Man Charged For Kidnapping Boy He Claims Bullied His Son; Boy’s Mom Speaks Out

BALTIMORE (WJZ)—The charges against a Baltimore father are causing controversy. He’s accused of kidnapping another child after a fight at his son’s elementary school.

Mike Hellgren speaks exclusively with the mom of the boy who was taken about what she calls a frightening ordeal for her son.

This is a story that has parents across the city talking about whether this dad did the right thing or not. He faces serious charges outlined in the charging documents: more than 40 years in jail if he’s convicted.
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Arsonist at work on Va.'s Eastern Shore

ACCOMAC, Va. - An arsonist is on the loose on Virginia's Eastern Shore.

Virginia State Police said Wednesday there have been 17 fires set at abandoned structures in Accomack County since Nov. 13. No injuries have resulted from the fires.

The most recent fire occurred early Wednesday near Parksley and involved an abandoned structure. Investigators say it is not uncommon for multiple fires to be set on one night in various locations.
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Baywater Animal Rescue Adoptee Political Advocat

Cambridge, MD-- When Sunshine was available for adoption at Baywater Animal Rescue, he seemed like any other orange tiger cat. Little did staff realize the impact he would have for thousands of cats in Maryland. Shortly after being adopted and moving to Prince George’s county, Sunshine befriended an outside kitty with a tipped ear. (A tipped ear is done when an outside or feral cat is neutered.) At the time, Sunshine’s owner wasn’t looking for a second cat and let the kitty come and go as he pleased - until she found out he could be killed. Animal Control was able to pick up stray cats and - tipped ear or not - kill them after a few days. This upset Sunshine so together with his owner they decided to change the law.

After a lot of networking and educating, Sunshine worked with Council Member Mary Lehman who introduced a bill which was passed November 20th. Under this bill, most eartipped cats trapped by animal control will be immediately returned to their home outdoors—not impounded in shelters where they could be killed. All eartipped cats that end up in the county pound would have the opportunity to be rescued by local cat organizations. This bill will help to protect cats and ensure that compassionate people in Prince George’s County won’t see the eartipped cats they care for killed by animal control. Prince George’s County Animal Control will immediately release any cat trapped that has a tipped ear.

Baywater Animal Rescue applaud’s Sunshine’s efforts and hopes that this is the start of more life-saving legislation in Maryland. “Love them or hate them, feral cats are here to stay,” said Suzette Stitely Executive Director of Baywater Animal Rescue. “This bill protects the cats and the people who care for them. Spaying and neutering is the only way to solve the problem of so many feral cats.” If you would like to get involved in feral cat rescue locally, please contact Baywater Animal Rescue at info@baywateranimalrescue.org or call 410-228-3090.  

Barnes & Noble “My Favorite Teacher Contest” Open To Middle And High School Students

Middle and high school students can nominate a favorite teacher for recognition through the Barnes & Noble “My Favorite Teacher Contest.” Entries will be accepted until March 1 at the Barnes & Noble in Salisbury. To nominate a favorite teacher, a student will need to write an essay, poem or thank you letter explaining how a teacher has influenced their life and why they appreciate or admire that teacher. Entries should be 500 words or less, in English, typed on letter-size white paper. An entry form (available online at http://img1.imagesbn.com/PImages/store/special_landings/pdf/BN_My_Favorite_Teacher_Entry_Form_and_Rules_120912.pdf) , signed by a parent or guardian, must accompany the entry. Visit Barnes & Noble for more information and entry forms. The student whose entry is chosen as the winner will receive a certificate of recognition and will be honored at the store alongside the winning teacher, who will win recognition and a special award. 

Informational Meeting Nov. 20 For Potential Foster And Adoptive Parents

Learn how you could support children in the community as a foster, adoptive or respite parent by attending a monthly informational meeting hosted by the Wicomico County Department of Social Services (DSS). An informational meeting is held the third Tuesday of each month from 5:30-6:30 p.m. in the basement of the Wicomico Public Library in Salisbury; the next meeting will be held Tuesday, Nov. 20. Those wishing to pursue becoming a foster or adoptive parent would then participate in 27 hours of PRIDE (Parents Resource for Information Development and Education) Foster Adoptive Training, and an initial home assessment, before deciding whether to help children through providing foster, adoptive or respite care. Foster families are needed to provide temporary, safe, stable and nurturing homes for children until they can be reunited with their families, placed with relatives, or adopted. Foster families with a heart to help children and their families are needed every day to work with children of all ages and races, as well as those with special needs. Pre-service training (described above) is provided, along with ongoing support from DSS. For more information please call Kelly Bishop, Tri-County Recruiter, at 410-713-3959.

