And Closer to Home

WaPoo, Scenic Chesapeake Bay county finds itself in the middle of a data center fight "Residents in Maryland are pleading with leaders to hold off, joining others around the country worried about the harm the projects may bring."

PRINCE FREDERICK, Md. — The local commissioners were 90 minutes into their meeting when they turned to the matter that had drawn dozens of residents and nearly a thousand more watching online: a vote that could delay the arrival of two massive data centers in Southern Maryland, including one on land intended for a public park.

Commissioner Mike Hart urged his Calvert County colleagues to not be seduced by the promise that the data centers would deliver tens of millions of dollars in fresh tax revenue, a pot large enough to pay for a wish list of items such as turf playing fields, a new sheriff’s headquarters and a property tax cut.

A more pressing need, Hart contended, is what communities elsewhere are considering as they seek to slow the spread of data centers — a moratorium allowing officials time to study how the tech warehouses that make online activity possible would affect the area, including whether they would generate intolerable levels of noise.

“What I know about a data center fits in this pinkie,” Hart told his four fellow commissioners, all of whom, like him, are Republican. “The responsible thing to do is to buy time and get the right people in place to help us through this.”

Over the past two decades, data centers have emerged as a robust economic engine for local governments across the country, a welcomed technological innovation that serves as the infrastructure to a faster, easier life. But the proliferation of the energy-hungry facilities, fueled by an explosion in digital demand during the pandemic and the advent of artificial intelligence, is provoking fierce opposition as concerns mount over strained electrical grids and soaring utility rates.Ask The Post AIDive deeper

The backlash was evident last month in a Pew Research Center poll finding that more Americans believe data centers adversely affect the environment and quality of life, even as they are more likely to see the facilities’ potential economic benefits.

In Virginia’s Loudoun County, home to about 200 data centers, the country’s highest concentration, officials have said they don’t want more. In Maine, legislation to ban most data centers until 2027 is advancing in the State House, while New York lawmakers have proposed a three-year pause. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) recently introduced a bill that would impose a nationwide moratorium on new AI data centers.

“Opposition has been expanding along with the intensity,” said Miquel Vila of Data Center Watch, an AI security firm’s research project that tracks resistance to the facilities. During a three-month period in 2025, communities around the country blocked or delayed 20 projects, a number greater than the total opposition over the previous two years, according to the group.

It's starting to be a topic of conversation here in the county. One of the sites being discussed is on property adjacent to the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant, which you may know is only a hop, skip and a jump (about 2 miles) from our house. I haven't really taken a position yet. I'm not a big AI user as of yet (old dog and new trick), but I generally see it as a positive. It would mean more local jobs, certainly in the construction trades initially, but in the long run, higher paying technical jobs.

One concern I have is where they intend to get the water to cool the beasts. CCNPP is cooled by the bay, but I've been assured that will never happen again. Fresh water in Calvert County is well water, and most of the county is about maxed out on what they can extract from the aquifers before they start to run out. There is a deeper one, a 1000 feet down, the Patapsco aquifer that costs over a $100,000 to drill a well into.  I presume they'll use a closed loop heat exchange system with evaporative coolers, and the small amount of "blowdown", water that must be discarded as the closed loop gets too gunky, will be treated and released somehow. But details are sketchy so far.

And Closer to Home

Nancy Krause

The Independent reports Calvert County Child protective services called after parents express concerns about high school’s Turning Point USA event

A Turning Point USA event for Maryland high schoolers was reported to child protective services after parents expressed “serious concern” about their children’s safety at the meeting.

A parent, identified only as “Nancy,” told attendees at a Calvert County school board meeting on February 12 that kids had been put at risk because adults were not allowed to attend the event.

However, the 17-year-old president of Calvert County Club America, which is associated with TPUSA, said that some adult attendance would still be permitted. This attendance was limited to parents and volunteers only due to the “hate” the group had received online.

“We have been accused of many things,” the unnamed president said, explaining the decision. “We have been accused of grooming children - an allegation that a random, unnamed man was president of our group and had certain felony charges. “I'm the president of the group,” he continued. “I'm 17, I'm a minor.

At the hearing earlier this month, Nancy maintained that she still believed the event was not safe. Before revealing that CPS had been contacted, she said that the event “raises serious concerns related to student safety, parental rights and governance oversight.”

"Excluding parents and guardians from a student-focused event creates a lack of transparency and undermines established best practices for youth safety,” she continued. "Students are widely recognized as a vulnerable population, they are in critical developmental stages, and especially susceptible to influence.”

