Harris Urged to Compromise

CHESTER, MD - Twenty people gathered Tuesday at Congressman Andy Harris' office to offer their opinion on the current stalemate in Congress over raising the nation's debt limit.

According to Dick Sossi, district office manager and community liaison for Harris' Kent Island office, the group arrived without notice at about noon carrying signs and was invited into a conference room where staffers took copious notes on their concerns. Sossi said he would relay the notes to the congressman.

Most sign messages called for Harris to compromise on legislation being discussed in Congress.

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Man’s Body Found in Choptank River

Three Rescued from Bay; One Man Still Missing on Sassafras River

DENTON, MD - The body of a man found Sunday morning in the water at Choptank River Yacht Club in Denton is at the state medical examiner's office awaiting a cause of death, police said Sunday night.

Maryland Department of Natural Resources Police found the body at about 11:30 a.m., and contacted Maryland State Police about an hour later. DNR alerts MSP when a death is considered suspicious or unattended.

Police continued investigating at the scene early Sunday night, and had tentatively identified the man, described as a black man, about 70 years old, who lived in the Denton area. At press time, police had not alerted the man's family and did not provide his identity.

The man's identity will likely become available today, with his cause of death pending autopsy results from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore.

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UPDATE -

Maryland State Police are investigating the death of a Caroline County man whose body was found yesterday in the Choptank River near Denton.

The man is identified as Louis R. Nichols, 71, of the 300-block of South Fourth Street, Denton, Md, where he lived with the daughter of his deceased spouse. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The cause and manner of his death have not been determined at this time. His body was taken to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore for an autopsy.

At about 11:00 a.m. on July 24, 2011, a man fishing in the Choptank River just north of business Rt. 404, saw a body in the water near the west bank of the river, not far from the old Rt. 404 bridge. Deputies from the Caroline County Sheriff’s Office responded, along with Natural Resources Police and criminal investigators from the State Police Easton Barrack. State Police Homicide Unit investigators were contacted and are leading the ongoing investigation. A cause of death was not immediately obvious to investigators.

Investigators have learned Nichols worked at a restaurant in Ridgely. He left work at about 9:00 p.m. on July 23rd and visited at a friend’s house nearby until about 10:00 p.m. At this point in the investigation, that is the last time he was seen alive.

The investigation is continuing.

Chesapeake College Nearing Fall Enrollment Record

WYE MILLS, MD - A five-week enrollment surge at Chesapeake College has the college in position to set a fall semester enrollment record for the sixth straight year.

According to Chesapeake College, as of Tuesday, Chesapeake College began the day with 2,471 students registered for the 2011 fall semester, which is a 1.7 percent increase compared to the same point last year when 2,431 students were enrolled.

Chesapeake College remained about 3 percent below last fall's enrollment pace on June 13 before the five-week surge. Between June 13 and 18, 747 students enrolled at the college, a 15.3 percent increase over the same period in 2010.

"We've registered an incredible number of students over the last five weeks," said Kathy Petrichenko, Chesapeake College dean for recruitment services. "The fall enrollment period actually began rather slowly, but enrollment started picking up in mid-June and hasn't slowed since."

Petrichenko said a survey disseminated in July to Spring 2011 students, who had not yet registered for fall 2011, showed students were registering later than in previous years.

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Somerset Man Charged With Thefts in QA, Kent Counties

A warrant has been issued for a Somerset County man in connection with the theft of copper wire and copper bus bars from cell phone towers in Queen Anne's and Kent counties.

Maryland State Police say the warrant is for William Frederick Martin Jr., 21, of Eden, on charges of theft over $10,000, conspiracy to commit theft, and malicious destruction of property over $500.

A state police statement listed the State of Maryland, Delmarva Power, Verizon Wireless, Sprint/Nextel, and Choptank Electric as the victims.Tfc. N. VanSant of the Centreville Barrack's Criminal Investigation Section, along with other law enforcement agencies, has been investigating "numerous thefts" of copper wire and copper bus bars from several different cell phone towers, state police said.

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Queen Anne’s Officials Question BOE Charge

The Queen Anne's County school board has billed the county commissioners for using three schools for public budget hearings.

The Board of Education has not previously billed the county for the use of schools for hearings.

At the county commissioners' meeting July 12, Commissioner David Olds called the charges "petty" and asked County Administrator Gregg Todd if they could be deducted from next year's Board of Education funding.

Todd presented the bills to the commissioners for informational purposes and there was not a vote taken on whether or not to pay them. Todd said after the meeting that the county would pay the invoices.

