Across the country, dozens of cities are facing serious budget deficits, that are requiring officials to cut everything from swimming pools to firehouses. We're taking a closer look at two of those cities: Detroit and Baltimore. In Detroit, residents are worried that a shortfall of around $450 million may actually force the city to file for bankruptcy. Jerome Vaughn, news director at WDET joins us.

We’ve been talking all week about how to make American schools better. Do we increase funding, create better tests or shut down failing schools? This time, we look to learn from two cities experimenting with their own education policy reforms, Baltimore and New York City.

While political pundits are assessing what they think President Obama needs to do in his first State of the Union Address, we're taking a more grass-roots approach.  Three talk show hosts share what their listeners want from the President's speech tonight, and true to form for talk radio, they're not afraid to speak their minds.

One month after being convicted for embezzling about $500 in gift cards intended for the poor, Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon resigned Wednesday after three years in office.  Marc Steiner, host of "The Marc Steiner Show" on WEAA in Baltimore, originally broke the news.  He joins us to talk about what's next for the disgraced mayor and what he's hearing from the people of Charm City.

 

Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon has been convicted of one count of embezzlement. Dixon was found guilty of stealing around $630 worth of gift cards intended for needy families in Baltimore, then using the cards at stores like Target and Old Navy. Though the charge was only a misdemeanor, Dixon could be forced from office. We're joined by Marc Steiner, host of The Marc Steiner show on WEAA. He's a long-time Baltimore resident and he's been taking the pulse of a city that has, at times, been deeply divided over the mayor's trial.

When President Obama spoke to the nation yesterday he touched on everything from the ongoing political turmoil in Iran to health care here at home to his trouble quitting smoking. These are issues that affect communities all over the country, so we're checking in with some of our partner stations this morning to help us take the pulse of America. The Takeaway is joined by Jerome Vaughn, news director at WDET in Detroit, Joshua Johnson, anchor with WLRN Miami Herald News, and Marc Steiner who hosts the Marc Steiner show on WEAA in Baltimore.

Yesterday Vice President Biden announced the federal government is releasing $2.3 billion in recovery act funding for child care and vaccines. The announcement is the latest in a flurry of national and local announcements on how stimulus spending will be spent. Some states, such as Maryland, have immediately jumped on the money and started planning, spending, and even building. Other states (New York, for example) have done next to nothing with the money yet. Joining us to discuss the stimulus spending in the the states is Takeaway Correspondent Andrea Bernstein, who is watching stimulus spending for our ShovelWatch Project, and Mark Steiner, host of the Marc Steiner Show on WEAA in Baltimore.

And we're continuing our investigation of the stimulus plan on air and online. What are your elected officials telling you is coming to your area? What do you know about the projects coming to your community? Where should the stimulus money go instead? Crowdsource the stimulus plan.