DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
According to the Maryland State Board of Elections, the petition drive to put the “MD DREAM Act” to referendum has cleared its first hurdle.
The group, led by Del. Neal Parrott (R-2B), needed 18,577 signatures turned in by May 31 to clear the first hurdle. As of this evening, 31,016 signatures have been validated.
A total of 55,736 valid signatures will be needed by June 30.
This afternoon the Somerset County Commissioners unanimously passed their general fund and roads budgets for FY2012. The general fund budget for FY2012 is $36.2 million. The roads budget for FY 2012 is $5.4 million.
For FY2011, the general fund budget was $46.0 million. Gene Adkins, Somerset County Finance Director, explained that Somerset County, unlike Wicomico County, does not have a separate capital budget. All capital expenditures are part of either the general fund budget or the roads budget. Because of this, the general fund budget may swing significantly from year to year.
A potentially divisive Democratic primary between Del. Joseph D. Morrissey, D-Henrico, and state Sen. Henry L. Marsh III, D-Richmond, was avoided Monday when Morrissey said he will run for re-election to the House rather than take on Marsh.
Morrissey made it clear that he had wanted to run for the Senate because he is frustrated with being in the minority in the House of Delegates.
"The question was not could I win, but at what cost," he told a news conference in his office at the General Assembly Building.
"Whilst I believe I could win the seat of the 16th state Senate district, I do not want to create any divisiveness in the party at a time when the General Assembly is running for re-election, especially when there is a very important election next year," Morrissey said.
Just south of the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal, the Lea Eara Farms and Summit Farms subdivisions are interconnected neighborhoods -- sharing an entrance road off Del. 896 and a maintenance corporation.
Under a proposed redrawing of state House district boundaries, the two communities would be split into separate districts. Summit Farms would remain in the 9th District, while Lea Eara Farms would be added to the 8th District.
Coincidentally or not, Democratic Rep. Rebecca Walker's Republican opponent in the 2010 election will no longer be living in her 9th District next year if the House Democrats' plan is approved as drawn.
"There's no doubt that they played the political game there and wanted to block me out to run again because the race was so close," said John Marino, who lost the 2010 contest to Walker by 282 votes.
Throughout the maps proposed by Democrats who control massive majorities in the Delaware House and Senate, there are examples of former political opponents being drawn out of the district of an incumbent they once faced on the ballot.
Former House Speaker Terry Spence was drawn out of the 18th District, a seat he lost in 2008 to Rep. Michael Barbieri and again in 2010 in a failed comeback.
A 24-year-old sheriff's deputy has died after being shot during a gun battle at the end of a six-hour standoff at a house in central New York.
Oneida County Sheriff Robert Maciol (MAY'-shuhl) says Tuesday that Deputy Kurt Wyman was shot once with a shotgun by 40-year-old Christian Patterson as officers tried to take him into custody around 2 a.m.
Wyman died after being rushed to a Utica hospital. Maciol says three other offices returned fire and hit Patterson several times. He is in critical condition at the same hospital and will be charged with aggravated murder.
Deputies were called to Patterson's home around 8 p.m. Monday after his live-in girlfriend called 911 and reported he was threatening to kill her and himself.
Maciol says the officers rushed Patterson six hours later when he indicated he was going to harm himself.
from the Associate Press and FOXNews
Deputy Wyman's widow is pregnant with their second child. - Ed.
CLOVIS, N.M. -- A jailhouse fight over a personal music player ended after a New Mexico inmate had part of his ear bitten off.
The Clovis News Journal reports that two inmates were fighting over an MP3 player Friday night at a Curry County jail. Undersheriff Wesley Waller says the scuffle ended when one of the inmates bit off a portion of the other's ear.
He says each inmate now faces charges from the argument.
Inmates are allowed to have approved MP3 players brought in by their families.
from the Associated Press and FOXNews
You know what they say – If you can’t do the time … – Ed.
WENATCHEE, Wash.-- A man who was knocked unconscious while trying to help the driver of a disabled van in Wenatchee has died of his injury.
The Wenatchee World reports 53-year-old Jose Guadalupe Garcia of East Wenatchee died Friday at a hospital.
Police say he was punched in the face Thursday night , fell to the ground, and hit his head. Police say the driver of the disabled van also assaulted an officer who arrived at the scene.
The motive for the assaults is unknown.
The suspect, 49-year-old Juan Gonzalez of Wenatchee, was jailed for investigation of assault, resisting arrest and attempting to disarm an officer. With the death he could be facing more-serious charges.
