Cause of Wi-Middle HAZMAT Still Unknown

As reported earlier in SbyNEWS, Wicomico Middle School was dismissed early today due to a HAZMAT team being dispatched to school.  The exact nature and cause of the problem are still unknown.

Tracy Sahler, Public Information Officer for the Wicomico County Board of Education (WCBOE), confirmed that students were dismissed early today due to a potential hazard.

Three staff members reported not feeling well and left the school.  Staff were dispatched to Wi Middle to check on the situation but they did not find a measurable problem with the school’s air quality.

Later in the day, someone called 911 and the Salisbury Fire Department HAZMAT team was dispatched to the school.  They also tested the school’s air quality and undertook a search for any potential hazard.

Sahler noted that she had not received a formal report from the Fire Department; however, it was her understanding that the HAZMAT team found “an open container of Freon”.  At the present time the WCBOE does not know if this caused the three staff members to become ill.

Sahler stated that Board staff were continuing to work to find a cause (if one exists).

Pollsters: Debate Makes Herman Cain Overnight 'Star'

Atlanta talk-show host and businessman  Herman Cain stole the show in the GOP debate in Greenville, S.C., Thursday, and may have vaulted himself into the front tier of Republican candidates according to several pundits and observers.

“If you want the real headline today it would say, ‘A star is born,’” Matt Towery, the conservative syndicated columnist and CEO of the nonpartisan InsiderAdvantage polling firm, told Newsmax Friday.

Cain, he said, could be the come-from-behind candidate this season, like others have done in the past,  including former President Jimmy Carter, a relative unknown who won his party’s nomination anyway.

Towery’s evaluation seemed to mirror that of Fox News contributor and pollster Frank Luntz, who said a focus group’s reaction to Cain’s articulation of conservative principles was “unprecedented.”

Only one of the 29-member focus group initially was a Cain supporter. By evening’s end, however, the former CEO of Godfather’s Pizza, who also served as chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, had won an overwhelming majority among those on Luntz’s focus group.

“I have never had this kind of reaction until tonight,” said Luntz. “Something very special happened this evening.”


Read more on Newsmax

Don't Miss The Farmer's Market Starting Tomorrow

Nearly 100 Dogs, 7 Birds Seized From Brunswick Home

FREDERICK CO., Md. (WUSA) -- Nearly 100 dogs and 7 birds were taken by Frederick County Animal Control officers Thursday from a home in Brunswick.

Officials say the investigation began Wednesday after officers received an anonymous complaint of multiple dogs not being properly cared for at 108 East A Street.

Animal Control Director Harold Domer says officers initially were met with resistance as they attempted to enter the home, and once inside, they found the conditions to be "horrendous."

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Osama's Last Entry On His Facebook Page:

Osama:  BRB someone's at the door.

Salisbury Police Officer Wrecks Into Vehicle On West Main Street

A Salisbury Police Officer pulled out onto West Main Street and smacked into an oncoming car. I don't believe there are any injured people but you may want to stay clear of West Main Street for a little while as this just happened.

BREAKING NEWS: Wi Middle School Has Hazmat Situation

The Wi Middle School has been evacuated for a HAZMAT situation. We do not know what the situation is but Firefighters are just sitting around. We'll have an update and pictures shortly. We're told the CO Detectors were going off in the School, which would explain Firefighters just sitting around.

Detectives Seek Public’s Help In Locating Burglary Suspect

Suspect: Kendal A. Seth, 18, New Castle, DE (Black male, 5’05” tall, 200 lbs, black hair, brown eyes)

 

Charges: 36 total charges to include:

 

-Burglary 3^rd Degree

-Criminal Mischief

-Theft

-Wearing a Disguise during the Commission of a Felony

 

Locations and Dates of Occurrences: 

 

-Tybouts Liquors, 775 S. DuPont Highway, New Castle (Saturday, December 25, 2010 at 3:35 a.m.)

-Pike Creek Shell, 5821 Limestone Road, Hockessin, DE (Saturday, December 25, 2010 at 4:00 a.m.)

-Olympic Liquors, 1124 Capitol Trail, Newark, DE (Saturday, December 25, 2010 at 4:40 a.m.)

-Rambleton Discount Liquors, 135 Prangs Lane, New Castle, DE (Sunday, January 2, 2011 at 5:50 a.m.)

-Shore Stop, 706 N. Old Baltimore Pike, Newark, DE (Wednesday, January 5, 2011 at 3:10 a.m.)

-Pockets Liquors, 337 S. DuPont Highway, New Castle, DE (Wednesday, January 5, 2011 at 3:45 a.m.)

-Franks Pizzeria, 100 Jestan Blvd., New Castle, DE (Wednesday, January 5, 2011 at 4:00 a.m.)

-Liquor Zone, 1945 Capitol Trail, Newark, DE (Wednesday, January 5, 2011 at 4:46 a.m.)

 

Resume:

Newark- Delaware State Police burglary detectives are seeking the public’s help in locating Kendal A. Seth. Seth is wanted by the Delaware State Police for his participation in several burglaries that had occurred in New Castle County between December 25, 2010 and January 5, 2011.  

 

Detectives advised that Seth and several other subjects had made entry to several businesses by smashing the glass on either the windows or doors. Once inside the suspects removed cash from the registers, or the entire cash register from the business, and on one occasion, stole numerous lottery tickets. 

 

Detectives are asking anyone who may know the whereabouts of Kendal Seth to contact Troop 2 at 302-834-2630 ext. 211. Citizens may also provide a tip by texting keyword “DSP” plus your message to 274637 (CRIMES).  Tipsters may also provide information through lines maintained by Delaware Crime Stoppers at (800) TIP-3333. Callers can also submit information via the internet at http://www.tipsubmit.com/

Love Those Local Diesel Prices!

