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December 9, 2025

Talbot Spy

Nonpartisan Education-based News for Talbot County Community

00 Post to Chestertown Spy 1A Arts Lead Archives Cambridge Point of View Hugh

AI is Coming for the Music Industry

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The song “Walk My Walk,” by the band Breaking Rust, recently hit number one on the Billboard Country Digital Song Sales chart in November 2025. What was particularly interesting, and scary, was that it was entirely AI-generated, the first time an AI-generated song topped the US Billboard chart, generating millions of streams. As of November, 3-4 million on Spotify and 11 million streams on YouTube.

I heard the song a few weeks ago. I liked it along with other songs by the band (“Livin’ on Borrowed Time” and “Whiskey Don’t Talk Back”), which also generated big streaming numbers. They all have a distinctive country blues sound. I shared a link to the song “Walk My Walk” with family and friends for a listen using Spotify.  Hear it on YouTube. 

I wanted to know more about the band and the vocalist, but it was hard to find, which was odd given how much basic marketing music labels do to promote bands. I eventually discovered that the song was AI-generated by the creator Aubierre Rivaldo Taylor. AI music has been creeping onto the music charts recently, and what seemed only an existential threat to artists is now here and number 1 on the charts. 

According to the AI chat platform ChatGPT, the song was created by the AI music platform Suno. There are no human performers. Even the singer’s “gravely Southern drawl” in the song, made to sound like a human artist like Chris Stapleton, was AI-generated, as were the rugged cowboy still and video images that depicted the artist’s fictional persona. 

I listen to a lot of music, worked as a satellite music content distributor for a long time, and I couldn’t tell that it was AI-generated. When I learned it was, I thought of my favorite sci-fi film, Blade Runner, starring Harrison Ford as a futuristic detective tasked with hunting down dangerous synthetic humanoid robots called Replicants. 

In the movie, the only way to know whether someone was human or a replicant was to administer a test that measured involuntary physiological responses to emotionally provocative questions. The test assesses empathy by hypothesizing that a human’s empathetic response will differ from a replicant’s.  

The music industry is going to need a lot of Blade Runner AI detectives to determine whether a song was created by human artistry or AI, a distinction this AI song has blurred. Its popularity has reignited the heated debate about AI and the future of music creation by living and breathing artists. 

AI models like Suno are trained using vast amounts of copyrighted music from existing databases without the explicit consent or compensation of the original creators, unless side deals are made similar to those OpenAI has made with newspapers and other content providers. 

The use of this data to create new, commercially successful songs, without compensation, is seen by artists and music labels as theft, raising questions about intellectual property rights in the world of AI.

How much of “Walk My Walk” came out of digital fragments of works from artists, dead or alive, and how should they or their estates be compensated? Let the lawsuits begin. Several major entities, including music labels and organizations representing independent artists, have sued Suno, a venture-backed AI company, for copyright infringement. 

I am on the artist’s side. Our culture romanticizes the artistic process: the poor, struggling musician pouring out their emotions, scribbling notes and lyrics on scraps of paper, waiting for their big break. We lived through this right of passage for iconic artists like Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, and Bruce Springsteen, and it continues today.    

However, when cheaply produced AI-generated music competes for listener attention alongside human-created music, it can and will reduce the earnings potential for human artists, especially new artists struggling to make a living. The music industry’s royalty models and federal legislation are outdated and wildly ill-equipped to handle the rise of machine-generated content.

The music industry as a whole has not engendered much goodwill over the years. The industry culture is for labels to mimic successful artists to reduce risk. Pop music sounds wildly overproduced and less authentic. Music labels act like banks rather than creative shops as they used to be. Giant digital distributors like Spotify dominate the business, and monopolistic concert companies like Live Nation and ticket scalpers have driven up ticket prices to the point of being out of reach for many consumers due to rampant price gouging by bad actors.

The word ‘derivative’ in the music world has two meanings: one relating to copyright law and the other to critical and compositional discussions. In the latter, a work is described as “derivative” if it sounds unoriginal, heavily imitative, or lacks fresh solutions. 

Under U.S. copyright law, a “derivative work” is a new, original work that is based on or incorporates substantial copyrightable elements of one or more pre-existing works. This differs from a standard cover song (i.e, Harold Arlen’s “Over the Rainbow”), which is a straightforward interpretation of the original, with minimal changes to the core melody or lyrics.  

Legally, you must get explicit permission from the original copyright holder to create and distribute a derivative work. The original copyright holder reserves the exclusive right to authorize adaptations of their work. For example, remixes, mashups, and medleys; musical arrangements that significantly alter the original melody, harmony, or lyrics; song translations into a different language, and works that heavily sample an existing sound recording. 

Tech giants’ rapid innovation has allowed, even encouraged, widespread copyright infringement.  AI will obliterate the quaint definition of derivative work. Imagine every song ever copyrighted ingested into an AI platform like Suno, which analyzes a user’s text prompt describing the style, mood, or genre of a song they want to create, which might include specific instructions or phrases, as well as a request for a cool Santana-like guitar riff. And VIOLA! 

