I’m in the attic gathering my Halloween and fall decorations. Earlier today, I surveyed the pumpkins for sale at the markets. I began to wonder…is this the year that I stop decorating? There are ... [Continue Story]
Public Affairs
Easton Council Highlights: Neighborhood Service Center leaders warn of heating assistance crisis
The Easton town council heard a sobering report from two leaders of the Neighborhood Service Center about a pending crisis in seniors and low-income ... [Continue Story]
- Spy Long Form Saturday: A Check-in with Eastern Shore Land Conservancy’s Steve Kline
- Watch Last Night’s Avalon-Spy Town Hall Meeting with School Board Candidates
- Avalon Spy Town Meeting Tonight with School Board Candidates and Guide to Voting
- CDC Says Maryland, AND Most of The Nation, has had Fewer Overdose Deaths In 2024
- Last Chance: Take Our Education Survey Before the Avalon-Spy Town Hall with School Board Candidates
- Talbot Councilmembers Stepp and Callahan Raise Concerns on Imbalance in County Election Judges
Spy Highlights
From and Fuller: The politics of natural disasters and will the Democrats lose the Senate?
Every Thursday, the Spy hosts a conversation with Al From and Craig Fuller on the most topical political news of the moment. This week, From and Fuller discuss how the Trump and Harris campaigns are using the country’s most recent natural disasters in Florida and North Carolina for political gain. Al and Craig also chat […]
- From and Fuller: The net-net of VP debates and did JD Vance really win?
- Illiteracy on the Mid-Shore: A Chat with Kevin Beverly and Richard Marks on “Sentenced”
- From and Fuller: The Pennsylvania Challenge and is it the End of the Harris Honeymoon?
- Irma’s Got a Brand New Gig: A Chat with Eden Green’s New CEO Irma Toce
- Remembering Neil King at the Avalon
- From and Fuller: Politics and Rhetoric After 2nd Attempt on Donald Trump and Andy Harris’s Freedom Caucus
The Arts and Local Design
Spy Review: Isidore String Quartet Interlude by Steve Parks
The Isidore String Quartet, riding high after back-to-back years as winner of Canada’s prestigious Banff International String Quartet ... [Continue Story]
- Spy Review: The Film SENTENCED takes on illiteracy
- Charlotte Potter Kasic is the Next Director of the Academy Art Museum
- Spy Review: Saturday’s Piano Concert at the Ebenezer was One for the Ages
- At 89, My Father Takes Up Swearing by Sue Ellen Thompson
- From and Fuller: Politics and Rhetoric After 2nd Attempt on Donald Trump and Andy Harris’s Freedom Caucus
- Academy Art Museum Announces Bugatti: Reaching for Perfection
Chesapeake Ecosystem
Maryland Levies Fines on Perdue, Valley Proteins for Environmental Violations
Two major agricultural companies ramped up operations recently on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, and the environment paid a price, according to the ... [Continue Story]
- Bay Climate Adaptation: The TNC Guide in Finding the Money for Major Infrastructure Change
- Mid-Shore Arts Plein Air Easton and ESLC Pair Up to Promote Land Conservation
- Wild-Caught Chesapeake Blue Catfish Phenomenon Booming: Thank Goodness
- Blue Crab Populations are Down, But Experts are Not Worried
- First Baby Eagles Hatch on Reborn Chesapeake Island
- Report dolphin sightings with Chesapeake Dolphin Watch and help scientists with Chesapeake Bay research
Maryland News
The Maryland Department of Juvenile Services announces launch of commission on juvenile justice, reforms detention policies
The Maryland Department of Juvenile Services today announced the launch of the Commission on Juvenile Justice Reform and Emerging Best Practices, a ... [Continue Story]
Health
Let’s Talk About It: The reality of intergenerational trauma with For All Seasons CEO Beth Anne Dorman
Some wonderful things get passed on from generation to generation in families, but that is not the case with intergenerational trauma. The ... [Continue Story]
- Let’s Talk About It: Suicide on the Mid-Shore with For All Seasons CEO Beth Anne Dorman
- Having a Baby in the 21st Century with Shore Health’s Jessica Genrich and Stephanie Blades
- Six Marylanders hospitalized so far in listeria outbreak tied to deli meats
- Easier, Shorter Radiation Treatment for Early Stage Breast Cancer Now Offered at Shore Regional Health Cancer Center
- Everyone with Cancer Needs a Navigation Team: A Chat with UM Shore Regional Health’s Robin Ford and Rochalla Jones
Education
Prekindergarten Expansion For Private Providers Off To A Slow Start
One of the requirements for the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future 10-year education reform plan was to expand prekindergarten, but it’s off to a slow ... [Continue Story]
- Spy Survey Summary on Learning for a Lifetime on the Mid-Shore
