Salisbury News: 01/28/13

Monday, January 28, 2013

Baltimore Hosts Inner Harbor Ravens Sendoff

BALTIMORE —Baltimore sent the Ravens off to the Super Bowl in style with a rally Monday at the Inner Harbor that got both the fans and the team pumped.

The rally kicked off 11:30 a.m. at the Inner Harbor amphitheater. 11 News Sports Director and Voice of the Ravens Gerry Sandusky served as the master of ceremonies.

The cheerleaders got the crowd revved up early. Members of the Ravens' 2000 Super Bowl championship team then made appearances, including kicker Matt Stover, defensive end Michael McCrary and cornerback Duane Sparks.
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Illinois To Allow Immigrants To Get Licenses

(SPRINGFIELD, Ill.) — Illinois is the fourth state to allow undocumented immigrants to obtain a driver’s license with a new law signed by the governor.

Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn signed the legislation Sunday surrounded by hundreds of supporters who say the measure will make Illinois’ roads safer and expand opportunities for undocumented immigrants.

Quinn says people need a way to get to work, drive to the doctor and drive their children to school. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel says the new law should serve as a model for the nation.

Boy Scouts Close To Ending Ban On Gay Members, Leaders

The Boy Scouts of America, one of the nation’s largest private youth organizations, is actively considering an end to its decades-long policy of banning gay scouts or scout leaders, according to scouting officials and outsiders familiar with internal discussions.

If adopted by the organization’s board of directors, it would represent a profound change on an issue that has been highly controversial -- one that even went to the US Supreme Court. The new policy, now under discussion, would eliminate the ban from the national organization’s rules, leaving local sponsoring organizations free to decide for themselves whether to admit gay scouts.

“The chartered organizations that oversee and deliver scouting would accept membership and select leaders consistent with their organization’s mission, principles or religious beliefs,” according to Deron Smith, a spokesman for the Boy Scouts’ national organization.
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Senate Votes To Approve $50.5 Billion Sandy Aid Package

The U.S. Senate on Monday approved a $50.5 billion disaster aid package for victims of Superstorm Sandy, three months after the storm destroyed or damaged hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses in coastal New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
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Police Charge Man Over Liberty Bell Threat

(CNN) -- An Arizona man accused of threatening to blow up Philadelphia's Liberty Bell was charged Sunday, police said.

Carlos Balsas, 41, of Tempe, Arizona, is charged with terroristic threats, bomb threats and several other offenses, police spokeswoman Christine O'Brien said. Prosecutors approved the charges and will take up the case Monday, she said.

It was unclear whether Balsas had retained an attorney.

Authorities say Balsas claimed to have explosives as he entered the historic site. Later, two black backpacks were found in front of the Liberty Wheels wheelchair and scooter rental shop in downtown Philadelphia.

A work group of members from the state’s House of Delegates has been created to brainstorm ways to improve the Baltimore area’s economy.

The group, announced Friday by House Speaker Michael E. Busch, D-Anne Arundel, will look at things such as education, transportation and increasing partnerships between state and local governments.

Del. Keiffer Mitchell Jr., D-Baltimore, will chair the work group, all of whose members were chosen because they have experience in developing regional growth, Busch said.
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Congress OKs $50.5B Sandy Aid Bill

Senate passes $50.5 billion Superstorm Sandy aid bill already approved by the House, sending measure to President Obama to sign.

Fasten Your Seatbelts: Google's Driverless Car Is Worth Trillions

Much of the reporting about Google’s driverless car has mistakenly focused on its science-fiction feel. While the car is certainly cool—just watch the video below about a 95%-blind man running errands—the gee-whiz focus suggests that it is just a high-tech dalliance by a couple of brash young multibillionaires, Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin.

In fact, the driverless car has broad implications for society, for the economy and for individual businesses. Just in the U.S., the car puts up for grab some $2 trillion a year in revenue and even more market cap. It creates business opportunities that dwarf Google’s current search-based business and unleashes existential challenges to market leaders across numerous industries, including car makers, auto insurers, energy companies and others that share in car-related revenue.

