Articles by Sandra Olivetti Martin

Thanks for Talking Back

I have a lot to say, but you make Bay Weekly a conversation

I’m writing to you. I don’t see your face when I’m writing. I don’t imagine the finished paper in your hands, so it’s always a thrill when I do see you pick up a Bay Weekly. When I catch sight of you reading over breakfast or lunch, you probably catch sight of me, too, trying to steal a glance at what page you’re on while looking inconspicuous. Whenever, wherever you read, my words belong to you. They...

Article - Letter from the Editor; by Sandra Olivetti Martin; 10/18/12

This Week’s Creature Feature ... The Flight of the...

Tagged with a transmitter, one bird’s migration ends in tragedy, mystery

Researcher Rob Bierregaard and his team climb into nests to tag East Coast osprey with radio transmitters. This fall, 11 birds are carrying transmitters that enable Bierregaard to track their every move. Birds have strong individual idiosyncrasies in their migration. Yet laid atop one another the migration lines form a clear pattern: East Coast Birds cling to that coast all the way down through Florida. Follow Cutch from Long Island, Bierregaard suggests...

Article - Creature Feature; by Sandra Olivetti Martin; 10/11/12

In Chesapeake Country, a Good Man Is Not So Hard to...

You meet them in newspapers and boatsheds, street corners and museums

It is a good thing that we live in Chesapeake Country, not Pagford. Muggles muddle into miserable messes in the scenic village of J.K. Rowling’s first novel set outside the world of wizardry. A teen antihero whose only value is trying to live authentically gets into particularly nasty trouble. Maybe living authentically is not one of those things you can achieve by trying. If you trust the lessons of fiction in general or, in particular, Rowling’s Casual Vacancy...

Article - Letter from the Editor; by Sandra Olivetti Martin; 10/11/12

What’s Your High School’s Signature?

Southern signs on to Preservation and Innovation, with a party

It’s not your grandparents’ high school any more. Or your parents’. Or your big sister’s. In Anne Arundel County’s 12 high schools, Signature adds a new level of specialization to the way teens learn. Signature is the newest addition to a menu of choices county students can make in shaping their education: Science, Technology, Engineering and Math; International Baccalaureate; Advanced Placement; Applied Technology; ROTC;...

Article - News; by Sandra Olivetti Martin; 10/4/12

Spotlight on the U.S. Boat Shows

The best show in town reminds us that Chesapeake Country’s marine trades are alive and well

Faceting makes a stone into a gem. Brilliance shines from the cut faces and their interactions. That may be true of places, too. Chesapeake Country is a well-faceted place. The central facet is natural beauty, but the sidelights cut by human imagination and endeavor make this place shine still brighter. With seasonal and calendar changes, new facets catch the light. Week by week, Chesapeake Country turns new facets to fascinate us. ...

Article - Letter from the Editor; by Sandra Olivetti Martin; 10/4/12

One in a Thousand Ways to Save Our Bay

Homestead Gardens gets its stormwater under control

A new river runs through Homestead Gardens. It’s a little out of the way, off to the side of the garden center with its plants, trees and shrubberies. But this river, which only runs when it rains, is at the center of making Homestead’s 12 acres a zero contributor to the pollution of Beard’s Creek, the South River and Chesapeake Bay. This river flows at the bottom of a grassy bowl. Before it was built, rain rushed down the sides of the bowl in a torrent...

Article - Green Living; by Sandra Olivetti Martin; 9/27/12

This Weeks Creature Feature ... So Long, See You...

Osprey leave Chesapeake Country

Somebody’s bound to be the last osprey to turn out the lights on summer 2012 on Chesapeake Bay. By eight weeks old, this year’s babies were as big as their parents and ready to leave the nests. By the end of July and early August, you could see the youngsters trying out their wings, fishing skills and independence. Babies raised, parent osprey were free to head south. Mothers were out of here by mid to late August. They weren’t turning...

Article - Creature Feature; by Sandra Olivetti Martin; 9/27/12

Money Flows Down Four Rivers

Mini-grants help preserve Bay heritage

When the U.S. Lighthouse Society wanted to get Thomas Point Shoal Light ready for visitors, Four Rivers: The Heritage Area of Annapolis, London Town & South County helped with a mini-grant. Kneseth Israel Congregation used a mini-grant to explore a century of the Jewish Experience in Anne Arundel County. Annapolis Maritime Museum used another to show people around historic Eastport. Another mini-grant supported a kayak tour of the Rhode River. Yet another helped the...

Article - News; by Sandra Olivetti Martin; 9/20/12

Get to Know a Waterman

The Bay’s endangered humans come to life in these exhibits

Once upon a time, if you lived in Chesapeake Country, you probably worked the water. Nowadays, you probably don’t. Statistics are against it. Open the current edition of Waterman’s Gazette, and smack in the center of the monthly publication of the Maryland Watermen’s Association, you’ll read the legend: Endangered Species: Watermen of the Chesapeake. On the same page, right next to photos of real live specimens of this endangered species, you’ll...

Article - History & Lore; by Sandra Olivetti Martin; 9/13/12

Kennedy Center Debut for Londontowne Symphony...

Local musicians join Iraqi conductor for a Musical Dialogue Between Nations

What’s a small-town orchestra doing at a place like this? You usually hear the Londontowne Symphony Orchestra at South River or Annapolis High School. This weekend, the community-based orchestra of some 80 local professional, community and student musicians plays the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. “This will put us on the map,” says Anna Binneweg, Londontowne’s conductor and a professor at Anne Arundel...

Article - News; by Sandra Olivetti Martin; 9/13/12