Calvert County is a slightly purplish red county not all that far from the blue strongholds of Washington DC and as the crow flies. Many of our residents commute up the road everyday. I'm not shocked that some Karen that hates Trump and Charlie Kirk would try to stop this, but calling CPS because high school students are forming a TPUSA chapter?  That's just weird

Navy Looks for PFAS Near Chesapeake Beach

 The Bay Net, Navy Tests Private Wells Near Naval Research Laboratory — Chesapeake Bay Detachment

The Navy has conducted testing of private drinking water wells within a sampling area near Naval Research Laboratory — Chesapeake Bay Detachment for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS.
. . .
In the areas near the Chesapeake Bay Detachment, the concern over PFAS comes from the use of firefighting foam over the years. PFAS have been found in the groundwater at NRL — Chesapeake Bay Detachment and in nearby drinking wells in the direction of groundwater flow. The Navy has created guidelines for testing and responding to levels of PFAS.

In this most recent round of testing, the Navy sampled 52 wells and found one well above DoD PFAS interim action levels for private drinking water wells. If levels are found to be above 70 parts per trillion (ppt), then the Navy will provide bottled water for drinking and cooking to property owners or tenants until a more enduring solution is implemented. No samples were above 70 ppt in this round of testing.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency developed a final draft of drinking water standards for certain PFAS in April 2024. The Navy will continue testing for PFAS in the area as needed.

The Naval Research Laboratory Restoration Advisory Board holds regular public meetings regarding PFAS and testing, including a recent open house in September. Interested persons can attend meetings or learn more here.

The  Naval Research Laboratory — Chesapeake Bay Detachment is a somewhat mysterious land based naval station in Calvert County, on the Bay a bit south of Chesapeake Beach. Among Bay fishermen it is called "The Radar Towers" because of a number of radar installations there visible from the water. 

Naval Research Laboratory - CBD

Naval Research Laboratory – Chesapeake Bay Detachment (NRL-CBD) is located approximately 40 miles southeast of Washington, D.C., in Calvert County, Maryland, south of the town of Chesapeake Beach, Maryland. NRL-CBD occupies approximately 160 acres along the western shoreline of the Chesapeake Bay. The facility is bounded by the Chesapeake Bay to the east and residential housing areas to the north, south, and west. The facility is separated by Bayside Road (State Route 261) into an eastern and western portion.

NRL-CBD’s mission is to provide and maintain facilities for use by the research divisions of the Naval Research Laboratory, located in Washington, D.C., for the testing, development, and evaluation of radar, radio, optical, and fire control equipment, along with other research projects requiring a maritime environment or open skies, but with land-based support facilities.

The original acquisition of land for NRL-CBD took place in 1941, and construction progressed rapidly during World War II. Major expansion occurred in 1953 and 1954 with construction of a large laboratory building, shop facilities, and complete utility systems.

Apparently, one of the things researched there was means of fighting ship fires. PFAS was widely used in fire fighting foams, which may well explain how they ended up scattering it around the landscape. 

Just Looking for a Pic-a-nic Basket

Southern Maryland News, Bear sighted in St. Mary's County

Late last week reports began popping up on social media of black bear sightings in St. Mary’s County. The county’s emergency services department issued a warning to residents with some helpful tips now that there seems to be at least one black bear that wandered into the county.

Those tips include never feed a bear, secure garbage outside of homes, don’t leave pet food outside, remove bird feeders while bears are active, and clean and store grills. “While black bears are generally not aggressive, they can pose a threat if they feel cornered, startled or have easy access to food around human habitats,” according to the department.

So far, sightings have been reported in Piney Point, Mechanicsville and Dameron and Historic St. Mary’s City — in other words, throughout St. Mary’s County.

Officials have not given any word on how the black bear may have arrived in St. Mary’s, although some have speculated it swam across the Potomac River from Virginia, where the bears are prevalent, especially in the mountains.

For now, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources is monitoring the situation. “To my knowledge, I don’t believe they’ve caught the bear or seen the bear too recently, but it is exciting,” Commissioner Eric Colvin (R) said at Tuesday’s county commissioners’ meeting. “Recommendation is if you see the bear, just let it be, let it go on its way.”

If it swam the Potomac to get to St. Mary's County, it can swim the Patuxent to get to Calvert. It's a good thing Black Bears hardly ever kill anybody. I wonder if it's hanging out with the St. Mary's Alligator. 