Decorating Delmarva Ticket Sales Can Help Support Schools

Ticket Sales for Decorating Delmarva Help Support Many Wicomico Schools

Decorating Delmarva, at the Delaware International Speedway in Delmar, is a 36-night event with six major destinations on a 2-mile drive through an animated tour of the North Pole, including holiday lights and community built displays. The tour will conclude in an area recognized as Santa’s Village. In Santa’s Village there will be nightly festival events in an activity area for children of all ages.  The events will include Mr. & Mrs. Claus, holiday music, fire pits and nightly entertainment. 

This charity event will support numerous groups on the peninsula including these Wicomico County Public Schools:

Wicomico High, Bennett Middle, Salisbury Middle, Mardela Middle, Pittsville Middle, Wicomico Middle Chorus, and all elementary schools

Visit this page to purchase tickets ($15, with $5 of the price going to the chosen organization) to benefit the school of your choice:

http://www.decoratingdelmarva.com/index.php/participating-organizations 

The show will operate every Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evening Nov. 15-Dec. 23. On Dec. 25-Jan. 5, the event will be open every night. Gates will open weeknights at 6 p.m. and close at 10 p.m. On Friday and Saturday evenings, gates will open at 6 p.m. and close at 11 p.m. On Dec. 31, there will be an outdoor New Year’s Eve party with the gates opening at 6 p.m. and closing at 1 a.m. 

UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES

Obama encouraging Americans to get on welfare
By MICHAEL TANNER | 7/18/12 9:47 PM EDT

The Obama administration clearly doesn’t believe that enough Americans are receiving welfare.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius last week issued an order giving the Obama administration greater authority to waive work requirements included in the 1998 welfare reform law. This comes on top of a new ad campaign, using Spanish-language soap operas, to encourage more Latinos to sign up for food stamps.

The administration even gave a special award to an Agriculture Department worker who found ways to combat the “mountain pride” discouraging Appalachian residents from taking full advantage of food stamps and other welfare programs.

One message was loud and clear: More Americans should be getting welfare.

One wonders how that is possible. The federal government runs 126 separate anti-poverty programs. That may surprise most Americans, who think of welfare as the cash benefits provided under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program — formerly Aid to Families with Dependent Children. But the U.S. welfare system is far larger than that.

There are 33 housing programs, for example, run by four different Cabinet departments, including, bizarrely, the Department of Energy. There are 21 programs providing food or food-purchasing assistance. They’re administered by three different federal departments and one independent agency. There are eight different health care programs administered by five separate agencies in HHS. Six Cabinet departments and five independent agencies oversee 27 cash or general assistance programs. Altogether, seven different Cabinet departments and six independent agencies each administer at least one anti-poverty program. Talk about a massive government clusterfuck.

All those programs cost taxpayers more than $944 billion last year. That’s an increase of more than $193 billion since Barack Obama became president. It’s roughly 2½ times greater than any previous increase over a similar time frame in U.S. history and will increase means-tested welfare spending by about 2.4 percent of gross domestic product.

Moreover, if one includes state and local welfare spending, government at all levels will spend more than $952 billion this year to fight poverty.

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Playground Safety Going Overboard

More than 15 million lawsuits will be filed in state courts this year, according to tort reform advocates.

And that tendency to litigate first and ask questions later might be hurting the country's kids.

According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, the trend toward litigating every minor accident that happens in our lives, as well as constantly adhering to the "safety first" motto, could be creating weak, overweight, neurotic children.

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Texas Man Gets Life Sentence After Third DWI Conviction

GO HERE to view.

Vesta World's Fastest Sailboat

Magical Thinking About Amnesty

With amnesty, we will wave the magic wand, and suddenly new low-wage workers will appear, along with new mouths for Nanny State to feed. That's sure to boost incomes and lower the deficit.

Surely, the party of fiscal responsibility wouldn't support such a self-destructive policy, would they? Oddly, some creative Republicans are arguing that "[l]egalizing undocumented immigrants will make them pay more taxes, earn higher wages and bring an underground demographic of workers into the official American economy."

It is quite common for conservatives, and liberals who want to sound responsible, to claim that immigration is needed for economic regeneration. This argument is an extreme absurdity. If immigrants boosted the tax base, then California would be the most successful state in the nation. California would be looking at budget surpluses that would be the envy of the nation.

