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Sunday, December 09, 2012

Greenwood Man Charged After Stabbing His Parents

Location:
100 block of Broad Street, Greenwood, DE

Date of Occurrence:
Sunday, December 09, 2012, at approximately 9:00 a.m.

Victims:
80-year-old female
82-year-old male

Suspect and Charges:
Ricky A. Brewington, 51, of Greenwood, DE (no photograph available)
Attempted Murder First Degree (two counts)
Possession of a Deadly Weapon During the Commission of a Felony (two counts)
Committed to Sussex Correctional Institution on $150,000 cash bail.

Resume:
Greenwood- Troopers have arrested a Greenwood man after he stabbed his parents in the home where all three reside.

Detectives have determined that at approximately 9:00 a.m. Ricky A. Brewington, 51, of Greenwood, used a butcher knife to stab his 80-year-old mother and 82-year-old father in the kitchen of their home in the 100 block of Broad Street in Greenwood. Afterwards, the victims drove to the Greenwood Fire Department to obtain medical care, and Brewington called 911 from the home to report what had just occurred.

A Greenwood police officer arrived at the residence and took Brewington into custody without incident. The victims were transported by ambulance from the fire station to Nanticoke Hospital where they were both admitted in stable condition with multiple stab wounds.

Brewington was charged with two counts of attempted murder first degree and two counts of possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony. He was committed to Sussex Correctional Institution on $150,000 cash bail.

Florida Family Pleads For Son’s Release From Mexican Jail

A South Florida family is pleading for help after their son, a former Marine, was imprisoned in Mexico.

Jon Hammar, 27, was just driving through on his way to Costa Rica when he was stopped at the border, his parents said.

“One of the reasons we went public is because we’ve run out of answers,” Olivia Hammar said.

Hammar has not seen Jon since August, when the 27-year-old Westminster Christian School graduate decided an exotic trip would help heal some of the emotional wounds suffered during tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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Denver Airport Holiday Flash Mob

Wife's First Hunt

Now that we are empty-nested, my younger son got a stable position and has moved out, I felt guilty about deserting my spouse on opening day as I have for all these years. She is absolutely thrilled to be a part of this year’s hunt and sent this note below to all her friends.

My husband invited me to go hunting with him this year. I couldn't believe it, the first time ever...after all these years. never thought he'd be willing to share his' guy time' with me and being the thoughtful man that he is he even gave me an opening day present.


He calls it “ The First Timers Lucky Hat.” ' I'm so fortunate to be married to him. have attached a picture of me in my lucky hat, and we can hardly wait until "opening day"

Small Business Owners' Hiring Intent Plunges To 2008 Lows

Don't Blame Sandy or Fiscal Cliff

A Gallup random dial poll of 607 small businesses conducted November 12-16 2012 asked the question "Over the next 12 months, do you expect the overall number of job positions at your company to increase a lot, increase a little, stay the same, decrease a little, or decrease a lot?"

The net survey results show Small-Business Owners' Hiring Intentions Plunge.

U.S. small-business owners expect to add fewer net new jobs over the next 12 months than at any time since the depths of the 2008-2009 recession, according to this November's Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index survey. Small-business owners' net hiring intentions for the next 12 months plunged to-4 in November, down from +10 in July and matching the previous record low recorded by the Wells

Fargo/Small Business Index of -4 in November 2008.

The City Of Detroit Is Asking President Obama For Some Help

This week, Detroit City Councilwoman JoAnn Watson called for a financial lifeline from the White House to assist her cash-strapped city. Watson argued that 75% of Wayne County voters supported the President in his re-election bid and that in return the President should help Detroit. It's estimated that Detroit may run out of money by the end of the year, but so far the White House has no plans to bail it out. There are several cities across America like Detroit that have been devastated by three decades of Reaganomics and so-called Free Trade deals that have wiped out local manufacturing. These cities received the deathblow in 2007 when Wall Street crashed our economy. And there's a history of the federal government bailing out broke cities – President Ford loaned New York City $2 billion in 1975 to avoid going broke. Rather than spending billions – maybe trillions – on nation building in Iraq and Afghanistan – it's time to do some nation building at home, starting with Detroit.

