Queen Anne

John Root, and those of his ilk, who are opposing the proposed State Department Training Facility in Ruthsburg, are erecting one straw man after another to attempt to justify what is, at it's heart, NIMBYism at its worst (Readers respond, Jan. 26). Does Mr. Root bemoan the Glen Burnization of the Kent Island/Grasonville corridor? I think not. He probably welcomes it because it keeps his taxes lower. There are plenty of historical places in this area that have been affected by development.

Facility doesn't belong in Queen Anne's In regard to Paul West's article in Sunday's Sun, "The battle is joined in Queen Anne's" (Jan. 17), I would like to add a few comments. As trustee of my family's farm, which borders the Hunt Ray farm where the Foreign Affairs Training Center is proposed to be built, I am legally bound to protect the interest and value of our farm. Those interests are threatened by the proposed facility in the following ways. My greatest concern is for the safety of my two children, who play outside of our back door only 500 yards from where ordnance will be tested.

In regard to Paul West's article in Sunday's Sun, "The battle is joined in Queen Anne's" (Jan. 17), I would like to add a few comments. As trustee of my family's farm, which borders the Hunt Ray farm where the proposed Foreign Affairs Training Center is proposed to be built, I am legally bound to protect the interest and value of our farm. Those interests are threatened by the proposed facility in the following ways. My greatest concern is for the safety of my two children who play outside of our back door only 500 yards from where ordinance will be tested.

Maryland officials rejoiced last month at news that this isolated Eastern Shore junction would be the future home of a major new State Department security center. Tiny Ruthsburg, little-changed since the 1700s, is the federal government's preferred site for a state-of-the art campus where diplomatic security agents will train for the age of international terrorism. The 2,000-acre project offers years of construction work and hundreds of permanent, good-paying jobs in Queen Anne's County, which has suffered from rising unemployment and a conviction that its needs often get ignored in the power centers of Washington and Annapolis.

After losing in the state football final two years in a row, the Eastern Tech seniors decided they weren't about to let it happen again. On Saturday, their defense made sure it didn't. The No. 11 Mavericks stopped Queen Anne's Jake Haley on fourth-and-1 with 1:44 left to preserve a 16-8 victory for their first state football championship in the Class 2A final at M&T Bank Stadium. "It's indescribable. There's nothing I could put into words about how this feels," senior quarterback Zach Burkhardt said.

The federal government has chosen a 2,000-acre Eastern Shore farm as the preferred location of a new State Department campus for training diplomats and security personnel. The Queen Anne's County property, near Routes 304 and 481, was one of several potential sites under study in Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland, including one close to Hagerstown. A public hearing on construction of the planned Foreign Affairs Security Training Center, which would include shooting ranges, a terrorist avoidance driving school, munitions detection and language instruction, is expected to be held later this month.

The Maryland economy would see an estimated $12 million in additional tax revenues if just half of those who dropped out in the Baltimore region had stayed in school and graduated with their class in June 2008, according to a study released recently by the Alliance for Excellent Education. The alliance's study showed that when students drop out, they hurt not only their future earning capacity but also the regional and national economy. The study found that more than half a million students in the 50 largest cities and surrounding areas dropped out during the 2007-2008 school year.

The Maryland economy would see an estimated $12 million in additional tax revenues if just half of those who dropped out in the Baltimore region had stayed in school and graduated with their class in June 2008, according to a study released recently by the Alliance for Excellent Education. The alliance's study showed that when students drop out, they hurt not only their future earning capacity but also the regional and national economy. The study found that more than half a million students in the 50 largest cities and surrounding areas dropped out during the 2007-2008 school year.