Because Salisbury News is the ONLY news source to have this information, we will withhold their names until tomorrow.
Nevertheless, because the state is enforcing all appointed/elected officials to disclose financial information, one Board Member has publicly stated they will resign their position by the end of February.
The state has allowed the Boards of Education to draft their own policy on this disclosure but one thing is for sure, IF you have a contractual agreement with the Board through ANY outside business/source/relationship, they must disclose ALL of their financial information. All of which this particular Board Member is NOT willing to do.
Because this Board Member won't comply, they will resign.
Salisbury News is also holding a story in which a part time Cheer leading Coach from Mardela was allegedly terminated recently for allegedly allowing under age children to drink alcohol at a birthday party in Ocean City.
I have the details on this situation and we're told some parents are looking into pressing charges against this individual.
Folks, it's AMAZING what's going on with the Wicomico County Board of Education lately. Fredericksen wanted to get REWARDED with new schools, yet 40% of his schools are failing. Coaches are being arrested, teachers are being arrested, upper staff are being terminated, what DON'T we know!!!
It seems every time Salisbury News publishes these stories, the next morning Fredericksen sends out an internal letter letting the faculty know it is in fact TRUE! In fact, this afternoon a letter was sent out about a "teacher" being arrested this morning. One has to wonder, IF SBYNews.com hadn't put it out there, would THAT have been buried too?
Mr. Fredericksen is up for a renewal on his contract with the County and quite frankly, this guy has to go. Hiding ALL of these things, (and Lord only knows what we don't know) and then trying to get his contract renewed for another 4 years is just ridiculous.
You can HATE Salisbury News for being the one to EXPOSE all of these things but in the end you should ALL be thanking us for educating the public with the TRUTH. Just how many coaches have been placed on administrative leave for things that are just unbelievable. How many teachers have to be arrested or coaches allowing 15 year old kids to get drunk and then terminated.
Besides, ALL of the stories we have delivered as of late, NONE of the MSM have delivered any of them until weeks later. What gets me is, they have INSIDE sources and to me that means they covered it up, until we exposed it.
We'll have more tomorrow...
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
Thursday, February 02, 2012
BREAKING NEWS BOE STORY COMING SOON
Salisbury News will have a breaking news story about a Board Member of the Wicomico County Board of Education.
Stay Tuned......
Rick Hoppes Rejected As Salisbury's Next Fire Chief
In a 3-2 vote the Salisbury City Council rejected Rick Hoppes to become the next Fire Chief of Salisbury.
Eastern Shore Police Emerald Society
On Friday January 27, 2012, members of the Eastern Shore Police Emerald Society (ESPES) participated in the 16th Annual Maryland State Police’s Polar Bear Plunge.
Proceeds from the event go to Maryland Special Olympics. The State of Maryland is ranked #1 in the world for raising money for Special Olympics, and this year’s event brought in more than $2.5 million dollars. The ESPES team raised close to $2,000 dollars from local fundraising efforts including a $500 donation from the Ocean City, MD Fraternal Order of Police. The ESPES would like to thank all who supported them in this very worthy cause.
Proceeds from the event go to Maryland Special Olympics. The State of Maryland is ranked #1 in the world for raising money for Special Olympics, and this year’s event brought in more than $2.5 million dollars. The ESPES team raised close to $2,000 dollars from local fundraising efforts including a $500 donation from the Ocean City, MD Fraternal Order of Police. The ESPES would like to thank all who supported them in this very worthy cause.
PuNXaTaWDRY BeN (GRouND HOG DaY 2012)
BANZAI7 NEWS, Jackass Island USA--Once again the world famous hedge hog Punxatawdry Ben came out of his Jackass Island printing bunker and failed to see the shadow banks.
According to Punxatawdry Ben's trainer Lloyd Blankenfein, this can be interpreted to mean that cash strapped Wall Street bankstas and fat cats can happily look forward to many more ink filled printing rounds of quantitative schtupping in 2012.
"The ground hog is like most other prophets; it delivers it's prediction and then disappears."--Bill Vaughn
"Punxatawdry Ben is the bellwether of false profits; he prints predictably and then the ink disappears."--WilliamBanzai7
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Zombiefied Drug Trade
We had lunch with an old friend last week. We hadn’t seen him since our school days in the ’60s. He told us the following story.
“It’s amazing. I’ve lived there all my life. But I’m a little different, I guess. My brothers are doctors and lawyers. I did them a favor by being the black sheep of the family. So they didn’t have to be.
“I live in a rich neighborhood. But I don’t work much. I can’t work at all now, since I had my motorcycle accident. And I guess people wonder how I could live in such a place. Well, the answer is simple. My father was an eye surgeon and he bought it in 1941 and gave it to his children when he died.
“Well, somehow, the idea got out that we were drug dealers. The police started keeping an eye on us. There was an old van parked on the property. They figured it was for transporting drugs. And then, I had a couple of Mexicans helping me on the farm. They figured those guys must be drug runners. I don’t know how it all happened, because I’ve been there for more than 60 years…and anyone could have asked me what was going on.
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“It’s amazing. I’ve lived there all my life. But I’m a little different, I guess. My brothers are doctors and lawyers. I did them a favor by being the black sheep of the family. So they didn’t have to be.
“I live in a rich neighborhood. But I don’t work much. I can’t work at all now, since I had my motorcycle accident. And I guess people wonder how I could live in such a place. Well, the answer is simple. My father was an eye surgeon and he bought it in 1941 and gave it to his children when he died.
“Well, somehow, the idea got out that we were drug dealers. The police started keeping an eye on us. There was an old van parked on the property. They figured it was for transporting drugs. And then, I had a couple of Mexicans helping me on the farm. They figured those guys must be drug runners. I don’t know how it all happened, because I’ve been there for more than 60 years…and anyone could have asked me what was going on.
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California Woman Beats Honda In Court Over MPG
(CBS News) A California woman's small claims court victory against Honda could have a huge impact on the global auto giant.
On Wednesday, Honda was ordered to pay Heather Peters for misleading her about the gas mileage her Civic Hybrid would achieve, and other car owners could follow in the steps of the former lawyer who took on a corporate giant, and won.
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QUOTES OF THE DAY 2-2-12
The seductive notion that some Big Daddy in Washington can solve our problems for us– whether healing the sick, preventing poverty or “growing the economy”– is encouraged by politicians for obvious reasons, and the media echo the idea. Thomas Sowell
The Democrats are the party that says government will make you smarter, taller, richer, and remove the crabgrass on your lawn. The Republicans are the party that says government doesn’t work and then they get elected and prove it. P.J. O’Rourke
It is amazing that people who think we cannot afford to pay for doctors, hospitals, and medication somehow think that we can afford to pay for doctors, hospitals, medication and a government bureaucracy to administer it. Thomas Sowell
What most persons consider as virtue, after the age of 40 is simply a loss of energy. Voltaire
No matter how disastrously some policy has turned out, anyone who criticizes it can expect to hear: “But what would you replace it with?” When you put out a fire, what do you replace it with? Thomas Sowell
A long war almost always places nations in this sad alternative: that their defeat delivers them to destruction and their triumph to despotism Alexis de Tocqueville
The usual road to slavery is that first they take away your guns, then they take away your property, then last of all they tell you to shut up and say you are enjoying it. James A. Donald
The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out… without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable. H. L. Mencken
For society as a whole, nothing comes as a ‘right’ to which we are ‘entitled’. Even bare subsistence has to be produced…. The only way anyone can have a right to something that has to be produced is to force someone else to produce it… The more things are provided as rights, the less the recipients have to work and the more the providers have to carry the load. Thomas Sowell
There are 10^11 stars in the galaxy. That used to be a huge number. But it’s only a hundred billion. It’s less than the national deficit! We used to call them astronomical numbers. Now we should call them economical numbers Richard Feynman
Potentially, a government is the most dangerous threat to man’s rights: it holds a legal monopoly on the use of physical force against legally disarmed victims. Ayn Rand
The Democrats are the party that says government will make you smarter, taller, richer, and remove the crabgrass on your lawn. The Republicans are the party that says government doesn’t work and then they get elected and prove it. P.J. O’Rourke
It is amazing that people who think we cannot afford to pay for doctors, hospitals, and medication somehow think that we can afford to pay for doctors, hospitals, medication and a government bureaucracy to administer it. Thomas Sowell
What most persons consider as virtue, after the age of 40 is simply a loss of energy. Voltaire
No matter how disastrously some policy has turned out, anyone who criticizes it can expect to hear: “But what would you replace it with?” When you put out a fire, what do you replace it with? Thomas Sowell
A long war almost always places nations in this sad alternative: that their defeat delivers them to destruction and their triumph to despotism Alexis de Tocqueville
The usual road to slavery is that first they take away your guns, then they take away your property, then last of all they tell you to shut up and say you are enjoying it. James A. Donald
The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out… without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable. H. L. Mencken
For society as a whole, nothing comes as a ‘right’ to which we are ‘entitled’. Even bare subsistence has to be produced…. The only way anyone can have a right to something that has to be produced is to force someone else to produce it… The more things are provided as rights, the less the recipients have to work and the more the providers have to carry the load. Thomas Sowell
There are 10^11 stars in the galaxy. That used to be a huge number. But it’s only a hundred billion. It’s less than the national deficit! We used to call them astronomical numbers. Now we should call them economical numbers Richard Feynman
Potentially, a government is the most dangerous threat to man’s rights: it holds a legal monopoly on the use of physical force against legally disarmed victims. Ayn Rand
Anonymous Hacks White Supremacist Site, Finds Direct Links To Ron Paul
The “anti-fascist” wing of the “Anonymous” hacker group has broken into a website run by the white supremacist American Third Position (A3P), and released a document dump consisting of private forum messages, emails, organizational notes, and other personal information.
The documents show numerous connections between Republican candidate Ron Paul and these racist Neanderthals; they’re heavily involved in campaigning for Paul, and according to the messages, have held regular meetings with Ron Paul himself:Ron Paul, the American Third Position Party and Stormfront.
A Key Step Forward For Offshore Wind In Maryland The Obama Administration Announces
BALTIMORE—Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced a major step toward developing wind energy off the coasts of Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware, and Virginia this morning. Joined by Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Director Tommy P. Beaudreau in Baltimore, Secretary Salazar announced that the environmental review of the proposed areas for wind development found no significant impacts, signaling a step closer to wind turbines spinning off our coasts.
Environment Maryland Field Organizer Ewa Krason issued the following statement in response:
“There is tremendous potential for producing clean, pollution-free wind energy off of Maryland’s coast. We are thrilled that the Obama administration has announced another critical step in making this vision a reality.
“Tapping into the power of offshore wind in Maryland is vital to getting our state and the nation off fossil fuels without creating more pollution. A report released by Environment America and the National Wildlife Federation shows that along the Atlantic coast alone, reaching the Department of Energy’s conservative goal of 54 gigawatts of offshore wind power would reduce global warming pollution by the equivalent of taking nearly 18 million cars off the road. A bold commitment to clean energy such as offshore wind would also significantly reduce harmful air pollution and reduce the risk of oil spills and other fossil fuel-related disasters.
“We applaud this step forward and the Obama administration for their leadership in ensuring that responsibly-sited offshore wind becomes a reality in Maryland as soon as possible.”
Environment Maryland Field Organizer Ewa Krason issued the following statement in response:
“There is tremendous potential for producing clean, pollution-free wind energy off of Maryland’s coast. We are thrilled that the Obama administration has announced another critical step in making this vision a reality.