The Revolving Door Claims Another Willing Public Official Turned Lobbyist

As Politico reported on Tuesday, the architect of Obamacare, Senator Max Baucus' health policy counsel Liz Fowler, has accepted a job as a lobbyist for the pharmaceutical industry. Not only did Fowler basically create Obamacare, but she was also put in charge by the White House of overseeing the law's implementation after it was passed. Before her gig on Capitol Hill and at the White House, Fowler was a lobbyist for health insurance giant Wellpoint. And despite a lot of good things in Obamacare like protection for Americans with pre-existing conditions, there's no doubt about it that the individual mandate, absent a public option, is a giant stimulus for the for-profit private health insurance industry. Obamacare was also a big giveaway to the big pharmaceutical industry, which defeated the importation of cheap drugs from Canada. Now for her services in protecting the pharmaceutical industry while crafting Obamacare, Liz Fowler is taking a nice cushy job with the pharmaceutical industry. This is how Washington works nowadays – quid pro quos for all policymakers if they want to make big bucks in the corporatocracy after they leave government. We need new laws to bolt tight Washington's revolving door.

Dancing With A Wounded Warrior


CLASS DOESN'T MAKE THE NEWS! 

Green and white shirt, black tee shirt, gray pants and tennis shoes. He must be a grandpa……
How many know that he hosts several Wounded Warrior weekends at his ranch every year?Not what you expect to see!

Dancing with a "Wounded Warrior"

This man has so much class.

Like Mother Like Daughter… Malia Obama’s Spring Break Vacation Cost U.S. Taxpayers $115,500

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch today released records detailing the government funds expended on First Daughter Malia Obama’s March 2012 Spring Break vacation to Mexico. According to the records, obtained from the U.S. Secret Service as a result of a Judicial Watch Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed on September 20, 2012, the total cost of the trip amounted to $115,500.87 (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Secret Service (No. 12-cv-01562)).

The following is a breakdown of the costs as detailed in the documents:

Ground transportation: $23,964.81
Lodging: $21,682.92
Airfare: $47,767.34
“Vouchers”: $21,636.14 (not itemized)
Support Charges: $449.66 (travel for one from Mexico City to Oaxaca, not itemized)

Malia Obama’s spring break trip evoked controversy after the Obama White House reportedly ordered the removal of press reports detailing the trip. On March 19,2012, numerous online press outlets reported that the president’s 13-year-old daughter, Malia Obama, was on a Spring Break trip to Mexico accompanied by 25 U.S. Secret Service Agents and as many as 12 of her friends. However, shortly after the press reports surfaced they were quickly removed from the Internet. The trip took place shortly after the Texas Department of Public Safety issued a statement advising students on Spring Break “to avoid Mexico.”

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Drones In America? They Are Already Here

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) [8] is one of the most important organizations we have in America today. While most of the country lays fast asleep to the dangers of the encroaching surveillance state, the EFF is always vigilantly at work on the front lines. In their latest article, they show that military drones are already flying all over these United States and, using information received from a FOIA lawsuit they provide important details on what is flying and where. You may be shocked at some of their conclusions. From the EFF:
These records, received as a result of EFF’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), come from state and local law enforcement agencies, universities and—for the first time—three branches of the U.S. military: the Air Force, Marine Corps, and DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency).

The records show that the Air Force has been testing out a bunch of different drone types, from the smaller, hand-launched Raven, Puma and Wasp drones designed by Aerovironment in Southern California, to the much larger Predator and Reaper drones responsible for civilian and foreign military deaths abroad. The Marine Corps is also testing drones, though it chose to redact so much of the text from its records that we still don’t know much about its programs.

Perhaps the scariest is the technology carried by a Reaper drone the Air Force is flying near Lincoln, Nevada and in areas of California and Utah. This drone uses “Gorgon Stare” technology, which Wikipedia defines as “a spherical array of nine cameras attached to an aerial drone . . . capable of capturing motion imagery of an entire city.” This imagery “can then be analyzed by humans or an artificial intelligence, such as the Mind’s Eye project” being developed by DARPA. If true, this technology takes surveillance to a whole new level.

While LIDAR can be used to create high-resolution images of the earth’s surface, it is also used in high tech police speed guns—begging the question of whether drones will soon be used for minor traffic violations.

However, once again, the records do not show that the FAA had any concerns about drone flights’ impact on privacy and civil liberties. This is especially problematic when drone programs like Otter Tail’s appear on first glance to be benign but later turn out to support the same problematic law enforcement uses that EFF has been increasingly concerned about.

It’s been over a year and a half since we first filed our FOIA request with the FAA, and we’re still waiting for more than half of the agency’s drone records. This is unacceptable.

