Each week, the Mirror attempts to highlight dogs and cats that need to be found, or need to be fostered or adopted.

This week, we hope to find the owner of this dog.

If this is your dog or you know whose dog it is, PLEASE contact Robin VonHollen robinv@dogsdeservebetter.org. She needs your help in catching them and getting them to vet ASAP. The dog is hurt, and has a bad broken leg.

It looks like dog has been on the run for a while. The dog is running around the Northampton/ Accomack county line.

Update: The dog was last seen Friday morning crossing RT 13, heading towards the little community between J & M and Occ. Neck Road light.

Walking down Mason Avenue, a pedestrian is force to dodge all the tacky and vulgar signs that business own have littered about. While the bullies in the business community may think they run this town, Caple Charles has a different idea.

Staff has prepared a letter to be mailed to all business owners in the Town regarding the enforcement of Section 62-12 of the Town Code, which deals placing tacky signage in the walkway.

This move comes after many comments and concerns from citizens regarding the obstruction of sidewalks, specifically on Mason Avenue. After the public outcry, staff reviewed the Town Code and found that Section 62-12 regarding the obstruction of sidewalks was not being enforced (you can’t see it, but this is my surprised face).

Sec. 62-12. – Obstructing sidewalks generally. It shall be unlawful for any person to display, obstruct or leave any vehicle, merchandise or any other commodity on the sidewalks or curbs in the town so as to block, impede or endanger the safety of pedestrians in any manner. The mayor or town manager, at his discretion, may issue special permits in writing for certain exceptions to this section. (Ord. No. 305, §§ 1, 2, 4-14-70; Ord. of 3-17-81, § 4.28; Ord. of 6-8-93)  

The letter will be mailed to all business owners in the town, allowing them 10 business days from the date of the letter to come into compliance, or face the consequences–a formal notice of violation (unfortunately, there is no jail time associated with this egregioius behavior).

Below, is the letter:

Dear Property Owner:It
has come to the attention of the town that many sidewalks along commercial storefronts are being obstructed in a way that restricts pedestrian access. Section 62-12 of the town code states “it shall be unlawful for any person to display, obstruct or leave any vehicle, merchandise or any other commodity on the sidewalks or curbs in the town so as to block, impede, or endanger the safety of pedestrians in any manner.”The town will begin enforcing this section of the Town Code to ensure unobstructed access along sidewalks. Property owners will be required to provide at least a four-foot unobstructed paved pedestrian pathway within the designated sidewalk area, which shall remain unobstructed at all times. A four-foot path provides the minimum amount of width for ADA accessibility. With questions regarding the location of the sidewalk area, please contact the Planning and Zoning Department. The town is allowing 10 business days from the date of this letter for property owners to clear any obstructions located within the sidewalk area. The town will then began issuing notices of violation to property owners for noncompliance, which could result in a class 1misdemeanor and associated fees as described in Section 1-10 of the Town Code. If you have any questions, please contact the Planning and Zoning Department by phone at757-331-2036, or by email at planner@capecharles.org. 

The Board of Cape Charles Main Street would like you to join us in welcoming a new member to the Cape Charles Main Street team. Karen Zamorski has accepted the position of Program Director of Cape Charles Main Street and will be working with the Board to help drive the projects and programs needed to continue the preservation-based revitalization of the town of Cape Charles.

She was born and raised in a small town about 30 miles outside of Buffalo, NY but has lived in several states through her 30+ year career. Karen has hit many milestones in her corporate life which included Kodak, DuPont and various marketing roles including 32 marketing awards working with Fortune 500 companies and serving as both President and Chairman of the Board for the Philadelphia Direct Marketing Association, a non-profit organization. 

An entrepreneur at heart, she has started, grown and sold a small business which enables her to readily relate to other business owners who are an
integral part of our revitalization mission. Karen and her husband Dave are not new to Cape Charles.

They stopped into Cape Charles on their way back from a family vacation to the outer banks in 2005 and ended up purchasing a vacation home for their family including 4 children and 2 dogs. In 2017 Karen and Dave found themselves empty nesters and decided to leave their home in the Kennett
Square, PA area and make Cape Charles their permanent home. They just finished renovating a historic home – 7 Mason Ave, which is now a gathering spot for family and friends.

“I grew up in a very small, tight-knit community where you knew everyone and looked out for each other” Karen told the board at her initial interview. “It just felt like home here from early on and I’m so excited that I get to be a part of its future” she said.

