WCTR News

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.

After 20 months of negotiations, Chesapeake College faculty members established their first ever union contract in school history. According to the Kent County News, it was announced that the Chesapeake College faculty — represented by United Academics of Maryland — voted to establish their first ever union contract, which includes wage increases, a service pathway to promotion and improvements to working conditions, benefits and protections. Chesapeake College professor David Timms, the new union chapter’s chair, called the decision a great move for staff and students.

The process to build a new restaurant and inn on the waterfront is moving forward. The Kent County News reports on March 4, before a packed room, the Chestertown Historic District Commission voted unanimously to approve the project’s construction, a step that still requires several additional approvals. The vote drew applause from attendees, reflecting enthusiasm in the room for a new waterfront restaurant at the site of the former 98 Cannon Riverside Grille. Architects representing the developer presented their plans to the commission. The presentation marked their second appearance before the panel. At a Jan. 12 meeting, they agreed to demolish the existing structure.