The Democratic Party of Virginia needs to hire a Field Organizer for the 2019 General Assembly Elections. Tasks include recruiting and training volunteers, planning phone banks and attending community events. Ties to Virginia and particularly the Eastern Shore are preferred, but not required.
Crab Harvests in Upper Bay reporting weak results
The winter survey by Maryland and Virginia scientists released in early May indicated that the Bay’s crab population had grown 60%.
The survey estimated 594 million crabs, the highest total since 2012.
While Virginia watermen were said to be pulling in more crabs than last year, some Maryland watermen were left struggling during spring and summer holidays.
Reading the tea leaves of the winter survey can be tricky, and other events can affect harvest totals.
The winter survey did find an abundance of crabs, however, 60% of them were juveniles which would have to be thrown back until they grew big enough, either late in the season or next year.
The adult male crabs that were large enough to be harvested through the first half of the season are counted up from last season. Last year’s survey accounted for a 20% drop in Jimmys.
Heavy rains and record freshwater flows lowered salinity in the upper Bay and may have driven crabs down the Bay. Adult male crabs tend to prefer salinity ranging from 3 to 15 parts per thousand–the levels in Maryland’s waters were lower from heavy rainfall.
Virginia Department of Health Warns of New Danger of “Vaping”
Severe Lung Illness Associated with E-Cigarette Use
As students across the Commonwealth head back to school or college, the Virginia Department of Health reminds parents to talk to their sons and daughters about the dangers of e-cigarette use, or “vaping.” Since 2014, e-cigarettes have been the most commonly used tobacco product among US middle and high school students. In fact, between 2017 and 2018 alone, the number of youth who used e-cigarettes went up by 1.5 million nationwide.
While all forms of tobacco use cause disease and death, recently a new danger has been linked to “vaping” or “dabbing” (vaping marijuana oils, extracts or concentrates). Since June 28, 2019, many states have been investigating cases of patients hospitalized with severe lung illness associated with those activities — primarily among teens and young adults.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that as of Aug. 22, 2019, 193 potential cases of severe lung illness (Note: This is a statewide release, so we need to send out the 30 minute warning first, and then the release.) e-cigarette product use had been reported by 22 states. Virginia is reporting three cases, and is investigating additional potential cases. All patients have reported vaping in the weeks to months prior to illness. On Aug. 23, the first death of an individual hospitalized with severe respiratory illness associated with vaping was reported in an Illinois resident.
Symptoms of this illness have included gradual onset of cough, shortness of breath, or fatigue, that gets worse over a period of days or weeks, until the patient has to be admitted to the hospital for treatment. Some patients have also reported vomiting, diarrhea and fatigue. If anyone has these symptoms and has a history of e-cigarette use, seek medical attention immediately.
Information on this illness is available at www.vdh.virginia.gov/vaping. The number of confirmed Virginia cases will be posted each Thursday at that site.
For more information on e-cigarettes visit www.cdc.gov/e-cigarettes. For free information and coaching to help to stop smoking or using tobacco, visit www.QuitNow.net/Virginia or call 1-800-QUIT-NOW.
History Notes this week of August 23
1346: Nine years into the Hundred Years War, British Longbowmen create a decisive victory for King Edward III and a shattering defeat for French King Philip VI at the Battle of Cresy, just south of Calais, in northern France. The battle confirmed the validity of massed longbow attacks against armored knights and is widely viewed as the beginning of the end of the period of classical chivalry since the 1500(+) French knights who fell were killed not in honorable hand-to-hand combat, but by randomly fired arrows puncturing their armor. After the battle, the British also dispatched, rather than captured and treated, wounded French knights, another violation of the knightly virtues. In modern terms of the battle, it was organization, tactics, and equipment that carried the day. Casualties (these are consensus numbers): British- 2 knights and approximately 300 soldiers killed. French- 11 noblemen (including King John of Bohemia), 1542 knights and 2300 Genoese crossbowmen killed, in addition to “several thousands” of infantry killed.
1498: Michelangelo receives a papal commission to carve the Pieta. The magnificent sculpture sits in the first gallery on the right on entering St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.
