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Articles by Ashley Brotherton

And earn you a buck a bushel

Oyster shells could be worth more than the change in your pocket if the Oyster Recovery Partnership can talk the political talk.     The nonprofit Partnership, which has planted four billion seed oysters in its work for recovery, is now seeking to persuade legislators to pass a bill giving a $1 tax credit for every bushel of oyster shells you recycle.     Shells are desperately needed to make habitats for new oyster families and the communities they support....

How Bay Weekly's Betsy Kehne got the shot

Betsy Kehne had been waiting for three decades for the bird perched a stone’s throw from her window.     At five years old, she’d grieved at learning that the pesticide DDT was pushing bald eagles to extinction.     DDT was banned in 1972. By the end of the century, the number of nesting eagles in Maryland had increased sixfold to 260 pairs. Today, more than 2,000 bald eagles make their homes in the Chesapeake region, so that seeing them soaring...

Their innovation is award-winning

Chesapeake Bay waterman were coming close to extinction in 2010 when a group of Chesapeake non-profits got innovative. The bright idea: Training captains who make a living on the Bay to give tours of the water and their craft.     Now, 80 watermen guide tours through the Bay where they make their living, earning extra cash during the slow seasons.     The idea is so bright that the Watermen Heritage Tourism Training Program has won the Maryland Historical Trust...

Good intentions bring unintended consequences

Balloons were fresh on my mind when the Heart Healthy Foundation sent the press release announcing a balloon release to kick off Heart Health Month.     The Annapolis-based foundation was releasing 200 heart-shaped balloons spaced at 33 second intervals. That’s how often an American dies from heart-related diseases.     A few weeks earlier, I’d written about balloons in a very different context: as killers of sea turtles. (Read the story at http://...

What would get you to walk and bike more?

Do you long to bike to work, but fear the roads? Want to walk around town more, but have no sidewalks in your neighborhood? This is the time for every Marylander to speak up.     Maryland’s Department of Transportation is updating the Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan, which outlines how to make our state more bike- and pedestrian-friendly. Tell them what it would take to get you to pedal to the drug store or walk to the park instead of hopping in your car.  ...

Public meetings begin Feb. 5

Maryland Department of Natural Resources needs you. Every five years, the department creates its Land Preservation and Recreation plan to guide public purchase of land for stewardship and recreation. The next one is due at the end of this year.     “These are public resources,” says John F. Wilson, DNR’s associate director for stewardship. So he wants us to describe what’s needed and to nominate places to meet the public need.     “...

Celebrate at the annual Trade Expo

Maryland Watermen’s Association celebrates its 40th birthday at the association’s annual East Coast Commercial Fishermen’s and Aquaculture Trade Exposition Jan. 18 to 20 in Ocean City.     Commercial and recreational fishermen will find a marine extravaganza at the Expo: boats, engines, fittings, fishing gear, equipment, clothing, aquaculture demonstrations and even maritime art and cuisine. Nearly 100 exhibitors show their wares, from model boats to real ones...

CSM honors the child victims of Terezin

Think spring by creating a handcrafted butterfly to help the College of Southern Maryland stage I Never Saw Another Butterfly.     The play tells the story of Raja, one of 132 survivors from the 15,000 kids who went to Terezin. Nazis disguised the World War II concentration camp with flowerbeds and concert venues to deceive International Red Cross inspectors.     There Raja created an imaginary world with flowers and butterflies to give him and other children...

Student-artists show why turtles and balloons make a bad couple

When the Virginia Aquarium Stranding Response team found Kermit washed ashore, the small green sea turtle was wasting away. X-rays showed balloons and plastic bags blocking Kermit’s throat.     Kermit and many turtles like him inspired the students at First Colonial High School in Virginia Beach to use the trash to get people talking. The student-artists created turtles stuffed with the balloons collected on the beach to demonstrate what turtles swallow.   ...

After two members survive cardiac arrest, music keeps Telesma alive

Last spring, Ian Hesford dropped to the stage from cardiac arrest while playing a show with his band, Telesma.     After 93 minutes of CPR, a hypothermic treatment and stents in his heart, Hesford survived. Knowing CPR saved their friend’s life, band members and dedicated fans took classes.     Telesma vocalist Joanne Juskus didn’t realize how soon she would put that training to the test.     In the middle of the night November 5,...