SALISBURY POLICE DEPARTMENT PRESS RELEASES

On May 5, 2011 at approximately 3:19 pm, Officers of the Salisbury Police received a call to respond to the Walmart Department Store on North Salisbury Boulevard for the report of a shoplifter. Upon arrival, the officers met with store security who advised the officers that store employees had observed the below listed suspect take clothing from the store without attempting to make payment. The clothing was recovered and returned to the store.

ARRESTED: Rachel Marie Jones, 33 years of age Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

CHARGES: Theft (under $ 100)

DISPOSITION: Released to Central Booking CC # 201100017205

On May 5, 2011 at approximately 3:07 pm, Officers of the Salisbury Police received a call to respond to the Sears Department Store at the Centre at Salisbury for the report of a shoplifter. Upon arrival the officers met with store security who advised that store employees had observed the below listed suspect take clothing from the store without making any attempts at payment. The property was recovered and returned to the store.

ARRESTED: Juvenile, 16 years of age Hurlock, Maryland

CHARGES: Theft (under $ 100)

DISPOSITION: Released to guardian CC # 201100017220

On May 5, 2011 at approximately 10:30 pm, Officers of the Salisbury Police Department received a call to respond to a residence on Cynthia Place for the report of disorderly subjects refusing to leave the area. Upon arrival the officers met with property management who advised that the below listed suspects were disorderly and refused to leave. The officers attempted several times to have the suspects leave the property without success.

ARRESTED #1: Robert Roland Bishoff, 23 years of age Salisbury, Maryland

ARRESTED #2: Jessica Rose Thompson, 21 years of age Salisbury, Maryland

CHARGES (Both): Trespassing

DISPOSITION: Both released to Central Booking CC # 201100017267

Caption This Photo

American Red Cross Lower Shore Press Release

Word of Life Church

Japan Disaster Relief Fund Donation

5 May 2011

The American Red Cross Lower Shore Chapter would like to thank the Word of Life Church in Fruitland, MD who raised $800.00 for Japan Disaster Relief effort.

BREAKING NEWS

40 People With Suspected Al Qaeda Links Arrested Near Bin Laden Compound in Pakistan

Higher Gas Prices Leading to More Stranded Drivers

Now that it's more expensive to fill up your gas tank than it is to take a family of six out to the movies, folks are trying to stretch that fuel dollar as thin as they possibly can. Unfortunately this has led to a jump in the number of stranded motorists in need of a few drops just to get them to the next gas station.
The Philadelphia Inquirer talked to the folks at AAA MidAtlantic, who say that the number of calls to help out-of-gas driver has gone up 20% since April 2010, and 10 to 15% since February alone.
READ MORE …

O’Malley Reaches Out For Help In Funding Road Projects

Maryland Business for Responsive Government is conducting a poll on attitudes about the gas tax on our Facebook page.  Please go to http://www.facebook.com/mbrg.fb?sk=wall and do two things.  First cast a vote on the poll and second please "like" our page.  By liking the page, you will get important information from MBRG, on the Maryland business environment in your Facebook news feed.  Help us get better circulation of MBRG's conservative free market approach to Maryland problems.   (If you are not familiar with Facebook, there is a button on the page that says "Like" that you click.)

By Ann Marimow

Gov. Martin O'Malley asked Maryland business leaders Wednesday night for help in boosting investment in the state's growing backlog of road and transit projects. The governor did not put forward a specific proposal for paying for such projects, but warned that neglecting the state's infrastructure would come at a cost.

"There are no easy choices. There is no 'easy button' to press," O'Malley said in his remarks to the Maryland Chamber of Commerce in a hotel ballroom near the BWI airport. "There is no simple or cost-free -- or even cost-neutral option."

O'Malley used his 20-minute speech to continue to try to build support for the possibility of addressing the state's transportation challenges this fall when lawmakers are expected to meet in a special session to redraw congressional district lines. A blue-ribbon commission has recommended raising an additional $800 million a year in transportation funding. Among the millions of dollars in projects the governor mentioned was the light rail Purple Line that would connect Bethesda and New Carrollton.

During the General Assembly session this year, the chamber's leaders were supportive of an unsuccessful legislative proposal to raise the state's 23.5-cent-per-gallon gas tax -- the largest source of revenue for Maryland's transportation trust fund. The gas tax was last raised in 1992.

But O'Malley suggested Wednesday that raising the gas tax alone would not go far enough, calling it a "declining revenue source" as new cars and trucks get better mileage, a greater number of workers telecommute and others turn to public transit. "What the fairest and best mix of [revenue] choices is, I can't tell you that right now," O'Malley said after his speech.

Raising the gas tax at a time when drivers are paying close to $4 a gallon would be a difficult political pitch.
In response to the governor's remarks at a transportation funding event last week, other business leaders spoke out against a possible increase in the gas tax.

"These are tough times. Gas is already over $4 a gallon and it is likely only going to go higher -- and that's without any state tax increase," said Kim Burns, president of the group Maryland Business for Responsive Government, co-chaired by former governor Marvin Mandel and Ellen R. Sauerbrey, a former GOP nominee for governor.

In a letter to state Comptroller Peter Franchot last week, O'Malley also floated the possibility of enhancing the state's ability to collect sales and use taxes from online purchases. The governor asked the comptroller to investigate "the severity of this 'loophole'" and cited an academic study that estimated Maryland loses more than $160 million in unpaid taxes from online sales.

Maryland businesses, he wrote, may be "unfairly disadvantaged by what amounts to an uneven playing field with their online competitors."

Interesting Article Just Sent To Me On Obama

Up until now, I had blown off most of the 'birther stuff' since Obama is the nominal president and ain't no removing him.

