Inlet

If you're going down to Ocean City on Friday to enjoy a quiet off-season stay, you may notice something overhead. And it's not the steel beams of the Bay Bridge or the beautiful blue skies. Instead, it's likely to be a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter airlifting a new tower to the jetty at the Ocean City inlet, replacing the old tower that was destroyed by last summer's Hurricane Irene. The new tower will be used for marine navigational purposes. On Friday morning, construction of the new tower will begin. A Coast Guard helicopter will pick up the tower at the Ocean City Municipal Airport and transport it to the inlet that separates Ocean City from Assateague Island.

If you're going down to Ocean City on Friday to enjoy a quiet off-season stay, you may notice something overhead. And it's not the steel beams of the Bay Bridge or the beautiful blue skies. Instead, it's likely to be a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter airlifting a new tower to the jetty at the Ocean City inlet, replacing the old tower that was destroyed by last summer's Hurricane Irene. The new tower will be used for marine navigational purposes. On Friday morning, construction of the new tower will begin. A Coast Guard helicopter will pick up the tower at the Ocean City Municipal Airport and transport it to the inlet that separates Ocean City from Assateague Island.

The builder of Hawk Ridge Farm has promised to create an inlet to collect water runoff and solve drainage problems at the development.Several residents, whose lawns are constantly waterlogged, took their complaints to the Sykesville Town Council last night. Officials assured them the town will hold the builder to his proposal to begin construction of the inlet by Monday."The developer has agreed to start work next week, weather permitting," said Town Attorney Cindy Hitt at the council meeting last night.

The problem: A storm drain in the Walbrook neighborhood of West Baltimore remained clogged for years. The back story: Mae Grady called just about everyone about a blocked inlet on her street — "everyone but Channel 13," she said. The drain, across the street from her house in the middle of the 3300 block of Walbrook Ave., had been stopped up for years, Grady said, and giant puddles formed. "The water is so deep, it would catch a child," she said. According to Grady, she and others reported the problem several times.

From the modern spring training facility that houses the Florida Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals to the amazing amount of new construction in Jupiter, Fla., you'd never know that the area has a long history. According to the city's history Web site, the Spanish explored the Jupiter Inlet in 1513 and evidence has been found near the historic Jupiter Lighthouse that suggests there was a British settlement here during the Revolutionary War. I should check on that with one of Jupiter's most famous residents, actor Burt Reynolds.

Developers of the $32 million Sports Center USA complex planned for the Pier 4 Power Plant have proposed covering part of the inlet between Inner Harbor Piers 3 and 4 to improve access to their property.At a meeting of Baltimore's Architectural Review Board yesterday, representatives for the Sports Center development team said they would like to cover a 230-foot-by-120-foot section at the north end of the inlet with a concrete or steel structure to create a land mass that would lead directly to the power plant's proposed western entrance.

OCEAN CITY - They didn't name hurricanes back then, but 70 years later, old-timers who remember and merchants who can only imagine it say the Great Storm of 1933 that lashed the Atlantic coast and roared up the Chesapeake Bay was the best thing that ever happened to Maryland's only beach resort. Described in the American Meteorological Society's August 1933 weather review as "one of the most severe storms that has ever visited the Middle Atlantic Coast," the slow-moving weather mass dumped 10 inches of rain a day for nearly a week, even before wind gusts as high as 80 mph and a 7-foot tide arrived.

Anglers who have been targeting rockfish on the Chesapeake Bay during the fall season might consider a change of venue this weekend, because the big stripers are hitting at Liberty Reservoir and Ocean City, while most of the bay catches have been rockfish in the 18- to 24-inch range.At Liberty Reservoir above Baltimore, over the past 12 days, 28 freshwater stripers of more than 15 pounds have been checked in at Old Reisterstown Bait and Tackle, including five that exceeded 30 pounds.Jerry Sauter of Catonsville checked in a 40-pounder last Thursday and a 39-pounder Friday.

The problem: A storm drain in the Walbrook neighborhood of West Baltimore remained clogged for years. The back story: Mae Grady called just about everyone about a blocked inlet on her street — "everyone but Channel 13," she said. The drain, across the street from her house in the middle of the 3300 block of Walbrook Ave., had been stopped up for years, Grady said, and giant puddles formed. "The water is so deep, it would catch a child," she said. According to Grady, she and others reported the problem several times.

THE PROBLEM : The grate over a Southeast Baltimore storm inlet was broken and ajar. THE BACKSTORY : Joseph Thomas called Watchdog twice last month with his problem: A sewer plate remained ajar at the No. 20 bus stop on Boston Street at Gusryan Street in his O'Donnell Heights neighborhood. Because of the plate, "the bus could never pull right to the curb," he said. "He was always 5, 6 feet beyond that." Thomas noticed the plate six months ago and called Watchdog for help. "If they had two strong men, they could just pick it up and put it straight," he said.

