Hurricane Earl Precautions

The Coast Guard operating within the Chesapeake Bay is warning boat owners of a potentially significant storm surge as the results of Hurricane Earl.  Owners are urged to double all lines.  In addition, boat owners are requested to secure all lifejackets since the Coast Guard is required to treat all found lifejackets as a  search and rescue case.

Spy/WCTR Election Profile: Tim Lloyd

The third participant in the WCTR/ Spy series of interviews with candidates for commissioner was Republican Tim Lloyd of Kennedyville.  Lloyd, a co-founder of Bay Broadband, characterizes his campaign as ‘loyal and listening,’ and in that vein has familiarized himself with a host of issues confronting the county by attending commissioners’ and Board of Education meetings, as well as talked with business people throughout the county. He points to the county’s Comprehensive Plan as giving a blueprint for growth.

Listen now:

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Comptroller Releases Annual Revenue Report

Maryland pulled in less revenue than almost any time in four decades — but outperformed its bleak financial forecast, state Comptroller Peter Franchot reported this morning.

The state’s revenue collections, which include sales and property taxes and various fees, amounted to $12.6 billion in the fiscal year that ended June 30, representing a year-over-year decline of 3.7 percent, Franchot said.

But because financial analysts had predicted an even more dramatic decline, the state actually ended the year with $183.7 million more than projected. The state ended the year with a fund balance of $344 million (the unexpected money plus planned transfers), which, by law, goes into the state’s rainy day fund.

Franchot summarized the report this morning at the Board of Public Works, a three-member panel of Democrats that also includes Gov. Martin O’Malley and Treasurer Nancy Kopp.

It was a striking contrast from last year, when lower-than-anticipated revenues prompted the board to slash spending to bring the state budget into balance.

Ehrlich Tailors Appeal to Montgomery Voters

In an appeal to Montgomery County residents Tuesday, former governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) pointed to two tax measures passed by the Democrat-led General Assembly that he said were “the worst” for the jurisdiction: the “tech tax” and the “millionaires’ tax.”

The “tech tax” — a levy on computer services — was among those adopted during a special session in 2007 called by Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) to help balance the state budget. After an outcry from the industry, it was repealed in 2008 before taking effect.

The “millionaires’ tax” — a three-year surcharge on the state’s high-ended earners — was adopted in 2008, largely to offset some of the revenue lost by repealing the computer services tax.

“That hurt this county more than any other because of your flight of wealth,” Ehrlich said at a roundtable campaign event in his Montgomery County headquarters on Rockville Pike.

For the full story, go to:

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/annapolis/2010/09/ehrlich_tailors_appeal_to_mong.html

Things Are Great at Kent County Public Schools

Schools back in session and things are going great, according to Superintendent of Schools Dr. Barbara Wheeler.

“It was one of the finest openings we’ve had considering the upheaval we had regarding consolidation, which I still fervently believe was the best decision we could make for our children,” she said.

Wheeler, along with Assistant Superintendent of Administrative Services Fay Miller, was at the commissioners’ meeting Tuesday to give an update on everything from budget adjustments to the Board of Education’s relocation.

It’s not just the eight schools that were involved in the consolidation that are doing well. Wheeler said the climate at the high school was “exceptional” and there is nothing to look forward to but greatness.

Commissioner Ron Fithian said he has had two individuals who were very vocal critics of the consolidation come up to him and admit they were wrong. When one gentleman walked through Kent County Middle School, Fithian said, he was “very impressed with the advantages the children had.”

Wheeler said one of the biggest lessons she learned from the consolidation was the need to communicate with the community and parents better and encouraged the commissioners to visit KCMS to see the courses that have been added.

“When you walk through there and see the students practicing drama or hear them learning Spanish … it was a good thing.”

Progress continues to be made on the relocation of the Board of Education office, 215 Washington Ave., to what was Rock Hall Elementary School. Miller said that the School Board approved the bid from Harper & Sons of Easton for $277,800 to create office space in the old school building.

“We’re going to have some walls taken down, put some other walls up … use half-height walls so they (contractors) only have to rebalance the HVAC system it doesn’t have to be completely redone,” said Miller.