 But that was until a reader sent this amazing email to The Smoking Gun which includes (gasp!) source documentation on some serious inconsistencies:

 "As you all know, Donald Trump made a big deal about Obama's birth certificate. As of yesterday, the White House released the birth certificate.

 I will tell you right now that I had never given this "birther" issue any credit. I watched the hype and the crazies come out. I completely dismissed the entire matter altogether. In fact, it was not until the White House released the birth certificate that it gained my attention.

 I am a studious sort of guy, and I have plenty of time on my hands. So, I took a close look at this document. While I would have thought this issue would have been closed for good (and, got the crazies to crawl back into their holes), I found two extremely strange inconsistencies that merit some attention.

First of all, the birth certificate that the White House released lists Obama's birth as August 4, 1961. It also lists Barack Hussein Obama as his father. No big deal, right? At the time of Obama's birth, it also shows that his father is aged 25 years old, and that Obama's father was born in "Kenya, East Africa".

This wouldn't seem like anything of concern, except the fact that Kenya did not even exist until 1963, two whole years after Obama's birth, and 27 years after his father's birth. How could have Obama's father have been born in a country that did not yet exist? Up and until Kenya was formed in 1963, it was known as the "British East Africa Protectorate". But, this is not the only thing that I found that  does not jive.
The other item I looked into was the hospital that Obama was born in. On the birth certificate released by the White House, the listed place of birth is "Kapi'olani Maternity & Gynecological Hospital". This cannot be, because the hospital(s) in question in 1961 were called "KauiKeolani Children's Hospital" and "Kapi'olani Maternity Home", respectively. The name did not change to Kapi'olani Maternity & Gynecological Hospital until 1978, when these two hospitals merged. How can this particular name of the hospital be on a birth certificate dated 1961 if this name had not yet been applied to it until 1978?

Go ahead, look it up. I am not talking crazy talk, these are the facts. Like I said, I thought that this was a non-issue until the actual certificate was released. Now that it has been released, of course I had to look into it. I found these issues?

 Do you think the CIA, FBI, or other fed agency can create any kind of legal document, including a birth certificate???????????????

Bin Laden Killing: How The White House, Pentagon And CIA Botched The Storyline

From the very first moment the world learned that American forces had killed Al Qaeda leader Usama bin Laden, even the tiniest details from the momentous event have captivated the nation. Every single nugget of data has been the stuff of breaking news, handheld "alerts" and watercooler discussion, in a way the country has never previously witnessed.

No landmark event of the 20th century, from World Wars I and II to the Cuban missile crisis, from the moon landing to the fall of the Soviet Union – not even the attacks of September 11, 2001 -- have been as widely transmitted, reported on, written about, and talked about by as many people, across so many different platforms of communication, as the killing of bin Laden. Within days, it has become a singular event of the Information Age.

President Obama's decision to withhold the classified photographs and video associated with the mission has ironically served to deny this most modern of events one of the key ingredients present in virtually all other watershed news events in recent memory: pictures. We've had them from the Kennedy assassination and its Zapruder film to 9/11 and its camcorders. The Arab Spring comes via YouTube cell phone video, linked to from Twitter.

Indeed, in their sheer number of rate of disclosure, the details of the bin Laden mission have formed their own digital assault: They've poured forth virtually non-stop since the president finished speaking in the East Room of the White House, at 11:44 p.m. Eastern Time on Sunday night, May 1, nine minutes after he had begun.

The riotous cacophony of claims and counter-claims has emanated from official podiums and anonymous sources, reputable reporters and unknown websites, everything, it seems, equipped with a screen, a speaker, or a mouth. Yet so grandly cinematic is our collective vision of the heroism displayed by the U.S. Navy SEALs and intelligence operatives who pulled off this astonishing mission that we have hung on every word of their exploits. As TIME magazine's Michael Crowley tweeted on Tuesday: "Impossible to focus today: every 10 minutes some new fact comes along that would be the most interesting thing I've heard in a typical week."

The true irony is: From the first moments, a good number of the details about bin Laden's killing, on points large and small, have been wrong.

More

Fake bin Laden Links Spreading Malicious Software

(CNN) -- As news spread that the White House won't release photos of Osama bin Laden's body, federal authorities and security experts on Wednesday were urging Web users to be careful clicking on fake links claiming to offer images or video about his death.

Since the U.S.-led raid that killed bin Laden on Sunday, e-mail inboxes and social-media sites like Facebook have been flooded with bad links that, at best, are unwanted spam and, at worst, contain harmful computer viruses.

People in the cybersecurity industry aren't surprised. Big news events, as well as popular public figures (think Anna Kournikova and Justin Bieber) are often used as click bait for spammers and scammers.

"I suppose this was inevitable," Dave Marcus, head of security research for McAfee Labs, wrote in a blog post. "The reported death of Osama Bin Laden is just too good a lure for cybercriminals and scammers to pass up."

More

Yard Sales

CLICK HERE for the latest upcoming yard sales.

Happy Mother's Day!!!! Have a great weekend.

Michael’s Warns Customers of Possible Data Breach

If you've shopped at a Michaels big-box craft store recently and used a credit or debit card, keep an eye on your statements, especially if you shopped in the greater Chicago area. The chain notified customers on its e-mail list earlier today about a possible PIN pad breach in Chicago that may apply to other stores as well.

READ MORE …

Thank God Its Friday

What will you be doing this weekend?

Online Games?