And Now, Time for Some Local News

At the Baynet, Calvert Deputy Deploys Taser To Restrain Aggressive Pot Belly Pig, Protecting A Nearby Family

ST. LEONARD, Md. – In a daring incident on December 23, 2023, around 6:48 p.m., Deputy First Class (DFC) Wilder of the local law enforcement agency successfully subdued an aggressive male Pot Belly Pig in the 6100 block of Ben Creek Road in St. Leonard. The incident occurred following an animal complaint from a concerned resident regarding the safety of her family.   

The complainant reported a 70 lb. male Pot Belly Pig, known as ‘Thug’, with 3-inch long, hard tusks, running at large. Deputy Wilder promptly responded to the scene, where he discovered that this was the second incident of the day involving the elusive pig. Animal Control had previously responded but was unable to apprehend ‘Thug’ using a baited trap.
 
Despite multiple attempts to lasso the pig and redirect its path, ‘Thug’ grew more agitated and charged towards the complainant’s property. With a family, including a 3-year-old child, present at the scene, Deputy Wilder swiftly took action to ensure public safety. He deployed his agency-issued taser, successfully containing the unruly pig.

Following the incident, ‘Thug’ was safely transported to the Linda L. Kelley Animal Shelter by Animal Control, where the pig’s owner voluntarily relinquished ownership.

Deputy Wilder’s quick thinking and bravery in averting a potentially dangerous situation showcases the dedication of law enforcement to ensuring the well-being of the community.

Although we technically live in St. Leonard, this incident was several miles away, on the Patuxent side of Rt. 4, which runs down the spine of the county.

FWIW, Linda Kelly was a Calvert County Commissioner well known for her love of animals, and keeping pot-bellied pigs as pets.

Hey, That Was Mine!

Newsweek, Girl Finds Enormous Megalodon Tooth on Maryland Beach on Christmas Day

A girl found an enormous 5-inch megalodon tooth on a Maryland beach on Christmas Day. The 9-year-old, named Molly, had been out searching for fossils along Calvert Beach in the morning when she made the discovery.

Otodus megalodon was a giant shark species that is thought to have evolved around 20 million years ago. It swam in the world's oceans for 13 million years before becoming extinct.

The species is believed to be one of the largest and most powerful predators to have ever lived, and scientists think it could have grown up to 50 to 60 feet long. The great white shark is a very close relative of the megalodon.

Molly's mother, Alicia, told Newsweek: "For Christmas this year, Molly's only request was for insulated chest waders because she hadn't been able to go out far looking for fossils since it got cold.

"My husband has always told her that winter is the best time of year to find them. As soon as we finished breakfast, Molly, Natalie—Molly's sister—and my husband all suited up and headed to the cliffs."


As Molly left, she told her mother: "I'm going to look for a meg!"

The girl was wading in knee-deep water and searching the sand when she spotted the huge tooth. She then dove into the water and grabbed it.

"Thirty minutes after they left, my husband sent me that picture of her in the water holding that tooth. I thought they were playing a joke on me," Alicia said.

At 5 inches, the tooth is the biggest ever found in Calvert County.

 That makes Georgia's 4 1/2 inch tooth from May 2022 even seem more impressive.

Congratulations Molly! You've either peaked early, or have a great career ahead a paleontologist.

Parents Revolt Comes to Calvert County

Andrea Widburg at Am Think thinks Leftists carefully market sex books to make them seem wholesome for kids

Calvert County, a wealthy, mostly conservative, county in Maryland, is either deliberately grooming its public school students or it fell prey to the way in which genuinely obscene books are marketed as charmingly educational. That is, the marketing is intended to fool parents and staff alike.
. . .
My school days seem antediluvian and my kids’ school days have a certain nostalgic charm compared to what the kids are learning in high school nowadays. At a recent board meeting, a parent read aloud from Let's Talk About It: The Teen's Guide to Sex, Relationships, and Being a Human (A Graphic Novel), a book on the library shelf.

The same Amazon page has an editorial review from the School Library Journal, saying that the book is for Grades 9 and up. Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, and Booklist, all of which parents perceive to be reputable sources, are quoted raving that the book is “inclusive,” “honest,” and “sex positive.” The authors, we’re told, are all about sex positivity, including a “sex education focused webcomic called Oh Joy Sex Toy.” Sounds kind of cute, right? (It’s not.)