1577: Death of the Italian Renaissance painter Titian.
1609: Italian mathematician, astronomer, physicist, and inventor Galileo Galilei presents his first telescope to the Doge of Venice. It was a 3x magnification model, with hand-ground lenses carefully placed in a stable brass tube to give an upright (i.e. not inverted) image to the viewer’s eye. The instruments became very popular for surveying and navigation, providing a steady stream of income that supported Galileo’s other studies. He, himself, used a 30x instrument to make his discovery of four of the moons of Jupiter. His continuing observations and predictions of their movements proved a core theory of orbital mechanics, and thus the validity of Copernican heliocentricity.
1768: Captain James Cook, in HMS Endeavour, departs Plymouth on his first voyage of discovery. The ostensible reason for the voyage is to observe for the Royal Society the Transit of Venus across the face of the sun. In Cook’s case, this will be from Tahiti, which is one of the dozens of pre-planned locations around the globe to observe and record the event, with the eventual goal of using the data to determine the exact distance between the sun and the earth. Once the observation was completed the following April, Cook opened his sealed Admiralty orders, which directed him to map the unknown regions of the South Pacific, in particular, to search for and claim for Great Britain the fabled Terra Australius, which had long been mapped but never seen.
1776: General George Washington and the Continental Army suffered a strategic defeat at Brooklyn Heights when the British army under General William Howe outflanks his defenses and almost completely encircles the American forces as they retreat to prepared position on the heights. By late afternoon Washington recognizes they cannot hold the ground at Brooklyn and orders a retreat across the East River to Manhattan Island. While Howe is carefully digging in for a siege of the American redoubts, Washington evacuates the American army without further loss of life. Between the excellence of the Howe’s forces and the strength of the British fleet that controls New York harbor, Washington eventually realizes he will have to completely evacuate New York. On the positive side, the successful evacuation from Brooklyn ensures that the entire Continental Army remains a viable force-in-being that the British will not be able to ignore as the war deepens.
1789: The French National Assembly, in an intentionally symbolic moment, approves and orders published The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. It is designed around the principle of Natural Law, similar in concept to the preamble of our own Declaration of Independence, but focuses more on popular sovereignty as the antidote to the divine right of kings, and on individual rights and democracy. Although noble in intent, it nonetheless became associated with mob rule and many of the anarchistic and subversive movements of the 19th century.
1799: In a little-known episode from the continuing wars of the various anti-France coalitions (in this case, the Second Coalition), a British fleet under the command of Vice-Admiral Andrew Mitchell captures an entire Batavian Dutch fleet of twelve ships under the command of Rear Admiral Samuel Story without firing a shot. The victory hinged on an outstanding intelligence estimate, the Brits’ timely and correct application of diplomacy, a credible threat of devastating force, and a civil-military “strategic communications” plan that played directly into the nationalistic sentiments of Dutch sailors who served under the French-ruled Batavian Republic. The action took place near present-day Den Helder at the mouth of the Zuider Zee: a British army had made a landing three days earlier on the North Sea side of the peninsula. The fleet then made its way into the Helder roadstead, flying the flag of the Hereditary Stadtholder, the Prince of Orange. The knowledge of the British landing, combined with the sight of the British fleet and the knowledge that their actual sovereign was within range, triggered a spontaneous mutiny of the Dutch sailors and most of their officers against the hated French. Admiral Story, recognizing that resistance would be fruitless, offered to surrender his fleet to the Stadtholder and himself and his men to the British as Prisoners of War. Admiral Mitchell made a point of delaying the decision but then took it before the French had an opportunity to re-establish their control of the fleet. British prize crews sailed the best of the ships back to England, where they were inducted into the Royal Navy. This event became known as the Vlieter Incident. It was a singular success from an otherwise disastrous 1799 Anglo-Russian Campaign, which began to unravel almost immediately after today’s startling victory.
1859: First commercial extraction of oil, from a well near Titusville, Pennsylvania. “Pennsylvania grade crude” and “Pennzoil” are a couple of legacies of this event, as is Standard Oil & J.D. Rockefeller, among others.
