Historic District Review Board held its Regular Meeting held on 6/15. Below are the notes and outcomes”
• Pre-Application for a Certificate of Appropriateness to replace the third-floor windows at 4 Tazewell Avenue – APPROVED
• Pre-Application for a Certificate of Appropriateness to replace wood siding, window and doors, and exterior trim on the single-family detached dwelling at 616 Tazewell Avenue -APPROVED
• Pre-Application for a Certificate of Appropriateness to replace the roof on the single-family detached dwelling at 621 Plum Street – APPROVED
• Pre-Application for a Certificate of Appropriateness to construct a new two-story single-family detached dwelling and detached garage on lot 168 on Jefferson Avenue – APPROVED
• Pre-Application for a Certificate of Appropriateness to construct a new two-story single-family detached and outbuilding on lot 561 on Randolph Avenue – complete COA application needed
• Application for a Certificate of Appropriateness at 524/526 Peach Street – APPROVED
• Pre-Application for a Certificate of Appropriateness to install a shed at 518 Jefferson Avenue – APPROVED
• Pre-Application for a Certificate of Appropriateness to construct a deck and replace wood fencing with vinyl fencing at 602 Madison Ave – APPROVED with conditions
• Pre-Application for a Certificate of Appropriateness to restore the home and construct a rear addition at 624 Jefferson Avenue – complete COA application needed
• Pre-Application for a Certificate of Appropriateness to renovate the exterior, add screen porch, and rear second floor addition on the single-family detached dwelling at 515 Mason Avenue – more information requested
Friends of the Cape Charles Memorial Library July 2
The Friends of the Cape Charles Memorial Library are conducting a Themed Book Sale on Friday, July 2 from Noon to 6 p.m. in front of the Cape Charles Memorial Library at 201 Mason Avenue.
The theme for this sale is cookbooks!
Please stop by and check out the offerings. Come early, they can go early and once we are sold out, we will close up shop.
Proceeds to benefit the Cape Charles Memorial Library.
World’s Largest Digital Book Club and Eastern Shore Public Library Hunt for the Truth
Thrilling and suspenseful “The Quiet Girl” ebook now available for reading and discussion beginning Monday, June 28th!
Local book lovers can join thousands of readers around the world in reading a debut mystery/thriller eBook during the Big Library Read, the world’s largest digital book club. Through July 12, patrons of the Eastern Shore Public Library (ESPL) can borrow and read ebook copies of this summer’s selection, S.F. Kosa’s “The Quiet Girl,” with no waitlists or holds.
The Quiet Girl begins with struggling entrepreneur Alex’s arrival in Provincetown to patch things up with his new wife, Mina. He finds an empty wine glass in the sink, her wedding ring on the desk, and a string of questions in her wake. The police believe that Mina, a successful romance author, simply left, their marriage crumbling before it truly began. But what Alex finds in their empty cottage points him toward a different reality: Mina has always carried a secret. And now she’s disappeared. In his hunt for the truth, Alex comes across Layla, a young woman with information to share, who may hold the key to everything his wife has kept hidden. To find his missing wife, Alex must face what Layla has forgotten.
The Big Library Read is an international reading program that connects millions of readers around the world with an eBook through public libraries. The Quiet Girl can be read on all major computers and devices through Libby or libbyapp.com, including iPhone®, iPad®, Android™ phones and tablets and Chromebook™. Through Libby, readers can also “send to Kindle®”. The title will automatically expire at the end of the lending period, and there are no late fees.
ESPL readers can solve the mystery by visiting https://espl.org/how-do-i/audiobooks-and-ebooks/ to download the Libby app on their desktop or mobile device. The Big Library Read also offers an online discussion board and a live author interview on July 7th (registration required) at biglibraryread.com. This free program runs for two weeks and only requires an ESPL library card to get started. Apply for a library card online at https://esplva.booksys.net/opac/espl/#menuHome, or visit an ESPL location to apply in person. Contact the ESPL with any questions about this program at (757)787-3400 between 10 am and 5 pm, Monday through Friday.