- Talbot County STEM Camp Completes Another Excellent Summer
- Talbot County Library Hosts Youth STEAM Program
- Spy and WHCP New Series: Checking in with Superintendent of Dorchester Schools Dr. Jymil Thompson
- The CBMM PATRIOT’s Dynamic Duo: A Chat with Joyce and Matt Gauthier
Food & Garden Highlights
Free talk on Marjorie Post’s estate and gardens
Talbot County Garden Club welcomes guest speaker, Jessica Bonilla, director of Horticulture at Washington D.C.’s Hillwood’s gardens, on October 22nd ... [Continue Story]
Brevities
Agent 86 Reconnaissance Footage: Over St. Michaels
Earlier this week, Agent 86 submitted an impressive surveillance report on St. Michaels. We thought it was important to pass this along to our Spy ... [Continue Story]
- Live and in Person: From and Fuller talk election politics at the Avalon
- Spy Agent 8 Report: Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum’s annual Small Craft Festival
- Clowns by Katherine Emery
- Talbot Historical Society Project Rewind: Heading over to Safeway
- The Big Draw by Katherine Emery
- October 2024 Sky-Watch : Maybe A Bright Comet By Dennis Herrmann
Commerce
From and Fuller: The politics of natural disasters and will the Democrats lose the Senate?
Every Thursday, the Spy hosts a conversation with Al From and Craig Fuller on the most topical political news of the moment. This week, From and ... [Continue Story]
Community Notes
Election Day Countdown: From and Fuller needs your opinion on Alsobrook vs. Hogan
Spy readers are encouraged to participate in one of several unscientific survey questions as the Mid-Shore prepares for Election Day 2024 this ... [Continue Story]
- Tilghman Watermen’s Museum reveals 2024 Christmas ornament
- Last call for classic Mustang drawing Oct. 23 in St. Michaels
- Women & Girls Fund grant applications are due by November 1 for programs serving the needs of women and girls.
- State Highway Administration to close MD 662 for new hospital construction in Talbot County
- Don’t miss CBMM’s OysterFest on Oct. 26
- Talbot County council meeting highlights, September 24, 2024
Senior Life Highlights
Cruisin’ with Christine: Serving the Londonderry Community with Pat Bradley
Over the last ten years, the Spy and Londonderry on the Tred Avon have worked together on stories about this unique retirement community that educates ... [Continue Story]
- Upper Shore Aging Hosts the Re-Dedication of the Amy Lynn Ferris Adult Activity Center
- Cruisin’ with Christine: Erica Hardeo and the Art of Engagement at Londonderry
- Cruisin’ with Christine: New Londonderry Residents Barbara Pratt and Phillip Gibson
- Herb Cain Appointed Executive Director of Upper Shore Aging
- Water, Water Everywhere…For Drinking, Playing And Exercising!
- Londonderry on the Tred Avon Named “Best Retirement Community” by What’s Up Eastern Shore for Ninth Consecutive Year
Arts Notes
Tred Avon Players announces auditions for PLAZA SUITE
Tred Avon Players (TAP) invites actors of all experience levels to audition for our upcoming production of PLAZA SUITE by Neil Simon which will be ... [Continue Story]
- Third annual Plein Air Adkins is Nov. 2 at Adkins Arboretum
- Shore Lit and the Academy Art Museum host Nicole Chung book talk
- St. Michaels Art League announces winners of 2024 “Capturing Autumn” exhibit
- Working Artists Forum to showcase at 2024 Waterfowl Festival
- Matt Zoll – Classic works at Troika Gallery
- Bria Skonberg to perform at Oxford Community Center on November 30, 2024
Ecosystem Notes
Rendezvous At The Farmstead With Shorerivers
ShoreRivers is proud to announce that its highly anticipated fall Rendezvous event is returning for a third year, with guests invited to the Farmstead ... [Continue Story]
Education Notes
Chesapeake Forum: unleash your creativity in October
Give your creativity free rein in October with several upcoming Chesapeake Forum classes designed to engage your eyes, ears and hands. First, learn ... [Continue Story]
- TCPS Appoints Student Representatives To Board Of Education
- Prekindergarten Expansion For Private Providers Off To A Slow Start
- Gunston Recognizes 30 AP Scholars for 23-24 Academic Year
- A Screening of SENTENCED set for September 29th in Dorchester
- Avalon and Talbot Spy to Host Board of Education Town Hall October 2
- Get Laughs at the Library on Friday to Benefit St. Michaels Library Expansion
Health Notes
Talbot County Health Department announces leadership transition: departing Health Officer and interim Health Officer welcomed
The Talbot County Health Department (TCHD) announces a significant leadership transition as Dr. Maria Maguire, Health Officer, departs after 5 years ... [Continue Story]
- Get ready for a SPOOKtacular night at Talbot County’s “BOOnanza” event!
