We'd like to say that Annapolis' newly proposed anti-noise rules, called the Public Peace, Morals and Welfare law, might set off alarm bells. But we worry that those alarm bells might land us in jail (Jan. 14-20).
"Gotta raise a ruckus." Thus sang internationally known guitarist Bill Kirchen in Shady Side last weekend at the victory party celebrating the success of SACReD, the South Arundel Citizens for Responsible Development. There's a lesson in those lyrics. An organization of regular folk shut the Baldwin's Choice subdivision out of the Shady Side Peninsula. Now, instead of 152 homes, people will have a park (Feb. 4-10).
The poultry industry gets billions in profits while the farmers get a few cents per pound for chickens they raise - plus the onus of dealing with piles of contaminated manure. That is not acceptable in our region, where so many people and businesses depend on the Chesapeake Bay for our livelihoods (March 4-10).
There's something to the old saying about the gods granting your wishes when they want to punish you. Anne Arundel County planners wanted to get citizens involved. Citizens bit - hook, line and sinker in joining small area planning committees. Now people are demanding that the county take them seriously (March 11-17).
Five years into the Glendening Era, the smartest thing we've seen him do under the rubric of Smart Growth is follow the advice of Maryland's Democrat in Heaven, Louis Goldstein: "Buy land; the Good Lord isn't making any more of it" (April 15-21).
This week's issue marks our sixth birthday. Family-owned New Bay Times is a throwback in this era of media conglomerates. Stay tuned for your weekly installments of news, views and ways to groove in the Land of Pleasant Living (April 22-28).
Some people look at the year 2000 and see breakdowns and weirdness. We look toward the new millennium and see trees. That's because we are fortunate to have become part of an effort by American Forests to plant 20 million new trees globally. Trees once covered 95 percent of the 41 million acres in the Bay watershed. That's down to 37 percent (May 6-12).
Dear Graduate: The future roars at you; more cable channels, phones, gadgets, stores and, perhaps, loudest of all, the Internet. You've got a zillion things coming at you, but your brain has the same size confusion filter as your great-grandmother's. It may be confusing, but there are more tickets of happiness out there for those of you who set a goal, grit your teeth and let nothing stand in your way (June 10-16).
Baseball in Chesapeake County is about far more than the Baltimore Orioles. It's about Baysoxers and Chesapeake Leagues and people who take to the diamonds on sun-bleached afternoons and lazy evenings. It's about people who get more than money from America's sport and then give something back to each other and to the fans ( July 15-21).
How dry was it? Gov. Glendening decided to give up showers, prompting his wife to leave on a trade mission to Greenland. Max, our newspaper's famous yellow lab, grew two humps. And the University of Maryland voted to change the name of its athletic teams from the Terrapins to the Horned Lizards despite concerns that football players would call themselves the Horny Lizards (Aug. 5-11).
We live in a snitching society amidst a climate of growing mistrust that does not contribute to the public good. We are conditioned to view one another as gun violators, drug-takers, child-abusers and worse, and then urged to get on the phone or the Internet and expose one another (Sept. 2-8).
We're delighted that Alex Haley is moving to town; he and three young companions are statues cast in bronze at City Dock in Annapolis. Ignoring public sculpture for much of a century, Annapolis has been diminishing its stature as a capital city (Nov. 4-10).
Long after the champagne corks pop, Maryland will have lush MaryLandscapes to commemorate the millennium thanks to Maryland 2000. Because of planning, we'll have saved historic buildings from strip-mall madness. With the help of seminars and speakers, we can gain tips on living better in the new century. Hooray, hooray Y2K (Nov. 11-17).