Choptank River

The name of John Dillow, a marine biologist with the Living Classrooms Foundation, was spelled incorrectly in an article yesterday about the planting of oysters in the Choptank River.The Sun regrets the error.HORN POINT -- Growing oysters puts nicks on your hands, mud on your shirt and strain on your back.Lift a 30-pound bag of shells out of the tank. Toss it down the line. Load it into the truck, then onto the boat, then into the water. Lift. Heave. Toss. Catch. Nine hundred bags -- about 13 1/2 tons -- make a morning's work.

Efforts to restore native oysters in Maryland's portion of the Chesapeake Bay are about to begin in earnest, as state and federal officials air plans to conduct large-scale reef rebuilding projects in Harris Creek on the Eastern Shore. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources , along with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the US. Army Corps of Engineers , are scheduled to present their plans for oyster restoration work in Harris Creek from 1 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum inSt.

TILGHMAN ISLAND -- The Chesapeake Bay's oldest working skipjack is lying beneath 14 feet of water near the mouth of the Choptank River.A portion of the mast and the outline of the 113-year-old Rebecca T. Ruark are visible above the heaving waves on Harris Creek. The bow is buried in sand and muck. Loaded with nearly three tons of lead ballast that shifted to the starboard side, the ship will remain pinned to the bottom until calmer winds allow an Annapolis marine salvage company to retrieve the 52-foot sailing vessel for repairs.

The state medical examiner's office has determined that a 71-year old Denton man whose body was found floating in the Choptank River Sunday was the victim of a homicide. An autopsy was conducted Monday. Police said that Louis R. Nichols, of the 300 block of South Fourth St., sustained multiple injuries. But the cause of Nichols' death has not been made public because police fear that the information might compromise their investigation. Nichols' body was found not far from the former Route 404 bridge near Denton around 11 a.m. Sunday.

A Cambridge man drowned yesterday when his boat capsized while he was making a high speed turn in the Choptank River near Cambridge, police said.Philip L. Johnson, 38, was killed at 9: 20 a.m. when he was trying to turn his power boat near the Choptank River Bridge and the boat capsized on top of him, said Nancy Howard, a spokesman for the state Natural Resources Police.Howard said Johnson's body was sent to the state medical examiner's office for an autopsy.Pub Date: 8/02/97

About 40 dolphins, which apparently took an unorthodox detour on their spring journey up the Atlantic coast, were spied yesterday visiting the Choptank River near Cambridge.Armed with binoculars and cameras, a group of astonished spectators counted the dolphins as they swam past about 200 yards off the Horn Point Environmental Laboratories."It was kind of impressive. They took about an hour to pass by," said Wayne Bell, vice president for external affairs for the University of Maryland's Center for Environmental and Estuarine Studies, which operates the laboratories.

Legislative leaders, embarrassed by reports of lawmakers raking in a half-million dollars in contributions during last fall's special session, said yesterday they would push to close any remaining loopholes in the law forbidding fundraising whenever the General Assembly is meeting. Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller reminded senators during the morning's brief legislative meeting that they should not be depositing any campaign checks during the 90-day legislative session that began Jan. 9 - even if the funds were raised before the session started.

100 Years Ago* The steamer "Louise" of the Tolchester Steamboat Company will give a grand family excursion next Saturday from Annapolis as far as Tilghman's Island, the Choptank River and the Patuxent River. Music will be by the famous Fifth Regiment band. -- The Sun, Sept. 6, 1894.* The fourth annual convention of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union of Anne Arundel County was held Wednesday at the Baldwin Memorial Church with a large attendance. -- The Sun, Sept. 15, 1894.* The Annapolis City Council recently purchased 1,000 feet of fire hose for the Independent Fire Company.

Goschenhoppen Folk FestivalHistory will repeat itself tomorrow and Saturday at the Goschenhoppen Folk Festival in East Greenville, Pa. Offering an authentic and educational re-creation of life and customs of the Pennsylvania Dutch in the 18th and 19th centuries, the 31st annual festival is sponsored by the Goschenhoppen Historians.More than 1,000 participants of all ages will re-enact a myriad of activities and tasks of the Pennsylvania Dutch people. Such trade skills as pottery, organ making, chair caning, food preparation, sewing and mending, weaving tape and spinning, and cornhusk-doll making will be portrayed.

