Eleven years ago the U.S. Senate’s unanimous approval and designation of a week in June as “National Pollinator Week” marked a necessary step toward addressing the urgent issue of declining pollinator populations. Pollinator Week has now grown into an international celebration of the valuable ecosystem services provided by bees, birds, butterflies, bats and beetles.

The Pollinator Partnership is proud to announce that June 18-24, 2018 has been designated National Pollinator Week.

Vegetables Love Flowers w. Lisa Ziegler

Thu, June 21, 4:00 – 6:00 PM
Eastern Shore Community College 29300 Lankford Highway, Melfa, VA 23410
Details and Registration: https://tinyurl.com/y7a5pnk9

Bats and Butterflies: How to Attract and Provide Habitat for These Important Pollinators
Friday, June 22 2:00-4:00 PM
Barrier Islands Center, 7295 Young Street, Machipongo, VA 23405
Details and Registration: https://tinyurl.com/y997urfz

For the Bees: Backyard Pollinator Habitat Walk
Thursday, June 21, 10:00 am – 12 pm. Rain date: Friday, June 22
Holly Point Farm, Belle Haven
Register by email at director@veslt.org or call (757) 442-5885
Click Here for Full Details

These events are presented in recognition of National Pollinator Week by the Eastern Shore Watersheds Roundtable which is funded by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and managed by the ES RC&D. For more information about the ES RC&D visit www.esrcd.org. For more information about this event, contact Josephine Mooney at 757-710-7266.

The 2018 budget for the Town of Cape Charles is in the books. With many positive indicators, including increased revenue from meals, sales, and transient occupancy taxes, as well fees from construction-related activities, the town budget for this fiscal year is $8,136,653.

Rates for water are $30.61 per month, wastewater $63.07 per month, and trash collection remains at $14.64 per month.

Below is the complete budget breakdown supplied by the town:

The intersection at the Food Lion on Route 13 (Lankford Highway) is the most dangerous in Northampton County. While VDOT has been dragging its feet for over tens before addressing the dangers, that section of roadway may finally be gaining more traction and visibility. While VDOT has addressed the intersection with a set of sub-par designs, Granville Hogg, RH Meyers and David Boyd have worked to be sure that, if they are going to do it, they need to do it right.

“I am sorry for any inconvenience the changes to this intersection/crossing cause to anyone because of me but I care infinitely more about the safety of the citizens of Northampton County and this is a very treacherous crossing and it needs to be closed or significantly changed before someone is killed.” – Supervisor John Coker

In response to public outcry, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) invites the public to learn about planned safety improvements along Route 13 (Lankford Highway) in Accomack County and provide feedback on the projects. VDOT will host a public hearing on Monday, June 18 as follows:

Design Public Hearing:

Monday, June 18, 2018, 4-7 p.m.

Arcadia High School

8210 Lankford Highway

Oak Hall, VA 23416

One project will focus on planned improvements at the intersection of Lankford Highway and Route 695 (New Temperanceville Road). The other project will focus on planned improvements at Lankford Highway and Route 175 (Chincoteague Road).

The purpose of the hearing is to give citizens an opportunity to review proposed improvements, meet with VDOT representatives and provide input. The meeting will be held in an open-house format with no formal presentation given.

Citizens may provide written and oral comments at the meeting or submit them by June 28, 2018 to Ms. Nancy Marshall, VDOT Project Manager, 1700 North Main Street, Suffolk, VA 23434. They may also e-mail them to Nancy.Marshall@vdot.virginia.gov or call 757-925-2500 (TTY/TDD users dial 711).

VIRGINIA BEACH — U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine on Wednesday announced $55.985 million in new federal funding for communities in Hampton Roads, Richmond, and on the Eastern Shore for water infrastructure improvements.

• $1.75 million for Waterway on the Coast of Virginia (90-mile channel from the MD-VA line in Chincoteague Bay to the Chesapeake Bay) – This funding supports maintenance dredging to provide vessels a protected 90-mile north-south route connecting Eastern Shore harbors to one another and to the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean.
• $250,000 for Chincoteague Inlet – This funding supports maintenance dredging to remove shoals in the inlet and surveys to monitor and report channel conditions to users, and to coordinate with the Coast Guard on buoys and channel markers.