With the pageantry, pomp and parade of the Preakness Stakes now past, it's tempting to toss aside thoughts of tourism dollars like so much Pimlico infield debris. The Triple Crown event is a red-letter day on the visitors calendar, but the reality is that the horse race and all its attendant ceremonies and celebrations are only a small component of Maryland's lucrative tourism trade. A report by a travel and marketing consultant released last week found that the number of visitors to Maryland rose 3.5 percent in 2009, a year when tourism fell 5.5 percent nationally.

THE PROBLEM : The grate over a Southeast Baltimore storm inlet was broken and ajar. THE BACKSTORY : Joseph Thomas called Watchdog twice last month with his problem: A sewer plate remained ajar at the No. 20 bus stop on Boston Street at Gusryan Street in his O'Donnell Heights neighborhood. Because of the plate, "the bus could never pull right to the curb," he said. "He was always 5, 6 feet beyond that." Thomas noticed the plate six months ago and called Watchdog for help. "If they had two strong men, they could just pick it up and put it straight," he said.

Residents who fought for six years to deepen the mouth of a Crownsville-area inlet for greater boating access finally will get to dredge 2 1/2 -foot channels into and out of Fox Creek. The state Board of Public Works unanimously approved a wetlands license Monday after investigating why the Maryland Department of the Environment changed course in 2007 and decided not to allow the dredging of Fox Creek. Because it was the first time in the nearly 30-year history of the wetlands program that MDE had reversed itself, Board of Public Works staff decided to review the decision, said Doldon W. Moore Jr., BPW's wetlands administrator.

Our Chesapeake Bay is suffering "death by a thousand cuts." The next cut may be a small tidal pond off the Severn River. Fox Creek has a narrow shoal inlet that makes it a unique environment as a fish hatchery. Healthy beds of subaquatic vegetation thrive at the mouth of the creek. But in 2004, an association of waterfront landowners applied to dredge through those beds at the inlet to open a channel for large boats. In August 2007, the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) recommended denial of the application, stating, among its findings, that "historic use [by boats]

Sunfest Where:: Ocean City's Inlet Parking Lot. When:: 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sept. 21. What:: Ocean City's biggest festival offers live music from acts including the Platters, the Marvelettes, Rodney Atkins, Cornell Gunter's Coasters and the Commodores. The event also includes more than 150 crafters, kids' activities, hayrides on the beach and food. How much: : Free admission; fee for headline concerts. Parking is restricted at Sunfest. Visitors are urged to use park-and-ride locations and ride buses to the festival grounds.

On this date in 1933, a Category 2 hurricane caused devastation and dozens of deaths from the Carolinas to New Jersey. In Maryland, waves and 70-mph winds grounded ships, demolished the Ocean City boardwalk and bridges, and cut the inlet at the southern end of town. Rising water drowned Chesapeake islands and flooded streets and crops. Baltimore lost 2,000 trees, some piers, pleasure boats and bridges. Power and phones were cut off. The 7.62 inches of rain downtown is still the city's 24-hour record.

Residents who fought for six years to deepen the mouth of a Crownsville-area inlet for greater boating access finally will get to dredge 2 1/2 -foot channels into and out of Fox Creek. The state Board of Public Works unanimously approved a wetlands license Monday after investigating why the Maryland Department of the Environment changed course in 2007 and decided not to allow the dredging of Fox Creek. Because it was the first time in the nearly 30-year history of the wetlands program that MDE had reversed itself, Board of Public Works staff decided to review the decision, said Doldon W. Moore Jr., BPW's wetlands administrator.

It's not the most popular fish around and it certainly isn't the easiest to catch. In fact, the tautog is downright ugly and slimy, but it's wonderful to eat and certainly gives the angler an excellent fight.The tautog, also called a blackfish, is a member of the wrasse family. Though it somewhat resembles a sea bass, they are not related.With the cooling water temperatures, the tautog are moving from offshore waters into the inlet areas. The Ocean City Inlet and the Indian River Inlet are the best places to find this crafty, hard-fighting fish.

Good news for surfer dudes and dudettes: For the first time in a generation, Ocean City has decided to establish a section of beach that surfers can call their own. Located near the Ocean City Inlet, the block-long surfing spot will be theirs exclusively on weekdays but will revert to a swimmers' beach on the crowded weekends as part of a summer-long experiment. As the participants might say, it's a totally epic move by the big kahunas, man. In recent years, Ocean City has allowed surfing in the early mornings and during the evenings - when it doesn't interfere with other beachgoers - and on a rotating basis at selected beaches.

From the modern spring training facility that houses the Florida Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals to the amazing amount of new construction in Jupiter, Fla., you'd never know that the area has a long history. According to the city's history Web site, the Spanish explored the Jupiter Inlet in 1513 and evidence has been found near the historic Jupiter Lighthouse that suggests there was a British settlement here during the Revolutionary War. I should check on that with one of Jupiter's most famous residents, actor Burt Reynolds.