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Spy Art Review: Photorealism at the Academy by Steve Parks

May 8, 2025 by Steve Parks Leave a Comment

Richard Estes’ “Reflection” from a car windshield, 2006

“Urban Landscapes,” the subtitle of the new photorealism exhibit at Easton’s Academy Art Museum, has been the subject of Richard Estes’ lifelong career as a fine art painter.’

Estes, now 92, studied art at the prestigious Art Institute of Chicago, starting in 1952 when his family moved to Illinois. By the early 1960s, the art-world cognoscenti grew weary of Abstract Expressionism, though not so much with appreciative public consumers. Expressionists were then thought to be self-indulgent libertarians. What came into focus was the verisimilitude, the opposite of free-flowing abstract art. Not that there’s anything wrong with realism, but I never quite got it. So maybe you, dear reader, should take that into account regarding this review. I was a lifelong news-print journalist. And an arts critic. I regarded news photography as the recording of history in pictures. Photorealists’ work – besides Richard Estes, considered a leader in this movement – Audrey Flack, Chuck Close, and many others – copied images captured on photos. The skill involved is undeniable. Better than any number of art students I’ve witnessed copying masterpieces in major museums, many of them from Abstract Expressionist paintings. But to what end? Improving on a photograph from which it is taken? At least the students are copying from the real thing to learn how to do it, better or as well if possible.

The urban landscapes Estes interprets in this show of two dozen or so paintings are captured in reflective mirror imagery – Manhattan skyscrapers casting their architectural edifice on the windshield of a parked car. Several others are more directly transparent except for the backward-reading billboards in mirrored opposition. Most impressive to me is the large city-scape 1988 “D-Train” painting encompassing much of the Manhattan skyline from across the East River with the D-train commuter tracks in the anchoring foreground to the right. Yes, you’d recognize the scene if you had stood there in person. The technique and meticulously detailed artistry of what it took to produce is almost overwhelming. But to me, it’s a painterly likeness of a photograph. Which says nothing about the integrity either of photography or painting. I guess I just know what I like in terms of art. All of that makes me an Abstract Expressionist retrograde. I make no apologies except, perhaps, for artistic prejudice.

If photorealism – also known as hyper-realism – is your thing. Richard Estes in this show organized through the highly reputable Portland (Maine) Museum of Art, is not one you’ll want to miss.

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Quite apart from photorealism is the reality of a very different sort in the archival collection of pieces, including Faith Ringgold’s stunningly joyful quilt panorama she calls “Dancing on the George Washington Bridge II,” evidently her second take on the subject – brightly dressed African-American women in dance still-life posed against the GW bridgescape separating New Jersey from the Bronx. More fabric art follows with Darlene Taylor’s “Mother: Archive Files” Numbers 1-8 – silhouette facial profiles of women sewn onto lacy “canvases.” But before you leave the cozy Spiralis Gallery just down the hall from the museum’s main entrance, pause long enough and step back a bit to take in the implied forward motion of what celebrated African-American painter Jacob Lawrence self-referenced as “dynamic cubism.” The stark angular imagery of his 1997 “Forward Together” screenprint more than suggests liberation under the fearless leadership of Harriet Tubman, her hands splayed as paired deliverance flags to her fugitive refugees.

Elizabeth Catlett’s “Young Douglass” 2004 linocut portrait of the former Talbot County slave known then as Freddie, directs us into the adjoining gallery of text and images from “Kin: Rooted in Hope,” a young adult book by Carole and Jeffery Weatherford further embracing the liberation-from-slavery theme.

Speaking of Frederick Douglass, who I once said “was my neighbor” because he was held a slave on a several thousand-acre plantation, portions of which were less than a mile from where I grew up on a Dutchman’s Lane farm: Then and again President Trump, one month into his first term, clearly had no clue of who Frederick Douglass was or when he lived and died. “I hear he’s done some good things,” Trump said of the self-taught, self-liberated onetime slave. In the gallery replete with black-and-white images of Douglass and contemporaries, including Daniel Lloyd, 1812-1875, son of the slave-holding governor of Maryland and an Eastern Shore aristocrat, Edward Lloyd V, who writes in Douglass’ voice: “Before Paul Revere warned of the British invasion and Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, my freedom was already hostage.” Among the slaves who were once Edward Lloyd’s property was “Freddie,” soon to become Frederick, the spokesman and champion for the oppressed and the enslaved.

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To round out your visit to the museum, take a few minutes and one flight upstairs to the hallway gallery for the 10 colorfully beaded fabric scenes of “Haitian Drapo: The Art of Mireille Delice.” Be sure to check out the twin mermaids and the ceremonial leaf-gathering known as “pile fey.” And then just imagine the skill and patience it takes to create such detailed fantasies sewing beads as opposed to applying paint strokes. I have zero talent in either discipline, but I appreciate both as fine art.

