Chesapeake

Randy Chabot is a refrigeration contractor, recently transplanted from Michigan to Ellicott City. He wrote last year, amazed and wilted by our Chesapeake summers. Now he's fretting about summer 2007: "My interest ... is not just about comfort, but financial also." The feds' Climate Prediction Center says we're in for a warmer-than-normal summer, with equal chances for above- or below-normal rainfall. Hurricane forecasters warn of a busier 2007 season, with several East Coast landfalls. You'll be busy.

It looked like a rebuilding season for the Archbishop Spalding volleyball team after the graduation of setter and All-Metro Player of the Year Brittany Born and second-team All-Metro hitter Colleen Seeba. Instead, the No. 5 Cavaliers have reloaded and are making a run to repeat as Interscholastc Athletic Association A Conference champions. Under coach Scott Rombach, the Cavaliers served notice on Friday with a surprising 3-1 triumph over then-No. 1 St. Paul's by scores of 25-15, 25-15, 19-25 and 25-19.

Tyler Ernest's major decision at 112 pounds clinched host Chesapeake's upset of fourth-ranked Old Mill, 36-30, yesterday. The 15th-ranked Cougars (15-8, 6-4) got pins from Sonny Scardina (140), Tyler Lomax (160) and Zach O'Keefe (171) to beat the defending Anne Arundel County dual-meet champion. It was the Cougars' first regular-season dual-meet win over the Patriots (8-3, 7-1) in at least 11 years. Chesapeake also got major decisions from Jarrid Bosque (119) and Nikko Moranto (130), and decisions from Chris Blake (145)

Hospice of the Chesapeake has announced its holiday wish list for its patients, clients and families in Anne Arundel and Prince George's counties: New appliances for the soon-to-reopen Tate Chesapeake Hospice House in Linthicum New household items from the gift registry at www.bedbathandbeyond.com for the re-stocking efforts at the Tate Chesapeake Hospice House Gently used clothing and goods to sell at Chesapeake Treasures in Severna Park In-kind donations of services, such as printing, catering and event support Gifts of time -- become a Hospice of the Chesapeake volunteer Monetary contributions of any amount.

COLLEGE PARK -- Close no more. After falling one run short of a state title last year, the Chesapeake-Anne Arundel softball team was on a season-long mission to make things right this spring. Sophomore pitcher Lauren Gibson made sure with a dominating performance on the mound, throwing a no-hitter, and second baseman Kelly Hickman provided a two-run double in the first inning that gave the No. 2 Cougars a 2-0 Class 4A state title win over Damascus. It's the sixth state championship and first since 1993 for the Cougars, who have reached the title game in three of the past four years.

Severna Park's No. 1 field hockey team loses so rarely that even a 1-0 setback in a 25-minute preseason scrimmage sticks with the Falcons. Yesterday, they called upon that loss to Bethesda-Chevy Chase at Pocomoke's playday to fuel a 6-0 victory over the Barons when it counted - at Roland Park's annual Sally E. Nyborg Invitational. Not far away in Annapolis, No. 5 Broadneck and Chesapeake-AA scored similarly big victories over No. 7 Archbishop Spalding and St. Mary's, as public schools ruled the day at the St. Mary's Tournament.

In December, Capt. Greg Shinn piloted the Martha Lewis on a 30-mile cruise from Havre de Grace to a Baltimore marina for routine repairs. The trip on the 52-year-old skipjack, the last on the Chesapeake Bay that dredges for oysters under sail, went well. "Wood boats always leak a little, but there was nothing untoward going on," Shinn said. Volunteer workers planned to paint, plug holes and replace a few boards on the historic boat, which is used for bay education programs. But while removing worn boards from the hull, they found serious structural damage.

As the announcement came declaring No. 5 Broadneck the Anne Arundel County softball champion last night at Randazzo Park, there was a brief hesitation before four teammates scurried up to collect the plaque. It was unfamiliar territory for the Bruins, who were making their first championship game appearance. But their poised play in coming away with a 2-1 win over No. 3 Chesapeake looked nothing like a first-time group's. Broadneck improved to 17-2 and the Cougars fell to 18-3 as the teams now prepare for the Class 4A East region playoffs.

Chesapeake junior shortstop Angela Yannone had a positive feeling when she stepped to the plate in the top of the fifth inning yesterday at Anne Arundel rival Northeast. She had watched the three batters before her hit two-out singles, and she wasn't about to end the fun. Yannone's triple - a line drive that found the gap between right and center field - highlighted a five-run inning that broke open a tight game, leading No. 4 Chesapeake to an 8-3 win over the No. 8 Eagles. The Cougars, who have had to scratch and claw for wins most of the season, improved to 13-2 overall and to 10-1 in the county.

All-Metro senior outfielder Brooke Owen has had plenty of key at-bats covering her four-year career at Chesapeake of Anne Arundel County. None, Owen will tell you, brought more nerves than when she stepped to the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning of last night's Class 4A East regional title game against No. 2 Broadneck. Owen hit a sharp single past third base, bringing home pinch runner Samantha Pettie from third to send the third-ranked Cougars to the state semifinals with a thrilling, 2-1 win over the Bruins at Randazzo Park.

