New Sex Offender Bills Could Fail This Monday

Ladies & Gentlemen, Salisbury News is reaching out to every single one of our viewers and asking for your help. Below is a list of contacts we need each and every one of you to please take the time and write your Senators. Here's what's going on.

Bill 622 is asking for a minimum sentence of 20 years. Bill 254 is asking for a minimum sentence of 15 years. Here's the catch 99% of you are unaware of.

Senator Brian Frosh is stating it's ALL or nothing. In other words, either the majority vote for the 20 years or the bill completely drops.

Senator Joe Valario is stating on Bill 254, either the minimum stays at 15 years or the Bill completely drops.

Now, there's a very good chance Bill 254 will in fact pass with the minimum of 15 years but there's a very good chance Bill 622 does not have the support with a minimum 20 year sentence. Mind you, Delegates are fine if the Bill passes with a minimum of 15 years instead of 20, (right now it's a minimum of 5 years, so 15 is OK. HOWEVER, because Frosh is saying 20 years or nothing, if everyone isn't on their toes before Monday and IF you and I do not make contact by this weekend, ALL of these Bills could completely drop and NOTHING will be accomplished.

I have been on top of this since yesterday and one thing I can assure you of is, the other Senators who were NOT aware of Frosh and Valario's position are now aware and are doing their best to look into any and all avenues to keep these Bills alive.

Your help is needed Folks. In the name of Sarah Foxwell, PLEASE, take the time this weekend to ask these Senators to please reconsider and change Bill 622 to 15 years and pass this new legislation.

As many of you know, I have been trying to stay on top of ALL of these Bills and this is it Folks. If we do not make contact, if the word does not get spread to every single person you know and the thousands of people who were there Christmas Day searching for Sarah Foxwell, seriously Folks, these Bills could just disappear.

We've gone the extra mile to provide you all of the contact names we feel need to hear from you. The Senate is on the floor today and they will get your message. President of the Senate Mike Miller felt it was more important to go to Opening Day with the Orioles yesterday and called the Senate back into session today. So please take the time to write our Senators and demand they pass these Bills.

brian.frosh@senate.state.md.us (410) 841-3124
lisa.gladden@senate.state.md.us (410) 841-3697
jennie.forehand@senate.state.md.us (410) 841-3134
larry.haines@senate.state.md.us (410) 841-3683
nancy.jacobs@senate.state.md.us (410) 841-3158
alex.mooney@senate.state.md.us (410) 841-3575
anthony.muse@senate.state.md.us (410) 841-3092
jamie.raskin@senate.state.md.us (410) 841-3634
bryan.simonaire@senate.state.md.us (410) 841-3658
norman.stone@senate.state.md.us (410) 841-3587

Breaking News: Fruitland Town Manager John McDonnell Resigns

While a formal announcement is expected to be made this coming Tuesday at the regularly scheduled Council Meeting, Salisbury News has confirmed, John McDonnell is out.

The formal announcement will state that Mr. McDonnell resigned and while this may be true, Salisbury News has come to learn that enough Council Members pretty much said you either resign or you'll be fired.

John McDonnell was the former Mayor of Delmar and took on the Town Manager position a few years ago in Fruitland. The position is quite different than being Mayor and from what we have come to learn Mr. McDonnell simply didn't follow the rules as expected by Council.

This was the same position current County Executive Rick Pollitt held for many yeas in Fruitland and after speaking to several residents of Fruitland they're torn between Rick's current status as County Executive and scared to death he may return to Fruitland, should he lose this election as County Executive.

I've been told, I don't want Rick as County Executive but we sure as heck don't want him back in Fruitland either.

My guess is that you won't read about this anywhere else for several days, if at all.

HISTORICAL COMMENTS BY GEORGE CHEVALLIER

Canning house tokens of H. B. Kennerly & Son

NANTICOKE, MARYLAND

These tokens were used to pay the workers in the canneries years ago. They began using tokens for payment in the 1860’s and continued up into the 1950’s. These particular tokens were used beginning in 1941, which was after the government banned the use of tokens due to the unsanitary conditions caused by using them. The last year they were legal to use was 1937 or 1938. Many canners said they stopped using them because in the 1940’s, the going rate for skinning a bucket of tomatoes was five cents and they could just use nickels and not have the expense of buying tokens. The value of each token to the worker was either three or four cents prior to this. This pay rate lasted from the 1890’s up to about 1940. However, H. B. Kennerly, Jr. told me that he recalled they paid $.20 for each token. When I told him that seemed like a large amount since a good skinner could skin 100 buckets in a day and that $20.00 was a lot of money in 1941, he said that very few people could hit the 100 bucket mark. He also indicated that their bucket held four times what a regular 16 quart bucket held. This would make it five cents for a regular 16 quart bucket, the going rate at the time. This would also make for a very heavy bucket.

One token was issued for every 16 quart bucket of tomatoes the worker skinned up into the 1940’s. The tomatoes were first subjected to a “lye bath”, which loosened the skin and made removing the core with a “coring knife” easier. Many workers were employed by more than one cannery, working at one in the morning and going to another in the afternoon. They could generally skin about one hundred buckets a day. This was good money for the time, but they earned every penny of it. The tokens were turned in for cash from the canner at the end of the week. Many times the canner had a small general store in the area and would take the tokens as payment. Sometimes other stores in the area would accept a canner’s tokens for payment.

Even though the Kennerlys made a name for themselves later in the oyster business, these tokens were never used for that purpose. Many are sold today as “oyster shucking tokens”, but they were never used for that purpose. These are tomato tokens. Generally, oyster tokens command a higher price than tomato tokens because there were fewer oyster houses.

These are a very common token and if anyone wants one, I will gladly give them one. I obtained every one Mr. Kennerly had (about 4,000). There were four distinct strikings of the Kennerly tokens. They are pictured above and described below in the order they are pictured:

TYPE I TYPE II TYPE III TYPE IV

(large “1”) (large “1” w/hole) (small “1”) ( small “ & “ )