When Bill Murphy organized a toy drive for kids this holiday season in St. Michaels, he couldn’t have predicted that a Talbot County resident with ties to a big-name toy corporation would deliver him a truckload of trinkets worth thousands of dollars. stardem.com/news/local_new…

The tents set up outside University of Maryland Shore Medical Center at Easton to house COVID-19 patients are effectively unusable, according to a spokesperson for the regional hospital system, because the hospital lacks the personnel to staff them. stardem.com/news/local_new…

A Talbot County district judge handed Curtis Caldwell one year of home detention Tuesday after Caldwell pleaded guilty to groping a woman while she was shopping at Weis Markets in Easton in August. stardem.com/news/crime/man…

Talbot Circuit Judge Stephen Kehoe declined to recuse himself from future proceedings in the reopened 2001 murder-burglary case against Jonathan Smith — nixing the defense’s motion for him to do so based on claims that Kehoe favors the prosecution. stardem.com/news/crime/jud…

Talbot County health officials say their ability to sustain comprehensive COVID-19 mitigation past December hinges on their receiving more federal relief dollars, which despite months long on-and-off negotiations in Washington, has yet to be approved. stardem.com/news/local_new…

University of Maryland Shore Regional Health received fewer than 100 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday and vaccinated 15 of its hospitals' frontline workers across the Mid-Shore Wednesday morning. stardem.com/news/local_new…

When the local health department shut down Carpenter Street Saloon the weekend before Christmas because of a COVID-19 violation, the bar’s employees lost their last chance to make money for the holiday. The bar’s owner had their backs. stardem.com/news/local_new…

Talbot County Public Schools will reopen classrooms to special population student groups on Jan. 4, but will start the new year with most students learning virtually because of COVID-19. stardem.com/news/local_new…

University of Maryland Shore Regional Health is seeing more patients with COVID-19 after the holidays than it has seen since the pandemic began. The system says the rise was expected but has prompted a flexible response. stardem.com/news/local_new…

Talbot County is the second-most vaccinated jurisdiction in Maryland just behind Garrett County, the state health department reported Monday, with vaccine already dosed to more than 2,400 residents. stardem.com/emergency_noti…

President Donald Trump's supporters had overrun police officers to enter the Capitol. They were closing in on the Senate chamber when U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin watched Vice President Mike Pence get "whisked away" from the floor by his security detail.  stardem.com/news/local_new…

Trial for the Virginia man accused of doing donuts on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge last year was postponed for the man’s recently-entered attorney to further review the evidence. New trial date is Feb. 8. stardem.com/news/crime/tri…

After spending two decades behind bars for a stabbing murder he maintains he did not commit, David Faulkner has been released to house arrest and will await his retrial from the comfort of his parents' home in Ridgely. stardem.com/emergency_noti…

David Faulkner was freed Wednesday after the state decided not to retry him for Adeline Wilford’s 1987 stabbing murder of which he was convicted and served 20 years of a life sentence. stardem.com/emergency_noti…

For the three Wilford siblings, who lost their mother Adeline Wilford in a brutal murder more than 30 years ago in Easton, the wounds of their family’s tragedy never fully healed. stardem.com/emergency_noti…

The Talbot County Council has floated the idea of erecting a unity statue to represent both sides of the Civil War instead of removing the Confederate Talbot Boys monument, and residents are split on the idea. stardem.com/emergency_noti…

An Easton man was arrested Wednesday in connection with the murder of his 91-year-old neighbor, who police found dead Tuesday evening following what they suspect was a struggle with a burglar. stardem.com/emergency_noti…

The Virginia man accused of doing donuts on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge last year will spend a weekend in jail after he pleaded guilty on Monday to disturbing the peace and reckless driving. stardem.com/emergency_noti…

Jonathan Smith, who is awaiting retrial for charges related to the 1987 murder of Adeline Wilford in Easton, was denied bond on Tuesday. stardem.com/emergency_noti…

Nearly all of the state delegates who represent the five Mid-Shore counties voted against a bill that would mandate public schools to stock student bathrooms with free feminine hygiene products. stardem.com/news/local_new…