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🍦Who's carving the pumpkins?

🍦Who's carving the pumpkins?

Army joins AAC, tenant relocation bill pulled, Excellence in Education awards...

Naptown Scoop
October 26, 2023

Good morning, Annapolis. Did you know Instant Replay made its TV debut during an Army-Navy game? Which year? I’ll give you a hint. The Beatles were getting very popular. Answer at the bottom of the Scoop.

In today’s Naptown Scoop:

Army joins American Athletic Conference
Tenant relocation bill pulled
Excellence in Education awards

Let’s get to it.

—Ryan Sneddon & Rebecca Kraybill

THE DIGEST

Artists selected to carve the giant pumpkins

What’s cooler than a 1,700-pound pumpkin? A 1,700-pound carved pumpkin. Downtown Annapolis Partnership has announced the artists who will turn the giant gourds into works of art. There’s Angelito Baban (an award-winning ice carver), Aaron “Skribe” Yealdhall (a local musician/artist), a team from Gallery 57 West, and more.

Photo from Downtown Annapolis Partnership

They’ll be carving pumpkins at 8 locations starting at 10 AM Friday. All pumpkins will be photo-ready by sunset. Pumpkins at the following locations will be carved:

Boatyard Bar and Grill
Graduate Hotel
Visit Annapolis Visitors Center
St. Anne’s Church
Maryland Inn
The corner of Maryland Ave and State Circle
The corner of Francis and Main Streets
Market Space

$4 million down, 1 to go

Maryland Hall has run 2 capital campaigns in the last 20 years. Not bad for an institution that serves 100,000 people a year. It’s now deep into its 3rd – appropriately called “Act III - Scene 1.” 🎭

The Hall needs to raise $5 million to install a new HVAC system and upgrade Bowen Theatre. So far it’s raised $3.9 million. Some donors like Jeffrey Harris & Joyce Pratt and Bill Seale & Marguerite Pelissier have given over $1 million!

Every donation moves the needle. Click here to push towards the final million.

P.S. Movers and Shakers where Publisher Ryan will face off against other community leaders in a charitable dance battle is less than a month away! Click here to learn more.

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#NAPTOWNSCOOP

📸 @mosiphine | 📍U.S. Naval Academy

Tag @NaptownScoop to get your photos in the Scoop!

LOCAL BUSINESS

Social media apartment developer hit with mechanic’s lien

Bethesda-based Bando Investment Group just hit another financial snag in its attempt to develop an 18-acre, 48-unit luxury apartment complex off Aris T. Allen Blvd. While 4 businesses have sued Bando for unpaid bills, Reliable Contracting is the one it owes the most – over $160,000.

A judge recently imposed a temporary mechanic’s lien of $161,605.60 on the property. A mechanic’s lien is a powerful tool for contractors that ensures they get paid. Whether or not it’s finalized depends on an April 2024 trial.

If the lien is enforced, Bando could be forced to sell the property to pay Reliable. There’s an option for Bando to buy a special insurance bond to release the lien. But given that Bando’s insurance company has sued them for almost $10k in unpaid premiums, that probably won’t happen.

Bando CEO Nelson Epega declined the Capital’s request for comment. Reliable’s attorney, Gregory R. Hislop, said he couldn’t comment but wished he could. ($)

Nothing in this section is sponsored. They're just the things you need to know. I'll always let you know when something's sponsored.

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WHAT’S HAPPENIN’

Weekend preview

Friday

Local by Design. Sip & shop through 3 warehouses of unique goods. 4–7 PM, 1818 Margaret Avenue or 1805 C & D Virginia Street.
SOFO Drive-In Movie Under the Stars. Watch Corpse Bride projected onto the wall of the Bay Bridge Shopping Center at dusk. Email to claim your car’s spot.
Annapolis Night Market. Hillman Garage is converted to part farmers market, part vintage market, and part art market. 4–9 PM, 150 Gorman Street.

Saturday

Kunta Kinte Heritage Festival. Check out the rescheduled 33rd annual celebration of the perseverance, education, and cultural heritage of Africans, African Americans, and Caribbean people of African descent. 10 AM–6:30 PM at City Dock.
Pumpkin Plunge / Trunk-or-Treat. This is a family-friendly swim event for 3+ (12:30 PM) followed by a trunk-or-treat in the parking lot (2 PM). Arundel Olympic Swim Center, register.
SOFO Fall Greenscape. Volunteers will weed and spruce up a bus stop. 9 AM–12 PM, 897 Bay Ridge Rd, Annapolis. Sign up.
The Free School 300th Family Fun Festival. Meet at Maryland’s oldest one-room schoolhouse for colonial-era refreshments, authentic arts and crafts, docent tours, and more. 1–4 PM, 1298 LaVall Drive Davidsonville.

