Tim O’Neill of Severna Park is project manager for Power Component Systems out of Hanover. One of several subcontractors restoring the dome of Maryland’s State House — built between 1784 and 1787 as the second dome to top the 1772 Capitol — Power Component Systems has the job of stripping the top layers of paint from the Capitol’s dome. Bay Weekly    What’s it like up there? Tim O’Neill    I’ve been above the acorn...

The Chesapeake Beach Railway has always been a passage to altered states. It was laid a century ago to link the sweltering city of Washington with cooling Bay waters, breezes and panoply of fun. When cars pushed trains off the map, nature took back its right of way.     This week, the final three miles of the old railway reopened as the Chesapeake Beach Railway Trail to take you back to nature through the gateway of history. From the Chesapeake Beach Water Park, the trail...

Each year as the leaves turn orange in Maryland, orange-tinted butterflies turn south. Monarch butterflies, easily recognizable in bold orange and yellow hues, visit Maryland each spring and summer to enjoy nectar and liquids from fruit.     While the monarchs might be fun to spot in your garden, make sure to keep pets and children from trying to sample the insects. As larvae, the monarchs eat a strict diet of only milkweed, which helps them develop cardenolides — a poison...

It won’t happen without you.     The actions of federal, state and local governments are just the beginning of revitalizing the Bay. We are also counting on the partnership of millions of people who live in this region to join in protecting the waters that support their health, their environment and their economy.     So said EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson this summer, speaking in her new role as this year’s president of the Chesapeake Bay Executive...