Roughly Speaking

We have three more days of podcasts devoted to the candidates for Baltimore City Council in this month’s primary election. In this podcast:Today’s conversations are with candidates for District 4 in north-central Baltimore, stretching from Guilford to Govans, from Wilson Park to Woodbourne Heights, up and down York Road from Lake-Evesham to Penn Lucy. Bill Henry is the incumbent Democrat who has served two terms. His challengers are Rodney Burris, Francesco Legaluppi and Brian Hammock.1:39: Bill Henry is 47 years old, a resident of Radnor-Winston, and known as an independent thinker on the City Council.21:53: Rodney Burris is one of three political newcomers seeking the 4th District City Council. He is 34 years old, an entrepreneur and educator, father of five and a resident of Govans.39:43: Brian Hammock is an attorney and corporate executive, 35 years old, who lives in Homeland and who worked for former mayor and Gov. Martin O’Malley.1:05:02: Francesco Legaluppi is a business consultant and Homeland resident who, from a young age, served as Consul General for Italy in Baltimore.Our series of interviews with candidates continues in Thursday’s podcast with three of the candidates seeking to replace Rikki Spector after her long tenure in the 5th District, and six candidates vying for Carl Stokes' seat in the 12th District. Several Democrats are running to replace City Councilman Nick Mosby on the west side. My podcast interviews with five of the 7th District candidates will be posted on Friday.

We are just a week away now from the Maryland and Baltimore City primary elections, and all this week we are taking time to bring the people of Baltimore interviews with candidates for City Council. Today conversations with candidates for two City Council districts -- District 6 and District 8, both on the west side of town.In this podcast:1:28: First, District 6, which runs from Roland Park to Forest Park and includes Ashburton, Park Heights and Pimlico. The incumbent city council member, Sharon Green Middleton, never responded to our invitation to the podcast. So today we’ll hear from Mark Hughes, a career educator who challenged Middleton in 2011. He lost that election but is running again, he says, because little has improved in the 6th District over the last five years.Helen Holton represents Baltimore’s 8th District in City Council. But she decided not to seek re-election, so the race is wide open. District 8, on the west side of town, includes Edmondson Village, Allendale, Uplands and Irvington and several other neighborhoods. Three Democrats accepted our invitation to talk about their candidacies — David Maurice Smallwood, Reggie Fugett and Kristerfer Burnett — as well as one Republican, Joseph Brown. 17:50: David Maurice Smallwood34:40: Reginald "Reggie" Fugett48:31: Kristerfer Burnett1:10:43: Joseph Brown

Continuing our conversations with candidates for Baltimore City Council, today we go to the 9th District, which is in west and southwest Baltimore, one of the poorest districts in the city, including neighborhoods such as Pigtown, Sowebo, Harlem Park, Rosemont and Franklintown Road. The city councilman there is Pete Welch, known as the council’s quietest member. He is seeking reelection. His mother, Agnes Welch, held the seat before he did. In this podcast:Today, you’ll hear from 9th District councilman Pete Welch and two challengers in the Democratic primary, John Bullock and Jerrell Bratcher. We will also hear from one of two candidates in the district’s Republican primary, Octavia Njuhigu.1:41: City Couuncilman William A. “Pete” Welch, Jr., accountant who was appointed to the council in 2011.21:59: Jerrell Bratcher, a passionate young man who until last year was the well regarded director of admissions for the Monarch School, a public charter school in Northeast Baltimore.41:29: John Bullock, a political science professor at Towson University who lives with his family in Union Square. 53:01: There are two candidates in the district’s Republican primary. One of them answered our invitation to an interview: Octavia Njuhigu, a former bank administrator who lives in Carrollton Ridge.

Today we bring you conversations with candidates for Baltimore City Council in the 1st District. That is southeastern Baltimore City — Canton, Fells Point, Highlandtown, Greektown, Little Italy, Patterson Park, Little Italy, Butcher’s Hill and other neighborhoods. The City Council member who served that district for the last 12 years is not running for re-election, so this has opened up a very competitive race with strong candidates, Democrat and Republican.In this podcast:We will hear from five Democrats — Mark Parker, Mark Edelson, Scott Goldman, Zeke Cohen and Ed Marcinko — and three Republicans — Jennifer Dudley, Matthew McDaniel and Liz Copeland. Democrats2:30: Mark Parker19:42: Scott Goldman42:58: Mark Edleson1:07:38: Ed Marcinko1:27:59: Zeke Cohen Republicans1:47:09: Liz Copeland2:04:52: Matthew McDaniel2:24:58: Jennifer Dudley