A WICOMICO SAGA
Upon being elected to his first term as the County Executive, Rick Pollitt appointed Mr. Shea – who until then was the County’s chief administrative officer, a position previously appointed by the Council – to essentially the same position as the “Director of Administration” of the County government. At the time Mr. Pollitt said that Shea would remain in that position until July 1, 2007, when he planned to retire. Unless you’ve been living under a rock since then, you probably know that Mr. Shea has continued in that position, in which he receives a 6-figure annual salary, and has decided to take the special early retirement deal that Pollitt recently instituted, with Council approval, under which a monetary incentive is provided to those who choose to retire.
Why Mr. Shea did not retire as planned when Rick Pollitt was first elected has not been formally stated, but by not doing so Shay has received pay and benefits that approach if not exceed one-half million dollars as a member of Pollitt’s staff. Now he will get a special “kicker” to retire “early” some four years after he planned to do so.
Shortly after his planned retirement in mid-2007, Mr. Shea was in the news in the context of Mr. Pollitt’s midnight “bonus” for certain department heads and – you guessed it – Mr. Shea. Soon after passing the County’s budget for FY 2008, the Council became aware that it included a special reward for Mr. Shea and four department heads and demanded an explanation. It seems that after the Council had cut certain items from the budget proposed by Pollitt, Mr. Shea suggested to him that those department heads should receive a bonus for their exemplary job performance as a “supplemental budget.” Pollitt, who had been in office less than a year at that time, both agreed and expanded the package to include Shea among the chosen few.
Apparently the bonus package got into the adopted budget without the knowledge of the Council due to silence – the “public information officer,” who was not among the bonus designees, did not do a press release about special monetary reward by Pollitt. The midnight bonus episode set the tenor of subsequent dealings between Pollitt and the Council. Several members felt that they had been duped by him and Shea, who has served as Pollitt’s representative in dealing with the Council. Getting timely and complete information from Pollitt and lack of transparency have remained sore points with the Council to the present.
Mr. Shea also figured in the landfill theft episode (in which he was not a direct participant in any manner) that occurred during his tenure as the County Administrator or later as the Director of Administration on Rick Pollitt’s staff. Whether either of them should be held accountable as derelict in their supervisory capacity is certainly debatable. A very interesting aspect is that the investigative report made by a consultant commissioned by Mr. Pollitt seems to have been revised from the draft to omit much of the discussion of poor or “indifferent” supervision by immediate supervisor – the former public works director – whose supervisor was Mr. Shea, who reports to Pollitt.
The landfill episode, which surfaced several years ago, did not affect Mr. Shea’s subsequent career or Mr. Pollitt’s reelection, although his opponent, Mr. Ollinger, argued during the campaign that Shea should have retired when Pollitt first took office in late 2006 and been replaced as the county’s chief administrative official by “someone with fresh ideas.” Now, he will be replaced by someone who has been on Mr. Pollitt’s staff and previously that of the County Administrator for many years. So much for the fresh ideas.
Tacitus is a Salisbury resident and frequent contributor to SbyNEWS.
In case our readers haven't noticed - there is a big difference in the reporting styles of SBYnews verses The Daily Times. Sunday’s DT edition is no exception as The Daily Times has endorsed Pollitt's proposed 5 cent property tax assessment increase.
Here is the version of facts as offered by this author:
Several Years ago (1978) Talbot County instituted a TAX CAP after a similar hugely unacceptable tax increase to Wicomico County incensed the voters to action. From 1978 until 1995 ballot questions were put before the voters to remove the TAX CAP. Finally, in January of 1995 a Coalition of SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - Board of Education, Chamber of Commerce, PTA, NAACP, League of Women Voters, and other individuals SUED to overturn the TAX CAP and they won! The TAX CAP was ruled unconstitutional.
Do you think VOICE should have gone for a TAX CAP? That certainly would have been an easy 'knee jerk' thing to do in light of the Court's decision.
After the TAX CAP was ruled unconstitutional in January 1995, The Talbot County Council in May raised the property tax by 46%. That's right; they raised property taxes by almost 50 percent! But they - SPECIAL INTERESTS - didn't have enough! The next year, in 1996 they raised it another 46.3%!!! And we - Wicomico Residents - think 23.7% is bad. Now let's try and add this up . . .what's 46.1% and 46.3% over two years. Let's hold the math until the end of this lesson.
