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My Baltimore's Next: Mike Subelsky

Entrepreneur Mike Subelsky has a challenge for Baltimore: to become as "obsessed with creating and growing businesses" as other cities are with sports. To help us get there, he offers six points of action.

My Baltimore's Next: Lester Spence

The "steady diet of comic books" on which Johns Hopkins professor Lester Spence grew up gave him a healthy love of the marvelous and the fantastic. Here, he ponders the "act of taking the mundane and transforming it into the magical" as a way to change the way we think about what "public" really means.

My Baltimore's Next: Brian Sierakowski

How do we establish a "more vibrant entrepreneurial culture" here in Baltimore? For Brian Sierakowski, Director of Business Development for the Greater Baltimore Technology Council, it's all about picking the low-hanging fruit.

Shooting the Good Guy in Black

What happens when a gun-slinging, Stetson-wearing high school teacher retires after 35 years? He gets his own movie. 73-year-old former Park School teacher John Roemer is quite the character, but he's very much the real deal. After helping integrate Maryland in the '60s with peaceful protests (and sarcastic flair) and working for the ACLU, Roemer dedicated his life to inspiring his students. One of whom is Sophie Hamacher -- the filmmaker giving Roemer a starring role in the documentary of his life's passions and successes. The two have developed a unique bond, and while Roemer's career as a teacher is coming to an end, Hamacher is on the brink of something potentially huge. 

Building Better Lives At the Women's Housing Coalition

There are two kinds of progress in a place like Baltimore. There's obvious stuff like development business growth -- these are easy to see. Then there's the less obvious but arguably more important day-to-day work, done in the trenches by people who have dedicated themselves to helping others. Like, for example, the folks at the Women's Housing Coalition. You may not see them making "news" every day, but they're out there doing their part. Here, Bmore's Sam Hopkins goes behind the scenes to learn more.

Competing Interests Grapple For the Future of Federal Hill

Federal Hill is known as a destination neighborhood for young, plugged-in Baltimoreans seeking a robust bar scene and chic urban living. That reputation, however, is not without its costs. Recent developments highlight a growing tension between those who see the neighborhood as an entertainment hub and those who would prefer a quieter pace. Here, Bmore's Amy McNeal takes a look at what both sides have to say.

Wellness 2.0: Online Communities In the Face of Chronic Illness

New Media has always been only as important as its users make it. Certainly there's marginal value in a Twitter post about a great new restaurant or a Facebook pic of a birthday party. Such things, however, do little to add lasting value. In Baltimore and elsewhere there are people facing serious health troubles and finding in blogs, Facebook, and other online outlets a chance to build communities that wouldn't have been possible a decade ago. Here, Bmore Media's Katharine Schildt tracks down some of their stories.

Audio Feature: The Voices of Northeast Market

Back in April we brought you the story of what's happening on the East Monument "Main Street," one of Baltimore's less heralded commercial strips. Today, in partnership with WYPR's The Signal, we present a companion piece: an audio feature that allows you to hear directly from some of the folks featured in the original article as they discuss their life and business.

Boxing, Books Combine to Create Opportunity in West Baltimore

"I'm not here to create champions in boxing; I'm here to create champions in life." These are the words of Marvin McDowell, Maryland Boxing Hall of Fame member and founder of the UMAR Boxing and Youth Development Center. Where, through a combination of education, coaching, and mentoring, he's giving kids hope.

Teaching Accountability at House of Ruth's Abuser Intervention Program

For more than three decades the House of Ruth has served as a safe haven and resource for domestic violence victims in Baltimore. So, what are batterers doing there? Learning the skills they need to change their behavior for good thanks to new approaches at the center's Abuser Intervention Program. Bmore's Dan Collins went behind the scenes to learn more.

Developing a Different Kind of Renaissance in Park Heights

When discussion turns to neighborhood success stories in Baltimore the usual suspects tend to get most of the glory. We hear quite a bit about Canton, Federal Hill, and, more recently, Harbor East. Which is fair enough -- those are indeed successes. But they're not the only ones. A less heralded but no less significant story is playing out as we speak in Park Heights, a neighborhood that has seen its share of struggle but which appears poised to finally emerge from the shadows.

Beating Odds at the Social Work Community Outreach Service

When the University of Maryland steered away from traditional models and created the Social Work Community Outreach Service (SWCOS) plenty of folks said it would never work. Today -- nearly 20 years and some 900 field placements later -- the school is still busy making a difference in communities across Baltimore.

Startup Sites Work to Rewrite Baltimore's Media Map

It's worth remembering that there was a time, not terribly long ago, when "media" meant the morning paper and the 6 o'clock news. When a handful of large, powerful voices dominated the conversation. No more. Today, startups on a shoestring can speak as loudly and clearly as more established outlets. We took a look at the emerging media scene in Baltimore and found five sites making a name for themselves by doing just that.

Closing East Baltimore's Health Care Gap at Charm City Clinic

Affordable health care is as hot-button a topic as you'll find in America today. Yet while bureaucrats, politicians, and pundits wrangle over policy proposals in far-flung centers of power, the human truth of the issue can be all too easily lost. Not so at East Baltimore's Charm City Clinic, a grassroots effort to provide sustainable, neighborhood-based care to those who need it most.

Making Dead Buildings Live: the Steady Baltimore Museum Project

Anyone who's ever spent time in the vicinity of North and Greenmount can tell you: there is perhaps no more stark a reminder of Baltimore's troubles than the seemingly endless panorama of abandoned or derelict properties found there. Yet in empty and neglected space there's more than just rubble and ghosts. There's opportunity. For proof look no further than the Steady Baltimore Museum Project, which takes aim at two abandoned Barclay rowhouses with an eye on remaking them as community art space.
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