Midday

It's time for another visit with Midday theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck, who joins Tom each week with her reviews of Maryland's regional stage.

Today, she tells us about Captain Hook: My Story, or How I Clawed My Way to the Top, playwright Peter Boyer's modern re-imagining of the classic villain in J.M. Barrie's beloved Peter Pan.

Directed at Baltimore's Spotlighters Theatre by Miriam Bazensky, the production stars Melissa Fortson in the title role.

Captain Hook, My Story...continues at Spotlighters Theatre through August 21st. Click the theater link for more information.

Email us at [email protected], tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

In a ruling that surprised and angered Justice Department officials, yesterday, a federal judge in Florida instructed the DOJ to suggest redactions as a first step in a possible release of the affidavit related to the search warrant for the search of Donald Trump’s Palm Beach home. That search resulted in the removal of more than a dozen boxes of documents, some of which were highly classified.

Justice Department officials have until next Thursday at noon to suggest to the judge material that should be kept from public view if he ultimately decides to allow the release of the affidavit, a move that would be highly unusual, in a case that has already proven to be highly unusual in every aspect.

Tom spoke a couple of days ago here on Midday with the legal scholar Kim Wehle about the possibility of the affidavit being released, and she thought it very unlikely that it would be. Investigators are worried about witnesses who have come forward, and about showing defendants who may be indicted what their prosecutorial strategy may be. NPR will have the latest on this story as it develops, so stay tuned.

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On Midday today, our focus is on state politics.

The Maryland State Board of Elections recognizes five political parties. What recognition means is that, in addition to Republicans and Democrats, candidates from the Green Party, the Libertarian Party and the Working Class Party do not need to collect 10,000 signatures in order to be placed on the ballot. Independent candidates, who are not affiliated with any party, do have to collect signatures to qualify.

In this election cycle, an independent who aspired to be on the ballot for Governor failed to get enough signatures. But the Green Party, the Libertarians and the Working Class Party have all nominated candidates in the race for Governor, and today on Midday, we will continue our series of Conversations with the Candidates with the Green Party nominee, Nancy Wallace. She has been a member of the Green Party since 2003.

Her campaign is inspired by the environmental activist Greta Thunberg, and it is centered on environmental issues. Ms. Wallace has worked as an environmental lobbyist on Capitol Hill. In the 1990s she served as the Sierra Club’s Washington Director of the International Population Program and since then she has worked in the tech field supporting a number of different federal agencies.Nancy Wallace grew up in Bethesda. She holds an undergraduate degree from Yale University. She is 66 years old. She has mentored three at risk children over the past 25 years.

This is her second campaign for elective office. She ran for Congress in the 8th district in 2016. Her Lt. Governor running mate is Pat Elder, a former teacher and real estate professional from St. Mary’s County.

Nancy Wallace joins us on Zoom from Bethesda. 

Email us at [email protected], tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

Last May, the US Department of Justice sued a company called Envigo RMS, the owner of a dog breeding facility in Cumberland, VA, for multiple violations and acts of animal cruelty. Some 4,000 beagles were put in the custody of the Humane Society of the United States, which has been working to find homes for the dogs ever since.

Tom's first guest today is Lindsay Hamrick, the director of the organization's shelter outreach and engagement. She joins us on Zoom from Concord, New Hampshire.

Then, Tom speaks with Dr. Sarah Balcom, a veterinarian who teaches at the University of MD joins us to take your questions about how to care for the critters in your life. 

Email us at [email protected], tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

Harriet Hageman, a Trump-endorsed candidate, handily beat Liz Cheney in the Wyoming Republican Congressional primary, and Sarah Palin will likely advance in the process in Alaska. So, Trump’s electoral influence continues to be formidable. Election deniers have won Republican nominations for state offices around the country, including here in Maryland.

The former President and his circle face continuing legal challenges. Allen Weisselberg, a longtime executive at the Trump Organization, is expected to plead guilty in a tax fraud case tomorrow. Mr. Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, has been identified as a target of a criminal inquiry in Georgia; Lindsey Graham, one of his most vocal supporters in the Senate has been ordered by a judge to testify in that case.

Donald Trump’s explanations about the classified material found during the warrant execution at his Mar-a-Lago resort continue to change. And last week, Trump reportedly pled the Fifth 400 times during a deposition in a New York case. The Washington Post reports that Mr. Trump is having a hard time finding lawyers to take his cases, but, it should be noted, his plethora of legal entanglements have been something of a fundraising bonanza for Mr. Trump, who has been collecting donations for his legal defense fund.

Tom's guests today are two astute observers of the legal predicaments of Mr. Trump and his closest associates.

He speaks first with Nicholas Wu, a congressional reporter for POLITICO. Nicholas Wu joins us on our digital line from Washington DC.

Then, Tom talks with Kim Wehle, an author and legal scholar from the University of Baltimore School of Law. She’s a visiting professor at the American University Washington College of Law, and the author of several books, the most recent of which is called How to Think Like a Lawyer And Why.  She is also the host of Simple Politics with Kim Wehle, a talk show on YouTube. She discusses the legal consequences that Mr. Trump may face as the multiple investigations involving him continue.