All the black boards, white boards, cabinets, playground, and kitchen equipment have been moved to other schools. Anything that was bought by the RHES PTA for students or teachers was moved with them to their new building, what was Rock Hall Middle School.

The contractor hopes to have all the work done by November 1, Miller said, and the move of the Board of Education office will begin the same day.

“We can’t be off 215 Washington Ave. soon enough,” she said.

Wheeler added, “I have a little swimming pool in front of my office every time it rains. The water is over the shoes.”

Things are moving forward with the alternative school’s relocation as well. The modular classrooms should be in place and ready for students by the end of September, Miller said. The classrooms will go next to the tennis courts at Kent County High School.

Currently the alternative school is housed in the Board of Education office.

“They’re very good, we don’t even know that they’re there,” she said.

The commissioners approved two adjustments to the Kent County Public School budget. The school system received a $21,000 reimbursement for the winter snow storms, which was added back into the budget. It also received a grant increase of $196,000, making the grant total $3,868,644.

On a sad note, Tuesday was Miller’s last day as a Kent County Public School employee.

“Fay has really served admirably and I want to publicly let her know how much we appreciate her,” said Wheeler.

Miller’s replacement, Dexter Lockamy, will start October 3. Lockamy lives in Baltimore and has worked with the Washington D.C. public school system as a consultant.

Fed Funds to Rehab Three Eastern Shore Airports

Today, Rep. Frank Kratovil announced $566,718 in federal funding to help assist in the rehabilitation of three airports in Maryland’s First Congressional District.  The funds will improve the safety and efficiency of local airports in Stevensville, Crisfield and Cambridge, MD.

“Here on the Eastern Shore we have unique transportation needs given our geography,” said Rep. Frank Kratovil.  “These funds will help airports improve both safety and efficiency, while improving local infrastructure to promote and support economic growth.”

$120,000.00 will be provided for phase II of runway obstruction clearance at Crisfield Municipal Airport, Crisfield, Maryland, $401,973.00 will be provided to rehabilitate and remark runways at Bay Bridge Airport, Stevensville, MD, and $44, 745 will be used for runway extensions at Cambridge-Dorchester Airport, Cambridge, MD.

Chesapeake Bay Trust Has Launched Mobile App Field Guide

The Chesapeake Bay Trust today released a first-of-its-kind mobile app field guide to the animals and plants of the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

The Trust’s Field Guide to the Chesapeake Bay is unlike any other mobile app on the market today.  Free and available initially to iPhone users, the new mobile app is a comprehensive, ecosystem-based guide to the flora and fauna of nine ecologically distinct regions within the Bay’s watershed.  It provides comprehensive coverage of terrestrial vertebrates and deep, representative coverage of invertebrates and plants, based on a system of eco-regional geography, developed and published by the U.S. Forest Service’s Robert Bailey.

Intended primarily for a lay audience of nature-enthusiasts, the guide’s design and content selection maximize its accessibility and ease-of-use, so that users can easily find within the guide the wildlife they are most likely to encounter.   No other field guide can match the capabilities of this new mobile field guide.  (The mobile app also works on the iPad and iTouch.)

“We are pleased to offer this innovative mobile field guide, free of charge to our friends and supporters and, in fact, all residents of the Chesapeake Bay watershed and anyone who will be traveling, visiting or vacationing around the Chesapeake Bay watershed,” stated Allen Hance, Executive Director of the Chesapeake Bay Trust.  ”This is a great way to kick off the summer.  This Bay field guide will be a fun, educational companion for families, kids and nature-lovers on trips anywhere in the region and will provide instant, accurate, and visually compelling information about the natural treasures that the Bay watershed has to offer.”

The Field Guide to the Chesapeake Bay is among the most interactive of all the field guides on the market.  It provides bird calls, pinchable photos, range maps, identifiable characteristics of animals, and more.  It has advanced search functions and is designed to be visually appealing and user friendly.

