Bay Weekly | The Chesapeake's Independent Newspaper Since 1993

Paying Tribute

On Memorial Day we pay a debt that binds us in perpetuity

The Comeback Kids

The Wounded Warrior Amputee Softball Team proves it ain’t over yet

Memorial Day Two Ways

In tribute to the dead, in celebration of living

Getting to Know Northern Ring-Necked Snakes

In my Calvert country neighborhood, my kitties help me meet the neighbors

Pity the Poor Crape Myrtle

But I have no pity for pruners who butcher this beautiful summer-flowering species

When the Planets Align

Mercury, Venus and Jupiter gather in the glow of twilight

A Dime’s Worth of Father’s Day Wisdom

Dad carries a heavy load, and look how we reward him

We celebrate this Father’s Day with an Everyman story. We like such stories. Whether the narrators are Everyman, Everywoman or Everychild, they show us so many faces of our shared human nature. Usually, we find out how much we have in common across our differences. Everychild, for example, wrote our Mother’s Day feature story, with Mrs. Smith’s second graders at Arnold Elementary School writing and illustrating the good deeds of their mothers. Read that story, and you...

Article - Letter from the Editor; by Sandra Olivetti Martin; 6/17/10

A Sweetwater Slam

Despite heavy winds, I landed a largemouth bass, a bluegill and a pickerel

Most folks know that a grand slam is baseball’s term for a home run with the bases loaded. Angling has its own slam. A Chesapeake Bay slam is landing a rockfish, bluefish and Spanish mackerel on the same day. The freshwater version is typically a largemouth bass, a pickerel and a bluegill. Fish Are Biting When winds permit, there is great fishing on the Chesapeake. Trollers are starting to do well pulling small spoons, fast and on top for Spanish mackerel and blues, slow and low...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle; 9/23/10

Colonial Players' Private Lives

Noel Coward’s wit seldom shows its age

Noel Coward was witty, erudite, classy and provocative. His playwriting gifts continue to make Private Lives — a play he wrote in four days 80 years ago — compelling. Colonial Players of Annapolis’ choice to begin its 61st season, Private Lives displays classic Coward irreverence towards marriage and social conventions. The plot line is simple: Sibyl and Elyot are on their honeymoon, as are Victor and Amanda. The complicating factor? Elyot and Amanda used to be married to each...

Article - Theatre Reviews; by Davina Grace Hill; 9/23/10

This Week’s Creature Feature - Good-bye Terrapins

After raising terrapins from hatchlings,
3rd-graders release them at Poplar Island

The terrapins are now as tall as a cheeseburger, which is as big as two thumbs on top of each other. They were the size of a quarter when they came to Mrs. Debbie Hendricks’ third grade class at Arnold Elementary School on October 2, 2009. We raised them in a tank. Their names are Flippers and Tsunami, and their favorite things to eat are fish and snails. Their birth certificate told us they were both girls. They were born on Poplar Island. But their mother wasn’t there, so...

Article - Creature Feature; by Jack Knoll; 6/17/10

Riding the Roller Coaster

Highs and lows on the trotline

The initial run on our trotline proved a surprising success. The first four baits had jumbo crabs hanging on them, and my netter, Harrison, quickly had them rattling in our collection basket. After that fortunate start, they continued to come, and there was scarcely need to measure any of them. All were prime Jimmies. My son and I were ecstatic. This was going to prove an easy trip. We would quickly discover that we were wrong again. Our trip had nearly been a casualty from the...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle; 6/24/10

Sky Watch-Topsy-Turvy

Looking at a star map, the world really is turned upside-down

A reader asked what she was seeing from her northeast-facing window. “Would I see evening or morning stars in this direction?” And would the same be true for planets? “I did look at your column and thought I understood the paragraph about Venus, but now I'm not so sure. Help! Thanks a bunch.” Only after reading and re-reading did I realize her problem: I was flat-out wrong, falling victim to my own sky map, inverting east and west, thus greatly confusing this reader...

Article - Sky Watch by J. Alex Knoll; by J. Alex Knoll; 6/24/10

The Osprey Saga

Week 15: The Lone Child

The other morning, I looked out the window to see Olivia off the nest, sitting on a perch I had nailed to a nearby piling. She was busily preening her feathers. After seven weeks virtually glued to the nest, she had taken on a rumpled and ragged look. I guess she finally felt that the kid(s) could get along without her for a short time while she did some personal grooming without being bothered by her ever-hungry chick(s) clamoring for attention. But she was soon back on the job, trying...

Article - Osprey Saga by M.C. Koblos; by M.C. Koblos; 6/24/10

Correspondence

-We welcome your opinions and letters – with name and address. We will edit when necessary. Include your name, address and phone number for verification. Mail them to Bay Weekly, 1629 Forest Drive, Annapolis, MD 21403 •E-mail them to editor@bayweekly.com. or submit your letters on-line by clicking here.

Marylanders Kill Oysters Dear Bay Weekly: Putting oysters in the Severn River [Creature Feature: June 10) amounts to little more than animal cruelty. Saving the Bay is not about putting the right number of oysters in the Bay; it is about improving water quality to a point that oysters can survive. The oysters that have been put in the Severn for more than two decades are dead. More than 50 percent of the oysters that Severn River Association planted this summer will be dead by next...

Article - Correspondence; by correspondence; 6/24/10

Update — 24 Years In: 34-1/2 Inches of Clarity

Fowler’s Followers wade in for the Patuxent

Bernie Fowler’s Sneaker Index did not soar this year. He saw 341x2 inches of leg, for a water clarity index equal to that of 2004, but far below the goal of 57 inches last seen in 1960. The former state senator and Patuxent River champion needed many to the ninth power to describe the years it will take before the river is as clear, hence unpolluted, as in his youth. “Bernie Fowler is never going to live long enough to see the river cleaned up,” he said, comparing...

Article - News; by Sandra Olivetti Martin; 6/24/10

License Plate Bingo

Keep your eyes peeled for more Maryland plates this summer

Just in time for the long, irritable driving hours to your summer vacation, license plate bingo gets more interesting. School’s end brought a new standard license plate to Maryland. Maryland War of 1812 plates, issued on Flag Day, June 14, are still rare enough that they should be worth double points on highway bingo. But they won’t be rare for long, as the new commemorative plate is standard issue and will gradually replace Maryland’s old black-and-white plate with the...

Article - News; by Sandra Olivetti Martin; 6/24/10

Paying Tribute

The Comeback Kids

Memorial Day Two Ways

Getting to Know Northern Ring-Necked Snakes

Pity the Poor Crape Myrtle

When the Planets Align

A Dime’s Worth of Father’s Day Wisdom

A Sweetwater Slam

Colonial Players' Private Lives

This Week’s Creature Feature - Good-bye Terrapins

Riding the Roller Coaster

Sky Watch-Topsy-Turvy

The Osprey Saga

Correspondence

Update — 24 Years In: 34-1/2 Inches of Clarity

License Plate Bingo

Classifieds

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