Federal employees are discussing how online games could increase public engagement. On Govloop, feds are floating the idea of an online game to teach the public just how government employees do their jobs. The game would play on the idea of children's "Choose Your Own Adventure" books, where you go through scenarios and choose how to move forward. The game would allow you to become an adventurer through local or central democracy. The player has to navigate through the average week or month in that job role. North Carolina has a similar game - the Balance the Budget Challenge

Osama Planned On Derailing Trains

Osama Bin Laden had big ideas for more terrorist attacks on the United States. The al Qaida leader, shot dead Sunday in a U.S. attack on his hideout, left notes and computer files sketching his plans. Those materials were scooped up by Navy SEALs who carried out the raid. Bin Laden wanted to derail trains so they would fall off bridges. He hoped for attacks on the anniversary of 9/11 and on national holidays. Federal counterterrorism officials say there's no evidence the schemes got much beyond the dream stage.

Oil Price Drop (Should) Cut Drivers A Break

Oil prices plunged 10 percent to below $100 a barrel in New York on Thursday — the biggest drop since the 2008 financial crash — after a government report shook market confidence by showing a big jump in layoffs last week.

The collapse in oil prices couldn’t come at a better time for the economy and consumers — just as average gasoline prices were threatening to set records of more than $4 a gallon. The sudden drop is expected to ease pressure on pump prices in coming days.

Triggering the market crash — which affected stocks and commodities, from crude oil to silver and gold — was more evidence of diminished growth in the United States this year, caused in no small part by skyrocketing prices for fuel and food.

Layoffs have been on the rise, prompting a jump in new claims for unemployment benefits last week to an eight-month high of 474,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

Although temporary layoffs at Japanese-owned auto factories with parts shortages and other transitory developments likely influenced the number, jobless claims had already been on the rise to more than 400,000 in recent weeks after averaging fewer than 400,000 in the first three months of the year.

Andrew Gledhill, an economist at Moody's Analytics, called the unemployment news “disquieting,” although he and other economists expect jobless claims to fall back to less worrisome levels of fewer than 400,000 in coming weeks.

Moody's expects a report due Friday on April employment trends to show that job growth continued at healthy levels around 200,000 during the month.

Despite the steady job gains, “damage to the labor market over the last several years has been great,” Mr. Gledhill said. “There are 8 million unemployed workers; roughly half have been unemployed for greater than 26 weeks. … The labor market will take several years to recoup the losses suffered during the recession.”

The sobering job news had an explosive effect in commodities markets, where investors and speculators had bid up prices this year betting that more robust growth in the U.S. economy would help to send raw materials prices to record highs.

Premium crude oil prices, which had soared to more than $110 a barrel just in the last week, nose-dived Thursday by more than $10 to below $98.50 in New York trading. Other key commodities including corn, wheat and copper, which have been driving up consumer inflation, joined in the market downdraft.

More

For Obama Team, 'Transparency' Means Sneaking Off To A Coffee Shop

Many people take the promises of politicians with a grain of salt, and no wonder, since so many pledges are made solely to attract votes on Election Day, then swiftly forgotten. Still, government credibility ultimately rests on how faithfully our leaders do what they say they will do, especially on issues that go to fundamental democratic values like transparency and accountability.

This is an area in which President Obama made some particularly ambitious and welcome promises during his 2008 campaign, most notably that his administration would practice an unprecedented level of transparency and that lobbyists would not be welcome in his policymaking councils.

Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, held a hearing Wednesday to examine how well Obama has fulfilled those promises. Unfortunately, there is abundant evidence suggesting Obama's promises of transparency and accountability were made with little if any intention of actually keeping them.

Take the matter of who is visiting the White House, a key indicator of special-interest lobbyists' influence. Although Obama made much ado about releasing White House visitor logs in 2009, Stearns pointed to a Center for Public Integrity investigation showing that Obama fought their release tooth and nail:

» The new policy was adopted only after settlement of four protracted lawsuits against the government seeking such records. A federal judge repeatedly ruled that, contrary to Obama's claims, White House visitor logs are subject to release under the Freedom of Information Act.

» Even after the much-ballyhooed posting of logs on the White House website, only 1 percent of the more than 500,000 meetings held with visitors during the president's first eight months in office have been made public.

» Many of the entries that have been released do not reflect all the visitors and officials participating in the meetings.

» Approximately two-thirds of the 1 million names released to date were visitors on guided group tours who were not at the White House on official business.

» Thousands of people known to have attended meetings in the White House, including numerous lobbyists, are nowhere to be found in the logs.

Read more

Obama Must Challenge Utah Immigration Law

By Rep. Lamar Smith

Last year, the Obama administration sued Arizona over its law that was designed merely to assist the federal government in the enforcement of immigration laws.  To date, however, the administration has been silent on a new Utah law, even though it blatantly undermines federal immigration law.

The Utah immigration law creates a guest worker program for illegal immigrants who have lived or worked in the state before May 10, 2011.  Illegal immigrants who become guest workers can then obtain “immediate family” permits for their spouses or unmarried children under the age of 21 who are also illegal immigrants.

Unlike the Arizona law, the Utah immigration law is in direct violation of federal law.

Congress has the constitutional authority to determine immigration law, and has not been silent on the employment of illegal immigrants.  In fact, current federal law says it's unlawful for any employer to knowingly hire an illegal immigrant.  The law also requires employers to comply with an employment eligibility verification system to help ensure they hire a legal workforce.

The Obama administration’s silence regarding the Utah law stands in stark contrast to its early condemnation of the Arizona law that sought to enforce federal immigration law.  If the Obama administration wants a consistent immigration policy, then it needs to take action against the Utah law.

It would not be a stretch to conclude that the only immigration policy that the Obama administration favors is one that allows illegal immigrants to remain in the United States.  And it’s not just its silence on the Utah immigration law.