“This mobile field guide will put the Chesapeake Bay Trust in a strong position to take advantage of the rapidly emerging mobile internet to reach a new generation of supporters and volunteers to advance our efforts to protect and restore the Bay,” added Hance.  ”And as more and more people gain a new appreciation for and ultimately become stewards of the Bay, the entire watershed has a better chance of becoming clean and healthy again.”

The field guide was developed for the Chesapeake Bay Trust by eNature.com.  At the heart of this mobile app is eNature’s comprehensive, geographically segmentable database of U.S. wildlife, both animals and plants.

“With eNature’s unsurpassed wildlife content base, we are able to create a mobile app guide uniquely capable of targeting specific regions and places so users can quickly identify and enjoy the wildlife they come across,” stated Tom McGuire, eNature’s President.

The Field Guide to the Chesapeake Bay is available only through the Chesapeake Bay Trust.

To get the Field Guide to the Chesapeake Bay Mobile App: visit www.cbtrust.org for a link or visit the Apple Appstore from your iPhone and search on Chesapeake Wildlife.

Worton Solar Field Moves One Step Closer to Construction

Solar power is coming to Worton. In a public interest meeting last Thursday at the Kent County Community Center, representatives of Greenlight Power Company and Fairweather Team Inc. laid out their plans for a solar field to a handful of residents.

The field would be built on a 2.071 acre lot in the Kent County Business Park on Route 297. The company hopes to put close to 2,000 solar panels in the space. Each panel would be on a concrete pole 8 to 8½ feet high and powered by an individual motor that would allow it to follow the track of the sun. Despite popular opinion, the panels are not reflective.

“They are designed to absorb light, not reflect it,” said Greg Brown, president of Greenlight Power Company.

The entire site would be surrounded by a fence and landscaping. The panels, which Brown said were “pretty durable and low maintenance,” would be monitored remotely.

David Fairweather, the owner of the property the solar field would be built on, said the company is hoping to hire local businesses to manufacture and fabricate the solar panels.

“We’re very interested in making this project one that gives back to the community all the way around, from the construction to the financing.” Depending on what happens with the first field, Fairweather also has an option to buy the two remaining lots in the business park to add more solar panels.

Power generated from the solar field would be used to supplement energy for local businesses in the area, Brown said, “It can replace 80 to 90 percent of your energy cost, but you still have to be connected to the grid because the sun doesn’t shine at night.”

The company is in talks with four different potential users, including the county for the Worton waste water treatment plant, to see if there is an interest in hooking up to solar power. Currently the solar field is not set up to power residential customers.

When asked why he chose Kent County for this solar project Fairweather said, “I wanted a progressive county with an eye on green energy, I needed an industrial property which hadn’t been built upon yet, and I wanted to stay within a rural jurisdiction. Kent County was what I was looking for.”

Greenlight Power Company, a Vienna, Va. based company, has constructed similar projects in Pennsylvania and Florida, and its sister company is currently working on a project near Washington D.C. for the U.S. Navy. Fairweather has a background in real estate development and lives in Bethesda.

Plans for the solar field still have to receive final approval from the planning commission.

IPod Touch for Every Kent County Middle Schooler

Thanks to a grant from the US State Department, every student at Kent County Middle School now has an iPod Touch. The iPods are for teachers to communicate work assignments and instructions, and for students to access the internet (with filters), to interact with teachers, and to submit work.

“All classrooms have Promethean interactive whiteboards, which greatly increases interaction and engagement,” explains John Voshell, principal of Kent County Middle School. “It’s connected to a projector and kids can go up and manipulate things on the board.”

Kids can also answer questions and immediately send their responses to the classroom board via the Touch. The result, says Voshell, is improved responses and greater attention to the work, especially from some of the kids who would ordinarily be slumped in their seats, resisting participation. Last year, Voshell watched kids respond during a pilot program at Galena Middle School that put 40 iPod Touches in the classroom. He was struck by the engagement of students who were of the ‘you can’t make me write’ mindset.

“I noticed that a couple of students – boys primarily – were sitting in class and when asked to write a paragraph, if they picked up paper and pencil, they would start to doodle,” says Voshell. “But with the iPod, they’d start to put information in. It’s a much easier and quicker format. And when they put in responses[to questions], it projects up on the Promethean board immediately, so kids who have issues with grammar were fixing it since it was in front of everyone.”