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Getting back to photorealism, after you’ve taken in the Richard Estes exhibit, consider the guided tours of Easton’s “urban” landmarks scheduled for May 25, June 29 and July 27. Rediscover the town many of us call home. In retirement, my wife Liz and I looked all over the New York to Mid-Atlantic region, and aside from urban explorations that involved high parking fees for two cars, we found lots of attractive “developments” with a strip mall around the corner – even some with a supermarket. But we longed for an authentic town to call home. Well, there’s not much inauthentic about Easton. Take a walk to appreciate what we have here, not to mention lovely neighboring burgs such as St. Michaels and Oxford. Welcome to what my mother once called “God’s country.” I don’t know about God, but this place is – as my favorite sports announcer from the past, Chuck Thompson, once or a thousand times called it – “The land of pleasant living.” May it be so – summer beach traffic notwithstanding.

Steve Parks is a retired New York arts critic now living in Easton.

‘RICHARD ESTES: URBAN LANDSCAPES’

Academy Art Museum, 106 South St., Easton, through Aug. 3. Also, “Kin: Rooted in Hope” and a complementary archival exhibit, through June 29, plus “Haitian Drapo: The Art of Mireille Delice,” through June 22; academyartmuseum.org

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The Question Is Not How Trump Is Doing But How We Are Doing by Al Sikes

May 7, 2025 by Al Sikes 1 Comment

Mea Culpa. I was at least partially wrong when I titled my book, circa 2019, Culture Leads Leaders Follow.

A central point in the book: people who run for important elective office organize their brains and rhetoric around what is culturally acceptable. Or to put it another way, marketers of one sort or another and performing artists, not elected officials are primary influencers.

Successful candidates for the big elective offices begin by raising enormous sums of money. A high percentage of the cash is then spent on a polling firm to tell them what is or is not popular. If their budget is big enough, they will hire a marketing team of political specialists who prepare speeches, advertising videos and talking points for interviews. Mostly these are the steps of wannabes not leaders.

An overriding question is what has happened to America’s leadership class? What are the forces that have often turned it classless? Why are we now, the voters (judges) yelling at each other? Is dispassionately discussing public affairs even possible?

Cultural and political forces today often push toward the performative. How do you get above the noise of the day? Every candidate must cope with this reality and many of the most promising choose not to—performative politics as predation.

Enter President Donald J Trump. He knew, intuitively, that he had to push the line, all lines. The successes of his business and TV career bore his name. He was the brand and his brand bore no relationship to conventional politicians who generally earn their reputations by giving speeches, winning elections and holding offices. Trump to the political world, “you’re fired”.

Trump’s only questions related to how far he could go and to what extent he could create the narrative for his various campaign promises. The narrative choice was brilliant: Make American Great Again (MAGA). And he began.

In his most recent election, he used President Biden’s carelessness at our southern border to rebrand immigrants. Through the generations, immigrants enjoyed a favorable image of striving for the betterment of their new home. Now Trump was rebranding them as toxic. He appropriated the worst, drug dealers for example, and accused the powers that be of facilitating their drug pushing.

Job frustrations? It’s not your fault the foreigners are taking your jobs. Or, if you are a white male, you are the target of discrimination. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), an awkward attempt to make up for past sins, became today’s sin.

Wealth? It is reported that 10% of the adult population owns 50% of America’s wealth. Trump, sensing an underlying anger promised no taxes on tips or social security income and recommended tariffs on foreign goods to win back jobs.

Sex? The high priests of the culture had decided to normalize and promote conduct many think is wrong. He skipped across the political perils of abortion while using sexual apostasy as a targeted weapon.

And on and on. And while he got a lot of the facts wrong his receptive audience did not go to the library to check his references. Fact-checking that should matter, seems a remnant of an earlier era.

Plus, what Trump called the Mainstream or Lamestream Media was vocally nonplussed by his antics, and they often performed as if he had scripted them. After all they were perceived as pushing open borders and sexual immorality. They became the opposition.

What followed were attempts by Institutionalists to criminalize his conduct. While there were grounds for impeachment, his loyal base saw him as a victim of an attempted coup. While hard to pinpoint, it is clear that a tipping point had been reached—politics as we had known it was over.

In the Republican Party that became clearer as two institutionalists, Niki Haley and Ron DeSantis, were defeated. In the broader electorate, Trump was sufficiently popular for the electoral math to work. He was, of course, aided by a Democratic Party leadership class that was so fearful of “next” that a low-functioning incumbent President controlled much of the nominating apparatus.

And here we are. America has a President who takes pleasure in making his opponents livid while calling them “lunatics”. We are more than a hundred days out and while many voiced 100 day report cards, I simply worry about how Trump has affected both the social and political culture because yelling at each other across hardened barriers is not characteristic of a healthy democracy. I have never been part of a significant success that was not collaborative.

I am not a sociologist, but I have been working at the intersection of government and business for more years than I would prefer to count. I keep trying to see a new way forward, but in my mind it is hard to find. A catastrophe of some sort might be the only enabler; and who knows what it will enable.

Warren Buffet, the supremely successful founder and leader of Berkshire Hathaway, understanding the importance of his company’s successful culture, chose Greg Abel as his replacement. According to the late Charles Munger, Buffet’s longtime partner: “Greg knows the companies culture.” Indeed. Success is maintained by a healthy culture.

