Letter from the Editor (All)

Article - Letter from the Editor; by Sandra Olivetti Martin - 11/11/10

Grace Under Pressure

How I plan to rise to the occasion of another Thanksgiving

In the harried countdown to one Thanksgiving feast, my younger son dubbed me The Frenzied Cook. Sad to say, I deserve the name. Planning ahead is not my strength. I’m captive of the moment, slave to impulse. That brisk Thanksgiving morning, after a walk in the woods, I’d indulged in a nap by the fireplace. Once I moved into the kitchen, the frantic rattling of pots and pans that ensued could have made me songwriter Charles Calhoun’s inspiration for Shake, Rattle and Roll....

Article - Letter from the Editor; by Sandra Olivetti Martin - 11/4/10

Buffeted by Change, I Step Back in Time

For a Veterans’ Day conversation with Bill Burton

Other seasons, change sneaks into our lives so stealthily that we can forget it is the law of time. This time of year, change shakes its scepter — and the leaves fall from the trees. Overnight, fall turns its back on summer and runs for winter. Frost wilts the petunias, and we scramble to shut windows and find winter coats, while just days ago, we wore short sleeves. This very week, the Texas Rangers could have been on top of the world. Now that’s where the San Francisco...

Article - Letter from the Editor; by Sandra Olivetti Martin - 10/28/10

The Parable of North Beach

Where government is a friend, not the enemy

The year’s political babble has the tenor of a neo-Freudian emergency room. Lots of people in obvious psychic pain are loudly blaming government — not mom or dad — for all that’s wrong in the world. So it was a refreshing change to visit the Calvert County town of North Beach, population 1,873, where government seems to work pretty well. So well that all three candidates in the non-partisan race for mayor say they’re setting their electoral sights on making...

Article - Letter from the Editor; by Sandra Olivetti Martin - 10/21/10

A Letter on Letters

On one, I ask you to be the judge

Your letters are the high point of my week. Of course praise is ice cream after dinner. Of that I had a full serving in W.R. Kraus’ words from Edgewater: We very much enjoy your paper. Since we moved here in 2004, it has helped us understand the area we live in; manage our garden; and find lots of fun things to do. It also has the added benefit of not making me want to jump off the roof after reading the news! Dessert is good, but I’ve never been one to skip dinner, so I happily dig...

Article - Letter from the Editor; by Sandra Olivetti Martin - 10/14/10

Fascination: That’s What Bay Weekly Promises Every...

What fascinates us comes to define us

What fascinates you? I’ve built a career of getting people to tell me their answer to that question. Over the years, I’ve learned that people are fascinated by many things, often things you or I might call odd. Like stretch-and-sew sewing. That was the short-term fascination of one dear old friend whose obsessions, I’m glad to say, changed frequently. I’m glad because I’d hate to sum up Sue’s life by saying she hand-made T-shirts. Because what...

Article - Letter from the Editor; by Sandra Olivetti Martin - 10/7/10

From Clay Street to the Sailboat Show

Telling the stories of a city at work

“Oh my Lord, thank you. I never thought I’d live to see this day,” gushed Mrs. Beatrice P. Smith, 89, of Annapolis, after throwing her arms around former President Jimmy Carter on Pleasant Street, just around the corner from — but out of sight of — downtown Annapolis. October 5 was the kind of day that evokes enthusiasm. The 86-year-old former president and his wife Rosalynn Carter were not only visiting the Clay Street neighborhood. They were also bringing...

Article - Letter from the Editor; by Sandra Olivetti Martin - 9/30/10

Diet for a Healthy Bay

U.S. EPA says Stop spoiling the Chesapeake on junk food!

If pollutants were calories, our Chesapeake would be obese, short of breath and diabetic. So it’s good news that the Environmental Protection Agency’s new plan to require other states to follow Maryland’s lead in counting — and limiting — the junk they’re feeding the Chesapeake. In an historic front-page announcement, the EPA flunked the long-awaited plans of four states — Virginia, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Delaware and New York — on improving...

Article - Letter from the Editor; by Sandra Olivetti Martin - 9/23/10

Candidates Need Newspapers

If they want to win

Bay Weekly Primary Primer helped you get to know the candidates crowding this year’s race to the general election. Even more important, it helped you cast your vote. Or would-be vote, if you were locked out of primary voting because of your political independence or residence. That’s what you’ve told me, by letter, phone, email and in person. Even Virginians — many of them weekend boaters who pick up Bay Weekly at the businesses around their marinas —...

Article - Letter from the Editor; by Sandra Olivetti Martin - 9/16/10

Oysters and Oystering

The new era begins now

In a decade or two, we might be hearing this conversation: You know, fat oysters like that one you’re eating used to be hunted in the wild, like the buffalo. Really? Like cowboys, Chesapeake watermen rode out on low-rise boats, even in the worst weather in the middle of winter, and scraped oysters from the bottom of Chesapeake Bay. Like tobacco farming, oyster harvesting has been a way of life in most of the Bay’s recorded history. But mark the year 2010 in the history book —...

Article - Letter from the Editor; by Sandra Olivetti Martin - 9/9/10

Read It Now

Or weep when you see who you’ve hired

It’s downright terrifying how much control we give away on Election Day. Scarier still is how few of us bother with these decisions. What we’re really doing when we go out to vote is hiring people for a job with vast responsibility over our public and private lives. Everybody we hire to work for us in both county boards and councils and the Maryland General Assembly will be deciding how to spend our money. We give our county hires huge control over how we’ll live: how...