While it may be true that the land conservation movement has faced tough times before, particularly on the Eastern Shore, according to Steve Kline, the president of the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy, it’s hard to remember a more dire moment for preserving essential landscapes.  The combination of a significant drop in state funding for such critical programs like Maryland’s Open Space, coupled with Annapolis’s recent move to supersede local government control of solar farm permitting, will make it more difficult than ever before for organizations and individuals to preserve the Eastern Shore’s most important assets; its rich agricultural soil.

During our annual check-in with Steve, he discusses these real threats to land conservation and the sobering outlook for the Mid-Shore, highlighting the short-term challenges in the region’s ongoing battle to preserve its heritage.

This video is approximately 15 minutes in length. For more information about the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy or to make a donation, please visit their website here.

Judge John North, who has assembled one of a handful of internationally recognized car collections globally (think Jay Leno), admits to two major love affairs with automobiles. The first was the legendary American Duesenberg, which manufactured America’s top-performing cars from 1920 to 1938 out of Indiana. With the help of his father, he purchased his first one after graduating from Harvard Law School in the 1950s, which led to a lifetime of collecting these rare examples of American technology and craftsmanship.

The second affair started ten years later when Judge North became infatuated with the European-based Bugattis in the 1960s. Drawn to their delicate design and breathtaking technical innovations, North purchased his first one sight unseen in 1965 and now has four in his collection. Those models are now on view at the Academy Art Museum’s current exhibition, Bugatti: Reaching for Perfection, which allowed the Spy to talk to the judge about this lifelong passion for automobiles.

That passion is undoubtedly on display when North, at the ripe age of 93, begins to talk about what makes the Bugatti so unique. Consequently, the Spy has made our conversation a long form interview so readers and those who love cars can hear his rich stories of the Bugatti legacy and the family’s everlasting contributions to industrial design and art.

This video is approximately 18 minutes in length. For more information about the Academy Art Museum please go here.

Bugatti: Reaching for Perfection
Until Apr 13, 2025

Academy Art Museum
106 South Street
Easton, Maryland 21601
410.822.2787 or [email protected]

Over the coming months, community leaders from across the Mid-Shore will gather in various festive ways to celebrate the extraordinary contributions of YMCA of the Chesapeake CEO Robbie Gill.

When Robbie arrived in Talbot County in 2005, the YMCA at the Easton Peachbossom site was already a success story. Through the generosity of the W. Alton Jones Foundation and the dedication of visionary board members, the Y’s presence has since then significantly improved the lives of countless families in and around Talbot County. However, that transformative impact was primarily limited to the county, leaving many nearby counties – particularly further north – without access to similar opportunities.

While others had recognized this gap in mission delivery, it was Robbie’s leadership skills and strategic vision that made these much-needed changes. His ability to unite teams and mobilize resources has brought the YMCA to life in Kent and Queen Anne’s Counties. Today, with two new campuses in Chestertown and Centreville, representing nearly $50 million in funding, the Y has expanded its reach and delivered life-changing programs and services to even more communities.

The Spy recently invited Robbie to our studio to reflect on these remarkable achievements and to share his thoughts on the future. During our conversation, we asked him to explore the question that never seems fully answered: “What’s next for YMCA?”

This video is approximately eight minutes in length. For more information about the YMCA of the Chesapeake please go here.

The Spy continues our ongoing series of long-form exit interviews with some of the Mid-Shore’s most important leaders and stakeholders, with a look back with Steve Rideout, the recently departed mayor and former Virginia judge.

It’s pretty rare that members of the bench transition into locally elected officials as a second career. With a healthy government pension, judges tend to focus their retirement years on improving one’s golf game rather than being a mayor of a challenged community like Cambridge. But that is precisely what Steve Rideout eventually did for the last two years.

For those who know Steve Rideout, this comes as no surprise. Intellectually well-wired for complex institutional issues and a long-standing sympathy for the disadvantaged, he has made the well-being of Cambridge his top concern for the last 15 years. From winning a seat as a city council member to serving on nonprofit boards, he has been extremely generous with his lifelong skills to make the city a better place to live.

For the record, Mayor Rideout was very clear that he would only serve one term as mayor during his campaign, and he has kept that commitment. After two years, Steve did not seek re-election, and instead, he and his wife will be moving to a retirement community in Western Maryland to be closer to their adult children.

We caught up with him via Zoom for some reflection on those years of service.

This video is approximately 24 minutes in length. 

It is no secret that the Eastern Shore, like all of Maryland and the rest of the United States, faces an acute shortage of healthcare professionals, and demand from an increasingly aging population of residents is only growing. The question is what to do about it.

One way to help solve the program is to make a very special appeal to young adults, like teenagers, eager to find a way forward for their future, who might find free tuition and the ability to remain in the communities they love an attractive opportunity.

A community event hosted by Londonderry on the Tred Avon on January 7, 2024, aims to address the Eastern Shore’s healthcare workforce shortage by introducing students and families to educational and career pathways at the University of Maryland at Baltimore Health Care Schools.

This video is approximately eight minutes in length. For more information about this event, please contact Erica Hardeo, Director of Community Engagement at Londonderry on the Tred Avon 410-820-8732, ext. 204