So what is it about our political culture? We now have a President who disdains collaboration. Here are some questions I think we should engage:

1- Has what I will call Trumpism become our political culture?

2- Have Judeo-Christian values lost their force?

3- What about organized religion? Has it become disparate affinity clubs attracting fewer and fewer as many of its leaders prove to be power seekers not healers?

4- Has language lost its influence? Do intemperate words and uses make any difference? Was America great or at least better when the F—word was not the defining adjective?

5- Who do we believe in a world defined by detachment? Artificial Intelligence? Algorithms? Neighbors?

We are lost. Who will we be when we are found again?

Al Sikes is the former Chair of the Federal Communications Commission under George H.W. Bush. Al writes on themes from his book, Culture Leads Leaders Follow published by Koehler Books.

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Springtime’s Blessings by J.E. Dean

May 7, 2025 by J.E. Dean 1 Comment

Sometimes I forget the sun will rise tomorrow even if the news is bad. Yes, we live in challenging, uncertain times that find Americans deeply divided and worried. And when I say worried, that means everyone these days, even the President’s supporters.

But I also find that reading and writing about what I call “troubling news” doesn’t do much to change that news. I can post the highly offensive image of the President dressed as the Pope on the web and get lots of approval from people of like mind. But I don’t think that image troubled many of the President’s supporters. They apparently think the picture is funny and enjoy seeing “libs” complain about it.

So, maybe it’s time to take a break, at least a short one, from complaining about things and do two things. First, revisit the beauty of the Eastern Shore that surrounds us. Instead of complaining about Trump or Musk, spend some time looking out for a mallard like the one that waddled up to my front door last week. That duck made me smile more than anything on MSNBC last night.

On Sunday morning of this week, there was a torrential downpour for over an hour. Water gushed in torrents off my roof, and I watched it from the sanctuary of my screened porch, nice and dry, a cup of coffee in hand. I loved watching the rain, and not just because we needed rain on the Eastern Shore. I knew that with what seemed like a few inches of rain, there would be more flowers coming. And I like green grass better than brown.

After the sky cleared, the world looked clean. I imagine dirt and everything else bad being washed away when we get a hard rain. Sunday was no exception. The TV stayed off long after the storm had passed—and stayed off for the rest of the day. I read the newspaper, but interspersed reading about the tariffs while looking through the screens of our porch at an osprey make a low pass over our house.

Spring is a season not just of flowers and birds, but also of hope. Spring tells us that the bleakness of winter is not permanent and that, eventually, good triumphs over bad, although calling winter evil is a bit of a stretch given the joy that winter’s first snowstorm brings to most of us.

Life, regrettably, is not about the weather or the four seasons. It includes what our community is doing (or not doing), how we treat one another, and whether, as a community, we remain resilient enough to stand up and do something that we cannot do to the weather—help guide it to the “right destination.”

That brings me to the second thing we should do to replace just complaining about Trump. Do something. I don’t mean anything violent, of course. I will say that watching television or scanning the web for the next stupid thing President Trump has done, is not the answer.

This morning, I stumbled across the image of Trump with a Star Wars light sword. That image is a distraction from the things that are important.

The thus-far not-too-happy 2025 is now more than a quarter over and, to date, there are few signs that the trouble and uncertainty of 2025’s first quarter won’t last the rest of the year. But there’s hope. In the last few weeks, people are simultaneously starting to ignore the Trump administration’s bizarre activity and starting to do things—things like attending town halls, writing letters, supporting groups that are registering voters, encouraging good people to run for office, and talking to each other to reinforce the truth.

The sun will rise tomorrow, but today’s clouds need help leaving town.

J.E. Dean writes on politics, government but, too frequently, on President Trump. A former counsel on Capitol Hill and public affairs consultant, Dean also writes for Dean’s Issues & Insights on Substack.

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Words of Wisdom from Fran Lebowitz—Some Things to Think About by Maria Grant

May 6, 2025 by Maria Grant 1 Comment

The author, public speaker, and humorist Fran Lebowitz displayed an incredible amount of energy, wit, and wisdom at Saturday night’s Avalon performance in Easton. The evening was pure delight filled with frank and refreshingly honest comments about modern life and politics. Here are just a few of Fran’s viewpoints that I’ve been thinking about the last few days.

Fran: I’m 74-years-old. America will never elect a woman president in my lifetime. Why? Because white men just can’t handle that concept. They want things to go back to the 50’s where white men were in charge. And if not a white man, at least a man.

I don’t want this to be true but perhaps it is. Fran talked about how many countries have had women leaders—even Mexico. If Democrats want to win the next election she said they should nominate a white male. She suggested Sheldon Whitehouse, the senator from Rhode Island. Just think about that last name, she said. He would be perfect.

Fran: Don’t give Justice John Roberts the benefit of the doubt. He’s quieter than some of the others. But he’s also responsible for the sorry state of the current Supreme Court.