The ultimate objective is to ‘bridge the technology gap’ between students whose access to computers and other communication technology is virtually unlimited, and those with limited or no access, and to offer all students connectivity at home. But currently, the devices are in use only in the classroom. One looming issue is blocking unwanted or potentially dangerous stuff from getting to the kids.

“The site filters need to be in place is one reason we haven’t given them out  [for home use],” says Voshell. “Here things are blocked, but once they take them home, we need to make sure we still have that locking capacity.”

The school also needs to work out logistics for releasing these devices to the students, who can easily lose or damage them. Voshell says he’s visited other schools and looked for models that deal effectively with those issues.

“In some schools, the kids sign off on them and bring them in periodically and they do checks on them,” he says.

When asked about the recent Duke University study that shows that computer and other technology access often degenerates into game playing, which actually translates into lower – not higher – reading and math scores, Voshell acknowledges that there is good technology use and bad.

“All the applications on there right now are things we have installed,” he says. “The game things that are mind-numbing aren’t going to be accessible to them. The students won’t be able to download games from the internet. We’ll push things to their iPods, or they’ll interface with the site we have here, but they won’t be able to download [whatever they see] from net.”

Parent input and oversight is also key, though for parents unfamiliar with technology, it can be a sharper, more time-consuming learning curve. The grant, which was specifically for technology, also paid for a wireless Airport upgrade to the middle school building. No local money was used.

Bay Bridge Lane Closings Sunday Through Wednesday This Week

Roseberry Tapped As Interim Library Director

The Board of Trustees of the Kent County Public Library has appointed Christina Roseberry as Interim Library Administrator effective August 23, 2010. Ms. Roseberry will serve in this capacity until a new executive director takes office.

Christina Roseberry is a graduate of Roanoke College and has lived on the Eastern Shore since 1980. Her mother’s family has its roots in Queen Anne’s County.

Ms. Roseberry has been employed by the Library for thirty years. In March 2009 she was appointed Assistant Director. The Board of Trustees believes that Ms. Roseberry’s knowledge of the Library and its administration well qualifies her to serve as the interim library administrator.

County Plays Landlord

After months of negotiations the county and state have reached a rental agreement for the Department of Assessments and Taxations, which is housed in the county-owned government building at 400 High St. The new lease would raise rates from $14/square foot for office space to $16 and from $12/square foot for storage space to $13.50, including utilities and janitorial services. Currently the state is renting the space on a month-to-month basis at the old rate.

County Attorney Tom Yeager said the state’s only proviso for signing the lease was that it wanted a one-year term instead of the five-year lease the county had hoped to have the state sign.

“There’s a benefit to the state to drag out negotiations, not a benefit to us,” he said. “They might be looking for a new space or they don’t have the money for a five-year lease.”

Commissioner Roy Crow said that if the state does decide not to renew the lease in a year’s time, the county can always use the extra space.

“We could see what we’re paying for lease space and move a department if the assessment office moves out.”

The commissioners agreed to sign the one-year lease agreement. Yeager said he would have a copy ready next week.

Also in negotiation is the ten-year lease for District Court at the county-owned courthouse. The new lease agreement would charge the state $8,516.81 a month for years one through five and $8,942.63 for years six through ten. The sticking point is courthouse security. The state wants the county to pay for security upfront and be reimbursed by the state at the end of the year, which puts the initial cash outlay on the county.

“It’s essentially an interest-free loan,” said Yeager.

Already in a tight budget year, the county is scrambling to find available funds to keep security guards at the courthouse’s front doors. The county is still waiting to hear from the state whether there is a grant available to help fund security guards.

“This security issue has been a nightmare. How will the security guards be paid for? By a grant, the state, or the sheriff’s department?” asked County Administrator Susie Hayman. “By law the sheriff must provide security for Circuit Court, but the county has no obligation to do that for District Court. … It’s up to us to determine what level of security we’ll have.”

However Hayman added that there is always an armed deputy in the courtroom and a bailiff while court is in session, as well as a number of officers testifying on other court cases like traffic tickets.