The funding is awarded through the Army Corps of Engineers’ “Work Plan,” a source of funds provided by Congress for the Corps to allocate to ongoing projects, according to a news release from Kaine’s office.

“From dredging and beach replenishment to cleaner rivers to new oyster habitats to new infrastructure for the Port of Virginia, these investments will help us protect coastal communities and the environment while growing the regional tourism and port commerce economies,” the senators said in a joint news release.

Northampton County has completed this fiscal year’s budget. The $28,134,646 was passed at Tuesday night’s meeting of the Board of Supervisors.

As part of the budget, Northampton County teachers will be getting a raise after all.

Getting to this point has been frustrating for Chairman Murray and the Board of Supervisors. Since January, the board has been trying to get fiscal information from the School Board as to their “basis” for this current fiscal year.

During the last budget work session, Chairman Murray questioned school administration over the lack of transparency in the finances of the school district. Murray, who is a former school board member reminded the schools that the Board of Supervisors gave every dime they could. He also noted that the school board currently has a surplus, which could be used for teacher raises.

The Board, after pulling teeth for several months, finally received the financial information from Superintendent Eddie Lawrence.

With several unfilled teacher positions, the ending balance of the Northampton County School system is approximately $705,000 under the $9 million budget.

The School Board had requested an additional $474,700, however, the BOS had agreed to fund the school system at about half of that requested amount. The Board of Supervisors directed the School Board to give the school system teachers and staff raises in the amount of an additional $200,000 from their fund balance.

The remainder will be placed in the Capital Improvement Fund for building and equipment repair/replacement.

Supervisor Duer warned that this could be a funding issue for next year. That is, where the county would get the additional $200,000 to give to the school system next year?

Riverside Shore Job Fair on June 25

Onancock, VA – Riverside Shore Home Health and Hospice will hold a job fair on Monday June 25 from 5-7pm in the Oyster Room at the Onley Town Center at 25020 Shore Parkway in Onley.

Career opportunities are available for Hospice social workers and Home Health nurses, physical therapists, physical therapy assistants, and speech language pathologists.

Learn more about working for Riverside at riversideonline.com/shore/jobs or email sarah.faircloth@rivhs.com for more information.

Eastville, Va – The Northampton County Board of Supervisors proclaimed June 27, 2018 to be “Dr. Drury Martin Stith Day” in Northampton County at their meeting on June 12.  The proclamation honors Stith for his 43 years of service to the cancer patients of the Eastern Shore.

Left to right: Spencer Murray, Dr. Drury Stith, Jason Stith, Asa Stith, Patsy Stith (Riverside Photo)

Spencer Murray, Chairman of the Board of Supervisors, presented Stith with a framed copy of the proclamation, an excerpt of which states that Stith and his cancer center colleagues “have saved countless lives, made a compassionate impact on his patients’ loved ones, and served all patients in need.”  Stith’s family, including wife Patsy, son Jason and grandson Asa, were in attendance.

In his career on the Shore, Stith was the impetus behind building a dedicated cancer center in Nassawadox, brought radiation therapy to the Shore so that patients could receive care locally, and led the cancer program through its first and all subsequent accreditation processes.

“Few people know that Dr. Stith actually retired for the first time 14 years ago,” said John Peterman, Vice President and Administrator at Riverside Shore Memorial Hospital.  “But the cancer program continued to need his guidance, so a few days after we had a retirement dinner for him, he came back to work.  His legacy is made up of moments like that, where he put the interests of his community above his own.  We are fortunate that he chose to make the Shore his home and to serve our local cancer patients.”