Instead, California is living proof of the harmful economic impact caused by mass immigration. Over the last two decades, California grew by 10 million new people, but gained only 150,000 new taxpayers. As a study by a team of economic and public policy professors found, "From the mid-1980s to 2005, California's population grew by 10 million, while Medicaid recipients soared by seven million; tax filers paying incometaxes rose by just 150,000; and the prison population swelled by 115,000." This is the make-up of a demographic and economic catastrophe, and it is the open borders Republican model for the rest of the nation.

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An Open Letter To The Incoming Republican House Members Of The 113th Congress

Dear GOP House Members and Members-Elect - 

Congratulations to you all for surviving the absurd calamity of November 6^th.  You need to know what's in store for you. 

To put it bluntly, you have two years to live.  Politically live as the House Majority, that is.  You are going to be demonized and destroyed by the Chicago Gangsters who run the White House and the presstitutes of the CorruptMedia.  Your chances of retaining your majority in 2014 are 0%. 

The question is:   what are you going to do with these two years?  Realize that the political outcome will be the same no matter what you do.  While many of you may individually survive and be reelected in 2014, collectively your majority will be gone and you'll all be just minority schmucks. 

So if you plan to cringe, compromise, and cooperate with the gangsters just to be reelected as a minority schmuck, why not just quit now, resign and collect your pension - rather than continue a charade in order to keep your perks of power for a little while longer, and all that while you'll have to look into the mirror every morning and see a coward? 

Why not, then, see someone of courage in that mirror instead?  There is a power that only you - a majority of members of the House - have that neither the Senate, the President nor any of his agencies, nor even the Supreme Court has.  If you choose to exercise it, you will be feared and respected, instead of being Obama's poodles.  

But far more importantly, you will have done your patriotic duty to protect your country from the lethal damage Obama is poised to inflict upon it. 

The power the House Majority uniquely has is the Other Golden Rule:   He who has the gold, makes the rules. Article I Section 7 of the Constitution states it very clearly and without ambiguity: "All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives." 

The President with his Executive Orders and multitude of agencies and departments, Harry Reid's Senate, the Supreme Court, no part of the vast US Federal Government has the Constitutional authority to spend a dime that you don't give them.   You all, of course, know this.  What is required of you now is to act on it. 

The day after the Catastrophe of November 6, Harry Reid loudly proclaimed that the Federal Government will soon require the debt ceiling raised another $2.4 trillion - and that when the time comes to do so, "We'll raise it." 

The question to ask Mr. Reid is:   "What do you mean ‘we,' kemosabe?" Harry and every other Senator has no say in the matter.  If you, the House Majority do not vote to raise the debt ceiling, it is not raised, no matter what temper tantrums Harry or the President have or threats they make. 

Right now, as you read this, your children and grandchildren - in fact, every single American under 18 - is saddled with over $216,000 of federal debt they will be expected to pay off.  They can't, they won't, and it is immoral in the extreme to expect them to. Their debt has to be defaulted upon.  The way to start is to refuse to raise the debt ceiling. 

Just to be clear - when I say you have two years left to live politically, that's a best case scenario.   Unless you roll over and become Obama's poodles, being a Republican Congressman will be the most dangerous job in America.  

You will get death threats, so many you'll lose count, and there may well be actual attempts on your life.  The CorruptMedia will oppo-research every hidden nook and cranny of your life to smear and expose whatever dirt they can find on you. 

You must understand that America now has a government run by gangsters - by crooks, thieves, looters, and thugs who will be utterly ruthless in ruining you if you try to be in their way.  Putin's Russia, Chavez's Venezuela, has come to America. 

So if you don't have the courage to band together and stand up to them, quit now. They can't spend money you don't give them.  They will do whatever it takes, legal or illegal, to force you to give it to them.

If you can't say No to raising the debt ceiling, if you can't Defund Obamacare and the EPA and Obama's Executive Orders, if you can't refuse to appropriate money for more Food Stamps and Obama's crony capitalist subsidies, quit now.  

But if you can say No, if you can Defund, then you will be heroes to at least half of America, the half that stands for honesty, decency, and protecting our children's future.  Make us proud or be gone.  This is your chance to be heroes - or to be schmucks.  Make these next two years the time you live up to the character and courage of America's Founders. 

Right now, history has chosen you to be America's only hope to avoid her falling into destitution and tyranny.   Live up to it.  It will take more courage than you ever thought it possible for you to have.  Reach inside for the best within you.  America's future depends on it.  The weight of history is on your shoulders.  Stand up straight and accept the burden. 

