Baltimore Grassroots Media

Starting on Monday, May 19, 2008 at 8 a.m. Democracy Now! will begin airing regularly on WEAA-FM (88.9) in Baltimore City. Currently the daily news hour is only available to Baltimore radio listeners as a distant, often intermittent signal from WPFW-FM (89.3) out of Washington, D.C. The program has been viewable on the Baltimore City's Comcast cable television channel 75 weekdays at 6 p.m. with repeat broadcasts at 8 a.m. since April of 2003. WEAA is a 12,600 watt National Public Radio Station licensed and owned by Morgan State University.

Tonight's 6 p.m. meeting of the board of directors of Community Media of Baltimore City, the organization that will oversee public access TV channel 75, has been moved to City Hall in the Reeves Conference Room on the 4th floor. Usually the monthly meetings are held at the Mayor's Office of Cable and Communications (MOCC). The reason for the last-minute change has not been announced, although there has been speculation that the move may have something to do with the city's delay in officially transferring control of the public access channel and it's funds to CMBC.

This week's NAACP Report public access TV show is a wrap-up of the 2008 Maryland State Legislative Session guest-hosted by the branch's political action committee chair Dr. Rodney Orange. The panelists are the following representatives to the state legislature from Baltimore City (in order of appearance): Del. Melvin Stukes (District 44), Sen. Nathaniel J. McFadden (District 45), Del. Keith E. Haynes (District 44), Del. Samuel I. Rosenberg (District 41), Del. Frank M. Conaway, Jr. (District 40), Del. Nathaniel T. Oaks (District 41), Del. Barbara Robinson (District 40), Del. Cheryl D. Glenn (District 45), Del. Jill P. Carter (District 41), Sen. Lisa A. Gladden (District 41), Del. Shawn Z. Tarrant (District 40) and Sen. Catherine E. Pugh (District 40). The panel discussion is in two parts. Part one, the first hour, is the legislator's opening statements. Part two covers the second hour as legislators answer questions from the audience.

This week's TV show of the Baltimore City Branch of the NAACP, hosted by Marvin "Doc" Cheatham, deals with home foreclosures and predatory lending practices. Panelists for the discussion, which took place at Union Baptist Church on Tuesday, March 25, 2008, were Angela Ciccolo (Interim General Counsel to the NAACP), Arlene DuBose (Manager, Century 21 Home Specialists), Suzanne Sangree (Chief Solicitor, City of Baltimore Law Department), Paul Graziano (Baltimore City Housing Commissioner), Mike Reza (President & Co-owner, Breeze Mortgage), Deizshel Setzer (Mortgage Planner, Priority Financial Services), Robert Strupp, Esq. (Director of Research & Policy, Community Law Center), Joe Fox (Maryland ACORN), Herman Randolph (a victim of predatory lending practices), Diane Cipollone (Special Project Attorney, National Fair Housing Alliance), Dan Pontious (Acting Executive Director, Citizens Planning and Housing Association) and Arlene Fisher (West Baltimore Coalition). Part two covers the second hour of the panel discussion as panelists answer questions from the audience.

A YouTube video titled "CSI: Annapolis" created by David Sloan, artist in residence with Baltimore Algebra Project, shows the Feb. 6, 2008 action where 26 of several hundred mostly student protesters were arrested trying to improve conditions for Baltimore City schools.

Watch the video:

A video posted Saturday, Feb. 9, 2008 on YouTube.com shows a Baltimore City police officer grabbing a 14-year-old skateboarder around the neck, throwing him to the ground, forcefully pushing him back down when he tries to get up, and confiscating his skateboard at Baltimore's Inner Harbor. According to a report by WJZ, the officer, Salvatore Rivieri, a 17-year veteran of the force, was suspended with pay Monday morning pending an internal investigation of the incident which took place sometime in the late summer.

Watch the video:

Anna Sowers, whose husband Zack Sowers is still in a coma after being beaten and robbed on June 2, 2007 while walking to his Patterson Park home, is a guest on the "NAACP Report" TV show to discuss their story and her new role as an anti-violence activist. Also appearing are Ramsey Flynn, a friend and supporter of the Sowers family, and Luke Broadwater, a reporter for the Baltimore Examiner who has covered the story.