If you see Karen walking around town with her two puggles (which she often does), or working on her new flower beds, show her a little Cape Charles small town love and say hello. She looks forward to getting to know everyone.

Intrested in learning more about Cape Charles Main Streets projects or getting involved? Follow us on our FB page at https://www.facebook.com/MainStreetCapeCharles/ Or email us at capecharlesmainstreet@gmail.com

The Washington Post reports that in 2018, the General Social Survey for the first time included questions on pet ownership. The findings show that dog owners are happier than cat owners.

Dog owners are about twice as likely as cat owners to say they’re very happy, with people owning both falling somewhere in between.

Dog people are slightly happier than those without any pets. Those with cats are significantly less happy than the pet-less.

The happiness divide between dog and cat owners is bigger than the one between people who identify as middle and upper class, and nearly as large as the gap between those who say they’re in “fair” versus “good or excellent” health.

Research also has shown that dog owners are more likely than other folks to form friendships with people in their neighborhoods on the basis of the random encounters that happen when they’re out walking their pets. Those social connections likely contribute to greater well-being among dog owners.

In March, the CCPD answered 48 calls for service in Cape Charles, 8 outside of town. There were no felony arrests, but one misdemeanor DWI. The CCPD assisted Northampton Sheriffs 7 times, and once with the Virginia State Police.

On the roads, the force issued 9 summons and 22 written and verbal warnings. 1 parking ticket was issued.

Officers spent 26 foot patrol hours in town, and 23 in Bay Creek. 45 building checks took place.

Chief Pruitt spoke with trinity Methodist church on the mission of the police department, and with  Catholic church on topic of “active shooter”.

All officers completed Narcan recertification training. Police officers increasingly end up serving as first responders in drug overdose situations.

Law enforcement agencies need to equip officers with the proper policy and training to respond to these incidents.

In response to the rise in heroin and opioid use, police departments across the country have implemented Narcan programs. Use of a prescription medicine called naloxone(also known as Narcan) to prevent overdose deaths.

The Northampton County Board of Supervisors voted to regulate short-term rentals (rentals less than 30 days and usually found by online listings).

Chairman Murray noted that our county, like most in the country, is struggling to come to terms with this process. While these type of rentals bring in revenue to restaraunts and businesses, they can also cause problems for full-time residents and neighborhoods.

Murray read a letter from a Silver Beach resident that highlighted some of the problems, such as vacationers partying on her private deck, using her private property to fish and swim, and parking kayaks on private beaches.

According to Charlene Gray, Northampton County’s commissioner of the revenue, 275 providers in the county offer “AirB&B” types of short-term rentals, yet there is not an ordinance to regulate them.

In the 4-1 vote, only Supervisor Robert Duer voted against the measure, saying, “I think we are chasing money.”

The new ordinance ensures rental owners will pay a business license tax, be within noise limits and follow parking and occupancy rules.

Two new signs have been placed in the Cape Kids Playground. All old signs have been removed and the rules have been combined in one sign versus three separate signs. One sign was placed at the entrance and one sign inside the playground area.

Replacement signs for the tennis courts have been sent to the printers after final approval from the Town Manager. The rules were outdated and redone to meet the needs of both citizens and tourists. There will be smaller signs placed at all three entrances and one inside the playing area. There is currently one large sign that will be removed.

Recreation Director Jen Lewis has been researching portable “elite” restrooms as a temporary fix to a bathroom on Mason Avenue until a permanent solution can be determined. 6 companies have been contacted and 5 companies will not travel to our area with their restrooms. Moore’s portable solutions is located on the Shore but cannot offer their services as their two units are already committed to other events throughout the next year. The next closest company located on the beach front in Virginia Beach stated we could not afford to pay the fee that would be attached with servicing on the Shore and would not even entertain a quote. LD Davis from BeachEvents referred 4 of the 6 companies. Staff is able to again provide Council with prices for purchasing a portable restroom if needed as renting does not appear to be an option.

1093: Dedication of Winchester Cathedral, the nominal home of King Arthur’s round table.

1388: An army of Swiss soldiers, outnumbered 16:1, defeats a Hapsburg army of over 6,500 in the Battle of Nafels, an astounding rout by about 400 armed citizens of the cantonment of Glarus and a handful of knights from other parts of Swiss* Confederation. The battle was the final act in the long-running conflict between the ever-expansionist Hapsburg Empire and the ever-stubborn and independent minded farmers and shop keepers of the central Alps. After this battle, the Swiss kept their independence and the Emperor decided to leave them alone.