With the book’s carefully neutral description and the rave reviews from reputable sources, anyone, including a naïve school librarian or good parent, might be forgiven for thinking the book is simply an updated version of the old-fashioned teen guide, something that goes back to the 1940s. The giveaway is the word “graphic.” Those people who think “graphic” means a cartoon need to let go of that idea. This book is “graphic” in the obscene sense.

A mother in Calvert County went to a public board meeting and read aloud from the book. I must warn you that what she reads is exceedingly graphic and definitely Not Safe For Work Or Children. I would guess that a deliberately pornographic novel sounds much the same:

A parent reads from the pornographic book “Let’s Talk About It” which is available to students in @calvertnet.

The book encourages readers to explore porn and kink with online communities. It also advises to use sex toys and contains graphic depictions of sex and masturbation. pic.twitter.com/MERj3Qdkbx

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) November 13, 2022

Thank heavens for Libs of TikTok.

CMM Meg Gets New Dentures

 Chesapeake Bay Mag, Megalodon Jaws Being Rebuilt at Calvert Marine Museum

The Calvert Marine Museum has lots of fascinating exhibits, but if there is one thing they’re known for, it’s the giant, prehistoric shark jaw they have on display.

Well, that jaw has been dismantled and the megalodon it belongs to is getting a new set of chompers. With a series of new discoveries made (many by CMM’s own paleontologists) about shark teeth, the jaw is begin upgraded with much more historically accurate reproductions.

Truly a remarkable beast; I'm just astonished that I can (very rarely) find their teeth scattered about on our beach.

Calvert Marine Museum is a pretty good resource for us. 

Calvert County Makes National News!

Even international! UK Independent: Explicit billboard attacking Biden and Harris causes controversy in Maryland. Also, NYPo, Controversial billboard calls Biden, Harris ‘s–theads’ in Maryland and Fox 5 in NY, Controversial billboard in Calvert County causing stir 

Located near the intersection of Route 4 and Bowie Shop Road in Huntingtown, it depicts President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in cartoon feces. The sign then says, "DON’T BLAME TRUMP! YOU ARE STUCK WITH THESE TWO (expletive) HEADS!!!"

"It’s just vulgar," said Jeanette Flaim, who is the chair of the Calvert County Democratic Central Committee. "Kids are going to school, and they’re going by it every day, and parents are driving their kids. We just don’t think kids should have to see that or parents should have to explain that."

Theo's hosts an unbowdlerized picture:

I haven't been that far up county since I got the second shot of the Trump vaccine. I might need to make a trip.  

A little about Calvert County for those not familiar. We're location on the Western Shore of Chesapeake Bay, anywhere from 20-50 miles SE of Washington DC. Many people who live here commute to DC and have the typical deep blue DC politics. At the same time, we are the site of a large nuclear power plant, and a natural gas export facility, industries Democrats would desperately like to kill. We are also just across the river from Patuxent River Naval Air station, and many county residents work there. The county has voted R in every presidential election since Carter; in the last election 52 - 46%.

Is WuFlu a Blue State Plague

Stacy McCain examines the Rural/Urban Split in the WuFlu pandemic: Worse Before It Gets Better: Statistical Risk and the Wuhan Coronavirus

What is not getting enough attention in the media is how uneven the impact of the Wuhan virus outbreak is spread in the United States. For example, 42% of deaths from the disease (1,342 out of 3,175) are in New York state, and the vast majority of those are concentrated in New York City and its suburbs. Of the 66,497 cases reported in New York state as of Monday afternoon, the city has 37,453 (56%) and four suburban counties — Westchester (9,326), Suffolk (5,791), Nassau (7,344), Rockland (2,511) — comprise another 38% of statewide cases, so the city and its suburbs account for 94% of all cases in New York State.

More than a third (62,425, or 38%) of all coronavirus cases in the United States are in the New York metropolitan region, without even including the cases in the New Jersey or Connecticut suburbs.

This disparity of impact can be demonstrated by other statistics. Consider the state-by-state coronavirus death tolls. As of this morning, seven states had reported at least 100 deaths from the virus:

New York …………………. 1,342
Washington State ………........ 210
New Jersey ……………....…..198
Louisiana ………………….... 185
Michigan …………………… 184
Georgia ……………………... 102

That is 2,221 deaths, 70% of all U.S. coronavirus deaths. These states have a combined population of 60.6 million, which is less than one-fifth (18.8%) of the total U.S. population of 327.2 million. So 80% of Americans live in states that have suffered less than 20% of COVID-19 deaths, and this explains a lot about political responses to the disease. For example, if you live in Michigan (6,498 cases, 184 deaths in a population of about 10 million), your risk from coronavirus is about six times greater than if you live in Texas (3,184 cases, 47 deaths in a population of about 29.5 million). Yet not everyone in Michigan is equally exposed to the COVID-18 risk, which is highly concentrated near Detroit. Nearly half of the state’s cases are in Detroit (1,801) and surrounding Wayne County (1,394). Add in the suburbs of Oakland County (1,365) and Macomb County (728), and there are 5,288 coronavirus cases in the metro Detroit region, accounting for 81% of Michigan’s total.

