COMMENTARY Down here in Earleville, and other south-of-the-Canal environs of Cecil County, local residents often wonder if our county government in Elkton understands, or cares, about the challenges that many rural residents face. That was particularly true on Monday, when all of Earleville was without electricity, wireless phones, well-water pumping or toilet flushing capacities,...
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If you take a paycheck, most employers expect you to show up for the job. But taxpayers didn’t get the job done by one of their employees when Cecil County Del. Michael Smigiel (R-36) was a no-show as the House of Delegates passed one of the most locally reviled bills of this year’s General...
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It was the Scott Flanigan show at the Cecil County Council Tuesday morning, as the county’s Director of Public Works, with a supporting cast of staff and consultants and charts projected on the wall, waded through the muck of the county’s Seneca Point sewage treatment plant– and made a strong case for spending $29...
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A CECIL TIMES SPECIAL REPORT A Delaware animal rescue group that took over animal control for Cecil County in January realized a nearly $25,000 profit in the first three months of its contract with the local government, which cost taxpayers $190,000, according to documents submitted to the county. And some of the group’s past...
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State and federal officials were enthusiastic at a meeting Wednesday about the prospects of running a water pipeline from the town of Cecilton to several communities along Pond Neck Road in Earleville, where drinking water wells have been polluted by the nearby US Army Corps of Engineers dumpsite. Cecilton Mayor Joseph Zang said he...
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Election campaign 2014 for the always hotly-contested Cecil County Sheriff election began this week with third-time candidate Chris Sutton filing as a Republican candidate and political newcomer Scott Adams, chief of the Sheriff’s department school resource officer program, also filing in the GOP primary. Sutton, a current Deputy in the sheriff’s department, had made...
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US Rep. Andy Harris (R-1) and Cecil County officials huddled Tuesday to discuss costly federal and state mandates to clean up the Chesapeake Bay, but Harris said the US Army Corps of Engineers could over-ride state environmental authorities to resume dumping of shipping channel dredge spoils that have polluted residential drinking water wells in...
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Live, from Elkton, it’s Tuesday night… Considering some of the comedy performances that have taken place at meetings of the Cecil County Commissioners, although fewer now that they have morphed into the County Council, watching meetings of the panel on the small screen might be a bit like viewing Saturday Night Live—even if it’s...
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Cecil County Executive Tari Moore and the County Council mapped strategy on Tuesday for an upcoming meeting with top state officials involved in Chesapeake Bay policy, with a plan to focus on sediment buildup at the Conowingo Dam that swamps the Bay with pollutants especially after storms. But one Councilor and Moore said the...
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NEWS ANALYSIS Never say never in Cecil County government and politics. But sometimes it’s politically wise to say “maybe.” After months of resistance by colleagues to a demand by County Commissioner/Councilor Diana Broomell (R-4) to hire a County Council “auditor” to investigate spending and operations of the new County Executive, suddenly the position surfaced...
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Cecil County Executive Tari Moore is proposing exploration of possible creation of a county-led authority to oversee and operate key infrastructure in the county that is currently fragmented among county, municipal and private water and sewer operations, according to a new county budget proposal. Basic water and sewer infrastructure in Cecil County has been...
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A majority of the Cecil County Council Tuesday questioned the handling of pollution of Earleville residents’ water wells by a US Army Corps of Engineers dumpsite, with Councilor Joyce Bowlsbey (R-2) saying that local residents were “victims” of the Corps and state officials appeared to be “hellbent” on resuming dredge spoil dumping in the...
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A CECIL TIMES SPECIAL REPORT Earleville residents packed an auditorium at Bohemia Manor High School on Saturday to tell state and federal officials they want pollution of their water supply by an Army dumpsite to be cleaned up and safe, clean water provided to their communities. But Maryland Port Administration (MPA) officials bluntly told...
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A CECIL TIMES SPECIAL REPORT The 2014 campaign for Cecil County Sheriff, always a hot political contest, is beginning already, with familiar names, switched party affiliations and some potential wildcards. The most prominent candidate so far—Chris Sutton, running in his third bid for Sheriff—faces some significant political challenges in trying to seal the deal...
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NEWS ANALYSIS What a difference a few months make. The Wild West, rhetorical free-for-all of the old Cecil County Board of Commissioners, and the chaotic early days of the new County Council, is morphing into a highly structured panel that is still finding its way among the fine points of its role under Charter...
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