URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE

Wind Chill Advisory

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD VA
1018 PM EST THU FEB 12 2015


DORCHESTER-WICOMICO-SOMERSET-INLAND WORCESTER-MARYLAND BEACHES-
WESTMORELAND-RICHMOND-NORTHUMBERLAND-LANCASTER-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...CAMBRIDGE...SALISBURY...CRISFIELD...
PRINCESS ANNE...SNOW HILL...OCEAN CITY
1018 PM EST THU FEB 12 2015

...WIND CHILL ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 AM EST FRIDAY...

A WIND CHILL ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 AM EST FRIDAY.

* AREAS AFFECTED: MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE AND VIRGINIA NORTHERN
  NECK.

* HAZARDS: LOW WIND CHILLS AND GUSTY WINDS.

* WIND CHILL VALUES: DROPPING TO ZERO TO 5 BELOW ZERO AFTER
  MIDNIGHT THROUGH MID MORNING FRIDAY.

* WINDS: NORTHWEST WINDS 15 TO 25 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 35 TO 40
  MPH...DIMINISHING TO 10 TO 20 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 30 MPH FRIDAY
  MORNING.

* IMPACTS: FROST BITE AND HYPOTHERMIA ARE POSSIBLE IF
  PRECAUTIONS ARE NOT TAKEN.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A WIND CHILL ADVISORY MEANS THAT VERY COLD AIR AND STRONG WINDS
WILL COMBINE TO GENERATE LOW WIND CHILLS. THIS WILL RESULT IN
FROST BITE AND LEAD TO HYPOTHERMIA IF PRECAUTIONS ARE NOT TAKEN.
IF YOU MUST VENTURE OUTDOORS...MAKE SURE YOU WEAR A HAT AND
GLOVES.

Dog Shows Up at Hospital Where Owner Is Battling Cancer

Call it coincidence or love, but a miniature Schnauzer in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, ended up at the hospital where her owner is battling cancer -- even though the dog was originally 20 blocks away at home.

A surveillance camera in the hospital lobby caught the dog entering through the automatic doors and wandering around.

The dog, named Sissy, belongs to Nancy Franck, 64, who has been at Mercy Medical Center for about two weeks following surgery. Her husband, Dale Franck, 66, had been taking care of Sissy and her brother Barney, also a miniature Schnauzer, back home.

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How much Phosphorus and Nitrogen are in a ton of Poultry litter?

I Wonder..........

New Bill Prevents Government Workers From Watching Porn Any More

A new bill would prevent federal employees from watching pornography on government-issued devices. Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) introduced the bill. The measure comes afer an inspector general report on the Environmental Protection Agency. The audit found one employee watched six hours of porn a day in the office. That same employee also downloaded 7,000 pornographic files onto his government computer. Meadows says most agencies already have rules in place to prevent employees from accessing porn, but it still happens. He also says downloading porn poses a cyber threat.

SALISBURY: **ROBBERY - VICTIM INJURED**

Wicomico First Alert

 

*Police Alert*
**ROBBERY - VICTIM INJURED**
UPDATE | 8:21pm: Suspect has been identified. Police are actively searching for him at this time. The victim was robbed and assaulted. There is video. The suspect is known by police, and has a very violent history with police, and a known heavy drug user. 
We are withholding the name if the suspect, and allowing the police do to their job.

In the area of Food Lion
Snow Hill Road 
Salisbury

What we know:
-Unknown police activity at this time. 
-Dispatchers are still working the call. 
-They do know they are looking for a suspect:
White tee, jeans, blonde hair 
UPDATE: Sounds like the suspect tried to steal the victim's car. 
UPDATE: Victim is requesting EMS. Paramedic 16 dispatched. 
UPDATE: Victim is now not requesting EMS. Paramedic 16 cancelled.
UPDATE: Suspect possibly identified.

ISIS Emailed Kayla Mueller’s Family Pictures Of Her Corpse

When ISIS hostage Kayla Mueller’s family confirmed her death on Tuesday, they knew because the terrorist group had personally emailed them evidence she was dead.

The family received at least three photographs of Mueller’s corpse, according to The New York Times. In two, her body was wearing a black headscarf, presumably shortly after her death. In a third it was wrapped in a traditional Islamic funeral shroud

It seems likely that this evidence led U.S. government analysts to conclude that Mueller had, in fact, died in ISIS custody. The direct cause of her death remains unclear. The extremists say she was killed by Jordanian airstrikes, but photographs in their initial statement, as well as descriptions of the images given to her family, seem to contradict the claim.

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How Do Dogs “See" With Their Noses?

Basket And Bag Bingo!

USPS Bribery Scheme

A former Postal Service contracting officer and a mail delivery contractor are charged in a bribery scheme. Gregory Cooper, the contracting officer, allegedly solicited and accepted bribes from contractor Barbara Murphy. In exchange, Cooper helped Murphy win contracts for mail delivery. The Justice Department says Cooper accepted cash deposits into his bank account, car loan payments and a college tuition payment for his daughter. Through the scheme, the Postal Service awarded Murphy with nine contracts worth $1.5 million.

Police Have a Clever Way of Busting Pot Growers in Cold Weather

Police have at least one advantage in trying to find where residents are producing marijuana – especially in snowy weather. It’s a trick that led police in the Netherlands to a home where residents had been growing the green.

What tipped police off?

The roof of the building in Haarlem, a small town outside of Amsterdam, was covered in snow — save for one small section. How could it be that in such cold weather, the snow atop just one section of the roof would melt, but not anywhere else?

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Pepsi is buying back $12B Worth of Shares

(Reuters) - PepsiCo Inc <PEP.N> reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit, helped by higher sales at its Frito-Lay snack business, and said it would buy back shares worth up to $12 billion by 2018.

Shares of the company, which has been under pressure from activist investor Nelson Peltz, were up more than 3 percent in premarket trading on Wednesday.

Pepsi also hiked its annual dividend by 7.3 percent to $2.81 per share and said it expects to return about $8.5-$9 billion to shareholders through dividends and buybacks this year.

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PUBLIC NOTICE OF CLOSED SESSION

That's One Way To Satisfy Your Valentine

Wood Pellets Available At Johnson's Seed & Feed

Joe, Wanted to send you an email letting your readers know that Johnson's Seed and Feed has plenty of wood pellets. We don't have a bag limit and we can store them if the customer needs that service.

Bill Would End Photo-Ticketing For Right Turns

A bill has been introduced into the House which would would end the use of red light cameras to issue tickets to vehicles making right turns where right turn are permitted.