“Tapping into the power of offshore wind in Maryland is vital to getting our state and the nation off fossil fuels without creating more pollution. A report released by Environment America and the National Wildlife Federation shows that along the Atlantic coast alone, reaching the Department of Energy’s conservative goal of 54 gigawatts of offshore wind power would reduce global warming pollution by the equivalent of taking nearly 18 million cars off the road. A bold commitment to clean energy such as offshore wind would also significantly reduce harmful air pollution and reduce the risk of oil spills and other fossil fuel-related disasters.
“We applaud this step forward and the Obama administration for their leadership in ensuring that responsibly-sited offshore wind becomes a reality in Maryland as soon as possible.”
What Will Happen If Obama Wins Again?
ORLANDO, Fla.—“We cannot survive four more years of this!” moaned Kelly Clem-Rickon. She was one of Newt Gingrich’s Hillsborough County co-chairs, assigned to keep a Tampa crowd cheering and cheerful while the candidate made his delayed way over to give a speech. “We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on Earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into 1,000 years of darkness!”
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STATEMENT FROM GOVERNOR MARTIN O’MALLEY ON BLACK HISTORY MONTH
ANNAPOLIS, MD (February 2, 2012) – Governor Martin O’Malley today issued the following statement on Black History Month:
“This month, we honor and celebrate the achievements and contributions of African Americans to our nation.
“Frederick Douglass once said, ‘We are one, our cause is one, and we must help each other if we are to succeed.’ Black History- a rich, proud and ongoing history- is all of our history. It is part of the common thread of human dignity that unites us. And so it is not just this month, but every month, that we should come together to reflect on our African American ancestors, and the generations before of hardworking Marylanders who sacrificed to create a better State for generations to come.
“Thanks to so many great leaders who came before us, courageous men and women of character and wisdom, we are able to enjoy a better quality of life. And as we look back on their accomplishments, we should have the strength to choose a better future for our children.”
“This month, we honor and celebrate the achievements and contributions of African Americans to our nation.
“Frederick Douglass once said, ‘We are one, our cause is one, and we must help each other if we are to succeed.’ Black History- a rich, proud and ongoing history- is all of our history. It is part of the common thread of human dignity that unites us. And so it is not just this month, but every month, that we should come together to reflect on our African American ancestors, and the generations before of hardworking Marylanders who sacrificed to create a better State for generations to come.
“Thanks to so many great leaders who came before us, courageous men and women of character and wisdom, we are able to enjoy a better quality of life. And as we look back on their accomplishments, we should have the strength to choose a better future for our children.”
US No-Fly List Doubles In 1 Year
WASHINGTON (AP) — Even as the Obama administration says it's close to defeating al-Qaida, the size of the government's secret list of suspected terrorists who are banned from flying to or within the United States has more than doubled in the past year, The Associated Press has learned.
The no-fly list jumped from about 10,000 known or suspected terrorists one year ago to about 21,000, according to government figures provided to the AP. Most people on the list are from other countries; about 500 are Americans.
Muslims Declare Jihad On Dogs In Europe
A Dutch Muslim politician has called for a ban on dogs in The Hague, the third-largest city in the Netherlands.
Islamic legal tradition holds that dogs are "unclean" animals, and some say the call to ban them in Holland and elsewhere represents an attempted encroachment of Islamic Sharia law in Europe.
This latest canine controversy -- which the Dutch public has greeted with a mix of amusement and outrage -- follows dozens of other Muslim-vs-dog-related incidents in Europe. Critics say it reflects the growing assertiveness of Muslims in Europe as they attempt to impose Islamic legal and religious norms on European society.
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Study Finds Possible Link Between Anesthesia And ADHD
Young children who undergo multiple procedures requiring anesthesia could be at higher risk for developing attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) later on, according to a new study published in the current issue of the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
Researchers from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. and Children's Hospital in Boston analyzed the medical records of more than 5,300 children previously enrolled in other studies. They found that children younger than two years old who underwent more than one procedure that called for anesthesia were more likely to develop ADHD.
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Researchers from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. and Children's Hospital in Boston analyzed the medical records of more than 5,300 children previously enrolled in other studies. They found that children younger than two years old who underwent more than one procedure that called for anesthesia were more likely to develop ADHD.
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Worcester County Sheriff’s Office Press Release 2-2-12
The Worcester County Sheriff’s Office is reminding the community to be aware of telephone scams. Residents of Worcester County have received phone calls from persons identifying themselves as an attorney. That person tells their perspective victim that they have defaulted on a loan or owe a company money and are required to pay them. The suspects have the victim’s social security number and other personal information thus making the victim believe they are legitimate when in fact they are not. The suspects are identifying themselves as attorneys or working for attorneys.
The suspects often times have received the victim’s information from applications to companies such as Pay Day loans.
The suspects are relentless and call the victims multiple times demanding payment and further personal information.
The phone number that has been showing up on the victim’s caller ID from the suspects is 213-550-2032. When that number is called back you may receive a fast busy signal.
Please remember not to give out ANY personal information over the phone. If you have outstanding loans you should contact your lending company directly to determine the status of your loan. Be leery of anyone demanding money or information from you.
Remember you have the right to hang up the phone. Do not let these suspects pressure you into staying on the phone and giving out personal information.
If you have any questions or concerns please contact your local Law Enforcement agency.
The suspects often times have received the victim’s information from applications to companies such as Pay Day loans.
The suspects are relentless and call the victims multiple times demanding payment and further personal information.
The phone number that has been showing up on the victim’s caller ID from the suspects is 213-550-2032. When that number is called back you may receive a fast busy signal.
Please remember not to give out ANY personal information over the phone. If you have outstanding loans you should contact your lending company directly to determine the status of your loan. Be leery of anyone demanding money or information from you.
Remember you have the right to hang up the phone. Do not let these suspects pressure you into staying on the phone and giving out personal information.
If you have any questions or concerns please contact your local Law Enforcement agency.
5.6 Million Americans Have Switched Their Banks In The Last 90 Days
Back in November, the Occupy Wall Street movement inspired “Bank Transfer Day,” a day for Americans fed up with the actions of the nation’s biggest banks to move their money to a different institution. Initial estimates of the impact of Bank Transfer Day placed the number of accounts moved at around 600,000, but later estimates revised that downward to around 200,000.
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Gift From US Post Office
We don't know who replied, but there is a beautiful soul working in the dead letter office of the US postal service.
Our 14-year-old dog Abbey died last month. The day after she passed away my 4-year-old daughter Meredith was crying and talking about how mu ch she missed Abbey. She asked if we could write a letter to God so that when Abbey got to heaven, God would recognize her. I told her that I thought we could so, and she dictated these words:
Dear God,
Will you please take care of my dog? She died yesterday and is with you in heaven. I miss her very much. I am happy that you let me have her as my dog even though she got sick.
I hope you will play with her. She likes to swim and play with balls. I am sending a picture of her so when you see her you will know that she is my dog. I really miss her.
Love, Meredith
We put the letter in an envelope with a picture of Abbey and Meredith and addressed it to God/Heaven. We put our return address on it. Then Meredith pasted several stamps on the front of the envelope because she said it would take lots of stamps to get the letter all the way to heaven. That afternoon she dropped it into the letter box at the p ost office. A few days later, she asked if God had gotten the letter yet. I told her that I thought He had.
Yesterday, there was a package wrapped in gold paper on our front porch addressed, 'To Meredith' in an unfamiliar hand. Meredith opened it. Inside was a book by Mr. Rogers called, 'When a Pet Dies.' Taped to the inside front cover was the letter we had written to God in its opened envelope. On the opposite page was the picture of Abbey & Meredith and this note:
Dear Meredith,
Abbey arrived safely in heaven. Having the picture was a big help and I recognized her right away.
Abbey isn't sick anymore. Her spirit is here with me just like it stays in your heart. Abbey loved being your dog. Since we don't need our bodies in heaven, I don't have any pockets to keep your picture in so I am sending it back to you in this little book for you to keep and have something to remember Abbey by.
Thank you for the beautiful letter and thank your mother for helping you write it and sending it to me. What a wonderful mother you have. I picked her especially for you. I send my blessings every day and remember that I love you very much. By the way, I'm easy to find. I am wherever there is love.
Love, God
Our 14-year-old dog Abbey died last month. The day after she passed away my 4-year-old daughter Meredith was crying and talking about how mu ch she missed Abbey. She asked if we could write a letter to God so that when Abbey got to heaven, God would recognize her. I told her that I thought we could so, and she dictated these words:
Dear God,
Will you please take care of my dog? She died yesterday and is with you in heaven. I miss her very much. I am happy that you let me have her as my dog even though she got sick.
I hope you will play with her. She likes to swim and play with balls. I am sending a picture of her so when you see her you will know that she is my dog. I really miss her.
Love, Meredith
We put the letter in an envelope with a picture of Abbey and Meredith and addressed it to God/Heaven. We put our return address on it. Then Meredith pasted several stamps on the front of the envelope because she said it would take lots of stamps to get the letter all the way to heaven. That afternoon she dropped it into the letter box at the p ost office. A few days later, she asked if God had gotten the letter yet. I told her that I thought He had.
Yesterday, there was a package wrapped in gold paper on our front porch addressed, 'To Meredith' in an unfamiliar hand. Meredith opened it. Inside was a book by Mr. Rogers called, 'When a Pet Dies.' Taped to the inside front cover was the letter we had written to God in its opened envelope. On the opposite page was the picture of Abbey & Meredith and this note:
Dear Meredith,
Abbey arrived safely in heaven. Having the picture was a big help and I recognized her right away.
Abbey isn't sick anymore. Her spirit is here with me just like it stays in your heart. Abbey loved being your dog. Since we don't need our bodies in heaven, I don't have any pockets to keep your picture in so I am sending it back to you in this little book for you to keep and have something to remember Abbey by.
Thank you for the beautiful letter and thank your mother for helping you write it and sending it to me. What a wonderful mother you have. I picked her especially for you. I send my blessings every day and remember that I love you very much. By the way, I'm easy to find. I am wherever there is love.
Love, God
House GOP Moves To Repeal Part Of Health Care Reform
Repealing part of health care reform… the 2012 election arrives in fine form. The GOP controlled House is back in full swing this week. Any question regarding whether anything will get done in the U.S. House this year would appear to have found an answer. Their first big move of the House in 2012? Repealing the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports Act — translation: killing long term health insurance and a piece of “Obamacare.” Most if not all members of the CBC are likely to vote against the repeal. Below is a press release by Rep. Alcee Hastings that is probably typical of most members. Reps. Gwen Moore, Keith Ellison, Hank Johnson, Sheila Jackson Lee and Barbara Lee spoke out against the bill today.
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Lewes Walgreens Pharmacy Robbery
Location:
Walgreens, 17239 Five Points Square, Lewes, DE
Date of Occurrence:
Wednesday February 2, 2012 at 1:45 a.m.
Victim:
40 year old male employee
Suspect:
White male, 25-35 years of age, 5”10”-6”0” tall, 175-200 lbs. Last seen wearing black jacket, grey pants, dark hat, white sneakers and dark colored gloves.
No surveillance photos available at this time.
Resume:
Lewes, DE-Delaware State Police Detectives are investigating the robbery of the Walgreens Pharmacy located in Five Points Plaza, which occurred early this morning.
The incident occurred at approximately 1:45 a.m. this morning as the suspect entered the Walgreens located in Five Points Square. The suspect approached the 40 year old female employee at the pharmacy counter. The suspect presented a demand note for prescription narcotics and implied that he had a gun. The employee complied and turned over an undisclosed amount of narcotic medication. The suspect fled the store on foot with the narcotics. There were no injuries as a result of this incident.
To offer information in reference to this incident, the public is asked to contact Troop 4 at 302-856-5850 extension 211 or Delaware Crime Stoppers at 1-800-TIP-3333. Information may also be provided via the internet at www.tipsubmit.com
Send an anonymous tip by text to 274637 (CRIMES) using the keyword "DSP."