Jack Wheeler 
Editor, To The Point
tothepointnews.com

States Should Flatly Reject ObamaCare Exchanges

Why Is This Being Built In China And Not The United States?

Remember when the United States was the country building world renowned landmarks like the Hoover Dam (1936), the Empire State Building (1931), the Golden Gate Bridge (1937), the Chrysler Building (1930) and the Willis Tower AKA Sears Tower (1973)?

Notice the dates.

We sure don’t seem to be building ‘em like we used to, do we?

Now, read this story and ask yourself a simple question: Why isn’t this happening here instead of in China?

According to its engineers, this will be the tallest skyscraper in the world by the end of March of 2013. Its name is Sky City, and its 2,749 feet (838 meters) distributed in 220 floors will grow in just 90 days in Changsha city, by the Xiangjiang river. Ninety days!

It’s not a joke. According to the construction company, the skyscraper will be built in just 90 days at the unbelievable rate of five floors per day.
It’s hard to believe, but they claim the building has been designed by some of the engineers who previously worked at the Burj Khalifa. It is also the same firm that built a full 30-story hotel in 15 days—which yes, is still standing and in perfect working condition.

Foundation work is beginning at the end of the month, once the Chinese authorities give the final go ahead to the project.

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Giving Thanks For America’s Givers

Chandler Osborn, 14, watched Fox News coverage of Hurricane Sandy last week and decided to take action.

“Last weekend, me and my younger brother, Cooper, 7, did a fundraiser in Colorado Springs to help the people” affected by the storm, he told me. The siblings set up a table at the Colorado Springs Sugar Plum Festival, gave away patriotic car magnets and pins for any donations, and collected signatures on a giant banner of support for the victims. “We raised $612 in one weekend.”

The Osborns joined countless Americans across the country who stepped up, in small and large ways, to help their fellow citizens in need. While this election season was a contentious battle between makers and takers, this Thanksgiving season is a time to honor the givers who keep the nation’s private philanthropic spirit alive.

In times of crisis, it’s individual citizens, churches, businesses and charitable organizations — not federal government bureaucrats — who mobilize first and fastest to provide aid and comfort. Tom Laureys noted in the Parsippany (New Jersey) Daily Record: “The first people to help Hurricane Sandy victims were the neighbors helping their neighbors for free. The Red Cross was the first organization to arrive to help. FEMA was the last. The FEMA workers stayed at the Soho Grand Hotel at $310 per night.”

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Commentary: Big Ten Move May Be Good Deal, But Secret Process Was Bad

Every month the University System of Maryland comes asking to have contracts large and small approved by top elected officials after a public procurement process that usually involves requests for proposals and multiple bids – an often long and cumbersome process. There are perhaps aspects of the move of the University of Maryland College Park athletics programs from the Atlantic Coast Conference to the Big Ten that will eventually get this kind of open, public and official scrutiny. But as it stands now, this deal involving tens of millions of dollars – none of it taxpayer funds, we’re told – was conceived, negotiated and executed hastily and in secret until its swift approval by an unelected Board of Regents on Monday. 

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Never Forget Where We Came From

It wasn't that long ago you could travel across America and see vast areas of wide open land and a beautiful American landscape.

It's a different America today. We need to stop making mistakes and paying dearly for it down the road.

America is supposed to lead the World with ideas and technology. We need to stop coasting and allowing other Countries to surpass our creativity and passionate beliefs.

ALL of our Families came to this land for a better life. We fought hard and lost many lives to protect our beliefs and today we need to remember and respect that.

Today there are many Americans working in our Veteran Hospitals, Airports, Gas Stations, Toll Booths... Millions of American Soldiers are away in other Countries protecting the very ground we stand on here in America.

So when you sit down this evening and give thanks for all that we have to enjoy, remember where we came from, how we got there and especially where we're headed for future generations.

It may not be your job to protect America but it is our job today to give thanks to those who do.

May you enjoy this Thanksgiving Day, different from any other.

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Salisbury News.

New Technologies Key To Postal Service Revitalization

From digitization of mail to GPS tracking, the Postal Service is investing in new technologies to help it grow revenue. Ellis Burgoyne, the agency's chief information officer, says his department is concentrating on five main projects in 2013 that will help the Postal Service cut costs while improving efficiency and customer service. USPS ended fiscal 2012 with $15.9 billion of debt.

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Obama Urges Nation To Come Together For Holiday

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama is urging Americans to put aside partisan differences and come together as a nation for Thanksgiving.

Obama, just re-elected to a second term, says in his weekly radio and Internet address that the country has "just emerged from a campaign season that was passionate, noisy and vital to our democracy."