We have to support artists, and need a new regulatory framework to protect the integrity of the music industry, requiring at a minimum:

Mandatory AI Transparency: Clear labeling of AI-generated music to help listeners make informed choices.

Build Forensic AI Models: We need AI tools that can uncover the digital building blocks underlying AI-generated content, enabling us to determine artist compensation.

Create New Federal Regulations: Congress needs to update copyright laws to address the challenges posed by AI. Prioritizing artist consent and fair compensation. 

The live concert experience is safe from the AI monster, since it is impossible for an AI algorithm to replicate the feeling of seeing your favorite artists perform live.

I recently attended the Natalie Merchant concert at the Avalon in Easton, MD. I have followed her since her days with 10,000 Manics. At 62, performing an acoustic set with only a guitarist, her voice remains strong and authentic. She interacted with the crowd with warmth and humor, something an algorithm cannot do, at least for now – Thank God for that. 

Hugh Panero, a tech and media entrepreneur, was the founder and former CEO of XM Satellite Radio. He has worked with leading tech venture capital firms and was an adjunct media professor at George Washington University. He writes about Tech, Media, and other stuff for the Spy.

 

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Scammers Reel in $90,000 of Chesapeake Catfish in Elaborate Hoax

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A catfishing scheme involving actual catfish is now under investigation on Tilghman Island, after scammers walked away with nearly $100,000 worth of local seafood, according to reporting by the Baltimore Banner.

Katie Olson, account manager at Tilghman Island Seafood, told the Banner she’s always cautious with large orders. She checks phone numbers, websites, and names before approving a sale. 

When a request came last year for 20,000 pounds of blue catfish fillets, worth about $90,000, everything appeared legitimate. The emails appeared to come from McCain Foods, and the name on the paperwork matched that of a company executive.  Only later did she learn the executive had recently retired.  

Food-industry fraud is hardly rare. Two months before the catfish scheme, a London cheese shop revealed it had been tricked into shipping away nearly $400,000 in rare cheddar to scammers posing as a French company. A recent report from the World Trade Organization estimated global food-fraud losses at $30 to $50 billion annually.

Blue catfish have been in the Chesapeake Bay since 1974, when Virginia wildlife officials introduced them to boost sport fishing.  The invasive species has since exploded across the watershed, devouring native fish and crabs and making up as much as 70 percent of the biomass in some tributaries. Maryland officials hope a regional market for the fish can help curb their spread.

Tilghman Island Seafood owner Nick Hargrove has tried to build such a market. His processing operation is one of only two on the Eastern Shore and, he believes, the biggest in Maryland. “I thought we could help the cause,” he said, but the seafood black market makes the work harder.

The fraudulent order was supposed to be delivered to a warehouse district in the Bronx, near the Fulton Fish Market.  But when the truck arrived, the driver encountered an unexpected scene: FBI agents in the street conducting a raid. It’s unclear which warehouse was the target. The FBI declined to comment, citing policy that neither confirms nor denies investigations.

According to a Talbot County sheriff’s report, agents redirected the Chesapeake catfish to cold storage. The purported buyer later had the shipment moved to another nearby warehouse.  When Olson attempted to collect payment, the phone numbers went dead, and emails stopped.  Tilghman Island Seafood had been swindled.

The case is still under investigation by the Sheriff’s Office and surfaced publicly because of an insurance lawsuit the company filed to recover its losses.  The case is pending in federal court in Baltimore.

Hargrove doubts the scammers will ever be caught. He suspects the catfish was packed into a container and shipped overseas. It was a major hit to his business, but he doesn’t expect federal agents to spend much time on the case. “I don’t know what their priorities are,” he told the Banner, “but I’m sure it’s a small fish.”

 

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

They Came for the Crabs, but Stayed for the Kids

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PEP Executive Director Kathy Hedge (left) and Dorchester Engagement Coordinator Tenishia Tillery (right) confer with groups in the evening’s breakout session.

They came for the crabs, but stayed for the kids.

More than 50 parents, grandparents, and caregivers gathered last Wednesday at the Mace’s Lane Middle School in Cambridge for an introduction to the Parent Encouragement Program (PEP).  

Above a steady whap-whap-whap of mallets on shells, participants were soon considering a more profound lesson in making connections with their children that last a lifetime.  

Remarks by PEP Executive Director Kathy Hedge, City Commissioner Shay Lewis-Sisco, Dorchester Engagement Coordinator Tenishia Tillery, and longtime participant La’Dajia White were both personal and practical. Through them all, one message recurred: parenting is hard, but help is available, and it works.

‘Break the Curse’

La’Dajia White, known as an “OG” – a participant from the first session in Dorchester back in 2023 – set the tone with a message that drew applause.

“We need to break the curse,” she said. “Let’s not just think about breaking the curse and talking about it. Let’s come together so we can change things.”