Walgreens, 17239 Five Points Square, Lewes, DE
Date of Occurrence:
Wednesday February 2, 2012 at 1:45 a.m.
Victim:
40 year old male employee
Suspect:
White male, 25-35 years of age, 5”10”-6”0” tall, 175-200 lbs. Last seen wearing black jacket, grey pants, dark hat, white sneakers and dark colored gloves.
No surveillance photos available at this time.
Resume:
Lewes, DE-Delaware State Police Detectives are investigating the robbery of the Walgreens Pharmacy located in Five Points Plaza, which occurred early this morning.
The incident occurred at approximately 1:45 a.m. this morning as the suspect entered the Walgreens located in Five Points Square. The suspect approached the 40 year old female employee at the pharmacy counter. The suspect presented a demand note for prescription narcotics and implied that he had a gun. The employee complied and turned over an undisclosed amount of narcotic medication. The suspect fled the store on foot with the narcotics. There were no injuries as a result of this incident.
To offer information in reference to this incident, the public is asked to contact Troop 4 at 302-856-5850 extension 211 or Delaware Crime Stoppers at 1-800-TIP-3333. Information may also be provided via the internet at www.tipsubmit.com
Send an anonymous tip by text to 274637 (CRIMES) using the keyword "DSP."
DEA Inquiries Into State's Medical Marijuana Industry Include Legislators
Diane Sands is used to having her name taken in vain.
That's just part of being a liberal from Missoula in the Montana Legislature.
But her name surfaced recently in a way that offended and troubled her at a profound level.
A possible witness in a federal drug investigation was asked whether Sands might be part of a conspiracy to sell medical marijuana. The questions came from Drug Enforcement Administration agents from Billings who were investigating medical marijuana businesses, and Sands learned about the inquiry from the witness' attorney.
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Cite Obama With Contempt, Lawyers Urge
A Georgia resident contending Barack Obama is ineligible for the state’s 2012 presidential election ballot is asking that a court cite him with contempt.
In a motion filed in the case pending before Georgia Administrative Law Judge Michael Malihi, attorney Van Irion, representing David P. Weldon, urged the court not to overlook the fact that Obama had been subpoenaed for last week’s hearing. Obama’s attorney, he pointed out, acknowledged the subpoena by asking that it be quashed. But when the judge refused his request, he told a state elections official he would not participate.
“Plaintiff Weldon moves this court to refer an order for contempt to the Superior Court for confirmation that defendant Obama is in contempt of court,” the motions says. “Grounds for this motion are that defendant Obama willfully defied this court’s order to appear and testify during this court’s hearing of January 26.”
The motion explains that when Malihi refused to quash the subpoena, Obama and his attorney, Michael Jablonski, “requested that the Secretary of State [Brian Kemp] halt the proceedings. … The letter ended with a statement that the defendant and his attorney would suspend all further participation in the proceedings of this court pending response.”
But after Kemp confirmed later that day that the hearing would continue and said that failing to participate “would be at the defendant’s peril,” Obama and his lawyer still refused to attend.
The letter from Obama’s lawyer to the state official, “coupled with the defendant’s willful refusal to comply with an order of this court, represent a direct threat to the rule of law,” the motion says. “The … actions represent a direct threat to the entire judicial branch and the separation of powers.”
Willfully ignoring a court subpoena is “unprecedented,” Irion writes. “While past presidents have litigated against subpoenas, in every case those presidents acknowledged and respected the authority of the judicial branch. … In the instant case the defendant did not appeal to a higher court, and instead instructed the Secretary of State that he would not participate. … When the Secretary of State refused to act in an unlawful manner the defendant ignored the Secretary of State, violated an order of this court, and apparently instructed his attorney to act in a manner that violates the professional rules of conduct of this state.”
Obama’s action, he says, “amounts to no less than a declaration of total dictatorial authority. Such declaration cannot go without response from this court.
In a motion filed in the case pending before Georgia Administrative Law Judge Michael Malihi, attorney Van Irion, representing David P. Weldon, urged the court not to overlook the fact that Obama had been subpoenaed for last week’s hearing. Obama’s attorney, he pointed out, acknowledged the subpoena by asking that it be quashed. But when the judge refused his request, he told a state elections official he would not participate.
“Plaintiff Weldon moves this court to refer an order for contempt to the Superior Court for confirmation that defendant Obama is in contempt of court,” the motions says. “Grounds for this motion are that defendant Obama willfully defied this court’s order to appear and testify during this court’s hearing of January 26.”
The motion explains that when Malihi refused to quash the subpoena, Obama and his attorney, Michael Jablonski, “requested that the Secretary of State [Brian Kemp] halt the proceedings. … The letter ended with a statement that the defendant and his attorney would suspend all further participation in the proceedings of this court pending response.”
But after Kemp confirmed later that day that the hearing would continue and said that failing to participate “would be at the defendant’s peril,” Obama and his lawyer still refused to attend.
The letter from Obama’s lawyer to the state official, “coupled with the defendant’s willful refusal to comply with an order of this court, represent a direct threat to the rule of law,” the motion says. “The … actions represent a direct threat to the entire judicial branch and the separation of powers.”
Willfully ignoring a court subpoena is “unprecedented,” Irion writes. “While past presidents have litigated against subpoenas, in every case those presidents acknowledged and respected the authority of the judicial branch. … In the instant case the defendant did not appeal to a higher court, and instead instructed the Secretary of State that he would not participate. … When the Secretary of State refused to act in an unlawful manner the defendant ignored the Secretary of State, violated an order of this court, and apparently instructed his attorney to act in a manner that violates the professional rules of conduct of this state.”
Obama’s action, he says, “amounts to no less than a declaration of total dictatorial authority. Such declaration cannot go without response from this court.
A Board Of Ed Partial Comment Worthy Of A Post
I do have a question. Are there cafeteria workers that were terminated for stealing "throw away food"? Are there others on leave for sloppy paperwork? It would be nice to know just how many people are on administrative leave.
House Bans Welfare Recipients' Money From Strip Clubs, Liquor Stores
The House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill that prohibits welfare recipients from using their government subsidy in strip clubs, liquor stores and casinos.
The measure easily received the necessary support of two-thirds of House members, with 395 voting in favor and only 27 opposing.
More
The measure easily received the necessary support of two-thirds of House members, with 395 voting in favor and only 27 opposing.
More
House Republicans Flex Their Muscles
The House voted Wednesday to freeze federal workers' pay until the end of 2013.
The 309-117 vote put Democrats on the defensive — 72 crossed the aisle to join the Republican majority — and gave the GOP political momentum for the first time since the fall.
The Democratic defections came in defiance of opposition from Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and President Obama, who has proposed a 0.5 percent federal raise for 2012.
The legislation came in a blitz of GOP fiscal bills designed to regain the upper hand Republicans lost when Obama and the Democrats handed them a heavy defeat last year on extending the payroll tax holiday.
It was one of several victories Wednesday on the House floor.
The House also easily approved another bill aimed at cutting welfare fraud by preventing recipients from accessing money in strip clubs, casinos and liquor stores. Only a few dozen Democrats opposed that bill.
Republicans passed a third bill, a resolution chopping most committee budgets by 6.4 percent or more for 2012. Democrats put up token resistance to that proposal, but it was approved quickly on a voice vote.
And finally, the House approved legislation to repeal a piece of the 2010 healthcare law setting up a voluntary long-term health insurance program that even the Obama administration found to be financially untenable. More than two dozen Democrats joined Republicans in that 267-159 vote.
The Republicans’ fierce fiscal attack marked the first full week back at work after more than a month, during which Obama made four controversial recess appointments that Republicans opposed.
Here's more
The 309-117 vote put Democrats on the defensive — 72 crossed the aisle to join the Republican majority — and gave the GOP political momentum for the first time since the fall.
The Democratic defections came in defiance of opposition from Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and President Obama, who has proposed a 0.5 percent federal raise for 2012.
The legislation came in a blitz of GOP fiscal bills designed to regain the upper hand Republicans lost when Obama and the Democrats handed them a heavy defeat last year on extending the payroll tax holiday.
It was one of several victories Wednesday on the House floor.
The House also easily approved another bill aimed at cutting welfare fraud by preventing recipients from accessing money in strip clubs, casinos and liquor stores. Only a few dozen Democrats opposed that bill.
Republicans passed a third bill, a resolution chopping most committee budgets by 6.4 percent or more for 2012. Democrats put up token resistance to that proposal, but it was approved quickly on a voice vote.
And finally, the House approved legislation to repeal a piece of the 2010 healthcare law setting up a voluntary long-term health insurance program that even the Obama administration found to be financially untenable. More than two dozen Democrats joined Republicans in that 267-159 vote.
The Republicans’ fierce fiscal attack marked the first full week back at work after more than a month, during which Obama made four controversial recess appointments that Republicans opposed.
Here's more
Demand Congress Cut The Military Budget
Congressional Republicans are attempting to undo cuts to the military budget mandated by last fall's across-the-board "sequestration" process. The failure of the debt ceiling debateto produce a deficit-reduction plantriggered, among other things, a required $492 billion in military cuts over the next decade.
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon, R-Calif., along with Florida Republican Rep. Ander Crenshaw, in December introduced the Down Payment to Protect National Security Act that would require a 10 percent cut in the federal workforce as an alternative to the first year of military cuts.
More
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon, R-Calif., along with Florida Republican Rep. Ander Crenshaw, in December introduced the Down Payment to Protect National Security Act that would require a 10 percent cut in the federal workforce as an alternative to the first year of military cuts.
More
Indiana Becomes Right-To-Work State As Daniels Signs Bill
Governor Mitch Daniels made Indiana the nation’s 23rd right-to-work state by signing a bill exempting nonunion employees from paying dues when working alongside their unionized colleagues.
Daniels enacted the measure yesterday about four hours after the state Senate gave it final passage on a 28-22 vote, ending a contentious debate over a law that Republicans view as a cost- cutting, job-creating tool, while Democrats call it a wage- lowering union buster.
“This law won’t be a magic answer but we’ll be far better off with it,” Daniels said in a statement from Indianapolis. “No one’s wages will go down, no one’s benefits will be reduced, and the right to organize and bargain collectively is untouched an intact.”
Twenty-two states, mostly in the Deep South and the Rocky Mountain West, had already enacted right-to-work laws. Most recently, Oklahoma passed its law in 2001. Republican gains in the 2010 elections prompted legislation in states including Wisconsin and Ohio aimed at restricting bargaining rights for government workers’ unions.
Indiana’s measure targets labor contracts with businesses. Union members composed 10.9 percent of the state’s workforce in 2010, according to the U.S. Labor Statistics Bureau. That’s down from 15.4 percent in 2000.
“There is no empirical evidence, if you take the time to read the studies, that right-to-work creates one job,” Democrat Senator Vi Simpson of Ellettsville said in debate before the vote. “We can expect lower wages for our people.”
Senators debated the bill for almost two hours as union members outside and inside the statehouse chanted, “Kill the bill.”
Republican Senator Carlin Yoder of Middlebury, the bill’s sponsor, said unions “will still be allowed to exist.” During floor debate, Yoder said right to work gives “freedom to those who don’t want to be part of something they don’t believe in.”
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed the bill Jan. 26, ending three weeks of Democrat boycotts that prevented the chamber from operating.
Daniels enacted the measure yesterday about four hours after the state Senate gave it final passage on a 28-22 vote, ending a contentious debate over a law that Republicans view as a cost- cutting, job-creating tool, while Democrats call it a wage- lowering union buster.
“This law won’t be a magic answer but we’ll be far better off with it,” Daniels said in a statement from Indianapolis. “No one’s wages will go down, no one’s benefits will be reduced, and the right to organize and bargain collectively is untouched an intact.”