Water Plant Update as of June 18
The Wastewater plant treated an average of 211,000 gallons a day last week with a high day of 242,900 gallons a day on 6/18/21. The utility staff continued to do normal maintenance on the Plant and collection system. Staff also did a washdown of Wastewater Plant. The utility staff found and repaired some bad vacuum pits in New Quarter and the Fairways. According to staff reports, the New Quarter Station up and working.
Water Plant Manager staff performed routine maintenance processes including filter backwashing and softener
regenerations. Daily water quality testing and analysis continued, and Bacteria samples collected and delivered to VDH. Monthly reports submitted to VDH.
Usage Snapshot
• 1,389,772 gallons produced with 170,000 gallons used for process
• 198,538 gallons average daily production with peak of 236,500 on 6/16/21
Annual Drinking Water Quality Report
This Annual Drinking Water Quality Report for calendar year 2020 is now available.
The Town of Cape Charles water system receives its water from 2 well/s (165-558 East and 165-387 West) located within 100 yards to the East and West of the WTP. Your water is treated with chlorine to preserve water quality.
Sodium was detected in the water sample. However, there is presently no established standard for sodium in drinking water. Water containing more than 270 mg/l of sodium should not be used as drinking water by those persons whose physician has placed them on moderately restricted sodium diets. Water containing more than 20 mg/l should not be used as drinking water by those persons whose physician has placed them on severely restricted sodium diets.
No Coliform or E.Coli was found in the samples.
Hard copies of the report are available upon request from the town.
Friends of Eastern Shore Public Library Book Giveaway
Free Summer Book Giveaway!
The Friends of Eastern Shore Public Library are hosting a book giveaway to help us get ready for the move to the new library in Parksley. As ESPL’s collection is updated, books not making the move are available for your home library — for free!
Come see us Saturday, July 3 from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. in the parking lot of the library in Accomac.
Pet of the Week: Meet Gary
Meet Gary!
Hi, I’m Gary and I’m only 6 months old. Likely a hound mix, and should be a medium size when I grow up. I am a bit timid here in the kennel, and a little nervous meeting new people. Because of this, I should go to an adult-only home.
I haven’t been around dogs or cats yet, because I just recently got here. I have started vaccines and been dewormed. I can’t go home until after neuter, for which we are awaiting a date.
You can get pre-approved for adoption by filling out our application ahead of time. Applications can be picked up at the shelter or by requesting one by emailing shorespca@gmail.com.
History Notes this week of June 20
1314: First day of the two-day Battle of Bannockburn, a major victory of Robert the Bruce over England’s Edward II. Bruce distinguished himself at the outset of the battle when he was surveying the potential battleground alone on horseback, un-armoured and armed only with an axe. Paraphrasing from Wikipedia: “He was identified by Henry de Bohun, nephew of the Earl of Hereford, who immediately lowered his lance and charged the Scottish king. As the great war-horse thundered toward him, Bruce stood his ground, watched with mounting anxiety by his own army. With the Englishman only feet away, Bruce turned aside, stood in his stirrups and hit the knight so hard with his axe that he split his helmet and head in two. This small incident became in a sense a symbol of the war itself: the one side heavily armed but lacking agility; the other highly mobile and open to opportunity. Rebuked by his commanders for the enormous risk he had taken, the king only expressed regret that he had broken the shaft of his axe.”
1639: Birth of Massachusetts Puritan minister Increase Mather (d.1723), a key figure in the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, where he preached moderation in the use of “spectral evidence” and other non-standard items in the increasingly frenzied trials.
1756: One hundred forty-six captured English and Anglo-Indian soldiers are stuffed into a stiflingly small guardroom in the old Fort William in Calcutta, where 123 of them die overnight of suffocation and heat stroke. The Black Hole of Calcutta galvanized the British public against the dangers of losing control of the Raj. On the Indian side, the memorial stones erected by the British became a cause célèbre as a central rallying point for nationalist agitation for independence from Britain.