The charges are $124 for using the Bayside Elementary School gymnasium for two hours (at $62 per hour) on June 13, $124 for using the Sudlersville Middle School gymnasium for two hours on June 15, and $418 for using the Queen Anne's High School auditorium for two hours (at $209 per hour) on June 14.

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Staffer in Queen Anne’s County State’s Attorney Office Accused of Theft

An office worker has admitted to stealing thousands of dollars in cash from the Queen Anne's County State's Attorney's Office, police say in charging papers.

Melissa Ann Knotts, 34, of 112 Church Meadow Court, Chestertown, is charged with theft less than $1,000 and theft scheme between $1,000 and $10,000 in District Court for Queen Anne's County.

In a charging document, Det. Sgt. Bruce Layton of the Queen Anne's County Sheriff's Office said the state's attorney's office began conducting an investigation into the theft from an office operating account after learning of a discrepancy in the account balance.

The investigation included a review of the bank statements for the operating account and a review of internal case files in which currency passed through the office for restitution payment to the victim in a criminal case.

The investigation found that $750 in cash had been given to Knotts on or about Sept. 2 and was never deposited into the office bank account, but a restitution check had been written to the victim.

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Four Mid-Shore High Schools Rank Among Nation’s Best

Four Mid-Shore high schools were recently named by the Washington Post as being among the elite public high schools in the nation for college preparedness.

Easton (ranked 1,494), Colonel Richardson (1,741), Queen Anne's County (1,762) and North Caroline (1,886) high schools made the list that included 1,953 high schools.

Jay Matthews, the Washington Post education columnist, has been ranking Washington-area public schools using the Challenge Index since 1998. This year, the Post expanded its rankings to high schools across the nation.

According to the Post, the Challenge Index measures how effectively a school prepares its students for college. The formula divides the number of Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate or other college-level tests a school gave in 2010 by the number of graduating seniors.

According to the Washington Post, the rating can reveal the level of a high school's commitment to preparing average students for college.

Easton High School finds itself on the new Washington Post list after five years of being named one of the top public high schools in the nation by Newsweek.

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We discovered an error in the article (a good one, actually).  North Caroline HS also made the ranking. Sadly, no schools on the Lower Shore were included. – Ed.

Camp Wright Gets Improvements

Campers at Camp Wright will see some new structures when they begin arriving this month for residential and day camp activities.

The 81-year-old camp, which is a function of the Episcopal Diocese of Easton, has built a new pavilion for use by both groups of campers and a new cabin for use by residential campers.

Their completion follows a busy off-season for the camp during which many of the existing buildings were repaired and painted as part of improvements to the physical plant of the camp, which is on the Bay just off Route 8.

"The main focus of the pavilion has been for the day camp. It's been using tents for the last nine years," said Camp Wright Director Dee Zeller. "The residential camp will also be using it in the evening."

It will also be available for use by rental groups in the spring and fall, she said. Zeller explained that the pavilion is the first step in a camp master plan that has been under discussion for some time.

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The History of Centreville Wharf

The most recent past history of the Centreville Wharf has been of long-held promise with no results except for more weeds ... that is, until the miracle on the Corsica took place.

Once again, the life and history of the Wharf is about to return. People will again be able to use their waterfront, spend time enjoying fishing, boating and summer recreation. Yet without knowing where we have been, it would be difficult to really appreciate what we have now.

Almost unknown is Centreville's connection to Wall Street in New York City, before it was called Wall Street. A Dutch entrepreneur arriving in New York in the early 1600s made enough money in property (property that eventually became Wall Street) that by 1660 he was able to bring his family here to Centreville and purchase his first large acreage on the Corsica, becoming a tobacco grower and exporter. He and his family would eventually own large tracts of land all the way out to present Symphony Village. Before his death he was able to amass most of the property that now makes up the heart of Centreville. But his first property was on the Corsica and he was among the first of those who sent tobacco from here to the Old World.

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Queen Anne’s County Farmers Offer Tour

Yes, they did know how to use a level when they built the football-field-size cow barn at Patterson's Farm in Queen Anne's County. The concrete floor was built at a 3-degree slope on purpose, so that a water rinse would ease waste away from the dairy cows with minimal disturbance.

Farm knowledge is generally lacking these days since the majority of people don't spend life growing up on a farm anymore. Modern construction and environmental practices are uniquely shaping the farming industry, which is struggling with the dynamics of family succession and government oversight.

The Queen Anne's County Farm Bureau offered its latest effort in education outreach on a recent June morning, presenting a tour of the county's agricultural areas to local government officials in a comfortable air-conditioned coach, with stopovers showcasing some of county's diverse farming businesses.

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