Stream

- As the small plane entered the pattern to land at this town on the eastern edge of Kenya, the view from the window was of miles and miles of scrubby landscape, low trees and bushes almost the same brown color as the sandy earth beneath them. Hardly noticeable were the small buildings and many tents that have put this place on the international map. They were covered with the ubiquitous brown dust that would soon blow in my face as I stepped onto the tarmac. Dadaab has become host to one of the largest refugee populations in the world.

They've grown up during an era of unprecedented interest in the environment, and on Oct. 7, students from Pot Spring Elementary School and Dulaney High School turned their knowledge, and public service intentions, into action. Upperclassmen in John Enders' horticulture class at Dulaney joined first- and third-graders from Pot Spring to plant more than 30 trees on the fringe of a forested area between the two schools. Along with other recently planted trees and the long grasses that surround them, the new trees will act as a buffer for a stream that runs through the woods behind Pot Spring.

Something positive resulted from last month's battle with Mother Nature: more places to catch trout this fall. More than 27,000 trout will be stocked throughout the state starting this month. Most of the trout will be either rainbow or golden trout weighing an average of one pound each. There will also be about 1,500 brown trout weighing about a pound each, as well as 300 rainbow and golden trout weighing two to three pounds each. Approximately 1,000 additional trout will be donated by The Freshwater Institute in West Virginia, a research facility.

In eight days, the Baltimore-via-North Carolina post-wave trio Future Islands will release "On the Water," the band's accomplished third album. NPR is streaming the entire album here , so give it a run-through before you decide if it deserves the accolades it'll likely receive. (Over/under on a Pitchfork score? I'd take the over at 8.0.) There are plenty of highlights, including "Great Fire," a track that features Wye Oak's Jenn Wasner on vocals. More Future Islands coverage to come.

A Severn man who did not return home Friday night was found dead in a nearby stream Saturday morning, Anne Arundel County police said. Peter Anthony Dembrowicz, 30, of the 100-block of Gambrills Road, was found in the nearby Severn Run stream, police said. "We think he might have had a medical condition" that contributed, or that he might have gotten stuck trying to cross the stream, said Lt. Michael Brothers, a police spokesman. Police said there is no indication of foul play or any suspicious circumstances surrounding his death.

Even mild flooding in Ellicott City gives anyone who lived through Hurricane Agnes the shivers. I went looking for Hurricane Agnes stories in the Sun's archvies and found this. The editor's note is from 2007, mabye from 35th anniversary coverage of the storm. I can only guess at the mixed feelings of the reporter who heard Omar Jones utter that opening quote. (Editor's note: On June 21-22, 1972, Tropical Storm Agnes destroyed much of historic Ellicott City and areas of Elkridge.

There are two good deals today if you want to be able to stream content from your computer to your TV. First, Cowboom has refurbished Apple TV media centers for just $79 today.A more complete option is the PS3, which just lowered the price on the 160 GB model to $249.99. This gets you media streaming, Blueray playback, a decent web browser, and a gaming console on top of all that. Check out Amazon.com for a $249 PS3.

Late summer fishing and hot weather require a different approach. This is time of the year for slowly fished live bait. My choice for ponds and stream fishing is the live grasshopper. Hooked through the collar just behind the head with the point of the hook facing rear the bait will float naturally. To fish the bait under the surface, add a small split shot about 6 inches above the bait. Let the bait slowly bounce along the bottom in the current. When the fish takes the bait give the fish time to inhale the bait fully before you set the hook.

This letter concerns the development currently proposed on Maple Avenue in Catonsville ("Nonprofit set to receive undeveloped land," Catonsville Times, June 29). I was informed about this by one of my neighbors on Maple Avenue. We wondered why all of our neighbors on this street were not made aware of this issue. Most of us had never heard of NeighborSpace. It would have been nice if we had been included in the meeting. We could have explained that the stream they are considering damming up would impact my property and others because many of us own land on both sides of the stream.

It is a great notion - cleaning up the rivers that flow through the Queen City of the Patapsco Drainage Basin. Ambitious volunteers, led by a schoolteacher named Brian Schilpp, already have pulled tons of trash and tires out of Back River, long used as a dumping ground for people on the southeast side of the city and Baltimore County. And now, on the other side of town, we'll soon see a new effort to turn the polluted, heavy-metal Patapsco into a clean and swimmable waterway, from its headwaters to the Baltimore harbor.