Like with any new technology, drones can be put to good use or to evil use. Just like nuclear power can harness energy or destroy humanity altogether, drones could do a lot of good, but the problem is that the government is clearly moving more and more towards a surveillance state so we must be extra careful. Stay vigilant.
Source

'Ron Paul: The Film' By Infowars Backs Up Retiring Congressman's Points

Ron Paul's farewell speech in November 2012 made the rounds on the Internet, but due to skepticism over the Texas congressman's words, Infowars pieced together news clips and backup documentation to show that Paul speaks the truth. Hence the birth of "Ron Paul: The Film."

Paul, a 77-year-old Texas Republican who is retiring from the House in January, posed several questions. Since President Barack Obama's re-election, the White House website has filled up with tens of thousands of electronic signatures from citizens wanting their state to secede from the United States, as reported in the Allvoices article,"US indivisible?"

But on top of that, another petition has joined the secession desires, this one wanting the Obama administration to respond to several questions Paul posed in his farewell speech: Answer ALL the questions posed by Congressman Ron Paul in his final speech on the House floor, Nov. 14, 2012

In 2012, more young people became aware of the damage "big government" continues to do to our economy and civil liberties as thousands showed up to his rallies, Paul points out.

Paul begins wrapping up his speech with the five greatest dangers that the American people face to impede a goal of a free society. What are they?

1. The continuous attack on our civil liberties which threatens the rule of law and our ability to resist the onrush of tyranny.

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Meet Liz Fowler: Architect Of ObamaCare Jumps Ship To Johnson & Johnson

Following the passage of ObamaCare, several of the smartest people I know claimed that the bill was actually written by and for the drug and insurance companies rather than “the people” as Obama had claimed. My friend and orthopedic surgeon Dave Janda wrote an excellent piece that I published titled:Thoughts on Obamacare from a Surgeon and Friend.

In recent days it has emerged that Liz Fowler, who is said to have been one of the key architects of ObamaCare, is doing what any good revolving door crony capitalist would do. She is moving to the private sector to receive her payoff. Trudy Lieberman of the Columbia Journal Review explains that:

Herewith is a brief Fowler curriculum vitae: In 2001 she had a plum job as chief counsel for the Senate Finance Committee, which deals with healthcare bills. As Greenwald’s old Salon post notes, her biography says she “played a key role” in the 2003 Medicare prescription drug law that created a new senior drug benefit—a benefit provided via private insurers, not the government, as is the case for other Medicare benefits. A few years later she landed a position at WellPoint as a vice president overseeing the giant insurer’s lobbying activities.

Fowler then returned to Senate Finance in 2008 to work for Sen. Max Baucus, who chaired the committee, which was becoming Action Central for health reform.Fowler and Baucus pretty much wrote the bill that became Obamacare—and which, we should note, did not include a proposed “public option,” which was popular with ordinary people but not the insurance companies that lobbied hard to make sure it was out of the mix.

Then this week Politico’s Dave Levinthal and Anna Palmer had a scoop: Fowler is returning to the private world, this time to a senior level position leading global health policy at Johnson & Johnson’s government affairs and policy group.

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It's All About Jobs

Maryland Chairman Larry Hogan continues to hold the O'Malley Administration accountable for the "jobs, jobs, jobs" they promised but failed to deliver. As we head into another General Assembly session just over a month from now, we hear the same worn out policies that the vast majority of Marylander's don't want - raising the gas tax and a new tax on consumers to pay for the Governor's offshore wind mills.

These articles from just the past week or so, show what real change looks like - reforming the state's economic development office and returning its mission to attract businesses and jobs for starters.

Together, we will show the arrogant one-party monopoly just how out of touch they really are. We have grown to over 25,000. As we grow stronger, our voice gets louder. We are being heard and we are making difference. Join us in this fight to Change Maryland for the better at facecebook.com/ChangeMaryland, or atwww.changemaryland.org.

Republicans For Big Government

Do you know anyone who voted Republican this past election in order to further President Obama’s big government agenda? Or is it more likely that Republican voters sought to advance a smaller version of the federal government? And if they did, why are Republican congressional leaders offering to help the president spend us into oblivion?

I suspected that those questions might be asked when Mitt Romney was nominated to oppose Obama. My view of his campaign then and now has been that he presented a choice to the voters of big government versus bigger government, and bigger government prevailed. Romney argued during the campaign that he was at a disadvantage because the president had distributed federal tax dollars to persons and groups critical to his re-election. He has since argued that he lost the election because nearly half of Americans – some by chance, some by choice and some by force – are dependent on government for much of their income or subsistence.