Hard-hitting Baltimore Ravens safety Bernard Pollard thinks an NFL player will die on the field of play.

Pollard said though he hopes he is wrong, he believes "one day there's going to be a death that takes place on the field because of the direction we're going."

Pollard also said he believes the NFL will cease to exist in 30 years before acknowledging he hoped he was wrong.
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Paul Ryan Embraces Spending Cuts He Said Would Devastate The Country

During an interview on Meet The Press on Sunday, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) predicted that the sequester cuts are “going to happen” and made no concrete proposals for how to avoid the reductions. The tone represents a sharp rhetorical and policy shift for the onetime GOP vice presidential nominee, who warned during the 2012 presidential campaign that the cuts would “devastate” the country and undermine job growth.

“I think the sequester is going to happen,” Ryan said, referring to the $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts to the Pentagon and other government agencies that will go into effect unless Congress approves offsets. He charged that Democrats rejected the GOP’s replacement legislation — the bill cut the food-stamp program, slashed Medicaid, undermined funding for the Affordable Care Act and disaster relief — and failed to produce their own alternatives:

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Private Gun Buyers Ambush Police Buyback, Offer Cash Instead Of Gift Cards For Firearms

Seattle, Washington police held a gun buyback program over the weekend for the first time in two decades, but not all the guns brought to the buyback were handed over to the police.

According to the Seattle Times, individuals gathered underneath Interstate 5 in a parking lot to hand over their guns in return for gift cards.

But, while Seattle PD was exchanging $100 and $200 gift cards for unwanted guns, makeshift gun shows sprang up on the sidewalks as gun enthusiasts offered cash to those standing in line.
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Aurora Health Care Says It Will Lay Off Employees Because Of Obamacare

It looks like Obamacare is having some negative effects on the industry it was intended to help.

Dr. Nick Turkal, CEO of Wisconsin-based non-profit health care provider Aurora Health Care, announced earlier this month that his employer would be cutting jobs due to Obamacare, The Journal Times reports. In a letter to employees he wrote that the company would be receiving $13 million less in government reimbursements forcing it to make “position eliminations plus discontinuation of some positions in the coming weeks.”

The cuts will be small considering Aurora’s 30,000 current employees but things could get worse in the future. Already, staff has been instructed to cut costs by avoiding making color copies; physicians serving Medicare patients may receive a cut in payments.

At first, the Sterlings didn't believe the email that reached their Missouri home: Five Peruvian siblings were orphans and needed a mommy and daddy.

It might’ve been scam. But the five hopeful children whose pictures were in the email weren’t asking for money, just making a plaintive plea that worked its way into the hearts of Scott and Lauren Sterling. When the couple checked into it, they learned the children's parents indeed had both died of tuberculosis.

And although they were already busy with two kids -- Scott's 17-year-old daughter from a previous marriage and their 15-month-old girl -- one night. Lauren couldn’t fight the nagging feelings anymore.
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DO PENALTIES FOR SMOKERS AND THE OBESE MAKE SENSE?

NEW YORK (AP) -- Faced with the high cost of caring for smokers and overeaters, experts say society must grapple with a blunt question: Instead of trying to penalize them and change their ways, why not just let these health sinners die prematurely from their unhealthy habits?

Annual health care costs are roughly $96 billion for smokers and $147 billion for the obese, the government says. These costs accompany sometimes heroic attempts to prolong lives, including surgery, chemotherapy and other measures.

But despite these rescue attempts, smokers tend to die 10 years earlier on average, and the obese die five to 12 years prematurely, according to various researchers' estimates.

Sen. Paul Pinsky, a leader of the left in the state Senate, freely concedes he’d like to see as many “liberals and progressives” elected to Congress as possible.

