Chessie

Welcome back, old friend. In a summer of discontent across the United States from the record heat wave that's plagued much of the country to the icy deficit reduction talks in Washington, it's good to see a familiar (and might we add unflappable) figure has returned to the Land of Pleasant Living. Let us rejoice in the return of Chessie, the celebrity manatee recently sighted in Calvert County. Thanks to Morgan State University's Estuarine Research Center, the 1,200-pound marine mammal has been positively identified as none other than the one first seen in the Chesapeake Bay 17 years ago. Back in 1994, Chessie's first appearance caused such an uproar - and raised such breathless concern that he wouldn't survive as local water temperatures dropped in the fall - that he was "rescued" and air-lifted back to his native Florida on a U.S. Coast Guard C-130.

Chessie M. Brailey, a civil rights activist who had been married to former state legislator F. Troy Brailey, died Dec.16 from complications of dementia at her daughter's Harbor Court condominium. The former longtime Easterwood Park resident was 94. "Chessie had a wonderful spirit and was serious about the community and the advancement of African-Americans. She provided tremendous support for her husband," said the Rev. James L. Carter, pastor of East North Avenue's Ark Church and a longtime friend.

Chessie, the wandering Florida manatee that has visited the Chesapeake Bay at least twice over the past 17 years, is back. The well-traveled mammal has not been seen since 2001, and his resurfacing is making waves among marine scientists and bay folk alike. "I wanted to let you know that the [U.S. Geological Survey] identified the manatee from Wednesday, and it's a familiar face to us … it's Chessie!," said Jennifer Dittmar, stranding coordinator for the National Aquarium, in an email to a Calvert Marine Museum staffer, confirming the animal's return.

If Ripley's Believe It or Not! opens a proposed "odditorium" museum at the Inner Harbor, it will be hard to miss. To lure visitors to its collection of "amazing exhibits" and "unbelievable & genuine artifacts from around the globe," the Orlando, Fla.-based entertainment company wants an attention-grabbing facade at its proposed site in the Light Street Pavilion at Harborplace. But city officials are pressing the company to tone down the facade's design, which initially featured a three-dimensional sea monster bursting from the building, teeth bared, as its green body coiled around a three-masted ship.

Chessie, the Baltimore-Annapolis entry in the Whitbread Round the World Race, is en route to England, where the nine-leg sailing competition will begin next month.With skipper George Collins and team president Mark K. Fischer aboard along with its 12-man crew, Chessie is sailing in company with Toshiba, the Dennis Conner entry in the race.Whitbread entries are required to log 3,000 miles offshore before the start on Sept. 21, and the two Whitbread 60s will train against each other on the Atlantic crossing.

Services for Charles Ellsworth Davidson, a retired Chessie System train dispatcher, will be held at 11 a.m. tomorrow at Epiphany Lutheran Church, 4301 Raspe Ave.Mr. Davidson, who was 71 and lived on Ontario Avenue in Carney, died Monday at the Good Samaritan Hospital after a heart attack.He worked many years for the former Baltimore and Ohio railroad before retiring about five years ago.The Baltimore native was a graduate of the Polytechnic Institute.He is survived by a brother, Milton L. Davidson of Annapolis; two nieces, Linda White of Cockeysville and Elaine Sauer of Parkton; and three nephews, Guy White of Carney, Scott Davidson of Pasadena and Lee Davidson of Baltimore.

Chessie Racing, the Maryland team entered in the Whitbread Round the World Race that starts in September, has its Whitbread 60 well along in the construction process and plans to begin crew training and boat testing in late April."

Flag: USASail number: USA60Designer: Bruce FarrBuilder: Goetz Custom BoatsShore manager: Bryan FishbackLaunch: April 1997Skipper: George CollinsCollins, 57, a co-skipper on Chessie, created the syndicate more than a year ago and serves as the shore and race crew's all-around leader.A native of West Haven, Conn., Collins started sailing on Long Island Sound shortly after high school. In 1990, he completed his first offshore competition, the Annapolis to Bermuda race. Since then, he has participated in several ocean races along the East Coast - including Key West Race Week and S.O.R.

"Chessie Racing: The Story of Maryland's Entry in the 1997-98 Whitbread Round the World Race," by George J. Collins and Kathy Alexander. Johns Hopkins University Press. 240 pages. $34.95. This is a book for several audiences -- the serious sailor, the vicarious adventurer, and the proud Maryland landlubber. Chessie Racing's entry into the 1997-98 Whitbread Round the World Race engaged an interest far beyond the normal appeal of ocean racing, even in a water-bred community like ours. This was achieved, in major part, through the first partnership between an ocean racing syndicate and a nonprofit organization, the Living Classrooms Foundation.

The past seven days have been a mixture of frustration and exultation aboard Chessie Racing, the Maryland entry in the Whitbread Round the World Race.Chessie has experienced extended calms, collided with a whale, changed from shorts and T-shirts to cold weather survival suits and on Monday received its first blast of heavy weather from the Roaring 40s."Yahoo! The Southern Ocean is here at last," Whitbread veteran and Chessie watch captain Grant Spanhake reported in Monday's electronic mail to race headquarters.