1883: The Indonesian volcanic island of Krakatoa self-destructs in a paroxysm of explosions that caused the landmass to completely disappear beneath the waves of the Sunda Strait. The final explosion was heard distinctly in Perth, Australia (1,930 miles away) and on Rodrigues Island off the coast of Africa, over 3,000 miles across the Indian Ocean. The force of the detonation is nominally estimated at 200 Megatons, equivalent to about 13,000 “Little Boy” atomic bombs (Hiroshima). The explosion ejected into the atmosphere approximately 5 cubic MILES of pumice, rock, and ash, creating beautiful sunsets around the world for several years. Since 1927 the volcano has been building a new island, named Anak Krakatau (Child of Krakatoa), which is growing about 5 meters a year.
1896: The shortest war in history is fought between Great Britain and Zanzibar, a result of a dispute over the accession of the new Sultan of Zanzibar. With an ultimatum expiring to no effect at 0900, a British task force opened fire on the palace, setting it afire and destroying Zanzibar’s only artillery pieces, in addition to sinking a royal yacht. When the palace flag is finally hit and knocked down at 0940, the Brits cease-fire and complex diplomatic dance between Germany, Zanzibar and Great Britain ensues, with the British choice for sultan eventually taking the throne. Total time in combat: 40 minutes.
1899: Birth of British author Cecil Louis Troughton Smith, better known by his pen name, C.S. Forester (d.1966), from whose fertile mind came the eleven books detailing the life and times of Captain Horatio Hornblower, among other swashbuckling heroes, and the delightful anti-hero of Charlie Allnut of The African Queen (1935). He is also the author of The General (1936), a cold-eyed satire of a generic WWI British general, portraying for the first time the stereotype of a military leader as a hidebound and unimaginative dolt, insulated by the perks and prerogatives of his position. If you think about the standard Hollywood image of a general, you are thinking about The General, with the exception that Forrester’s story remained reasonably sympathetic and tender toward him as a human being (it takes place as he’s pacing around in the Old Soldiers Home).
1910: Birth of Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu (d.1997), the Albanian nun better known as Mother Teresa, who founded the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, India in 1950. Her selfless work with the poor and destitute earned her the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. She died in September 1997, and was beatified by Pope John Paul II as Blessed Teresa of Calcutta.
1911: Birth of North Vietnamese general Vo Nguyn Giap (d.2013), victor over the French at Dien Bien Phu in 1954, who also completed the final roll-up of the South Vietnamese army in 1975 after the United States declined to honor its commitments to the Vietnamese government.
1914: Only four weeks into the Great War, the Imperial German 8th Army of 166,000 under the command of Field Marshalls Paul von Hindenburg and Eric Ludendorf, decisively smashes the Russian 1st and 2nd Armies in the Battle of Tannenburg. The three-day fight in East Prussia saw Hindenburg take full advantage of the German railroad network to quickly move his forces to a position where Ludendorf could engage them as a singular unit against both Russian groups. Their adaptability and ability to concentrate against the Russian flanks allowed them to completely dominate the battlefield, killing or wounding 78,000 and capturing 92,000 of the 416,000 total Russian force. Rather than report the loss to the Tsar, the Russian commander committed suicide. Over the next three years, Russia was never able to recoup from the loss, and eventually sued for a separate peace.
1928: The Kellog-Briand Pact is signed by the United States and 14 other nations. The treaty, negotiated outside the jurisdiction of the League of Nations, essentially outlaws war as a legitimate diplomatic tool, except for self-defense. It is no stretch to say the treaty (which is actually still in force) is honored only in the breach, but it was the basis for the “crimes against the peace” that underlay the post-WWII Nuremberg Trials.
1939: Opening night for The Wizard of Oz, starring Judy Garland.
1944: After four years of German occupation, and two and a half months after the landings in Normandy, Allied armies liberate Paris. The local German commander, in an uncharacteristically humane decision, did not burn the city to the ground during his evacuation.
1945: Death of Baptist missionary and OSS agent John Birch (b.1918), at the hands of communist Chinese forces. He is considered the first casualty of the Cold War, and 14 years after his death a rabid anti-communist organization adopted his name as their own.