Twenty-two states, mostly in the Deep South and the Rocky Mountain West, had already enacted right-to-work laws. Most recently, Oklahoma passed its law in 2001. Republican gains in the 2010 elections prompted legislation in states including Wisconsin and Ohio aimed at restricting bargaining rights for government workers’ unions.
Indiana’s measure targets labor contracts with businesses. Union members composed 10.9 percent of the state’s workforce in 2010, according to the U.S. Labor Statistics Bureau. That’s down from 15.4 percent in 2000.
“There is no empirical evidence, if you take the time to read the studies, that right-to-work creates one job,” Democrat Senator Vi Simpson of Ellettsville said in debate before the vote. “We can expect lower wages for our people.”
Senators debated the bill for almost two hours as union members outside and inside the statehouse chanted, “Kill the bill.”
Republican Senator Carlin Yoder of Middlebury, the bill’s sponsor, said unions “will still be allowed to exist.” During floor debate, Yoder said right to work gives “freedom to those who don’t want to be part of something they don’t believe in.”
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed the bill Jan. 26, ending three weeks of Democrat boycotts that prevented the chamber from operating.
State Of The State Speech
The Governor Who Broke the Camel’s Back
Thoughts on the State of the State
By Delegate Mike McDermott
Thoughts on the State of the State
By Delegate Mike McDermott
Every beast of burden has a limit where the proverbial “last straw” brings an end to any future. In his State of the State Address, Governor O’Malley seemed intent on finding out exactly where that end may be with Maryland families and businesses.
The speech contained nothing new. Within the first few minutes, the governor blamed former President Bush for Maryland’s current problems. Perhaps it would have been best if the governor had ended on that note, but he proceeded to tell us how he was going to “strengthen Maryland families and small business” by increasing a multitude of their taxes.
The Governor does not understand the negative impact his gas and income tax hikes will have on Maryland families. Although he aligns himself with the “common man,” he recently could not identify the average price of gas, bread, or milk in Maryland, because his staff shops for him. (WJZ - Vic Carter interview with Gov. O’Malley on 1/31/12). This could be part of the problem.
If O’Malley gets his way, Maryland’s gas tax will rise to 58.9 cents per gallon, making it the fifth highest in the nation. (Baltimore Sun, “MD Could get 5th Highest Gas Tax Under O’Malley Plan” by Jay Hancock.) This is not exactly the direction to move in if we want to protect our struggling families and make our state competitive and business friendly. In fact, rural Marylanders will bear the brunt of the tax increase, since they consume more fuel than their urban counterparts. Likewise, every item we ship or receive on the Shore will have this cost passed on to us as consumers, robbing families of what remains of their discretionary funds.
Perhaps the saddest indictment for this current state of affairs is how these budget debts will be passed on to coming generations. The governor and the Democrat leaders like to call this “investing in the future,” but what responsible parent gives their child a credit card that is already maxed out? In Maryland government, it has become a common practice for us to build playgrounds for our children that their children will pay for. Maryland citizens already carry more personal debt than their neighbors in 47 other states (Yahoo Finance July 26, 2011). This does not even include our student loan debt. We can pass the buck, but unfortunately our children won’t be able to.
The growth the governor seeks is in the public sector. The jobs he seeks to preserve or expand reside with the government. When jobs are already dwindling, every dollar spent in the public sector is just one more dollar pulled from the private sector. We need our construction crews busy building homes, factories, and office space based upon the actual consumer need that expands the economy. It is a flourishing private sector that generates the jobs that provide the taxes to support the infrastructure projects of which the governor is so fond. Our private sector must drive our recovery. Small business and entrepreneurs must lead the charge. The governor can help by clearing obstacles. He alluded to this in his speech, and I encourage him to do more in the years left in his term.
The governor is a big-government guy; government is his natural fall-back position. If the private sector will not build his project, he is apt to have the state build it, regardless of the risk or cost. Off-shore wind finds itself in this camp. It is too risky to garner private support - or it would already have been done. We have seen this in Delaware just last month with the evaporating private sector support for these projects. Yet the governor is attempting to go against the winds of a common-sense market place by advancing the idea that the tax payers and rate payers of Maryland should hamstring their collective futures by agreeing to subsidize Big Wind. “Feeling good” can be the by-product of a good decision, but it can also be used as an excuse to do that which makes no practical sense.
This administration refuses to drill for vast natural gas deposits in Marcellus Shale, so we import our gas from Pennsylvania and pay more for the privilege. We boost their state’s economy at our own peril. That does not make any Maryland family “feel good” about their pocket book. There are ongoing private ventures centered on land-based wind and solar energy. Both are funded by the private sector and profitable. Why are we not encouraging and expanding these successes?
The speech’s premise that private sector growth is driven by public sector expansion is a flawed approach that we have seen on even grander scales in the form of various federal stimulus programs in recent years. We cannot expand the public sector without damaging the private, and we cannot spend our way out of our deficits. No matter how many times you say otherwise does not make it so.
How 'Anonymous' Went From Mischief Makers To A Force That Terrifies Corporations And Governments
Anonymous activists have become terrifying to the powers that be, despite (or perhaps because of) their apparent disorganization and probably in excess of their actual capacity.
The enigmatic Internet-driven collective Anonymous, thank goodness, has an anthropologist in its midst. For a few years now, Gabriella Coleman has been arduously participant-observing in IRC chat rooms, watching Anonymous turn from a prankster moniker to a herd of vigilantes for global justice. In an extraordinary new essay at Triple Canopy, “Our Weirdness Is Free,” she summarizes what Anonymous is all about this way:
HERE'S THE FBI
Fitchburg woman and daughter ‘terrified’ as saw rips down door after getting wrong address in drug sweep
By Michael Hartwell, mhartwell@sentinelandenterprise.com
FITCHBURG — It was a horror movie come to life.
Judy Sanchez woke Thursday to the sound of heavy footsteps in her stairwell, followed by a loud motor. She got to her kitchen in time to see the blade of a chain saw rip through her front door.
“It was so crazy,” Judy Sanchez said. “I was terrified.”
Jan. 26 was the day of Operation Red Wolf, a multiagency sweep during which 16 people in Fitchburg were arrested on charges related to gang activity, drug trafficking and illegal gun sales after a two-year investigation by federal, state and local law-enforcement officers.
The people sawing through her door were FBI agents, looking for a gang member suspected of trafficking cocaine. But they went to the wrong address.
More
By Michael Hartwell, mhartwell@sentinelandenterprise.com
FITCHBURG — It was a horror movie come to life.
Judy Sanchez woke Thursday to the sound of heavy footsteps in her stairwell, followed by a loud motor. She got to her kitchen in time to see the blade of a chain saw rip through her front door.
“It was so crazy,” Judy Sanchez said. “I was terrified.”
Jan. 26 was the day of Operation Red Wolf, a multiagency sweep during which 16 people in Fitchburg were arrested on charges related to gang activity, drug trafficking and illegal gun sales after a two-year investigation by federal, state and local law-enforcement officers.
The people sawing through her door were FBI agents, looking for a gang member suspected of trafficking cocaine. But they went to the wrong address.
More
American Airline Workers Blast Bain, Prepare for Bankruptcy Fight (UPDATED)
UPDATE: On Wednesday, February 1, AA announced it intends to cut its labor costs by 20%, eliminate 13,000 jobs, replace its pension plans wih 401(k) plans and end company-paid retiree healthcare
As Mitt Romney campaigns in today’s Florida presidential primary, airline workers have been following him with a message about one of his old company’s newest clients: Airline giant AMR, the parent company of American Airlines and American Eagle. AMR, which filed for bankruptcy in November, last week announced plans to retain the advice of Bain & Co., the consulting firm where Romney worked before co-founding private equity firm Bain Capital in 1985.
Homeless Man Passes Away
A homeless man by the name of Mark Hake was found dead in his tent this morning.
"I'm Bill Gross And I Endorse Ron Paul For President"
As a follow up to today's must read letter [9]from Bill Gross, the PIMCO head explains what was the thinking behind the conclusion that is slowly leading him to become a gold bug, the potentially erroneous assumption that the Fed can not drop rates below zero (not if Goldman and JPM have their way), why Bernanke has no choice but to write checks when the Twist ends in June which will lead to bond buying for the next 12-24-36 months. Nothing new. What is new, and absolutely stunning, is Gross' endorsement for president: 'I'm a little Ron Paulish." (6'24" into the clip)... That's right. The bond king endorses Ron Paul for president, apparently on the realization that very soon he will have to pay Tim Geithner [10]for the privilege of holding hundreds of billions in US paper. And now we've heard it all.
More
More
Never Call The Police: Single Mother In Milwaukee Raped By Cop – Then Arrested For “Assaulting An Officer”
Crime victims who call 911 often discover that while the police can’t offer help, they can always make the situation significantly worse – as a single mother from Milwaukee learned when she was raped by one of the cops who responded to her call, then arrested for “assaulting an officer.”
Police Officer Ladmarald Cates was one of two Milwaukee cops who responded to a 911 call from the anxious single mother after someone had pitched a brick through her bathroom window. He arranged to be alone with the woman, then raped her.
Obama Carefully Crafts Health Care Failure
The End of Health Insurance Companies ... Here's a bold prediction for the new year. By 2020, the American health insurance industry will be extinct. Insurance companies will be replaced by accountable care organizations — groups of doctors, hospitals and other health care providers who come together to provide the full range of medical care for patients ... Accountable care organizations will typically be paid a fixed amount per patient, along with bonuses for achieving quality targets. The organizations will make money by keeping their patients healthy and out of the hospital and by avoiding unnecessary tests, drugs and procedures. Thus, they will actually have a financial incentive to hire that nurse for follow-ups. – New York Times
Dominant Social Theme: The US Fedgov has re-engineered health care in the United States. It is a massively exciting and bold plan, and we can't wait to see how it will end up.
Free-Market Analysis: Ezekiel J. Emanuel and Jeffrey B. Liebman – both of whom have Obama administration ties, apparently – have written a massively economically illiterate article on health care that was recently posted to the New York Times Op-Ed.
The main point of the article is excerpted above and has to do with how the Obama administration has "crafted" accountable care organizations that will have financial incentives to keep people healthy via "prevention" and healthcare monitoring.
This is, of course, a power elite dominant social theme of sorts – that government can create laws and regulations that provide private-market facilities with methodologies to "overcome" market failure.
More
Dominant Social Theme: The US Fedgov has re-engineered health care in the United States. It is a massively exciting and bold plan, and we can't wait to see how it will end up.
Free-Market Analysis: Ezekiel J. Emanuel and Jeffrey B. Liebman – both of whom have Obama administration ties, apparently – have written a massively economically illiterate article on health care that was recently posted to the New York Times Op-Ed.
The main point of the article is excerpted above and has to do with how the Obama administration has "crafted" accountable care organizations that will have financial incentives to keep people healthy via "prevention" and healthcare monitoring.
This is, of course, a power elite dominant social theme of sorts – that government can create laws and regulations that provide private-market facilities with methodologies to "overcome" market failure.
More
Salisbury Fire Chief Interview
Today the City Council will interview Mr. Hoppes for the position of Fire Chief.
What sort of questions would you ask him if you were the ones doing the interviewing?
The interview is TODAY at 4:00. Do submit your questions before that time.
What sort of questions would you ask him if you were the ones doing the interviewing?
The interview is TODAY at 4:00. Do submit your questions before that time.
New Posts to fall below.
Man Gets Prison After 44 Arrests Net 0 Convictions
A Philadelphia man arrested 44 times without a conviction faces at least 32 years in federal prison for a pair of armed robberies.
A jury convicted 25-year-old John Gassew on Wednesday of two counts each of robbery and possession of a firearm during a crime following two days of deliberations.