On October 16, 2009, Dr. Donald E. Sheldon, Services will be held out of state. Donations may be made to Upper Chesapeake Health Foundation Residential Hospice, 520 Upper Chesapeake Drive, Suite 405, Bel Air, MD 21014. Memory tributes may be sent to the family at: mccomasfuneralhome.com

It's a breezy morning in eastern Annapolis. Sea gulls squawk overhead. Boats bob beside a dock. And on the deck of a tied-up charter vessel, two folk musicians in ball caps strum a shuffle on a banjo and ukelele, looking every inch the easy-living Jimmy Buffetts of the Chesapeake. It's the final day of shooting for "Seize the Bay," the latest creation from Daphne Glover and Bob Ferrier, filmmakers from Severna Park, and as the two roll videotape, neither one can suppress a smile. "Fantastic," says Ferrier, the director, clapping his hands as the music ends.

In recent years, the Broadneck-Chesapeake-Anne Arundel boys soccer rivalry has showcased tight marking, with an emphasis on taking advantage of rare opportunities on offense. One goal usually makes the difference. That was the case Tuesday at Chesapeake, where the No. 4 Bruins got a goal from junior Ryan Bugarin midway through the first half and protected the lead with an organized effort in back to come away with a 1-0 win over the No. 15 Cougars. Broadneck improved to 3-1-1 overall and 2-0 in Anne Arundel County, while the Cougars fell to 2-2 overall and 1-1 in league play.

Ahoy matey! Pirate Adventures on the Chesapeake is offering hour-long sails daily through Oct. 31 in the Annapolis Harbor. Kids can dress up as pirates, get their faces painted and set sail for a treasure hunt on the water. The young pirates can also engage in a mock fight with water cannons blasting. The Sea Gypsy sails six times a day (9:30 a.m., 11 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 2 p.m., 3:30 p.m. and 5 p.m.) Reservations recommended. Information: 410-263-0002. Canoe excursion Participants can paddle along the shores of Muddy Creek and the Rhode River from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Saturday and learn about the birds, reptiles and other animals that make this tributary of the Chesapeake Bay their home.

Next weekend marks the sixth anniversary of Tropical Storm Isabel's deadly tromp across Central Maryland. The storm made landfall Sept. 18 near Ocracoke, N.C. with top winds of 105 mph. It quickly weakened. But Isabel's storm surge flooded the Chesapeake waterfront, including Baltimore, Annapolis and many bayshore communities. Seven people died in Maryland, and damages came to more than $1 billion.

The future health of the Chesapeake Bay may well depend in part upon how much respect we pay to history. Granted, it may be a small part. But as we struggle to piece together workable plans to improve bay water quality, the little pieces are what make up the big picture. For proof, we need only to recognize the link between muskets and mollusks. More than a century and a half ago in the Mid-Atlantic, from the rolling countryside of lower Pennsylvania to tidewater Virginia, Union and Confederate soldiers fought at scores of locations during the bloodiest and most tumultuous period of our nation's story.

Bill Burton, who fished with presidents, Colts and Orioles, told generations of Maryland anglers where the big ones were biting and was commissioned an "Admiral of the Chesapeake" by one governor, died early Monday morning of cancer. He was 82. A Pasadena resident, Mr. Burton was for 37 years the outdoors editor of The Evening Sun before taking a buyout in 1992. He continued to write for the Bay Weekly and The Capital in Annapolis until his second retirement in late June. "It's a sad day. We've lost a great guy. He was a legend," said Brooks Robinson, the Orioles Hall of Fame third baseman who fished and hunted with Mr. Burton.

AGE: 34 SALARY: $150,000 YEARS ON THE JOB: 15 How he got started: : While still in high school, Griff Bell took a summer job working for a sailboat rental company near Annapolis. He grew up along the South River, boating with his family, and it was the perfect job as well as one he could keep once he began attending college at Frostburg State University. In his sophomore year, he had an opportunity to buy the business, which at the time had four sailboats. He ran the business during his summers off from school.

Bernie Fowler, the 85-year-old former Maryland state senator from Calvert County, held his annual wade-in last Sunday, a ritual in the Patuxent River that draws politicians and the press to his side as he crusades for cleaner, clearer water in the Chesapeake Bay. Once upon a time, Mr. Fowler would not lose sight of his feet until he'd waded into more than 50 inches of water. Last Sunday off Broomes Island, with the majority leader of the U.S. House of Representatives and the governor of Maryland joining him, Mr. Fowler marked the disappearance of his white tennis shoes at only 25.5 inches.

BOYS TRACK Performer of the Year Shannon Glover Meade The senior had a big performance at the right time in the Class 3A state meet. He won the discus in 152 feet, 7 inches to give the Mustangs 10 key points and clinch the state title (the Mustangs were subsequently stripped of the crown due to having an ineligible performer). Glover took third in the shot put and won the discus at the East regional meet. That came after winning the discus and finishing fourth in the shot put the county meet.