1413: After five years of increasingly bitter fighting with the Welsh, the 27 year old Henry of Monmouth is crowned King Henry V of England on the death of his father, Henry IV. The young king almost immediately turned his attentions to regaining historic landholdings in France against the Valois dynasty, to say nothing of living out a life that inspired William Shakespeare to some of his finest work.

1585: Departure from England of a five-ship fleet, organized and funded by Sir Walter Raleigh, to create a permanent English colony in the New World. The group eventually landed and set up camp on the shores of Roanoke Island on North Carolina’s Albemarle Sound. The little settlement maintained a tenuous toehold on the land; between conflict with the local Indian tribes, and lack of a viable means to sustain their need for food, the success of the enterprise was very much on the edge of maintaining viability. Raleigh commissioned his friend J0hn White two years later to go back to Roanoke with a small fleet for re-supply and reinforcement, including 115 more colonists. When they arrived they found no one except a bleached out skeleton. White stayed long enough to help the new group get re-established, and promised to return with more supplies the following Spring. Multiple delays- war, piracy, hurricanes…the usual- intervened, and when he finally stepped ashore in August of 1590, not a trace of the new colony could be found. The only clue was the word “CROATOAN” carved into a tree, and the letters “CRO-” in another. The Lost Colony remains lost to this day, but it fuels a vibrant tourism economy down in the Outer Banks. After the English colonies actually did take hold up and down the coast, there were for years reports of blue-eyed Indians who inhabited the tidewater regions of North Carolina and Virginia colonies, providing some degree of explanation about the fate of the little colony.

1588: Birth of English philosopher Thomas Hobbes (d.1679). He is probably best known for his rather gloomy view of the human condition and the need for a powerful sovereign to maintain order. In his magnum opus, Leviathan (1651), Hobbes described life of an unconstrained individual in a state of nature as “…solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.”

1606: King James I grants a royal charter to the Virginia Company of London, a joint stock company that will finance British colonization of North America north of Cape Fear

1614: Virginia native Pocahontas marries British subject and Jamestown leader John Rolfe.

1621: After wintering over in Cape Cod Bay, Mayflower sets sail from Plymouth, Massachusetts on its return trip to England.

1730: Dedication of Shearith Israel- the first synagogue in NYC.

1778: Commanding his brig USS Ranger, Captain John Paul Jones departs Brest, France on a raiding mission against British interests in the Irish Sea. It is the first offensive naval action of the American Revolution, and the attacks take the British completely by surprise. In a particularly daring raid into his native Scotland, Jones sails into Kirkcudbright Bay with a view to abduct the Earl of Selkirk and hold him hostage for the release of American sailors held by the British. The earl is not at home but the crew takes the liberty to steal his silver, including his wife’s teapot, still warm and full of her morning tea. The raids continue for several more weeks, and after capturing HMS Duke, Jones returns to Brest where he will seek a larger ship and make plans for more raids as the year progresses.

1792: President Washington issues the first presidential veto on a bill concerning apportionment of representatives between the several states.

1794: Birth of Rear Admiral Matthew Perry

1820: Venus de Milo (b.130 BC) is discovered on the Greek island of Melos, and is promptly transported to Paris for public display at the Louvre.

1849: Walter Hunt of New York patents the safety pin. He later sells the rights for $100.

1865: After his Appomattox meeting [DLH 4/9] with Union Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant, Major General Robert E. Lee, CSA, issues General Order #9, his last:

“After four years of arduous service, marked by unsurpassed courage and fortitude, the Army of Northern Virginia has been compelled to yield to overwhelming numbers and resources. I need not tell the brave survivors of so many hard-fought battles, who have remained steadfast to the last, that I have consented to the result from no distrust of them…I determined to avoid the useless sacrifice of those whose past services have endeared them to their countrymen…I bid you an affectionate farewell.”— Robert E. Lee

1867: The United States Senate ratifies the treaty with Russia, that purchases Alaska for $7,200,000, or approximately $0.o2 per acre

1887: Anne Sullivan teaches the word “water” to Helen Keller.

1896: The first modern Olympic Games opens in Athens.