More
A jury convicted 25-year-old John Gassew on Wednesday of two counts each of robbery and possession of a firearm during a crime following two days of deliberations.
More
CBO REPORT - OMG!
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is out with its annual report [6]. It’s a blockbuster. This 165 page monster is filled with dozens of charts, graphs and detailed projections. It will be talked about for weeks. The report provides a dismal outlook for the economy. There is one data point I'd like to focus on.
Here is the CBO forecast for real GDP for 2012 and 2013:
More
Here is the CBO forecast for real GDP for 2012 and 2013:
More
More Winter? The Groundhog Says...
Yes!
The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club made their decree Thursday morning in central Pennsylvania: Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, and there'll be six more weeks of winter. The announcement was met with boos from the enormous crowd gathered in Punxsutawney.
More
The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club made their decree Thursday morning in central Pennsylvania: Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, and there'll be six more weeks of winter. The announcement was met with boos from the enormous crowd gathered in Punxsutawney.
More
TRAFFIC ALERT
Route 54 Traffic Pattern Switch Will Occur on February 8
Fenwick Island -- The Department of Transportation (DelDOT) announces that as work continues on the Route 54 Improvement Project, a traffic pattern switch will occur on Wednesday, February 8. This switch will allow for work to begin to widen the northern portion (westbound side) of the road.
The switch will involve work to place all temporary pavement markings to shift traffic to the southern edge of Route 54 (riding on the newly widened portion) and should take about a week to complete.
This traffic switch moves the project to its third phase. Work that will be completed during this phase includes the removal of the existing shoulder, placement of underdrain, placement of electrical conduit, placement of new curb and sidewalk, and placement of a new pavement section to widen the existing road. Intermittent lane closures will occur during this next phase, but it is anticipated that most work will be performed on the shoulder, which will allow two lanes of traffic to be maintained.
Fenwick Island -- The Department of Transportation (DelDOT) announces that as work continues on the Route 54 Improvement Project, a traffic pattern switch will occur on Wednesday, February 8. This switch will allow for work to begin to widen the northern portion (westbound side) of the road.
The switch will involve work to place all temporary pavement markings to shift traffic to the southern edge of Route 54 (riding on the newly widened portion) and should take about a week to complete.
This traffic switch moves the project to its third phase. Work that will be completed during this phase includes the removal of the existing shoulder, placement of underdrain, placement of electrical conduit, placement of new curb and sidewalk, and placement of a new pavement section to widen the existing road. Intermittent lane closures will occur during this next phase, but it is anticipated that most work will be performed on the shoulder, which will allow two lanes of traffic to be maintained.
Milwaukee Archdiocese Faces 550 Sex Abuse Claims
(AP)
MILWAUKEE - About 550 people have filed sex abuse claims in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee's bankruptcy case.
The archdiocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January 2011, saying sex-abuse lawsuits could leave it with debts it couldn't afford. Church officials have said they have less than $4.6 million available to pay claims.
Will The Dream Become A Reality?
Jill King
While many are intrigued by the upcoming presidential election and perplexed as to why The Sixth Congressional District is gathering so many Republican candidates, a less publicized decision loses its fizz. The Dream Act, which sought an overwhelming majority of distaste, has been shoved into the background.
Could it be that they don’t want us to know what we are up against?
The Dream Act, a path to allow non-citizens a way to gain in-state college tuition was signed into law by Gov. Martin O’Malley in 2011. Marylanders were furious over this legislation and decided to act, creating a state-wide push to fight back.
A successful petition drive, led by Del. Neil Parrot (R., Washington) and co-chaired by Del. Pat McDonough (R., Baltimore/Harford) has placed this issue on the 2012 ballot. Many delegates and engaged citizens worked diligently to exceed the goal of 100,000 signatures, only to have Casa de Maryland dispute the method and signatures through the judicial system; it soon lost its court challenge.
Casa de Maryland, an immigrant advocacy 501(c)(3) nonprofit agency, has now created a separate, but affiliated partner, Casa in Action, a 501(c)(4) agency. This related group’s sole purpose is to participate in educational actions and legislative and political sponsorship. Although their funds are not to be comingled, their focus remains the same: supplying needs to immigrants and potential immigrants.
In 1985, Casa de Maryland was organized, creating a shelter, providing jobs, and engaging in social, political, and economic justice for immigrants from Central and South America. They have now risen to the ranks of one of the largest not-for-profits in Maryland.
But this isn’t even the tip of the iceberg.
Casa de Maryland itself has pledged an all-out war on the referendum, creating a new “exempt” managerial position to seek $10 million in funding to oppose the successful ballot initiative. This position is one that – once filled – will last from January 2012 to November 2012. The responsibilities include raising funds and creating solicitation materials for mass distribution. In occupying this temporary seat, the leader will report and work directly with Educating Maryland Kids.
According to a statement made in 2008 by Jennifer Freedman, Casa de Maryland’s director of development, “about 45% of Casa’s annual $6.3 million budget comes from government sources.”
More
While many are intrigued by the upcoming presidential election and perplexed as to why The Sixth Congressional District is gathering so many Republican candidates, a less publicized decision loses its fizz. The Dream Act, which sought an overwhelming majority of distaste, has been shoved into the background.
Could it be that they don’t want us to know what we are up against?
The Dream Act, a path to allow non-citizens a way to gain in-state college tuition was signed into law by Gov. Martin O’Malley in 2011. Marylanders were furious over this legislation and decided to act, creating a state-wide push to fight back.
A successful petition drive, led by Del. Neil Parrot (R., Washington) and co-chaired by Del. Pat McDonough (R., Baltimore/Harford) has placed this issue on the 2012 ballot. Many delegates and engaged citizens worked diligently to exceed the goal of 100,000 signatures, only to have Casa de Maryland dispute the method and signatures through the judicial system; it soon lost its court challenge.
Casa de Maryland, an immigrant advocacy 501(c)(3) nonprofit agency, has now created a separate, but affiliated partner, Casa in Action, a 501(c)(4) agency. This related group’s sole purpose is to participate in educational actions and legislative and political sponsorship. Although their funds are not to be comingled, their focus remains the same: supplying needs to immigrants and potential immigrants.
In 1985, Casa de Maryland was organized, creating a shelter, providing jobs, and engaging in social, political, and economic justice for immigrants from Central and South America. They have now risen to the ranks of one of the largest not-for-profits in Maryland.
But this isn’t even the tip of the iceberg.
Casa de Maryland itself has pledged an all-out war on the referendum, creating a new “exempt” managerial position to seek $10 million in funding to oppose the successful ballot initiative. This position is one that – once filled – will last from January 2012 to November 2012. The responsibilities include raising funds and creating solicitation materials for mass distribution. In occupying this temporary seat, the leader will report and work directly with Educating Maryland Kids.
According to a statement made in 2008 by Jennifer Freedman, Casa de Maryland’s director of development, “about 45% of Casa’s annual $6.3 million budget comes from government sources.”
More
“Regulate Marijuana Like Wine” Finds 62% Support In New California Poll
A voter survey commissioned by California’s Regulate Marijuana Like Wine(RMLW) initiative campaign suggests the initiative could win at the polls in November—if it manages to make it on the ballot in the first place.
RMLW is one of handful of proposed 2012 California marijuana legalization initiatives, all of them ill-funded. For any of them to make the ballot, they have to come up with more than 500,000 valid voter signatures by April, a task that is considered almost impossibly to accomplish by volunteer efforts alone.
Spring Fashion Show Benefits Women Supporting Women
Warm up to spring at the Birds and Blooms Fashion Show & Luncheon to benefit Women Supporting Women’s Worcester County Chapter, Eunice Sorin Office will be held on Friday, March 30 at the Berlin Fire Hall, 214 N. Main St., Berlin.
Tickets are just $25 each for the event, which includes a full Eastern Shore style luncheon, fashion show, silent and Chinese auctions, 50/50 raffle, door prizes and vendor tables.
Fashions are being provided by Bruder Hill of Berlin, CraZy LadyZ! in West Ocean City and the Women’s Health Boutique at Mercy Hospital in Baltimore. This year’s event will feature a dozen models who are either breast cancer survivors or members of a survivor’s family modeling this spring’s casual and formal wear, along with swimsuits specially designed for breast cancer survivors.
The luncheon is being provided by the Berlin Fire Company Auxiliary and includes fried chicken, ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, vegetable, salad, rolls, desserts and beverages. Doors open at 11:30 a.m., with lunch at 12:30 p.m. and the fashion show at about 1:30 p.m.
Vendor tables are available for $50 each. Small businesses and crafters are welcome to participate and sell their wares.
Women Supporting Women is a nonprofit organization that provides free local services and local support for women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer and their families, and promotes education and awareness about breast cancer. WSW’s programs provides mentoring and support groups, a lending library and educational materials, wigs, scarves and head coverings, prostheses and bras, specially designed pillows and other items to aid in the recovery process. WSW is entirely funded through community support, donations and grants and all funding is returned directly to the local community through its programs and services.
For more tickets or vendor information or more information about Women Supporting Women, call 410-641-2849, visit the Berlin office at 10026 Old Ocean City Blvd., Suite 4, Berlin or contact Rota Knott, Worcester County coordinator, at rota@womensupportingwomen.org.
CALENDER ITEM:
Friday, March 30
Birds and Blooms Fashion Show & Luncheon
Benefits Women Supporting Women’s Worcester County Chapter
Berlin Fire Hall, 214 N. Main St., Berlin.
Tickets $25 each
Fashions by Bruder Hill, CraZy LadyZ! and the Women’s Health Boutique
Lunch by the Berlin Fire Company Auxiliary includes fried chicken, ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, vegetable, salad, rolls, desserts and beverages.
Silent and Chinese auctions, 50/50 raffle, door prizes and vendor tables.
Doors open at 11:30 a.m., with lunch at 12:30 p.m. and the fashion show at about 1:30 p.m.
Call 410-641-2849.
Tickets are just $25 each for the event, which includes a full Eastern Shore style luncheon, fashion show, silent and Chinese auctions, 50/50 raffle, door prizes and vendor tables.
Fashions are being provided by Bruder Hill of Berlin, CraZy LadyZ! in West Ocean City and the Women’s Health Boutique at Mercy Hospital in Baltimore. This year’s event will feature a dozen models who are either breast cancer survivors or members of a survivor’s family modeling this spring’s casual and formal wear, along with swimsuits specially designed for breast cancer survivors.
The luncheon is being provided by the Berlin Fire Company Auxiliary and includes fried chicken, ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, vegetable, salad, rolls, desserts and beverages. Doors open at 11:30 a.m., with lunch at 12:30 p.m. and the fashion show at about 1:30 p.m.
Vendor tables are available for $50 each. Small businesses and crafters are welcome to participate and sell their wares.
Women Supporting Women is a nonprofit organization that provides free local services and local support for women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer and their families, and promotes education and awareness about breast cancer. WSW’s programs provides mentoring and support groups, a lending library and educational materials, wigs, scarves and head coverings, prostheses and bras, specially designed pillows and other items to aid in the recovery process. WSW is entirely funded through community support, donations and grants and all funding is returned directly to the local community through its programs and services.
For more tickets or vendor information or more information about Women Supporting Women, call 410-641-2849, visit the Berlin office at 10026 Old Ocean City Blvd., Suite 4, Berlin or contact Rota Knott, Worcester County coordinator, at rota@womensupportingwomen.org.
CALENDER ITEM:
Friday, March 30
Birds and Blooms Fashion Show & Luncheon
Benefits Women Supporting Women’s Worcester County Chapter
Berlin Fire Hall, 214 N. Main St., Berlin.
Tickets $25 each
Fashions by Bruder Hill, CraZy LadyZ! and the Women’s Health Boutique
Lunch by the Berlin Fire Company Auxiliary includes fried chicken, ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, vegetable, salad, rolls, desserts and beverages.