I totally agree with this statement. I’ve been severely disappointed in Roberts’ positions and voting history on a myriad of issues. And don’t forget, Roberts and four other Justices ruled to strike down limits on how much money can be spent on political campaigns, resulting in obscene amounts of money virtually buying some elections.

Fran: I don’t understand parents’ attitudes towards their grown children in their 30’s and 40’s. My parents did not support me after I went to college. I was totally on my own.

I agree with Fran on this too. One of the best things my mom did for me was when she said, “I paid for your college education. Now you are on your own.” I knew I had to fend for myself, and I did.

Fran: I don’t have a computer or a cell phone. Why? Nobody needs immediate communication with me. I’m not a neurosurgeon who needs to be on-call.

Though most of us can’t imagine life without being glued to our devices, once again, Fran has something here. She spends much of her time reading–a much better use of time than the endless streaming and scrolling that many of us do.

Fran: I’m more concerned about the decline of American intelligence than the rise of artificial intelligence. I worry about the decline of individualistic thinking alongside a lack of unique opinions.

I couldn’t agree more. Fran also encouraged young people to get involved, to run for something and take charge of creating the politics that they want to see.

Fran: I love New York because it’s the only place in the world where you can walk down the street and see all kinds of people doing all kinds of things and no one pays any attention.

Fran’s comments make you once again appreciate the magic of NYC. Even with all its problems, it truly is a place like no other.

It’s interesting to me that people of all age groups appreciate Lebowitz, including those of many different political persuasions. Perhaps it’s because she doesn’t care whether you like her or not—whether you agree with her or not. She is who she is. And she does a great job of reminding us how crazy many of society’s foibles are.

We can all learn lessons from the value of refreshing candor, especially in this current political environment where so many public figures have become embarrassing pandering sycophants.

Maria Grant was principal-in-charge of the federal human capital practice of an international consulting firm. While on the Eastern Shore, she focuses on writing, reading, music, and nature.

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Boxing Gloves by Jamie Kirkpatrick

May 6, 2025 by Jamie Kirkpatrick 5 Comments

My memory is increasingly suspect these days, but this really happened. At least, I think it did…

It was the summer of 1966, the months between my senior year of high school and my freshman year of college. I was heading north, part of a group of young volunteers organized by what was known at the time as The Grenfell Mission (it’s now called the Quebec-Labrador Foundation) that provided community-based support for conservation and the cultural heritage of the coasts of northern Quebec and Labrador. There were about a dozen of us who would spend the next several weeks working and living in various isolated fishing villages along the St. Lawrence River in northern Quebec. To get there, we flew commercially to Montreal, then boarded a small DC-7 that took us on to Quebec City at which point, we embarked on a packet steamer that over the course of the next three days dropped us off, one-by-one, in our assigned villages. I was the last boy to disembark. My new home would be with the Nadeau family who lived out on the quay near the village of St. Paul’s River, the last stop before the Labrador border; Newfoundland lay just off the coast.

The Nadeau family had eleven children, the eldest only a couple of years younger than I. (I would turn 18 at the end of that summer.) My “job” was to work with the young children in the village, teaching them how to swim, an essential life skill since all the boys would grow up to be fishermen, and all the girls would grow up to marry fishermen. I suppose there were other skills to impart, but in reality, I was basically a camp counselor, a tall and gangly pied-piper to the village kids who had been released from the town’s one-room schoolhouse for the few short weeks of a northern summer. Of course, what I didn’t realize at the time was that I was the one who was doing all the learning—about a different culture, a different way of life, an entirely different world. It was, to say the least, my first experience in becoming a small part of a world that was so much larger than anything I had ever known or even imagined.

Bob Bryan, the chaplain at the high school I had attended, ran the program. He was an Anglican priest and his summer parish was the Quebec-Labrador coast. To tend to his flock, he flew his own sea plane up and down the coast, baptizing babies, marrying couples, burying the dead. He was a revered figure in those parts and I wanted to be just like him someday.

On this particular day, I was with the village kids in town when we heard Bob’s plane overhead. He circled the village a couple of times, then waggled his wings, a sure sign he had something for us. I remember looking up and seeing his grinning face looking out from the pilot’s little window, just before he dropped a package that tumbled down to us. The kids rushed to open the package. Inside were two pair of boxing gloves.

Bob’s plane continued to circle above us. Immediately, the kids formed a ring and the boxing gloves were distributed. I got the first pair and an enormous teenage boy got the other pair. What happened next was…well, I don’t really remember what happened next, but it must have been the shortest match in the history of boxing. I was like one of those cartoon characters who wakes up to see little birdies swirling around his head. I think I remember seeing Bob, leaning out the window of the plane waving and laughing before he flew away.

There is no real point to this story; it’s just a memory, but, like other good memories, it recalls another time, another place, and another me. As my brother-in-law David liked to say, “It’s all good.”

I’ll be right back.