1763: Birth of Wolfe Tone (d.1798), leader of the United Irishmen, widely considered the founding father of the Irish independence movement. He was one of the key conspirators in scheme to allow revolutionary French armies to land in Ireland as a staging point for an invasion of England, but the plan foundered when the Irish people never rose in revolt against their English overlords. He was eventually arrested, tried at court-martial and convicted of treason, and sentenced to be hanged by the neck until dead. Rather than hang, he attempted suicide in his cell by cutting his throat with a pen-knife; the doctor who bound his wound with a bandage warned him that if he talked at all, his wound would open and he’d bleed to death. Tome agreed: he said “So be it,” and did.
1788: The Commonwealth of Virginia becomes the 10th state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
1812: Having subdued virtually the entire continent of Europe under his rule, Napoleon invades Russia.
1837: 18 year old Alexandrina Victoria ascends to assume the title, By the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Queen, Defender of the Faith, Empress of India. She reigns for 63 years and 7 months, and until Elizabeth II in 2016, longer than any British monarch before or since, and the longest serving female monarch in history.
1840: Samuel F.B. Morse receives a patent for his electrical telegraph system.
1850: Birth of Herbert Kitchener (d.1916), who rose to prominence in British arms after capturing the Sudan at the Battle of Omdurman, near Khartoum. As second in command during the Boer War he planned and executed a literal scorched earth campaign against Boer farmers, which included the round-up and internment of their families in concentration camps, where the death rate approached 35% . At the turn of the century he became Commander-in-Chief, India, after which he became Council-General of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. At the start of the Great War Kitchener was brought back to England as Secretary of State for War, focusing his attention on recruitment for the struggle that lay ahead. His is the face behind the famous recruiting poster, “Your Country Wants You”.
1876: Under the leadership of George Armstrong Custer, the United States Army Seventh Cavalry suffers a shattering defeat at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. The coalition of Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes under Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull and Chief Gall annihilated 5 of the Seventh’s companies, killing all its key leadership including Custer himself. US casualties numbered 268 killed of approximately 700 engaged; Indians suffered approximately 130 killed of the nearly 1500 engaged. The battle is carefully studied to this day by students at the Army War College in Carlisle, PA.
1898: Three months into the “Splendid Little War” with Spain, the United States captures the Spanish Pacific island of Guam in a bloodless takeover. The US force, led by Captain Henry Glass, USN, consisted of the cruiser USS Charleston and three auxiliary ships. Stopping in Honolulu enroute between San Francisco and Manila, Captain Glass received the following sealed orders:
NAVY DEPARTMENT
Washington, May 10, 1898.
SIR:
Upon the receipt of this order, which is forwarded by the steamship City of Pekin to you at Honolulu, you will proceed, with the Charleston and the City of Pekin in company, to Manila, Philippine Islands. On your way, you are hereby directed to stop at the Spanish Island of Guam. You will use such force as may be necessary to capture the port of Guam, making prisoners of the governor and other officials and any armed force that may be there. You will also destroy any fortifications on said island and any Spanish naval vessels that may be there, or in the immediate vicinity. These operations at the Island of Guam should be very brief, and should not occupy more than one or two days. Should you find any coal at the Island of Guam, you will make such use of it as you consider desirable. It is left to your discretion whether or not you destroy it. From the Island of Guam, proceed to Manila and report to Rear-Admiral George Dewey, U.S.N., for duty in the squadron under his command.
Very respectfully,
JOHN D. LONG
Secretary
[to]Commanding Officer U.S.S. Charleston
Steaming into Apra harbor, Charleston fired 17 rounds at the Spanish fort guarding the entrance, and receiving no return fire, dropped anchor in preparation for a landing party. A boatload of Spanish officials immediately rowed out to cruiser, apologizing for not having any powder with which to return the salutes. They were astonished to learn that the US and Spain were actually at war, their last communication with Spain having been in early April before hostilities began. The next day the governor and 67 officials surrendered and the US flag was raised over the fort. Captain Glass designated Guamanian native and naturalized American Francisco Portusach as Acting Governor. Portusach supervised the US ships’ complete re-bunkering with coal, and on the 22nd , the squadron steamed away to join Commodore Dewey in Manila.
1900: Birth of Louis “Dickie” Mountbatten (d.1979), last Viceroy of India. Uncle of Prince Philip the Duke of Edinburgh, and mentor to Charles, Prince of Wales; killed by an Irish Republican Army bomb while boating at an Irish resort.