While the election required voters to make choices, Obama says Thanksgiving offers "a chance to put it all in perspective _ to remember that, despite our differences, we are and always will be Americans first and foremost. `'

In the GOP address, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington state said Republicans are ready to work with Obama to avert impending tax increases, big spending cuts and other problems.

Source

Irony Alert: Mitt Romney's Final Vote Tally Nears 47 Percent

The defeated GOP candidate famously disparaged Obama as the candidate of the 47 percent. Now, liberals gleefully view Mitt's final tally as poetic justice

Liberal schadenfreude is about to reach overdose levels. Just when you thought the dead horse of Mitt Romney's campaign had been beaten more than enough — and most savagely by members of his own party — Dave Wasserman at Cook Political Report projectsthat the final count of the popular vote, which is still ongoing, will show Romney winning 47 percent of the electorate. In addition to proving that Obamahandily won the popular vote, the final tally makes Romney the official candidate of the 47 percent — a delicious irony, liberals say, given that Romney infamously claimed that Obama was the candidate of the 47 percent of Americans who "believe they are victims" and are "dependent on government."

By all accounts, Romney's "47 percent" remarks constituted one of the greatest self-inflicted wounds from a candidate who had no shortage of them. "The quote didn't, on its own, kill Romney's chances," says John Flowers at MSNBC. "But for many voters, it unmistakably conveyed the worldview of a man unable to see that a member of the middle class or the working poor might be just as hard-working, just as determined, as someone from his own privileged demographic." 

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Man Killed Zoo Monkey During Theft Try

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A 22-year-old man clubbed a monkey to death with a tree branch, after he was bitten by the animal while trying to steal it from a Boise zoo, prosecutors allege.

Michael J. Watkins entered Zoo Boise on Saturday morning, manipulated a lock to get into the primate enclosure and removed the patas monkey by wrapping it in his jacket, Ada County Deputy Prosecutor Fafa Alidjani told reporters after Watkins was arraigned in Boise's 4th District Court.

"He told police he was going to throw the monkey outside the fence," Alidjani said Wednesday. When he failed, the monkey bit him, prompting Watkins to use a tree branch to bash the monkey in the head and neck, she said.

A security guard spotted the intruder, who ran, and the animal died a short time after it was found by zoo officials.

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Puerto Rican Boxing Champ Camacho Brain Dead After Shooting

Former three-time world boxing champion Hector "Macho" Camacho is brain dead following a drive-by shooting in Puerto Rico, a doctor said on Thursday.

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Illinois Rep. Jackson Resigns From Congress

Illinois Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. resigned Wednesday from Congress amid a cloud of health and legal problems that have intensified in recent months.

The 10-term Democrat left Washington unexpectedly in June, leaving fellow Capitol Hill lawmakers, his staff and voters to learn several weeks later that he was being treated for a bipolar disorder.

In Jackson’s resignation letter to House Speaker John Boehner, he cited both health problems and a federal investigation.

“For seventeen years I have given 100 percent of my time, energy and life to public service," Jackson wrote. "However, over the past several months, as my health has deteriorated, my ability to serve the constituents of my district has continued to diminish. I am aware of the ongoing federal investigation into my activities and I am doing my best to address the situation responsibly, cooperate with the investigators, and accept responsibility for my mistakes, for they are my mistakes and mine alone.”

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Holder To Stay One More Year

Attorney General Eric Holder will stay for one more year in President Obama's second term. Holder will remain after a request from the president to stay temporarily and prevent a leadership vacuum. Fox News reports potential replacements could be Gov. Deval Patrick (D-Mass.) and Department of Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano.

Eat Some Crabs Tomorrow

Federal Workers Have Given Enough

That's according to a bipartisan group of lawmakers representing the Washington Metro area. In a letter to President Barack Obama, Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) and others involved in the fiscal cliff negotiations, the group says, when you factor in the 2-1/2 years of pay freezes, plus increased retirement contributions, federal workers have already contributed $103 billion toward deficit reduction. That's more than $50,000 per federal employee. The lawmakers are asking negotiators to keep that in mind during their budget talks. Signatories include Reps. Jim Moran (D-Va.), Frank Wolf (R- Va.), Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Gerry Conolly (D-Va.), plus Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.)