Silent and Chinese auctions, 50/50 raffle, door prizes and vendor tables.
Doors open at 11:30 a.m., with lunch at 12:30 p.m. and the fashion show at about 1:30 p.m.
Call 410-641-2849.
LEASED!! Downtown Salisbury, Md
SALISBURY, MD, FEBRUARY 2012 - Advisor Joey Gilkerson of The Gillis Team of Sperry Van Ness – Miller Commercial Real Estate closed a 5-year deal downtown Salisbury. The Tenant, White Flint Recovery, has relocated to 130 E Main Street this month. White Flint Recovery is in the Health and Human Services industry; DUI treatment and recovery is their specialty.
The property, listed by The Hanna Team, sat vacant for only one week before a lease was produced. Gilkerson commented.
More
Komen Supporters Jumping Ship On Guidestar.Org
Guidestar.org is an extraordinarily important resource for nonprofits. Prospective donors, if they're smart, check out a nonprofit at guidestar.org before even considering giving a donation.
So I wandered over there this evening, and logged in to see what might be going on with Susan G. Komen Foundation. Well, it looks like some now-former supporters found Guidestar just like I did. The Personal Reviews section, which I honestly did not know existed before today, exploded in the last two days, and brought SGK's rating down to one star out of five. Not very good for such a "high class" organization!
Laughing All The Way To The Bank
You would think that having your name published two times in the newspaper would certainly bring you more traffic, right? Nope, not the case at all, which absolutely proves our circulation is far bigger than the Daily Times and would explain why they would run such a stupid article in the first place, they're pissed.
For those of you who do get the Daily Times, a huge sign of their downfall is simply looking at their Classified Ads, (when they actually publish them). Go back and look, they have titles for the classified ads but under the title, notice how there's NOTHING for sale under the title or no jobs published under the title.
People have simply given up on that newspaper and the funniest part now is, we're probably sending them more traffic whenever we mention them, instead of it being the other way around. Sales down, just mention Joe Albero, (ONE PERSON) and sales instantly go UP. ROTFLMAO!
One local Blogger is tearing them apart. One local Blogger is not only calling them out like we do to local politicians, one Blogger is PROVING they are lying, proving they are misleading, proving they publish quotes knowing they are lies but because it's a quote from someone else they are not liable for the lie.
The Daily Times Greg Bassett regularly does interviews stating they are held to a higher journalistic standard, really? Yet they claim the state was to pay 96% of all costs to build Bennett Middle School. I could go on and on, but I won't. We're beating a dead horse.
I am absolutely convinced one Blogger, (Salisbury News) is now, (without any doubt) DelMarva's News Leader. This past weekend Brian Shane produced a fantastic investigative article on the Worcester Board of Education. We not only published that article, we provided a link back to the Daily Times. The Daily Times refuses to mention Salisbury News, they just say Joe Albero or local Blogger. You shouldn't worry so much Joe Carmean or Greg Bassett, we've already surpassed you and that in itself is living proof.
One last thing. We held off the Wicomico Board of Education article knowing the print edition today would hopefully bring in traffic we hadn't already had. I wanted their viewers to see we provide articles a month ahead of the Daily Times and that the Daily Times REFUSES to touch on the TRUTH with the Board of Education. They have INSIDE people there and there's no way you can convince me they aren't aware about the two people terminated, or the others on administrative leave. Oh, they finally got around to telling that story today, WEEKS after we had already published it.
If you want REAL action on your advertising, contact me at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com. Our ads are only $100.00 a month, no contracts, no strings. We'll earn your business and if we can't you should have every right to simply walk away. How's that for old school.
PUBLIC NOTICE
SPECIAL MEETING SCHEDULED
In accordance with §SC2-4 of the Salisbury City Charter, a majority of the City Council have called for a Special Meeting to be held on Monday, February 6, 2012, at 4:00 p.m. for the purpose of considering revisions to Ordinance No. 2185 (Towing Ordinance) and Ordinance No. 2186 (towing fee structure) for first reading.
This special meeting will be held in Conference Room 306 of the City/County Government Office Building (125 N. Division Street).
Who Is Calling?
We are all guilty of it, we look at our cell phone or caller I.D. before we answer the call and based mostly on the Area Code we decide to answer or not.
Well here at SBYNews we have learned that starting in March, March 23rd to be exact the Eastern Shore of Maryland will have a new area code for cell phones.
And the winning number is ....... 667.
So will you answer the call ?
Well here at SBYNews we have learned that starting in March, March 23rd to be exact the Eastern Shore of Maryland will have a new area code for cell phones.
And the winning number is ....... 667.
So will you answer the call ?
Lewes Man Arrested For Rape
Location: Evette Lane, Lewes, DE
Date of Occurrence: Tuesday January 31, 2012 at approximately 3:00 a.m.
Victim:
18 year old female
Defendant, Charges, and Bail Information:
Carl Nathan, 38, Lewes, DE (Photo Attached)
Rape 2nd
Rape 4th
Unlawful Sexual Contact 3rd
Arraigned at JP3 and committed to Sussex Correctional Institute on $40,500.00 cash bail.
Resume:
Lewes, DE- Delaware State Police have charged a Lewes man in connection with an early morning rape.
The incident occurred around 3:00 a.m. on January 31, after the 18 year old victim gave Carl Nathan, 38, of whom she is an acquaintance, a ride to a residence on Evette Lane in Lewes. As the two were parked outside the residence, Nathan began to make unwanted advances on the victim and eventually sexually assaulted her.
Detectives charged Nathan with the above offenses. He was arraigned at JP3 and committed to Sussex Correctional Institute on $40,500.00 cash bail.
Nathan, who is a Tier 2 registered sex offender, was convicted of Unlawful Sexual Contact 2nd on August 31, 1999.
Rep. Harris Questions Junk Science Regarding Hydrofracking
Washington, DC – Today, Rep. Andy Harris held a subcommittee hearing to review the EPA’s approach to ground water research in Pavillion, Wyoming. Witnesses highlighted a number of concerns with EPA’s December 8, 2011 draft findings, including the failure of the Agency to adequately consult with state and federal experts, the release of conclusions prior to adequate peer review, lack of adherence to information quality guidelines, a lack of data transparency, and sampling and monitoring well issues that call into question many of the results.
“This hearing exposes how the EPA is willing to use junk science to promote unnecessary fear about the safety of hydrofracking in an attempt to carry out the President’s climate change agenda,” said Rep. Andy Harris. “The testimony was clear that this study is not applicable to Marcellus Shale, so hopefully Governor O’Malley won’t use this flawed study as an excuse to advance his own climate change agenda.”
As with all Committee hearings, the hearing was webcast live in its entirety at www.science.house.gov, and an archived version of the webcast will be publicly available on the website.
“This hearing exposes how the EPA is willing to use junk science to promote unnecessary fear about the safety of hydrofracking in an attempt to carry out the President’s climate change agenda,” said Rep. Andy Harris. “The testimony was clear that this study is not applicable to Marcellus Shale, so hopefully Governor O’Malley won’t use this flawed study as an excuse to advance his own climate change agenda.”
As with all Committee hearings, the hearing was webcast live in its entirety at www.science.house.gov, and an archived version of the webcast will be publicly available on the website.
House Transportation Bill Drives Us To Deeper Oil Dependence
BALTIMORE — This afternoon, Representative John Mica (R-FL), Chairman of the House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, officially introduced a major transportation reauthorization bill. The overall plan for the bill includes proposals to open the Atlantic and Pacific coasts as well as the pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling, and to open landscapes in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming to oil shale extraction. At the same time, it cuts all funding for biking and walking safety and cripples environmental review for transportation projects. On top of this, Speaker of the House John Boehner has said that he would attach approval of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline to this bill if it were not otherwise immediately approved.
Ewa Krason, Field Organizer with Environment Maryland, issued the following response:
“Transportation is responsible for one-third of our global warming pollution and two-thirds of our dangerous dependence on oil. But it doesn’t have to be this way – we can invest in clean, efficient travel choices such as public transit that will move our nation away from oil and toward a brighter, healthier future. These projects, such as expanded and improved bus and rail systems as well as biking and walking pathways, give commuters the chance to escape our heavily congested highways and choose smarter, cleaner transportation options that clean up our air and get our nation off oil.
“The bill introduced by Representative Mica today in the House of Representatives drives us down to the dead end of too many oil spills, too much air pollution, and destroying the places we love. It reads like a wish list for Big Oil, including:
Deepening our oil dependence: slashing programs for biking and walking safety, while continuing to underfund transit;
Destroying our most pristine wilderness areas: drilling in protected places like the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and opening development for even dirtier, more hazardous sources of oil like oil shale extraction in Colorado, Wyoming and Utah that will endanger nearby drinking water while destroying landscapes and pumping out air pollution at truly alarming rates; and
Pumping toxic tar sands into the U.S.: Speaker Boehner has stated that he would attempt to force the approval of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline through this bill, further deepening our addiction to ever more toxic, high risk forms of oil.
“America needs a smarter, cleaner transportation future, not this destructive proposal that drives us down a road to deeper, more damaging oil dependence. The House of Representatives should reject this bill.”
Ewa Krason, Field Organizer with Environment Maryland, issued the following response:
“Transportation is responsible for one-third of our global warming pollution and two-thirds of our dangerous dependence on oil. But it doesn’t have to be this way – we can invest in clean, efficient travel choices such as public transit that will move our nation away from oil and toward a brighter, healthier future. These projects, such as expanded and improved bus and rail systems as well as biking and walking pathways, give commuters the chance to escape our heavily congested highways and choose smarter, cleaner transportation options that clean up our air and get our nation off oil.
“The bill introduced by Representative Mica today in the House of Representatives drives us down to the dead end of too many oil spills, too much air pollution, and destroying the places we love. It reads like a wish list for Big Oil, including:
Deepening our oil dependence: slashing programs for biking and walking safety, while continuing to underfund transit;
Destroying our most pristine wilderness areas: drilling in protected places like the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and opening development for even dirtier, more hazardous sources of oil like oil shale extraction in Colorado, Wyoming and Utah that will endanger nearby drinking water while destroying landscapes and pumping out air pollution at truly alarming rates; and
Pumping toxic tar sands into the U.S.: Speaker Boehner has stated that he would attempt to force the approval of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline through this bill, further deepening our addiction to ever more toxic, high risk forms of oil.
“America needs a smarter, cleaner transportation future, not this destructive proposal that drives us down a road to deeper, more damaging oil dependence. The House of Representatives should reject this bill.”
Happy Timers Yard Sale Scheduled For Saturday, February 11
(Salisbury, MD) Hunting for a bargain? Check out some great deals and hidden treasures at the Happy Timers Yard Sale on Saturday, February 11 from 7:00am-11:00am. The yard sale will be held at the Wicomico Youth & Civic Center in the DaNang Rooms. Members of the Happy Timers will be selling clothing, household items, costume jewelry, baked goods, books and much more!
Happy Timers is a program for men and women ages 50+. Members are residents of Wicomico County and surrounding areas that like to have a great time walking, line dancing, exercising, participating in arts and crafts and playing games like bridge, pinochle and bingo. The Happy Timers also go on trips with local and long distance travel.
For more information about the yard sale please call Sharon Engster at 410-548-4900 ext. 118 or email sengster@wicomicocounty.org. If you would like to learn about becoming a member of Happy Timers, please visit the Wicomico County Recreation, Parks and Tourism website at www.wicomicorecandparks.org
Happy Timers is a program for men and women ages 50+. Members are residents of Wicomico County and surrounding areas that like to have a great time walking, line dancing, exercising, participating in arts and crafts and playing games like bridge, pinochle and bingo. The Happy Timers also go on trips with local and long distance travel.