“We’re going to have to provide security … we may put an armed deputy at the front doors,” said Crow.

The commissioners agreed to hold off on the District Court lease until they spoke to the sheriff’s department.

For Now, County Passes on Water and Sewer for Still Pond and Coleman

It’s not-so-fast for public water and sewer in Still Pond and Coleman.

John Beskid, Environmental Health Director, presented the findings of a sanitary survey at yesterday’s commissioners’ meeting. While there is no immediate health threat from failing septic systems to residents, something must be done in the next ten years.

“Septic systems are meant to be an interim solution, not a permanent solution,” he said.

Using numbers compiled from interviews with homeowners and files in the health department, Beskid was able to determine that 62.5 percent of the septic systems repaired in Still Pond have been fixed at least twice and sit on less than half an acre.

“What this is telling us is we’re running out of room on these lots to actually put a septic system in,” he said.

The “key number” in the whole study, he said, was that 61 percent of the homes in Still Pond have no record of repair since 1990 and will most likely need repairs in the next five to ten years.

In Coleman 75 percent of the homes sit on lots larger than half an acre. Even with the larger lots, most of the homes are older. As a result, their septic systems, which have a finite operational lifespan, will have had repairs to them that were not necessarily recorded with the health department. In fact, 59 percent of the homes have no record of a repair since 1990. Like Still Pond, those septic systems will need repairs in the next five to ten years.

“I’m not going to sit here and say a septic system didn’t go in without a permit … but after 30 or 40 years it’s going to need to be replaced,” said Beskid. “When we go to do a repair 99 percent of the time [the septic system] is old. What happens is you lose your ability to flush your toilet because the ground can’t accept anymore water and that’s when it affects your quality of life.”

The sanitary survey didn’t just focus on septic systems it also took a look at wells.  Of the 72 wells in Still Pond, 41 were confined, 11 were unconfined and 23 were unknown. Beskid explained that an unconfined well is a shallow well and any chemicals that go on the ground get into the drinking water. A confined well, or deep well, has a layer of clay or rock above the drinking water supply which protects the water from contaminants. Well depth plays an integral role in water quality. The numbers for Still Pond’s wells were: six wells under 100 feet; fourteen between 100 and 200 feet; 27 over 200 feet; and 25 unknown.

In Coleman seventeen of the wells were confined, 23 were unconfined, and 28 were unknown. Eight wells were less than 100 feet deep; 30 were 100 to 200 feet; 30 were unknown; and none were more than 200 feet deep.

In Still Pond, 32 wells were over the recommended limit for iron. In Coleman, fifteen wells were over the limit. Iron, which has no minimum set government standard that is enforceable, will make your water taste “tinny,” Beskid said, but other than that the water in Still Pond and Coleman is safe.

Speaking from the audience, John Vale encouraged the commissioners to move forward with a feasibility study for public water and sewer to Still Pond and Coleman while Betterton was getting ready to update its wastewater treatment plant.

“What doesn’t seem like a big deal now will be in ten years,” he said.

“Part of me agrees with you John, but seeing how tight our budget is, I don’t think it’s feasible for this year,” said Commissioner Roy Crow. “Maybe we can put it in the budget for next year. The [survey] results show something has to happen, but does it have to happen immediately?”

Kip Matthews, Betterton’s utilities director, said regardless of what happens with Still Pond and Coleman, Betterton is updating its plant. “We have to.”

Still Pond and Coleman could always hook up later, he said. “We’re well under the capacity of the plant now, we’re not going to downsize.”

The commissioners agreed to work with Director of Public Works Wayne Morris to see what the next step should be.

Candidates’ Forum Yields an Introduction to The Contenders

About 100 people were on hand last night when the League of Women Voters conducted the democratic equivalent of speed-dating with the eight candidates for Kent County commissioner.  The league offered each candidate a two-minute opening statement, then posed four questions that each was given a minute to answer, which was followed by questions from the audience (25 or fewer). The whole thing took two hours.