1948: The House Un-American Activities Committee holds its first televised Congressional hearing, the dramatic confrontation between former Communist Whittaker Chambers** and not-former Communist Alger Hiss.
Congresswoman Elaine Luria visits the Shore, appreciates the Arts Here
EASTERN SHORE – Congresswoman Elaine Luria (VA-02) this week visited the Eastern Shore of Virginia, meeting with local businesses, nonprofits, government agencies, and military outposts in a picturesque section of Virginia’s Second Congressional District.
On Tuesday, Congresswoman Luria started her morning at the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore. Officials told the congresswoman the foodbank in 2018 distributed 17.7 million pounds of food, 14.8 million meals, and 5.7 million pounds of fresh produce in the surrounding community.
“Estimates show there are more than 77,000 food-insecure people living in our district,” Congresswoman Luria said. “Fortunately, groups like the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore and their partner organizations are working diligently to meet this most basic human need.”
Later Tuesday, Congresswoman Luria visited Tangier Island, the last inhabited island in Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay. On Tangier Island, she met with faith leaders and then held a town hall meeting at the Island’s Combined School. Joining Congresswoman Luria were representatives from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, who provided a community update on Tangier Island’s major jetty project. The project will help protect the town harbor and the greater seafood industry infrastructure.
“I want to thank Mayor Eskridge, Town Manager Thomas, Councilmembers, and Tangier residents for welcoming me to your beautiful Island home!” Congresswoman Luria said.
On Wednesday morning, Congresswoman Luria met with representatives from the agricultural industry on the Eastern Shore, touring David’s Nursery in Exmore. Talks included the fact that greenhouse and nursery plants are among the top five agricultural commodities produced in Virginia.
“We discussed many of the challenges faced by farmers such as labor shortages, affordable housing for workers, and trucking regulations,” Congresswoman Luria said. “Congress can’t forget these concerns because agriculture is an economic engine for the Shore and our entire Commonwealth.”
In transit between events, Congresswoman Luria called into the WHRV/WHRO radio show “HearSay with Cathy Lewis,” discussing her recent speech at Fort Monroe, election security, and protecting the Chesapeake Bay.
Congresswoman Luria’s next stop was an arts-themed roundtable in Cape Charles, where she was joined by local advocates and Janet Starke, Executive Director of the Virginia Commission for the Arts.
“The arts play a critical role on the Shore, from enriching lives to providing economic development opportunities,” Congresswoman Luria said. “It was a pleasure meeting with representatives from the Eastern Shore’s arts organizations to receive valuable information about the Shore’s vibrant and varied arts community.”
Congresswoman Luria concluded her two-day Shore tour with a visit to United States Coast Guard Station Cape Charles to thank the crew for their service, receive a briefing on Station mission sets, and listen to crew concerns. Her visit ended with a tour of the Cape Charles harbor and anchorage area during which she was given a quick turn at the helm.
“As a Navy veteran, I always enjoy opportunities to meet with members of our brave Armed Forces,” Congresswoman Luria said. “Coast Guard members on our Shore represent the very best of America, and I’m so proud to be a voice for them in Washington.”
Northam Joins Governors in a push for Off-Shore Wind Farms
BOSTON (AP)- The governors of five East Coast states are urging federal regulators not to put any additional roadblocks in the way of the country’s nascent offshore wind industry.
The governors of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire and Virginia said in a letter Tuesday to Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross that offshore wind power will help strengthen America’s energy independence while creating thousands of jobs.
The group, including Republican Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, said they’re disappointed by a recent decision to delay final permitting of the planned 84-turbine Vineyard Wind project.
The group urged federal overseers to give the project a green light by next March.
An Interior Department spokeswoman said the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is working to develop a permitting timeline for the project.
Powerful Trump Economy is causing Worker Deserts
The U.S. unemployment rate is so low that some cities and states have turned into “worker deserts” — places where companies can’t find people to hire.
The strong labor market is causing worker shortages in places like Iowa, New Hampshire, and Florida, where companies say they can’t keep up with business demand unless they find more workers.