House Bill 451, sponsored by Delegate Neil Parrott, would change Maryland's red light camera statute to state : "THIS SECTION DOES NOT APPLY TO A VIOLATION IN WHICH A MOTOR VEHICLE MAKES A RIGHT TURN AT AN INTERSECTION MONITORED BY A TRAFFIC CONTROL SIGNAL MONITORING SYSTEM"

The bill was prompted by outcries from motorists who received red light camera tickets while making slow moving right turns at intersections where right turn on red is not prohibited. When the City of Rockville began ticketing for right turns en-mass in 2012, some camera locations issued more than ten times as many camera tickets as they had prior to the new ticketing practices going into effect. The new right turn optimized cameras were activated without significant prior notification to the public and without updating the signage at the locations to note that tickets would be issued for right turns. One camera located at WB Gude drive at Gaither Road which had previously been issuing 36-83 tickets per month the year prior to the upgrade, issued 1813 tickets in a single month to motorist surprised by the City's new practice. Many of the tickets were issued to motorists in dedicated right turn lanes.

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Bill would impact taxes paid by travel agents

ANNAPOLIS, Md. —A battle over travel agent fees is brewing in Annapolis, and it could have an impact on how you travel.

The legislation requires travel agents to pay sales taxes based on how much it costs the customer, rather than at the discounted rate the agent gets.

Bill supporters include a hotel association and the Maryland Chamber of Commerce, but the travel and tourism industries said this is dangerous legislation that creates a new tax that will certainly be passed onto to consumers.

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Blacks Killed by Abortion Since 1990 = 4.4 Million; 11% of U.S. Black Population

(CNSNews.com) – The available data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention show that the number of black Americans killed by abortion over the 22 years between 1990 and 2011 was 4.4 million, which is 11% of the U.S. black population, a figure that likely will not get much attention this February, Black History Month.

The CDC publishes information about the number and types of abortions that occur each year in the United States in its annual Abortion Surveillancereports. The latest report available is for 2011, and the CDC provides earlier reports online going back to 1990. (Full Abortion Surveillance reports prior to 1990 are not available online, but general summaries are accessible.)

CNSNews.com examined the CDC reports for every year 1990 through 2011, looking at a specific table that provides the number of “reported abortions” by “known race/ethnicity” and the area of occurrence.

Those numbers are broken down as white, black, other, and Hispanic. For every year 1990 – 2011, the total number of “reported abortions” in black females were as follows:

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Governor Larry Hogan Announces Tax Relief For Veterans

 

Photo Release:

Governor Larry Hogan Announces Tax Relief For Veterans

ANNAPOLIS, MD - Today, Governor Larry Hogan joined Maryland Veterans Affairs Secretary-designee George Owings and local veterans to announce House Bill 482 – the Military Retirement Income Tax Exemption. Attached are pictures from this announcement.

 

 

Assateague Island Marking 50 Years As National Park; Island Almost Developed Several Times In Past

ASSATEAGUE — Assateague Island this year is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its designation as a National Seashore and the preservation of its relatively untouched beauty, but there were several times in history when it was close to being developed commercially.

The Assateague Island National Seashore officially turns 50 this year and National Park officials and their allied private sector support groups including the Assateague Island Alliance and the Assateague Coastal Trust, for example, are in the process of planning a year-long celebration of the anniversary. The anniversary provides an opportunity to recall the island’s rich and colorful history, from plans in the early part of the last century to preserve Assateague as a national park to intense pressure to develop it commercially in the 1950s. The island was nearly developed in the mid- to late-1950s and there were roads constructed and plats sold for a fledgling community called Ocean Beach, which was to become the counterpart to the growing Ocean City just to the north.

The epic storm of 1962 erased any vestiges of that early development and caused federal officials to reconsider plans to pave over the island with residential and commercial development. In 1965, preservation advocates won the see-saw battle over Assateague and the barrier island was set aside as the National Seashore as part of the National Parks system, but still pressure to develop it continued.

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Michelle Obama's Self-Serving 'Cheese Dust' Disdain

Before the nation's Food Nanny guilt-trips you into ditching boxed dinners on a frazzled night, know this: The first lady profited from cheese dust before she was against it.

In the new issue of Cooking Light magazine, Michelle Obama takes another sanctimonious stand against processed foods. The occasion of this latest hectoring is a month-long celebration of the fifth anniversary of her Let's Move initiative. This time, she spins a slickly crafted tale of how her former personal chef challenged daughter Malia several years ago to turn a block of cheese into powder. "She sat there for 30 minutes trying to pulverize a block of cheese into dust," Mrs. Obama claims.

"She was really focused on it, and it just didn't work, so she had to give up. And from then on, we stopped eating macaroni and cheese out of a box because cheese dust is not food," snob momma Obama pontificated.

Hey, Michelle Antoinette: Shunning convenience foods is easy when you've got a taxpayer-subsidized cooking staff whipping up four-course feasts every night. Those boxed meals you spit upon are affordable and easy to store, and last a long time. For someone who pretends to be sympathetic to working-class and middle-class families, Her Royal Highness sure has a funny way of showing it.

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Weather Update

US National Weather Service Wakefield VA

Afternoon radar update. Rain and snow showers have developed over the Northern Neck and Lower Maryland Eastern Shore. Look for precipitation to become predominately snow showers this afternoon, with some light accumulations on grassy surfaces possible over the I-64 Corridor east of Richmond and the Eastern Shore west of Highway 13 through late afternoon. Temperatures will fall through the afternoon and evening with winds gusting to 25-30 mph through sunset.

Bus driver 'removed' after alcohol selfie surfaces

SHARONVILLE, OH (FOX19) -   A shocking selfie has a 'First Student' bus driver in serious trouble.

A “selfie” of the driver sitting in the driver's seat of her bus shows her with a bottle of alcohol to her mouth.

The photo first appeared on social media sparking outrage.

"Oh she doesn't care. She obviously doesn't care about her job,” said Sadie Leporati, a mother of a Princeton Elementary School student.

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It's Snowing!!

Governor Larry Hogan Announces Tax Relief For Veterans

Joins With Secretary-Designee George Owings, Local Veterans
To Support Military Retirement Income Tax Exemption

ANNAPOLIS, MD – Governor Larry Hogan joined Maryland Veterans Affairs Secretary-designee George Owings and local veterans to announce House Bill 482 – the Military Retirement Income Tax Exemption. The bill aims to eliminate income tax on all military retirement income, phasing in relief over a period of four years, providing for 25 percent relief in the first year, and rising to 100 percent in the final year.

“Making our state as welcoming and friendly as possible to military retirees is not only common sense but it’s simply the right thing to do,” said Governor Hogan. “After years of thousands of our citizens fleeing our state, this tax cut is the first step, among many to come, to ensuring that the people who spend their lives in service to others are given the support and tax relief they deserve.”

