Father to four, grandfather to eight and great-grand­father to seven, retired state senator Bernie Fowler doubles as father of Patuxent River recovery.     That Chesapeake tributary rises and ends in Maryland. If we can’t clean up the Patuxent, says Fowler, what chance does the Bay stand?     So Bernie waded into the river of his youth, sending ripples that haven’t stopped yet. From his determination flow Maryland’s two most powerful calls...

It was the neighborhood that drew Bob and Jill Penaloza to the ­Maritime Republic of Eastport, Annapolis’ rebellious eighth ward.     “My wife loved the eclectic nature,” Penaloza said. “In the old part, no two houses were the same.”     The family had lived all over the country: Colorado, where the couple met; Chicago, North Carolina, New York and finally rural Defiance, Missouri.     Never had they come upon a...

You’re used to Bay Weekly as the good news paper. So this week’s issue, commemorating Memorial Day, may startle you. In it you will confront images, names and particulars of 19 men who lost their lives in military service over the dozen years we have been fighting the War on Terror. All are Chesapeake neighbors so, whether we knew them or not, their images open the doors of our hearts.     They came home to houses on our streets, went to our schools, drove our roads...

Spring is in the air, and our hands are in the earth.         I’ve seen you greenscaping block-end gardens in Annapolis for Earth Day. I’ve seen you planting and mulching at St. Martin’s Lutheran School. I’ve seen you loading up at Greenstreet and Homestead Gardens and at London Town, Calvert and Four Rivers garden clubs’ plant sales. I’ve seen you digging in your garden, and I’ve seen the irrepressible flowering following...