Though President Obama recognizes that jobs are a magnet for illegal immigration, his administration has ignored enforcement of immigration laws at the workplace.  Arrests of illegal immigrant workers are down 77% from 2008.  The administration’s policy?  If they conduct a paperwork audit of a company and find illegal immigrant workers, the workers are not arrested.  Instead, they are free to remain in the U.S. and take jobs from American workers someplace else.

Also, even though a number of states and localities are in violation of federal immigration law, the Obama administration has not taken action against any of them.

For example, the Obama administration has not sanctioned sanctuary cities, even though they willfully defy federal law by prohibiting their law enforcement officials from cooperating with the Department of Homeland Security.

The administration also has not taken action against states that give in-state college tuition to illegal immigrants, despite the fact that federal law prohibits this.

The Obama administration’s track record and continued silence on the Utah immigration law reflects its anti-enforcement agenda.  It is just one more piece of evidence that this government has no interest in enforcing our immigration laws.

Instead of basing its decisions on its own policy preferences, the Obama administration should fully enforce all immigration laws.  When immigration laws are enforced, illegal immigrants leave on their own, and wages go up for Americans and legal workers.

With millions of Americans looking for work, the administration needs to take legal action against Utah for its unconstitutional law that hurts American workers.


[Congressman Lamar Smith represents the 21st District of Texas. He is the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.]


(Source)

House Passes Ban On Abortion Funding

The House on Wednesday approved a permanent ban on federal funding of abortion despite opposition from Democrats who called the measure a “war on women.”

“This is the will of the American people and it ought to be the law of the land,” said House Speaker John Boehner (R.–Ohio).

The bill passed 251 to 175, with 235 Republicans and 16 Democrats voting in favor.  Boehner and other Republicans cited several polls, which they say show nearly 70% of Americans opposing public funding of abortion.

“It is morally wrong to take tax dollars for a procedure that is morally offensive,” said Rep. Mike Pence, (R.–Ind.).

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D.–Calif.) criticized Republicans for pursuing the legislation instead of a jobs program or ending subsidies to Big Oil.

Although President Obama twice voted against taxpayer-funded abortion in the District of Columbia when he served in the Senate, he is threatening to veto the legislation if it receives final passage in the Senate.


Here is more

Bank of America Adds New Checking Account Fees

Now that the regulatory heat is off on overdrafts, Bank of America is jumping back in with overdraft-related fees. They are also increasing the monthly fee and changing their requirements for avoiding it.

The monthly fee is going up from $8.95 to $12, and to get rid of it, you'll need to direct deposit at least $250 a month.

READ MORE …

NPR Hires Firm To Lobby For Its Taxpayer Funding

National Public Radio (NPR) is paying the lobbying firm Bracy, Tucker, Brown & Valanzano to defend its taxpayer funding stream in Congress, according to lobbying disclosure forms filed with the Secretary of the Senate. The taxpayer-funded radio network hired the firm in the second quarter of 2011 to work on issues regarding “funding for NPR and affiliate stations.”

It will remain unclear how much NPR is paying for these lobbying services until second quarter lobbying forms are filed. But before NPR hired the firm to represent it on funding issues, the network spent $131,666 in 2011’s first quarter on an in-house lobbyist.

NPR’s hiring of the lobbying firm comes in the wake of a public debate over whether the network should continue to receive taxpayer funds. Shortly after NPR was subjected to public humiliation due to the release of conservative Project Veritas’s sting videos, House Republicans voted to take away the network’s taxpayer funding in March. (The Senate, however, never passed a similar measure to defund NPR.)

In the Project Veritas videos, now-former NPR nonprofit foundation President Ron Schiller told people who he thought were representatives from a Muslim Brotherhood front group looking to donate $5 million to the network that NPR would be “better off” in the long term without taxpayer subsidies. He also attacked the Tea Party as racist and suggested that Jews control America’s newspapers.

NPR’s hiring of a lobbying firm to preserve its funding has riled some of the network’s critics.

“It’s astonishing that at [a] time we are looking to get a grip on out-of-control Washington spending, NPR is using hard earned tax dollars to pay for a lobbyist to extract more tax dollars,” Republican National Committee spokesman Sean Spicer said in an email to The Daily Caller.

Read more

Troopers On Scene Of Fatal Motor Vehicle Crash

Location: I-495 northbound near Philadelphia Pike, Claymont

Date of Occurrence: Friday, May 06, 2011 at approximately 8:55 a.m.

Resume:   

Claymont- The Delaware State Police are currently at the scene of a fatal motor vehicle crash that occurred a short time ago on I-495 in Claymont. Initial indication is that one person has died.

Northbound I-495 is closed in the area of the crash and commuters should find alternate routes around the scene.

More information will be released as it is received.

***UPDATED INFORMATION***

The right hand travel lane of I-495 northbound is open at the scene of the crash. The center and left hand lanes remain closed and the speed on I-495 has been reduced to 55 mph. Commuters should continue to find alternate means of travel around the accident scene.

 

***SECOND UPDATE***

 

I- 495 has been completely opened in both directions and the posted speed limit is again 65 mph. This crash remains under investigation at this time.

 

Released Friday, May 06, 2011 at 11:20 a.m.

Rep. McCarthy Introducing National Gun Control Legislation

A House bill that could drastically overhaul the nation’s gun control laws and strengthen federal power over states’ handling of individuals’ background checks is expected to be introduced by New York Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, The Daily Caller has learned.

McCarthy is expected to drop the Fix Gun Checks Act of 2011 — a  near-identical companion to that of fellow New Yorker Chuck Schumer’s Senate bill — according to sources familiar with the legislation
.
A draft of the bill obtained by TheDC makes clear that McCarthy’s legislation significantly mirrors Schumer’s much-publicized bill and would make three significant changes to current national gun laws. McCarthy’s proposed fixes include gun-control advocates’ long-sighted target in the national firearms debate — closing major “loopholes” of the milestone Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act.