His argument sounds harsh, but it’s true. A formerly working and now retired couple in their mid-80s who are receiving monthly payments from the Social Security Administration into which they were forced to make payments while they were working can hardly be considered slackers. But they can be considered dupes. All of us who have fallen for the government’s nonsense about it holding our money for our future use have been duped. The government doesn’t hold anyone’s money for him. It spends whatever it collects as soon as it receives it. When its entitlement bills come due, it uses current tax revenue, or it borrows money in order to acquire the cash to make the payments.
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I Told You So! Of Course Washington Will Steal Your Retirement Benefits

Today the twin fake memes of a "Fiscal Cliff" and "Austerity" are combining to create a contrived excuse to tax and steal far more of your wealth and income, including your retirement benefits. The press is filled with articles and editorials like one recently atCNBC entitled "Amid Tax Talks, a cry of 'Save My 401(k)'."

Many retirement, offshore and political experts including Jeff Berwick, Larry Grossman and others are now warning how government revenue needs and austerity measures by the Obama Administration today threaten the private retirement system and benefits of millions of successful Americans. Back on January 28, 2010 I wrote a report entitled "The Coming Obama Retirement Trap Has Started," published at LewRockwell.com, republished in its entirety below, for your review.

Over the last few weeks I've been inundated with emails similar to this one:

Ron,

In early 2010 you wrote an article called "Are you ready for the coming Obama retirement trap?"

Now, I find an article from National Seniors Council that there was a recent hearing sponsored by the Treasury and the Labor Department that marked the beginning of the Obama Administration's effort to nationalize the nation's pension system and to eliminate private retirement accounts including IRA's and 401k plans.

What is your thinking on this? Should one, even with a large IRA, consider cashing it in or doing something to keep it out of harm's way? Your response is appreciated.

The GOP Is Dying Because The Liberty Movement Is Thriving


To the point of causing intestinal convulsions, there has been no shortage of analysis on the elections of 2012.  Every no-name mop-head mainstream media hack with a niche audience has put in his or her two cents on the finale of perhaps the biggest non-event of the decade and almost every single one of them has been depressingly wrong or completely disingenuous - but perhaps this was to be expected.  The word “journalist” has today become synonymous with “whore”, simply because success in the field makes whoredom essential.  The job of news outlets is not to report on the facts, but to fashion an illusory world out of manure bricks and glossy paint, and this is exactly what they have done in their musing on the fate of the GOP.      

For any saucer-eyed skeptic who still believes that all disinformation is mere coincidence or personal bias rather than an engineered and coordinated conspiracy, I would like to point out the sudden, similar and simultaneous conclusions of MSM pundits in the wake of Barack Obama’s “victory” in November.  You would think that there would be hundreds if not thousands of conflicting ideas about what really happened this year, but instead, Americans are being presented with a chorus of identical viewpoints.

One meme that is being spread widely in the mainstream that I do actually agree with is that the Republican Party is “dying”.  Oh yes, this is undoubtedly true.  The GOP is on the fast track to the stew pot (or maybe another pot), but what the mainstream fails to mention is that this is something that alternative analysts in the Liberty Movement have been predicting for years, long before the name “Barack Obama” ever haunted the dreams of average Republicans, and this raises an important question; what did the alternative media see that the mainstream media missed?

The primary root of all the dysfunctional observations of the GOP is that most people today have no clue what conservatism is, and therefore, they have no idea how to diagnose problems in the Republican Party (an institution which is supposed to represent conservative values).  You don’t send a lawnmower repairman to examine a cancer ridden human being, you send a doctor who knows what a healthy body is supposed to look like.  You also don’t send a hardcore liberal or a Neo-Con flunky to comment on the failings of the GOP; you send a true conservative who knows how a healthy conservative organization is supposed to function.  And, the only people left in this country who actually understand what conservatism really is are Liberty Movement activists.

Ironically, those of us in the movement who have deeply considered the election aftermath have predominantly concluded that it is WE who have taken the mojo out of the GOP, and frankly, we’re happy to do so… 
      
The GOP is dying because it no longer supports or nurtures the progress of true and traditional conservative values or the people who hold them.  The GOP is fading into the bowels of political history because real conservatives are LEAVING it behind, and searching for other more legitimate avenues.  These are the cold hard facts which the establishment and those who aid in its dominance have tried to keep out of the mainstream limelight post election.  They have concocted a swarm of unsupported and absurd talking points which have been unleashed shotgun-style on the unsuspecting American populace.  Their goal?  To hide the fact that the Liberty Movement has gained enough momentum to bury the Neo-Con led GOP and even swing state contests at will, simply by not participating in the farce.