But the Prince George’s Democrat also acknowledges that Maryland congressional district lines he voted for in 2011 are among the least compact in the nation as well as unfair. He’d like to reform the process in Maryland without the “unilateral disarmament” that would undermine getting Democrats elected to Congress while Republican-controlled legislatures in other states continued to gerrymander for partisan gain.

On Friday, Pinsky introduced legislation that provides for what might be called “bilateral disarmament” on redistricting, one of several bills this session on reapportionment and redistricting.
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WI Sheriff Tells Residents To Get ‘In The Game’ And Arm Themselves

A Wisconsin sheriff has drawn criticism from other public officials for a radio commercial telling residents not to wait for authorities to help them and to arm themselves for protection.

According to The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. can be heard in the ad saying, “With officers laid off and furloughed, simply calling 911 and waiting is no longer your best option. You could beg for mercy from a violent criminal, hide under the bed, or you can fight back.”

Clarke also encourages residents to sign up for firearms training courses, saying, “I need you in the game,” and, “We’re partners now. Can I count on you?”

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Important Hurricane Sandy Relief Information

Today, I received a reminder from FEMA that there are only two weeks left for residents of Somerset County who were affected by Hurricane Sandy to apply for federal and state disaster assistance.
Here are more details:
The deadline to apply with FEMA is Tuesday, February 12, 2013.
Here's how you can apply:
1. Call FEMA's toll-free number, 1-800-621-FEMA (3362), TTY 1-800-462-7585. Both numbers are available from 7 am to 10 pm, seven days a week until further notice, and multilingual operators are also available to answer your call.
2. Go online to www.disasterassistance.gov
3. Via web-enabled mobile device or smartphone, go to m.fema.gov
Other information:
Even if you have insurance, you may still be eligible for disaster assistance.
Assistance available to disaster victims includes grants for temporary disaster housing; repairing disaster-damaged, uninsured homes to a safe and sanitary living condition, and for serious, disaster-related needs and expenses not covered by insurance or other assistance programs; U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) low-interest loans for individuals and businesses to repair or replace damaged property.
For information about SBA programs or to find a location nearby, applicants may call 800-659-2955 (TTY 800-877-8339), or visit SBA's website atwww.sba.gov/services/disasterassistance. Individuals may also contact SBA by email at disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.

Disney On Ice Extends Zip-A-Dee-Deal Tomorrow Only - Salisbury Tickets $1

Disney on Ice presents Worlds of Fantasy rolls back prices for the best deal in town!

Salisbury, MD – Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah, Zip-a-Dee-Day, My Oh My What a Wonderful Day! On Tuesday, January 29, Disney On Ice fans in Salisbury will be singing this song when they take advantage of a special opportunity to purchase tickets for only $1.* Audiences will thrill to high-speed stunts as Lightning McQueen, Mater and the crew of Disney•Pixar's Cars race across the ice. Dive into The Little Mermaid's enchanting undersea kingdom and enter the mystical world of Pixie Hollow with Tinker Bell and the Disney Fairies as they reveal the magic that lies within! The toys are back in town with heroic action when Buzz Lightyear, Woody, Jessie, and the Toy Story gang escape from the rambunctious tots of Sunnyside Daycare and race for home, in their most daring adventure ever from Feb. 14 - 17 at the Wicomico Youth and Civic Center.

Tickets for this one-time-only Zip-A-Dee-Deal will go on sale Tuesday (tomorrow), January 29 at 10 a.m. and are available at the Wicomico Youth and Civic Center box office only while supplies last (a total of 350 tickets will be available over 8 shows). Limit 4 per person. Offer does not apply to previously purchased tickets. Those that don’t get the $1 deal will get a $5 savings on tickets to any performance except Opening Night when purchased from the box office during the deal hours.

SHOW INFORMATION

Wicomico Youth and Civic Center | Salisbury, MD| February 14–17, 2013Thursday, February 14th @ 7:30 p.m.

