Articles by Ashley Brotherton

Name That Bird

Maryland’s license plate heron in identity crisis

You see him every time you drive to pick up Chinese. He’s lined up in the grocery store parking lot. You stare at him during rush hour. And now, you get to name him. He — or is it she? — is the blue heron on Maryland’s Treasure the Chesapeake licenses plates. Who would have thought such a popular bird was nameless? After 27 years, the bird is in identity as well as gender crisis. A name will not only solve those...

Article - News; by Ashley Brotherton; 4/4/13

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 Ashley Brotherton; 3/14/13

Speed Cameras Watching Annapolis

School-zone cameras add to General Assembly’s debate

Attention lead-foot drivers: Annapolis is watching you. The capital city is setting up speed cameras in 10 school zones. Drivers clocked going 12 mph over the speed limit from 8am to 6pm will be mailed a $40 fine. Tickets from the cameras don’t come with points and won’t be sent to insurance companies. Cameras came to the city at the beginning of March — just in time for a political showdown. AAA Mid-Atlantic is working to convince...

Article - News; by Ashley Brotherton; 3/7/13

Oyster Shells Can Save the Bay

And earn you a buck a bushel

Oyster shells could be worth more than the change in your pocket if the Oyster Recovery Partnership can talk the political talk. The nonprofit Partnership, which has planted four billion seed oysters in its work for recovery, is now seeking to persuade legislators to pass a bill giving a $1 tax credit for every bushel of oyster shells you recycle. Shells are desperately needed to make habitats for new oyster families and the communities they support....

Article - News; by Ashley Brotherton; 2/28/13

Bay Watermen Become Chesapeake Tour Guides

Their innovation is award-winning

Chesapeake Bay waterman were coming close to extinction in 2010 when a group of Chesapeake non-profits got innovative. The bright idea: Training captains who make a living on the Bay to give tours of the water and their craft. Now, 80 watermen guide tours through the Bay where they make their living, earning extra cash during the slow seasons. The idea is so bright that the Watermen Heritage Tourism Training Program has won the Maryland Historical Trust...

Article - News; by Ashley Brotherton; 2/21/13

Eagle Goes Viral

How Bay Weekly's Betsy Kehne got the shot

Betsy Kehne had been waiting for three decades for the bird perched a stone’s throw from her window. At five years old, she’d grieved at learning that the pesticide DDT was pushing bald eagles to extinction. DDT was banned in 1972. By the end of the century, the number of nesting eagles in Maryland had increased sixfold to 260 pairs. Today, more than 2,000 bald eagles make their homes in the Chesapeake region, so that seeing them soaring...

Article - Creature Feature; by Ashley Brotherton; 2/21/13

What Goes Up Must Come Down

Good intentions bring unintended consequences

Balloons were fresh on my mind when the Heart Healthy Foundation sent the press release announcing a balloon release to kick off Heart Health Month. The Annapolis-based foundation was releasing 200 heart-shaped balloons spaced at 33 second intervals. That’s how often an American dies from heart-related diseases. A few weeks earlier, I’d written about balloons in a very different context: as killers of sea turtles. (Read the story at http://...

Article - News; by Ashley Brotherton; 2/14/13

Wanna-Be Bikers and Pedestrians Unite

What would get you to walk and bike more?

Do you long to bike to work, but fear the roads? Want to walk around town more, but have no sidewalks in your neighborhood? This is the time for every Marylander to speak up. Maryland’s Department of Transportation is updating the Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan, which outlines how to make our state more bike- and pedestrian-friendly. Tell them what it would take to get you to pedal to the drug store or walk to the park instead of hopping in your car. ...

Article - News; by Ashley Brotherton; 2/7/13

DNR Starts Mapping Land for Preservation and...

Public meetings begin Feb. 5

Maryland Department of Natural Resources needs you. Every five years, the department creates its Land Preservation and Recreation plan to guide public purchase of land for stewardship and recreation. The next one is due at the end of this year. “These are public resources,” says John F. Wilson, DNR’s associate director for stewardship. So he wants us to describe what’s needed and to nominate places to meet the public need. “...

Article - News; by Ashley Brotherton; 1/24/13

Band Dodges Tragedy — Twice

After two members survive cardiac arrest, music keeps Telesma alive

Last spring, Ian Hesford dropped to the stage from cardiac arrest while playing a show with his band, Telesma. After 93 minutes of CPR, a hypothermic treatment and stents in his heart, Hesford survived. Knowing CPR saved their friend’s life, band members and dedicated fans took classes. Telesma vocalist Joanne Juskus didn’t realize how soon she would put that training to the test. In the middle of the night November 5,...

Article - People; by Ashley Brotherton; 1/17/13