Articles by Sandra Olivetti Martin

Article - News; by Sandra Olivetti Martin - 10/4/12

What’s Your High School’s Signature?

Southern signs on to Preservation and Innovation, with a party

It’s not your grandparents’ high school any more. Or your parents’. Or your big sister’s. In Anne Arundel County’s 12 high schools, Signature adds a new level of specialization to the way teens learn. Signature is the newest addition to a menu of choices county students can make in shaping their education: Science, Technology, Engineering and Math; International Baccalaureate; Advanced Placement; Applied Technology; ROTC;...

Article - Creature Feature; by Sandra Olivetti Martin - 9/27/12

This Weeks Creature Feature ... So Long, See You...

Osprey leave Chesapeake Country

Somebody’s bound to be the last osprey to turn out the lights on summer 2012 on Chesapeake Bay. By eight weeks old, this year’s babies were as big as their parents and ready to leave the nests. By the end of July and early August, you could see the youngsters trying out their wings, fishing skills and independence. Babies raised, parent osprey were free to head south. Mothers were out of here by mid to late August. They weren’t turning...

Article - Green Living; by Sandra Olivetti Martin - 9/27/12

One in a Thousand Ways to Save Our Bay

Homestead Gardens gets its stormwater under control

A new river runs through Homestead Gardens. It’s a little out of the way, off to the side of the garden center with its plants, trees and shrubberies. But this river, which only runs when it rains, is at the center of making Homestead’s 12 acres a zero contributor to the pollution of Beard’s Creek, the South River and Chesapeake Bay. This river flows at the bottom of a grassy bowl. Before it was built, rain rushed down the sides of the bowl in a torrent...

Article - News; by Sandra Olivetti Martin - 9/20/12

Money Flows Down Four Rivers

Mini-grants help preserve Bay heritage

When the U.S. Lighthouse Society wanted to get Thomas Point Shoal Light ready for visitors, Four Rivers: The Heritage Area of Annapolis, London Town & South County helped with a mini-grant. Kneseth Israel Congregation used a mini-grant to explore a century of the Jewish Experience in Anne Arundel County. Annapolis Maritime Museum used another to show people around historic Eastport. Another mini-grant supported a kayak tour of the Rhode River. Yet another helped the...

Article - Letter from the Editor; by Sandra Olivetti Martin - 9/13/12

Plenty to Read, Plenty to Do

We write Bay Weekly for many tastes — especially yours

Bloody Murder is a play that “will slay you,” according to Bay Weekly theater reviewer Jane Elkin. Do you care? Is 2nd Star Productions on your radar? Jane’s opinion matters a lot to 2nd Star and the dozen community and professional theater companies whose plays are routinely reviewed in our pages. Davina Grace Hill, Bay Weekly’s other regular theater reviewer, and Jane damn or sanctify months of effort with their opinions....

Article - News; by Sandra Olivetti Martin - 9/13/12

Talking Trash

Annapolis jumps on the once-a-week bandwagon

This bandwagon is a trash truck, and it’s picking up speed in Maryland On September 10, the city of Annapolis reduced its trash and recycling pickup from two days to once a week. Anne Arundel County made the same move in June, reaping countians a savings of $17 on their solid-waste disposal fee, now $298. Annapolitans will do better in increased saving and services. With the city’s switch from government to private pick-up...

Article - Creature Feature; by Sandra Olivetti Martin - 9/13/12

This Weeks Creature Feature ... The Cutest Fish in...

Meet Facebook favorite Puff

There are many fish in the sea. The census of the Chesapeake extends to the thousands, filling 324 pages of Fishes of Chesapeake Bay. But few are as cute as the young northern puffer John Mayer, captain of the charter fishing boat Marauder, caught in the Patuxent River about six miles above Solomons. This little fish was so cute that Mayer carried him in a bucket to Calvert Marine Museum, which agreed to a rare adoption. “Walk-in identifications are...

Article - News; by Sandra Olivetti Martin - 9/13/12

Kennedy Center Debut for Londontowne Symphony...

Local musicians join Iraqi conductor for a Musical Dialogue Between Nations

What’s a small-town orchestra doing at a place like this? You usually hear the Londontowne Symphony Orchestra at South River or Annapolis High School. This weekend, the community-based orchestra of some 80 local professional, community and student musicians plays the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. “This will put us on the map,” says Anna Binneweg, Londontowne’s conductor and a professor at Anne Arundel...

Article - History & Lore; by Sandra Olivetti Martin - 9/13/12

Get to Know a Waterman

The Bay’s endangered humans come to life in these exhibits

Once upon a time, if you lived in Chesapeake Country, you probably worked the water. Nowadays, you probably don’t. Statistics are against it. Open the current edition of Waterman’s Gazette, and smack in the center of the monthly publication of the Maryland Watermen’s Association, you’ll read the legend: Endangered Species: Watermen of the Chesapeake. On the same page, right next to photos of real live specimens of this endangered species, you’ll...

Article - Letter from the Editor; by Sandra Olivetti Martin - 9/6/12

The Path to Success

Step one is putting the pieces together

The Labor Day weekend rain mostly skipped Chesapeake Country — at least my part — but tumultuous skies and soggy forecasts dampened a lot of parades. In Annapolis, First Sunday Arts Festival cancelled this month, and the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra moved its Labor Day Pops concert inside Maryland Hall, quashing plans for musical picnics in Quiet Waters Park. Our personal parade changed locations, too. Instead of cruising the Chesapeake, Bay Weekly the boat...