WCTR News

Kent County has the land, zoning and plans to add as many as 1,000 new homes over the next decade.
While all five incorporated towns — Chestertown, Rock Hall, Galena, Betterton and Millington — are planning or advancing housing projects, construction in unincorporated areas has largely stalled, even after the county loosened zoning rules to encourage growth. Kent County News reports Jamie Williams, the county’s economic development director, said current plans could yield about 1,000 new housing units countywide — roughly a 10% increase based on current census data.

Two EF-1 tornadoes – one in Caroline County, Maryland and one in Kent County, Delaware have been confirmed by the National Weather Service, as well as extensive straight-line wind damage in Queen Anne’s County, Maryland. The survey team from the National Weather Service office has confirmed a tornado occurred Monday evening near Frederica. The preliminary rating is an EF-1 with estimated maximum wind speed of 100mph. Tuesday the survey team confirmed a tornado occurred Monday evening in Ridgely, Maryland in Caroline County. The preliminary rating of this tornado is an EF-1 with maximum winds to 100mph. The survey team also examined significant wind damage that occurred between Sudlersville and Millington in Maryland in Queen Anne’s County, which were determined to have been straight line winds.

The Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) has announced the Housing Choice Voucher Program waiting list for Maryland’s Eastern Shore will open on Apr. 1 at 9:00 a.m. WMDT reports the Housing Choice Voucher Program is a federally funded rental assistance program that helps very low-income families, older adults, and individuals with disabilities afford safe and decent housing in the private rental market. Applications will only be accepted online until Apr. 30 at 5:00 p.m. The waiting list is open to residents from Caroline, Kent, and some surrounding counties, as well as residents in the Town of Elkton.

MacArthur Foundation Fellow and Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Jericho Brown will headline the Robert Earl Price Poetry Festival, formerly the Kent County Poetry Festival, taking place later this month in Chestertown. The Evening Enterprise reports all festival events are free, but registration is required for some. Links to all the events, tickets and sign-ups are available on Kent Cultural Alliance’s website, https://kentculture.org/poetryfest/. Brown’s collection titled “The Tradition” won the Pulitzer Prize in 2020.

Matthew Peters, director of the Easton-based Chesapeake Multicultural Resource Center, is the keynote speaker for the March meeting of the Democratic Club of Kent County. The Evening Enterprise reports his topic is the immigration community on the Eastern Shore, and how past and current federal and state policies affect our community. The meeting is Thursday, March 19 at Sumner Hall, located at 206 S. Queen St. in Chestertown.

Rock Hall Mayor James Cook of Rock Hall has announced Bob Middleton as their new town manager. Kent County News reports Cook explained that Middleton and his wife, Maria, are long-time Marylanders returning to the Rock Hall and Chestertown area after spending the last 10 years in California supporting both family and work.
The town manager will begin his new role on March 23.

One of Chestertown’s most significant African-American congregations has listed its building for sale and is planning to move to Delaware, according to Bishop Ronald T. Fisher, the pastor. According to the Kent County News, Faith Life Church, formerly the Gospel Church of God, is located at Calvert and Lynchburg Streets in one of Chestertown’s most historic African-American neighborhoods, just blocks from the H. H. Garnet Elementary School which had been the Kent County high school for Black students before integration in the 1960s. It is also near the historic Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church and the former site of the Charlie Graves Uptown Club where acts like Wilson Pickett, Etta James, and Otis Redding performed until the club closed in the late 1980s.

A proposal to build a Wawa in town is moving through the review process. Kent County News reports at her first meeting with the Kent County Commissioners as mayor March 3 Chestertown Mayor Meghan Efland discussed the possibility of a Wawa being built on property directly across from Walgreens at the corner of Washington Avenue and Morgnec Road. Efland told commissioners some misinformation has circulated among residents following site plans presented at the Feb. 18 Chestertown Planning Commission meeting.

After 17 years, the group that owns the Tidewater Inn is planning to sell the establishment. The Star Democrat reports Coastal South president Dereck Janes informed staff on March 3 that the ownership group has enlisted JLL, a hospitality real estate advisory firm, to market the historic Easton hotel, with a sale expected before year’s end. Coastal South is the managing partner and operator of the Tidewater Inn. Janes said in an interview Tuesday that the listing will not be active for a couple of months so there’s sufficient time to prepare the marketing materials correctly.

Community leader John Queen announced he will launch his campaign for the Maryland Senate seat in District 36 with a gathering in Chestertown on Thursday, March 19. Kent County News reports the event will mark the start of Queen’s campaign and introduce what he describes as a districtwide engagement initiative focused on strengthening cooperation across the Eastern Shore’s counties, institutions and local economies. During the event, Queen plans to outline what he calls a “Three Bridges” leadership framework aimed at improving coordination across District 36.