That curse, White told The Spy afterward, is the cycle that continues when people who were not well-parented struggle to raise their own children. She said PEP is helping families break that pattern by providing guidance and community.

“It wasn’t just parents in the room tonight,” White said. “It was grandmothers, uncles, anyone who has responsibility for raising a kid. Whoever is responsible, parenthood should be a positive experience.”

City Commissioner Shay Lewis-Sisco (center) a Dorchester schools career coach, confers with PEP participants during the breakout. ‘OG’ participant La’Dajia White is on the right.

From Crabs to Conversation

What began as a tasty meal quickly pivoted to meaningful conversations. After dinner, participants watched a short video delineating various styles of parenting.  Later, participants broke into small groups to discuss which of the techniques were familiar to them, and whether they worked in keeping the peace at home. 

City Commissioner Shay Lewis-Sisco, a Dorchester schools career coach representing Cambridge’s Second Ward and who helped introduce PEP to local families, said programs like this make a difference.

“As you heard tonight, parenting does not come with a manual,” Lewis-Sisco said. “The program offers the tools parents need to engage their children better, helping them succeed not just in school, but also in their community and in life.”

She said the lessons parents learn extend beyond the home. “As parents, when we invest in ourselves, we invest in our children,” she said. “They are the future. The better we show up for them, the better our children are going to be.”

Building PEP in Dorchester 

PEP has been around since 1982, mainly serving areas near its Montgomery County base.  It arrived on the Shore in late 2022, thanks to Dorchester County native and philanthropist Kevin Beverly, who encouraged the group to expand eastward. 

Through the nonprofit Moving Dorchester Forward, the program soon took root, and within months, the first eight-week course was underway in the evenings at local schools.

“Parenting is the toughest job on the planet,” Hedge told attendees. “You train for almost every other job, and yet we don’t train for parenting. Every parent faces frustrations and challenges because every child is different. That means you have to keep adapting.”

She added that PEP’s message is simple. “There’s a stigma around parenting classes that makes people think it means you’re a bad parent. What we want parents to know is that everyone needs support.”

Moms Lameisha Bradley (left) and Laquisha Knockett (right) say they’ll be back for the full eight-week course.

A Parent’s Journey

No one embodies that message better than Tillery, who began as a participant in January 2023 and now serves as the Dorchester Engagement Coordinator.

“I wish I had received this information years ago,” she said. “I understood the value it brought to parents, and I just wanted to help get it to everybody I could. I believed in the program, the tools, and the resources it provides.”

Tillery said she was struck by how involved parents were during the session. “I was pleasantly surprised by the engagement,” she said. “They seemed to genuinely like the conversations. Parenting can be difficult, but here people realize they aren’t alone.”

After attending as a parent, she became a facilitator while continuing to take classes. “I saw the value it brought to parents and wanted to share it with as many people as I could.”

First Impressions

Among the new faces at the session was Lameisha Bradley, a mother of three. She admitted she came for the dinner but stayed for the message.

“Tonight’s session really gives me a different perspective,” Bradley said. “There’s no question that raising children isn’t easy. And I want my kids to grow up to be the best adults they can be. I think I’ll sign up for the full course.”

That kind of reaction is what PEP hopes for, according to Hedge. The introductory sessions are designed to let parents sample the program in a welcoming environment that includes free meals, childcare, and open discussion. “One presentation isn’t enough to change longstanding patterns of behavior,” she said. “But it can start a conversation that leads to lasting change.”

The food was good and the conversation important at the recent PEP introductory gathering ahead of the start of a new course in Dorchester.

Blueprint for the Future

In March 2024, PEP received a grant from the Maryland Community Health Resources Commission through the Consortium for Coordinated Community Supports. The funding is part of the state’s Blueprint for the Future education legislation, which invests in programs that strengthen student mental health.

Hedge said that makes sense, because helping parents ultimately helps students. “If parents lack support and tools, they can’t help their kids,” she said. “We share strategies so parents can better support their children’s emotional health. We want to help raise kids who are confident and capable.”

PEP now works closely with Dorchester County Public Schools, offering multiple sessions each year in both English and Spanish. The organization trains local parents as facilitators and promoters, ensuring that families hear about the program from trusted voices in the community.

Results That Matter

PEP has partnered with the University of Chicago’s NORC Research Center to measure the program’s impact. Over three years of evaluation, participants have reported significant improvements in parent-child communication, reduced home stress, and increased confidence.

Attendance in Dorchester has been strong, Tillery said. “People showed real engagement. The discussions were lively and meaningful, and I think everyone felt that it was helpful and even enjoyable,” she said.

Hedge, who joined PEP 12 years ago as a struggling parent herself, said she has seen those results firsthand. “I came to PEP as a desperate parent,” she said. “I don’t think my now 25-year-old would be where he is today if it weren’t for this program. It really works.”