As announced in his State of the State address, House Bill 482 is representative of Governor Hogan’s goal to fully eliminate income taxes on all retirement income. This legislation also fulfills a commitment that the governor made to Maryland’s military retirees during his campaign, and is a significant testament of his administrations commitment to the men and women who have dedicated their professional lives to the defense, safety, and security of our nation.

"I am honored to join Governor Hogan today as he visits American Legion Post 136 in Greenbelt and demonstrates his commitment to our veterans,” said Secretary-designee George Owings. “Such an early visit to a Veterans Service Organization indicates the importance Governor Hogan places on our veterans."

Under current Maryland law, military retirement income is subject to personal income tax with the first $5,000 being exempt. In 2013, there were over 54,251 military retirees in the state, of which 50,889 received pensions. Military pensions totaled over $1.4 billion or an average of $28,666 per person.

“The American Legion, Department of Maryland supports raising the tax exemption of military retired pay for Maryland residents over the coming years until such pay is completely exempt from State income taxes,” said Russell Myers, Jr., Department Adjutant, the American Legion, Department of Maryland. “Our organization supports all efforts to increase military retired pay exemption in Maryland.”

SFD Calls For Service 2-12-15

• Thursday February, 12 2015 @ 21:56Nature: Medical EmergencyCity:Salisbury
• Thursday February, 12 2015 @ 21:11Nature: Medical EmergencyCity:Salisbury
• Thursday February, 12 2015 @ 19:35Nature: Medical EmergencyCity:Salisbury
• Thursday February, 12 2015 @ 16:50Nature: Emergency UnknownCity:Salisbury
• Thursday February, 12 2015 @ 15:26 Nature: Vehicle Accident w/InjuriesAddress: Bateman St & S Salisbury Blvd Salisbury, MD 21801

SFD Calls For Service 2-11-15

• Wednesday February, 11 2015 @ 23:23Nature: Medical EmergencyCity:Salisbury
• Wednesday February, 11 2015 @ 20:38Nature: Medical EmergencyCity:Salisbury
• Wednesday February, 11 2015 @ 19:36Nature: Medical EmergencyCity:Salisbury
• Wednesday February, 11 2015 @ 18:59Nature: Medical EmergencyCity:Salisbury
• Wednesday February, 11 2015 @ 18:12Nature: Medical EmergencyCity:Salisbury

Who Knows the Answers to This?

Joe,

I have been around the block to attempt to find out why my internet provider, Cavalier Telephone, has had its Google Mail capabilities yanked, and why its new parent company, Windstream, has such a miserable product to put in place of it. Everyone I talk to at Cavalier and Windstream says that it's Google's fault and that they were given sixty days to find another email provider, no negotiation possible.

I have to say that up to this point, Cavalier has given me excellent service and products, with scarcely a problem over ten years. But this, with the loss of capacity (15 gigabytes of storage vs. 1 gigabyte), loss of emails in migration to the new account, and an interface that is both visually repellent and, in some cases, barely readable, such as its Help page, which is printed in tiny, tiny font in pea green on a white background.

What I want to know is why this happened, why Windstream has such a lousy email product to replace Google Mail, and if anyone else has experienced loss of emails and no effective assistance from Windstream and Cavalier.

Can anyone comment?

Thanks.

Drunks driving wanes in the U.S. but drug use behind the wheel is up

Drunk driving in America has plummeted by a third since 2007 - but the number of motorists taking drugs behind the wheel has rocketed, a government report reveals.

According to the five-yearly survey, just one per cent of drivers during weekend nighttime hours were found to be over the blood alcohol limit of 0.08 per cent in 2013, and only eight per cent of drivers had 'some' alcohol in their system.

It is a drop of 30 per cent from the 2007 survey and down 80 per cent since the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration started gathering data in 1973.

But the latest survey also found that 22 per cent of drivers tested positive for at least one drug that could affect safety.

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JOHN OLIVER ON PHARMA COMPANY “MARKETING TO DOCTORS”

SPD Press Release 2-12-15- (Theft Investigation)

Homeland security: Small Pennsylvania town erect strange pro-gun signs

A rural township in south-central Pennsylvania is letting motorists know it's not a gun-free zone.

LNP reported Thursday that Conoy Township - just south of Harrisburg - is spending about $500 on the group of signs.

Four of them have been installed, with 12 more in the works.

They'll eventually be posted along every road at the township's borders.

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Two Immigrants For Every New Job Since 2000

The United States has accepted two new immigrants for each additional job created since 2000, according to federal data

The United States has accepted two new immigrants for each additional job created since 2000, according to federal data.

The data shows that 18 million legal and illegal immigrants settled in the United States from 2000 to 2015, while only 9.3 million additional jobs were created, according to the Center for Immigration Studies, which favors a reduced level of immigration.

After subtracting deaths, departures and retirements among the immigrants, the working-age population of immigrants grew 12 million since 2000, according to data at the Bureau of Labor Standards, said Steve Camarota, the author of the CIS study.

The working-age population of Americans aged 16 to 65 also grew by 16 million, Camarota told The Daily Caller. That’s a combined working-age population increase of 28 million, which is three times the number of jobs added since 2000.

Full article here

Fair, Equal Street Performer Rotation Program Requested; Busker Issues Dominate Boardwalk Hearing

OCEAN CITY – Boardwalk merchants turned out in one large voice calling out for fairness and equality at a public hearing this week concerning street performers.

The Town of Ocean City has been struggling with the proliferation of street performers on the Boardwalk for several years. Issues have grown as the number of performers increase every year and the acts become more disturbing from spray paint fumes to costumed characters to a pole dancer. However, court rulings in recent years protecting street performer’s First Amendment right have prevented the town from strictly regulating the acts on the Boardwalk.

Last month a Boardwalk Task Force was created to specifically look into these concerns. Mayor Rick Meehan recommended five members to serve on the task force, starting with Chair Greg Shockley, owner of Shenanigan’s on the Boardwalk and Ocean City Development Corporation board member; Frank Knight, representing the Boardwalk Development Committee; Lee Gerachis, owner of Malibu’s Surf Shop on the Boardwalk; Bob Rothermel, representing the Downtown Association; and street performer Mark Chase. The mayor also recommended the staff liaisons be City Manager David Recor and Ocean City Police Lt. Mark Pacini.

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Statement From Governor Larry Hogan On Augustine Commission Report

ANNAPOLIS, MD – Governor Larry Hogan today released the following statement in response to the report from the Maryland Economic Development and Business Climate Commission, also known as the “Augustine Commission”:

“I congratulate Mr. Augustine and the members of the Maryland Economic Development and Business Climate Commission for setting forth a strong blueprint to make Maryland more competitive. I am thankful to Senate President Miller and Speaker Busch for initiating this important work, and our administration will be an enthusiastic partner when considering legislation and other actions to make Maryland more competitive. This is exactly the right conversation we should be having to transform the state's business climate – an issue I will be focused on throughout my administration.”