Talking Turkey

From Our Family to Yours Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays.  It is uniquely American.  Thanksgiving is not only a day to spend with family and friends; it is a day we are reminded of how much we have to be thankful for.  Family, good food, good friends, and remembrances of God and all His blessings that are given to us – what a great day! There is much history surrounding this American holiday as many of our presidents have weighed in with thoughts and proclamations throughout the years.  On January 1, 1795, President George Washington, wrote his famed National Thanksgiving Proclamation, in which he says that it is… "…our duty as a people, with devout reverence and affectionate gratitude, to acknowledge our many and great obligations to Almighty God, and to implore Him to continue is… our duty as a people, with devout reverence and affectionate gratitude, to acknowledge our many and great obligations to Almighty God, and to implore Him to continue and confirm the blessings we experienced…" I wish you and your family a wonderful day together.  Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims of Hurricane Sandy who are still struggling with the destruction left by this storm.  We also pray for those less fortunate than ourselves as we give thanks to God for all He has given us. God bless you and your family, Andy Harris, M.D.

South Division Street And Dykes Road Paving

As part of Salisbury Public Works’ ongoing effort to keep the public informed of improvements
within the City of Salisbury, please be advised that a private contractor will be affecting the flow
of traffic on South Division Street from Milford Street to Power Street, and on Dykes Road from
Ard Brac Place to Galaway Circle in order to perform roadway milling and paving operations.

The work will be performed  beginning on Tuesday, November 27thand will be completed by
Friday, November 30th barring any unforeseen problems.  Expect minor periodic traffic delays
due to traffic pattern modifications between 9:00 AM and 3:00 PM.  Traffic will be limited to
one lane with channelizing devices and flaggers as necessary.

We regret any inconvenience this may cause.  Your patience and cooperation  are  greatly
appreciated.

Should you have any questions or need clarification regarding this project, please contact Chris
Decker with A.P. Croll & Son, Inc. at 443-944-1548 or Jay Trott with Salisbury Public Works,
Technical Services at 410-548-5460.

KNOW YOUR STATE MOTTO

Alabama 
Hell Yes, We Have Electricity.Alaska 
11,623 Eskimos Can't Be Wrong!Arizona But It's A Dry Heat.

Arkansas 
Literacy Ain't Everything.California 
By 30, Our Women Have More Plastic Than Your Honda.Colorado 
If You Don't Ski, Don't Bother.Connecticut Like Massachusetts , Only The Kennedy's Don't Own It Yet.Delaware

We Really Do Like The Chemicals In Our Water.Florida

Ask Us About Our Grandkids.Georgia We Put The Fun In Fundamentalist Extremism.Hawaii Haka Tiki Mou Sha'ami Leeki Toru
(Death To Mainland Scum, Leave Your Money)Idaho 
More Than Just Potatoes...Well, Okay, We're Not, But The Potatoes Sure Are Real GoodIllinois 
Please, Don't Pronounce the "S"Indiana 
2 Billion Years- Tidal Wave FreeIowa We Do Amazing Things With Corn

Kansas First Of The Rectangle StatesKentucky 
Five Million People; Fifteen Last NamesLouisiana 
We're Not ALL Drunk Cajun Wackos, But That's Our Tourism Campaign.Maine 
We're Really Cold, But We Have Cheap LobsterMaryland 
If You Can Dream It, We Can Tax ItMassachusetts 
Our Taxes Are Lower Than Sweden'sMichigan 
First Line Of Defense From The CanadiansMinnesota 
10,000 Lakes...And 10,000,000,000, 000 MosquitoesMississippi Come And Feel Better About Your Own StateMissouri Your Federal Flood Relief Tax Dollars At WorkMontana Land Of The Big Sky, The Unabomber, Right-wing Crazies,
And Very Little Else.Nebraska Ask About Our State Motto ContestNevada 
Hookers and Poker!New Hampshire Go Away And Leave Us AloneNew Jersey 
You Want A ##$%##! Motto? I Got Yer ##$%##! Motto Right here!New Mexico 
Yes we are part of the United States !New York You Have The Right To Remain Silent, You Have The Right To An Attorney...North Carolina 
Tobacco Is A VegetableNorth Dakota 
We Really Are One Of The 50 States!Ohio 
At Least We're Not MichiganOklahoma Like The Play, But No SingingOregon 
Spotted Owl...It's What's For DinnerPennsylvania
Cook With CoalRhode Island We're Not REALLY An IslandSouth Carolina Remember The Civil War? Well, We Didn't Actually Surrender YetSouth Dakota 
Closer Than North DakotaTennessee 
The Edyo-cashun StateTexas 
Se Habla InglesUtah Our Jesus Is Better Than Your JesusVermont 
Ay, YepVirginia 
Who Says Government Stiffs And Slackjaw Yokels Don't Mix?Washington 
We have more rain than you doWest Virginia 
One Big Happy Family...Really!Wisconsin 
Come Cut The Cheese!Wyoming 
Where Men Are Men... And The Sheep Are Scared