The Talbot voters were so incensed they searched for a way to stop these run-a-way politicos and came up with the Revenue Cap concept. The voters rallied to get it on the ballot and it was passed in 1996 by 72.21% of the voters! It stands as law today in that County. Even after MANY attempts to have it removed . . .VOICE used the EXACT wording in their petition as was in Talbot County’s revenue cap referendum. It's exactly the same language that is in law in Talbot now.
So what have we learned today. Hopefully we've learned that from the time a TAX CAP was ruled unconstitutional and was replaced by a REVENUE CAP in Talbot County - (1995 - 1996) - property taxes wen up 92.4%!!! Actually that would not be entirely accurate as I'm told that before the REVENUE CAP could become law the actual true tax increase was 113.8%.
The next question is a bit more subjective - after this current events history lesson - is the Daily Times staunch reason for objecting to the REVENUE CAP and now touting a 5 cent real property tax increase . . . .do you now feel the VOICE proposal's are not well thought out?
If your property tax increased by 113.8% would the difference be greater or less than your recent pay raise?
"THOSE WHO IGNORE HISTORY ARE DESTINED TO REPEAT IT"
We watched in amazement as Shanie Shields refused to join the other members in amending the budget, as proposed by the mayor, to achieve goals that will greatly benefit City residents and property owners – more police presence, less furlough days for City employees, etc. This is real budgetary responsibility that has not been seen since before the infamous “Dream Team” and Barrie Tilghman played havoc with the budget every year, which resulted in the tax rate increase four years ago.
Finally, a Council that can compromise in a civil manner to reach a reasonable result, even if Ms. Shields is too dense to see that.
Tacitus is a Salisbury resident and frequent contributor to SbyNEWS.
Dog in need of good home -
3-year old Mastiff and Staffordshire Terrier mix.
He is in good health, has his shots, and has not been neutered. He is good around children, and is a great watchdog....loves to run and is kennel trained.
Please help keep this dog from being put down as we fear he will be if taken to the Humane Society.
For more information, please call: 410-546-4135
Thanks for your consideration.
As she prepares to enter the race in Iowa later this month, Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann has signed on high-profile political strategist Ed Rollins to run her presidential campaign, according to two sources close to Bachmann.
Rollins, who was Mike Huckabee's national campaign director in the 2008 campaign, is an experienced political operative with a well-earned reputation for his tough tactics and willingness to play hardball. He's probably best known for running the 1984 Reagan-Bush reelection campaign, which Reagan won in a landslide.
Rollins will run a campaign that already has a number of experienced advisors on board, including Brett O'Donnell, who advised George W. Bush and John McCain and is considered the best debate coach in politics. Bachmann also has brought on Bob Heckman, who is prominent in the conservative movement.
Note – Rollins was also the author of the “Reagan Democrat” strategy which proved key in the 1980 campaign. – Ed.
Potentially painful Medicaid cuts proved too painful Monday for members of the Joint Finance Committee, who overwhelmingly rejected Gov. Jack Markell's effort to rein in costs by reducing benefits in the health insurance program for the poor.
The budget-writing panel voted 8-4 to restore $5 million to the $589 million program, rejecting proposals to limit Medicaid recipients to three trips to the emergency room each year, implement co-pays for visits to doctors or therapists, and temporarily cut payments to physicians and radiological services.
Sen. Brian Bushweller, D-Dover, labeled the administration's proposed cuts and possible alternatives as "arbitrary" measures that would hurt hospitals.
"None of these plans actually reduce emergency room costs. They shift the cost from the state to the providers," he said.
The committee's 8-4 vote to reject the cost cuts was accompanied by a separate proposal to set up a task force to study ways to cut Medicaid costs without harming delivery of services or placing an undue financial burden on patients or health care providers.
Heather Glen, off Parker Road between Old Ocean City Road and Salisbury Christian School, is hosting their community yard sale on Saturday, June 11 from 7AM until …
Come one. Come all.
For directions, CLICK HERE
Thirteen virtual school programs have earned the state's stamp of approval to offer online courses to multiple divisions.
The approved providers, announced Monday, offer full-time virtual schools, supplemental instruction programs and "blended-instruction programs" that have an online teacher and an on-site mentor, according to a news release. They include for-profit companies and public school systems.
The Virginia Department of Education reviewed providers seeking to serve students in multiple divisions to ensure that their teachers are state-licensed and that their instruction aligns with the Standards of Learning.
Gov. Bob McDonnell pushed for the expansion of online learning during the 2010 General Assembly session.
"No Virginia child's future should be limited by the walls of a particular school building or the boundaries of an attendance zone," McDonnell said in a statement. "Virtual schools create additional choices and opportunities within our public education system."