CNBC Anchors Stunned: ‘There is No Economic Growth’

U.S. Media Blackout: Italian Courts Rule Vaccines Cause Autism

On September 23, 2014, an Italian court in Milan award compensation to a boy for vaccine-induced autism. (See the Italian document here.) A childhood vaccine against six childhood diseases caused the boy’s permanent autism and brain damage. While the Italian press has devoted considerable attention to this decision and its public health implications, the U.S. press has been silent.

Like the U.S., Italy has a national vaccine injury compensation program to give some financial support to those people who are injured by compulsory and recommended vaccinations. The Italian infant plaintiff received three doses of GlaxoSmithKline’s Infanrix Hexa, a hexavalent vaccine administered in the first year of life. These doses occurred from March to October 2006. The vaccine is to protect children from polio, diphtheria, tetanus, hepatitis B, pertussis and Haemophilus influenza type B. In addition to these antigens, however, the vaccine then contained thimerosal, the mercury-containing preservative, aluminum, an adjuvant, as well as other toxic ingredients. The child regressed into autism shortly after receiving the three doses. When the parents presented their claim for compensation first to the Ministry of Health, as they were required to do, the Ministry rejected it. Therefore, the family sued the Ministry in a court of general jurisdiction, an option which does not exist in the same form in the U.S.

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Schools Not Keeping Track When Kids Are Behind On Their Shots

When Sara Martín's children were infants, she made sure they got all the recommended immunizations.

"And then somewhere when they became toddlers I started to fall a little behind on the vaccinations," she says. "Not intentionally — just, that's kind of how it happened for me."

Martín is 29 years old and a single mother of two. She says it was a huge chore to travel from her home in East Los Angeles to a community clinic downtown.

"It's not just about paying the fare for the bus — which seems pretty inexpensive, right? Like a dollar and some change," Martin says. It was also a complicated commute. "Maybe two buses there, and two buses back, because it was a long trip."

There was also the challenge, while on food stamps, of feeding the kids throughout that trip.

"I don't want to feel like these are excuses," Martín says. "It was just the reality — these are choices I had to make."

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ISIS CLAIMS: Jordanian Pilot Heavily Sedated When Burned Alive, 'Had No Idea What Was About to Happen'

Does this make burning someone alive any better? Unreal.

The Jordanian air force pilot filmed being burned to death by Islamic State extremists was heavily sedated and unaware of what was about to happen, it has been claimed.

A report in Saudi Arabia’s burnews.com claims ISIS militants admitted giving Moaz al-Kasasbeh drugs so that he did not scream as flames consumed his body during his grotesque execution.

Jordan has struck back hard following the circulation of the video last week, hitting the militant group’s territory with 56 air strikes in three days and executing two ISIS-linked prisoners.

Burnews.com reports that Kasasbeh’s apparent resignation to his fate, as well as his apparently heroic stoicism as his petrol-soaked jumpsuit burst into flames, was due to heavy sedation.

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Animal Keeper Dies in Lion Attack at Seoul Zoo

An animal keeper died Thursday after apparently being attacked by two lions at a zoo in South Korea's capital, officials said.

A colleague found the keeper, 52-year-old Kim Geun-bae, unconscious and bleeding heavily from his neck and legs in the animals' enclosure, as a male and female lion wandered near him, according to Seoul Children's Grand Park official Jisun Lee. Kim was pronounced dead at a hospital about two hours later, she said.

There were no witnesses or visitors at the time of the attack because the zoo has been closed since last week to prevent the spread of avian flu, Lee said.

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Baltimore City expands youth curfew to daytime school hours

BALTIMORE —Baltimore City implemented a nighttime curfew for juveniles last summer amid protests that the law was criminalizing youth.

On Wednesday, the city announced they're expanding that curfew to include daytime hours when students should be in school.

"This is not about criminalizing our children. This is about reaching our children before they find themselves in a situation where the only option left is law enforcement," Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said.

Rawlings-Blake announced Wednesday some changes to the city's juvenile curfew laws. Last summer, they implemented a nighttime curfew with violators being taken to one of two designated youth connection centers. Now, they are opening two more for daytime violators who should be in school. Those centers are expected to open sometime in the beginning of March, officials said.

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FEC to Consider Regulating Online Political Speech

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is holding a hearing today to receive public feedback on whether it should create new rules regulating political speech, including political speech on the Internet that one commissioner warned could affect blogs, YouTube videos and even websites like the Drudge Report.

The hearing is a response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in McCutcheon v. FEC last year, which struck down the FEC’s previous cap on aggregate campaign contributions from a single donor in an election cycle.

Before the decision, individuals were limited to a combined total of $46,200 in contributions to all federal candidates, and $70,800 to federal political action committees and parties.

Individuals are no longer restricted by aggregate limits, which Chief Justice John Roberts said "intrude without justification on a citizen's ability to exercise 'the most fundamental First Amendment activities'."

Last October, FEC Chairwoman Ann Ravel issued a statement in which she complained that the agency was not doing enough to monitor activity on the Internet.

However, the commission’s three Republican members – Lee Goodman, Caroline Hunter, and Matthew Petersen – responded to Ravel’s comments in a joint statement.

“Despite the Internet’s growing importance as a tool for all citizens to engage in political debate, and notwithstanding this Commission’s promise to take a ‘restrained regulatory approach’ with respect to online political activity, [Ravel] apparently believes the time has come to impose greater regulation on political speech over the Internet,” the group wrote.

According to Commissioner Goodman, who served as chairman of the FEC last year, regulation of content placed on the Internet is a very real possibility.

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Jails Have Become Warehouses for the Poor, Ill and Addicted, a Report Says

Jails across the country have become vast warehouses made up primarily of people too poor to post bail or too ill with mental health or drug problems to adequately care for themselves, according to a report issued Wednesday.

The study, “Incarceration’s Front Door: The Misuse of Jails in America,” found that the majority of those incarcerated in local and county jails are there for minor violations, including driving with suspended licenses, shoplifting or evading subway fares, and have been jailed for longer periods of time over the past 30 years because they are unable to pay court-imposed costs.

The report, by the Vera Institute of Justice, comes at a time of increased attention to mass incarceration policies that have swelled prison and jail populations around the country. This week in Missouri, where the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man by a white police officer stirred months of racial tension last year in the town of Ferguson, 15 people sued that city and another suburb, Jennings, alleging that the cities created an unconstitutional modern-day debtors’ prison, putting impoverished people behind bars in overcrowded, unlawful and unsanitary conditions.