- An Internationally-Recognized Expert On Aging To Speak In Easton, Chestertown
- Friends of UM Shore Regional Health Providing Financial Support For New Regional Medical Center
- First Mobile Medication Collection Set for National Take Back Day
- Healing from Addiction Event this Month in Easton
- Grace Street Joins Eastern Half of Country for Largest Free Naloxone Event
Commerce Notes
From and Fuller: The politics of natural disasters and will the Democrats lose the Senate?
Every Thursday, the Spy hosts a conversation with Al From and Craig Fuller on the most topical political news of the moment. This week, From and ... [Continue Story]
- Election Day Countdown: From and Fuller needs your opinion on Alsobrook vs. Hogan
- Agent 86 Reconnaissance Footage: Over St. Michaels
- Celebrating the seasons by Angela Rieck
- Letter to Editor: Silo Square concerns
- House of the Week: Broad Creek bliss
- The utter shamelessness of the Trump agenda by J.E. Dean
Food Friday
Food Friday: Autumnal pork chops
Like Milo, the little boy in The Phantom Tollbooth, I am often looking ahead, which diminishes the piquancy of the current moment. Milo wanted to know what would ... [Continue Story]
Looking at the Masters with Beverly Smith
Looking at the masters: autumn in Europe
“Autumn Frost” (1874) (18”x22”), by Impressionist painter Alfred Sisley (1830-1899), is a depiction of what French travel advisors describe as “one of ... [Continue Story]
Design with Jenn Martella
House of the Week: Broad Creek bliss
As I drove along a gravel driveway lined with Loblolly trees to reach this house, I thought how fitting this tree is to the Eastern Shore, for early St. Michaels colonists boiled the resin into pitch or tar from the trees to preserve their ship riggings and wooden boats. This 4+ acre property’s Loblolly pines’ […]
From and Fuller Podcast
From and Fuller: The Pennsylvania Challenge and is it the End of the Harris Honeymoon?
Every Thursday, the Spy hosts a conversation with Al From and Craig Fuller on the most topical political news of the moment. This week, From and ... [Continue Story]
- From and Fuller: Politics and Rhetoric After 2nd Attempt on Donald Trump and Andy Harris’s Freedom Caucus
- From and Fuller: The Politics of Coattails and Endorsements in 2024
- From and Fuller: Does Policy Matter in 2024; Never-Trumpers Not Endorsing Harris, and RFK Jr. Exit
- From and Fuller Special Edition: The Harris Moment and a New Republican Future
- From and Fuller: The Magical Thinking of a Harris Landslide
- From and Fuller: Evaluating J.D. Vance and Trump’s MAGA Moment with Black Journalists
Columnist J.E. Dean
The utter shamelessness of the Trump agenda by J.E. Dean
Last night, I had a dream that I was in the spin room following a Trump rally. Spin rooms are set up at political events to provide journalists with a ... [Continue Story]
- J.D. Vance Wins the Vice-Presidential Debate, With Help from Walz by J.E. Dean
- A Second Assassination Attempt on Trump by J.E. Dean
- Remembering September 11—and January 6 by J.E. Dean
- The Foul Odor of the Trump-Kennedy Alliance by J.E. Dean
- The Trump Spell Has Been Broken by J.E. Dean
- What I Learned from the Paris Olympics by J.E. Dean
Columnist Howard Freedlander
Out and About, Sort Of: Unconscionable, Unsuccessful by Howard Freedlander
In the late 19th century, as Native American reservations faced dissolution at the soiled hands of White settlers, the Catholic Church decided to establish boarding schools for Indian children. The purpose was an ill-fated effort to assimilate, involuntarily, indigenous youth and decimate their culture. It was cruel. Schooling by the Catholic Church intended to impose […]
- Out and About (Sort of): Stars in Different Realms by Howard Freedlander
- Out and About (Sort of): Slavery of Thought by Howard Freedlander
- Out and About (Sort of): Higher Education on Edge by Howard Freedlander
- Strike for Democracy by Howard Freedlander
- Out and About (Sort of): American Voter by Howard Freedlander
- Out and About (Sort of): Hospice Heroes by Howard Freedlander
Columnist Hugh Panero
