Father’s Day 2017 is Maryland Governor Larry Hogan’s first without his father, Lawrence Hogan Sr., who he calls “the man I most admire.” In honor of his father, who died on April 20, Gov. Hogan spoke with Bay Weekly about his father’s influence on him as a politician and family man.     Our governor sees himself as less “pugnacious” than his father, more focused on “the battles we can win” than on battles for their own sake....

Bernie Fowler never gives up. On the sultry second Sunday in June, he waded for the 30th time into the brown waters of the Patuxent River. Linked hand in hand, the human chain walked into the rising water until the erect 93-year-old environmental champion at its center could no longer see his white sneakers. The measurement at that point gives the year’s Sneaker Index: 41.5 inches in 2017.     A tie with 1999, that’s the fourth highest clarity reading in 30 years....

One sunny afternoon with no breeze and the air hot and sticky, fishing was becoming a drag. We were ready to pack it in when the line zinged. With a leap of excitement, I grabbed the reel and began the labor of dragging the catch in. This would be no easy feat as the line doubled over.     We were both tired when I lifted up my prize: a tiny baby cownose ray.     This majestic giant of the Chesapeake is near and dear to my heart. As a girl, I have fond memories...

Small-craft advisories and a forecast of 15- to 20-knot winds made canceling our planned outing a no-brainer. For those who chose to disregard the warnings, however, that day proved to be a placid beauty with five-knot winds, a slight overcast and a red-hot rockfish bite almost all day long off Hackett’s Bar.     Re-assembling the next day, this time for promises of a five-knot westerly breeze and a strong falling tide, we motored out of Sandy Point and headed south. I had...