Across the country, there are more than 1 million open jobs, more than there are people to fill them.
In Iowa, for instance, the unemployment rate was 2.5% in July, just 1 percentage point above the lowest level on record.
- According to government data, there are 70,000 fewer unemployed Iowans now than there were at the onset of the current economic expansion.
Faced with worker scarcities, companies are stretching as much as they can.
- Vermeer, an industrial equipment manufacturer, has asked employees to work Saturdays — on a voluntary basis — to keep up with customer demand.
- The company has struggled to find workers for its assembly line.
In New Hampshire, unemployment is close to a 30-year low.
- There are 20,000 jobs waiting to be filled, with no one to fill them.
- The state’s population growth is at a near standstill compared with earlier decades, making it “unlikely” that the pipeline of people entering the workforce will be large enough to replace those leaving, economists said in a 2018 report.
In Florida, where the unemployment rate remains “persistently low,” companies are “bringing back retirees on a contract basis, increasing the use of interns and apprenticeships and enhancing productivity through better workforce training.
- The stage also relies heavily on immigration to refuel its working-age population.
Manufacturing and construction are being hit particularly hard.
- Despite a slowdown in activity, manufacturing saw a record number of job openings in June.
Small businesses are suffering too: In a poll, the number that said finding qualified workers was their single most important problem hit a 46-year high last month, according to the National Federation of Independent Business, which tracks Main Street sentiment.
Will Bernie Sanders’ Policy Destroy Your Child’s Future?
Sen. Bernie Sanders has been on the road promoting a series of new policy plans. In the last few weeks, he has detailed how he would reorder or referee almost every part of American life.
Here’s a partial snapshot of his policy:
- Energy choices: His Green New Deal would spend $16 trillion to force you to stop using the energy mostly used today — oil, gas and nuclear. He promises cleaner power and air in return.
- House and car: The Sanders government would pay to weatherize homes and small businesses, and to upgrade gas-powered cars for electric ones. He would mandate the end of conventional gas car manufacturing in a decade.
- Health insurance: He would eliminate private insurance and put you on a government plan more generous than Medicare. No more copays, deductibles or premiums, too.
- Your current student debt: He would eliminate it for everyone.
- Your kids’ college: Everyone gets free tuition at public universities, community colleges, trade schools, and apprenticeship programs, too.
- Teachers: He will hire more teachers, pay them more, and fund better school supplies.
- Your job: He promises full employment.
- Your wage: He would guarantee you at least $15 per hour.
- Your rich friends: They’ll be paying for much of this with a huge tax increase.
- Your own taxes: Grab your wallet. The total cost of just the programs listed above are $20 trillion-plus at the lowest possible end over a decade, excluding Medicare for All, which experts say could at least double the total.
UPDATE: SWIMMING ADVISORY LIFTED FOR CAPE CHARLES PUBLIC BEACH and KIPTOPEKE BEACH
LOCAL BEACH SWIMMING ADVISORIES LIFTED
Kiptopeke State Park and Cape Charles Town Beach
Water Bacteria Levels Improved
(Nassawadox, Va.) The Eastern Shore Health District has lifted the swimming advisory that had been in place at Kiptopeke State park and Cape Charles Town Beach in Cape Charles, Virginia. Recent follow up testing conducted within 24 hours of the initial samples confirmed that bacteria levels in the water once again meet the State Water Quality Standards. Signs have been removed from Kiptopeke State Park and Cape Charles Beach, previously alerting the public of the advisory.
(Nassawadox, Va.) The Northampton County Health Department has issued swimming advisories for the Kiptopeke State Park Beach, and the Town of Cape Charles Public Beach. Beach water samples collected on August 27, 2019 by the Virginia Department of Health showed that bacteria levels in the water at these two beaches exceeded the State Water Quality Standards.
