Bay Weekly | The Chesapeake's Independent Newspaper Since 1993

Giving It All Away

Free deposits and free withdrawals keep this bank solvent

Going for the Gold

It’s worth the work to attract these birds to your backyard

Preakness Treats

Celebrate with a Maryland original, the Black Eyed Susan

Piercing the White House Bubble

Kenneth Walsh on how 10 modern-day presidents tried to keep in touch

Chumming for Summer Rockfish

Tips on chum, tackle and tide

Conquering Chickweed

If you can’t kill this prolific weed, you can eat it

Thank God It’s 2011

With the year comes new hope. Grab it now before it ages.

“You Catholics think you can do anything and then go confess,” said my Lutheran-reared husband as we watched the connivances in The Crime of Padre Amaro, a Mexican-made Academy Award finalist of a couple years back. If you think I have anything more to say about religion or movies, guess again. Except to say that the New Year brings us all a bit of the kind of relief confession grants Catholics. I’d be going too far to imagine it’s the grace of God that washed over...

Article - Letter from the Editor; by Sandra Olivetti Martin; 1/6/11

A Matter of Degrees

Even at their best, we can never see the full face of Mercury or Venus

While winter has just begun, we’re already in the process of reclaiming daylight, and Saturday marks a milestone when the sun sets at 5:00. Over the next month, the sun sets roughly one minute later each day. That same Saturday, daybreak arrives at 7:25, but alas, through January, it will come just a few minutes earlier each week. Sunset reveals Jupiter in the south. Look for the waxing moon less than 10 degrees to the east of Jupiter Sunday night and to the west Monday night. By 10...

Article - Sky Watch by J. Alex Knoll; by J. Alex Knoll; 1/6/11

What’s with That?

Discovering the truth behind everyday curiosities

A Gaggle of Geese What do a flock of political geese, an American flag and an uprising of religious symbols have in common? They’re all visible from Aris T. Allen Boulevard and all products of Jerry Blackwell’s creative self-expression. The flag, cross, crescent moon and star are nothing new. Bay Weekly begins 2011 with a series dedicated to explaining life’s little conundrums: the strange sights you pass on your way to work … bizarre lawn decorations that must have...

Article - Features; by by Aries Matheos; 1/6/11

This Week’s Creature Feature

The Latest Addition to the National Zoo Has a Nose for Trouble

Born on the seventh of December, the latest addition to the National Zoo has already caused a fuss among the zookeepers. The giant anteater pup was found lying outside his mother’s cage with a dangerously low body temperature. The month-old cub was rushed to the vet, then given the all-clear to go back to his mom. “We’re not sure what happened,” says animal keeper Leigh Pitsko. “But he pulled through like a trooper.” He’s also learned his lesson. This...

Article - Creature Feature; by Diana Beechener; 1/6/11

20 Questions about the Bay’s New Cleanup Plan

With these plain English answers, you’ll know as much as the experts (Of course nobody knows if it will work)

There have been a lot of headlines lately about how we’re finally going to start cleaning up Chesapeake Bay. Most feature the non-word TMDL. Q What is this TMDL thing that everyone keeps talking about? A TMDL stands for Total Maximum Daily Load. It’s a fancy phrase for measuring and establishing limits on what’s polluting the Bay, specifically nitrogen, phosphorous and sediment. The primary sources of nitrogen and phosphorous are sewage treatment plants, farms and stormwater...

Article - Where We Live by Steve Carr; by Steve Carr; 1/6/11

Predictions for the Coming Year’s Sporting Life

Good — and sometimes great — fishing in a cleaner Bay

One of America’s wryest philosophers, Yogi Berra, once noted that predictions were difficult to make, especially about the future. Despite his sage warning, I feel compelled to make some Tidewater prophecies for the New Year. Fish Are Biting At last! A slight warming spell has freed many of the ice-bound tributaries, and the pickerel and perch are on the move. Lip-hooked minnows on a shad dart under a bobber will tempt them and relieve your winter doldrums — at least until...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle; 1/6/11

It Took a Village to Find Our Lost Dog

Dear Bay Weekly: When my Mom, Margaret Asquith, passed away, her dog, Katie, remained with my husband Don and me. Although 14 years old, with hearing and vision issues, Katie could still run like a pony and had her own mind about things. But one morning in the predawn darkness, Katie disappeared. Panic quickly set in and the search began on foot and by car. After reporting her missing on the County Animal Control website, I was contacted by Anne Wills of www.DogsFindingDogs.com. In addition to...

Article - Correspondence; by Mary Cardyn; 1/6/11

Sharing New Year’s Optimism

Dear Bay Weekly: My philosophy from high school was based on the lines in the A.E. Houseman poem, Therefore, since the world has still Much good, but much less good than ill, And while the sun and moon endure, Luck’s a chance but trouble’s sure, I’d face it as a wise man would, And train for ill and not for good. A kid I went to high school with, P.F. Kluge, now a well-known writer (Edie and the Cruisers; The Big Elvis), wrote over his picture in my yearbook, “Don’...

Article - Correspondence; by Dick Lahn; 1/6/11

The King’s Speech

A speech impediment proves to be a royal pain in this excellent drama

At the close of the 1925 Empire Exhibition, England’s Duke of York Albert (Colin Firth: A Single Man) stands before a live audience for his radio broadcast debut. Instead of a refined address, the Duke broadcasts a halting stuttering address as his countrymen regard him in horror. This is the next in a long line of humiliations for Albert — called B-b-b-bertie by his family — who chokes on marbles and smokes heavily under doctor’s orders in attempts to cure his...

Article - Movie Reviews; by Diana Beechener; 1/6/11

Your Christmas Tree’s Days of Giving Are Not Over

It still holds gifts for flowers and birds

If you planted pansies in your garden last fall, use branches of your discarded Christmas tree to provide the plants with some winter protection. Cutting the branches near the stem and spreading a single layer over the pansies will provide light shade, thus reducing chances of winter injury if we don’t get sufficient snow. Next spring, remove the branches just as the plants resume growing. Pansies are winter-hardy, but providing them with light winter shade will improve their spring color...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin; 1/6/11

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Giving It All Away

Going for the Gold

Preakness Treats

Piercing the White House Bubble

Chumming for Summer Rockfish

Conquering Chickweed

Thank God It’s 2011

A Matter of Degrees

What’s with That?

This Week’s Creature Feature

20 Questions about the Bay’s New Cleanup Plan

Predictions for the Coming Year’s Sporting Life

It Took a Village to Find Our Lost Dog

Sharing New Year’s Optimism

The King’s Speech

Your Christmas Tree’s Days of Giving Are Not Over

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