If you’re not in one of the “red zones” of this pandemic, the alarmist rhetoric in the media probably strikes you as an irrational panic. The American who lives in eastern Kentucky, northern Texas or upstate New York is not seeing overcrowded local hospitals or reading obituaries of local residents killed by the Wuhan virus. As a matter of statistical probability, your personal risk from the virus is low, and yet every time you turn on TV news, it’s another CORONAVIRUS CRISIS UPDATE, with politicians and medical experts warning that we are approaching a catastrophe, requiring immediate and drastic action.

Part of this disparity, of course, is that the national news media are headquartered in New York, where the coronavirus outbreak is worst. Yet the uneven impact of the disease produces disparities everywhere. Consider the case of Maryland, with a population of about 6.1 million, which currently reports 1,660 cases, or about 27 cases per 100,000 residents. This is far below the level in Michigan (about 65 cases per 100,000 residents), and not even a tenth of New York’s rate (342 cases per 100,000 residents), yet Gov. Larry Hogan issued a statewide lockdown order Monday. Why this drastic action?

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said on Monday that he is taking the coronavirus response seriously as cases in the Washington, D.C. metro area rapidly increase.
“Over the past week, cases have more than quadrupled in the Washington metro area [Washington, D.C. Maryland, and Virginia],” he noted, comparing the trajectory of cases to New York City a few weeks ago.
New York City has now become the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States, with city hospitals overrun with patients. Citing 66 cases at a Carroll County nursing home, Hogan said that it is a serious issue as cases have doubled in the past two days in the area.

This hits close to home, as my podcasting partner John Hoge lives in Carroll County, which had very few cases of coronavirus before this sudden outbreak at a nursing home there. While we don’t know exactly how this nursing home became infected, the proximity to Baltimore (about 30 miles) and D.C. (about 40 miles) is suggestive of the source.

Look at the county-by-count case numbers in Maryland, and you see that two D.C. suburban counties (Montgomery and Prince George’s) and Baltimore (city and county) have a combined 1,143 cases, which is 69% of the statewide total. In rural Maryland — the Eastern Shore, and from Frederick County westward — there are very few cases. Yet resident of the rural counties are not exempt from the statewide shutdown, and this once again highlights the disparate impact of the pandemic. As much as we might complain about this, the upside is that locking down the “red zones” means that the low-risk areas are more likely to remain low-risk. The upward spikes in coronvirus cases in urban America will continue, while rural America will largely be spared the worst of the pandemic.

Cases in my relatively rural county, Calvert (population ~90,000), has 18 or 19 confirmed cases as of today, depending on your source, up from 15 yesterday, for an infection rate of 0.02%. By way of contrast, Anne Arundel (population ~540,00), our neighbor county to the north, and home of the state capitol has 158 a rate of 0.03% , while Prince George's County (population ~900,000), to our west, and a suburb of Washington D.C, has 403, a rate of 0.045%.

So, we're behind, but not too far behind. But the power of exponential growth of the infections suggests that rural areas will fare much better.

Believe All Women, Except #HerToo

BPR, Explosion of leftist hate aimed at Dr Birx after she demolishes media’s panic narrative

Dr. Deborah L. Birx, the response coordinator for the White House Coronavirus Task Force, has proven to be a voice of reason in a time of crisis — much to the angst of the hostile, anti-Trump media.

The hair-on-fire media is pushing a panic-inducing worst-case narrative in the face of the COVID-19 outbreak, focusing on predictions of alarming increases in those who contract the Chinese virus while reporting on dwindling hospital supplies and do-not-resuscitate orders allegedly being discussed to free up more beds.

(Reports out of New York claim hospitals are being overrun with patients.)
Yet, Birx stands calmly before the American people at the nightly press briefings and reminds agenda-driven journalists of a little thing called facts, beseeching them to be more responsible in their reporting.

