While revisions might be added at the will of the Easton Town Council, the State of Maryland requires all of its municipalities to update their town’s comprehensive plan every 10 years to set policies on land use, housing, and a host of issues ranging from the environment, and economic development. The results of which will shape decisions that will affect  the daily life for residents for at least a decade.

To help citizens understand what is at stake, the Spy spoke with Lynn Thomas, Easton’s longtime Town Planner to understand why this is important to the community as it continues to align growth with the town’s character and needs. The good news that Thomas points out is the planning process has never been smoother as he helps the Easton Planning & Zoning Commission make their final recommendations later this year.

This video is approximately four minutes in length. For more information about Easton’s Comprehensive Plan please go here.

On Sunday, Easton Mayor Megan Cook condemned a rash of hate-related graffiti incidents that took place on the evening September 5. Responding to the arrest of a 32-year-old Easton woman who spray-painted the Saints Peter and Paul Elementary School and other buildings in the East End Neighborhood. She has has been charged with multiple counts, including defacing religious property, malicious destruction of property, disturbing school operations, and use of a hate symbol.

Mayor Cook wrote:

That night, officers responded to Ulta Beauty for another spray-painting call. A suspect matching surveillance images was located in the Talbot Town Shopping Area. Police identified her as Sian Radaskiewicz-King, wearing distinctive shoes seen in the footage. She was arrested and charged with multiple counts, including defacing religious property, malicious destruction of property, disturbing school operations, and use of a hate symbol.

When acts of vandalism or hate strike close to home, it shakes the sense of safety we want for our community. Yesterday, our town was hit by vandalism at Saints Peter and Paul Elementary School and other locations in the East End Neighborhood. Given the tragedies at other schools across the country, including last week’s shooting at Ascension Catholic School in Minnesota, this kind of incident feels especially painful. It reminds us of the responsibility we all share to ensure our children’s safety and well-being. We condemn such acts of intimidation, they have no place in our community.

I want to thank the Easton Police Department not only for their swift response and arrest but also for maintaining a presence at Sts. Peter and Paul School on Friday. Their actions provided reassurance to students, parents and our community that safety is a priority and that acts meant to spread fear and division will not be tolerated here.

As a community, we must continue to come together, support one another, and ensure Easton remains a place where all children can feel safe.

Megan Cook
Mayor
Town of Easton

One of the challenges of the Talbot Spy’s annual check in with Dr. Sharon Pepukayi, Talbot County Superintendent of Public Schools is there is so much ground to cover. From performance scores, to the problematic Blueprint for Maryland schools, cellphones and recruiting good teachers, the agenda is always full when we ask her to drop by the Spy studio.

But this year, we did start with some good news. Every school in the county has earned at least a three–star rating, making the district one of only eight in the state to do so last year. But our chat is about more than test scores. Dr. Pepukayi reports on the impact of funding challenges, the increasing concern of teachers over their students behavior, a new strategic plan, and how she plans to wean students off their mobile phones.

This video is approximately nine minutes in length. To learn more about Talbot County Public Schools please go here. 

Easton Village has become known as community with a big heart. Nowhere is that more evident than in the annual grant it awards to non-profit organizations through the Elm Street/Easton Village Charitable Fund.

Elm Street Development established this endowed fund in 2006 as a way to give back to the Talbot County as a whole. Now valued at$143,363.03, the fund is managed by the Mid-Shore Community Foundation (MSCF). Several years ago, Elm Street passed the responsibility of distributing grants from the fund to the Easton Village HOA, which then chartered the Charitable Fund Committee for that purpose. The committee selects a category of need annually and, through MSCF sends out a ‘Request for Proposals’ (RFP) to all pertinent Talbot County non-profits.

This year’s category of giving is unmet needs of the elderly. Easton Village community members serve as grant readers and decide which program to fund. This year Apollo’s Dream Foundation, which works to help elderly people become more tech savvy, and Bay Hundred Community Volunteers, which helps older people stay safely in their homes by installing ramps and grab rails were chosen to receive grants. This year’s grant is expected to be about $7,200.00. 

In 2021, the committee selected mental health as the category of need and awarded a $4,500.00 grant to Talbot Interfaith Shelter.  In 2022, the committee identified services to vulnerable youth as the category and a $5,000.00 grant went to Building African American Minds (BAAM) to support its work with at-risk children. 

