Features (News)

Article - News; by Sandra Olivetti Martin - 3/14/13

Shad: Our Failing Fish

Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s 2012 Grade F (9 on a scale of 70)

Inspired this time of year by the earliest signs of spring to carry on their ancient species, shad don’t know they’re failing the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s survival test. They’re just doing what comes naturally. That’s returning from ocean to Chesapeake to the river headwaters of their birth. To fish used to cold oceanic waters, 40 means spring. When water temperatures top that mark,...

Article - News; by Emily Myron - 3/7/13

Take Me to the River

Waterway Access Bill would get Charlie Stek — and you — safely to the water

Charlie Stek wanted his son to experience nature, fishing and paddling rivers. With Maryland’s 10,000 miles of rivers and streams — crossed by 5,176 bridges — that ought to be easy. Yet there was no safe way to get to the water. To fish the Patuxent, Stek and his son Alex had to park on blind curves, jump guardrails and scamper down banks. “We had this incredible asset right down the road that kids, families and...

Article - News; by Ashley Brotherton - 3/7/13

Speed Cameras Watching Annapolis

School-zone cameras add to General Assembly’s debate

Attention lead-foot drivers: Annapolis is watching you. The capital city is setting up speed cameras in 10 school zones. Drivers clocked going 12 mph over the speed limit from 8am to 6pm will be mailed a $40 fine. Tickets from the cameras don’t come with points and won’t be sent to insurance companies. Cameras came to the city at the beginning of March — just in time for a political showdown. AAA Mid-Atlantic is working to convince...

Article - News; by Cathryn Williams Freeburger - 3/7/13

Dogs Can’t Vote, So Here We Are

Calvert high schoolers learn to lobby to save animals

I can’t resist a kitten. For six years I’ve mothered orphan kittens for Patuxent Animal Welfare Society. But it was the numbers I couldn’t help that made me an activist. Every year in Maryland, 45,000 dogs and cats are destroyed. Maryland ranks 39th on the Animal Legal Defense Fund’s state report card on animal-protection issues. My passing-60 promise was to get involved in making broader changes, so I got up before dawn one...

Article - News; by Sandra Olivetti Martin - 2/28/13

One Whale of a Puzzle

Crossword creator Ben Tausig wins Orca award for Best Crossword

When your favorite movie wins an Oscar, you can say I was there — virtually. You’ve gotten closer than that in the world of puzzles if you’ve matched wits with Ben Tausig, winner of the Orca for Best Crossword of 2012. Like the Oscars, the Orcas are awarded by insiders, the followers of Sam Donaldson’s blog, Diary of a Crossword Fiend. Tausig’s March 28, 2012 puzzle, published in The Onion A.V. Club, won...

Article - News; by Michelle Steel - 2/28/13

1,000 New Teachers on Staff at Annmarie Garden

Red Wigglers demonstrate the inside story of composting

Red Wiggler worms are busy digging and dining in a compost Can-O-Worms at Annmarie Garden. Second graders visiting Annmarie Garden on daily CHESPAX field trips explore the world of composting with a little help from the Garden’s squirmy residents, about a thousand in all. Red Wiggler worms, along with eight volunteers who do the talking, teach the students hands-on and practical ways to go green in their daily lives. “The...

Article - News; by Ashley Brotherton - 2/28/13

Oyster Shells Can Save the Bay

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....

Article - News; by Ashley Brotherton - 2/21/13

Bay Watermen Become Chesapeake Tour Guides

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...

Article - News; by Ashley Brotherton - 2/14/13

What Goes Up Must Come Down

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://...

Article - News; by Sandra Olivetti Martin - 2/14/13

A Composting Hero

Bay Gardener helped found an industry on nature’s fertilizer

For every job, there’s an association. Every association has heroes lauded for having discovered how to do the job better. The Bay Gardener, Dr. Francis Gouin, has just been enrolled as a hero of the U.S. Composting Council. This month, Gouin received Hi Kellogg Award in recognition of his outstanding service to the composting industry in research, teaching and promoting the use of compost by nursery and greenhouse growers and by home gardeners. ...