 

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Q&A with Cambridge Mayor-Elect Lajan Cephas

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In the December 3rd runoff to succeed Steve Rideout as Cambridge’s next mayor, City Council President Lajan Cephas beat former mayor Andrew Bradshaw with 53% of the vote. Cephas will become the city’s second Black woman mayor when she is sworn in at the new city council’s first session in January.

The race was a contentious one. The Maryland Democratic Party took the unusual step of publicly supporting Cephas, claiming the Republicans backed Bradshaw, who had resigned as mayor in 2022 after a year in office due to criminal charges that later led to conviction. Mayor Rideout came out for Cephas, while two of her colleagues on the city council endorsed Bradshaw.

With the election over, Cambridge native Cephas, a former business owner and correctional officer who now sells insurance, is already taking on the duties of mayor since Rideout’s early retirement. She spared a few minutes to speak with the Spy about her future in office.

How are you feeling since the election?

I am relieved that it is over because that was a really ugly process, and I don’t like to be a part of anything that’s negative. I’m more like a get-it-done type of person. I’m not all about all the extras and I just felt like that was a little bit too extra.

To what do you attribute your win?

I attribute it to the work that we’ve done with the current city staff. Also my leadership as the Commission president, also during the time that I had to act with the powers of mayor. And then I think I also attribute it to the other candidate had his opportunity, and he didn’t do his best with that opportunity. So, I believe that’s what contributed to the win.

What in your background helped you to become mayor?

Everything. Yeah. So, for more than 20 years, I’ve worked in business management. I’ve worked with many different types of people having to do outreach while still having to run a business at the same time. And I’ve worked in many cities from San Diego, California, from Baltimore City, from obviously Cambridge, Salisbury, even did some work in Delaware. So, just dealing with different types of people, like having conversations, and having to understand what is the challenge so we can overcome it. I know that’s definitely the advantage that provided me, and also the experience, as far as me being in this role of mayor and also the Commission president, because it’s really the business of people. So, if you understand people, you can do anything. You can work in customer service. You could be a mayor, you could be a pastor of a church and, if you’re able to connect with people, you could be successful at just about anything.

How do you feel about the low voter turnout in this election?

I think the low voter turnout, I think it is close to the average based off my understanding of it, based off what our research is. About maybe 15% of voters tend to turn up for local elections. In our case it was less than that. I think it was more like around 11 to 12%. My math could be a little off. But a lot of people, they’re workers, they have children, you know, they have day-to-day life that they’re trying to figure out, are they’re going to have money to pay that next bill. So, the last thing on a lot of people’s minds is taking time off from work so they can vote. Maybe they couldn’t get off. Maybe they’re working a 12-hour shift. So, I try to focus less on who did not show up and focus more on who did show up. And I greatly appreciate those who were able to make that time because it’s a huge sacrifice, showing up in the line, not knowing what the process is going to be, you know, it gives anxiety. [In an email later, she wrote, “I believe voter turnout in Cambridge was just about 15%, which is around the national average. There was a total of 1484 total voters in the past mayoral election and about 9,000 registered voters in the city of Cambridge.”]

What are your ambitions and goals for 2025?

The goal for 2025 is to continue to move the city forward. I think initially we need to get a few committees or commissions together to do some asset mapping to figure out what do we have, because we have a lot of folks that say we need something for the kids to do. But online I see this program, basketball, I see after-school program at the Boys and Girls Club. It looks like we have a lot of programming for the youth. So, it’s a matter of looking at the nonprofits we have and figuring out what is the best strategy to have the best outcomes.

How do you understand the mayor’s role?

I see the mayor’s role as a neutral voice willing to listen to all parties and all sides. I see someone that should be accessible to the public. It really shouldn’t spend much time here in this office. So what I plan to do, because this week there is an actual mayor’s office in City Hall, I hope to share it with my fellow commissioners just in case if they need to have a meeting with someone in private. But it’s not my plan to be in this office. My plan is to be out in the public, available to be going to events and then obviously networking with our federal and state delegation so we can bring some funding back to the city. So I think that’s the main thing, to be that networker. And of course, as far as actual responsibilities, the mayor chairs the Commissioners of Cambridge meeting and I believe the mayor also chairs the Police Advisory Board.

Are you still going to have any role with Cambridge Waterfront Development, Inc (CWDI)?

Absolutely. So, my plan is to attend every meeting. That’s absolutely the plan, but we are in the process of changing the Articles of Incorporation. Now, I probably won’t have that ability of voting on that because I think more than likely that’s going to come before the next council. … How it stands right now is the mayor is the sole member, which would lead one to believe that if you’re the mayor, you have total authority over this board or this or this commission or body of people that’s put in place to ensure the waterfront development happens. So, how it’s drafted now pending the approval of the next commission is there will be three members. The Commissioners of Cambridge serve as one member. You have the County Council serving as another member. And then you have our state delegation, which means our state delegates and senator, they would be that third member, which would make it more fair and more balanced for everyone in this community and also in the Lower Shore and the Mid-Shore community as well.

What issues in the city need to be addressed?