Friday, February 15th @ 10:30am; 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, February 16th @ 11 a.m. 3:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, February 17th @ 1:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.

Venue/Ticket Information:

Tickets are $36/VIP, $20 & $15 on-sale now and can be purchased at the Wicomico Youth and Civic Center box office, 410-548-4911 or log on to: www.wicomicociviccenter.org To discover more about Disney On Ice, go to www.disneyonice.com, or visit us on Facebook and YouTube.

OBAMA THREATENS FOX NEWS, LIMBAUGH

In a sycophantic interview with The New Republic, conducted by former campaign staffer Chris Hughes and leftist writer Franklin Foer, President Obama suggested that he had all the answers to the pressing issues facing America and therefore no compromise was necessary with Republicans. He added that Republicans should compromise. And if those Republicans don’t compromise, Obama suggested that the fault would lie at the feet of Fox News and Rush Limbaugh – and that the calculus had to be changed to force Fox News and Limbaugh to stop holding Republicans accountable to conservatism.

Here’s Obama on how he’s going to fix the country:

The truth is that most of the big issues that are going to make a difference in the life of this country for the next thirty or forty years are complicated and require tough decisions, but are not rocket science. We know that to fix our economy, we've got to make sure: that we have the most competitive workforce in the world, that we have a better education system, that we are investing in research and development, that we've got world-class infrastructure, that we're reducing our health care costs, and that we're expanding our exports. On issues like immigration, we have a pretty good sense of what's broken in the system and how to fix it. On climate change, it's a daunting task. But we know what releases carbon into the atmosphere, and we have tools right now that would start scaling that back, although we'd still need some big technological breakthrough. So the question is not, Do we have policies that might work? It is, Can we mobilize the political will to act?

This is now the law of the land:

ADVISORY

BY DECREE OF THE LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS

IT SHALL HENCEFORCE BE ORDERED THAT AMERICANS SHALL NOT UNLOCK THEIR OWN SMARTPHONES.

PENALTY: In some situations, first time offenders may be fined up to $500,000, imprisoned for five years, or both. For repeat offenders, the maximum penalty increases to a fine of $1,000,000, imprisonment for up to ten years, or both.*

That's right, starting this weekend it is illegal to unlock new phones to make them available on other carriers.

I have deep sympathy for any individual who happens to get jail time for this offense. I am sure that other offenders would not take kindly to smartphone un-lockers.

But seriously: It's embarrassing and unacceptable that we are at the mercy of prosecutorial and judicial discretion** to avoid the implementation of draconian laws that could implicate average Americans in a crime subject to up to a $500,000 fine and up to five years in prison.

Our children represent our hopes and dreams for tomorrow, and in the eyes of a parent, there’s nothing more important. Unfortunately, today the troubles in our education system hang like a dark cloud over our children’s bright future. It’s not surprising that 53 percent of Americans think today’s children will not be better off than their parents were. With gridlock in Congress and a history of disappointment at the federal level, the best place for meaningful education reform to take place is at the state level.

The flaws in our education system leave too many parents with no choice but to send their children to failing schools and sit by as they receive a poor education. Despite the federal government’s ambitious attempts at the federal level to improve education through initiatives like No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top, these programs haven’t worked as intended.

State lawmakers can look to the example set by Louisiana, a pioneer in education reform for the 21st century. The reform package passed by the state legislature and signed into law by Gov. Bobby Jindal last year creates an aggressive school voucher program, expands charter school opportunities and ties teacher tenure to effectiveness in the classroom.
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Why Women Drink and Drive

The worst driving stereotypes have long been divided like a highway: women are ditzy and men are risky. But women are taking more risks than they used to on the road, at least when it comes to drinking and driving.

Researchers recently gathered in Washington, D.C., to present data on the female drunk-driving “epidemic” in an attempt to better understand why more women are getting boozy and slipping behind the wheel.

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Joke For The Day 1-28-13

A man owned a small farm.

