Roughly Speaking

Senate Democrats are trying to force a vote on reinstating net neutrality rules, and they have hit a key legislative milestone, according to the tech new web site, Ars Technica. Meanwhile, state legislators in Nebraska and California are proposing net neutrality laws to replace the US-wide ones repealed by the Federal Communications Commission in December. Today on the show: Sean Gallagher, the Baltimore-based IT editor of Ars Technica, explains what the demise of net neutrality will mean for consumers, in Maryland and across the country, unless congressional action reverses the controversial FCC action.Links:https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/01/restoration-of-net-neutrality-rules-hits-key-milestone-in-senate/https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/01/net-neutrality-gaining-steam-in-state-legislatures-after-fcc-repeal/https://arstechnica.com/author/sean-gallagher/

Guests on the weekend edition of the show: Eric Cox, State House bureau chief for The Baltimore Sun; Talia Richman, the Sun's education beat reporter; Dr. John Cmar of Sinai Hospital.Richman talks about the latest crisis in the Baltimore city schools — classrooms without heat during a prolonged cold spell. Officials have received complaints of lack of heating at about 60 of the school system’s buildings, and images of students bundled in winter coats have provoked outrage and finger-pointing.The Maryland General Assembly opens on Wednesday for its annual 90-day session, and Cox sizes up the major issues facing the legislature, all of them resulting from the actions or inactions of the Republican-controlled Congress. Plus, 2018 is an election year, with Gov. Larry Hogan facing re-electing and several state legislators facing primary challenges, thickening the state's political plot.Dr. John Cmar, an infectious disease specialist based at Sinai Hospital and a Roughly Speaking contributor, presents his list of communicable diseases to watch for in 2018, including a pan-resistant bacteria, or super bug, unaffected by multiple antibiotics.Links:http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/education/k-12/bs-md-ci-gofundme-schools-20180104-story.html

Interviews with Sun education and politics reporters and infectious disease specialist Dr. John Cmar

Thiru Vignarajah, an experienced attorney and former prosecutor, says he has a plan for cutting the city’s murder count in half within the next three years -- that is, if voters elect him over the incumbent Baltimore State's Attorney, Marilyn Mosby. Vignarajah blames Mosby for the city's three-year surge in violence, citing the loss of dozens of veteran prosecutors and a lack of convictions of violent, repeat offenders. A former deputy Maryland attorney general, Vignarajah is seeking the Democratic nomination for state's attorney in June's primary. He has just released a five-point plan to cut shootings and homicides, focusing on Baltimore's most violent neighborhoods.Links:http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-rodricks-0920-20150918-column.htmlhttp://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/bs-md-ci-2017-violence-20171229-story.htmlhttp://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/dan-rodricks-blog/bs-md-rodricks-0510-20170509-story.htmlhttp://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/bs-md-ci-baltimore-plea-bargains-peters-20171023-htmlstory.htmlhttp://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/bs-md-ci-vignarajah-states-attorney-20170913-story.htmlhttp://thiruforbaltimore.com/web/

Today's episode goes with Dan's latest column: A Baltimore couple, Pamela and Christian Wilson, talk about their proposal to convert used, unwanted shipping containers into two-bedroom, rent-to-own houses for people who are homeless. They have teamed with Baltimore architect Jay Orr to come up with plans and presented them to officials at City Hall. The Wilson are now seeking partners to join them in the endeavor. Links:http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/dan-rodricks-blog/bs-md-rodricks-0103-story.html

