[...]
Menhaden, a small, oily fish, is a primary food for striped bass and other fish. About 40 percent of the East Coast population comes from the Chesapeake Bay and about 80 percent of the coast’s striped bass start their lives in the same waters.
[...]
Menhaden have been overfished in 32 of the last 54 years. The stock is at its lowest point in recorded history.

“Draft Addendum 5,” as the document is called, will be coming soon to a public hearing room in states from Maine to Florida. The vote to send it on its way was 15 in favor (including Maryland), one opposed (Virginia) and one abstention (the Potomac River Fisheries Commission).

It’s been years in the making, and on Tuesday the St. Mary’s County Commissioners reached agreements with the state for a new park-and-ride lot in Charlotte Hall.

Commuters who ride buses to the Washington, D.C. area now use a parking lot at the Charlotte Hall shopping center, which is leased to the state by owner Ben Burroughs. There are 770 parking spaces there.

The Maryland Transit Administration has been seeking at least 1,000 more parking spaces in the county. The new parking lot at Golden Beach Road and Market Drive extended will add 500 spaces. The state purchase of the land from F. Elliott “Sonny” Burch Jr. is expected to be approved at next week’s Maryland Board of Public Works meeting.

This letter is in regard to the Gov. Harry W. Nice Memorial Bridge commuter and traveler traffic backups and bridge closings.

I have seen media stories on updating the Solomons bridge, which was not intended to be a commuter route. But times change and areas grow.

The Nice Bridge is the connector for Maryland and Virginia. It is used by truckers, commuters and vacationers to stay off the interstate. Both have had their share of accidents.

Commission questions growth tracking numbers

New growth tracking numbers sparked many questions from Charles County Planning Commission members about the numbers, defining growth and the location of growth in the county.

The growth tracking information states how many units the planning commision can approve before exceeding comprehensive plan goals for the population growth rate, a balanced housing mix and growth inside and outside of the development district.

Robinson sees health emergency, its resolution

Taking advantage of free time afforded by a weeks-long lull in Charles County commissioner meetings, Commissioner Ken Robinson (D) spent hours on Monday riding with Lt. Beth Campbell, a paramedic and public information officer for the Charles County Department of Emergency Services.

The day was quiet for a Monday, usually the busiest of the week, Campbell said, so the pair dropped by Waldorf Volunteer Fire Department Co. 12 to drop off medicine and pick up paperwork. They fell into conversation with Paramedic Michelle Mycka and EMT Cheryl Rosch, career medics based at the station. Robinson called them “lifesavers” and pledged to look into their suggestions on holiday pay.

Commissioners begin substandard home repair plan

The Charles County commissioners told staff Wednesday to assemble a “county intervention team” to visit houses identified as substandard or lacking indoor plumbing.

Team members, drawn from county staff, will work with residents to create a plan designed to improve conditions.

A presentation by Community Services Director Eileen Minnick included U.S. census data showing the number and proportion of county households without complete plumbing have declined since 1980, when 1,659 houses, or 7.3 percent of the total, had inadequate facilities. In 2000, 468 houses, 1.1 percent of the total, were in the same condition.

Downzoning, villages debated in update forum

Charles County residents weighed in on three land use scenarios at Thursday’s design charrette in Newburg as part of the county’s comprehensive plan update.

Attendees debated the delineation of stream valleys in scenario one, the identification of villages in the scenarios, various zoning densities in the scenarios and water resources.

CAIRO (AP)—Former President Hosni Mubarak was flown to Cairo Wednesday from the Red Sea resort where he has lived since his ouster six months ago for the start of his historic trial on charges of corruption and ordering the killing of protesters during Egypt’s uprising.