Creek

When I was 7, I wanted a creek for Christmas. I could picture it cracking through our old, dry neighborhood, splashing noisily between boulders and rhododendrons, ushering up sweet airs of minerals, roots and the creeks we camped beside in the national forest. Water attracted me more than dolls or games, perhaps because it was alive - enchanted and changing. Cool cow-pasture ponds in July. Jewels of winter hoarfrost popping out of brittle mud. Blizzards. Rain puddles. Sycamore-vapored rivers.

Nov. 29 1864 A Colorado militia killed at least 150 peaceful Cheyenne Indians in the Sand Creek Massacre.

The southern banks of Marley Creek may not look like much -- a few scrub pines, brush and trees -- but to escaped slaves and free mid-19th century blacks, it was sacred ground.It was a place where blacks could own property and build a home, even before slavery ended, and where runaway slaves were slaves no more, according to local lore.Within the past five years, drugs and violence in its public housing complex have brought Freetown notoriety. But to many descendants of the settlers, the Glen Burnie neighborhood bordered by Mountain Road and Baltimore-Annapolis Boulevard is still venerated.

State authorities urged caution in using an Eastern Shore creek yesterday because of reports that three people developed possible symptoms of exposure to toxic Pfiesteria after contact with its waters.Gov. Parris N. Glendening's press office said Natural Resources Police will patrol and warn people along a 2 1/2-mile stretch of Back Creek, a tributary of the Manokin River in Somerset County.The state has not closed the creek to commercial or recreational use.John Surrick, a spokesman for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, said state health officials are investigating three cases in which individuals reported skin irritations and flu-like illness -- symptoms that have been associated with Pfiesteria.

Monday, May 10, began much like any other day. I awoke to the sound of the clock-radio at 3 a.m., jumped out of bed and soon the house was filled with the smell of frying bacon and eggs. However, this was not just any other day. It was the day of my first crabbing trip of the year, and I was filled with anticipation of being out on the water and pulling in the first big jimmies of the season.Bundled in coat and hat, since the morning air was still brisk, I set out for the Eastern Shore with my son and godson, heading for my favorite crabbing spot, a shallow creek south of the Bay Bridge.

Meade senior Angie Creek scored points in timely bunches last night against visiting Arundel.Some free throws, followed by a jumper or two early; then consecutive steals, followed by lay-ins; later, simply beating the No. 11-ranked Wildcats down the court for easy baskets.By game's end, the All-Metro guard had a game-high 31 points. Combined with strong team defense and a 13-point, 13-rebound performance from sophomore forward Nicole Dailey, that was good for a convincing 65-50 win for the No. 5 Mustangs.

The breeze had come up quickly in the first hour of daylight, raising wavelets on the tidal creek off the Patuxent River, and a heavy rain battered the grasses, reeds and rushes of the marsh.The ducks would be coming soon, jumping up from open water and flying low over the channel through the marsh, looking for shelter from the building storm.Earlier, an hour before first light, a string of decoys had been placed in the creek, with the shank of the fish hook set leading upwind to the bend of the hook, where a half-dozen decoys rested in the lee of a shallow point.

An undercover drug buy turned into a chase into Marley Creek late Tuesday when police caught and arrested two accused drug dealers and seized six guns, more than $9,000 and a pound of cocaine.Narcotics officers Robert Novotny, Michael Donoho and William Caputo said they had been investigating Ronald Wayne Szlachetka as a suspected mid-level drug dealer, linked with a Baltimore drug ring.The undercover officers arranged to purchase a pound of cocaine for $12,300 Tuesday night in the parking lot of Brewster's Saloon in the 7100 block of E. Furnace Branch Road.

The nets came down at Meade last night.No, the No. 6-ranked Mustangs didn't win a state title, not even a region crown. What the Mustangs did do was beat No. 9 Arundel, the Anne Arundel County bully who has always seemed to be in the way of their accomplishing the two things mentioned above.With the 77-69 win, the Mustangs advance to the Class 4A East region final against Chesapeake-AA tomorrow for the first time since 1979.Senior guard Angie Creek, who scored 25 points and seemed to have an answer for every Wildcats rally, and fellow senior, center Katie Netherton, who finished with 16 points, 11 rebounds and six blocks, earned the first two snips at the net."

