Polling Update: Is Gov. Robert Ehrlich regaining his luster in time for his re-election bid? A fresh poll of 828 registered voters in Maryland conducted through Sunday by Gonzales Research & Marketing Strategies showed Ehrlich’s approval rating bubbling up to 53 percent, four percent better than October…

In Annapolis, Anne Arundel County Executive Janet Owens told legislators at a breakfast meeting at Harry Browne’s this week that she wants $3 million in Open Space funds from the state to buy and preserve a 50-acre, waterfront farm in Shady Side. She is waiting for Gov. Robert Ehrlich’s budget plan before getting her hopes up. “The county has been discovered. Everybody wants our waterfront,” she said…

In North Beach, the town hall has been evacuated after its invasion by 13 different kinds of mold, including the nasty stachybotrys or black mold, in walls, ceiling and the air-conditioning system. The culprit was identified, said Mayor Mark Frazer, after “employees experienced unusually high rates of respiratory ailments.” It’s expected to take six months to clean out the World War II-era building. Meanwhile, the town is doing business in a trailer with great Chesapeake Bay views…

In Vancouver, June Matheson decided that trees bordering a city park impeded her ocean view, so she killed them with herbicide. She pleaded guilty last week to poisoning the trees and must pay $50,000 to replace them and plant others. She can afford it considering she sold her condo with the ocean view for $1.5 million…

Our Creature Feature comes from up and down the Chesapeake Bay, where sportfishing men and women were stunned by a Maryland Department of Natural Resources plan to allow commercial fishing of yellow perch. As fishing folks along the Bay and tributaries know, delectable yellow perch declined significantly in abundance before a recent comeback.

But DNR, in a surprise conclusion, says that the perch have rebounded sufficiently to open the Choptank and Nanticoke rivers to the commercial operators. The agency is likely to get an earful at a 7pm hearing Jan. 25 at its 580 Taylor Avenue headquarters in Annapolis.