The Awkward Gentrification of Bellevue by Hugh Panero
In 2022, Talbot County first heard about a new fourteen-home luxury housing development in the Village of Bellevue, one of twenty-two unincorporated ... [Continue Story]
- Mr. Biden, It’s Time to Hand Over the Keys by Hugh Panero
- The Mess in Oxford Gets More Messy by Hugh Panero
- Be Like a Cicada and the Catharsis of Dreams by Hugh Panero
- Let’s Retire the Word “Retired” by Hugh Panero
- Top 15 Indicators That You Are Too Old For Technology by Hugh Panero
- Dune Part 2 and My Son Got Me Back Into a Movie Theater by Hugh Panero
Columnist Craig Fuller
A Community Town Hall focuses on education in Talbot County by Craig Fuller
The Avalon Foundation and The Spy collaborated on another in a series of candidate Town Halls with the most recent this week bringing together a live ... [Continue Story]
- MPT, the Chesapeake Bay and Viewers Like You: A Chat with Station Manager Steven Schupak
- So Much Money, So Little Time by Craig Fuller
- One Amazing Story by One Amazing Individual by Craig Fuller
- A Presidential Debate: No Commission / No Audience / Perhaps, No Gloves by Craig Fuller
- An Enjoyable and Important White House Story by Craig Fuller
- Biden’s Two Biggest Problems: Perception and Trust by Craig Fuller
Columnist Jamie Kirkpatrick
The Dreamcatcher: Chapter Five, “Epilogue” By Jamie Kirkpatrick
(Author’s Note: This is the fifth and final chapter of “The Dreamcatcher,” a serial story in this space. All previous chapters are available on my ... [Continue Story]
Columnist Laura Oliver
Renaissance By Laura J. Oliver
The last time I was at the Renaissance Festival accompanied by children, my son was a 5- year-old-towhead sporting an America’s Cup t-shirt, and my ... [Continue Story]
Columnist Angela Rieck
Celebrating the seasons by Angela Rieck
I’m in the attic gathering my Halloween and fall decorations. Earlier today, I surveyed the pumpkins for sale at the markets. I began to wonder…is ... [Continue Story]
Columnist Al Sikes
From Seriousness to Irritation by Al Sikes
Israel opened a new window on 21st-century warfare and its potential consequences. It embedded a networked software trigger in electronic devices that can be activated at advantageous moments. In the case of Israel’s use, the trigger ignited explosives on the person of Hezbollah fighters and probably beyond. And this was engineered in an antiquated device […]
Opinion
The Real Debate We Need by Heather R. Mizeur
It matters that the leader of the Free World has the faculties and mental acuity to perform the functions of such a demanding job. While it’s ... [Continue Story]
- When Peace Visited War: A Christmas Story by Tom Timberman
- A Christmas Carol 2023 by Maria Wood
- The Carbon Darwin Award by Bob Moores
- America’s Civil War of Weaponized Words and the Middle East by Tom Timberman
- Here’s a Test: Can You Recognize a Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing? By Maria Grant
- What Happens Next to Israel, Hamas, Palestinians and the US? By Tom Timberman
- Still No Planning? By Carol Voyles
- America is Losing Control of the Israel/Palestinian Global Narrative by Tom Timberman
- Things To Do In A Deer Stand by Rob Etgen
- Towards A National Directory Of Gun Violence by Stan Salett
- Wars, Political Chaos, Confusion and Anger: What to Do? By Tom Timberman
- Are We Judged by the Company We Keep? By Maria Grant
- October 7 Perspective by Bob Moores
- Rockfish Conservation by Rob Etgen
- Thoughts from the Mayor Of Crisfield on the Tawes Crab Feast and Clam Bake by Darlene Taylor
Letters to the Editor
Letter to Editor: Silo Square concerns
Next Thursday (October 17th), the Easton Planning Commission is likely to approve a townhouse development project which will undo more than 30 years ... [Continue Story]
- Letter to Editor: Lakeside’s final victory, Maryland law Be damned
- Letter to Editor: Vote YES on Question A to Support Public Safety
- Letter to Editor: Gobbledygook
- Letter to Editor: Can You Pronounce Her Name, Donald?
- Letter to the Editor: Easton Affordable Housing – Silo Square
- Letter to Editor : If It Ain’t Broke…