Baltimore Algebra Project and the Baltimore City Branch of the NAACP held an event on Saturday, Nov. 17, 2007 at Baltimore City College high school called "The 25th Anniversary of the Algebra Project: A Community Forum". A keynote address was given by Robert Moses, founder of The Algebra Project, followed by audience comments and a panel discusion featuring Baltimore City Public School System CEO Dr. Andres Alonso, Rev. Heber Brown III, Dr. Tyrone Powers of Children 1st Movement, and Chelsea Carson and Maryland Shaw of the Baltimore Algebra Project.
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The current episode of "NAACP Report," the hour-long television show of the Baltimore City branch of the NAACP, features a panel of speakers discussing the pros and cons of reintroducing slot machine gambling to Maryland. The Oct. 23, 2007 event at Union Baptist Church was hosted by branch president Marvin "Doc" Cheatham and broadcast on Baltimore City's public access channel, Ch. 75 on Comcast cable.

Speaking in favor of slots were Ernie Greco, President, Baltimore AFL-CIO; David Dunphy, lobbyist for UFCW Local 27 and Harry Manley Servicing Director, UFCW Local 27. The panelists opposing slots were Aaron Meisner of Stop Slots Maryland; Del. Curt Anderson; Dr. Tyrone Powers of Children 1st and Peter Franchot, the Comptroller of Maryland. Jeff Hooke of Maryland Tax Education Foundation and Michael Johnson, of Black United Fund of Maryland focused their comments on making sure if slots do happen in Maryland citizens get the best possible deal. Stephen Janis of The Baltimore Examiner provided a historical perspective. Governor Martin O'Malley did not send a representative of his administration's position.

Baltimore Grassroots Media produces the video for the NAACP Report. This episode was first broadcast Oct. 26, 2007 on Ch. 75 on Comcast cable in Baltimore City.

The Baltimore City Board of Elections will post Primary Election results starting around 9 p.m. Tues., Sept. 11, 2007 with half-hourly updates at the web page http://www.ci.baltimore.md.us/government/elections/results/.

Tune in to Baltimore City cable Ch. 75 Monday, Sept. 10 at 10 p.m. for a last chance to see the candidates for City Council President square off. The August 21, 2007 debate, sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Baltimore City and WYPR 88.1 FM, aired on the radio station, but this will be the first TV broadcast of the video produced by Baltimore Grassroots Media. The participants are Democrats Kenneth Harris, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Michael Sarbanes and Charles Ulysses Smith along with Green Party candidate Maria Allwine. WYPR's Marc Steiner hosts. The winner of the Democratic primary this Tuesday, Sept. 11 will face Allwine in the Nov. 6 general election.

The City Council President candidates debate will also be broadcast on Ch. 75 Tuesday, Sept. 11 at 2 p.m. The League of Women Voters 10th District City Council Candidates debate will be shown Sunday and Monday, Sept. 9 and 10 at 8 p.m. and Monday, Sept. 10 at 4 a.m.

On July 2, after years of struggle and strife, activists from the coalition Maryland Got Democracy held a press conference to publicize the Voting Registration Protection Act of 2007 that restores voting rights to 52,000 state ex-offenders—before seven of these newly eligible citizens entered the Baltimore City Board of Elections and registered to vote. Read more...

At a City Hall press conference June 26, Mayor Sheila Dixon held a meet and greet with Esther Coaline–Warbey, the mayor of Baltimore’s first sister city, Gbarnga, Liberia. Read more...

After six days of a black screen and then color bars, programming was restored to Ch. 75, Baltimore City's public access channel, this afternoon.

Today's Democracy Now! dealing with the first anniversary of the bloody crackdown on striking school teachers in Oaxaca, Mexico and Michael Moore's new documentary "Sicko" on the nation's health care system will play at 6 p.m., its regularly scheduled time.

Baltimore's public access channel, Ch. 75, has been out since around 3 p.m. Friday, June 8 because of a flood originating from the floor above the offices of the Mayor's Office of Cable and Communications (MOCC). Electrical equipment was shut down to avoid damage when water from a broken air conditioning pipe on the third floor started rushing in and effecting the entire back end of the MOCC's second floor offices.

