My memory of big white perch begins on the Eastern Shore. I was fishing out of Crisfield in the early 1970s with the first fly-fishing guide on the Chesapeake, Doug Carson. I had looped out a long cast with a small, white marabou streamer to a sunken rock jetty off Janes Island and had come tight with what I assumed was a rowdy schoolie rock.  As I fought it near the boat, Doug reached over, grabbed my leader and flipped the chunky devil into the skiff remarking, “Nice black...

A Bay Weekly reader asked me why his Heritage birch was dropping its leaves despite the fact that it was under irrigation. The answer was simple: air pollution. The Heritage birch is a clone of river birch, and river birch trees are extremely sensitive to ozone and sulfur dioxide. Since the middle of June, we have experienced several days of Code Orange, and in early July we have also experienced Code Red. This means that air pollutants are sufficiently high to affect humans, and the foliage of...

For 40 years, Jean Chance has been the grand dame of W. R. Chance Jewelers on Main Street, Annapolis, the family business started by her husband’s father more than 60 years ago. Now, she’s gained a grander title: Worthy Grand Dame of the Grand Chapter of Maryland Order of the Eastern Star. The Order of the Eastern Star is a tradition from her side of the family; her grandparents, father, aunts and uncles all belonged to the fraternal organization now numbering one million members in...

  Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin may not be a diehard fan of the spicy group, but he headed north for Svalbard, Norway, as part of its entourage. No, not the funk-rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, though that would make an interesting story of a different variety. Cardin joined six congressional colleagues to deliver the seeds of American-grown chili peppers — the kind that spice up food, not concert stages — to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. Managed and run by the Global Crop...