Welcome back, old friend. In a summer of discontent across the United States from the record heat wave that's plagued much of the country to the icy deficit reduction talks in Washington, it's good to see a familiar (and might we add unflappable) figure has returned to the Land of Pleasant Living. Let us rejoice in the return of Chessie, the celebrity manatee recently sighted in Calvert County. Thanks to Morgan State University's Estuarine Research Center, the 1,200-pound marine mammal has been positively identified as none other than the one first seen in the Chesapeake Bay 17 years ago. Back in 1994, Chessie's first appearance caused such an uproar - and raised such breathless concern that he wouldn't survive as local water temperatures dropped in the fall - that he was "rescued" and air-lifted back to his native Florida on a U.S. Coast Guard C-130.

Chessie, the wandering Florida manatee that has visited the Chesapeake Bay at least twice over the past 17 years, is back. The well-traveled mammal has not been seen since 2001, and his resurfacing is making waves among marine scientists and bay folk alike. "I wanted to let you know that the [U.S. Geological Survey] identified the manatee from Wednesday, and it's a familiar face to us … it's Chessie!," said Jennifer Dittmar, stranding coordinator for the National Aquarium, in an email to a Calvert Marine Museum staffer, confirming the animal's return.

Each year, contestants in the Kinetic Sculpture Race are required to write a short summary of the amphibious mechanical creatures they plan to build. These descriptions are short stories in miniature, frequently poignant and deceptively profound. Just kidding. But, the synopses are amusing. Here are some of our favorites from this year: •Carver Cobra II: "The last Cobra drowned during water entry at Canton. This one has had swimming lessons." •Going to Hell: "Fire, Brimstone, Devils, Oh My!"

Raymond Henry Holter Jr., a retired Chessie System executive whose more than four-decade railroad career began on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in the late 1920s, died Saturday of a heart attack at St. Joseph Medical Center. The longtime Loreley resident was 100. Mr. Holter was born at home on his parents' 13-acre farm in Upper Falls, where he spent his early years. In 1922, the family purchased a 134-acre farm in Loreley, where he lived the remainder of his life. He attended Towson High School until he was 14, when he dropped out to help his father run the farm.

Maryland Secretary of Human Resources Brenda Donald told lawmakers yesterday that her agency is doing a better job of using a new computer program to keep track of children in state care. At a General Assembly Joint Audit Committee meeting, Donald said that a recent audit documenting problems with "Chessie" - the Children's Electronic Social Services Information Exchange - "really is old news." Social services employees have entered data from 90 percent of foster care and abuse and neglect investigations, Donald said.

The troubled and costly implementation of "Chessie," a statewide computer system to monitor child services, hampered the Department of Human Resources' ability to ensure compliance with state and federal foster care service requirements, according to a legislative audit released yesterday. Chessie - the Children's Electronic Social Services Information Exchange - is designed to help keep track of nearly 10,000 foster children and 6,000 child protective services investigations. It cost more than $67 million in state and federal funds, including about $10 million to fix flaws.

Chessie Racing, the Maryland entry in the Whitbread Round the World Race, was running in sixth place in today's second position report at 6 a.m. (GMT) as the fleet neared Barbuda and the last turn toward Fort Lauderdale, Fla.Once the turn is made, it is possible Chessie will benefit from a broader sailing angle, and make up ground lost during the past week - although crew member Tony Rey reported in an e-mail that the Maryland boat has been flying for days."We are ripping down the trade wind pipeline under jib top, staysail and full main," said Rey, aboard the Maryland boat for the first time on this leg that began in Sao Sebastiao, Brazil.

During the past seven days, Maryland entry Chessie Racing has crossed the Equator, passed the two remote islands that serve as rounding marks in the South Atlantic Ocean and has started the home stretch to Cape Town, South Africa.After sailing for an extended period in fourth place, Chessie has fallen to fifth behind EF Language (Sweden), Merit Cup (Monaco), Innovation Kvaerner (Norway) and Silk Cut (Britain). At each of the turning marks (de Fernando de Noronha and Trinidade), the Maryland entry was beset by light, shifty winds and fell well behind the leaders, while the five boats in the back of the fleet made up ground.

Robert C. McGowan, a retired CSX official who had guided the affiliation of the Baltimore & Ohio and the Chesapeake & Ohio railroads in the 1960s, and also was in charge of the top-secret congressional bunker underneath a West Virginia resort hotel, died of Parkinson's disease Monday at the Brightwood Center in Lutherville. He was 83. Mr. McGowan was born and raised in Bloomfield, N.J. His college studies at Bucknell University were interrupted during World War II, when he enlisted in the Navy and served as an ensign aboard a destroyer in the South Pacific.

Even as state officials prepare to track Baltimore foster children with a new $67 million computer system today, they are contemplating $10 million worth of repairs to fix serious glitches and shortcomings that have already surfaced. Baltimore's Department of Social Services will be the last of the state's 24 jurisdictions to implement "Chessie," the Children's Electronic Social Services Information Exchange. The city agency is also the largest, with 6,500 foster children and 800 caseworkers, making it more prone to chaos should the new system falter.