A Letter To The Editor: The Daily Times And Thanksgiving

Were you aware the Daily Times felt it necessary to charge their home subscribers, who pay by credit card or automated payment an ADDITIONAL TWO DOLLARS ($2) on their monthly bill for November? When questioned, the official Daily Times response was the additional charge was for the THANKSGIVING DAY edition.

The Daily Times explanation was, they pay additional money to the delivery carriers and those that stuff the advertising circulars in the paper due to the extra ads for Black Friday.

My arguments are:

1. There was no advance notice this charge was going to happen, regardless of the end destination of the additional fee,
2. There was no after-the-fact notice about this charge. And no explanation of the need for the additional charge,
3. IF there was to be an additional charge for the paper that day, shouldn't the advertisers pay that fee, not the subscribers?

An additional five-cents per advertiser would have more than made up that fee. Additionally, the advertisements for Black Friday are not printed by the paper, they are delivered FINISHED to the paper, for inclusion/stuffing into the Daily Times.

An explanation from the Daily Times was only provided to those that chose to call and inquire. How much of the additional two dollars actually made it to the carriers and insert-stuffers?

"Slaves Are Always Disarmed"


In the wake of the mainstream media’s latest attack on the 2nd Amendment care of Bob Costas and Piers Morgan, I bring you an absolutely phenomenal article by Charles Cook.  This man destroys Piers in a manner I thought only Jesse Ventura capable of.
As conservatives including myself never tire of pointing out to the uninitiated, the not-unrelated notions that the Second Amendment is either a historical anomaly or that it only applies to, say, hunters are both arrant nonsense. You won’t hear this in school, kids, but the right to bear arms is an issue that not only predates the Second Amendment by a matter of centuries, but one that strikes at the very heart of the relationship between the citizen and the state. Free men who control the government can, of course, bear arms. Slaves cannot. The distinction is crucial, as Dred Scott discovered.
- Charles Cook
Just read this article.  Fantastic work.

Ohio State University Marching Band Halftime Gangnam Style

Main Street Gym Boxing Update

Question Of The Day

Who will win the game?

OBAMA'S NEW PLANTATION


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THE OLD PLANTATION

In the heyday of the Dem0krats’ Golden Era Of Slavery, many of the rich, wealthy Dem0krat landowners enjoyed the fruits of their kkkapitalist ventures. They amassed for themselves huge fortunes, huge houses and huge parcels of land. No one seemed to complain about the “1%”, or “fairness and equality” and “social justice” in those days because they were too busy sitting around on their excessively large porches sipping mint juleps, playing their banjos and entertaining their wealthy cronies with elaborate parties.

In order to maintain such a lush, care-free lifestyle, they needed to have others do all the work they refused to do. Using their wealth, they would purchase for themselves slaves of a minority race.

These slaves had little say in what they did. They were ordered to do their tasks and that was the end of it. Whatever the rich Dem0krat wanted them to do they would do. They had no choice in the matter. They were offered cheap housing and a meager subsistence for their labor. If a slave didn’t want to perform their duties, or had other ideas that were not acceptable to the plantation owner, they were punished until their minds were made right once again.

Slaves being born into slavery only made their lifestyle seem like the only one they would ever know. They were born to serve the white Dem0krat ‘massahs’ as that was their only mission in life. There were no choices for them other than to live, serve Dem0krats and die.

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Study Suggests That A Bracing Regimen Of Beer Could Ward Off The Winter Sniffles

If you want to keep winter colds at bay and also enjoy a nice, hoppy beer, well, you’re a lucky person. A new study by scientists at Sapporo Medical University (and sponsored by the Sapporo brewery, natch) says a key ingredient in beer can ward off colds in adults. Beyond that, if it weren’t for that whole “underage” thing, the stuff is reportedly effective in blocking a virus that causes pneumonia and bronchitis in young children.

You’ll have to consume large quantities, says the study, in order to get enough of the ingredient that curbs respiratory syncytial virus. Humulone is the magic ingredient in hops, but since kids shouldn’t be guzzling booze, scientists say they have more work to do.

“The RS virus can cause serious pneumonia and breathing difficulties for infants and toddlers, but no vaccination is available at the moment to contain it,” said a researcher from the company, via AFP.