Jamie Kirkpatrick is a writer and photographer who lives on both sides of the Chesapeake Bay. His work has appeared in the Washington Post, the Baltimore Sun, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Washington College Alumni Magazine, and American Cowboy Magazine. His most recent novel, “The Tales of Bismuth; Dispatches from Palestine, 1945-1948” explores the origins of the Arab-Israeli conflict. It is available on Amazon and in local bookstores.

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What’s Next on Maryland’s Fiscal Challenges by David Reel

May 5, 2025 by David Reel Leave a Comment

In my most recent column, I wrote about the following three thought-provoking news reports on Maryland’s bond ratings and fiscal policies that merit immediate attention of Governor Moore and the leadership of the General Assembly:

Decisions by Moody’s to downgrade Maryland’s fiscal outlook from stable to negative for the first time since 2011.
Unanswered questions on how to address structural state budget deficits driven in large part by state funding obligations for the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future.
The potential for Maryland to experience similar outcomes to those recurring in Delaware where businesses have relocated or are planning to relocate their Delaware incorporation after concluding that state has a hostile to business environment.

Now comes the unwelcome news that Standard & Poors Global Ratings (S&P) has issued a negative outlook for outstanding revenue bonds issued by the Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA).

Since 1971, MDTA has been responsible for building, operating, improving Maryland’s toll facilities, and financing new transportation projects.

Currently MDTA operates, maintains, and collects tolls on the Fort McHenry Tunnel, Harbor Tunnel, Chesapeake Bay Bridge, Hatem Memorial Bridge, Gov. Harry W. Nice/Sen. Thomas “Mac” Middleton Bridge, Millard Tydings Bridge, and Maryland Route 200, aka the Intercounty Connector highway in Montgomery County and Prince George’s County.

MDTA is also in charge of the massive job of rebuilding, reopening, and operating the Francis Scott Key Bridge that will, at some point, once again connect Anne Arundel County and Baltimore County.

While Standard & Poors recently reaffirmed MDTA’s current AA bond rating, they also downgraded its outlook on MDTA’s bond rating from stable to negative. They warned of the potential for future changes, in part due to S&P’s uncertainty over the costs of building the Key Bridge replacement.

These costs have been estimated to be at least 1.8 billion dollars.

Funding sources for those replacement costs are uncertain, especially if the Trump administration continues to aggressively pursue further reductions in federal government spending.

What if only some or none of the $ 1.8 billion promised by former President Biden for bridge replacement will ever be delivered by the federal government?

Such an outcome is possible given a Republican President and a Republican Congress.

In any event, S&P does not foresee raising the recently reaffirmed AA bond rating upward “given MDTA’s relatively high debt burden and additional borrowing plans.”

Conversely, S&P has warned there is “at least a one-in-three chance they could lower the rating within the two-year outlook based on final costs to replace the Key Bridge along with MDTA’s s $5.1 billion capital improvement program.”

Currently MDTA has $2.1 billion in outstanding debt. In fiscal 2026, which begins July 1, 2025, that debt amount is expected to “increase significantly” to $2.6 billion, according to an analysis of the General Assembly’s nonpartisan Department Legislative Services.

That analysis projects outstanding MDTA debt will increase to $3.3 billion in fiscal 2027, before peaking at $3.8 billion in fiscal years 2029 and 2030.

Those amounts are slightly less than that provided for in MDTA’s statutory authority on a borrowing cap.

To date, MDTA seems unconcerned by these negative news reports.

An MDTA spokesperson has said, “The agency will continue to meet its debt payment obligations despite the loss of the Key Bridge and temporary loss of associated revenues, the MDTA expects to remain in compliance with all board directed financial policies and trust agreement covenants.”

One has to ask — Is that based on rigorous analysis or wishful thinking?

I predict all the above news will result in Governor Moore calling a special session of the Maryland General Assembly well before the next regular session convenes in January 2026.

If and when a special session is held this year, Governor Moore and the leadership in the General Assembly have a responsibility to every Maryland taxpayer.

That responsibility is simple and achievable.

Collectively and individually, they need to acknowledge, understand and respect the observations in all of these bond rating reports.

They need to give special attention to Moody’s report, which includes the following: “The negative outlook incorporates difficulties Maryland will face to achieve balanced financial operations in coming years without sacrificing service delivery goals or adding to the weight of the state government’s burden on individual and corporate taxpayers.”

It is imperative that in any special session and in future regular sessions, decisions on state spending levels, spending cuts, new taxes, tax increases, new fees and fee increases be based solely on economic realities.

David Reel is a public affairs and public relations consultant who lives in Easton.

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The Governor and His Democrats Declared War on Maryland Taxpayers by Clayton Mitchell

May 3, 2025 by Clayton Mitchell 3 Comments

If you try to drive… I’ll tax the street
If you try to sit… I’ll tax your seat
If you get too cold… I’ll tax the heat
If you take a walk… I’ll tax your feet
… Taxman!

-The Beatles

Governor Wes Moore once said raising taxes in Maryland would be a “high bar” for him. After this year’s legislative session, it seems the bar was not merely lowered, it was rolled into a ditch.