Like its Senate companion, the House bill would also increase penalties for states that do not comply with the NICBC’s current requirements. States that do not make available the data needed to assess those who are or may be prohibited from possessing firearms could face reductions in the amount of federal crime-fighting funds they receive.

Another major provision of both bills focuses on the mental health issues of those seeking to possess firearms.
Apart from further defining and stipulating who qualifies as a “mental defective” both bills call for the development of mental health assessment plans for institutes for higher learning. Both bills would require federally funded colleges to develop a plan for the institutes to address risks posed by students who appear to need mental health help. Colleges must have a mental health “team” ready to assess potentially dangerous students as well as procedures in place for making voluntary and involuntary mental health referrals.

“Here we go again,” said National Rifle Association spokesman Alexander Arulanandam. “Rather than focusing her efforts on going after criminals [or] focusing her efforts on getting more information on ATF’s Fast and Furious program, [McCarthy is] opting to put more stringent regulations on law-abiding people.”

The NRA said that most criminals, especially the mental health cases like that of the Ft. Hood shooter Nidal Hasan and alleged Arizona gunman Jared Loughner make it through the cracks because current laws already in place are simply not being followed.

Read more

Worlds Largest Army ....

A blogger added up the deer license sales in just a handful of states and arrived at a striking conclusion:

There were over 600,000 hunters this season in the state of Wisconsin.

Allow me to restate that number.

Over the last several months, Wisconsin 's hunters became the eighth largest army in the world.

More men under arms than in Iran.

More than in France and Germany combined.

These men deployed to the woods of a single American state to hunt with firearms, and no one was killed.

That number pales in comparison to the 750,000 who hunted the woods of Pennsylvania and Michigan's 700,000 hunters, all of whom have now returned home.

Toss in a quarter million hunters in West Virginia and it literally establishes the fact that the hunters of those four states alone would comprise the largest army in the world.

The point?

America will forever be safe from foreign invasion with that kind of home-grown firepower.

Hunting -- it's not just a way to fill the freezer. It's a matter of national security.

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That's why all enemies, foreign and domestic, want to see us disarmed. Food for thought when next we consider gun control.

Al-Qaida Confirms bin Laden's Death

Terror network says America's 'happiness will turn to sadness'

BREAKING NEWS

 

CAIRO — Al-Qaida on Friday confirmed the killing of Osama bin Laden and warned of retaliation, saying Americans' "happiness will turn to sadness."

The confirmation came in an Internet statement posted on militant websites, signed by "the general leadership" of al-Qaida.

The announcement opens the way for the group to name a successor to bin Laden. His deputy Ayman al-Zawahri is now the most prominent figure in the group and is a very likely contender to take his place.

The statement, dated May 3, was the first by the terror network since bin Laden was killed Monday by U.S. commandos in a raid on his hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

The statement's authenticity could not be independently confirmed, but it was posted on websites where the group traditionally puts out its messages.

"We stress that the blood of the holy warrior sheik, Osama bin Laden, God bless him, is precious to us and to all Muslims and will no go in vain," the statement said. "We will remain, God willing, a curse chasing the Americans and their agents, following them outside and inside their countries."

"Soon, God willing, their happiness will turn to sadness," it said, "their blood will be mingled with their tears."

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Paul Craig Roberts: What Is The Agenda Behind The Bin Laden Fable?

The US government’s bin Laden story was so poorly crafted that it did not last 48 hours before being fundamentally altered. What agenda or agendas is the “death of bin Laden” designed to further?

Dr. Paul Craig Roberts is the father of Reaganomics and the former head of policy at the Department of Treasury.

"ONLY YOU CAN PROTECT YOUR PET FROM RABIES"

Wicomico County Health Department to Hold Rabies Clinic
(Salisbury, MD) The Wicomico County Health Department will be hosting a rabies vaccination clinic on Thursday, May 19

Pets must be brought by a responsible adult;
Dogs must me secured on a leash;
Cats must be in a carrier or box with air holes;
Only dogs and cats will be vaccinated;

Pet owners are encouraged to bring previous rabies vaccination records so that their animals may receive a 3 year vaccine. Otherwise, a 1 year vaccination will be given;
$10 per animal. Cash only. No Checks.

Maryland Law requires all dogs and cats older than four months to be currently vaccinated to protect them against rabies. The rabies virus is present in every county in Maryland and every year many pets in Maryland are needlessly euthanized due to exposure to suspected or confirmed rabid animals. Health Officials are urging residents to protect their pets and vaccinate them before it is too late. th at the Hebron Fire Department from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Residents interested in bringing their pets for vaccination should be aware of the following: Rabies vaccine is the best way for pet owners to protect the pets they love.
Vaccination is a simple, easy process. Don’t hesitate to vaccinate. Only you can protect your family and pets from the deadly rabies virus. For more information, please call the Wicomico County Health Department, Environmental Health Division at 410 546-4446 or visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website at http://www.cdc.gov/rabies/.
All animal bites or scratches should be reported to the Wicomico County Health Department at (410) 546-4446 during business hours and 410-543-6996 after hours.

Exxon Mobil Is The Most Profitable American Business By A Long Shot

This year's Fortune 500 list is out, and while Walmart's $421 billion in revenue may have beaten out Exxon Mobil's paltry $354 billion, the oil giant beat out Big W where it matters most, profits. According to Fortune, the crude colossus made a whopping $30.4 billion in profits last year, nearly double what Walmart made and over $10.5 billion more than the next most profitable company on the list.