While most reform efforts, including early releases and the elimination of some minimum mandatory sentences, have been focused on state and federal prisons, the report found that the disparate rules that apply to jails is also in need of reform.

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Charles Manson's fiancée 'only wanted to marry him so she could put his corpse on display in a glass coffin after he died'

Charles Manson's fiancée allegedly tricked him into agreeing to marry her as part of a bizarre plot to put his corpse on display after he died.

Afton Elaine Burton, who calls herself 'Star', took out a marriage license with the serial killer last year - but reportedly only suggested matrimony to get legal ownership of his remains and stuff them in a glass coffin.

Star, 27, strung the 80-year-old murderer along with the hope of cashing in after he died and turning his body into a tourist attraction, according to a source close to Manson.

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NOMINATIONS BEING ACCEPTED FOR 2015 OUTSTANDING PUBLIC HEALTH LEADER AWARD

Nominations are being accepted for the 2015 Outstanding Public Health Leader award. This award is presented to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the public health of the citizens of Wicomico County. The winner will be announced at an awards ceremony on Tuesday, April 7, 2015 at the Fritz Health Center in Salisbury, Maryland.

Nominations can be submitted electronically at www.wicomicohealth.org or call (410) 334 – 3480 to obtain nomination forms. Nominations are due by Thursday, March 26, 2015. Late submissions cannot be accepted.

PETA’s Virginia shelter killed 88% of rescued pets last year, up 30%: report

The number of animals killed at a People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) facility in Virginia increased 30 percent in 2014, according to a new report by the Center for Consumer Freedom.

The animal rights group that touts responsible pet adoption and veganism euthanized a total of 2,324 dogs and cats at their facility in Norfolk last year, representing 88 percent of all pets PETA rescued, the CCF said.

“This delusional animal rights group is talking out of both sides of its mouth — on one side preaching animal rights, while on the other signing a death warrant for 88 percent of cats and dogs in its care,” Will Coggin, director of research at CCF, said in a statement. “PETA should be called a slaughterhouse, not an animal shelter.”

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'Pariah' Treatment Promises to Be Heart Disease Game-Changer

Dr. Gervasio Lamas has long been the business of healing hearts. These days, he has taken up a second calling – changing minds.

Chelation treatment, the use of intravenous infusions to rid the body of metals, is what Dr. Lamas, the chief of Columbia University’s cardiology division at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach, calls a “pariah therapy” for treating heart disease and diabetes.

This means that many doctors see it as quackery and want no part of it. In fact, Lamas was once part of that crowd.

But then, after a patient requested chelation, he realized he had no real scientific basis for dismissing the therapy.

That’s when he embarked on a massive 14-year odyssey that culminated in a study involving 1,708 patients, 134 clinics and 55,222 infusions in an effort to find the truth, and answer the patient’s question.

The research was dubbed TACT, short for Trial to Assess Chelation Therapy. It was funded by the National Institutes of Health and was designed as a randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled – the gold standard of scientific research.

To Lamas’ surprise, the results were nothing less than spectacular.

More here

Guess How Much Of Uncle Sam's Money Goes To Foreign Aid? Guess Again!

How much of the federal budget goes to foreign aid?

What's your best guess? 10 percent? 20 percent? 1 percent?

If you're like most Americans, you probably guessed wrong.

In December, the Kaiser Family Foundation polled 1,505 people. Only 1 in 20 knew the right answer: less than 1 percent of the $4 trillion federal budget goes to foreign aid. The average respondent estimated that 26 percent went toward assisting other countries.

What's more, our ignorance colors the way we think about foreign spending. Fifty-six percent of the poll respondents thought the U.S. spends too much on foreign aid. Once they were told that the U.S. spends less than 1 percent of the federal budget on foreign aid, only 28 percent still thought we were overspending.

This is nothing new. The Kaiser Family Foundation has conducted this poll since 2009, and every year the response is the same. But maybe it's not our fault. Maybe the problem is that foreign aid is incredibly complicated. Even coming up with a definition of "foreign aid" is tough. So we spoke to five specialists to soak up some foreign aid smarts.

With Obama's $4 trillion budget for 2016 newly submitted to Congress for approval, here's a primer on the 1 percent.

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Rep. Cummings: People ‘Come to Government To Feed Their Souls’

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D–Md.) says, “so many people come to government knowing that they are not going to make the kind of money they would make in the private sector but they come to government to feed their souls.”

Cummings was speaking in Washington D.C. at the Legislative Conference of the National Treasury Employees Union on February 4th when he made the comments.

The Maryland Democrat also told union members that getting federal workers a raise higher than the one proposed in President Obama’s budget is among his priorities.

“So what are my priorities? What’s my reason for being here?” Cummings said. “My ardent priority is to do whatever I can to help federal workers obtain fair compensation and meaningful pay raises.”

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Halliburton Co. - 5,000 to 6,500 Layoffs

Houston-based Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL) confirmed it will cut anywhere from 5,000 to nearly 6,500 jobs companywide because of slumping oil prices and the resulting decline in oil and gas exploration and production.

Halliburton said Feb. 10 it will cut 6.5 percent to 8 percent of its global headcount. The company reported having about 80,000 global employees last year, including 8,600 in the Houston region.

In a new email to employees, Halliburton Chairman and CEO Dave Lesar stated that no one is immune.

"We value every employee we have, but unfortunately we are faced with the difficult reality that reductions are necessary to work through this challenging market environment," Halliburton spokeswoman Emily Mirsaid in an email response. "The impact will be across all areas of Halliburton's operations."

She said the cuts are not related to Halliburton's planned acquisition of Houston-based Baker Hughes Inc. (NYSE: BHI).

Lesar had previously warned that 2015 would be a "tough year" for the company that included Houston job cuts and at least 1,000 Eastern Hemisphere terminations.

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Conservatives Like Me Are Not The Stereotypes Liberals Say We Are

Am I a flag-waving, meat-eating, God-fearing, gun-toting capitalist?

You bet I am.

Is the Left right about the other stereotypes it puts out there about conservatives like me?

Not so much.

I have friends who are black, Hispanic, Asian, Indian and Jewish. I’m cheating a little bit by mentioning the Indian one because for all I know, she may be about as much of an Indian as Elizabeth Warren, but I take her at her word since she’s not trying to parlay her ethnicity into a university job. Setting that aside, not only could I comfortably take any of my friends with me to a Tea Party or other conservative event, that’s where I met most of them in the first place. It is true that Tea Parties and conservative events tend to be mostly white, but I’ve been to liberal events like Netroots Nation and they’re no different.

