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July 17, 2025

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Archives

August Skywatch: Planets, Metors; and Two Full Moons!

July 31, 2012 by Dennis Herrmann

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Perseids meteor shower map

August begins with three bright first-magnitude objects, two of them planets, clustered near to each other in the southwestern evening sky for several hours after sunset. The planets are Saturn at magnitude +0.8 and Mars at magnitude +1.1. On August 1st they will be seen within 10 degrees of each other (Saturn above), and through the month they will appear to draw closer together. Between August 7th and 20th they will be within a 5 degree circle which will also include 1st magnitude (+1.0) Spica, the brightest star in the zodiac constellation Virgo. In fact on the night of the 7th, the three will actually appear to form a neat triangle!

Spica is a blue giant star some 4 times hotter than our Sun and while it does not appear to move out of its constellation from year to year because of its great distance from us, the planet’s do make noticeable changes against the background stars in their orbits around the Sun. Saturn is far enough away so that its changes against the stars are much less than Mars which, moves a lot faster. So Mars will appear to pass between Spica and Saturn so that on the nights of August 13 and 14, the three will look like they are in a nearly straight line. A week later on the 21st, the three will form another triangle shape, with a lovely crescent Moon joining them, just a few degrees below the line.

We can distinguish the three objects from each other by color. Mars is reddish-orange, while Saturn is a more golden-yellow, and Spica looks bluish-white. It will be fun watching during the month as the 3 appear to move around each other in the southwest sky (roughly 9 to 11 pm).

In the morning sky look East for Jupiter, rising about 2 am and then visible until sunrise and bright (-2.2 magnitude), and sitting some 5 degrees above Aldebaran, the brightest star in Taurus. On the morning of the 11th, the waning crescent Moon will be near Jupiter.

Even brighter Venus at –4.6 magnitude rises about 3 hours before the Sun and the crescent Moon will be seen near it on the morning of August 13th.

August always brings the best meteor shower of the year into view —– the Perseids —- so named because the meteors appear to come from the sky which is occupied by the constellation Perseus. Some years we have to compete with a bright Moon blocking our view of some of the meteors, but this year a waning crescent Moon will offer little competition, and the peak night is on a weekend. The best night is August 11/12 —- Saturday night into Sunday morning. Best views which may be up to 60 to 80 meteors per hour occur from midnight to dawn looking in the northeast sky halfway up from the horizon. Perseid meteors are hunks of rock and dust debris from Comet 109P Swift-Tuttle. Each August Earth plows through its debris field and the particles incinerate in our atmosphere by friction.

One other item of note this month is that August this year has two Full Moons —- August 1st and August 31st. Though two Full Moons in a single month happen about once every three and a half years, it is infrequent enough to be one reason for the expression “once in a blue Moon.” No, the Moon does not really turn blue when it is full twice in a month, but Earth atmospheric conditions do make the Moon look blue sometimes; and that is even rarer.

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Filed Under: Archives

April Skywatch: Planets Still Dominate

March 29, 2012 by Dennis Herrmann

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April will be dominated by Saturn and Mars when Saturn reaches opposition and peak visiblity on April 15th, and when Mars, as darkness falls, will be 2/3rds of the way up from the southeastern horizon among the stars of Leo the lion. But check out Jupiter and Venus in the southwestern sky just after dark.

Look first for Jupiter quite low in the west during April’s first two weeks. At magnitude -2.1 it will be an easy target but only 15 degrees above the horizon an hour after sunset. It should be visibible until about 10 pm, though with each passing
night it will appear lower and lower. By April 15th it will only be 5 degrees above the horizon an hour after sunset, and will set shortly thereafter. By the end of the month it will be gone until it reappears in the eastern morning sky in June.

Well above Jupiter you cannot miss Venus at magnitude -4.5 just below M45, the famous Pleiades star cluster, also known as the 7 sisters and in Japanese, as Subaru. From April 1 to 3 Venus will appear to move through the stars in the Pleiades cluster, which will make an especially nifty sight through a pair of binoculars or a telescope set with low power eyepiece. Venus will remain east (left) of the Sun all through April, which means this dazzling planet will be on display until at least 11 pm (local daylight time).

And it will actually get brighter —– to magnitude -4.7—- by the end of April, because its orbit will bring it closer to Earth. In a telescope its phase will appear to change from half-lit to one quarter-lit.