What needs to be addressed in the city is definitely code enforcement. And don’t get me wrong, they’re doing a really great job. It’s just we’ve been behind for many years. There’s a document that was actually put together by the League of Women Voters back in 1969. It was a housing study and there were challenges and code enforcement at that time. So, I will say that we are making great leaps. We actually have, I think, more code enforcement now than we’ve had in a very long time. But I think that it’s important that we actually provide money in the budget for an additional code enforcement officer because eventually it’s extremely important that we get to internal inspections of rental properties to ensure our residents have the best and safest residences as possible.

I had read that that was an inspiration for you, that 1969 report.

It’s a lot of good information. Like, the same neighborhoods, the same homes, even Calvin Mowbray Park, it talked about how members in the Council, how they were. So, how it was supposed to have been arranged was that apartment community was supposed to spread out throughout the city. I believe every three to five blocks there, there was supposed to be a duplex. But many members in the community felt like, “I don’t want that in my neighborhood.” So, that’s why we ended up with all these condensed communities of poverty.

Describe your ideal future for Cambridge.

My ideal future of Cambridge is where we’re working efficiently. You know, every child has the opportunity of going home to a safe, clean home without distraction so they can be their best person when they get to school. I see opportunities for our youth when they graduate high school, because college isn’t the pathway for every student. You know, there could be an opportunity right here at City Hall. There could be opportunities for someone graduating high school to be an entrepreneur. So, that’s what I see. I see efficient city services. I see our taxpayers feeling like their money is being spent in the right direction. They don’t feel ripped off, because we have many that feel like, “When I’m paying county taxes and I’m paying city taxes, what exactly am I getting from the city?” So, I just see services that we all could be proud of and residents that feel like, “You know what, I’m glad I live here in Cambridge.”

Your role as the mayor is going to be different from when you were on the City Council. Your influence is going to be different. So, why did you decide to run for mayor instead of staying on the Council?

I truly believe we should always make pathways for other leaders. And I know Shay Cisco had a vision of being a commissioner, and I did not want to be one to hold her from that vision. If she felt like that’s her next step in life, I was willing to make that sacrifice just so she could be a candidate and actually see if she could earn the vote of the Ward 2 residents to make that happen. And then the other thing was I knew Mayor Steve Rideout had no intentions of running for mayor, and I didn’t know of anyone else that could run that was so heavily involved with local city government. So, it was a no-brainer for me. It was a no-brainer for me to create an opportunity for Shay Cisco and also for anyone else who decided to run for Ward 2. And then to give me the opportunity to be this voice of unison for the whole city. Because I’ve done the work before, when the other person resigned because of his personal situation. But to actually give it everything, give a full four years and actually be elected and actually earn that role.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Celebrating a Cambridge Christmas in 1913

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There are only a few days left till Christmas, and a festive feeling is in the air in this progressive city of 8,000 people. Word is that Guy Watkins and Paul Lake, both of whom attend Strayer’s Business College in Baltimore, are in town to spend the holidays with their respective parents on Choptank Avenue and Locust Street. Solon Hooper is also home from Washington College, much to the delight of Mr. and Mrs. William H. Hooper.

Meanwhile, poor Lee Bespitch cut his hand badly yesterday while cutting holly in the country. Fortunately, Dr. Thomas Coll was able to fix things with just a few stitches. Little Lee might have saved himself the trouble if he’d just gotten his folks to call George W. Williams, who has the finest Christmas trees, holly, and moss available locally.

Sadly, some things cannot be mended so easily. We were forced to say goodbye this week to one of the best known men in this county, the prominent businessman Hubert H. Wright, who succumbed to injuries sustained when he was thrown from his motorcycle on the state road. He was a pioneer of the automobile business in the area, and he will be greatly missed this Christmas.

On a brighter topic, it’s been suggested that all sensible citizens conduct their gift shopping as soon as possible. They’ll have more time, stocks will be larger, and selections will be more easily made and satisfactory. Everywhere in town is the evidence of the merchants’ preparations for the Christmas trade, including beautifully decorated windows with fine products on display. One of the most attractive windows belongs to LeCompte’s Shoe Shop, which has recently been fitted with drapery curtains.

Indeed, Cambridge stores never looked better, and there is no indication of dullness in business circles as automobiles are lined up on every street and hundreds of persons throng the sidewalks. Clearly the public appreciates being able to buy at home more cheaply than elsewhere.

And what a selection! Phillips Hardware Co. alone offers hand painted China, silverware, pearl handle pocket knives, cut glass, buggies, harnesses, and “toys, toys, toys.” M. Warren Hooper is the headquarters for books, games, and novelties at “rock bottom” prices. John F. Willis & Son has children’s shoes, house slippers, suspenders, neckties, and mufflers; plus, they’re giving away a very pretty and instructive 1914 calendar featuring a picture of the Panama Canal. Get a wicker rocking chair at LeCompte & Harper, or go to McCready’s for a smoking jacket (a sensible gift any man will appreciate). But, if you’re going to smoke, you’ll need cigars, cigarettes, and pipes like those available at the candy dealer C.R. Corkran on Maryland Avenue, near the train depot.