In a single session, Moore and his Democrats managed to assemble the most sweeping array of tax increases and new fees in a generation. They taxed your paycheck. They taxed your investments. They taxed your car, your ride-share, your vending machine snack, and your delivery package. They taxed your rental property, your cannabis, and—just for good measure—your next data and IT service invoice. Marylanders can be forgiven for wondering whether they will soon be taxed for breathing air east of Hoye-Crest in Garrett County.

The justification for this assault on taxpayers? A $3 billion budget shortfall. But rather than look inward—at the flabby mass of Maryland’s administrative bureaucracy, its duplicative programs, its gilded agencies—the Moore administration reached, predictably, for the taxpayer’s wallet.

Not once in this budget cycle did we witness a serious effort to reorganize or reform government. Not one cabinet agency was consolidated. Not one sacred cow slaughtered.

Instead, the General Assembly raised income taxes on so-called “high earners”—code for small business owners, professionals, and retirees who saved a lifetime and now find Maryland penalizing them for their prudence. A 6.5% tax on income over $1 million may sound just to some, but don’t be fooled: when government needs more, that threshold will creep lower.

Capital gains? Now surcharged. Recreational cannabis? Taxed at a rate that would make a bootlegger blush. Even the Maryland Vehicle Emissions Inspection fee—previously a tolerable $14—was doubled, a punishment for the privilege of owning a car. And if you were trying to go green with an electric vehicle, congratulations: the state now charges you up to $182 a year for using fewer fossil fuels. That’s not policy. That’s predation.

All this might be more tolerable if these dollars were dedicated with discipline. Instead, they are poured into an ever-growing web of programs designed less to reform Maryland’s foundations than to cement political coalitions. A taxpayer-funded abortion fund. A reparations commission. A permanent young adult health subsidy. More consultants. More commissions. More bureaucracy.

What’s missing from all of this is the simple, bracing discipline of doing more with less. Maryland’s government has not been right-sized. It has not been restructured. No brave hand has reached into the bloated machinery of state to blare out, “Stop!”

And so, the taxpayer is asked again—and again—to carry the burden of Annapolis’ indulgences. The danger for the Governor and his Democrats in the Legislature is not only in what they’ve done… it’s what they’ll do next.

Because if, in 2026, Governor Moore’s Democrats return to the citizens of Maryland and ask for more—more taxes, more fees, more patience—they will find none. They will find something else. They will find a voter who is fed up. A business owner who is closing shop. A retiree headed for Delaware. They will find a reckoning.

And when it comes, it will not arrive with a whisper—but with a roar loud enough to shake the marble columns of the Government House.

Clayton A. Mitchell, Sr. is a life-long Eastern Shoreman, an attorney, and former Chairman of the Maryland Department of Labor’s Board of Appeals. He is co-host of the Gonzales/Mitchell Show podcast that discusses politics, business, and cultural issues.

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Gus is Grieving By Angela Rieck

May 1, 2025 by Angela Rieck Leave a Comment

My dog, Gus, is grieving. He misses Annie, my cockapoo who died several weeks ago. I adopted Gus after I already had Annie, so he has only known a household with her. They were close, although they did not play together (neither of them learned play in their previous dwellings), they would sleep together and just hang out. Annie would find something to bark at and Gus would join her, full throttle.

Now my household is quiet. Gus wants to be close to me, he wants extra petting. He has lost some interest in food (this is a dog who would sell me for a hot dog) and occasionally doesn’t come when it is “treat time.” He sleeps more, but mostly it is his way of walking, his head is down, his tail droops and he doesn’t seem to have his ebullient personality.

So, I looked it up. And experts agree that animals do grieve. It is well documented in elephants and primates. Even birds have displayed grieving behaviors. So, it makes sense that our pets would grieve as well. Here are some of the signs of a grieving pet.

Loss of appetite or refusal to eat. According to a study, about 30% of pets have decreased appetite after loss.
Changes in their sleep patterns. They may sleep more or less than usual, or become restless. In a New Zealand study, about 30% of grieving dogs and 20% of cats napped more. Grieving animals may even hide or rest in different locations. Gus used to be relatively independent, but now he must sleep right next to me, crowding me more than usual.
Need extra attention, or even exhibit destructive behaviors like chewing or scratching. The New Zealand study found that about 60% of dogs and cats clung more to humans after the loss of a companion. Some animals may also experience separation anxiety or become withdrawn.
Less energetic or lose interest in usual activities like playing or going for walks.
Meowing, barking, or howling more than usual. In my case, Gus is unusually quiet and doesn’t bark like he used to (which my neighbors appreciate).
Searching for their lost companion. Approximately 60% of pets repeatedly look for lost companions in their normal napping spots. Out of my own grief, I discarded Annie’s dog bed and Gus spent the first couple of days going to that spot and sniffing around.
Grieving can be so extreme that pets even experience urinary incontinence, labored breathing, and changes in grooming habits. A normally fastidious pet might soil the house or miss the litter box. Another sign is excessive or inadequate self-grooming.

So, what to do? These are the recommendations that I found.