A Soldier's Thanksgiving Day Poem

A Soldier's Thanksgiving Day Poem

Author Unknown

Instead of family and friends for Thanksgiving you will Chow with your comrades tonight One to your left, the other to your right. Your regiment, your battalion, Have now become family and friends Living day to day in a personal sacrifice On a mission to defend. ...You are the hero's who's faces we may never get to see But the pride and glory that's lives in a soldier heart Biers one word "Integrity" On this day We give thanks and honor to those brave and true Our banners, we will proudly wave The Red, White, and Blue We will give our thanks not only to our God but also to every soldier for our bounties, that be. For they give meaning to words Home of the brave Land of the Free. To the soldiers in the mess hall Eating their thanksgiving feast, to the troops in the desert eating another Meal ready to eat. May peace, hope and strength Travel with you along the way And may these wishes find you On A Soldiers Thanksgiving Day. Happy Thanksgiving to our Men and Women who have and are serving our country and their families... from a grateful American.

Caption This Photo 11-22-12

Be Prepared When Your Pet Comes Begging

With the holidays approaching, your dog or cat will inevitably be begging to partake in the big turkey dinner. When polled, 56 percent of petMD readers admitted to sharing Thanksgiving table scraps with their pets. While this can be a wonderful way to add lean protein and fresh veggies to your pet’s diet, there are also hidden dangers in holiday fare. This year, before you go preparing a heaping plateful for your pet, consider these ten tips to keep Thanksgiving a safe, healthful holiday for your dog or cat.

#10 Yes to Turkey
Turkey can be a wonderful lean protein to share with your pet. You will just want to be sure to remove any excess skin or fat, stick with white meat, and make sure there are no bones.

#9 No to Alliums
Nothing with alliums (i.e., onions, garlic, leeks, scallions) should be ingested by your pet. While it is true that small, well-cooked portions of these foods can be okay if your pet is used to it, ingesting these foods in large quantities can lead to toxic anemia.

#8 Yes to Mashed Potatoes
Potatoes are a great, filling vegetable to share with your pet. However even though the potatoes themselves are not harmful to pets, be aware of additional ingredients used to make mashed potatoes. Cheese, sour cream, butter, onions, and gravies are no-no’s in a pet’s diet.

#7 No to Grapes
Many people are unaware that grapes, and subsequently raisins, can be toxic to pets. The fruit has been shown to cause kidney failure in dogs.
 

#6 Yes to Cranberry Sauce
Cranberry sauce is just fine for pets but watch the amount of sugar in it. It is probably best to only provide a small helping to your pet’s plate.

#5 No to Xylitol
While you may be making the healthier choice by cooking with artificial sweeteners over the real thing, sweeteners containing Xylitol are poisonous to animals, and potentially deadly to dogs.

#4 Yes to Macaroni and Cheese
If you know your pet’s stomach handles dairy alright, macaroni and cheese is a safe leftover to share. If you are unsure though, it may be best to just give plain macaroni. Cats often develop lactose intolerance when they become adults.
 
#3 No to Chocolate
Chocolate is a well known off limits indulgence for pets. During the holidays however, baking chocolate is used in recipes and sometimes forgotten about by the time the dishes hit the table. Make sure this holiday season that your pet does not ingest any chocolate, especially the baking kind.

#2 Yes to Green Beans
Plain green beans are a wonderful treat for pets. Fresh vegetables are a great addition to any diet. If the green beans are included in a green bean casserole though, be conscious of the other ingredients in it.

#1 No to Alcohol
Alcohol is definitely a big no for pets. What we people may consider a small amount can be toxic for a smaller animal. Also, keep in mind that alcohol poisoning can occur in pets from atypical items like fruit cake (the recipe may have called for rum or other liquor), as well as unbaked bread.

Happy Thanksgiving

We know that you're busy making last minute preparations for Thanksgiving, but Katie and I wanted to wish you and your family a Happy Thanksgiving.

Taken on the Interfaith Day of Service at the Maryland Food Bank

As we celebrate this holiday season, I also wanted to encourage you to get involved in your community and help those less fortunate. To find volunteer opportunities near you, visit this website:http://www.gosv.maryland.gov/

We are One Maryland and we're all in this together.

Have a great Thanksgiving,

Martin O'Malley

I Hit A Turkey!