The MOCC's staff public access operator was told not to come in today, and public access producers and viewers are being told to call the MOCC at 410-396-1100 if they have any questions. The MOCC hopes to have Channel 75 opperating by Tuesday, June 12.

Update Thu., 6/14/07 11:50 a.m.: Channel 75 still down, showing only color bars.

Community Media of Baltimore City (CMBC) is seeking nominees for two Board of Directors vacancies due to the departure of board members Alyson A. McFarland and Melissa Baal. CMBC is the corporation that will run public access TV channel 75 when it moves out of the Mayor's Office of Cable and Communications. The deadline for nominations is Sunday, July 1, and the board nominating form can be found at the CMBC website.

Baltimore City's public access channel 75 was down—showing a black screen—from sometime Tuesday, April 24, 2007, until around midday on Wednesday, April 25.

According to the website for Community Media of Baltimore City (CMBC)—the organization that oversees public access TV channel 75—there is an opening on the Board of Directors. The 13-member board has been meeting since Feb. 1, 2007. The deadline for nominations for interested candidates is Tuesday, May 1, 2007. More information is available on the CMBC website.

Less than two weeks ago, Baltimore City police arrested seven-year-old Gerard Mungo, Jr. and took him to jail. This Saturday, a short time after a noon rally in support of the boy and his family, police arrested his mother, Lakisia Dinkins, in a bizarre turn of events that many suspect was retaliation or an attempt to intimidate her for speaking out about the incident. Read more...

This Tuesday, Feb. 27, there will be a legislative hearing on a resolution to protect a free and open Internet. House Bill 1069, introduced by Del. Herman L. Taylor, Jr., Dem., Dist. 14, Montgomery Co., is threatened by opposition from Comcast and Verizon. For more information, see www.savetheinternet.com and watch this video:
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The Baltimore Sun is reporting that Verizon Communications Inc. and Baltimore County officials have reached an agreement that allows Verizon to offer cable services in competition with Comcast. There is no mention in the article of any public access or other public, education, and goverment (PEG) channels being included in the deal. The agreement, negotiated on the government's behalf by Councilman Kevin B. Kamenetz, still needs approval of the County Council with a vote scheduled for March 5. Comcast has 220,000 subscribers in Baltimore County—almost double its number in Baltimore City—but Baltimore County does not have any public access channels.

With unseasonably mild temperatures reaching 57 degrees, a large demonstration of protestors from all over the country and parts of the world gathered on the National Mall in front of the U.S. Capitol on Saturday, Jan. 27 to rally against President George W. Bush’s latest military buildup in Iraq.

Although many major news organizations reported the attendance to be in the tens of thousands, rally organizers with United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ) announced that the total was 500,000. Read more...

Former Baltimore City Council President Sheila Dixon—who technically became the city's mayor yesterday when Martin O'Malley was sworn in as Governor of Maryland—ceremonially became mayor today inside the War Memorial Building across the plaza from City Hall. It is now her Mayor's Office of Cable and Communications (MOCC) which operates the government channel, TV25, and is temporarily running public access TV, channel 75, until a public access facility is available.

At the Baltimore Leadership Alliance for Quality Education (BLAQE) conference held at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) on October 14th, educators, parents, and concerned citizens gathered together to discuss how to improve the Baltimore City Public School System (BCPSS). Congressman Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD) organized the conference, and he and Bishop Walter S. Thomas, Sr., served as hosts. It included educators and administrators who have achieved success in the school system. One was Jason Botel of the KIPP Academy (Ujima Village), who invited everyone to come to his school and see the outstanding progress it has made with its students. A Johns Hopkins University health official, as well as the CEO and President of the Philadelphia School system, also participated. Read more...

At their December 14, 2006 meeting, the Board of Incorporators of the organization that will oversee public access TV in Baltimore City finalized its selection of the 13 individuals who will make up the initial board of that organization, to be called Community Media of Baltimore City. The list of board members will be posted here as soon as it is officially available.