Despite the fact that there were three Democrats – Steve Atkinson, and incumbents Ron Fithian and William Pickrum — and five Republicans –Walter Coryell, William Gale, Tim Lloyd, Alex Rasin and Billy Short — vying for a total of three commissioners’ seats, there was much seeming agreement on issues and approaches.  The economy and jobs were continually-sounding chimes when candidates were asked to name the biggest problems facing the county, though Coryell, a former Baltimore county police chief and former Kent County police chief, had a slightly different take.

“Attitude,” he said, saying we need to change how we view what’s necessary, what’s important and what’s desirable. “We can’t continue spending as we have, and we need to find new solutions [to problems].”

As expected, there was much expected budget talk — including one questioner who demanded that each name the specific thing they would cut (none would) — and some criticism both from Short and an audience member of the money given to the arts and non-profits like the Humane Society in the county. Pickrum, while acknowledging the budget crunch, said he believed in publicly supporting these things since “it’s part of what makes up the character of the county.”

The word communication was bandied about a lot – communicating with constituents, communicating with other county commissioners  to form coalitions to gain a louder voice in Annapolis, and communication directly with state officials to get what some characterized as a better shake for Kent County. Some felt as though Kent County has been treated unfairly. Fithian offered the example of a recent supplement to county budgets given by the state, which has cut expected revenues to Kent County by about $2 million this fiscal year.

“They gave Caroline County, which has twice the population of Kent County, something like $1.5 million, while Kent County was given $100,000,” Fithian said. “If they  had  used the same formula on them that they used on us, Caroline would have got $250,000.”

Coryell suggested increasing the number of commissioners from three to five and like most of the others was in favor of staggered terms, citing continuity in the change of watch.  However Rasin, a former Kent County commissioner, was against staggered terms.

“It would be much more expensive because you’d hold more elections,” he said. “And someone would always be running, always posturing.”

Most were against dividing the county into districts so that each commissioner would be elected from a different district, though Lloyd, who lives in Kennedyville, is for them.

None, Democrat or Republican, relished raising taxes, especially in these times, and most felt, when asked whether they would raise property taxes to give the schools more money, that the 47% of the county budget that is mandated to be handed over to the Board of Education was sufficient. Gale talked about ‘cutting the fat’ before increasing either taxes or outlays.

Several, including Steve Atkinson, touched on the county’s infrastructure – roads and communications in particular – as being a barrier to attracting more business. Most did not mention what kinds of businesses Kent County should be attracting.

All three Democrats will be on the November ballot, but the September 14 primary will effectively cull two Republicans from the five currently seeking the office, leaving three to go on to the next round.

Spy/WCTR Election Profiles: Tim Lloyd next Monday

De Coster Eggs Recalled for Salmonella

The operations of Austin (Jack) DeCoster’s egg-producing agribusiness are once again under investigation.  In the 1980’s DeCoster had an egg business in Massey in Kent County that had a certain notoriety in the area for violations of employment and hygiene.  Now the egg recall, first announced last week and expanded Wednesday to 380 million eggs due to a salmonella outbreak, has once again thrust DeCoster’s methods and record into the news. The recall and subsequent investigation was initiated in part due to a lawsuit in Wisconsin over salmonella-infected eggs that sickened one woman who ate hard-boiled egg in a Cobb salad. A dozen more lawsuits linked to the outbreak are in the works.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said this week that it had seen a fourfold increase in the usual number of cases of salmonella enteritidis, a strain associated with eggs. The CDC said it received reports of about 200 enteritidis cases every week during late June and early July. More than 260 illnesses in California have been linked to the outbreak. Minnesota has tied at least seven salmonella illnesses to the eggs.

No deaths have been reported, said Christopher Braden, a CDC epidemiologist.

According to:

http://john-deere-stuff.blogspot.com/

The DeCoster operations have had several violations:

• The founder, Austin Jackson DeCoster, pleaded guilty to federal immigration charges in 2003 and paid a record $2.1 million in penalties.

• In 2002, the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission imposed a $1.5 million penalty for mistreatment of female workers, including charges of rape, sexual harassment and other abuse.

• In 2001, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that DeCoster, a repeat violator of state environmental laws, could finance, but not build, hog confinement operations for his son, Peter DeCoster, who is now closely involved with the Wright County egg operations.