From what I saw, the attendees seemed to be 90-95% white, which is extremely ironic. Liberals claim Tea Parties are racist because few minorities attend the events. Yet, even though 90% of black voters and 2/3 of Hispanics vote Democrat, Netroots Nation is almost as white as the Tea Parties. So, I think the pertinent question here is, “Why does Kos hate black people?”

While we’re on the friends topic, I also have friends that are atheist, Mormon, Wiccan, gay and even liberal.

We’re not talking about, “We said hello once in the hallway at work” friends either; we’re talking about going to dinner together, inviting them to stay at my house, helping-them-out-of-a-cab-because-they’re-drunk friends.

At the end of the day, no matter what color or religion they are, people are just people. Well, except for Satanists. Screw those guys!

Once again, you can read it all here.

Obama Administration Won’t Release IRS Targeting Documents

The Obama administration is refusing to publicly release more than 500 documents on the IRS’s targeting of Tea Party groups.

Twenty months after the IRS scandal broke, there are still many unanswered questions about who was spearheading the agency’s scrutiny of conservative-leaning organizations.

The Hill sought access to government documents that might provide a glimpse of the decision-making through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.

The Hill asked for 2013 emails and other correspondence between the IRS and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA). The request specifically sought emails from former IRS official Lois Lerner and Treasury officials, including Secretary Jack Lew, while the inspector general was working on its explosive May 2013 report that the IRS used “inappropriate criteria” to review the political activities of tax-exempt groups.

In its written response to The Hill, TIGTA cited FOIA exemptions ranging from interagency communication to personal privacy. It also claimed it cannot release relevant documents “when interference with the law enforcement proceedings can be reasonably expected.”

Yet, congressional Republicans say there is no evidence of any prosecution in the works, and media outlets have indicated that the Department of Justice and the FBI have already determined that no charges will be filed.

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) notes that eight months after Lerner was held in contempt of Congress for not testifying at two hearings, the matter has not yet been referred to a grand jury. The contempt citation is in the hands of Ronald Machen, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia who was appointed by President Obama.

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Obamacare Replacement: More Covered, Fewer Pained

For five years, President Obama has ridiculed Republicans for not having “a meaningful alternative” to Obamacare. The tables are turning.

Republicans announced a plan on February 4, just weeks before the Supreme Court will hear a second challenge to the health law. If the president loses in court, he will have to deal with this GOP blueprint, not dismiss it. Gone are the major features of the Affordable Care Act, including mandates on individuals and employers, numerous taxes, and the Independent Payment Advisory Board. Instead, the blueprint offers tax credits for low-income citizens, more consumer choice, regulatory relief for employers and medical malpractice reform.

Right now, it’s pie in the sky. The president would veto it. But when a crisis occurs, “the politically impossible becomes the politically inevitable,” explained economist Milton Friedman. Whatever idea is ready to go becomes the course of action.

On March 4, the Supreme Court will hear a challenge to Obamacare subsidies offered in 36 states where consumers use healthcare.gov. The court will announce its ruling in June. The letter of the law permits subsidies only in the 14 states that set up their own exchanges, not in the other 36. If the president loses, 6.5 million people in those 36 states would have to pay the true cost of their “affordable” plans, in some cases quadruple. Only the sickest would keep paying, and Obamacare would “death spiral” with premiums soaring and enrollment crashing.

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WSJ: Kissinger Fears Iran Talks Will Lead to Nuclear Mideast

What began as talks by an international coalition to deny Iran a military nuclear option has devolved to the Obama administration negotiating with Tehran to limit its nuclear stash, an approach that "will be to move from preventing proliferation to managing it," former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger told to the Senate Armed Services Committee.

In an editorial on Kissinger’s Jan 29 remarks to the Senate, The Wall Street Journal points out that "the dean of American strategists who negotiated nuclear pacts with the Soviets in the 1970s," who "always speaks with care not to undermine a U.S. Administration" — has voiced grave concerns about the Obama administration’s anemic negotiations with Iran.

"(Kissinger) is clearly worried about how far the U.S. has moved from its original negotiating position that Iran cannot enrich uranium or maintain thousands of centrifuges," according to Journal.

"And he is concerned that these concessions will lead the world to perceive that such a deal would put Iran on the cusp of being a nuclear power."

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A Comment Worthy Of A Post 2-12-15

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post " Look Who's Going To Run For Mayor Again":

Joe....this is a letter of tribute to you that is well deserved. I know you ran for mayor and for some strange reason you didn't get in....but.... having said that I can tell you that more people became aware of your blog and more and more people turn to this source for the best news and information.. BUT... what some people may NOT KNOW is that this blog has changed lives for the better. Because of your blog people have a voice that was NEVER available to them before. The people and businesses who have run this town for years are also reading your blog because they now are being held accountable like never before. If you were to mention a business in this blog people become aware of it. If you print a problem with a situation or a business, person become aware of it and start questioning how things are done and pay attention in ways that may never have occurred to them in the past. You give the community a voice by educating the masses. I don't start a day without this blog. There are weeks when things may not apply to me personally but I always learn something. And then, there are times that I have made a post to draw attention to a problem and when I have...things have always changed for the better. Joe.... you may not have made Mayor BUT your service to the community is far more reaching and truthful in content than anything done by elected officials. Some times the best place to be is on the outside of the everyday fray so that your voice has MUCH MORE impact. Thank you from the bottom of my heart Joe for changing things in this town I call home. Bless you.

Another Success Story For This Week

Joe, 

"Just an update to the Saturday work ordinance issue. Jake Day has assured me that the Council is unanimously in favor of keeping Saturday part of the weekend".

Publishers Notes: This is awesome. Give credit where credit is due. Clearly Jake Day is listening and respects the fact that citizens deserve a quality lifestyle in the City. The same cannot be said for Mayor Jim Ireton. 

The following is Jake Day's response...

Sorry for any confusion. We are meeting on Tuesday of that week rather than Monday at 1:30pm. It is on the agenda and will be addressed. I will invite you to make remarks if you would like but at this stage I am confident you will see unanimous support from the Council vi believe your issue has been heard and we are in support of this fix. If anything changes I will let you know before hand, but I doubt it will. Thanks for your patience. I appreciate it!

Jake

Md. veterans cemetery makes improvements after 7 On Your Side steps in

CHELTENHAM, Md. (WJLA) – After the 7 On Your Side I-Team exposed sloppy conditions at a Maryland veterans cemetery, the state's Secretary of Veterans Affairs issued a personal apology and offered explanations for the problems, promising changes.

When Secretary George Owings met with ABC7 viewer Wendy Miller-Blancke, he welcomed her to what he called "a most sacred place". But when Miller-Blancke visited the Cheltenham Veterans Cemetery late last year, it didn't look sacred. Pictures she captured show graves with sinkholes and a whole section of plots flooded with water and covered with mud.