Update: According to Board of Incorporators member Greg Whitehair the nominees selected to make up the CMBC board are: Melissa Baal, V. Lee Brady, Lanette Davis, Jayfus T. Doswell Ph.D, Maresa L. Gold, Michael A. Gray, Crissa Holder Smith, Helen Holton, Sandra Long, Denise M. Lowery, Alyson A. McFarland, Edgardo Nieves and Bonnie Raindrop.

On Wednesday, December 20, 2006 the Federal Communications Commission ruled 3-2 along partisan lines that telephone companies seeking to enter the pay-TV market will not be bound by the same regulations as the cable companies. While the telcos claim that the ruling will lead to better services, more choices and lower prices, local municipalities will be restricted in their ability to negotiate franchise agreements that provide for public access channels and institutional networks or require extending service to all houses. Read more...

Students from Baltimore City schools joined about 7,000 in a march on Washington, D.C. Monday, December 1, 2006 from the Supreme Court to the Lincoln Memorial. A BGM video of the event should be available soon.

According to the Mayor's Office of Cable and Communications (MOCC), Baltimore City's public access TV channel, Ch. 75, will be down Friday, November 24, 2006 for technical repairs. The office will be open, but no programming will be broadcast that day. The schedule should resume on Saturday.

The Board of Incorporators for Baltimore City's soon-to-be public access corporation has reopened the nomination process to find additional board members for Community Media of Baltimore City (CMBC)—the organization that will oversee Channel 75. At the time of this posting the nomination form was not available on the CMBC website, so it is being posted for download here (this form does not show the correct deadline—it should be Wednesday, November 15, 2006).

Maryland State Board of Elections election results for Baltimore City. Over 11,000 absentee ballots (as of Tuesday afternoon) to be counted beginning Thursday, November 9 at 10 a.m.

Video of the statewide candidates forum at the 66th Annual Convention of the Maryland State NAACP Conference, produced by Baltimore Grassroots Media for NAACP Report, a weekly TV show hosted by Baltimore City NAACP branch president, Marvin "Doc" Cheatham, will be broadcast in the city on public access cable Channel 75. The forum, videotaped on October 28, 2006 at the Radisson Plaza Lord Baltimore hotel, includes candidates for Governor: Ed Boyd (Green), Christopher A. Driscoll (Populist), Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. (R) and Martin O'Malley (D) and U.S. Senate candidates: Benjamin L. Cardin (D), Michael S. Steele (R), Lih Young (D, write-in) and Kevin Zeese (Green; also nominated by Libertarian and Populist parties). Read more...

According to an article in the November 2, 2006 Baltimore Sun, a city auditor's report shows that between July 1, 2004 and June 30, 2005 the Mayor's Office of Cable and Communications (MOCC) did not obtain the proper financial records to verify that the franchise fees owed by the cable companies to the city, as specified in the cable franchise agreements, were received.

With its 6 p.m. broadcast on Wednesday, October 11, 2006 Baltimore City's public access Channel 75 became the first—and so far only—TV channel to televise any debate among the candidates for Maryland's next U.S. Senator: Benjamin L. Cardin, Michael S. Steele and Kevin Zeese.

The debate, which took place October 3, 2006, was hosted by Greater Baltimore Urban League and conducted by Charles Robinson of Maryland Public Television and Doni Glover of BMORENEWS.com. The broadcast was produced by Baltimore Grassroots Media. Click on below on "Read more..." to watch the video. Read more...

Baltimore City's public access TV Board of Incorporators (BoI) will likely reopen the nomination process for three to five positions on the board for Community Media of Baltimore City, the organization that will run public access, according to an email dated October 10, 2006 from Bunnie Riedel, a consultant hired to facilitate the proccess of forming the organization, to the BoI members. Read more...

The candidates for U.S. Senate in Maryland (from right to left) Ben Cardin (D), Michael Steele (R) and Kevin Zeese (G)

Baltimore Grassroots Media (BGM) will be videotaping the first Maryland U.S. Senate candidate debate since the September 12th primary. The town hall forum will include the nominee of the emergent Green Party as well as those of the Democratic and Republican parties. Read more...