Tests Show Ford Fusion, C-Max Hybrid Are Not Getting Close To 47 MPG

One Comment Says It All

Most Commented 

Marylanders are able to lead themselves | 1 

Republicans stabbed in the back | 1

One would think the Daily Times Website would show the information they provide at least brings the community together through comments but clearly this is not the case. 

Their top two articles, (by their own admission) only have one comment each. I'd say at this point Gannett Corporation is simply keeping them afloat and the big shot from New York did them no good. Too many holes in that sinking ship with only a hand full of people left to patch them. 

When you take a Press Release from the Chamber of Commerce, (like they did yesterday) and butcher it up, suggesting there's a scandal involved, your on your last leg. Brad has given 14 years of his life to help Salisbury and he deserves better than what they did to him yesterday. Nevertheless, it's all about selling papers and now it's all about desperately selling papers. 

Greg Bassett promised months ago that they were better than this and they vowed to do better, he lied. The business community, (at least) will now think twice about how they will be perceived when one of them retires and this is exactly why the Daily Times is a sinking ship.

In the very least the Daily Times could have published the Chamber's in tact Press Release with all due respect. Funny how many people in the Chamber have been afraid of Joe Albero but in the end got smacked down by the Daily Times instead. 

Mobile Computing Fuels Arlington Cemetery Modernization

In our special report, Gov 3.0: It's Mobile, Federal News Radio explores how some agencies are meeting the demand internally and externally for mobile devices and apps. Just two years ago, Arlington National Cemetery was plagued by mismarked and unidentified gravesites and incomplete paper records. Now, the Army has at its disposal a massive, GPS-enabled digital database of every gravesite. And what's more — the cemetery has made the database available to the public via its website and a mobile application.

Salisbury Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Resigns After 14 Years Of Service


Brad Bellacicco, of Salisbury Maryland resigned as Executive Director of the Salisbury Area Chamber of Commerce after more than a decade of service.

SALISBURY, MD
— Brad Bellacicco was named the Executive Director of the Salisbury Area Chamber of Commerce in June of 1998.

Bellacicco came to Salisbury shortly after retiring as a Lt. Colonel in the United States Air Force, stationed at the Dover Air Force Base. His accomplishments for the Chamber and Salisbury’s Business Community are vast but include increasing the Chamber membership from 524 to more than 800 companies, organizations and individuals.

He oversaw the procurement of the Chamber Business Center in December 2002 and the move to a new 13,000 square foot facility in January 2003. Additionally, several environmental projects and upgrades to the facility have cut the facilities cost and enhanced the Chamber’s image.

Bellacicco coordinated three United States Chamber Accreditation reviews that resulted in two Four- Star ratings for the Salisbury Chamber. He also created the Salisbury Chamber of Commerce Foundation and the Eastern Shore Business Leadership Network.

Under Bellacicco’s leadership, the Chamber received awards from the US Department of Labor, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Salisbury University School of Business and many other groups.

“I have enjoyed my experiences at the Chamber”, stated Bellacicco. “After 14 years as the Executive Director I will miss the interaction with our members. The Salisbury Area Chamber of Commerce is a wonderful organization and will continue to be committed to the quality of life within our area. I am proud to have played a role in growing our community over the past 14 years.

The Chambers President Sandy Fitzgerald-Angello said Brad will be sorely missed and that he leaves very big shoes to fill. She and the Executives, Board of Directors and more than 800 business leaders wish Bellacicco the best in his new endeavors. The Executive Committee is currently searching for his replacement.

Chrismas Flash Mob

USPS & UPS Team Up

The Postal Service says add blue to brown and you get green. It formally has launched a partnership with rival delivery service UPS, the folks in brown. The Postal Service has to provide door-to-door service, which isn't profitable for companies. It is carrying many UPS packages through its so-called last-mile network. In turn, UPS is letting the Postal Service ship mail on company airplanes and trucks. The Postal Service said the partnership helps customers, the environment and the agency's bottom line.

Interior Department Made $12 Billion

The Interior Department said it made $12 billion in revenue from energy production on federal lands. More than half of that goes to federal coffers, making the program one of the biggest non-tax money makers. States and tribal governments get the rest. The total figure is $1 billion more than in fiscal 2011. The department said that was mostly because of bonus bids received for new oil, gas and coal lease sales. It also credited reforms within its Office of Natural Resources Revenue. It said employees came up with solutions like a data-mining effort to find companies in real time that were making reporting errors.