“There is no situation in the United States right now that warrants that kind of discussion,” she implored. “You can be thinking about it in a hospital… but to say to the American people, to make the implication that when they need a hospital bed it’s not going to be there, or when they need that ventilator it’s not going to be there, we don’t have evidence of that right now.”

This, of course, doesn't sit well with the media determined to paint a worst case scenario, with the Trump administration taking the blame.

Watch the media turn vicious on Dr. Birx now that she debunked some of their fear and panic peddling.

— John Cardillo (@johncardillo) March 27, 2020

On schedule,

It's official: Dr. Birx and Dr. Fauci are no longer in the good graces of the media and the doomsday preachers. Seeing an explosion of hate on social media, because they dared to explain the data and tell the truth about the COVID-19 outbreak.

— Jordan Schachtel (@JordanSchachtel) March 27, 2020

I am losing confidence in Dr. Birx. This is Trump spin-room type presentation. https://t.co/atUGL0aQP9

— Amy Siskind 🏳️‍🌈 (@Amy_Siskind) March 27, 2020

And more, from people whose only knowledge of medicine came from their high school sex ed classes.

Meanwhile, poor Italy, Stacy McCain: Italy Takes a Turn for the Worse

After five days of apparent improvement, Italy’s coronavirus outbreak worsened Friday, when the country reported more than 900 deaths:
. . .
The previous highest number of daily coronavirus deaths in Italy was 793 last Saturday, and by Monday, they had fallen to 601. However, the daily number of new Wuhan virus cases, which also peaked last Saturday at 6,557, has since remained below that mark. Italy’s caseload is still very high, and increasing, as the number of new cases reported daily greatly exceeds the number of patients reported as recovered from the disease.

Meanwhile, in the United States, 18,691 new cases of Chinese coronavirus were reported Friday, and 401 deaths. Here are the latest state-by-state numbers, according to CNN:

New York ………………….. 44,635 (519 deaths)
New Jersey …………………. 8,825 (108 deaths)
California …………………….. 3,801 (78 deaths)
Washington …………………. 3,723 (175 deaths)
Michigan ……………………… 3,657 (92 deaths)
Massachusetts ……………… 3,240 (35 deaths)
Florida ………………………… 3,192 (45 deaths)
Illinois …………………………. 3,026 (34 deaths)
Louisiana ……………………… 2,746 (119 deaths)
Pennsylvania ……………….. 2,218 (22 deaths)
Georgia ……………………….. 2,198 (65 deaths)

The top 10 states account for 81,261 cases, which is 80% of the total of 101,241 coronavirus cases reported in the United States. Two states, New York and New Jersey, account for more than half the U.S total. The situation in New York is bad and getting worse:

More than a third of the country’s cases are in New York — which has been in a partial lockdown for a week as officials try to slow the spread of the virus and hospitals scramble to keep up with the patients streaming in.
The state’s healthcare system is already overwhelmed. One hospital was forced to create a makeshift morgue and another reported 13 patient deaths in 24 hours. New York and its National Guard are now assembling four 1,000-bed temporary, overflow hospitals in existing buildings.

If you look at the state-by-state numbers, you’ll see that, as a percentage of population, the Wuhan virus has had much less impact in California and Florida, compared to New York, while Texas, with only 1,731 cases, has been particularly fortunate thus far. Dig down a little deeper in the numbers, and you discover that in Florida, for example, their COVID-19 cases have been highly concentrated in three South Florida counties — Dade (869), Broward (631) and (241) — which combined account for nearly 55% (1,741) of the statewide total of cases. These counties have a combined population of about 6 million, which is less than 30% of Florida’s total population of about 21 million. What this suggests is that people living in Florida’s urban centers face substantially higher risk from the virus, and this is probably true nationwide.

Of course, there is no such thing as 100% safety, but during a pandemic of contagious disease, rural life is much safer than city life.

So far, our Calvert County, a relatively rural place by Maryland standards, has 9 confirmed cases in a population of about 90,000.

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Want to Buy Some Disappearing Land?

Our county has a deal for you! County to sell cliff mitigation properties

The Calvert County commissioners directed staff June 11 to make arrangements for the transfer of properties the county had acquired to eliminate long-term risk to people and property from shoreline and cliff erosion in Calvert.

The county acquired and demolished 10 properties, five of which are located in Lusby, four in Port Republic and one in St. Leonard.

The 10 sites will be readied for transfer to a willing party.