For more information about the yard sale please call Sharon Engster at 410-548-4900 ext. 118 or email sengster@wicomicocounty.org. If you would like to learn about becoming a member of Happy Timers, please visit the Wicomico County Recreation, Parks and Tourism website at www.wicomicorecandparks.org
Big Story By Atlanta TV Station
This video clip is going to set your teeth on fire!
Atlanta WSB TV Station Breaks Big Story.
Don’t just let this make your day...
make sure we get rid of the problem!!
CSEA Has Collected Nearly $400,000 In Overdue Child Support Payments
CSEA has collected nearly $400,000 in overdue child support payments the largest collection of its kind in Maryland history.
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND – Today, the Department of Human Resources (DHR) announced that the Child Support Enforcement Administration (CSEA) has collected nearly $400,000 in overdue child support payments from a single non-custodial parent — the largest collection of its kind in Maryland history. This historic collection underscores the great progress the department is making towards becoming a national leader in child support collection, and serves as a notice to non-custodial parents that neither time nor distance absolves them from their responsibilities to their children.
“I hope that this collection sends a clear message to non-custodial parents that Maryland is committed to collecting the support that is due to our children,” said Secretary Ted Dallas. “We’re leaving no stone unturned in our effort to make Maryland one of the top ten states in terms of child support collections within the next 18 months.”
This record collection comes as the department is making great strides in increasing collections — having currently collected $2 million more than at this same point in FY 2011 — in part due to an increased focus on interstate cooperation. In December 2010, the department began working in close cooperation with the delinquent parent’s state of residence. In June 2011, following a hearing in the parent’s state of residence, a number of private bank accounts were frozen as a result of the parent’s failure to meet their obligations despite having the ability to pay. That December, funds were seized sufficient to pay the overdue payments in full.
“This is a good day for Maryland families,” said Joe DiPrimio, executive director of the Child Support Enforcement Administration. “Our tough, but fair, approach is putting delinquent parents on notice. Parents who have the ability to pay will pay — no matter where they live. Their children deserve nothing less.”
Last month, the department announced a set of sweeping changes to the Child Support Enforcement Administration, including the appointment of Mr. DiPrimio as executive director. In an effort to make Maryland one of the top ten states in the nation for child support collections, the department announced that it would:
• increase collections by better leveraging targeted enforcement tools, such as the garnishment of wages and bank accounts and the suspension of professional licenses;
• streamline operations by adopting best practices to increase the amount of support collected and expedite the distribution of child support payments to families;
• improve accountability by moving the Audit Unit to the Office of the Inspector General; and
• establish a Child Support Advisory Committee comprised of parents, child advocates and public and private sector stakeholders to help implement improvements and make Maryland’s child support system more responsive.
The Child Support Enforcement Administration is responsible for operating a statewide child support program and provides services to both noncustodial and custodial parents, which include the establishment of paternity and child support orders, the collection of support payments, and the distribution of such funds. CSEA distributes funds to custodial parents and helps custodial parents enforce the legal child support obligations of non-custodial parents.
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND – Today, the Department of Human Resources (DHR) announced that the Child Support Enforcement Administration (CSEA) has collected nearly $400,000 in overdue child support payments from a single non-custodial parent — the largest collection of its kind in Maryland history. This historic collection underscores the great progress the department is making towards becoming a national leader in child support collection, and serves as a notice to non-custodial parents that neither time nor distance absolves them from their responsibilities to their children.
“I hope that this collection sends a clear message to non-custodial parents that Maryland is committed to collecting the support that is due to our children,” said Secretary Ted Dallas. “We’re leaving no stone unturned in our effort to make Maryland one of the top ten states in terms of child support collections within the next 18 months.”
This record collection comes as the department is making great strides in increasing collections — having currently collected $2 million more than at this same point in FY 2011 — in part due to an increased focus on interstate cooperation. In December 2010, the department began working in close cooperation with the delinquent parent’s state of residence. In June 2011, following a hearing in the parent’s state of residence, a number of private bank accounts were frozen as a result of the parent’s failure to meet their obligations despite having the ability to pay. That December, funds were seized sufficient to pay the overdue payments in full.
“This is a good day for Maryland families,” said Joe DiPrimio, executive director of the Child Support Enforcement Administration. “Our tough, but fair, approach is putting delinquent parents on notice. Parents who have the ability to pay will pay — no matter where they live. Their children deserve nothing less.”
Last month, the department announced a set of sweeping changes to the Child Support Enforcement Administration, including the appointment of Mr. DiPrimio as executive director. In an effort to make Maryland one of the top ten states in the nation for child support collections, the department announced that it would:
• increase collections by better leveraging targeted enforcement tools, such as the garnishment of wages and bank accounts and the suspension of professional licenses;
• streamline operations by adopting best practices to increase the amount of support collected and expedite the distribution of child support payments to families;
• improve accountability by moving the Audit Unit to the Office of the Inspector General; and
• establish a Child Support Advisory Committee comprised of parents, child advocates and public and private sector stakeholders to help implement improvements and make Maryland’s child support system more responsive.
The Child Support Enforcement Administration is responsible for operating a statewide child support program and provides services to both noncustodial and custodial parents, which include the establishment of paternity and child support orders, the collection of support payments, and the distribution of such funds. CSEA distributes funds to custodial parents and helps custodial parents enforce the legal child support obligations of non-custodial parents.
A Board Of Education Letter To The Editor Many Of You Have Been Waiting For
Joe,
I am contacting you regarding your blog about the situation involving John Fredericksen and Stephanie Moses and Stacy Messick. I am neither Stephanie nor Stacy and I am not serving in any capacity as their representative. But I am someone with direct knowledge of the situation who has access to direct information and the records in the file.
I saw that eventually you brought the blog discussion back to a place of greater reasonableness and that you seem to have gained some insight into what is happening. However, based on your focus on them being forced or pressured to do things, I don’t know that you have the complete picture at all. I will not be posting to the blog, but I can fill in the blanks for you.
The timing of everything is unfortunate because the board is required by Maryland education law to make the renewal decision on Fredericksen by March 1st (4-201 of Education Article). There is no way that a hearing will occur before then in the case of Moses and Messick. All of that information will have to come to light much later. The board is determined to renew him in part because a majority of them are complicit in what has occurred in Messick and Moses’ case. It appears now that the board will vote to renew him at their February 14, 2012 meeting.
To clarify the facts, they were terminated by Fredericksen for filing a discrimination complaint against them on the basis that he treats female employees badly and creates a hostile environment for females. The board ignored their complaint and refused to investigate it at all. When he wrote them up at the end of September for senseless issues, some of them illegal, they filed their complaint with the board. A separate complaint was filed with the Wicomico County Ethics Commission against Fredericksen for abuse of prestige of office because one of the issues involved the hiring of a board member’s future son-in-law.
First, board president Willey wrote to them asking them to withdraw the complaint and indicating that their complaint was unclear. This letter from Willey dated November 2, 2011 represented that the board was seeking a clarification of their complaint. Willey signed this letter representing a board decision even though the board had never met to consider the complaint. Willey acted after only consulting Fredericksen and Fulton Jeffers. In fact, Willey ordered the board clerk to not forward the complaint to all board members. As you are aware, this violates the Maryland Open Meetings Act.
At that point the two women wrote to the entire board and clarified their complaint and sought documents under the Maryland Public Information Act (MPIA) to confirm that no meeting had occurred prior to the November 2 letter from Willey. They also then made the board aware that Fredericksen had begun to retaliate against them by having their computers files seized and searched. They implored the board to intervene and to investigate the appeal before more retaliation could occur.
The board, which was now complicit for violating the Open Meetings Act, for defyingthe MPIA in response to the request to confirm a meeting, and for violating ex parte communication, began to circle the wagons. They responded illegally by trying to force the two women to fill out discrimination complaint forms rather than assign a qualified investigator. They informed the two women that they had no reason to fear retaliation. And, when pressed, they tried to assign Cathy Townsend to investigate the discrimination complaint despite protests from the two women that Townsend, as Fredericksen’s subordinate, was not a legally acceptable investigator. Townsend even indicated to Willey that she was not appropriate to investigate. To this date, the complaint has not yet been investigated in defiance of federal and state anti-discrimination laws and the board has vicarious liability under Title VII.
Subsequently, the two ladies filed a grievance with the EEOC and an appeal with the State Board. In the meantime, Fredericksen was presented with two separate MPIA requests seeking email correspondence regarding his directive to search the two women’s computers. He twice signed his name that no such email correspondence existed, thereby implying no such directive had happened. These two signed responses represent lies on his part among many others.
Evidently, he was unable to find anything on the computers to use to terminate them. At that point, which is now late December, 2011, he then sought a new vehicle to dismiss them. He used the pretext that they had had lunch in October with the union president, Dave White, where they made derogatory statements about Fredericksen. It should be noted that Dave White is perhaps Fredericksen’s only friend in the system and someone with whom he roomed with and rented a car with at a conference in Denver. White is also someone who was an unsuccessful candidate for Messick’s job at the time she received it. Finally, White is someone who his attorney with the union refers to as being out of control.
Prior to the meeting on this issue with Fredericksen, the ladies’ attorney contacted White who denied having any such conversation with them. They met with Fredericksen on December 28, 2011, informed him that they had no lunch with White in October, and told Fredericksen that White had indicated to their attorney that no conversations had occurred. They were placed on leave that day so that he could “investigate,” which defies normal process. In January, he produced written statements from White, crafted after December 28, claiming such conversation occurred in November (not October), that he gave credibility to White and not them, and that they were terminated.
That is a very accurate factual summary of what transpired. Things like this are always like an onion with too many layers. The underlying issues are at the root of the bigger outcome and involve not only Fredericksen but board members as well, including some no longer on the board. Fredericksen and certain board members frequently held private discussion where decisions were made that should have been deliberated or at least decided in public under the Open Meetings Act. In many of these cases, it involved situations that are very questionable under the Public Ethics Law as abuse of prestige of office. When Moses and Messick offered advice counter to the wishes of certain board members, secret meetings were held, illegal decisions made, and Fredericksen placed the blame on them to appease those board members and help his own cause to be reappointed. These issues are part of an ethics complaint that implicate Fredericksen and board members Willey, Wright and Fitzgerald (more below).
There are some cases that are easy enough for you to verify. One is the case of the daughter of the senior vice-president of Perdue where Michelle Wright worked. She was a first year teacher in school year 2010-11 who was submitted for non-renewal as a probationary teacher. The standard process was used where the recommendation from the principal was reviewed in committee by Fredericksen, the two assistant superintendents, Moses and Messick, and the appropriate school director. It was sent to the board and acted on by the board in April 2011 along with six other non-renewed probationary teachers.
When Michelle Wright became aware of what the board, including her, had done, she lost it. Wright actually told the teacher to file an appeal with the board. When the stickiness of that process became clear, a secret meeting was held with Fredericksen and board members Wright, Holloway, and Willey. Following that meeting, Handy, Townsend, and Moses were called in by Fredericksen and told to ignore the appeal and to rehire the senior vice-president’s daughter for the coming school year. No application process was needed or used, just an order to restore her to a vacancy. She was placed at Beaver Run where she remains. In other words, because Wright was personally affected, three boards members met with Fredericksen in an illegal non-quorum and overturned a legal decision of the full board based on the recommendation of a principal, director, and superintendent’s staff, ordered a hiring outside of the process all other applicants go through, and restored employment without proper action. No other non-renewed probationary teacher gets such treatment.