• Earlier this year, the elder DeCoster paid a fine to settle state animal cruelty charges against his egg operations in Maine.

Federal authorities have been on the DeCoster farms since last week investigating its henhouses and testing eggs to determine the source of the contamination, said Howard Magwire, an attorney for the United Egg Producers, a trade group that includes the DeCoster operations in its membership.

“The company itself is testing many thousands of eggs from the farms to see if they can find anything,” he said.

He said the company had “erred on the side of safety” by making the recall as large as it is.

State and local officials also are investigating salmonella cases that could be linked to the DeCoster eggs in Arizona, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, North Carolina, Nevada, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Texas. The recalled eggs were packaged under a variety of names, including Lucerne and Albertsons, brands of supermarket giants Safeway and Albertsons, respectively.

The website at the Egg Safety Center noted below lists the recalled cartons.

http://www.eggsafety.org/mediacenter/alerts/73-recall-affected-brands-and-descriptions

Eggs were a major source of salmonella illnesses in the 1990s, but outbreaks had declined significantly over the past decade as farms took a number of biosecurity measures and other steps to prevent contamination. Last month, the Food and Drug Administration imposed mandatory safety regulations, including egg testing requirements, that many farms had already been following, according to industry experts.

Symptoms of salmonella poisoning can manifest as many as two or three days after exposure. For a detailed list of symptoms (way more than you want to know, probably) go to:

http://health.abcnews.go.com/galecontent/salmonella-food-poisoning-1/2#causesandsymptoms

Spy/WCTR Election Profile: Steve Atkinson

Kent County resident Steve Atkinson, Democratic candidate for Kent County Commissioner,  became the second candidate to participate in the Election Profiles 2010 special series sponsored by the Chestertown Spy and WCTR earlier this afternoon.

Interviewed by WCTR’s Keith Thompson and Spy publisher Dave Wheelan, Atkinson highlighted how he might have found better ways to trim the county budget without a tax hike, and foster a more business-friendly environment in Kent County, while also suggesting that the Kent County librarian should resign to help solve the library’s current public woes.

Listen now:

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Former Library Director Addresses Issues in Board Letter

In an August 17 letter to the Library Board of Trustees, Jerry Keiser, who resigned on Tuesday from his post as executive director of the library, addresses some of the issues that have created the recent furor. Until Tuesday, he was under orders from the board of trustees not to talk about it.

“They told me not to say anything,” he says. “They’d take care of it.”

In his letter, he says the commissioners were told of the reduction to the county grant, citing Commissioner Roy Crow and board trustee Rebecca Taylor’s signatures on an October 15th document from the Maryland State Department of Education that listed the grant amount, (though the document does not make either the percentage or the actual amount of the reduction clear). Keiser followed up with a November 12, 2007 email that informed County Administrator Suzanne Hayman as well as library board members Rebecca Taylor and Jim Blake “of the bill before the Maryland Legislature that was put forward to cut the capital grants to libraries.”

“Next, knowing the funding was reduced; we were able to bring the expenditures under the grant down and brought the project in on time and under budget by $40,000,” Keiser’s letter states.

Keiser acknowledges that the financial oversight of the library was a joint responsibility among himself, the board, and the CPA, but also says that finance was not his strong suit.

“I was assistant director,” he says, adding that when he was offered the job, which was not advertised at the previous director’s departure, “ I told them I had no experience with finance and I’d need help.”

The board retained the services of Roger Brown, CPA.

Regarding the state of the library’s finances when Keiser moved into the director’s position in August 2005, he writes:

“The library year-end deficit has been a long-standing issue.  It first appeared in the audit for 2006 as a general fund deficit in the amount of $53,768.  The audit lists the reason for the deficit as payments to departing employee and unbudgeted costs associated with the establishment of the Galena Branch.  This payout was to a past employee as a severance package and was significant and not budgeted.”

“Each year the library has forwarded this debt. In addition, since 2005 the library has carried $49,000 on the books as an asset, which represented the amount in the Foundation for the Kent County Public Library.