“It’s a long time. It’s a long process,” Commissioner Mike Hart (R) said of the nearly eight-year effort.
. . .
During the commissioners’ meeting, county attorney John Norris said upon acquiring the properties, and a cash contribution from the former property owners, the county had the houses, and other improvements such as sheds, decks, fences removed.

Wow, they made you desert the house, and charged you for the privelege, Kind of like the Communist dictators charging you for the bullet they executed your father with.

By June 2014, all work was completed, and the FEMA grant was closed out.

“We’ve since been audited and passed,” Norris said before the commissioners.

However, since that time, the county has carried insurance, but otherwise allowed the properties to return to a natural state.
Transferring ownership of the property will reduce the county’s expenditure on insurance.

Demolition on the properties started in 2013 and continued into 2014, according to Freeland, of the currently board-owned properties.

Norris informed the Recorder in an email that no transactions are set up. He will reach out to homeowners associations and adjoining property owners, where the property is located, to find parties interested in holding a property title.

“We’re exploring interests and, if there are competing parties with interest in the same properties, I’ll seek direction from the board,” Norris explained.

Any interested HOAs or adjoining property owners could acquire a property, but with limited benefit and with the requirement they maintain the property’s appearance, so it does not detract from the values of the neighborhoods.

Restrictions on any future temporary or permanent use or development would apply, as well as a future right of entry would be retained so that FEMA can continue to conduct audits to ensure the properties continuously meet grant stipulations.

Freeland said one of those requirements is that there are “easements placed on the properties that prevent occupied structures from being built.”

Such a deal, a piece of land you can't build anything on, but have to maintain!

One of the properties was in the neighboring community of Calvert Beach, and overlooks the beach we walked every day. In fact, the people who left the house were "allowed" to sell anything and everything they could get cash for. We bought a couple of nice wooden doors to replace some builders level crap we still had. You can see the site here; the house in center left is now gone.

But if you want to buy the lot, the Calvert County will be more than happy to sell it to you, and collect the property taxes.

Storms Lead to Beach Closings

More Beaches Closed After Week-long Storms

Five Anne Arundel County beaches are closed for swimming, days after the heavy rainstorms that sent runoff and debris down the Bay from the Conowingo Dam.

The health department is seeing high bacteria results in water samples. On Thursday the Anne Arundel County Department of Health issued advisories for people to avoid direct contact with the water in five locations:

• Atlantic Marina Resort on the Patapsco River in Pasadena
• Bay Ridge Beach at Bay Drive in Annapolis
• Chesapeake Bay Foundation Beach in Annapolis
• Beverly Beach in Edgewater
• Sandy Point South Beach at Sandy Point State Park in Annapolis

Sandy Point's beaches were already closed for swimming due to large amounts of debris that washed up.

The health department says people should avoid swimming, water skiing, or any other direct water contact. Signs have been posted at all of the beaches. If you do come in contact with the affected water, wash well with soap and warm water immediately. Clothing should also be washed.

The advisories will remain in effect until new water sample tests show acceptable bacteria levels.

For the most recent water quality report and bacteria counts, click here and scroll down.

So far, all the Calvert County beaches, including ours, still test clean.

Maryland Moves to Erase the Past

Maryland Governor Orders Removal of Chief Justice Taney Statue

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has ordered the statue of Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, who found in the 1857 Dred Scott decision that a slave had no right to sue for his freedom, removed from the grounds of the state house.

His 2018 challenger for the governor's seat, former NAACP president Ben Jealous, claimed that Hogan was making a political move a day after Jealous gave a statement in front of the Taney statue calling for its removal.

Taney, who was born in Calvert County, wrote in the 7-2 opinion for the majority that the framers of the Constitution regarded blacks "as beings of an inferior order, and altogether unfit to associate with the white race, either in social or political relations; and so far inferior, that they had no rights which the white man was bound to respect; and that the negro might justly and lawfully be reduced to slavery for his benefit."

"...It is obvious that they were not even in the minds of the framers of the Constitution when they were conferring special rights and privileges upon the citizens of a State in every other part of the Union. Indeed, when we look to the condition of this race in the several States at the time, it is impossible to believe that these rights and privileges were intended to be extended to them."

Hogan said this evening that Maryland "has always been a state of middle temperament, which is a guiding principle of our administration."

Taney Place 

As I have noted previously, Justice Taney's birthplace is just a few miles from here, off Adelina Road.