Special to the Mirror By Susan M. Bauer

I came to Cape Charles over a decade ago, and bought a historic Craftsman bungalow on Jefferson Avenue, that was originally a Sears kit house.  It was the conclusion of my search for a small vacation cottage near the Chesapeake Bay. I was unaware of the rich history of the town and Jefferson Avenue, in particular.  I live in the historically African-American section of Cape Charles. Jefferson and Washington Avenues, comprising the northernmost portion of the town, were segregated from the rest of the historic district.  The black families who lived here were represented by the best and the brightest. The house on the corner of my block was owned by the first black physician on the Shore. Across the street, in a house currently under renovation, resided a prominent black minister, and his family.  The minister’s daughter grew up to become the first black woman mayor of the Town of Cape Charles. Directly across the street from me is the second oldest, continuously African-American owned and operated funeral home in the country. While being privileged to serve on the Board of the Rosenwald School Committee, I heard stories from people who still reside in this town about how, as children, they walked over the “railroad hump,” away from the white school, to attend what was then known as the “Cape Charles Colored School.”   That daily trek was just one of the many shameful and inexcusable indignities the black members of our town suffered during the Jim Crow era.

The Ft. McHenry Flag itself.

The Jim Crow era is over – at least according to the history books.  Whereas, laws have evolved to protect people from the most insidious types of race-based discrimination, laws can never change the bias people hold in their hearts against others, simply because of the color of their skin.  Last year, in Charlottesville, Virginia, racial hatred was on full display in all of its tiki-torch carrying glory. Decent people were appalled. But that’s Charlottesville, and our bucolic little Seaside/Bayside town is nothing like that, or so I mostly believed.

I do not spend much time reading The Mirror, and less time commenting on it.  I have noticed in the past that threads of comments often stray from the actual article. That’s bound to happen with the short attention spans most of us have these days.  That was certainly the case, following a recent article about town employees efforts to obtain a membership to a fitness club. There were strong opinions expressed about various things, not related to a fitness club membership, but two comments stood out to me.  They were shocking, not just because of their blatantly racist content, but because not one single reader opposed them. In fact, one of the comments received a positive response.

A person, posting under the pseudonym, Slide Easy, felt compelled to remark “Will never understand why white folks emulate blacks, but it sure looks and sounds ignorant.  I thought [blacks] were supposed to assimilate into OUR (emphasis in original) society after they were allowed to integrate…they sure have failed.”  Well, Mr. Easy, there is a lot to unpack here.  I’ll start with the low hanging fruit. What does this have to do with membership to a fitness club?? Or do all paths lead to you attacking black people?  More to the point, though, black citizens were not “allowed” to integrate into society. They protested, they initiated legal actions, they fought and some even died to force integration.  The Civil Rights Act of 1968 was signed almost 4 months after Dr. Martin Luther King was murdered for his activism demanding equal rights for African-Americans.  Most black Americans can trace their introduction to “OUR” society from their ancestors being abducted and forcibly brought to this country as slaves. Contrary what Kanye “Kardashian” West claims, slavery was not a choice for these Americans.  Our society is now their society. They own it, as much as you do, and they are entitled to shape it the way they want to. In that regard, they have not failed.

Friends, it does not stop there.  A reader, posting as “Tim Harris,” thinks we women and apparently all black people are a whiny bunch when it comes to demanding equality.  Mr. Harris writes “[w]hy do you think you [women] are so special that you can not be demeaned, disrespected and abused? Men face the same things every day.  You all really need to get a grip on yourselves. You are starting to sound like Black Folks…and that is not a good look.” Once again, how did the entire black race get called out in this discussion?

Spend some time reading comments from various articles, and it will not take long to uncover other subtle and blatantly racist remarks.  No one would accuse readers of The Mirror of pulling punches.  Townspeople spend apparently large chunks of time on this site, tearing each other down, and accusing each other of all sorts of malfeasance.  The name calling and accusations abound, and some are quite hilarious. However, these racist comments, they are a whole different kettle of fish.  They are hate speech – plain and simple. They reveal a darkness in the hearts of the people who post them, a failure of moral character. They are pure evil and they are vile.  We cannot allow them to be unopposed.

I have never written to The Mirror, and believe me, I do not relish the attack that will certainly come from the views I am expressing here.  Let me steal some of your thunder. I am a liberal, a snowflake, a person who has the audacity to eat avocado on my bagel, when all good women eat butter on toast.  I am sure I will be accused of being exactly what is certainly going to lead to the end our civilization as we know it. Doesn’t matter. Still worth it. As Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel warned “[w]e must always take sides.  Neutrality helps the oppressor, not the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.”