1905: Birth of Jean-Paul Sarte (d.1950), one of the key 20th century expositors of the Existentialist philosophy.
1915: First operational flight of the radical Fokker Eindecker. The German fighter’s single wing, powerful engine, and its highly innovative synchronization cam (that allowed its guns to shoot through the arc of the spinning propeller) gave the Germans a technical step up that proved devastating to the Allied air forces.
1919: German Admiral Ludwig von Reuter, after surrendering the German High Seas Fleet to the Royal Navy in Scapa Flow anchorage in the Orkney Islands, scuttles the entire fleet under the noses of the British. 52 of the 74 interned vessels go to the bottom, and 9 German sailors are killed by British fire as they try to halt the sinking.
1942: A Japanese submarine surfaces and fires multiple rounds at Fort Stevens, at the mouth of the Columbia River, one of a handful of such attacks on the US mainland during WWII.
1942: A new German Focke-Wulf 190 fighter mistakenly lands at RAF Pembrey, in Wales. You may correctly assume that the Allies thoroughly tested its flight characteristics.
1944: Second and final day of the Battle of the Philippine Sea, otherwise known as the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot. The U.S. Fifth Fleet under Admiral Raymond Spruance decimates the main striking force of the Imperial Japanese Navy, sinking three carriers and shooting down over 600 Japanese planes, with a corresponding American loss of 123 planes, 80 crew of which were recovered alive.
1945: Final day of the 82 day Battle of Okinawa, one of the most costly of all WWII battles in both theaters. Japanese casualties numbered over 100,000; Japanese civilian casualties numbered 142,000, with a large proportion being suicides induced by Japanese propaganda on the expected results of coming in contact with Americans. US casualties topped 50,000, including over 12,000 KIA. Okinawa also saw the use of large-scale kamikaze attacks: 1465 of them during this battle caused massive damage to the US fleet. The tenaciousness of the Japanese defenses and the scale of the casualties in taking this outlying Japanese home island figured strongly in the planning underway for Operation Olympic later in the year and Operation Coronet in 1946.
1948: As post-war tensions between the victorious Allies continue to mount, the Soviet Union establishes a land blockade of West Berlin in an attempt to force the western Allies to accept Soviet supply of the western zones of the city, thus giving them de facto control of the entire capital. The plan does not work: instead of Western capitulation, the Russians watch as the Berlin Airlift moots their initiative.
1997: On the 40th anniversary of the arrival of aliens to earth, the United States Air Force releases a 231 page report entitled “The Roswell Report, Case Closed.” Sure it is…
2006: Death of Harriet (b.1830 (correct)), the Galapagos tortoise collected by Charles Darwin on his famous voyage aboard Beagle, and long-time resident of the Australia Zoo.
2016: Britons awake (if they slept at all) to find that they overwhelmingly approve of a motion to invoke Article 50 of the European Union Charter and actually resign their membership in the European Union. The vote is a stunning rebuke to the concept of trans-nationalism, open borders, and most particularly the reality of being subject to the whims and diktat of a supra-national governing body with zero accountability to the populations over which they purport to rule. A vocal portion of the “remain” side of the plebiscite almost immediately blames the result on racism, xenophobia and economic ignorance… pretty much proving the case of the “leave” voters that the condescension of the ruling elites is more a reflection of their insulation from reality than with reality itself.
Southeast VA Conservationists Receive National Recognition
By John Markon, submitted by Virginia USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
Hundreds of farmers in southeastern Virginia have two things in common — they have a Howell on speed dial and they welcome the chance to use that contact. Such is the rapport that Anthony Howell and his son Trenton have built with agricultural producers in their service areas for USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).
These district conservationists have been trusted advisers for years, but Field to Market has now made it official by honoring them as two of six conservation professionals named to its 2021 Trusted Adviser Spotlight Series. The national nonprofit dedicated to promoting healthy eating and sustainable agricultural practices made the announcement today at its annual plenary meeting in Washington, D.C.
