MENU

Sections

  • Home
  • Arts
  • Food
  • Ecosystem
  • Education
  • Habitat
  • Health & Recovery
  • Local Life
  • News
  • P.O.V.
  • Senior Nation
  • Donate
  • About
    • The Chestertown Spy
    • Contact Us
    • Advertising & Underwriting
      • Advertising Terms & Conditions
    • Editors & Writers
    • Dedication & Acknowledgements
    • Code of Ethics
    • Chestertown Spy Terms of Service
    • Technical FAQ
    • Privacy

More

  • Support the Spy
  • About Spy Community Media
  • Advertising with the Spy
April 11, 2021

The Chestertown Spy

An Educational News Source for Chestertown Maryland

  • Home
  • Arts
  • Food
  • Ecosystem
  • Education
  • Habitat
  • Health & Recovery
  • Local Life
  • News
  • P.O.V.
  • Senior Nation
  • Donate
  • About
    • The Chestertown Spy
    • Contact Us
    • Advertising & Underwriting
      • Advertising Terms & Conditions
    • Editors & Writers
    • Dedication & Acknowledgements
    • Code of Ethics
    • Chestertown Spy Terms of Service
    • Technical FAQ
    • Privacy
News News Homepage

Reopening Off to Smooth Start

May 21, 2020 by John Griep Leave a Comment

Share

Kent County’s initial reopening has gone smoothly, officials said this week.

“We haven’t had any significant problems with that at least from the health department end of things,” William Webb, Kent County’s health officer, said Thursday.

“We’re getting a lot of calls about … best practices and what the guidance is for businesses that are looking to reopen. There’s certainly some confusion, especially with retail … because some retail establishments do not know what their fire code maximum is.”

A large number of people were in Rock Hall this past weekend, which is usually the date of a spring bike fest, but there were no problems, he said.

“They had a number of people show up…. Everybody was civil, (but many visitors) didn’t know that the restaurants weren’t open in Maryland.”

Webb said bars and restaurants are eager to start providing outdoor dining service, but the governor has not approved that yet.

“Everybody is anxious to get restarted,” he said.

During Monday’s Chestertown council meeting, Kay Macintosh, the town’s economic development and marketing coordinator, said downtown had been fairly busy over the weekend but there had been no complaints about people violating social distancing and mask requirements.

Macintosh and council members discussed options for allowing restaurants and bars to provide additional outdoor dining spaces once that is allowed by the governor.

Options could include allowing restaurants to place tables in front of neighboring businesses, with permission from those businesses; closing off parking spaces to create additional dining areas set off by wood decking and planters; and providing tables and chairs in public spaces for those getting takeout.

“To help restaurants survive, they will have to have enough tables to make this viable for them,” Macintosh said.

Town Manager Bill Ingersoll said the town had a pretty good framework with its al fresco dining ordinance.

Worship services

The health department also has been working with the county’s faith-based communities, which is an area of particular concern to Webb due to “the high number of high-risk people who go to church services.”

“They have worked really, really hard to support the community and do the right thing and as a health department we want to help them do that,” he said.

Kent’s numbers

The county now has 143 COVID-19 cases and at least 25 deaths. The vast majority of the cases and nearly all of the deaths are related to three outbreaks in the county — two in nursing homes and one among farm laborers. Those outbreaks account for about 88% of the county’s cases.

“We have three fairly substantial nursing homes in the county…. Unfortunately that’s the population that is hardest hit by the virus and even though they have tried very, very hard to keep it out … once it gets in with the residents and the staff it spreads like wildfire,” Webb said.

Although the county’s high numbers are driven by outbreaks, Webb stressed that the county does have cases of community spread and all residents should take precautions.

“I want to encourage all of our citizens to practice social distancing, masking and hand washing,” he said. “Take personal responsibility for helping prevent the spread of this because as we reopen … we know that as things open back up … our case counts are going to go up. Take personal responsibility, stay at home as much as possible and do the social distancing, the hand-washing all of the usual stuff and that’s what’s really going to help us get past this crisis.

“We stayed at home, we have given our health-care community the opportunity to prepare for the increased demand surge, and now it’s time to get back to business and hope that the preparations that we have done are going to be sufficient for whatever may come as a result of this.”

Filed Under: News Homepage Tagged With: Chestertown, Covid-19, reopening, restaurants, rock hall

COVID-19: A Conversation with Rock Hall Mayor Dawn Jacobs

April 24, 2020 by Dave Wheelan Leave a Comment

Share

While all eyes in Kent County are looking at the current figures for infection and mortality rates, Rock Hall’s Dawn Jacobs is paying close attention to how her small municipality is coping with the coronavirus crisis at the hyper-local level. Recently elected to her position, Mayor Jacobs is not only tasked with supporting Governor Larry Hogan’s statewide stay-at-home order, but will need to plot a way forward after the crisis for her community and its high dependency on tourism.

The Spy touched base with Dawn yesterday afternoon.

This video is approximately six minutes in length. For more information about the Town of Rock Hall please go here.

Filed Under: News Homepage, News Portal Highlights Tagged With: rock hall

Rock Hall Food Pantry Open First, Third Saturdays Through May

April 20, 2020 by Spy Desk Leave a Comment

Share

The Rock Hall Community Food Pantry is open 10 a.m. to noon on the first and third Saturdays of the month through May.

The pantry is operated by volunteers as a ministry of local churches, according to a post by Your Rock Hall Church.

The pantry’s current guidelines, according to the post, include:

• The food pantry is for the town of Rock Hall and the wider Rock Hall community (the communities around Route 20 south of Fairlee).

• No Social Services preregistration is required.

• No proof of residency is required.

“This is how we operate our food pantry as of today. These guidelines are subject to change at any time due to our current economic situation, food availability, and CDC/Maryland restrictions.”

The community food pantry is located at the Civic Center behind the Kent County Learning Center. The space is provided free of charge by the Town of Rock Hall. The pantry is normally open on just the third Saturday of the month.

Residents of other Kent County communities may seek assistance from food pantries in those areas, including: Worton (Kent County Food Pantry), Chestertown (Seventh Day Adventist Church), and Millington (Millington UMC). Each may have different requirements as several are extensions of the Maryland Food Bank, which requires documentation.

The food pantry accepts monetary donations as well as drop-off donationas of canned/sealed goods.

If you have any questions about the Rock Hall Community Food Pantry, please email info@yourrockhall.church or call Sue Becker at 410-639-2351.

Filed Under: News Homepage, News Portal Highlights Tagged With: food pantry, rock hall

Copyright © 2021

Affiliated News

  • Spy Community Media
  • The Annapolis Spy
  • The Chestertown Spy
  • The Talbot Spy

Sections

  • Arts
  • Culture
  • Ecosystem
  • Education
  • Health
  • Local Life
  • Spy Senior Nation

Spy Community Media

  • About
  • Subscribe
  • Contact Us
  • Advertising & Underwriting

Copyright © 2021 · Spy Community Media Child Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in