How You Can Help:

• If you live in Easton Village, volunteer to join the committee or volunteer to be a grant application reader next spring.
• Donate! There are two ways to do this. You can mail a contribution to MSCF at 102 East Dover Street, Easton, Maryland 21601-3059. You can also make and online contribution to the Elm Street Development Eastern Shore Community Fund here.

Thank you! We truly appreciate your interest and support.

Dorothy Whitcomb, Chair
Elm Street Development Fund

For years, Easton hasn’t exactly rolled out the welcome mat for food trucks. The rules were written back when trucks were seen as out of place in a town like ours—and when brick-and-mortar restaurants wanted protection from losing customers. The Council responded with regulations that kept food trucks on a very short leash inside town limits.

Now, as Councilmember Robert Radkin told the Talbot Spy in a short conversation today, that mindset is shifting. The Council is rethinking its stance and preparing a pilot program aimed at opening up more spots in town for food trucks to operate.

This video is approximately seven minutes in length.

The Spy sits down with Len Foxwell to discuss the release of Pastor Daniel Fuentes Espinal in Easton on Friday and what comes next for both the pastor and the community.

This video is approximately 10 minutes in length.

The long-awaited opening of the newly redeveloped Doverbrook Apartments is on hold as federal housing officials review a required public comment period.

The 64-unit affordable housing project, completed in May, has already received 145 applications, including 24 from former Doverbrook residents. But the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) ruled that a small change to the project’s housing plan—listing specific property names and clarifying priority for returning tenants—requires a new 45-day public comment period.

Housing Commission Executive Director Don Bibb said the commission has requested a waiver, arguing that the change is minor and that no public comments have been submitted during the past 50 days. A public hearing also drew no attendees.

“If HUD grants our waiver, we could begin moving people in this month,” Bibb said. “If not, the new comment period will end in late September, and we will start move-ins shortly after that.”

Local officials are considering reaching out to HUD and state representatives to expedite the process. In the meantime, the Housing Commission plans to release updates to the public through social media, local churches, and community leaders.

The other highlight was the comments made by all five council members on the arrest of Pastor Daniel Fuentes Espinal by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on July 21. 

Doverbrook Apartments
This video is approximately 16 minutes in length.

The Arrest of Pastor Daniel Fuentes Espinal
This video is approximately 16 minutes in length.

Dozens of protesters braved the heat, rain, and traffic on Friday evening to decry the detention of beloved Easton pastor Daniel Fuentes Espinal by ICE.

Nearly 100 people of all ages braved stifling heat, speeding cars, and finally a soaking rain shower at the corner of Dover Street and Route 50 on behalf of Daniel Fuentes Espinal, the Easton pastor arrested by ICE earlier this week.

They held homemade placards —  some political, others scriptural, a few downright profane — and chanted slogans as passing cars beeped their approval as a news chopper hovered above.

The winner for best dressed was a woman in full Lady Liberty regalia. Best sign: ICE: Insufferable Cowardly Extremists.

The protesters were happy to talk to The Spy, but few wanted to give their names for self-evident reasons.

One woman decried the bureaucratic process of naturalization as odious and prohibitively expensive for most immigrants, who nonetheless play a critical role in providing services to Talbot like construction, painting, landscaping, and agricultural work.

“This is straight out of the fascist playbook,” said another gentleman, among several men and women in clerical garb. “Arrest the leaders to intimidate and disenfranchise their followers.”

A third woman said “Trump pledged to deport the worst of the worst. This is the polar opposite of that promise. This is not good governance.”

Meanwhile, the 54-year-old Fuentes Espinal was transferred to a detention center in Louisiana northwest of New Orleans, a family member stated publicly, adding that he was initially deprived of his daily medicine, but is receiving it there.

Following the arrest, ICE issued a statement saying, “Fuentes entered the United States on a six-month visa and never left in 24 years. It is a federal crime to overstay the authorized period of time granted under a visitor’s visa.”

Posting on Instagram, the Maryland Legislative Latino Caucus “condemns the unjust detention of Pastor Espinal and reaffirms its commitment to defending immigrant communities. We call for his immediate release and demand immigration enforcement focus on real threats not devoted community leaders. Maryland must stand for safety, dignity, and humanity.”

Maryland Representatives Sarah Elfreth and Glenn Ivey, along with Senator Chris Van Hollen, condemned the arrest, calling Pastor Fuentes Espinal a “beloved pillar” of Easton and accusing the Trump administration of “indiscriminately profiling and targeting individuals based on their skin color.”