Mars in Leo at magnitude -0.4 outshines Leo’s brightest star, Regulus, and will be as close to this star as 4 degrees at mid-month. Mars will be distinctly reddish in color, while the hot star Regulus will look a bluish-white color; offering quite a nice contrast.

Saturn rises on April 15th in the east as the Sun is setting in the west; a position we call opposition. Saturn will be at +0.2 magnitude, a full magnitude brighter than Spica, the brightest star in Virgo the maiden. Spica is 5 degrees slightly below and right of Saturn all month, and on the night of April 6/7, the Full Moon will be nearby both of them. Telescopic views of Saturn, its famous rings, and multiple moons are always impressive; to newcomers at an eyepiece as well as to long-time skywatchers.

From April 16 to 25, but especially with a peak on April 21/22, look for the Lyrid Meteor Shower. Look north to northeast, from 2 to 5 am, toward the constellation Lyra the harp. No Moon will be in the sky to conflict with this shower, which frequently produces 20 to 25 meteors per hour.

The Full Moon of April 6th is the first Full Moon of Spring after the March 20th Vernal Equinox. Therefore by ancient design, Easer is celebrated on the first Sunday after this Full Moon. This year, then, Easter Sunday is April 8th. This is why Easter has a changeable date of observance every year. Last quarter Moon will be on April 13th; New Moon April 21st; and 1st quarter is April 29th.

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Filed Under: Archives

County Income Tax Revenue Up

November 30, 2011 by Dennis Herrmann

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For the first time in months the commissioners received a nice surprise at Tuesday’s meeting when the latest income tax distribution numbers were unveiled.

Kent County received a little more than $3 million in income tax revenue as part of the November distribution. This is a “huge change” from what was received at the same time last year, said the county’s Chief Finance Officer Pat Merritt. Last year the county received $1.7 million.

Merritt said the entire state has seen the income tax numbers jump 31 percent during this latest distribution. The state attributes the huge increase to bills coming in from people who filed for an extension on their 2010 taxes.

“I’m going to take the money, but I don’t believe what (the state) is telling us,” joked Commissioner Ron Fithian.

Merritt said that even though the numbers look promising now it could all change by the end of the fiscal year.

“This is not an indicator of how the year is going to end, this is how 2010 ended,” she said. “While it’s good news for now it may disappear at the end of the year with the last distribution.”

Meaning, the rest of the year’s distributions could be well below what the county budgeted swallowing up any positive difference in income tax revenue.

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Filed Under: Archives

Donate Toys, Food

November 30, 2011 by Dennis Herrmann

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While running around town trying to find that perfect gift you may have noticed some empty cardboard boxes popping up in various businesses and government officers. The boxes, hopefully, won’t be empty for long and will be soon spilling over with toys and food for the less fortunate in the county.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Jim Fouss, chairman of the Community Food Pantry, and members of the Washington College chapter of SIFE, Students in Free Enterprise, presented their latest plan to feed the county’s hungry.
SIFE has teamed up with the food pantry to collect 5,000 cans of food. If SIFE reaches its goal Campbell’s Soup will donate money to the pantry.
Chris Tateo, program manager for SIFE’s Let’s Can Hunger, said the group had collected more than 1,000 canned goods so far and has received numerous monetary donations from the community.
The need for food is stronger than ever this year it seems. Fouss said the food pantry serves 225 families a month. This year the organization expects to feed about 150 new families. The pantry is on pace to distribute more than 125,000 pounds this year, 60 percent of which it buys itself.
“Thank you for being involved in this great program … you’re filling a need in the county that unfortunately is growing all the time,” said Commissioner Ron Fithian.
Let’s Can Hunger boxes can be found at 400 High St. and around Chestertown. Dominic DiMarino, SIFE president, and Max DiFilippo, SIFE vice president of public relations, were also at the Tuesday meeting.
Donating to the food pantry is not the only chance to do some good this holiday season. Robyn Moore, representing the Lions Clubs Christmas Basket Program, was also at the commissioners’ meeting.
Lions Clubs throughout the county, along with help from 4-H, the fire companies, and various other organizations, get together every year and put together boxes of food and toys. The boxes are then distributed to families throughout the county. A list of families in need is provided to the Lions Club by the Department of Social Services.
This year volunteers will be packing close to 600 baskets, Moore said, and the number has gone up every year.
Each basket contains enough food for dinner and breakfast, some toys, and coupons for bread, butter, eggs and milk.
Moore said as well as donations people are needed to help pack, deliver, and clean up.
“Even if you don’t have time to come help I suggest you come watch it … it’s an amazing process,” said Fithian.
Christmas Basket packing will be on Monday, Dec. 12 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Kent County Community Center. Boxes for Christmas Basket donations are around town and the commissioners’ office at 400 High St.