"That doesn't ease your pain," Owings said. "That doesn't ease your heart when you show up to your father's grave and see a hole or disheveled dirt."

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Anonymous 'hacktivists' attack ISIS - strike down terrorist social media, propaganda, and recruitment sites

Hacktivist group Anonymous has taken the credit for strikes on websites and social media accounts used by ISIS terrorists to recruit new members and spread propaganda.

The militant Islamist organisation has a huge social media presence, with accounts on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram.

Through Operation ISIS – #OpISIS – the decentralised hacking group has been strategically targeting this online presence.

“ISIS, we will hunt you, take down your sites, accounts, emails and expose you,” says the hacktivist group in a statement.

“You will be treated like a virus, and we are the cure. We own the internet.”

In the Anonymous digital armoury are distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, which hammer ISIS websites with traffic until they go offline, and repeatedly reporting social media accounts so they get suspended.

Other “weapons” used in #OpISIS include password cracking and phishing.

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Troopers Investigating a Single Vehicle Fatal Crash West of Georgetown

Georgetown, DE – The Delaware State Police Collision Reconstruction Unit is investigating a single vehicle crash that killed a Georgetown man earlier this morning.

The incident occurred around 1:10 a.m. this morning, Thursday February 12, 2015, as Benadigto Bonilla-Berduo, 19 of Georgetown, was operating a 2002 Volkswagen GTI, westbound on County Seat Highway (US9) approximately one mile west of Old Furnace Road at an apparent high rate of speed. While attempting to negotiate a moderate right curve, the Volkswagen crossed into the eastbound lanes and exited the south side of the road. Bonilla-Berduo attempted to regain control the vehicle before it crossed both lanes and exited the north side of the road where he again over-corrected, resulting in the vehicle to rotate counter-clockwise as it exited the south side of the road once again. The passenger's side of the vehicle struck a utility pole, snapping the pole in half, and vaulting the vehicle into the air prior to it coming to a stop on its roof.

Benadigto Bonilla-Berduo was not properly restrained and was ejected from the vehicle. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The Collision Reconstruction Unit is continuing their investigation into this incident. Alcohol and speed are considered factors in this collision. US9 in the area of Sussex Technical High School was closed for approximately three hours while Delaware Electric Cooperative crews worked to restore power and the crash was investigated and cleared.

New Examples of Climate Data Fudged to Invent Global Warming

Global Warming, or “Climate Change” as it was re-branded once the ample evidence started to emerge that this “settled” science was proving to be incorrect, still remains one of the topics that is viewed as unassailable by a wide swathe of the population.

“Climate change denier” is a term used by many to paint anyone who questions global warming as some sort of psychopath, intentionally bringing to mind the term “Holocaust denier,” as if the two shared any semblance of overlap in any way, shape or form. This is a classic example of using slander when a rational argument can’t be made. This dedication is in the face of publicly available climate models on which government policy and papers were conceived, which have already been proven to be flawed at their core due to variables that couldn’t be accounted for, and based on data sets that were exposed as having been doctored when the results didn’t match what the scientists needed to keep their illusion – and funding – in place.

Despite all of this, governments still funnel trillions of dollars into green energy pet projects, technology for developing countries, and of course into the same scientists’ pockets that have been riding the gravy train, even with their hypothesis being exposed as questionable at best. In addition, policy changes alter the way we as private citizens live our lives, via coercive taxation & regulation, prohibition of products or technologies, and a hundred other ways which we don’t even realize.

When will this madness end? The Obama administration doesn’t seem to understand or care that climate science up to now has been unproven rubbish. The President doubled down on this notion during his State of the Union Address just recently.

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Look Who's Going To Run For Mayor Again

Funny how we've heard NOTHING about these matters for YEARS but now that an election is coming up, Jimmy wants to come off like he's tough on Slumlords. 

Citing Mixed Victory in 418 W. College Avenue Housing Board Ruling, Mayor Encourages Citizen Support of Stronger Occupancy Laws/No Discretionary Powers for HBAA

Salisbury - Mayor James Ireton, Jr. today reiterated his commitment to solving the issue of over-occupancy in Salisbury neighborhoods in the wake of a Housing Board of Adjustments and Appeals ruling which allowed an over-occupancy situation to continue.

The Housing Board of Adjustments and Appeals—a quasi-judicial panel comprised of members nominated for service by the Mayor, and voted upon by the Salisbury City Council—found that the rental at 418 W. College Avenue is an over-occupancy. However, acting within their discretion, the board granted an adjustment which allows owners Kevin and Kristine Adams until the end of the lease period (4 ½ months) to remedy the situation without penalty.

Mayor Ireton, while recognizing the board’s discretionary power, pointed to the ruling as an example of how current law allows the system to fail Salisbury homeowners by stacking the deck in favor of rental owners who knowingly put more than the allowed number of tenants in their rentals.

In a letter to HBAA Chair Lynne Bratten, Mayor Ireton wrote, “The Housing Board of Adjustments and Appeals, acting within its discretion, essentially rendered Neighborhood Services and Code Compliance powerless to enforce our occupancy laws in this case. The definition of ‘Family’ is quite clear, and the law is meant to be upheld – not bent or skirted to serve landlords at the whim of the HBAA. If rental property owners know that the end game in any case brought before the HBAA is a ‘get out of jail free card’, why should they feel compelled to comply at all?”

Proposed legislation currently under consideration by the Salisbury City Council would allow for the suspension of the landlord’s unit registration and/or rental license for a period of 3 months for the first over-occupancy offense, 6 months for the second offense, and a full year for the third offense. In addition to that proposal, the Mayor is also forwarding legislative changes which would take discretionary power away from the HBAA. Mayor Ireton believes that the board exists to determine if the housing official properly interpreted the City Code. The mayor does not believe that the HBAA should be involved in any more than making that determination.

Mayor Ireton urged City Council members to act decisively to pass the legislation, and to consider further measures aimed at fixing Salisbury’s housing codes.

The City Council will discuss the legislation at its March 2nd work session, at 4:30 p.m. in Council Chambers, third floor of the Government Office Building, downtown. The Mayor encourages citizens to attend.

In Brief: It is the Mayor’s position that current law allows rental owners to violate occupancy provisions with no real consequences. The Mayor supports legislation aimed at allowing more significant penalties for over-occupancy violations, and removing discretionary power from the Housing Board of Adjustments and Appeals.

Sad

Faith Filled Women’s Conference set for March 21 at the WY&CC

Salisbury, MD – The Wicomico Youth & Civic Center will host the fourth annual Faith Filled Women’s Conference on Saturday, March 21 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The event is open to women of all ages, stages and backgrounds who want to grow in their faith and connect with other women on the same journey.