For holiday parties, food is a necessity, which is why Young’s Choptank Grocery carries a full, fresh line for breakfast, lunch, or tea. Yates Bros. has everything from fruits to mixed nuts as well as all the ingredients for cake making. If you’re short on time, Mrs. John Nichols stands ready to take your order for a first-class, homemade Christmas cake. Speaking of cake, thoughtful young Henry Taitt promised to leave one under his stocking for Santa on Christmas Eve.

Ah, yes, the children’s letters to Santa. This year, kids have asked for practical things such as raincoats, umbrellas, pencils, and tool sets, plus more fun stuff like dolls, go carts, drums, lockets, cowboy (or Indian) suits, bicycles, and the popular devil-in-the-bandbox. All three Langrall boys want a pop-gun, as does Wheatley Cook, who isn’t even old enough to write.

Levi B. Phillips, Jr., conscientiously told Santa, ‘I hope you will not think this is too much for a good little boy like me.” But the more brazen Burgoyne Cannon wrote, “I will expect of you all I ask for, as I always do get it.” And Orville Stewart was more diplomatic when he suggested to Mr. Claus, “If you will bring me these things, I will try to be a good boy until after Christmas is over.”

Most of the children noted in their letters that they were at least trying to be good, including Calvin Twilley, who promised he does “not say any bad words.” Thomas and Dorsey Potter admitted they are good boys “sometimes,” while Russell Stewart thinks he is a good boy, but that Santa had better ask his mother. Rosa Lee Evans, however, insisted she is “a right good girl,” and Beulah Fitzhugh that she is “a good baby”(!)

The young ones also have a few alternative requests for Santa. For example, Lindley Meekins implores him not to come down his chimney, “because Papa is very sick, and it might make him worse.” Instead, they will leave the front door unlocked. And Elizabeth Gore wishes to go home with Santa for a small time, if he can bring her back home before Christmas morning.

Gosh, if Santa meets every demand made upon him this year, he will probably have to dispense with his reindeer and sleigh in favor of an airship so he can make several trips from the North Pole! Be that as it may, Cambridge is ready for him and for everyone who wishes to celebrate Christmas in a grand way.

 

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Christina Wingate-Spence Loves 21613: A Spy Q & A with Main Street’s Executive Director

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The Cambridge Main Street board of directors announced in early July that they had selected Christina Wingate-Spence as the new executive director. She now leads the nonprofit organization that seeks to foster Cambridge’s economic vitality and preserve and promote its historic downtown.

The Spy sat down with this award-winning marketer in her office at the Dorchester Chamber of Commerce to discuss her background and her ambitions for Cambridge’s downtown area. (Note: Her answers have been edited for length.)

What town or city in Dorchester County did you grow up in?

Madison. So, very rural Dorchester County. My parents have lived on the same street their entire lives. … Their moms were very best friends. They grew up together, ended up getting married, and built a house on the same street. Ironically, my husband, son, and I moved from Talbot County. We lived there for a few years. We moved back about five years ago and live right across from my parents. It’s a very family-oriented environment, and even though, growing up in rural Dorchester County, Cambridge was really the hub for everything that we had to do. So, grocery shopping. I’m a Cambridge-South Dorchester graduate, so really, living in a rural area, this was still our town, just because this is where we came to shop and eat and everything.

What college did you go to?

Washington College in Chestertown.

So, you’re definitely a local kind of girl.

Ironically, I have never lived anywhere other than the Eastern Shore.

What’s your professional background?

So, I was a political science major in college. I did an internship with the Maryland General Assembly. After graduation, I took a job with a nonprofit, Upper Shore Aging, Incorporated, which is the area agency on aging for Talbot, Kent, and Caroline Counties. And I was a programs manager for them. … And, from there, I kind of took a turn into healthcare sales and marketing. … I worked for a skilled nursing facility. I’ve worked for assisted living, home care agency, inpatient acute rehab, and the hospital system. I was with them for about five years. So, really, the past 20 years, I spent marketing and using PR skills, but in a completely different area, and just decided to kind of make a change and do something different where I could utilize those skills, but not in a healthcare environment.

Why did you choose marketing and sales as a career?

To be quite honest with you, I think it found me. And it just became something, I think being a political science major and having to, again, do the internship with the General Assembly, you learn very quickly to think on your feet and be able to speak to people appropriately and sort of be a presence. I mean, that’s sort of what my initial plan was, to go to law school, and I decided not to do that. But, once I started getting into more public-facing jobs, and I’ve always been a people person, I just sort of developed a niche for it and realized that it’s sort of fun to create a brand, to entice someone to use your product or service or just create a situation where you are able to better engage with people. … It was just something that I became good at. And, being in healthcare for as long as I was, I think, one job just kind of lended itself to another job. You almost kind of find that niche. … I think whatever it is that you’re “selling,” if it’s something that you believe in, I just think it comes naturally because you want to tell people about it.