The Tax Office claimed he was not paying proper wages to his staff and sent a representative out to interview him.

"I need a list of your employees and how much you pay them," demanded the rep.

"Well," replied the farmer, "there's my farm hand who's been with me for 3 years. I pay him $500 a week plus free room and board. He also gets triple time for working on a Sunday and a slab of beer for a 'Happy Hour' every Friday."

"The cook has been here for 18 months, and I pay her $400 per week plus free room and board. She doesn't work on Sundays and I provide paid satellite television for free in her room."

"Then there's the half-wit. He works about 18 hours every day and does about 90% of all the work around here. He makes about $20 per week, pays his own room and board, and I buy him a bottle of whiskey every Saturday night. He also sleeps with my wife occasionally."

"That's the guy I want to talk to...the half-wit," says the agent.

"That would be me," replied the farmer

Now That's Cold!

Jan. 23, 2013. A truck is covered in ice as firefighters help to extinguish a massive blaze at a vacant warehouse in Chicago, Illinois. More than 200 firefighters battled a five-alarm fire as temperatures were in the single digits.

Source

Casey Anthony Files For Bankruptcy In Florida

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Casey Anthony filed for bankruptcy in Florida on Friday, claiming about $1,100 in assets and $792,000 in liabilities.

Court records show that Anthony, who was acquitted of killing her 2-year-old daughter Caylee in 2011, sought Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in federal court in Tampa.

Her listed debts include $500,000 for attorney fees and costs for her criminal defense lawyer during the trial, Jose Baez; $145,660 for the Orange County Sheriff's office for a judgment covering investigative fees and costs related to the case; $68,540 for the Internal Revenue Service for taxes, interest and penalties; and $61,505 for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for court costs.
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Trial Delayed For Pasadena Man Charged With Animal Cruelty

ANNAPOLIS - The trial for a Pasadena man charged with 134 counts of animal cruelty has been postponed.

Shane Taylor requested additional time to raise money and hire an attorney before he goes to trial in county District Court. The postponement was granted Jan. 18 by Judge Megan B. Johnson.

Authorities seized animals from Taylor's home on the 8000 block of Lockwood Road during a September raid. They said they found dozens of sick and injured animals, some without food and water, according to court documents. A dead cow was found under a tarp in the yard, parrots roamed the house, and an Alpaca was missing fur, according to court documents.

Mondays are like ______!

Convicted Sex Offender Gets 20 Years In Prison

DENTON -- A former Federalsburg teacher received a 20-year prison sentence Tuesday in Caroline County Circuit Court for a second-degree sex offense conviction.

Kevin Garfield Ricks, 52, who taught English from 2000 to 2003 at Colonel Richardson High School, was accused of sexually assaulting a teenage boy in 2004. In July, he pleaded guilty to a charge of second-degree sex offense in Caroline County Circuit Court, and did not stand trial for his other related charges as part of a plea agreement.

The Caroline County State's Attorney's Office said Ricks' Maryland conviction will run consecutive to his 25-year sentence in a federal prison after he pleaded guilty last March in federal court to six counts of production of child pornography and one count of pornography possession for a case in Virginia.

Illinois Becomes Fourth State To Allow Driver's Licenses For Undocumented Immigrants

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn on Sunday signed a law allowing undocumented immigrantsto apply for driver's licenses, in a move he said would improve road safety.

Undocumented immigrants can also obtain driver's licenses in New Mexico and Washington state, while Utah allows driving permits.

"Despite the stalemate on immigration reform in Washington D.C., Illinois is moving forward," Quinn said in a statement. "This common sense law will help everybody, regardless of their background, learn the rules of the road, pass a driving test and get insurance."
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Another Water Main Break In Salisbury

For those of you in the Virginia Ave. PA, Oak Hill and Texas Rd/Dr/Ave areas, your water is off because of yet another water main break.