Maryland Natural Resources Police recovered the body yesterday morning of a Talbot County man who was thrown from his boat Saturday afternoon in Cummings Creek.Police spokesman John Surrick said search crews, using a tracking dog, found the body of Joseph B. Janda Sr., 41, at 9: 47 a.m. in Cummings Creek, about a half-mile from Wittman. Janda's body will be sent to the state medical examiner's office in Baltimore for an autopsy.Janda and a 13-year-old relative -- identified by the Associated Press as his son, Joey -- were setting eel pots in Cummings Creek and were returning to shore to get more supplies about 1 p.m. when their 19-foot Carolina skiff swerved, throwing both from the boat, Surrick said.

Norma Paulsen of Howard County asks: "I know Maryland's state parks attract more than 11 million visitors each year. What were the top 10 most popular parks last year, and how many people visited them?" Nita Settina, superintendent of Maryland state parks, replies: "Here are our top 10 parks for attendance from July 1, 2008, to June 30, 2009, with the total number of visitors for each: Assateague (1.08 million), Patapsco Valley (963,920); Gunpowder Falls (917,333); Sandy Point (873,052)

To its opponents, the proposed condominium project on the Bowleys Quarters waterfront would be a monstrosity, a blight on the landscape the size of the playing field at M&T Bank Stadium. Its supporters, many of them of retirement age, enjoy the prospect of moving into the 36-unit building and enjoying the view of Galloway Creek - and leaving the yardwork to others. A public hearing last night on the subject, held by the Baltimore County Planning Board, was a standing-room-only affair and amply illustrated the divergent views of residents of the eastern county peninsula.

When I was 7, I wanted a creek for Christmas. I could picture it cracking through our old, dry neighborhood, splashing noisily between boulders and rhododendrons, ushering up sweet airs of minerals, roots and the creeks we camped beside in the national forest. Water attracted me more than dolls or games, perhaps because it was alive - enchanted and changing. Cool cow-pasture ponds in July. Jewels of winter hoarfrost popping out of brittle mud. Blizzards. Rain puddles. Sycamore-vapored rivers.

Nov. 29 1864 A Colorado militia killed at least 150 peaceful Cheyenne Indians in the Sand Creek Massacre.

Along a 1,200-foot-long ditch just outside the road circling Marley Station mall, 600 middle school students have sown the beginnings of a natural filtering system for the dirty rainwater that flows from the parking lot into Marley Creek. The students from Marley Middle School in Glen Burnie spent about eight hours Thursday and Friday shoring up the ditch's embankments with sand and peat moss, and planting 2,400 shrubs, trees and plants, some of which they had nurtured in their classrooms.

An Arnold waterway has been reopened after a 17,500-gallon wastewater spill last week, the Anne Arundel County Department of Health said yesterday. Test results show Deep Creek's water is acceptable for direct contact and recreational use, according to state and federal standards. The ice storm on Valentine's Day knocked out power to much of Anne Arundel County, including the Bay Hills Pumping Station. It overflowed, sending the raw sewage into the creek.

Youth concert -- Chesapeake Youth Symphony Orchestra will perform under the direction of Julien Benichou and Vladimir Lande at 1 p.m. Sunday at Indian Creek Upper School, 1030 Anne Chambers Way, Crownsville. Tickets are $12 for adults, $6 for students and free for children younger than 6. 443-758-3157.

On October 30, 2006, STUART (Tony) CREEK; beloved son of Shirley Creek; father of Latoya Davis. Also survived by three brothers, three sisters and a host of other relatives and friends. Friends may call the Estep Brothers Funeral Home, 1300 Eutaw Place, on Friday, November 3, 10 A.M. to 7 P.M. Family will receive friends on Saturday, November 4, at Fresh Oil Ministries, 219 N. Mount Street, at 10 until 10:30 A.M. Funeral to follow. Interment Kings Memorial Park.

Annmarie Garden events Visit Annmarie Garden in Solomons anytime this week and through the end of the month to take part in several fun and creative summer activities. Tomorrow through Aug. 20, visitors of all ages and artistic abilities can draw on the wooded garden pathway at the second annual Sidewalk Chalk-a-thon. Annmarie Garden will also present various other activities through summer, including a scavenger hunt. Annmarie Garden is on St. John's Creek at 13480 Dowell Road in Solomons.

Carroll County Detour Meeting scheduled on planned park The Carroll County Department of Recreation and Parks will hold a public meeting at 7 p.m. tomorrow at Keymar Evangelical Wesleyan Church, 1011 Francis Scott Key Highway, to discuss the development of the 3 1/2/-acre Double Pipe Creek Park in Detour. The countyowned site of the future park is in the 7500 block of Middleburg Road, next to Double Pipe Creek. Plans for the park tentatively include access to the creek for boating and fishing, a pavilion, a playground and parking area, while preservingmuch of the open space.