The arts can provide an outlet of expression that other ways of communication cannot. Making art can foster expanded thinking, creative problem solving, empathy, and more. And: art can help kids learn in ways that traditional education cannot.

Enter Arts for Learning Maryland. The non profit provides schools with programming across all creative disciplines, and has based its work on these fundamental ideas for 75 years.

We talk with Jessica Smith, Arts for Learning Maryland Young Audiences Chief Program Officer and with Kara Kane special education lead in the Baltimore City public school system and Summer Arts Learning Academy instructor.

From the middle of 2013 to the end of last year, more than 1,300 reports of alleged child sex trafficking were screened by Maryland Child Protective Services. Last week hundreds of people working to stop child trafficking gathered in Towson to raise awareness and focus on partnerships to protect vulnerable kids.

We talk with conference organizer Nadine Finigan-Carr, executive director of the University of Maryland, Baltimore's Center for Violence Prevention.

Think “homeless in Baltimore.” Think “healthcare”. Right away, your brain may paint a picture of the nonprofit Health Care for the Homeless, reaching out to people on the street, without housing, connecting them to healthcare.

Except that until this spring, Health Care for the Homeless wasn’t actually delivering medical care on the street. It has always reached out to unhoused people, it operates satellite clinics and mobile clinics where people can get care -- and it offers lots of other kindness of support to get people into homes of their own. But street medicine -- that’s new. It started in April.

We talk with Dr. Jimmy Miller, Director of Outreach Services, to learn how it works.

Here's a Stoop Story from Luke Wesby about his journey to becoming a homeowner and what it has meant to him.

The next live Stoop event happens Friday, June 20th, at 7pm at Checkerspot Brewing. In partnership with the Maryland SPCA, the theme is “Unleashed: No muzzles, no collars, just real stories about animal companions!”

Professionals worry there’s a mental-health crisis among young people; some say social media and excessive screen time makes it worse. We ask Dr. Ernestine Briggs-King, a licensed psychologist in charge of its Department of Family and Community Interventions at Kennedy Krieger Institute, how parents can safely curb its use and build “digital resilience.’’

Picture this. You’re in middle school, dealing with all the issues that beset middle-school kids: will anyone in your new class like you? What if the cool kids are mean to you or someone you like? Will you stand up for them? What are you good at-- and what if the cool kids don’t think that’s cool?

On top of that, imagine that your mother is a “momfluencer” -- an influencer with thousands of followers on social media, who can’t get enough of her take on raising a family. She posts things about you and your siblings for the world to read--and some of those posts are not what you want people to know about you. That’s the premise of the new young-adult novel 'So Over Sharing,' by Elissa Brent Weissman — we get a preview.

Coard Bounds, an eastern shore farmer and co-owner of Couldbourn Farm, talks about what it takes to get his corn and soybean crops in the ground and some of the issues of modern farming today.

The Maryland State Park Service is rolling out a “day pass” system to keep its most popular parks from overcrowding.

Angela Crenshaw, the Director of the Maryland Park Service, explains the policy, and offers tips for hiking and camping.

Here's a Stoop Story from Tom Ritter about the power of the clipboard … and believing in miracles. You can find more information about li ve events and the Stoop podcast at Stoopstorytelling.com.

Ospreys are one of the largest birds of prey in North America, with a wingspan of up to six feet. Many spend their summers catching fish, building nests, and having babies around the Chesapeake Bay. But they’ve developed an affinity for nesting on utility poles. That can be life-threatening for the birds, and can cause power outages that impact us. Baltimore Gas and Electric has developed a program called “Osprey Watch” - to protect the birds AND the power lines. We hear about it from Sarah Knebel, Principal Environmental Project Manager at BGE. If you see an osprey nest on a utility pole, get note of the pole number or closest address, and e-mail [email protected]… or call 1-800-685-0123.