What are your plans and ambitions for Cambridge Main Street?

Visibility of our organization to the businesses and the merchants, really providing them with the support that they need to be more successful, to get more people to want to visit Cambridge, whether that’s local, obviously we want locals to support our small businesses, but making this almost sort of a destination for people as well. That’s why we’re having some of our larger events. … There’s the water, there’s so much history. Again, we have amazing eateries and shops, we have museums, art galleries. … My vision, I think the organization’s vision, is to just create a robust environment where we are engaging with the businesses, the community, the visitors, and really just being present, giving people a reason to want to support the downtown businesses and creating opportunities for them to come down here and do so.

How do you feel about the current state of Cambridge Main Street?

I feel like we’re in a really great place. We have a 12-person volunteer board of directors, and a very engaged board of directors. I think that one of the reasons why I was the choice for this role is because I am a Dorchester County girl through and through. … So, having someone that’s very familiar with the people and the background of the city, the town, and also with my skill set of marketing and communications, we have gotten a lot of positive feedback in the two months that I’ve been in this role. … They’re seeing more engagement of Cambridge Main Street out in the community and with the planning of events that we’re doing: Taste of Cambridge, Trick or Treat, Mistletoe on Main. … You know, we want more opportunities for people to come see what we have to offer. So, it’s my job to create that.

Where does your passion for the county and your work come from?

Oh, I really think that my background in rural Dorchester County, I mean, having parents that have been from here, that have worked in this county for their entire lives, really instilled in me a sense of work ethic and volunteerism. So, when I was very young, even at five and six years old, I was volunteering in nursing homes and helping with bingos. And, I mean, they instilled in me at a very young age the importance of belonging to something and helping something greater than you, really. So, that’s part of the passion that I have for, in general, just seeing something that is great, that you want to continue to help grow, and you believe in it. … And I like to tell this story. Back when I was growing up, Downtown Cambridge, it was sort of at that period where there was really not much down here. A lot of the businesses that were of my parents’ generation, that were here when I was a small child, they closed. … And over time, I went away to college, came back. … And I think that, coming back here and seeing the difference in what it was when I was growing up and the opportunities that we have now, and just seeing that growth, it excites me, because now I get to be a part of it.

Cambridge Main Street has had some trouble holding on to executive directors. How long do you plan to stay?

After more than 20 years of working for large corporations, a lot of people, I think even people that I know, questioned why I would want to leave, you know, sort of an executive-level position in healthcare, to be an executive director of a nonprofit. And, for me, I was so excited for the opportunity to, again, utilize my skills in a town that I love, to help watch that grow. I am enjoying this completely, and I can’t really, at this point, envision a time when I’m not going to enjoy it. … I am really enjoying doing something that I feel good about, and I’m enjoying every day, and I feel like I’m already making an impact and a difference. And, if that excitement in two months has already started to kind of flow out into the streets, I’m excited to see where that is in a year, two years, three years. I’m a huge believer in, you have to find the right fit for you. And, for me right now, there could not be a better fit for me at this stage in my career.

Some say that Cambridge Harbor would take business away from the downtown. How do you feel about the project?

So, our organization’s mission and vision is, again, to build a robust downtown area for us. Whatever creates that traffic, that momentum, we want to support that. … As far as the in’s and outs of that project, we don’t really have a stance on it, to be quite honest with you. We are the Cambridge Main Street district, so we pretty much stay within the confines of what’s happening in our district. And that’s another thing that I kind of want to address as well. A lot of people think that Cambridge Main Street is like Race Street, right? … And, if you look at our map, we’re Pine Street, we’re Washington Street, we’re part of Cedar Street, we’re Academy Street. We are a district. And one of the things that I am really trying to do is to support all of those businesses and to really just demonstrate that we are not just a couple of blocks. … So, my focus is what’s happening in those borders. My focus is not, to be quite honest with you, it’s not what’s happening across that bridge, because that’s not where we are. Our focus is really this district and having it thrive to the best of our ability.

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Cambridge Mayor Steve Rideout on Proposed County Charter Amendments

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Under the current Charter for Dorchester County, the County Council is required to appoint a Charter Review Commission every ten years to review the Charter and recommend alterations. At the February 7, 2023, meeting, the Council agreed to reconvene the Review Commission before the 2024 election in order to consider eliminating the residency requirement for the county manager and the finance director.

The Review Commission returned with six recommendations besides the two residency questions. One of the eight, proposing term limits for the Council members, was vehemently opposed by Commissioner William Nichols, who has been on the Council since 1994. Two of the proposed amendments were combined into one, and six total were approved for the upcoming general election ballot.

The six questions are:

Question A
Administrative Review
Amendment to specify that the review of administrative structure that is required at least every four years be conducted within the first fiscal year of each County Council term.

