornton, a resident of Baltimore for three decades and a Morgan State University alumna.

Thornton made a career in non-profit management, including positions with the National Alliance for Mental Illness and the Myositis Association. She took the reins of ABC on January 1, 2023.

What’s next for the ABC as it re-examines how best to advocate on behalf of the Black community?

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Tom's Midday Newsmaker is Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown. In the 2023 session of the state legislature, lawmakers gave the Attorney General’s office expanded powers to prosecute police-involved killings, and to prosecute and remediate civil rights violations.

The expansion also created the Environment and Natural Resources Monitoring Unit in Attorney General Brown's office to investigate and prosecute crimes against the environment and natural resources.

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Writer and journalist Jonathan Eig is the author of a new biography of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The book is the first biography of the civil rights icon for more than three decades.

Jonathan Eig incorporated research material unavailable previous biographers, including hundreds of pages from the files of a close aide to U.S. President Lyndon Johnson, made available last year.

One of the book's revelations is that a widely-circulated quote from King criticizing Malcolm X had been faked. Through his research, Eig found King had been misquoted i a famous interview for "Playboy," with some quotes completely fabricated.

Eig reminds us that Dr. King’s career as the public face of the civil rights movement was tragically brief. He was gunned-down on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis in 1968, just 13 years after he had burst onto the scene as the leader of the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Martin Luther King, Jr. is an iconic figure who is revered around the world. It’s easy to forget that in 1963, when he gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, nearly 80% of Americans disapproved of the March on Washington as it was happening, in real time. Eig helps us understand King, in our time.

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