Sunday

Jazz in the Garden. Enjoy music in Paca Garden from the Annapolis Jazz Collective. 3–5:30 PM, 186 Prince George Street, tickets.
Halloween Spooktacular! Join a family-friendly concert with spooky sounds from Londontowne Symphony Orchestra. 3 PM, 475 W Central Ave Davidsonville, tickets.

Save this Date: Excellence in Education Awards

All teachers deserve an A+ for doing a difficult, often underpaid, yet super important job. But some deserve a little extra credit. For the 38th time, the Excellence in Education Awards will celebrate outstanding AACPS educators and reveal the Teacher of the Year.

The nominees are already announced and semifinalists will be announced in December. It all goes down April 25 at Live! Arundel Mill. Tickets go on sale December 15. Keep your calendar clear, especially if you work in education. This is an awesome night to celebrate with your colleagues.

Nothing in this section is sponsored. They're just the things you need to know. I'll always let you know when something's sponsored.

CIVIL NEWS

City Council reevaluates how to help at Wilbourn Estates

Context: The federally subsidized apartments at Wilbourn Estates are in bad shape. Annapolis condemned a few of them recently because of mold. Residents of those apartments have been living in local hotels for weeks.

At Monday’s City Council meeting, the council withdrew a bill that would require landlords to pay for tenant relocation if their property was condemned as “unfit for human habitation.” It’s important to clarify that City Council wants to help, this bill just wasn’t the right way. If it passed, it may have conflicted with state law – giving landlords an easy argument when fighting it.

The council will hear an update from the firm that manages Wilbourn Estates, Pennsylvania-based Pennrose, next month. ($)

In other City Council business. . .

There may be hope for our parking app problem. If a newly introduced resolution passes, City Council will meet with Premium Parking to see how they can make things more user-friendly.

Another new resolution will place a temporary pause on issuing short-term rental licenses while the council considers how to close loopholes around the one property per licensee rule. ($)

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WEATHER

Thursday

74 🌡️ 61 | ⛅ | 5% | 💨 S 5 mph (4 knots)

Friday

76 🌡️ 61 | 🌥️ | 6% | 💨 SSW 7 mph (6 knots)

LIVE MUSIC LOWDOWN

Thursday

Friday

NAVY SPORTS

Army joins Navy in American Athletic Conference

As Navy Athletic Director Chet Gladchuk alluded to on our Anchors Aweigh Podcast last month, Army has joined the American Athletic Conference as a football-only member. And while Navy is also a football-only member, the teams won’t play a conference game during the regular season. This means nothing will change about the Army-Navy game.

Interestingly however, if Navy and Army managed to finish as the top 2 teams in the conference, they’ll play each other two weeks in a row – once for Army-Navy and once for the AAC championship. ($)

New Navy lacrosse coach

Taylor Pinzone has joined the Navy women's lacrosse coaching staff as an assistant coach. Taylor brings prior coaching experience with Cornell and Mass Elite Club in addition to a successful playing career at Arizona State and Northwestern. Welcome to Annapolis, Taylor!

Past results

Women’s Soccer (9-7-3)
10/25 vs. Lafayette | W 1–0

Upcoming games & matches

Men’s Hockey (2-5)
10/27 @ Lehigh University | 7:45 PM

Women's Rugby (2-4-1)
10/27 @ Army | 6 PM

Sprint Football (4-1)
10/27 @ Cornell | 7 PM

Women's Tennis
10/27 @ The Academy Challenge | 4 PM

Women's Volleyball (13-6)
10/27 @ Lafayette | 7 PM

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THANKS!

Thanks for reading Naptown Scoop today. If you found something useful, please share it with someone who works in television production.

Trivia answer: 1963. But it wasn’t an instant success. It was only used once in the game and wasn’t used again until a month later.

🍦Who's carving the pumpkins?

Army joins AAC, tenant relocation bill pulled, Excellence in Education awards...

THE DIGEST

Artists selected to carve the giant pumpkins

$4 million down, 1 to go

#NAPTOWNSCOOP

LOCAL BUSINESS

Social media apartment developer hit with mechanic’s lien

SPONSORED BY ANNE ARUNDEL UROLOGY

The most effective form of birth control

WHAT’S HAPPENIN’

Weekend preview

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Save this Date: Excellence in Education Awards

CIVIL NEWS

City Council reevaluates how to help at Wilbourn Estates

In other City Council business. . .

WEATHER

Thursday

Friday

LIVE MUSIC LOWDOWN

Thursday

Friday

NAVY SPORTS

Army joins Navy in American Athletic Conference

New Navy lacrosse coach

Past results

Upcoming games & matches

THANKS!