Articles by All

Article - People; by Sandra Olivetti Martin - 3/14/13

Farewell James Hoage

Bay Weekly wasn’t many issues old when the first letter from J.A. Hoage, Severna Park, arrived. It was a duplicate, not an original, for letters from James Hoage fell like rain on every newspaper covering Anne Arundel County and his larger area of interest, state, national and global politics. I’m sure it was photocopied, but in my mind’s eye Hoage’s letters are mimeographed, as his handouts to his Severna Park High School and Severn School students would once have...

Article - Letter from the Editor; by Sandra Olivetti Martin - 3/14/13

What’s the Score?

Grading the Bay’s health and Maryland’s congressional delegation

Sister Ignatius enters her final week at Bay Theatre Company, but Sisters Alphonse, Clotilda and Extrema cast an eternal shadow in my memory. I suspect it’s the image of numbers inked in their neat hands that makes me to this day averse to report cards. My grades were pretty good, in the 90s (except in arithmetic). But what we endured to earn those grades, 50 of us in a single classroom presided over by a nun whose patience had long since ended! ...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by - 3/14/13

Soup Spoons Catch More Fish

That’s the secret to success of John Whitman’s deadly CJ’s Spoon

John Whitman had had enough. The quality of his favorite fishing lures for rockfish and blues, variations of the classic spoon, had gone downhill now that they were all made outside the U.S. “They used thinner, cheaper metal, poor quality feathers, badly made hooks. You couldn’t depend on them any longer,” he said. “They didn’t swim properly, they didn’t last long and big fish could sometimes break...

Article - The Dish; by - 3/14/13

Rites of Spring

Irish loaves and burning socks

This Sunday is the day to celebrate your Irish roots or embrace the Irish heritage and culture through food, drink and jigs. Some find their Irish thru green beer and shots of Jameson’s whiskey (which often helps with the jigs). A traditional favorite is slow-roasted corned beef and cabbage. Another staple is Irish soda bread. Great Harvest Bread Company in West Annapolis is offering a variety of Irish-inspired breads, including made-from-scratch soda bread, rye bread...

Article - News; by Ashley Brotherton - 3/14/13

Reporting on Chesapeake Report Cards

Editor’s note Three report cards come to us in the early months of the year, each asking us to consider the health of the Chesapeake Bay and where — if anywhere — all our work is getting us. Each arrives at a different time, uses different criteria and grading systems and supports a different agenda. How to make sense of any — let alone all — of them? Here staff writer Ashley Brotherton offers a cheat-sheet on the basics....

Article - News; by Sandra Olivetti Martin - 3/14/13

Shad: Our Failing Fish

Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s 2012 Grade F (9 on a scale of 70)

Inspired this time of year by the earliest signs of spring to carry on their ancient species, shad don’t know they’re failing the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s survival test. They’re just doing what comes naturally. That’s returning from ocean to Chesapeake to the river headwaters of their birth. To fish used to cold oceanic waters, 40 means spring. When water temperatures top that mark,...

Article - Movie Reviews; by Diana Beechener - 3/7/13

Lore

Overcoming the sins of the father — and the fatherland

What if the people who loved you turned out to be monsters? Could you change your worldview to survive in this new order? Or would the truth end up swallowing you whole? Fourteen-year-old Lore (Saskia Rosendahl: Für Elise) lives an idyllic life in World War II Germany. Blonde and blue-eyed, she’s the picture of youthful innocence, still more child than woman as she romps through fields in suspendered skirts and Heidi braids. A high-ranking SS...

Article - Sky Watch by J. Alex Knoll; by J. Alex Knoll - 3/7/13

Searching for Comet Pan-STARRS

Scan the west after sunset

After last month’s near-passing asteroid and the exploding meteorite over Siberia, we have another interloper passing through: Comet Pan-STARRS. Given clear skies and an unobstructed view of the west horizon at dusk, you can spot this comet over the coming week. Sunday, March 10 marks its closest approach to the sun and thus its brightest appearance. But the comet doesn’t reach its highest point in our skies until March 20, when you may be able to spot it as late...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle - 3/7/13

Are Redfish Coming Our Way?

Changing conditions bring new characters to Chesapeake waters

Perhaps it’s global warming. Maybe it was a super-successful spawn. Or it could be another one of those things that can’t be explained. Whatever the cause, young redfish are pushing up the Bay in search of new sources of food. This high up in the Bay is the northern edge of these fish’s customary salinity range. But anecdotal indications are that a pretty fair number of redfish overwintered here. That means you’re likely to encounter these game fish...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin - 3/7/13

The Science of Pruning

Read this before you start cutting

What should I prune when? is one of the most common questions I am asked. I answer that we prune for quality — with exceptions. In general, prune summer- and fall-flowering plants in the early spring so the plant can produce an abundance of new branches on which flowers will develop and bloom. Buddleia or butterfly bush, roses, hydrangea, crape myrtle and elaeagnus fall into this category. Early spring pruning gives these plants encouragement to...