Volume 14, Issue 41 ~ October 12 - October 18, 2006

Way Downstream

In local politics, everyone’s talking about the unseemly congressional scandal involving disgraced ex-Rep. Mark Foley of Florida and pages. Maryland Republicans like House Minority Whip Anthony O’Donnell of Calvert County are just shaking their heads as they contemplate damage to the GOP. He told Bay Weekly: “It’s something that’s not good news. But if somebody does something sick and illegal, should everybody be held accountable for it? I don’t think so. The Democratic Party has had their fair share of scandals in this area, too.”…

On the Eastern Shore, developers are licking their wounds now that the state Critical Area Commission has said no to a $1 billion plan to build nearly 3,000 homes and a golf course on fragile lands near Blackwater Wildlife Refuge. But the money men behind the deal say they’re not beaten and might yet try to build either the homes or the golf course, but not both …

Around Maryland, autumn’s a late bloomer this year. The annual color change is in full swing in the highest Appalachian elevations out west, with maples, sumac and gums brilliant. According to the Foliage Network, moderate color (31 to 60 percent change) is being reported along the Appalachian Mountains in western Virginia and eastern West Virginia. Here, we’ve got greenery (11 percent to 30 percent color change) on trees that still cling to their leaves. Stay tuned at DNR’s Fall Foliage Hotline: 800-leaves-1. …

In Virginia, the NCAA has ruled that the College of William and Mary nickname, the Tribe, “is not hostile or abusive” to Native Americans. Nonetheless, the college governing body has recommended that the college remove feathers from its logo. We fail to understand the logic here, but we applaud the decision this week by the Williamsburg college to comply…

Our Creature Feature comes from Spain, where there’s bad news for Caesar salad lovers. Millions upon millions of anchovies are being found dead on beaches, stinking up northern Spain and creating a mystery for people who think about these things.

Freaky currents? Hot water from global warming? Scientists can’t say, but Luis Laria, who heads Spain’s Marine Species Study and Protection Center, thinks he has a good guess. “The mostly likely hypothesis is predators,” he told Reuters. “Sea bass, dolphins or tunas might be chasing them too close to shore.”

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