Another situation easy to verify involves Fitzgerald’s future son-in-law becoming an special ed assistant. This is the issue that caused Fredericksen to go after Moses in late September. The son-in-law was interviewed by a principal of a Title I school who failed to confirm an application on file. The principal forwarded a job offer at which point Human Resources noted that an application was not on file. They worked with him to get it on file and then recognized that he wasn’t qualified under No Child Left Behind to work in a Title I school. Within three hours, he was offered another position at a non-Title I school which he declined. Moses reported the situation to Fredericksen immediately who offered no concern with how it was handled.
One week later, Fitzgerald became involved and Fredericksen made the situation Moses’ issue. As a board member, Fitzgerald met with staff members to voice his displeasure over his future son-in-law not having the job he wanted. Fredericksen then ordered the Director of Special Ed and the Comptroller to create non-budgeted positions for the son-in-law so that he would have a choice to select from for a newly created position just for him, even though he had turned down Moses’ offer out of spite or frustration. An email exists confirming this action of Fredericksen. He is now employed at Williards in a job created outside of the public budget process just for him. An ethics complaint was filed on November 14, 2011 with the Wicomico County Ethics Commission. To date, no known action has occurred on the complaint.
There are many other issues that can and will be discussed but these are some of the more severe issues that directly involved board members, included violations of Open Meetings, and resulted in the board’s majority circling around Fredericksen, at least for now. There obviously will be more situations to come out in a hearing and/or trial.
As usual with people like Fredericksen there is more to it than what first appears. Who knows the level of background check that the board did before hiring him in the first place, but he left Minnesota as Assistant Superintendent in the middle of a major dispute involving a community action group and his then boss, superintendent Susan Hintz. The issue at hand there was budget reduction and school consolidation, but the violations of process are eerily similar: violations of open meetings/secret meetings with non-quorums, bizarre or inappropriate relationships with board members, defiance and dishonesty on public information requires, and perjury in general.
Fredericksen left Minnesota in the middle of that dispute and ended up here. The board there, like this one circled around Hintz, actually gave her a new contract with a golden parachute, and left her retire the next year and collect the lump sum. In the next election cycle, three of the board members were unseated and the superintendent was gone, suddenly working for the consulting firm involved in the contested issue. If you track what occurred there versus how Fredericksen operates here, apparently he learned a lot. Accusations of improper relationships with board members, delay and lack of compliance with the MPIA, lying about events, holding illegal, non-quorum discussions with board members to make decisions of personal interest to them. That community group had to sue in order to get the release of documents under the Minnesota public information law. Emails show that Hintz and staff ordered the deletion of emails on the contested action. They also show the intentional non-disclosure of information to the public (enclosed emails of interest). Furthermore, Fredericksen lied in an affidavit about the date of board budget action (court order enclosed).
Sadly, Wicomico County is about to be subject to four more years of the same once the board takes action to renew him on February 14, 2012. You have said that you will clarify the picture when the time is right. I am sending this to you so that you can do so. The time is right now.
I am contacting you regarding your blog about the situation involving John Fredericksen and Stephanie Moses and Stacy Messick. I am neither Stephanie nor Stacy and I am not serving in any capacity as their representative. But I am someone with direct knowledge of the situation who has access to direct information and the records in the file.
I saw that eventually you brought the blog discussion back to a place of greater reasonableness and that you seem to have gained some insight into what is happening. However, based on your focus on them being forced or pressured to do things, I don’t know that you have the complete picture at all. I will not be posting to the blog, but I can fill in the blanks for you.
The timing of everything is unfortunate because the board is required by Maryland education law to make the renewal decision on Fredericksen by March 1st (4-201 of Education Article). There is no way that a hearing will occur before then in the case of Moses and Messick. All of that information will have to come to light much later. The board is determined to renew him in part because a majority of them are complicit in what has occurred in Messick and Moses’ case. It appears now that the board will vote to renew him at their February 14, 2012 meeting.
To clarify the facts, they were terminated by Fredericksen for filing a discrimination complaint against them on the basis that he treats female employees badly and creates a hostile environment for females. The board ignored their complaint and refused to investigate it at all. When he wrote them up at the end of September for senseless issues, some of them illegal, they filed their complaint with the board. A separate complaint was filed with the Wicomico County Ethics Commission against Fredericksen for abuse of prestige of office because one of the issues involved the hiring of a board member’s future son-in-law.
First, board president Willey wrote to them asking them to withdraw the complaint and indicating that their complaint was unclear. This letter from Willey dated November 2, 2011 represented that the board was seeking a clarification of their complaint. Willey signed this letter representing a board decision even though the board had never met to consider the complaint. Willey acted after only consulting Fredericksen and Fulton Jeffers. In fact, Willey ordered the board clerk to not forward the complaint to all board members. As you are aware, this violates the Maryland Open Meetings Act.
At that point the two women wrote to the entire board and clarified their complaint and sought documents under the Maryland Public Information Act (MPIA) to confirm that no meeting had occurred prior to the November 2 letter from Willey. They also then made the board aware that Fredericksen had begun to retaliate against them by having their computers files seized and searched. They implored the board to intervene and to investigate the appeal before more retaliation could occur.
The board, which was now complicit for violating the Open Meetings Act, for defyingthe MPIA in response to the request to confirm a meeting, and for violating ex parte communication, began to circle the wagons. They responded illegally by trying to force the two women to fill out discrimination complaint forms rather than assign a qualified investigator. They informed the two women that they had no reason to fear retaliation. And, when pressed, they tried to assign Cathy Townsend to investigate the discrimination complaint despite protests from the two women that Townsend, as Fredericksen’s subordinate, was not a legally acceptable investigator. Townsend even indicated to Willey that she was not appropriate to investigate. To this date, the complaint has not yet been investigated in defiance of federal and state anti-discrimination laws and the board has vicarious liability under Title VII.
Subsequently, the two ladies filed a grievance with the EEOC and an appeal with the State Board. In the meantime, Fredericksen was presented with two separate MPIA requests seeking email correspondence regarding his directive to search the two women’s computers. He twice signed his name that no such email correspondence existed, thereby implying no such directive had happened. These two signed responses represent lies on his part among many others.
Evidently, he was unable to find anything on the computers to use to terminate them. At that point, which is now late December, 2011, he then sought a new vehicle to dismiss them. He used the pretext that they had had lunch in October with the union president, Dave White, where they made derogatory statements about Fredericksen. It should be noted that Dave White is perhaps Fredericksen’s only friend in the system and someone with whom he roomed with and rented a car with at a conference in Denver. White is also someone who was an unsuccessful candidate for Messick’s job at the time she received it. Finally, White is someone who his attorney with the union refers to as being out of control.
Prior to the meeting on this issue with Fredericksen, the ladies’ attorney contacted White who denied having any such conversation with them. They met with Fredericksen on December 28, 2011, informed him that they had no lunch with White in October, and told Fredericksen that White had indicated to their attorney that no conversations had occurred. They were placed on leave that day so that he could “investigate,” which defies normal process. In January, he produced written statements from White, crafted after December 28, claiming such conversation occurred in November (not October), that he gave credibility to White and not them, and that they were terminated.
That is a very accurate factual summary of what transpired. Things like this are always like an onion with too many layers. The underlying issues are at the root of the bigger outcome and involve not only Fredericksen but board members as well, including some no longer on the board. Fredericksen and certain board members frequently held private discussion where decisions were made that should have been deliberated or at least decided in public under the Open Meetings Act. In many of these cases, it involved situations that are very questionable under the Public Ethics Law as abuse of prestige of office. When Moses and Messick offered advice counter to the wishes of certain board members, secret meetings were held, illegal decisions made, and Fredericksen placed the blame on them to appease those board members and help his own cause to be reappointed. These issues are part of an ethics complaint that implicate Fredericksen and board members Willey, Wright and Fitzgerald (more below).
There are some cases that are easy enough for you to verify. One is the case of the daughter of the senior vice-president of Perdue where Michelle Wright worked. She was a first year teacher in school year 2010-11 who was submitted for non-renewal as a probationary teacher. The standard process was used where the recommendation from the principal was reviewed in committee by Fredericksen, the two assistant superintendents, Moses and Messick, and the appropriate school director. It was sent to the board and acted on by the board in April 2011 along with six other non-renewed probationary teachers.
When Michelle Wright became aware of what the board, including her, had done, she lost it. Wright actually told the teacher to file an appeal with the board. When the stickiness of that process became clear, a secret meeting was held with Fredericksen and board members Wright, Holloway, and Willey. Following that meeting, Handy, Townsend, and Moses were called in by Fredericksen and told to ignore the appeal and to rehire the senior vice-president’s daughter for the coming school year. No application process was needed or used, just an order to restore her to a vacancy. She was placed at Beaver Run where she remains. In other words, because Wright was personally affected, three boards members met with Fredericksen in an illegal non-quorum and overturned a legal decision of the full board based on the recommendation of a principal, director, and superintendent’s staff, ordered a hiring outside of the process all other applicants go through, and restored employment without proper action. No other non-renewed probationary teacher gets such treatment.
Another situation easy to verify involves Fitzgerald’s future son-in-law becoming an special ed assistant. This is the issue that caused Fredericksen to go after Moses in late September. The son-in-law was interviewed by a principal of a Title I school who failed to confirm an application on file. The principal forwarded a job offer at which point Human Resources noted that an application was not on file. They worked with him to get it on file and then recognized that he wasn’t qualified under No Child Left Behind to work in a Title I school. Within three hours, he was offered another position at a non-Title I school which he declined. Moses reported the situation to Fredericksen immediately who offered no concern with how it was handled.
One week later, Fitzgerald became involved and Fredericksen made the situation Moses’ issue. As a board member, Fitzgerald met with staff members to voice his displeasure over his future son-in-law not having the job he wanted. Fredericksen then ordered the Director of Special Ed and the Comptroller to create non-budgeted positions for the son-in-law so that he would have a choice to select from for a newly created position just for him, even though he had turned down Moses’ offer out of spite or frustration. An email exists confirming this action of Fredericksen. He is now employed at Williards in a job created outside of the public budget process just for him. An ethics complaint was filed on November 14, 2011 with the Wicomico County Ethics Commission. To date, no known action has occurred on the complaint.
There are many other issues that can and will be discussed but these are some of the more severe issues that directly involved board members, included violations of Open Meetings, and resulted in the board’s majority circling around Fredericksen, at least for now. There obviously will be more situations to come out in a hearing and/or trial.
As usual with people like Fredericksen there is more to it than what first appears. Who knows the level of background check that the board did before hiring him in the first place, but he left Minnesota as Assistant Superintendent in the middle of a major dispute involving a community action group and his then boss, superintendent Susan Hintz. The issue at hand there was budget reduction and school consolidation, but the violations of process are eerily similar: violations of open meetings/secret meetings with non-quorums, bizarre or inappropriate relationships with board members, defiance and dishonesty on public information requires, and perjury in general.
Fredericksen left Minnesota in the middle of that dispute and ended up here. The board there, like this one circled around Hintz, actually gave her a new contract with a golden parachute, and left her retire the next year and collect the lump sum. In the next election cycle, three of the board members were unseated and the superintendent was gone, suddenly working for the consulting firm involved in the contested issue. If you track what occurred there versus how Fredericksen operates here, apparently he learned a lot. Accusations of improper relationships with board members, delay and lack of compliance with the MPIA, lying about events, holding illegal, non-quorum discussions with board members to make decisions of personal interest to them. That community group had to sue in order to get the release of documents under the Minnesota public information law. Emails show that Hintz and staff ordered the deletion of emails on the contested action. They also show the intentional non-disclosure of information to the public (enclosed emails of interest). Furthermore, Fredericksen lied in an affidavit about the date of board budget action (court order enclosed).
Sadly, Wicomico County is about to be subject to four more years of the same once the board takes action to renew him on February 14, 2012. You have said that you will clarify the picture when the time is right. I am sending this to you so that you can do so. The time is right now.
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