In the last of a series of introductory interviews with Democratic candidates for governor of Maryland, Dan speaks with Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, a public policy expert and one of two women seeking their party's nomination. A one-time congressional staffer, Rockeymoore Cummings is the founder of Global Policy Solutions, a Washington-based consulting company. She is the wife of Rep. Elijah Cummings, the veteran congressman from Baltimore. Rockeymoore Cummings wants to be the Democrat who challenges incumbent Republican Larry Hogan because, she says, Hogan has a limited vision for the state and has held back economic development for Baltimore by killing the Red Line light rail project and the State Center redevelopment. She says she has a plan for ----inclusive growth---- that will address what she calls ----high levels of inequality---- across Maryland.Rockeymoore Cummings is the eighth Democratic candidate to sit for a Roughly Speaking interview. You can access all previous interviews by visiting the podcast's candidates page. We plan a second round of interviews for 2018, ahead of the June primary, and have invited Hogan to the studio.Editor's note: Rockeymoore Cummings suspended her campaign on Jan. 5.Links:http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/bs-md-rockeymoore-cummings-drops-out-20180105-story.htmlhttp://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/anne-arundel/bs-md-rockeymoore-cummings-governor-20171011-story.htmlhttp://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/dan-rodricks/bal-roughly-speaking-2018-gubernatorial-candidates-storygallery.htmlhttp://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/dan-rodricks/bal-roughly-speaking-2018-gubernatorial-candidates-storygallery.html

Why do so many people live in tents along the Jones Falls Expressway and near other highway overpasses and bridges? Dan takes a walk around the block — from the back door of The Baltimore Sun — to find out. Homeless men and women frequent the area, and several have set up residence in what's known as the Guilford Avenue Tent City, across from the newspaper's rear entrance and just a few blocks from City Hall. Katie League, director of community services for Health Care for the Homeless, talks about the reasons for homelessness, starting with the lack of affordable housing in Baltimore. Many people in the tents have been waiting for housing vouchers to help pay for rent, League says. But the Trump administration has delayed additional federal funds for subsidies, so the wait goes on.Meanwhile, with winter on the way, the Baltimore mayor's office says it is prepared to meet the demand for shelters during the winter months.http://www.hchmd.org/our-staffhttps://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21731792-whatever-barack-obama-did-current-policy-do-opposite-hud-embodieshttps://www.baltimorebrew.com/2017/12/12/city-says-its-prepared-to-shelter-the-homeless-as-winter-approaches/

4:55: Want to skip the turkey and roast a Christmas goose instead? Longtime Baltimore restaurateur John Shields tells us how it's done — with some assistance from the city's newest restaurateur, the British celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay. Dan meets Shields in the kitchen of his restaurant, Gertrude's in the Baltimore Museum of Art, while drawing advice from one of Ramsay's instructional videos. Ramsay recently opened a restaurant in the Horseshoe Live Casino in Baltimore. Both chefs agree: ----Goose fat is gold.----18:00: Brendan Dorr, president of the Baltimore Bartenders Guild, provides a guide to the well-equipped home bar — a selection of glasses, utensils and bottled aromatics every mixologist should have on hand when guests arrive for a holiday gathering. Dan interviewed Dorr at his workplace, the B----O American Brasserie in downtown Baltimore.Links:http://www.johnshields.com/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88MHrk0qA1chttp://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/dining/baltimore-diner-blog/bs-fo-gordon-ramsay-steak-20171129-story.htmlhttp://www.bmorebarguild.com/http://www.bandorestaurant.com/

In the seventh in a series of interviews with candidates for governor of Maryland, Dan speaks with Krish Vignarajah, a 38-year-old attorney and former policy adviser to Michelle Obama. She is one of eight candidates seeking the Democratic nomination in 2018. Born in Sri Lanka, Vignarajah grew up in Baltimore and Baltimore County, the daughter of public school teachers who emigrated to the United States to escape civil war in their native country. The Yale- and Oxford-educated Vignarajah worked in the State Department and as policy director for Michelle Obama when she was first lady. Questions have been raised about Vignarajah's eligibility to run for governor, but Vignarajah, 38, insists she meets the legal requirements to do so and vows to be on the June ballot.Links:http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/dan-rodricks/bal-roughly-speaking-2018-gubernatorial-candidates-storygallery.htmlhttp://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/bs-md-krish-vignarajah-campaign-20170919-story.htmlhttp://krishformaryland.com/meet-krish/http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/bs-md-vignarajah-court-20171006-story.html

In the seventh in a series of interviews with candidates for governor of Maryland, Dan speaks with K