The story of this accomplished family’s connection to the USDA begins in 2002, when Anthony Howell left his position as a water quality specialist with the Peanut Soil and Water Conservation District to sign on with NRCS. Howell first worked in the Sussex field office and then provided dual coverage for the Dinwiddie and Prince George service centers before they were consolidated. Long-term NRCS clients have come to rely on his knowledge and experience.
Of Anthony and Cynthia Howell’s three children, Trenton had the keenest interest in his father’s work. The younger Howell received another push in that direction when he was approved to participate in the 1890 National Scholars Program, a partner internship program linking the USDA to 19 historically black land-grant colleges, following his freshman year at Virginia State University, also his father’s alma mater.
After his 2014 graduation, Trenton was assigned to the NRCS field office in Chatham, Va., where he was named district conservationist in 2018. Two years later, a vacancy in the Chesapeake field office prompted a return to the family farm and reunited the team in the same region of the state.
Over the years, the pair has seen “just about everything” in working with Virginia producers. They have also had some interesting dinner table conversations on a wide range of topics from customer service to the concept of being a trusted adviser.
“Building that kind of relationship takes time,” Anthony said, “and I think it starts with learning and listening. When I first meet a farmer, you won’t see me doing a lot of talking. Breakthroughs come when we can match one of our NRCS programs with a producers’ needs.”
Both Howells commute to their offices and team with Anthony’s brother Darren to farm the family property on weekends. While Anthony’s office in Dinwiddie oversees a more traditional agricultural area, Trenton’s territory includes the cities of Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, Norfolk and Portsmouth.
“Our farmers rely on us to be experts in what we do,” said Trenton, “because they usually have to be their own experts on accounting, chemistry, equipment repair and a bunch of other things that go into operating a farm. They’re very smart people and they usually come to you with an idea of something they want to do or somewhere they want to go.”
As designated Trusted Advisers, the Howells will have increased opportunities to speak on the topic of maximizing productivity while engaging in environmentally responsible farming. Some of the nuances of building trust and relationships, however, may still be reserved for mealtimes.
“There are a lot of little things,” Anthony said. “I have to be careful, for example, not to talk up some of our programs to farmers who may not have the equipment they need to participate in them. It’s all about knowing who you’re assisting, and there usually isn’t a shortcut to that.”
Chesapeake and Virginia Beach profile more like counties than cities in that they contain large rural areas and numerous farms. They also have large urban and suburban populations and are home to more than 700,000 residents.
“Some of my urban and suburban growers are just starting out,” added Trenton. “They all start at a different point in terms of how much they know, and a lot of them aspire to being certified organic, or at least environmentally friendly. Sometimes they have needs outside our agency and my role turns out to be directing them to someone who can help them more than I can.
“Dad once said our two ears are the best tools we have. If I’m willing to listen, sooner or later a producer’s going to tell me exactly what he or she needs. One of the first things I learned is that no two cases are ever the same.”
Field to Market is a national alliance for the promotion of sustainable agriculture with its main office in Washington, D.C. More about the organization, its activities and the Trusted Adviser Series is available at fieldtomarket.org.
Virginia Land Conservation Foundation opens $7.5 million grant round
RICHMOND — The Virginia Land Conservation Foundation is accepting applications for $7.5 million in land conservation grants.
State agencies, localities and nonprofit conservation entities are eligible to apply. The deadline is 4 p.m. on Aug. 9, 2021.
Potential applicants are encouraged to attend a virtual workshop on June 30 from 10 a.m. until noon. Details about the workshop, the grant manual and the application are posted at https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/virginia-land-conservation-foundation/.
The VLCF provides 50-50 matching grants to support conservation in the following categories: farmland preservation, forestland preservation, historic preservation, natural area protection, and open spaces and parks.
The grant-making process incorporates ConserveVirginia, the commonwealth’s innovative land conservation strategy based on “smart map” technology and 21 different mapped inputs.
VLCF board members are appointed by the Governor, the Senate Committee on Rules and the Speaker of the House of Delegates. The board includes the Secretary of Natural Resources, who serves as chair, and the Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry.
Earlier this month, the board approved $4.8 million in grants for 22 land conservation projects around the state.
The Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation provides administrative support to the VLCF.
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