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, P.O. Box 358, Deale, MD 20751 •
E-mail them to [email protected]. or submit your letters on line, click here

Seeking Calvert Black History

Dear Bay Weekly:

I was born and raised in Calvert County and lived on Dares Beach Road growing up with my parents James and Corena Chase, who were born in Calvert County.

Doing research about blacks in Calvert during earlier years, I came across [Diana Beechener’s story on “Paving the Way”] your website [http://www.bayweekly.com/old-site/year08/issuexvi8/featuresxvi8.html] and was floored. I had no idea that Albert Cassell lived in Calvert, though I lived right across the road from Cassell Boulevard as a child and used to go swimming at the beach there.

I also knew Ailene Stamper as I attended Calvert High School, graduating in 1980. But I had no idea she was famous in creating Central Village.

I left Calvert in 1981 and did a stint with the Job Corps in Baltimore, then went to San Francisco for further training. I got hired on as a merchant seaman, and till this day I still have that job. I will be leaving in a week for Bahrain in the Middle East.

I make it back to Calvert every couple of years for a visit.

I would like to know if there are any books printed about blacks in Calvert County, as I am a collector of books.

Thanks for the great web site. It has really opened my eyes.

–David Chase, San Diego, Calif.: [email protected]

Editor’s note: Mr. Chase has written at the right time. We’ve just received our review copy of fellow Calvert countian William Poe’s photo book, African Americans of Calvert County ($19.99 at wwwlarcadiapublishing.com). We’ll be reviewing the book, but before then, Mr. Chase can read Margaret Tearman’s story on Poe, also on our website at http://www.bayweekly.com/old-site/year08/issuexvi30/leadxvi30_3.html

Trouble on Touch Screens

Dear Bay Weekly:

I’ve never had a problem using the touch screen voting machines before, but when I voted Nov. 4 there was glitch.

I made my choices, and the X appeared alongside of each name, as it is supposed to. When I came to school board candidates and touched one of the first district candidate’s names, the X did not appear as with all other previous voting selections. So I touched it again, and all of a sudden the page changed. Gone were my voting options. I looked for a back button, but nothing I touched would make it return to the previous page where the school board candidates were listed.

An election official [was able to get] the screen back to the school board candidates’ page, but my vote apparently had not registered because there was still no X next to the name.  However, other votes cast on that same page still had the X displayed.

Afterwards, I wondered why the screen jumped to another page. I also got to thinking that if I had just continued forward, then my vote for the first district school board candidate might not have been registered.

I hope this was an unusual malfunction on one voting machine at St. Leonard Elementary School. But I have to wonder if other voters had any similar problems.

–John Douglas Parran, St. Leonard

Editor’s note: After this election, Maryland returns to paper ballots.