The approved providers are: Apex Learning, Brigham Young University Independent Study, Chesterfield County Public Schools, CompuHigh, Connections Academy, Edison Learning, EdOptions Online Academy, Education2020, Florida Virtual School, Giant Campus of Virginia, K-12 Virtual Schools, Virtual High School Global Consortium and York County Public Schools.
The Maryland Lottery says the state's two casinos generated more than $13.2 million last month, marking a decline for the first time this year.
The Casino at Ocean Downs took in $3.69 million last month, up from $3.51 million in April. However, that wasn't enough to offset a $446,000 drop at the Hollywood Casino Perryville. The 1,500-machine casino took in $9.61 million in May, down from roughly $10 million in April.
Overall, the casinos generated $13.29 million in May, a decline of about 2 percent from April.
State officials and analysts say the drop isn't necessarily a cause for concern, as they are more focused on longer-term trends.
The Casino at Ocean Downs has seen revenue increase each month and is expected to continue climbing as summer tourist season begins.
A Commonwealth Court panel is weighing an open-records case that would force the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission to turn over details of employee use of the E-ZPass electronic toll system.
The Patriot-News of Harrisburg had requested the records under open-records rules. The commission initially denied the request but a state office ruled in December the records could be released with personal information redacted.
A turnpike lawyer argued before the three-judge panel on Monday that special records are not kept and information about employee travel should be exempt.
The Patriot-News contends the turnpike must have a way of knowing not to charge employees' accounts.
A former turnpike official said last year that turnpike workers get free access to the highway for business or personal use.
Crouched in her cell, Ophelia De'lonta hoped three green disposable razors from the prison commissary would give her what the Virginia Department of Corrections will not — a sex change.
It had been several years since she had felt the urges, but she had been fighting them for weeks. But like numerous other times, she failed to get rid of what she calls "that thing" between her legs, the last evidence she was born a male.
Months after the October castration attempt, De'lonta filed a federal lawsuit Friday claiming the state has failed its duty to provide adequate medical care because it won't give her the operation. She says the surgery is needed to treat her gender identity disorder, a mental illness in which people believe they were born the wrong gender.
If she wins, De'lonta would be the nation's first inmate to receive a state-funded sex change operation. Similar lawsuits have failed in a handful of other states, and lawmakers in some states are trying to ban the use of taxpayer money for the operations.
Republicans legislators believe the survival of the American republic may require North Carolina students to study the Founding Fathers to graduate.
The House Education Committee will take up a bill today that would require public high schools to teach and students to pass at least a semester course on the philosophical foundations that established the United States.
Teenagers will be tested on what they learned about the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and its amendments, the Federalist Papers, and the writings of the founders.
The same committee plans to consider requiring public school principals to ask parents whether an enrolling student is a U.S. citizen, and if not to learn the child's immigration status. The legislation says the information would not deny admission.
Note – It’s ironic that the MSM isn’t critical of every tree-hugging, kumbaya requirement that has come down the pike to date. However, require a dose of real American history and they get snide about it. “Environmental Education” is OK. Knowing about the founding of the greatest nation on earth is evidently cause for ridicule – Ed.
Multisource political news, world news, and entertainment news analysis by Newsy.com
Apple unveiled its newest technology at the World Wide Developer’s Conference.
The Wicomico County will hold their monthly night meeting at 6PM in the council chambers of the GOB. Prior to the their meeting, the council will hold another budget session at 4PM.
More than 1,000 Maryland doctors have signed up to adopt electronic medical records, state officials said today.
The primary care physicians are using records through a state network called the Chesapeake Regional Information System for our Patients (CRISP). They will receive state and federal incentives for using the computerized records.
Hundreds of other doctors are also using electronic records but may not have signed onto the state exchange.
Lt. Governor Anthony Brown made the announcement during a visit to the Charlestown Retirement Community in Cantonsville.
Governor Martin O’Malley and Brown have a goal to create a a health information exchange by the end of 2012 and encourage widespread use of electronic medical records. The records are also being pushed under federal healthcare reform.
Maryland has received nearly $27 million in federal funds to assist in the expansion of electronic records.
Advocates of the records say that patients will get better care because physicians have better access to the drug and medical history of the patients. They also say it will cut down costs. There are some concerns over privacy in using the digitized systems.
CRISP was formed as a not-for-profit collaborative in 2009 by Erickson Living, Johns Hopkins Medicine, MedStar Health, and the University of Maryland. CRISP received a federal grant of $6.4 million in 2010 to help electronically connect at least 1,000 healthcare providers.