Question B
County Budget Preparation and Adoption Dates
Amendment to change the date by which the County Council shall prepare the annual budget from May 1 to May 15 each year, and to change the date by which the Council shall adopt the annual budget from May 31 to June 15 each year.

Question C
County Manager Residency
Amendment to remove the requirement that the County Manager be a resident of Dorchester County.

Question D
County Manager Responsibilities
Amendment to clarify certain responsibilities of the County Manager, including the day-to-day operation of the County government, and establish procedures for certain vacancies.

Question E
Director of Finance Residency
Amendment to remove the requirement that the Director of Finance be a resident of Dorchester County.

Question F
Governmental Transparency
Amendment to ensure transparency of governmental functions, access to open meetings (in person or remotely), and access to public records.

Mayor Steve Rideout on Question A (Administrative Review)

“When the Dorchester Citizens for Better Government was starting, we looked at all of this before the last election,” Rideout said of the group that was formed in 2022. “One of the things was, they hadn’t met the Charter requirement that the Council appoint this board or to do this administrative review every four years or something.”

“And the decision was, well, let’s recommend that it be done at the beginning of the term of the new Council so that they can then do something with it,” he continued. “I mean, having the changes made at the end of the term for the new Council to then implement doesn’t make much sense.”

On Questions C and E (Residency Requirement)

“If you limit that the person has to live in the county, you limit who the best person might be,” said Rideout about the County Manager and Finance Director positions. “For instance, you could have somebody who lives up in Kent County or Caroline County who is terrific, but his or her spouse is a schoolteacher there, or he’s got children that are in their last year of high school and they’re going to be the valedictorian or something. And you’re going to make them move to Dorchester County. That’s going to cut off potentially the best person from being able to come.”

Rideout said there is no real reason to require either official to live in the county. “If you’re going to find the best person and you’re going to trust your elected officials to make the best decision for the citizens in the county, let them make that decision, not restrict them on what they can and can’t do there.”

On Question D (County Manager’s Responsibilities)

“Historically, what was happening was, they had the County Manager form of government, but the County Manager was really more of an administrator,” explained Rideout. “And, as such, the County Council members were making hiring and firing decisions.”

“What this now does is say that the County Manager is in charge of the day-to-day operations, and the County Council, the members, cannot tell employees what to do. That’s the job of the County Manager. Now, they can come to the County Manager and tell the County Manager, ‘Go tell Joe to do this.’ He then gets to say, ‘Yes, I will’ or ‘No, I won’t.'”

“So, it gets the employees out from under this political concern. They’re still at-will employees, but it’s the County Manager that makes that decision.”

Rideout also said that, following a County Manager’s departure, the Council was waiting a year or more to hire a new one and instead gave the job to a staff person. That part-time employee had to run the whole county, and confusion resulted. Audits and administrative reviews were not getting done.

“So, requiring that they get a new County Manager within a period of time is important, allowing for there to be an Assistant County Manager who can be assigned that task rather than a staff person, if they’ll fund that position,” said Rideout. “It’s all about efficiency and effectiveness of government.”

On Question F (Government Transparency)

Before the 2022 election, the Dorchester Citizens for Better Government group took up transparency in the county government as an issue and raised it in the community, even collecting signatures toward getting it on the ballot as a charter amendment proposal.

“And we asked the Council to put the meetings on Town Hall Streams,” Rideout said. “They wouldn’t do it. We asked, I think, at least twice, and then finally they did it under pressure.”

“Now, why do this charter amendment? Well, the next Council could go, ‘Yeah, I liked it the way they did it before.’ So, they could go back to not putting it on Town Hall Streams. This would require that it always be on Town Hall.”

Rideout also mentioned that the charter amendment would include language about documentation. If citizens should ask for particular documents, the County Manager would need to be responsive to that in a timely manner.

Ultimately, it will be up to the voters of Dorchester County to decide how important all of this is to the operation of their government.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

A New Leader at Chesapeake College’s Cambridge Center: A Chat with Lorelly Solano

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The last time the Spy chatted with Lorelly Solano a few years ago, she had just begun her work at the Chesapeake Multicultural Resource Center. And her focus in 2019 was to help the organization train interpreters to help offer bilingual services on the Mid-Shore to various businesses and nonprofit institutions. 

One of the schools that Lorelly worked closely with at the time was Chesapeake College, so it was not a surprise to find her almost five years later working with that institution as the new director of its Cambridge Center. As the Mid-Shore continues to grow with a diversity of cultures and languages, Dr. Solano was immediately attracted to the challenge and opportunity of making the Cambridge campus a regional leader in adult education for high school equivalency, English language acquisition for immigrants, and non-credit courses like skilled trades.

In her new role, Solano has made it a goal to mirror the community’s diversity within the Center, ensuring that when people visit, they see themselves represented.  

Last month the Spy came by the Cambridge Center to learn more about Dr. Lorelly’s plans.

This video is approximately six minutes in length. For more information about Chesapeake College and its Cambridge Center, please go here.

 

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.