Roger Brooke Taney was born on March 17, 1777 in Calvert County, Maryland, the son of Monica (Brooke) and Michael Taney. He was the second son, and the third of seven children (four sons and three daughters) born to a slaveholding family of tobacco planters in Calvert County, Maryland. He received a rudimentary education from a series of private tutors. After instructing him for a year, his last tutor, David English, recommended that Taney was ready for college. At the age of 15 he entered Dickinson College in Pennsylvania, graduating with honors in 1795. As a younger son with no prospect of inheriting the family plantation, Taney chose the profession of law. He read law with Judge Jeremiah Townley Chase and was admitted to the bar in 1799. He quickly distinguished himself as one of Maryland's most promising young lawyers.

He couldn't be a Republican, because the modern Republican Party had not yet come into existence.

Taney, a Jacksonian Democrat, was made Chief Justice by Jackson. He inherited slaves from his father but manumitted them and gave pensions to the older ones. He believed that power and liberty were extremely important and if power became too concentrated, then it posed a grave threat to individual liberty. He opposed attempts by the national government to regulate or control matters that would restrict the rights of individuals. From Prince Frederick, Maryland, he had practiced law and politics simultaneously and succeeded in both. After abandoning the Federalist Party as a losing cause, he rose to the top of the state's Jacksonian machine. As Attorney General (1831–1833) and then Secretary of the Treasury (1833–1834), and as a prominent member of the Kitchen Cabinet, Taney became one of Jackson's closest advisers, assisting Jackson in his populist crusade against the powerful Bank of the United States.

Time to remove the statue of  the man who ordered Japanese orphans interned at Manzanar from his memorial in Washington D.C. Or maybe we should just remove the whole memorial.

Both sides can play this game.

A Pretty Good Haul at the Beach

Skye hounded, or rather huskied, us into getting down to the beach about 10:30. It was mostly cloudy, cool, and breezy from the east. And the tide was pretty hard too, so we weren't expecting to find a lot of fossils.

But down by Matoaka Cottages Georgia found this, which I couldn't identify right off, which is pretty rare. However, someone on a fossil group on Facebook identified it as a hyplural fan, the final vertebra in a fish, where it spreads out. Something big, like a tuna or bill fish. Cool!

We did pretty well for shark's teeth too. Sadly, this pretty colored Snaggletooth is broken, otherwise it would be a gem.

 One of two pretty good Mako shark's teeth.

The entire haul, 26 teeth, 3 crab claws, a tiny fish vertebra and the hyplural fan.

Anne Marie Gardens and Flag Ponds Park

Georgia decided we needed some cultural experiences today, so in the late morning Georgia, Corwin, Skye and I trundled off to Anne Marie Gardens down near Solomons to walk Skye in the sculpture garden and visit the indoor craft fair. Skye had to go back to the car for that.

Last night dropped to 24 here, and while the morning was bright and sunny it stayed pretty chilly all day.

Francis Koenig, the founder and main donor for Anne Marie Garden, named after his wife, used to keep a catboat down at Flag Harbor, a few slips from mine. He was a crusty old guy.

One of the bronze sculptures from the "Women's garden."

After this, we stopped at The Frying Pan for a lunch of classic Maryland fried food. I had an oyster sandwich. Excellent. An old style diner, The Frying Pan is an institution in Calvert County; it was old and renowned when we arrived over 30 years ago.

After lunch we decided to work off a few of the extra calories with a stop at Flag Ponds Nature Park. Located south of Flag Harbor, and just north of Calvert Cliffs, it is a Calvert County park, that costs $5 a car load. It has trails through the ponds it is named after, which were formed in a hurricane in the 1930s. In addition, it features a wide and wild beach on the Chesapeake Bay, one of the few public beaches in the Southern Maryland area.

I even found a couple of teeth.

Dog Park and Battle Creek

Mid-January, and 69 F outside. After some chores and phone calls we decided to take Skye to the dog park  after lunch. When we got there, we found that many other people's dogs had the same idea, and there were lots of dogs to meet and butts to sniff.

Look Ma! This one has more hair than me! And drool too!

After a while at the dog park, we walked across the road to Biscoe Gray Heritage Farm to check it out. A relatively new park in our county it offers walking trails in the woods . . .

. . . and across farmed meadows. There's areas set aside for hunting and horseback riding (bring your own horse).

The trail leads own to historical Battle Creek, a tidal creek off the Patuxent River at this point. Upstream, not far away, the creek narrows to a small freshwater creek through one of the northernmost Bald Cypress swamps in the US.

There's a trail of Bluebird boxes around the meadows, and this one had a particularly fetching growth of lichen