The infrastructure issues in Salisbury is, (simply put) a major problem being ignored by Mayor Ireton. Ireton has proven to be REACTIVE rather than PROACTIVE.

You can't put small bandages on major wounds and think we'll survive. Salisbury needs new leadership. Watch the Mayor claim the pipes froze, NOT.

Survey Question 1/28/13

Did you help anyone during the snow storm?

If so, how?

Update

Anonymous said...

Good thing you got out there early. Another hour or two with the rain and rising temps, there would be nothing left to shovel.

January 28, 2013 at 10:00 AM

This was taken just moments ago. I cleared the old Ethan Allen building to Mill Street. As you can see, there's still snow and plenty of ice even at 10:30 AM.

Even though Salisbury may have $16,000,000.00 in surplus, perhaps the Mayor is trying to give it back to people getting injured. You know, easy come, easy go.

Pa., Md. Lawmakers Want 'Negro Mountain' Renamed

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - A Philadelphia lawmaker is teaming up with one of her Maryland colleagues to lobby for the renaming of an Appalachian peak called Negro Mountain that sits on the line between the two states.

The name of the 30-mile ridge in the Alleghenies honors a slave named Nemesis who died there in 1756 fighting in the French and Indian War

State Rep. Rosita Youngblood, D-Phila., tells The Philadelphia Inquirer that the name should honor the man, not his skin color.
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ACLU Challenging DEA’s Access to Confidential Prescription Records Without a Warrant

The Drug Enforcement Administration is trying to access private prescription records of patients in Oregon without a warrant, despite a state law forbidding it from doing so. The ACLU and its Oregon affiliate are challenging this practice in a new case that raises the question of whether the Fourth Amendment allows federal law enforcement agents to obtain confidential prescription records without a judge’s prior approval. It should not.

Records of the prescription medications we take can reveal some of the most private and sensitive information about us. Knowing that a person self-administers prescription testosterone injections can reveal that he is a transgender man undergoing hormone replacement therapy. Knowing that someone takes Xanax, Valium, or other anti-anxiety medications can reveal a diagnosis of mental illness. If a person is on Marinol, a medication containing synthetic THC, she is likely fighting weight loss associated with AIDS. A prescription for a narcotic painkiller such as codeine or oxycodone might indicate a chronic or terminal illness. Ritalin and Adderall are associated with treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

You know what, I decided this morning much like I did deciding to run for Mayor, fix it and stop complaining. So I shoveled the south side of the entire Plaza from Division Street to Market Street. There, done.

Don't Forget To Come Get Your Yard Signs

Signs are popping up just about everywhere. You can stop by 304 W. Main Street between 7 AM and 6 PM and pick up your sign. I thank you for your support.

Schools Push To ‘Disarm The Minds’ Of Our Children

Maryland educators are launching an assault on normal childhood behavior. In Talbot County, Maryland, two boys aged 6 were recently suspended for pretending their fingers were guns while playing cops and robbers during recess. This comes just after another 6-year-old at a Montgomery County school was suspended for the same thing. These suspensions were later reversed, but why are they happening in the first place? They seem to be part of a larger effort to condition our kids to reject guns and the Second Amendment.

It’s tempting to call suspensions like these an overreaction to the December shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, but that’s not the case. A couple months before Sandy Hook, my son, who is in elementary school in Howard County was playing “war” with friends when a recess monitor warned them to stop shooting with their fingers “because guns are violent.”

“I don’t get it,” my son said to me that night at dinner. “We were just playing.”
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Do As I Say, Not As I Do

It's a shame the County can't follow the rules of the City. Clearly this is not the reason why the City/County won the Top 100 Communities in America, RIGHT?

Secret Service Dog Falls To Its Death At Biden Event

A Secret Service dog fell to its death Saturday night in New Orleans while doing a sweep of a multistory parking deck next a hotel where Vice President Joseph R. Biden was speaking.