1904: Great Britain and France sign a mostly secret Entente Cordial which, although structured around their spheres of influence in their global empires, actually signaled the end of over a century of near-continuous hostility and occasional war between the two countries. Of more pertinence, the treaty solidified the obligations of one another against potential hostilities with the burgeoning Central Powers: Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy, also treaty-bound by their own Triple Alliance. By 1907 Russia grew increasingly concerned over the conduct of the Central Powers, particularly Austria-Hungary in the Balkans, leading them to join with France and Britain to create the Triple Entente. This process, my dear history students, is exactly what George Washington warned against when he spoke of the dangers of “entangling alliances,” as we shall see in July and August.

1912: Birth of Sonja Henie (d.1969), Norwegian figure skater who won 10 World Figure Skating Championships, 6 consecutive European Championships, and was three-time gold medalist at the Olympics, the third being in 1936. She went on to movie stardom through the 1950s.
1912: RMS Titanic sets out from Southampton, England on her first transatlantic voyage.

1913: Ratification of the 17th Amendment, specifying the direct election of Senators, a key political goal of the Progressive movement. Prior to this, Senators were appointed by state legislatures and represented the interests of the several States themselves, serving as a powerful check on Federal overreach. Given the scope of the federal government’s metastasis over the years since ratification, it is no surprise that there is a considered body of opinion exploring the ways the 17th may be repealed, not unlike how the 21st Amendment repealed the 18th a few days back.

1916: Two months into an increasingly ineffective campaign to dislodge the French from their border fortresses at Verdun, German Field Marshall Falkenhayen initiates a third major surge against the French lines, with near-constant artillery bombardment and repeated infantry assaults back and forth across the battlefront.

1917: The Canadian Corps of the British Expeditionary Force opens its attack on Vimy Ridge, a German controlled piece of high ground that dominated the northern area of the British Arras Offensive. The four day battle achieved its objectives against ferocious resistance, and its all-Canadian nature became a nationalistic touchstone for our northern cousins.

1939: Contralto Marian Anderson sings an Easter concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial before a crowd of over 75,000, plus a nation-wide radio audience. The critically acclaimed concert came about after the D.A.R. refused to allow her to perform in their Constitution Hall. Anderson went on to a sterling career as a classical singer both here and in Europe, and was one of the leading lights of the post-war civil rights movement.

1940: Norwegian politician Vidkun Quisling seizes control of the Norwegian government as the Nazi invasion tightens its grip on the country. He forms a collaborationist, pro-Nazi puppet government, serving as Minister-President under the control of the Germans. After the war, he is convicted and executed for high treason, and his name has become synonymous with “traitor” ever since.

1947: Jackie Robinson opens his major league career with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

1959: NASA announces the first corps of United States astronauts, seven test pilots from the Navy and Air Force, who will be at the pointy end, literally, of America’s first steps into outer space. If you were sentient at the time, you remember the absolutely riveting levels of national pride these guys engendered, and they had yet to actually do anything except pass an excruciating set of physical and psychological screenings. But there they were: our Mercury 7 Astronauts. Author Tom Wolfe captures the mood beautifully in his book, The Right Stuff (1979), and maybe even more so in the 1983 movie of the same name.

1962: Civilian test pilot Neil Armstrong takes the X-15 rocket plane to180,000 feet altitude.

1963: On a test dive after a hastily completed major overhaul, USS Thresher (SSN-593) sinks 220 miles off of Cape Cod with the loss of all hands (112 crew and 12 civilian).

1965: Opening game in the Houston Astrodome, introducing Astroturf as the playing surface.

1981: Death of General Omar Bradley (b.1893), USMA class of 1915.

1991: Georgia, the home of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, declares its independence from the collapsing Soviet Union.

Please join us as we celebrate completed construction of the second phase of the Southern Tip Bike and Hike Trail on Friday, May 17.

This short ceremony begins at 2 PM at the Eastern Shore Pottery adjacent to the trailhead. Senator Lynwood Lewis, Delegate Robert Bloxom, and Director of Virginia State Parks Craig Seaver will join partners from The Nature Conservancy, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Kiptopeke State Park, Accomack-Northampton Planning District Commission and Eastern Shore of Virginia Chamber of Commerce in marking this milestone.

All are welcome to attend the public event.

May 17, 2019 – 2 PM

Eastern Shore Pottery

27085 Lankford Highway Cape Charles, Va.

About the Trail: The Southern Tip Bike and Hike Trail is a paved path approximately 5.3 miles long that carries cyclists and walkers from the Eastern Shore of Virginia National Wildlife Refuge to the recently completed trail head near Capeville Road. Offering scenic views and easy elevation, the trail is good for all skill levels.