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Filed Under: 5 News Notes

Holiday Government Closures

November 22, 2011 by Dennis Herrmann

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Kent County government buildings will be closed on the following days in November. Wednesday, Nov. 23; Thursday, Nov. 24; and Friday, Nov. 25.

There will be no commissioners’ meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 27.

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Filed Under: 5 News Notes

Kent County Commissioners Raise Questions About PlanMaryland

November 11, 2011 by Dennis Herrmann

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Kent County has joined the ranks of a growing number of counties and municipalities concerned about the state’s growth and development plan known as PlanMaryland.
PlanMaryland was introduced by Gov. Martin O’Malley as a way to address growing urban sprawl and environmental concerns, according to the plan’s website. Counties and municipalities statewide are concerned the plan does not take local comprehensive plans into account and will take the planning and zoning authority away from local governments.

“It’s almost laughable when people on the western shore think they can do a better job (with planning) than folks on the Eastern Shore … there isn’t a piece of waterfront land on the western shore that hasn’t been developed and here we are probably the most rural area around,” said Commissioner Ron Fithian.

During Tuesday’s meeting Gail Owings, county director of Housing and Planning and Zoning, introduced a letter to the commissioners written by the county planning commission expressing some concerns with PlanMaryland. This will be the second letter the county has sent to the state about the plan.

The letter mostly focuses on the big issues the planning commission was worried about, Owings said, primarily staff time.

“We remain concerned about the schedule for implementation, the bureaucracy, and the cost for both at the state and local levels that will become necessary to implement PlanMaryland. … All county departments have had staffing reductions and increased responsibilities, thereby increasing the difficulty in providing timely responses to various state requests,” the letter states. “In addition, several large state-mandated programs such as the Local Watershed Implementation Plan and changes to the Chesapeake Bay Critical Area Program follow a similar implementation schedule. The combination of these major efforts places an untenable burden on our existing staff.”

The planning commission recommends that the state come up with a list of priorities regarding which state-mandated programs should be implemented first. The commission also asked that the state fill in the blanks in the plan regarding benchmarks.

Speaking from the audience, Paula Ruckelshaus said that Senate President Mike Miller and Sen. E.J. Pipkin recently asked for the O’Malley administration to defer implementing the plan until the general assembly has a chance to review it.

“PlanMaryland has significant control over local and county governments … I would urge you to join with Miller and Pipkin to ask O’Malley to defer it,” she said.
Commissioner Alex Rasin said maybe the commissioners should go on record saying they are against PlanMaryland.

Commissioner Fithian recommended that the commissioners send a letter asking that nothing be done with PlanMaryland until everyone has a chance to review it. Owings said she would draft a letter expressing the commissioners’ concerns.

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Filed Under: Archives

Kent Public Library Audit shows Solid Footing

November 8, 2011 by Dennis Herrmann

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What a difference a year can make. After being on the verge of financial disaster the Kent County Public Library’s audit for Fiscal Year 2011 reveals that all is well.

“Fiscal Year 2011 has had a lot of positive results,” said Library Board President Alice Ritchie. “We think the success has had to come at some cost to the public because we’ve had to reduce our service to the public by closing the library on certain days, we’ve bought less media and books, and we worked without an executive director for part of the year.”

She said the goals for FY2012 include celebrating the library’s 50th anniversary and buying more books and materials.

“We’re very proud of the library and I think the community is very proud of our library too,” she said.

Commissioner Ron Fithian praised the board for their hard work and how quickly they turned the library around.

Ritchie thanked him, but pointed out that the old board was in place for half of FY2011 “and they really set a bunch of measurements in place to help us toward financial health.”
The county also received the results back from its FY2011 audit and the county is in good financial shape.