In this podcast:District 3: Several Democrats are running to replace retiring City Councilman Robert W. Curran in Northeast Baltimore — Moravia, Loch Raven, Belair-Edison, Hamilton and other neighborhoods. Three of the candidates agreed to be interviewed for Roughly Speaking: Ryan Dorsey, Marques Dent and George Van Hook Sr1:18: Ryan Dorsey18:45: Marques Dent36:57: George Van Hook Sr.District 11: In one of council's most competitive races, Councilman Eric Costello faces Greg Sileo, Dea Thomas and Curtis Johnson to retain the District 11 seat to which he was appointed in October 2014. The process the council used to select Costello was criticized as lacking community involvement. The diverse district includes Federal Hill, Bolton Hill, Locust Point, Sharp-Leadenhall and parts of West Baltimore. Here is a list of District 11 neighborhoods.59:09: Eric Costello1:17:22: Dea Thomas1:32:39: Curtis Johnson1:53:16: Greg Sileo

Roughly Speaking's two-plus weeks of candidate interviews returns to the Baltimore mayor's race with talks with one Democrat and one Republican, both of whom worked in local media, the latter a familiar voice on WBAL Radio for a decade.In this podcast:1:40: Patrick Gutierrez worked briefly here at the Sun as an editorial assistant. Before that, he had a successful career in banking. Today, he tells us why he’s running for mayor and describes the event last spring, following the death of Freddie Gray, that convinced him to get into the race and share his many ideas for improving the quality of life in the city.31:23: A veteran broadcast journalist, Allen Walden joined WBAL Radio in 1988 as morning anchor. In addition to catching his rush hour news reports, listeners heard his daily commentary, “Walden Ponderings” for years. Allen Walden retired from WBAL in 1998, ending a career that spanned decades and took him to new York, Boston and Cleveland before he settled in Baltimore. He's now a Republican candidate for mayor of his adopted hometown.

Today you’ll hear two candidates for the 2nd District (find your district) of the Baltimore City Council. That district includes Harbel, Parkside, parts of Belair-Edison, Gardenville, Cedmont, Cedonia, Overlea, Frankford and other neighborhoods in the east/northeast part of the city. Our two guests are Brandon Scott (19:14), the incumbent city council member in the 2nd District, and one of his challengers, Tony Christian (1:25). We did not get a response to our invitation for an interview from another Democratic candidate, Melissa Bagley.Christian is a financial officer with a small business in the city. His main concern is getting crime under control. Scott is seeking a second term in City Council. Though he's the council's youngest member, he has emerged as one of the body's most vocal members, asking men to step up against violence, the Police Department to reform, and city government to become more transparent.

Today you’ll hear two candidates for the 14th District of the Baltimore City Council, representing neighborhoods that include Charles Village, Homewood, Coldstream-Homestead-Montebello, Waverly, and half of Hampden. Our guests are Mary Pat Clarke (1:15), the incumbent city council member in the 14th District, and her challenger, Terrell Williams (27:52), a 34-year-old regional cafeteria manager for Baltimore City public schools.

2:25: A conversation with Chris Van Hollen: The Democratic Congressman who is trying to win his party’s nomination for the U.S. Senate. His opponent is Donna Edwards, another member of the Maryland Congressional delegation. The Van Hollen-Edwards contest is one of the tightest Senate races in the country. Edwards has gone on the attack, accusing Van Hollen of being too willing to compromise with Republicans on key issues during his time in the House of Representatives. But, as you’ll hear, Van Hollen says Edwards been misleading voters about his record.27:05: Brilliance comes at a price: Our book critic Paula Gallagher is really excited about a new novel called “A Doubter’s Almanac.” She says it’s the best novel she’s read this year, literary fiction at its best.30:36: Coffee and conversation with David Zurawik: The Sun's overly caffeinated media critic makes his weekly visit to the show to talk about negative advertising in the Baltimore mayoral and Maryland Senate campaigns. We’ll be serving coffee freshly roasted by Roughly Speaking producer Steve Earley, and Steve will tell us about roasting your own at home.48:28: Getting city kids to golf: It's the weekend of the Masters, so a local golf feature: One of the Baltimore area’s most exclusive country clubs has stepped up to get city kids playing golf, with a new golf learning center at Baltimore’s Forest Park Golf Club, made possible with a donation from the Caves Valley Golf Club Foundation. Our guest is Sinclair Eaddy Jr. executive director of First Tee of Greater Baltimore.

Jonathan Eig spent four years researching and writing his 623-page biography of the greatest heavyweight fighter of all time, Muhammad Ali. In today's episode, Eig talks about Ali's private and public struggles, including his willingness to go to prison over his opposition to the Vietnam War, a decision that forced him out of the ring in his prime. Eig also discusses Ali's comeback, his "Rope-A-Dope" boxing strategy, and his legacy. Eig's book is, "Ali: A Life," just published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Links:

http://www.alialife.com/