More »

USPS Looks Overseas For Digital Modernization Ideas

The Government Accountability Office spoke with foreign countries about how they've modernized their mail systems and offered ideas to the U.S. Postal Service based on its findings. Phil Herr, director of physical infrastructure issues at GAO, talks some of the ideas USPS could implement here.  

Read Full Story

P&G Invents 48 Hour Day

This bottle of Crest Pro-Health says that it gives you 24-hour protection. Then it says that you should use it twice a day. So one swish protects you for a whole day, but just to be sure, you should swish twice.

from the Consumerist

Obama Administration Plans Corporate Tax Cut In Year Of Record Profits

As nationwide budget protests continue this week, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is prepared to unveil the Obama administration’s plan to lower the top corporate tax rate from the current 35 percent to less than 30 percent, andas low as 26 percent.

In order to pay for the cuts, the proposal calls for closing loopholes and slashing exemptions. Politico reports that Geithner has already begun meeting privately with CEOs, academics, labor unions, and liberal and conservative think tanks, and his aides say he is “encouraged by the response.”

Part of that optimism stems from the fact that Democrats and Republicans are both allies of the business world.

One top business lobbyist, speaking on condition of anonymity, said corporate tax reform should be “the easiest piece” of a complex fiscal bargain “because you have people in both parties in the business community.”

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A 'Partial Victory' For Baltimore's New State's Attorney

By Justin Fenton, The Sun (Baltimore)
After he campaigned on a slogan of "Fight Crime First," many expected that for his first case, Baltimore State's Attorney Gregg L. Bernstein would pursue a repeat offender who had slipped through the fingers of the previous regime. Perhaps a drug killing, or a case of witness intimidation.

 

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Offshore Drilling Bill Up For House Vote

A renewed push to drill off of Virginia's coast is expected to come up for a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives today.
The Restarting American Offshore Leasing Now Act would direct the secretary of the interior to conduct offshore off of the state's coast within one year of the bill's enactment.
It would also jump-start lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico but exclude any tract off Virginia that would conflict with military operations.
Virginia's lease sale was scheduled for this year but delayed until at least 2017 after the April 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the worst offshore spill in American history.
In an op-ed column to run today in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Gov. Bob McDonnell urges Congress to support the offshore leasing act and other upcoming measures addressing the country's
READ MORE …

Downtown Cropper Concrete Land Sold At Auction For $4.1M

OCEAN CITY -- The historic George B. Cropper Concrete Company property along the bay at North 1st Street, at the foot of the Route 50....

FULL STORY

City Tentatively Approves Increase In Taxi Fares

A determined Larry Bode of Casino Express Taxi has set his sights on a taxi fare increase for the industry, and he did not give up until the Ocean City Council agreed to his request. Previous requests for a fare increase made to the council and Police Commission were unsuccessful, and during Monday’s council meeting, Bode made one more plea.

Full Story

Berlin Accountant Charged With Thefts From Condo Associations.

(May 6, 2011) Criminal charges have been filed against a Berlin accountant accused of embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from condominium associations.

Full Story

Mitch Daniels in Baltimore and Still Not a Candidate

Mitch Daniels did not come to Baltimore on Tuesday to announce he was running for president, but the governor of Indiana also did not come to the Pikesville Hilton to say he wasn’t running for president.

“I’m not a candidate for anything yet,” Daniels told a small audience as he accepted the Governor Reagan Award from the Harbour League, a four-year-old Baltimore-based organization of free-market conservatives, which some in the audience of about 60 had never heard of before the event.

The governor said he was curious when he heard of the group and its founder, Eli Gold, who was “not to be deterred by the difficult politics of this state.”

Many in the small crowd were curious about Daniels too, and had first-hand experience of the difficult politics in Democratic Maryland. They included Dick Hug, ex-Gov. Bob Ehrlich’s chief fundraiser; Ehrlich’s primary challenger Brian Murphy; Ellen Sauerbrey, who came close to being elected governor in 1994; former congresswoman Helen Delich Bentley; and Congressman Andy Harris.

Daniels is in a way an anti-candidate. Slight of build, balding, plain spoken, with little rhetorical flourish, he has one of the deepest resumes of any of the Republicans mentioned as presidential contenders. He was a U.S. Senate staffer, an adviser to President Reagan, budget director for President George W. Bush, president of a pharmaceuticals division, and CEO of the Hudson Institute think tank. Hudson’s current president is a member of the Harbour League board, and helped Gold get Daniels to Baltimore.

Gold asked Daniels to recount his successes as Indiana governor, something Daniels said he is usually reluctant to do to an out-of-state audience. “It’s like showing them your home movies,” Daniels said.

Daniels’ reputation is built on his fiscally conservative policies that pulled Indiana out of deficits without tax increases, cut the size of government, and leased the state turnpike to a private company to gain $4 billion for other transportation projects. Overall, he reduced the size of government so that Indiana now has the lowest number of employees per capita in the nation.

“You’ll be amazed how much government you’ll never miss,” Daniels said.

READ MORE …

Canadians Get Their Own Version of FOXNews

Did the US Just Experience a Coup?

Since the announcement that US forces had killed Osama Bin Laden earlier this weekend in Pakistan, there has been a great deal of discussion as to what was President Barack Obama’s role in the decision to hunt down and kill Bin Laden.  There may be evidence that the United States has just undergone a coup.

Atlas Shrugs presents a concise outline reflecting much of this discussion:

• Did Obama sign off on the mission prior to Bin Laden’s death?
  
• Did current DCI Leon Panetta (and SecDef-designate), along with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, SecDef Robert Gates, and Obama confidant Bill Daly act on the matter WITHOUT actual presidential authority?

Given Obama’s record regarding terrorism and his past reluctance to take a definitive stance on any issue other than spending trillions of dollars on sundry government boondoggles, these are valid questions.

