NEWS
By Scott Dance | May 10, 2012
The lower Eastern Shore, the driest part of Maryland this year, saw the most significant rainfall from the system that moved through Wednesday. Amateur weather watchers reported rainfall levels up to 1.23 inches in Wicomico County and 1.03 inches in Somerset County, according to rain-counting collaborative CoCoRaHS. National Weather Service hydrology charts show upwards of 2 inches in Worcester County, with up to 1.5 inches across Somerset and Wicomico. The lower Eastern Shore is under a severe drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
FEATURES
Tim Wheeler | May 7, 2012
Spring's time for planting more than flower and vegetable gardens. it's oyster planting time, too. Last week, the Oyster Recovery Partnership put 31 million baby oysters in Harris Creek, near the mouth of the Choptank River. The oysters were bred at the University of Maryland's Horn Point hatchery , and primed for planting once they had settled as "spat" on old oyster shells. It was the first of a series of plantings the Annapolis-based nonprofit hopes to make this year, seeding Harris Creek, the Severn River and possibly a couple other spots in the Chesapeake Bay with a projected 300-500 million bivalves.
NEWS
By Hanah Cho, The Baltimore Sun | April 27, 2012
State banking regulators closed two Maryland banks Friday, the first two bank failures in the state since 2010. The Maryland Commissioner of Financial Regulation shut down the Bank of the Eastern Shore in Cambridge and appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation as receiver. The FDIC created the Deposit Insurance National Bank of Eastern Shore to allow customers to access their deposits until May 25. The state financial commissioner also closed HarVest Bank of Maryland in Gaithersburg, whose deposits and other assets were acquired by Sonabank in McLean, Va. HarVest's four branches will reopen during normal business hours as Sonabank's branches.
NEWS
By John Fritze, The Baltimore Sun | April 24, 2012
Key senators reached a tentative agreement Tuesday to save a mail processing center considered significant to the Eastern Shore economy but left the fate of more than a dozen post offices in the Baltimore region uncertain as they considered a sweeping bill to overhaul theU.S. Postal Service. The underlying bipartisan legislation, which is poised for a vote in the Senate Wednesday, would allow the cash-strapped mail service to inch closer to ending Saturday delivery after a two-year waiting period and also restructure the way it pays retiree health benefits - potentially saving the agency billions of dollars a year.
NEWS
By Scott Dance, The Baltimore Sun | April 19, 2012
A developing drought across the eastern half of Maryland could worsen without a few periods of soaking rain, and drizzle like that seen Wednesday won't be enough to cut the rainfall deficit. At Carter and Draper Farms on the Eastern Shore, John Draper is used to dealing with a summer drought once every few years. But rarely has he been in his current predicament: There has been so little spring rain, he fears if he plants 225 acres of corn as planned, it quickly will die. A few inches into the sandy soil, there is moisture.
NEWS
By Scott Dance | April 13, 2012
The Eastern Shore is under a drought watch, according to the Maryland Department of the Environment. Below-normal snow- and rainfall has the MDE closely observing precipitation, stream flow, groundwater levels and reservoir storage. But there are no restrictions being placed on water usage -- at least not yet. MDE encourages people to be aware of their water use and to use less water. Local water jurisdictions could place restrictions, but haven't yet, according to the department.