The dog was working in the Premier Parking garage on Iberville Street adjacent to a Ritz-Carlton where Mr. Biden was hosting a fundraiser for Sen. Mary L. Landrieu. New Orleans police say the dog fell around 6 p.m.

Agents rushed the the Belgian Malinois to a Metairie veterinary hospital in a motorcade, but veterinarians were unable to revive it.
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Props To The Salisbury Fire Department

The snow was immediately cleared from Station 16 sidewalks this year.

Openly Gay, and Openly Welcomed in Congress

WASHINGTON — When Mark Takano ran unsuccessfully for Congress twice in the early 1990s, his opponents tried to smear him as a “homosexual liberal” and a “nutzoid.” One of them even hadpink fliers printed that asked, “A Congressman for Riverside ... Or San Francisco?”

When he ran again last year, he won by almost 20 points. “Flash forward 18 years,” Mr. Takano said recently, “and the very macho building tradesmen are behind me. I’m getting pictures with them in their hard hats.”

For decades, the words “gay” and “Congress” were usually seen together only in stories of scandal and shame: an arrest after an illicit proposition in an airport bathroom, accusations of trawling for sex on a phone service. When Gerry E. Studdscame out 30 years ago, the first congressman to do so, it was only after an affair with a 17-year-old Congressional page was revealed.

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Lost Dog 1-28-13

Businesses Pass On Credit Card Surcharges To Customers

WASHINGTON - Starting Sunday, it's possible to see a surcharge on merchandise purchased with a credit card.

The new surcharge fee, which ranges from 1.5 to 4 percent of the total purchase, is to make up for what businesses pay in credit card fees.

Adam Levin of credit.com doesn't expect to see many businesses implement the surcharge right away.
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North Carolina Proposal Would Ban Welfare Recipients From Buying Lottery Tickets

North Carolina lawmakers have drafted legislation that would ban welfare recipients and people in bankruptcy from buying lottery tickets in the state, according to several news reports.

The bill draft would punish vendors for selling lottery tickets to someone who they know is on welfare or in bankruptcy, according to ABC 11 in Raleigh. The lawmakers behind it believe it's counterproductive for the government to accept money from welfare recipients who are struggling to get by.

"We're giving them welfare to help them live, and yet by selling them a ticket, we're taking away their money that is there to provide them the barest of necessities," state House Majority Leader Rep. Paul "Skip" Stam (R), who is helping draft the bill, told ABC 11. Stam added that the lottery "is essentially a scam," the news outlet reported. Stam also said that some of the North Carolina lottery advertising is "just fraudulent," according to the Raleigh News & Observer.

NAACP Forum This Wednesday Night

National Association for the Advancement of Colored PeopleWicomico County NAACP Branch #7028
Dear Mr. Albero;

You are cordially invited to participate in the NAACP’s City of Salisbury 2013 Meet the Candidates' Political Forum. The forum will be held on Wednesday, January 30, 2013 at 7:00 pm, at First Baptist Church. The church is located on the corner of Delaware and Booth Streets in Salisbury.

The forum will give members of our community the opportunity to meet you and ask questions of community interest.

We look forward to seeing you on the January 30, 2013 at First Baptist Church in Salisbury, Md.

Sincerely,

Mary AshantiMary Ashanti, President

A Message From Govenor O'Malley

Martin O'Malley

The water was freezing yesterday but it was worth it. There are many things that make me feel proud that I have the great honor to serve the people of Maryland -- but nothing exemplifies the belief we share in the dignity of every individual quite so much as the turnout every year for the Special Olympics Polar Bear Plunge. Thanks to everyone who participated.

Be Careful This Morning, It's Sleeting Outside

As if it wasn't bad enough some/many businesses and property owners didn't even make an attempt to clear the sidewalks over the weekend, this morning it is sleeting outside and the roads and walkways are very slippery. The roads, (from what I can tell) have not been treated so please be very careful on your way into work this morning. The images above were taken moments ago.