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The County Times
Local News
Thursday, August 3, 2017
From The Publisher
Al Dailey Joins County Times A Team of Experienced Professionals Newspapers as General Manager
Thomas F. McKay, Publisher
How time flies, it has been 10 years and nine months since the very first edition of The County Times hit the newsstands in St. Mary’s County. The journey has been filled with challenges, yet our thousands of dedicated readers and many successful advertisers have made this journey possible. Today, we are the only locally owned and operated newspaper serving St. Mary’s and Calvert counties. Over the years our goal has been to provide our communities with the most consistent and honest news coverage available. We have been fortunate to have a dedicated team of reporters, designers, marketing representatives, and service members to assure we deliver the best product we can week after week.
With the announcement this week of industry and community veteran Al Dailey joining our team as General Manager, The County Times reaches the pinnacle of its 10 year history and is ready to begin the next phase of our journey. Mr. Dailey brings to our organization the experience, leadership qualities, and a commitment to professional journalism in Southern Maryland that has earned him the respect and admiration of readers and businesses throughout St. Mary’s and Calvert counties. We could not be more excited and proud to have Mr. Dailey working with our team of professionals to assure we are the community news source that St. Mary’s and Calvert county residents are proud to call their community newspaper. Mr. Dailey joins a team rich in talent with many years of commitment to the Southern Maryland community. Along with Mr. Dailey, our leadership team includes Eric McKay, Associate Publisher, Dick Myers, Editor, Guy Leonard, lead Journalist, and Jen Stotler, Marketing Manager. We are also delighted to welcome Sallie Keys to the graphics design team. Sallie brings many years of creative design to our organization. We are excited to have Ms. Keys’ talents available as she works to provide our readers and advertisers with a product that is creative, exciting, yet easy to read. We are proud of our first ten years, yet are more excited than ever as we look forward to the next ten years. We are confident that your community newspaper is building the best team in the business to serve our friends and neighbors.
By Dick Myers Editor
Al Dailey, General Manager
Al Dailey, who has 32 years of Southern Maryland media experience, has joined The County Times newspapers in St. Mary’s and Calvert counties as General Manager. That experience includes 17 years as Associate Publisher of the Enterprise Newspaper, from 1999 to 2016. With the Enterprise, Dailey worked closely with the business community in St. Mary’s and Calvert counties. He was active with the St. Mary’s County Chamber of Commerce, having served on the board and being responsible for that organization’s poplar annual membership directory. “I have admired the McKay family businesses for years from a distance,” Dailey said. “It is tough to compete against the
big boxes, but the McKay’s have done it successfully.” The County Times was founded by James Manning McKay, who started the family grocery business along with his wife Marilyn. McKay’s son Tommy now serves as president of the family business and he and grandson Eric serve as publisher and associate publisher of the newspapers. Dailey vividly remembers the Chamber of Commerce annual meeting at the former Evans Seafood on St. George’s Island at which James Manning McKay was honored as businessperson of the year. Dailey is excited about the community newspaper business, which he describes as being a “hyper-local” media. “People want to know what is happening in their backyards,” he said. He added that because of that, community newspapers are doing better than daily newspapers, which also have the added burden of the costs of daily distribution. Dailey’s first job in Southern Maryland was as a weekend fill-in disk jockey at WPTX-AM in Lexington Park. He quickly moved into the morning announcer role at its sister station, WMDM-FM when local legend, the late Gary Beavin left to work for the then Bell Motor Company. Dailey moved to an Annapolis station for a few years and then returned to WPTX/ WMDM as general manager. He explained that he spent most of the 1980’s in the radio business and most of the 1990’s as general manager and partner of Cable Channel 10 in St. Mary’s County. Dailey is especially happy to be back in the area where he has worked so long and knows so many people. He started at the County Times newspapers as general manager on July 31. dickmyers@contytimes.net
MDOT SHA Invests More Than $30 Million in Improving Southern Maryland Roadways The Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration (MDOT SHA) is resurfacing roads in Calvert, Charles and St. Mary’s counties. The approximately $32.2 million in resurfacing projects will be completed over the next two years, weather permitting. Crews will patch, mill (remove the top layer of pavement), pave and restripe the roads. MDOT SHA will work on the following roads: Calvert County ($10.4 million*): • MD 760 (Rousby Hall Road) between MD 765 (H.G. Truman Road) and the roundabout at Olivet Road/Southern Connector Boulevard (1.2 miles); • MD 765 (Mount Harmony Lane) between MD 2 (Solomons Island Road) and Little Tree Lane (1 mile); and • MD 778 (Old Solomons Island Road) between MD 2 and the Anne Arundel County line (1 mile). MDOT SHA’s contractor is Aggregate Industries of Greenbelt. *Additional roads are being evaluated for resurfacing
and will be added to the list early next year as part of this contract. Charles County ($10.9 million): • MD 257 (Rock Point Road) between Cobb Island Road and Swan Point Road (1.6 miles); • Southbound MD 5 (Leonardtown Road) between Gallent Green Road and MD 488 (La Plata Road) (3.5 miles); • Northbound MD 5 (Leonardtown Road) between Gallent Green Road and Pine Tree Place (one-half mile); • MD 6 (Port Tobacco Road) between Annapolis Woods Road and Chicamuxen Road (5.3 miles); and • Westbound MD 228 (Berry Road) between Middletown Road and Western Parkway (2.5 miles). MDOT SHA’s contractor is F.O. Day, Inc. of Rockville. St. Mary’s County ($10.9 million) • MD 242 (Colton Point Road) between MD 234 (Budds Creek Road) and MD 5 (Point Lookout Road) (4 miles); • MD 249 (Piney Point Road) between Piney Point and Oliver Drive (4.7 miles); • MD 472 (North Sandgates Road) between MD 235
(Three Notch Road) and Allison Drive (2.5 miles); and • MD 520 (Whites Neck Road) between Gibson Road and MD 239 (Bushwood Wharf Road) (2.6 miles). MDOT SHA’s contractor is Aggregate Industries of Greenbelt. Crews may need to close one lane and control traffic with flaggers Mondays through Fridays between 9 a.m. and 5 a.m. and Sundays through Friday mornings between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m. Motorists are encouraged to add extra travel time during work hours. The e-Road Ready 2017 electronic construction brochure is now available. The e-brochure highlights major road construction and maintenance projects in Maryland’s 23 counties. Stay alert and look for reduced speed limits, narrow driving lanes and highway workers. Slow down and don’t follow too closely. Work Zone Safety is in Your Hands. Maryland drivers can also know before they go by calling 511 or visiting www.md511.org for live traffic updates. From SHA