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Filed Under: Archives

County Commission Update: Short-term Investment Review

October 26, 2011 by Dennis Herrmann

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It was a short agenda that greeted the commissioners at their regular Tuesday meeting. Perhaps the item that took up the most discussion was where the county should invest its money.

County Chief Finance Officer Pat Merritt said the county has $10 million it can invest it $5 million increments. Normally the county will invest $5 million for three months and $5 million for six months. However, with the economy being in the state that it’s in the return on investing is not very high.

Merritt said if the county invested $5 million with PNC for three months it would only see a little more than $100 in return and the money would not be liquid, meaning the county couldn’t get access to the cash in case of an emergency without paying a penalty. She suggested the county leave $5 million where it currently is with Chesapeake Bank and Trust.

The other $5 million the commissioners agreed to invest with PNC for six months at an interest rate of .15 percent.

At the beginning of the discussion Commissioner Ron Fithian joked the county might see a higher return if they took the money to Dover Downs. BB&T was the other bank that bid for the investments.

In other matters, the commissioners discussed the new county ethics ordinance and some changes made by County Administrator Susie Hayman. The new ordinance is expected to be introduced at next week’s meeting.

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Filed Under: 5 News Notes

Carter Center to Become Girls Only Facility

October 12, 2011 by Dennis Herrmann

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Life at the J. DeWeese Carter Center is about the change.

The juvenile detention center located in Chestertown, which is currently used to house male juveniles awaiting trial, will begin operations as a secure facility for female juveniles “in the very near future,” according to a letter County Administrator Susie Hayman received from Linda McWilliams, deputy secretary of the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services.

“This change is being made as part of the Department’s commitment to provide quality services to our female population and to separate our detained and committed girls, as required by the Human Services Article of the Maryland Code,” the letter states.

At their Tuesday meeting, Hayman told the commissioners that the Carter Center was being changed from a pre-trial facility to a post-trial facility. She said the majority of the population would come from either Prince George’s or Baltimore counties.
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According to the letter, the Carter Center’s population will be limited to 14 girls. In mid-October the center will end its current male-only program. The building will undergo a few weeks of renovation and staff will be completely retrained. The Department of Juvenile Services expects the new program to be up and running before Thanksgiving.

The commissioners first heard about the changes at the Carter Center last month when Hayman received an e-mail from Judge John Nunn.

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Filed Under: 5 News Notes

Upper Shore Aging, Social Services Give Yearly Reports

September 22, 2011 by Dennis Herrmann

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After last week’s meeting which started off with a protest against the proposed rubble fill north of Massey it was back to the same old routine for the commissioners this week.

Representatives from Upper Shore Aging Inc. and the Department of Social Services presented yearly reports required for both agencies to receive continued funding from the state.

According to Gary Gunther, executive director of Upper Shore Aging, 29 percent of the county’s population is over the age of 60, which is the required age to be classified as an “older American” by both the state and federal government.

Because of the county’s large senior population Kent may receive extra funding next year for senior care programs.
“We have had confirmation verbally, but haven’t had anything in writing yet,” said Gunther.

The commissioners cautioned Gunther that until it was in writing, not to count on any extra money from the state or federal government.

Upper Shore Aging is the designated Area Agency on Aging for Kent, Talbot, and Caroline counties. It develops and manages programs focused on allowing elders to remain and live well in their homes as long as possible. It also provides activities and services through the Amy Lynn Ferris Activity Center and the Department of Social Services.

Linda Webb, director of the Department of Social Services, came to the meeting to discuss food. Specifically food donated to the Community Food Pantry through the federal government’s Emergency Food Assistance Program, which provides food and funding for the pantry.

In 2010 more than $55,000 worth of food was donated to the food pantry, the majority of which came from the USDA, Webb said. There were more than 2,000 visits to the pantry in 2010, averaging out to about 200 families a month. Most of the families that are served by the food pantry are referred by the Department of Social Services.
The amount of food and funding the pantry receives each year is based on the poverty and unemployment level in the county, said Webb. For this upcoming year the food pantry is expected to receive the same funding amount as last year, $1,500, which is used to cover storage and distribution costs.

Commissioner William Pickrum asked if social services receives word from the USDA when “bonus packages are available?” He was told that the agency receives an email from the state letting them know when extra food and funds are available.

The commissioners approved the reports from Upper Shore Aging Inc. and the Department of Social Services, allowing both agencies to move forward with the funding process.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Filed Under: Archives

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