Recreational waters are monitored for bacteria using indicator organisms such as enterococci, the indicator of choice for estuarine and marine waters. “The coastal waters of Virginia are generally very clean, and we test them frequently to confirm this,” said Environmental Health Manager, Jon Richardson. “On the occasions when waters do fail to meet the standards, we need to protect public health by letting residents and visitors know.” Signs have been posted at the Kiptopeke State Park Beach and the Town of Cape Charles Public Beach alerting the public of the advisories. The signs read:
Warning! Swimming Advisory
Bacteria Levels Do Not Meet State Water Quality Standards
Swimming Not Recommended Until Further Notice
Health officials will continue testing the site, and they will remove the signs and notify the public again when the bacteria levels decrease to levels that meet the standard. Environmental Health officials sample Kiptopeke State Park Beach and the Town of Cape Charles Public Beach on a weekly basis during the swimming season from late May to early September.
Enterococci are a group of organisms used to determine the extent of fecal contamination of recreational waters. While they do not cause illness, scientific studies indicate that their presence is closely correlated to the presence of other disease-causing organisms. People swimming or playing in waters with bacteria levels higher than the standard have an increased risk of developing gastrointestinal illness. “We encourage the public to protect their health by complying with this advisory,” said Richardson. “Typically, an advisory of this nature is temporary and will be withdrawn once the bacteria levels have returned to a safe level.”
For additional information on beach advisories, contact the Northampton County Health Department at (757)442-6228. To learn more about the beach water monitoring program in Virginia visit http://www.vdh.virginia.gov/environmental-epidemiology/beach-monitoring/. For more information about recreational water swimming safety, visit the website www.swimhealthyva.com.
Railyard to go up for sale
At the end of January 2019 five cars were moved from the Cape Charles railroad yard eastward to a point beyond the hump adjacent to the Cape Charles Museum, including a BCR 2000, the last remaining BCR locomotive.
Remaining rolling stock, such as flatcars and ex-Southern Railway gondolas built in the 1930s and 1940s, is being offered for donation to railroad museums.
Canonie Atlantic, the owner of the railyard is moving forward with plans to sell the 41 acres, allowing the parcel to be redeveloped. The Canonie Board of Directors is advertising for a general manager to help make all of this happen.
A petition to abandon operations has been filed with the Surface Transportation Board.
The Town of Cape Charles was interested in purchasing a portion of the 41 acres, but negotiations have since broken down.
Town Manager Larry DiRe told the Mirror, “There was actually much agreement between the Town Council and the Canonie Board. Keep in mind the town was never interested in the entire forty-one acre parcel, but rather certain areas that meet the Town’s long-term planning needs. For example, the Cape Charles comprehensive plan has long stated the need to keep the current old town road corridors (the Grid) aligned and continuous south of Mason Avenue as viewsheds to the harbor. Likewise Peach Street has been planned as a roadway extension to the harbor which would serve as a vehicular and pedestrian connection of the downtown with the harbor and by pass the hump. So the extension of that corridor was and remains important to the Town. Both the harbor area master plan and the comprehensive plan address the need for public pedestrian access and open space at the waterfront. Not development. Regardless of ownership, town zoning regulates that and the required percentage (25%) of open space per parcel in the harbor district. Remember also there is currently no subdivision plan for the forty-one acres. At least not that I’m aware of. Remember also there are stormwater and drainage issues and railyard clean up, and those associated costs, that have to be taken into consideration as well. Who owns what, at what price, and for what use are all matters that remain open for discussion.”
According to an article in Railway, Track and Structures Magazine, the Canonie Atlantic board wants to partner and place the abandoned line in the rails-to-trails program.
The Rails to Trails Conservancy Rail-trails is a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating a nationwide network of trails from former rail lines and connecting corridors.
Rail Trails are multi-purpose public paths created from former railroad corridors and are used as bike paths, hiking trails, and even horseback trails.
Donald Hart Jr., who chairs both the Accomack-Northampton Transportation Commission and the Canonie Atlantic board, wants to try and keep working segments of the rail active, but says the move will require a lot of maintenance. “We can’t afford to keep maintaining something that is not being used,” he said.
The Eastern Shore Post reported that Associated Grain, Inc. has requested that a short stretch from Hallwood to Parksley remain in service so that the company could continue to ship grain by rail car. They estimate close to 250 cars of grain will be shipped over the rails per year.
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