Some experts recommend that the pet should see the companion after she is deceased. Annie died at home, but my dogs didn’t seem too interested, in fact they kept away, as they are afraid of veterinarians.
Provide a consistent routine. Keep daily schedules for mealtimes, exercise times, play times, and bedtimes consistent.
Try not to let your pet see your own grief, and most of all, do not lean on pets for support. Your grief may add to their own.
With the loss of a family member, the household dynamic could become be temporarily unstable. In multi-pet households, if there was a clear social hierarchy, the remaining pets may try to create a new social structure. If your pet is a sole survivor, she may be lonesome. In my case, my remaining two dogs are fighting, they never have before.
In most cases, they don’t recommend immediately adopting a new pet, especially with cats. Cats that have been very attached to a special companion do not readily accept a new “stranger” into their home.
Spend extra time with your pet. Engage in interactions that you and your pet enjoy, such as daily walks or brushing (especially for cats). If your pet is pacing or vocalizing excessively, try to help him settle in a bed by feeding him treats.
Allow time for adjustment.

The experts recommend that if you do not feel like they are making progress, you should seek professional help, especially if pets are not eating. Cats and small dogs cannot afford to miss meals.

But mostly, in my opinion, time is the healer, and patience is your go-to. Gus wants to be next to me all the time, even when I am working. He sleeps right against me…it is uncomfortable, to be sure, but it is what he needs right now. My other dog, Sadie, never developed a bond with Annie (or Gus, yet). She was a puppy mill mom, and she learned to keep other dogs away from her puppies. So, she is not grieving, but she is annoyed that Gus is getting so much attention and they are fighting. I find myself petting both simultaneously.

So, we wait, all of us, to get through this and know that on the other side, the hole will heal, and we will be left with fond memories of Annie.

Angela Rieck, a Caroline County native, received her PhD in Mathematical Psychology from the University of Maryland and worked as a scientist at Bell Labs, and other high-tech companies in New Jersey before retiring as a corporate executive. Angela and her dogs divide their time between St Michaels and Key West Florida. Her daughter lives and works in New York City.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Kent County Commissioners Take Aim at Bureaucratic Gridlock by Clayton Mitchell

April 30, 2025 by Clayton Mitchell 6 Comments

Kent County is fortunate to have commissioners willing to lead. Let us give credit where it is due: the April 15 meeting called by the Kent County Commissioners was a textbook example of local government doing its job. As Kent County News reporter Will Bontrager chronicled in detail, Commission President Ron Fithian and his colleagues brought state and local officials into the public square and demanded accountability for the bureaucratic paralysis that is choking economic development in the county.

In twenty-seven years of public service, Fithian said he has never seen this level of frustration from constituents. And who could blame them? Contractors cannot build homes, developers are losing deals, and landowners are stuck in limbo—all because they cannot get a simple percolation test, the first step in obtaining a septic permit.

The permitting system is broken. And the Commissioners are saying so out loud.

The commissioners’ leadership in confronting the Kent County Health Department and the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) is a welcome change. The Commissioners will demand follow-through, and that is where the real test begins. Because while the commissioners have stepped up, the bureaucratic system beneath them must stop dragging its feet.

As Bontrager reported, Kent County has not had a licensed well-and-septic specialist on staff since June 2023. Meanwhile, MDE inspectors brought in to pick up the slack uncovered missing data, incomplete files, and inadequate recordkeeping going back decades. So yes, protecting groundwater is important—but what about protecting Kent County’s future?

Contrast this mess with what is happening just thirty minutes away in Middletown, Delaware. That once-sleepy town is now Delaware’s fastest-growing area, with a booming population, a thriving U.S. 301 commercial corridor, new housing developments, and even an Amazon fulfillment center. Middletown is attracting investment, families, and opportunities. Kent County, by comparison, is turning people away at the gate.

Builders here are losing business. Homeowners cannot rebuild on their own land. Developers cannot invest, because permits never arrive. A real estate agent testified to an eighteen-month wait for a single perc test—and no answers in sight. Middletown builds; Kent County waits. Middletown adds police forces and infrastructure; Kent County loses revenue and opportunity. Middletown makes growth work. Kent County makes excuses.

We are watching Kent’s economic engine sputter while Delaware accelerates past us. This is not theoretical. It is not a debate over policy. It is happening now—and we are falling behind fast.

To be fair, Health Officer Bill Webb and MDE’s Nony Howell have offered some interim solutions: clearer documentation, office hours for case-by-case issues, and continued state assistance while staffing shortages persist. These are fine first steps—but they are not structural reform. And they will not matter if the culture of delay, confusion, and cover-your-backside recordkeeping is not rooted out.

Bontrager’s reporting made it clear: Kent County residents are not objecting to environmental protections—they are objecting to incompetence. One cannot defend missing files and glacial timelines with appeals to “science.” And one cannot build a county’s future on a system that does not work.

The Commissioners have done their part by shining a light on this disaster. Now the agencies responsible must do theirs—and they must be held to it. Because right now, Kent County is becoming the place where projects die, and investments flee. And unless that changes, we will keep watching our growth, our jobs, and our young people disappear—heading north to a town that knows how to say yes.