Bay Cleanup Still Faces Challenges

The Chesapeake Bay cleanup has gotten more aggressive in recent years, but it faces challenges from climate change to perhaps an overly optimistic public, a new report says.

The National Academy of Sciences, a respected nonprofit institution, issued the report Wednesday.

Bay improvements can lag cleanup efforts, the report said.

"If the public expects visible, tangible evidence of … improvements in fairly short order, they will almost certainly become frustrated," it said.

Despite cleanup efforts that date to the 1980s, the bay remains fouled by pollution from sources including farms, sewage treatment plants and suburban storm water runoff.

The current plan calls for putting measures in place by 2025 that should clean the bay.

The cleanup has become more aggressive in recent years, including the adoption of two-year milestones, or short-term goals, the report said.

READ MORE …

Feds Look to Unload Excess Property in Maryland

Hundreds of industrial buildings in Maryland owned by the federal government — from warehouses at the Antietam National Battlefield to a machine shop in Curtis Bay — would be sold or demolished under a White House initiative to dispose of excess government property.

In an effort to save billions of dollars annually in upkeep and energy costs on the often-vacant buildings, the Obama administration proposed last year ditching 14,000 properties the government no longer needs. A list of those properties released on Wednesday includes 320 in Maryland.

They include buildings at the Curtis Bay Depot, such as a 3,955-square-foot machine shop, nearly a dozen warehouses and other buildings at Antietam, 14 industrial buildings at the Aberdeen Proving Ground and excess family housing at Andrews Air Force base in Prince George's County.

Jeffrey Zients, a deputy director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, said the list represented the "tip of the iceberg."

READ MORE …

Delaware Re-Districting Hits Roadblock

Delaware lawmakers may not comply with a law they passed last year mandating that state prisoners be counted based on their last known addresses for purposes of drawing new legislative districts.

Currently, incarcerated Delaware residents are counted in the census based on their residence at a state prison or probation center. The census data used for reapportioning legislative districts also includes out-of-state prisoners.

Critics argue this unfairly spikes the population of towns with state correctional facilities.

"I just felt that it was unfair that people who are incarcerated were counted at the places where they were incarcerated at," said the bill's sponsor, Rep. Helene Keeley, D-Wilmington West.

But legislative leaders have run into a roadblock they claim they didn't foresee a year ago when the General Assembly passed the law with little dissent or discussion.

Maptitude, the computer software used to redraw House and Senate district boundaries, won't allow the prison populations to be easily split up, said House Majority Leader Pete Schwartzkopf, D-Rehoboth Beach.

READ MORE ….

Huckabee Helps MD GOP Raise Money

Potential Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee said he still doesn’t know if he will run for president, but he wasted little time Wednesday at a state Republican Party fundraiser in Montgomery County practicing a stump speech, and some comedy, in front of an enthusiastic crowd of about 100.

“Maryland is kind of like Arkansas, there aren’t that many Republicans willing to come out in daylight,” the jovial former Arkansas governor said at a North Potomac home.  Huckabee is one of several possible high profile presidential contenders who have yet to declare against President Obama in the 2012 election.

Some of Maryland’s top GOP brass attended the event that is expected to bring in between $15,000 and $20,000 for the state Republican Party, according to Maryland GOP spokesman Ryan Mahoney.  Present were Maryland GOP Chairman Alex Mooney, who introduced Huckabee; Anne Arundel County Executive John Leopold; Harford County Executive  David Craig; and former Maryland GOP Chairwoman, Audrey Scott.

Former 8^th Congressional District candidate Mike Philips confirmed he will run against Democratic Congressman Chris Van Hollen again in 2012. Former 2010 gubernatorial candidate Brian Murphy said the gubernatorial race was “a long way away,”  but in the meantime, Murphy said he has found a candidate to seriously challenge first-term U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D), who is up for reelection in 2012, although Murphy wasn’t willing to share the person’s name.

READ MORE …

More Scare Tactics to Stop Energy Exploration

Enviro-lefties don’t want the US to produce more energy domestically.  No, they simply want Americans to reduce their overall standard of living, pay $10 / gallon for gasoline, and ride our bicycles to work.

With the discovery of the Marcellus Shale in the Mid-Atlantic portion of the Appalachian mountains, America could move a long way to energy independence.  Oh my!  What to do?

Simple.  Scare the tar out of us by implying that our water supply will literally burst into flame.

 

CAN YOU DO THIS WITH YOUR TAP WATER? from JOSHFOX on Vimeo.

This little ditty came to us courtesy of the Consumerist.  We use this site on a regular basis to provide SbyNEWS’s readers with interesting items that affect their daily lives.  We know that the Consumerist takes a leftward slant on many issues, but this one was a bit too much.

Archbishop of Canterbury Criticizes Killing of Osama Bin Laden

Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, (that’s right, the same guy who just presided over the “royal wedding”) has come out criticizing the killing of Osama Bin Laden.  He is the only major religious figure to date to criticize the US action.

Killing bin Laden when he was not carrying a weapon meant that justice could not be “seen to be done”, the Archbishop suggested.

Williams, the titular head of the worldwide Anglican Communion has chosen to take the American government to task for the killing of a terrorist responsible for the deaths of thousands (tens of thousands?) of innocent civilians.  Interestingly, he has to date lacked the backbone to stand-up to people such as the Rt. Rev. Katherine Jeffers Schori, the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church (the US province of the Anglican Communion) who have all but destroyed the Anglican Communion in the developed world thanks to their extreme leftist views of Christianity.

With all respect to His Grace, Archbishop Williams should worry more about matters spiritual and leave matters temporal to those with a spine and a little common sense.