“This is important because in FY2009 we officially took the Foundation of [sic] our books, which resulted in a debit of $49,000.  If you add the deficit amounts in the FY2009 of accounts payable of  19782.56 and the line of credit of 24,958.00 in the line of credit you will come up with $44,740.56, which is the approximately [sic] amount in the foundation.”

Additionally, regarding the ‘missing’ $26,000, Keiser writes:

“With respect to the $26,000 in reimbursements that were not forwarded to the County, please remember that at every meeting regarding this issue, Roger Brown, our CPA, has denied that the library received these funds.  Mr. Brown processed all back statements for the library… After reviewing back bank statements I have found the deposits that were received, but miscoded by Mr. Brown.”

Kratovil Leads on PAC Funding

After years of quiet, donations from political action committees are exploding in the current election cycle to candidates in Maryland’s 1st District congressional campaign.

PACS contributed $1.1 million to candidates in the 1st District race between the last election and June 30, according to Federal Election Commission documents.

The 2010 election is on pace to exceed 2008 PAC funding, when candidates in the 1st District raised a total of $1.4 million, with donations likely to increase as Election Day approaches.

In the 2006 election cycle, by comparison, PAC donations to candidates in the 1st District totaled just $5,070.

The Cook Political Report describes the race in the 1st District as the only tight House race in Maryland this year.

Thus far, Rep. Frank Kratovil, a Democrat, had $1.32 million in the bank as of June 30, according to the FEC. Republican challenger Andrew Harris had about $900,000 and another Republican challenger, Robert Fisher Jr., reported having $238,974 on hand, according to FEC documents.

Kratovil is relying more on PAC funding, which accounted for 52 percent of his funding, whereas Harris received 81 percent of his funding from individuals, said Dave Levinthal, communications director for the Center for Responsive Politics.

Jessica Klonsky, Kratovil’s campaign manager, said the campaign is trying to raise enough money to get Kratovil’s message out and is confident that it will be able to do so.

Harris’s campaign manager, Bill Lattanzi, pointed to the large amount of individual donations as evidence of a “grassroots commitment” to the candidate.

Fisher’s campaign is not looking for PAC money, said campaign manager Demetrios Karoutsos, since Fisher has essentially funded most of the race himself. But Karoutsos did not say the Fisher camp would reject PAC money.

In 2006, when then-Rep. Wayne Gilchrest won a ninth term in office from the 1st District, only 1 percent of his total campaign contributions, or $3,570, came from PACs, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Gilchrest, a Republican, built a career in the district accepting little to no PAC funding.

But by end of the last election, the 1st District was awash in PAC funds. Gilchrest took $204,008 from PACs in his Republican primary loss to challenger Harris.

While PAC funding might be new for the 1st District, it’s hardly new nationally. With the infusion of PAC funds into the congressional campaigns, the 1st District is essentially joining the standard for the rest of many parts of the nation.

“PAC money, to some degree, is flowing into every race,” said Levinthal.

State Sen. Richard Colburn, R-Cambridge, who ran unsuccessfully for the 1st District seat in 2004, called the high cost of running a campaign “unfortunate, but just the facts of life.”

When Colburn ran in 2004, he raised $182,936, with just $5,750 in PAC contributions, according to the FEC.

Levinthal said that money from a PAC could be donated by a corporation in hopes of getting better access to a candidate, whereas an individual could donate simply because they heard the candidate speak and liked their politics. But Colburn said that with both Harris and Kratovil so well known in the district, “PAC money makes no influence and will just be wasted.”

Reported by Alexandra Wilding for Capital News Service

Assistant Director to Act as Interim Library Director

Library Board of Trustees President, Jack Stenger confirmed that the board asked for Executive Director, Jerry Keiser’s resignation yesterday, effective immediately. Keiser’s remaining annual salary, whose fiscal year runs from July 1 through June 30, will cease from the day of his resignation. The money budgeted for the salary will return to the general funds. Assistant Director Chris Roseberry will ‘keep the library going for now,’ according to Stenger, until the board can hire an interim executive director.  Stenger said there was no timetable or policy in place for making that decision.