The Kent County Commissioners have made it clear: they will not tolerate this dysfunction indefinitely, and if meaningful progress is not made soon, they appear more than willing to pursue stronger, more decisive action to ensure their constituents are not left behind.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

One Step Forward Two Steps Back by Maria Grant

April 29, 2025 by Maria Grant Leave a Comment

It’s interesting to analyze the effects that various administrations have had on the current state of America. Of course, in a democracy, campaigns are built on the promise of change. Yet, how much sense does it make to take a wrecking ball to almost everything your predecessor has built? How about adopting the concept of saving the best and leaving the rest?

Over the last 65 years, the U.S. went from liberals John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson to conservatives Richard Nixon and Ford, to liberal Jimmy Carter, to conservatives Ronald Reagan and George Bush, to liberal Bill Clinton, to another conservative Bush, to liberal Barack Obama, to a so-called conservative Trump, to a liberal Joe Biden, and then back to a second Trump who has been labelled an extreme right-wing autocrat.

Each of these so-called whipsaw or flashback political agendas meant that agendas got started and then stalled, started then stalled, and on and on. One president wants the government to promote racial and economic equality and equity. The next wants laissez-faire government. One president calls climate change an existential threat and makes responding to it a top priority. The next wants to eliminate environmental controls. One wants to stop drilling. The next wants to drill baby drill. One cares about improving the infrastructure. The next wants to cut government spending. One wants the wealthy to pay more taxes. The next wants to reduce taxes on the wealthy.

The result is stymied progress on many initiatives and overall slow going on getting much accomplished, plus a ton of waste and unnecessary spending.

Trump rescinded Obama’s orders on the Dakota Access pipeline. Obama reversed a ban on abortion funding that George Bush restored, that Clinton revoked, and that Reagan created.

Nixon tried and failed to dismantle Johnson’s Great Society, and Bush tried and failed to change Social Security.

President Biden signed an executive order to reinstate the 2015 Paris climate agreement that Trump withdrew from in his first term. Then Biden revoked Trump’s presidential permit granted to the Keystone pipeline. Already in his second term, Trump has signed more than 137 executive orders—everything from. withdrawing from the World Health Organization, to rolling back Federal recognition of gender identity, to pardoning more than 1,500 January 6 rioters, to attempting to end birthright citizenship for new children of undocumented immigrants.

A majority of Americans think this pull and push of various initiatives is a good thing as things don’t go too far to the right or to the left. But is it really? We were making progress on environmental issues. Now, much of that progress is being dismantled. How soon will we be back to square one?

Cancer and other healthcare research were moving forward. Now much of the grant and research funding has been cancelled. And four years from now, it’s not a particularly easy task to pick up the ball and continue where you left off.

In addition, all this push and pull results in an increasingly polarized America. Democrats and Republicans both have increasing contempt for the opposing party. Many politically active Americans think the opposing party is misguided and a threat to the well-being of the country.

A majority of Americans prefer a political philosophy that is not too far right or too far left—they want a middle-of-the road consensus.

Let’s juxtapose that philosophy with what is happening in China. China’s economic growth over the last 40 years has been the largest and longest lasting in world history. Its GDP has risen at 10 percent per year for the last several years. In 1990, China’s share of global industrial production was 2.5 percent. Today it is 35 percent, as much as the next ten industrial economies combined. China is the leader in green production, such as solar panels and has made great leaps forward in technology and science.

A big reason for China’s advances in infrastructure, technology, and research and development has been its relatively stable political and economic policies. China also has a relatively decentralized system which stimulates competition. Plus, China has reduced its dependence on coal and moved to more renewable resources. Yet in spite of its huge growth spurt, China still lags behind the U.S. in household wealth, social services, and consumer power parity.

There is no question that escalating trade wars between the two countries along with the proposed tariffs will increase economic uncertainty for both countries in the coming months. And both countries will need to adapt to an increasingly complex global economy.

China has the advantage of moving forward in a consistent direction given its authoritarian government. The U.S. advantage is in its soft power—that is the support it has from other countries—a support that is currently dwindling thanks to Trump’s pro-Russia stance on the Russia/Ukraine peace talks and his alienating economic policies with other countries. That is unfortunate.

It is also unfortunate that so many presidents feel compelled to destroy so much of what their predecessors have accomplished. The concept of keeping the good stuff and getting rid of the bad has been foreign to so many presidents.

Opportunities are multiplied when they are seized. Instead of dismantling everything your predecessor did, it makes much more sense to seize the good stuff, make it even better, and maybe even take credit for doing so. It sure would help the United States move forward in terms of prosperity, innovation, and discovery.

The Desert Rose Band said it best: “One step forward two steps back. Nobody gets too far like that. One step forward two steps back. This kind of dance can never last.”

Maria Grant was principal-in-charge of the federal human capital practice of an international consulting firm. While on the Eastern Shore, she focuses on writing, reading, music, and nature.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

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