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Chestertown Mayor David Foster is continuing his lobbying for a tax differential or tax rebate. Foster has asserted that town residents are typically required to pay both for their local police and for their county sheriff’s office even though the primary responsibility for the sheriff’s office is for residents living outside of town. Foster has announced two “special public meetings” to discuss the issue: Thursday, Jan. 30 at 6 p.m. at Chestertown Town Hall, 118 N. Cross St., and Tuesday, Feb. 11 at 2 p.m. with the Kent County Commissioners at the R. Clayton Mitchell Jr. Kent County Government Center, 400 High St.

Washington College is calling for proposals for the inaugural group of Innovation Plant curriculum fellowships. The Evening Enterprise reports the $15,000 fellowships, funded by a $1.846 million grant from the Philip E. & Carole R. Ratcliffe Foundation, will support educators in developing and implementing innovative courses and programs that leverage the resources of the upcoming Innovation Plant.

Update on a story we told you about last week. Delaware State Police have arrested one person in connection to a Tuesday crash in New Castle County, DE that took the life of a Queen Anne’s County High School ice hockey coach. According to police, just before 10:40 p.m. on January 21, a Dodge Ram was driving south in the center lane of .DE-896 toward the intersection at Pulaski Highway. At the same time, a Chevrolet Express van was driving west on Pulaski Highway towards the same intersection. Police say the van drove through a red light and struck the Dodge Ram. The driver of the Dodge, David Funk, 51, was taken to a nearby hospital. He succumbed to his injuries on January 22. The driver of the Express van, 28-year-old Fidel Villatoro-Martinez of Newark, DE was taken to a local hospital for his injuries. Upon contact with Villatoro-Martinez, police reported the smell of alcohol and said they saw multiple alcoholic beverage containers in the Chevrolet.

Update on a story we told you about earlier. A Wednesday explosion at a Queen Anne’s County cannabis facility leaves two people injured. WMAR reports the incident happened around 2pm at PharmaCann in Stevensville. Investigators believe the explosion occurred inside an extraction booth where propane and butane were being used. The gases are usually part of a process to extract THC and CBD from cannabis plants. Two employees were hurt, one of them severely, however both are expected to survive.

Kent County commissioners threw their support behind a Maryland Economic Development Assistance Fund (MEDAF) conditional loan that might lead to the creation of more than four dozen jobs in the county. The Kent County News reports Kent County Director of Economic and Tourism development, Jamie Williams, told the commissioners at their Jan. 9 meeting that through the lease of warehouse space in Millington, Avail Enclosure Systems could bring 45 new permanent full-time jobs to Kent.

Sheila Austrian has won Tuesday’s special election for the open First Ward council seat in Chestertown. The Evening Enterprise reports she received 110 votes, which included 15 by absentee ballots, to Dawson Hunter’s 82 votes. There are 955 registered voters in the First Ward.

Emergency crews contained a fire following an explosion at a commercial building on Kent Island Wednesday afternoon, with multiple injuries reported and hazardous materials involved. Kent County News reports the incident occurred shortly before 2 p.m., Jan. 22, at 339 Log Canoe Circle in Stevensville. First responders arrived to find significant damage and active fire at the facility, which specializes in industrial and commercial dehumidification and climate control products. The 3,350-square-foot commercial facility houses operations for Munters, a Swedish-owned international company that manufactures climate control solutions including dehumidifiers, coolers, and air inlet systems.

Gary Dalrymple, 52, of Church Hill, was arrested by the Queen Anne’s County Office of the Sheriff Jan. 13 in connection with a Dec. 26 police pursuit and narcotics recovery.
On Dec. 26, deputies from the Sheriff’s Office responded to a “Be on the Lookout” (BOLO) alert regarding a suspicious and possibly impaired driver in the Church Hill area. Deputies located the vehicle and contacted the driver, James Haas, as well as the passenger, Gary Dalrymple. During the traffic stop, Dalrymple began to walk away from the scene, while the driver, Haas, fled in the vehicle. Haas, 42, of Rock Hall, was arrested and charged with driving while impaired, resisting arrest, and multiple traffic charges. A search of the area by deputies led to the recovery of 22 wax folds and 21 clear plastic bags all containing suspected fentanyl and crack cocaine. Dalrymple was charged with intent to distribute narcotics, failure to obey a reasonable and lawful order and CDS possession not cannabis, along with other misdemeanor charges.

The Washington College Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience has received a $339,000 Major Collaborative Archival Initiatives grant to further the work of its Chesapeake Heartland project, a digital humanities initiative that uses innovative technologies to explore the history of African American life on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Chesapeake Heartland collects, preserves and shares primary sources, such as oral histories, photographs and archival documents, to tell the stories of African American individuals, families and communities in the Chesapeake region.

A special election is Tuesday, Jan. 21. The polling place is the Chestertown firehouse, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
This is a special election, only for voters in the First Ward. The Evening Enterprise reports the winner of Tuesday’s election, who will be sworn in at the council’s first meeting in February, will serve out the remaining 11 months of Tim O’Brien’s term. O’Brien resigned in October as litigants prepared to file a lawsuit against the mayor and council because O’Brien continued to serve after moving out of the ward from which he was elected.