After 24 years of sewage spilling into a city park, streets and homes of Cambridge and the Choptank River, leaders of the local Episcopal church have filed a federal lawsuit seeking to force the city to stop the spills.Seeking "corrective action to preserve God's creation," the vestry of Christ Episcopal Church has joined forces with a local community group, accusing Cambridge officials of violating the Clean Water Act by allowing sewage spills to continue despite a 1993 pledge to solve the problem.

Two women have been arrested and charged with murder after their 71-year-old housemate's body was found in the Choptank River, Maryland State Police said Tuesday. Charlene R. Weddle and Mary S. Chider have been charged with murder and assault after the body of Louis R. Nichols was found in the Choptank River. State police identified Weddle as the daughter of Nichols' deceased spouse and said all three lived together in the 300 block of S. Fourth St. in Denton. Nichols was last seen alive around 10 p.m. Saturday, when he left a friend's home in Ridgely.

When the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visit the United States as part of their forthcoming North American tour, no doubt their host city of Los Angeles will provide plenty of pomp and circumstance. Yet Marylanders could show Will and Kate a jolly good time, too, if given the royal nod. From pub crawling and shopping on Thames Street in Fells Point, to steeplechase races in Cockeysville, not to mention locales with royal pedigree — think Annapolis and Queen Anne's County — there's plenty here to remind them of Merry Old England.

Nine recreational anglers from out of state were charged with fishing for striped bass in protected waters during a weekend sting operation in the Choptank River south of Denton, just one week before the start of Maryland's spring season. Working on tips from the public, Natural Resources Police officers shot video of the alleged poachers fishing on known spawning grounds and intercepted them as they returned to shore at Ganeys Wharf. Police say one angler caught 20 striped bass.

Dorothy B. Kerr, a founding member and longtime executive secretary of the United Fund of Cambridge and later director of a nursing facility, died March 4 of dementia at a Cambridge nursing home. She was 92. Dorothy May Bell was born in Baltimore and raised on Augusta Avenue in Irvington. She was a 1936 graduate of Western High School and Strayer's Business College. She worked for the old Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone Co. in various managerial positions until leaving in 1944 to become a dental hygienist.

T hose who sail or make their living on the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries know that the water is no stranger to sudden and freakish weather conditions. Such was the case in February 1939, when a squall swept across the bay and up the Choptank River, catching the oyster-dredging fleet unaware. And in a matter of minutes, the quickly moving storm left nine watermen dead while sending several skipjacks and bugeyes to the bottom. The forgotten disaster was resurrected in Christopher White's recently published book, "Skipjack: The Story of America's Last Sailing Oystermen."

Harford crash victim identified as N.Y. woman State police have identified the passenger killed Saturday in a single-vehicle accident in Harford County as Lisa C. Francois, 33, of Brooklyn, N.Y. Francois was pronounced dead at the scene after the accident about 2:30 p.m. Saturday in which a 2006 Honda Civic traveling in the left lane of Interstate 95 South near Route 543 crossed two lanes into the right shoulder and overturned several times. The driver, Jocelin Drew, 55, and a front-seat passenger, Amos Headley, 67, both of Roosevelt, N.Y., were taken to Maryland Shock Trauma Center with injuries that police said were not life-threatening.

I spent a wonderful day on the Choptank River with my friend Keith Walters late last week.Walters, who grew up in Glen Burnie, spent most of his adult life in Cape St. Claire. He lives in retirement with his wife, Carol, in Bozman on the Eastern Shore.Considered by many to be one of the nation's top striped bass (rockfish) anglers, Walters at one time held the Maryland rockfish record with a 32 1/2 -pounder that hit his Atom plug at Love Point."Remember the last day or so of the season last year when we had rock practically jumping out of the water and into the boat?"

Vacationers fled the Maryland and Delaware resorts en masse yesterday afternoon, clogging highways on the Eastern Shore and triggering a 26-mile rolling backup in one of the worst Memorial Day traffic jams in recent memory.State police blamed the backup on the weather, saying the threat of rain apparently sent everyone packing at the same time."Usually, people stagger their departures, but this time it looks like everyone decided to get an early start," said Lt. Charles Shue of the state police barracks in Easton.

Legislative leaders, embarrassed by reports of lawmakers raking in a half-million dollars in contributions during last fall's special session, said yesterday they would push to close any remaining loopholes in the law forbidding fundraising whenever the General Assembly is meeting. Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller reminded senators during the morning's brief legislative meeting that they should not be depositing any campaign checks during the 90-day legislative session that began Jan. 9 - even if the funds were raised before the session started.