Award-winning journalist Amy Goodman, host of the daily, grassroots, global, radio/TV news hour Democracy Now! (broadcast on public access Ch. 75 weekdays at 6 PM with repeats at 8 AM the following day), is on a national speaking tour to mark DN!'s 10th anniversary and launch her second book with journalist David Goodman, Static: Government Liars, Media Cheerleaders, and the People Who Fight Back. Read more...

Wednesday, September 27, 2006 at 6 PM, executive director Marilyn Harris-Davis and two other staff members of the Mayor's Office of Cable and Communications (MOCC) held an informational meeting for public access TV producers in Baltimore City that was attended by six producers - a low turnout possibly affected by gridlock in the area from the filming of the Bruce Willis movie Live Free or Die Hard. Read more...

Sometime before 6 PM on Tuesday, September 19, 2006, Channel 75, Baltimore City's public access TV channel, became available once again for Comcast subscribers with digital cable boxes. The channel had been unavailable for these subscribers for about two weeks.

The government channel, Ch. 25, also broadcast out of the Mayor's Office of Cable and Communications, was not affected by the disruption.

Some Baltimore City Comcast cable TV subscribers are reporting that for about two weeks they have been unable to receive Channel 75, the public access channel, which is included with all cable packages, even the most basic $10/month package. Read more...

The Mayor's Office of Cable and Communications (MOCC) has posted a message on the Community Media of Baltimore City (CMBC) website announcing an informational meeting for producers of public access TV shows. Read more...

The Baltimore City public access Board of Incorporators meeting scheduled for Friday, August 11, 2006, 1 p.m. at the Mayor's Office of Cable and Communications (MOCC) has been cancelled because the air conditioning is not working, according to an email consultant Bunnie Riedel sent to board members, some MOCC and city staff, and others on Wednesday. The meeting has been rescheduled for Friday, September 15, 2006 at 1 p.m., also in the MOCC's conference room at 8 Market Place, suite 200.

See www.saveaccess.org and www.alliancecm.org for details.

The Baltimore Sun reports that the pending franchise agreement for Verizon to provide cable TV in Anne Arundel County would provide five public access channels (this probably means PEG channels), 5% of cable revenue to the county, and free cable service to schools, libraries, fire and police stations, and for other municipal uses.

Nominations for the initial 13-member Board of Directors of Community Media of Baltimore City (CMBC), the organization that will run public access Channel 75, must be delivered to the Mayor's Office of Cable and Communications by Wednesday, May 31, 2006. The nomination form and details are posted at www.cmbc.tv.

The initial CMBC board will be chosen from these nominations by the public access Board of Incorporators, which has been meeting monthly since the fall of 2005.

According to an article in today's Baltimore Sun, the phone company Verizon has reached an agreement with Baltimore County to build a fiber-optic network and potentially offer cable TV to county residents in direct competition with Comcast, but the Baltimore County Council still has to approve the deal with a vote scheduled for May 15, 2006, and a cable franchise agreement must also be worked out between the County Council and Verizon. Councilman Kevin Kamenetz negotiates franchises for the council. There is no mention in the article of provisions or funding for public access channels.

Update 5/4/06: Tom Peddicord, secretary and legislative counsel to the County Council confirmed that there is no public access channel in Baltimore County and added, "I never get any questions about it. Maybe there's a lack of interest."

Peddicord said Verizon has been invited to submit an application to provide cable TV services, but they have not responded. Perhaps they are waiting for the COPE Act to go through.

The euphemistically named Communications Opportunity, Promotion, and Enhancement Act of 2006, a federal bill backed by the telecom industry, passed in the House Commerce Committee 42-12 and is being fast-tracked for a full House vote as early as the week of May 8, 2006! This overhaul of telecommunications law could be more devestating to community interests then the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

To take action now and get more information, go to these sites:
www.saveaccess.org
www.mnn.org/saveaccess

The bill text, formally introduced May 2, 2006 as HR5252: Communications Opportunity, Promotion, and Enhancement Act of 2006

Group prevails despite misleading assurances and contradictory rationale from consultant to city school system

Were it not for the last-minute actions of a group of parents and staff from Dickey Hill Elementary/Middle School, the school would have been designated for demolition in the current round of school closings. Read more...