Wye Mills
Wye Mills, MD · Events
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The Star Democrat
FAA ground stop affecting national and local travel
EASTON — A nationwide ground stop has had a limited impact on Easton Airport so far, but charter flights bringing visitors to this weekend’s Waterfowl Festival could be delayed or unable to make the trip, airport Manager Micah Risher said Friday. Risher said information communicated to the airport indicated that flights operating under instrument flight rules, including airline and charter operations, were grounded. Flights operating under visual flight rules were still able to operate, he said. Those flights at Easton typically involve smaller aircraft flying at lower altitudes over shorter distances, Risher said. He said the problem appeared to involve communications between air traffic control centers handling higher-altitude flights. When asked about the nature of the disruption or what had caused it, Risher said he couldn’t speculate. According to reporting by the Associated Press, the Federal Aviation Administration grounded flights nationwide Friday afternoon because of communications problems at regional air traffic control centers. The FAA notice said the ground stop was imposed “due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety.” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the communications issue affected the 22 regional air traffic control centers that guide aircraft between airports. FAA technicians were investigating. It was the first
talbotspy.org
The Star Democrat
Veterans honored at Easton Elementary
EASTON — The veterans waited in the hallway. One at a time they were announced by branch, rank and name, and one at a time a fifth grader walked each of them to a front-row table: a grandchild, a niece, a stepchild. Six relatives of Easton Elementary School students were honored that way at the school’s Veterans Day program, which for the first time asked fifth graders to invite the veterans in their own families. “These kids were so proud to have their grandparents and moms and dads join us,” said Michelle Mackall, the fifth grade teacher who led the event for the school. For years the program was a panel of local veterans talking to students. Michael Feehley, chairman of the veterans affairs committee at the Easton Elks Lodge, who has long organized the visit, said he wanted the children to do more than listen. He asked three principals, he said, before one agreed. When he asked Mackall whether students could bring in veterans of their own, her answer was short: “I’m on it.” This year about 160 fifth graders wrote poems, drew pictures, wrote questions and, in a first for the grade, sang. ‘Who can tell me what