Kim Wehle joins us on our digital line from New York.

Email us at [email protected], tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

Now, we turn to the author and educator Britt Hawthorne. She is an anti-bias and antiracist facilitator who has written a book with Natasha Yglesias called Raising Anti-Racist Children: A Practical Parenting Guide (Simon and Schuster).

Britt Hawthorne joins us from Houston. 

Email us at [email protected], tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

Most Maryland students and teachers will return to their classrooms in the next couple of weeks. Most jurisdictions across the state and around the country are experiencing a teacher shortage that is unprecedented in American education. Nationwide, it’s estimated that 300,000 teachers have left the classroom. In Maryland alone, more than 5,500 teachers have left the profession this year. This shortage is most certainly top of mind for local superintendents.

Mohammed Choudhury is the Superintendent of Schools for the Maryland Department of Education. He joins Tom to talk about the reasons teachers are leaving the profession, and what can be done to fill the pipeline to replace them.

We reach Mohammed Choudhury on Zoom. 

Email us at [email protected], tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

It’s the Midday Healthwatch, with Dr. Leana Wen.

The start of school is just around the corner, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia has issued new guidelines for the new school year. Monkeypox testing is more widely available than it’s been, but vaccines are still hard to come by. President Biden had what appears to be a rebound case of COVID after taking the antiviral drug, Paxlovid, but it’s still recommended for certain people. Who should take this medication, and when?

Lots of things to speak with Dr. Wen about today. She is one of America’s most trusted and knowledgeable public health experts. She is a former health commissioner of Baltimore and an emergency physician.  She teaches at the George Washington University School of Public Health.  She writes a column for the Washington Post.  She’s a medical analyst for CNN, a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and the author of Lifelines: A Doctor's Journey in the Fight for Public Health.

Dr. Leana Wen joins us on Zoom…

Email us at [email protected], tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

Yesterday, Attorney General Merrick Garland addressed for the first time the court-approved search that was conducted at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club on Monday. He spoke for two minutes and did not take any questions from reporters.

The Attorney General announced that he had personally approved the decision to seek a search warrant in this matter. The New York Times reports that according to three unnamed sources, Mr. Trump had received a subpoena last spring asking for documents that Trump had improperly removed from the White House.

Regarding the search, Garland said this:“...

The department does not take such a decision lightly. Where possible, it is standard practice to seek less intrusive means as an alternative to a search and to narrowly scope any search that is undertaken."

As to what the DOJ was looking for when they executed the warrant, Mr. Garland said:

“Much of our work is by necessity conducted out of the public eye. We do that to protect the constitutional rights of all Americans and to protect the integrity of our investigations. Federal law, longstanding department rules, and our ethical obligations prevent me from providing further details as to the basis of the search at this time.”

Garland announced that he had petitioned a federal court in Florida to unseal the search warrant and supporting documents in this case, if Mr. Trump agreed to their release. Late last night, Mr. Trump said he would allow it, and in fact, he encouraged their release.

Today on Midday, a Reporter’s Notebook about some of the local stories that are top of mind this week. We’ll talk with reporters from the Baltimore Banner and MD Matters about what they’ve been looking into.

We begin with Pamela Wood, who covers Maryland politics for the Baltimore Banner. 

Then, Tom speaks with Bruce Depuyt of MD Matters, who has an update on the ballot recounts that are taking place in three jurisdictions where some tight races have yet to be settled. 

Next, Tom turns to Liz Bowie, the education reporter for WYPR's partner, the Baltimore Banner. 

And Tom winds up this Reporters Notebook edition of Midday in a conversation with Penelope Blackwell, breaking news and accountability reporter at the Banner about her story on the sharp rise in applications for concealed carry gun permits in Maryland.

All of our guests join us on Zoom. 

Email us at [email protected], tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

It's time for another visit with Midday theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck, who joins Tom each week with her reviews of Maryland's regional stage.

Today, she tells us about the Folger Theatre's new production of William Shakespeare's magical comedy, A Midsummer Night's Dream, now on stage at The Playhouse, the custom-built theater within the majestic Great Hall of the National Building Museum. The play is directed by Victor Malana Maog, with choreography by Alexandra Beller and costume design by Olivera Gajic.

The Folger Theatre's A Midsummer Night's Dream continues at the National Building Museum through August 28. Click the theater link for more information.

Email us at [email protected], tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

Tom's next guest is Dr. Nancy Proctor, the chief strategy officer and founding executive director of The Peale Museum here in Baltimore.

The Peale is the oldest museum building in the United States. It’s gone through many changes since it opened in 1814, and on Saturday, it will celebrate another historic change when it opens for the first time after a five-year, five and-a-half million-dollar renovation.

Nancy Proctor joins us on Zoom…

The grand reopening celebration is free; it starts Saturday morning at 10:00 and runs till 4pm. For more information, click here.

Email us at [email protected], tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.