RONALD REAGAN’S THANKSGIVING MESSAGE 1985

Good morning, everyone. You know, the Statue of Liberty and this wonderful holiday called Thanksgiving go together naturally because although as Americans we have many things for which to be thankful, none is more important than our liberty.

Liberty: that quality of government, that brightness of mind and spirit for which the Pilgrim Fathers braved the seas and Americans for two centuries have laid down their lives.

Today, while religion is suppressed in perhaps one third of the world, we Americans are free to worship the Almighty as we choose. While entire nations must endure the yoke of tyranny, we are free to speak our minds, to enjoy an unfettered and vigorous press, and to make government abide by the limits we deem just. While millions live behind walls, we remain free to travel throughout the land to share this precious day with those we love most deeply - the members of our families.

My fellow Americans, let us keep this Thanksgiving Day sacred. Let us thank God for the bounty and goodness of our nation. And as a measure of our gratitude, let us rededicate ourselves to the preservation of this: the land of the free and the home of the brave.

From the Reagan family to your family: happy Thanksgiving and God bless you all.

Thanksgiving Fun Facts

Thanksgiving Fun Facts

Fun Facts about the First Thanksgiving

The Plymouth Pilgrims were the first to celebrate the Thanksgiving.

The Pilgrims sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to reach North America.

They sailed on the ship, which was known by the name of 'Mayflower'.

They celebrated the first Thanksgiving Day at Plymouth, Massachusetts.

The Wampanoag Indians were the people who taught the Pilgrims how to cultivate the land.

The Pilgrim leader, Governor William Bradford, had organized the first Thanksgiving feast in 1621. He invited the neighboring Wampanoag Indians to the feast.

The first Thanksgiving celebration lasted three days.

Mashed potatoes, pumpkin pies, popcorn, milk, corn on the cob, and cranberries were not foods present on the first Thanksgiving's feast table.

Lobster, rabbit, chicken, fish, squashes, beans, chestnuts, hickory nuts, onions, leeks, dried fruits, maple syrup and honey, radishes, cabbage, carrots, eggs, and goat cheese are thought to have made up the first Thanksgiving feast.

The pilgrims didn't use forks; they ate with spoons, knives, and their fingers.

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Thanksgiving Facts throughout History

Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey to be the national bird of the United States.

Sarah Josepha Hale, an American magazine editor, persuaded Abraham Lincoln to declare Thanksgiving a national holiday. She is also the author of the popular nursery rhyme "Mary Had a Little Lamb"

Abraham Lincoln issued a 'Thanksgiving Proclamation' on third October 1863 and officially set aside the last Thursday of November as the national day for Thanksgiving.

The annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade tradition began in the 1920's.

In 1939, President Roosevelt proclaimed that Thanksgiving would take place on November 23rd, not November 30th, as a way to spur economic growth and extend the Christmas shopping season.

Congress to passed a law on December 26, 1941, ensuring that all Americans would celebrate a unified Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November every year.

Since 1947, the National Turkey Federation has presented a live turkey and two dressed turkeys to the President. The President does not eat the live turkey. He "pardons" it and allows it to live out its days on a historical farm.

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Fun Facts about Thanksgiving Today

In the US, about 280 million turkeys are sold for the Thanksgiving celebrations.

Each year, the average American eats somewhere between 16 - 18 pounds of turkey.

Californians are the largest consumers of turkey in the United States.

Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November in the United States.

Although, Thanksgiving is widely considered an American holiday, it is also celebrated on the second Monday in October in Canada.

Black Friday is the Friday after Thanksgiving in the United States, where it is the beginning of the traditional Christmas shopping season.

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Fun Turkey Facts

The average weight of a turkey purchased at Thanksgiving is 15 pounds.

The heaviest turkey ever raised was 86 pounds, about the size of a large dog.

A 15 pound turkey usually has about 70 percent white meat and 30 percent dark meat.

The five most popular ways to serve leftover turkey is as a sandwich, in stew, chili or soup, casseroles and as a burger.

Turkey has more protein than chicken or beef.

Turkeys will have 3,500 feathers at maturity.

Male turkeys gobble. Hens do not. They make a clucking noise.

Commercially raised turkeys cannot fly.

Turkeys have heart attacks. The United States Air Force was doing test runs and breaking the sound barrier. Nearby turkeys dropped dead with heart attacks.

A large group of turkeys is called a flock.

Turkeys have poor night vision.

It takes 75-80 pounds of feed to raise a 30 pound tom turkey.

A 16-week-old turkey is called a fryer. A five to seven month old turkey is called a young roaster.