The conference hopes to inspire women to join in learning, sharing and connecting through worship, Bible-based teachings and personal experience. There will be a variety of engaging and practical workshops, inspiring praise music, a gorgeous buffet lunch and dynamic fellowship with women from all over the Eastern Shore and beyond.

The event will feature bestselling author, speaker and life coach Valorie Burton. Dedicated to helping people get unstuck and be unstoppable in every area of life, Burton has authored nine books, including Successful Women Think Differently, Your 5-Minute Personal Coach andWhat’s Really Holding You Back? Success Magazine named her book, Why Not You? one of the “Top 25 Must-Read Success Books.” Her new book Happy Women Live Better: 13 Ways to Trigger Your Happiness Every Day helps women make intentional choices right now to increase their happiness on a daily basis.

Early Bird tickets are available through Feb. 28 and are $40, regular ticket prices are $50. A buffet lunch is included. For further information, please visit www.faithfilledwomen.com, email info@faithfilledwomen.com or call 410-849-9079.

Brian Williams really gets around!

Here is a photo of War Correspondent Brian Williams interviewing the President.....

What a guy!

NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT QUIZ

Brian Johnson, owner of Elceed Farm in Westover talks about the benefits of using chicken litter manure as fertilizer on his crops.

How well do you know your nutrient facts?

As the phosphorus debate rages, how much agricultural, scientific knowledge do you have?

EDDIE JOHNSON

Test your soil nutrient IQ. All are true-false questions. Score one point for each correct answer, subtract a point for each blank answer and subtract two points for each incorrect answer. This will minimize guessing.

1. Phosphorus is an essential nutrient for plant growth. However, many crops — such as corn — require only one-third to one-fourth as much phosphorus as nitrogen for economically optimum yields. Since poultry litter contains about the same amounts of each, this means phosphorus has often been over applied to agricultural fields. Over time, this has caused a buildup of phosphorus in many soils to values well above those required for optimum crop yields. This is a concern because increased soil phosphorus levels can contribute to a greater risk of phosphorus loss to the environment and lead to ecological problems, such as eutrophication (enrichment of an ecosystem with chemical nutrients, typically compounds containing nitrogen, phosphorus or both) of surface waters.

2. Manure is phosphorous-laden according to the extreme environmentalist; however, it contains only 3 percent phosphorous.

3. Land management strategies: Most states have addressed this issue by placing restrictions on land application of poultry litter (or other phosphorus sources) to soils considered “high” in phosphorus. For example, the Delaware Nutrient Management Act stipulates that “high P” soils may receive no more litter or fertilizer phosphorus than is removed by crop harvest during a three-year planning period. The Delaware Nutrient Management Commission currently defines a “high P” soil as one with a soil test P value greater than 150 FIV (fertility index values). This approach prevents the continued over-application of phosphorus to cropland and should lead to improvements in water quality. However, limiting litter applications to crop phosphorus removal requires more land to use the poultry litter generated in Delaware today. Many producers who had previously used poultry litter to supply nitrogen to crops also must now purchase commercial fertilizer nitrogen to meet crop needs, thus increasing their production costs. This is the same law, with more restrictions, that is in Maryland. It is field-specific and strictly limits phosphorous application.

4. Extensive research in the past 10 years has shown poultry diets can be modified to reduce litter phosphorus concentrations by 25 percent to 50 percent. Diets modified to reduce phosphorus excretion have been widely adopted by Delaware poultry companies, resulting in the need for new guidelines on the phosphorus content of poultry litter.

5. Research shows improving poultry diets reduces phosphorus in poultry litters.

6. The Environmental Protection Agency is using data from the late 1980s and early 1990s to estimate nitrogen and phosphorous generation from agriculture and food production systems.

7. A nutrient management plan is a farmer’s “business plan” for nutrients. The more efficiently fertilizers are used, the less nutrients escape to waterways. A plan is developed by a certified nutrient consultant and includes contents such as maps, soil analysis, manure analysis, crop yield goals and a budget for nutrients.

8. Analysis of more than 3,400 manure samples by the DDA laboratory from poultry farms in Delaware revealed a significant trend down in phosphorous.

9. Winter application regulations continue, and limit the application of commercial land manure based fertilizer during the time of the year that is most vulnerable for nutrient runoff.

10. Early science said phosphorous only left the field when soil erosion occurred, as each particle held the phosphorous. If the soil behind the Conowingo Dam (with phosphorous attached) were removed, it would help the Chesapeake Bay quickly.

11. Eighty percent of the water flows into the bay from north of the Lower Shore.

12. Hurricane Sandy forced millions of gallons of sewage spills on the Lower Shore.

13. The Maryland Agricultural Water Quality Cost-Share Program provides farmers with grants to cover up to 87.5 percent of the cost to install conservation measures known as best management practices on their farms to prevent soil erosion, manage nutrients and safeguard water quality in streams, rivers and the Chesapeake Bay. Grassed waterways planted to prevent gully erosion in farm fields, streamside buffers of grasses and trees planted to filter sediment and farm runoff, and animal waste management systems constructed to help farmers safely handle and store manure resources are among more than 30 BMPs currently eligible for MACS grants. In the past 15 years, Maryland farmers have spent $15.8 million of their own money to match these grants.

14. For tens of thousands of daily visitors to Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, the water serves as a picturesque backdrop and an inviting diversion, but visitors should think twice before trailing an arm along the water’s edge. A water sample tested on July 7, 2010, revealed the bacteria level in the Inner Harbor to be almost five times the safe limit for human contact.

15. The bay provides a winter home to more than a million waterfowl each year. The amount of fecal material produced by a goose each day can vary. Geese defecate from 28 to 92 times per day, with wet weights of the fecal material averaging from 1 to 3 pounds. When in water, the decomposition of organic materials from the feces reduces dissolved oxygen levels. Canada geese excrete 1.15-3.11 pounds of Kjeldahl nitrogen per goose each year — and 0.36-1.41 pounds of phosphorus per goose each day. The nitrogen and phosphorus act as fertilizers, which can cause eutrophication in a body of water.

16. A red cow can eat green grass, gives white milk and brown pooh. Isn’t nature amazing?

All of the above statements are “true.”

Eddie Johnson is a retired farmer who lives in Westover, and a former member of The Daily Times Editorial Board.

The Baseball Cap

Sen. Bernie Sanders: 'We Have to Take on the Billionaire Class'

(CNSNews.com) - Sen. Bernie Sanders, a socialist from Vermont, says he has not decided if he will run for president in 2016, but if he does, the nation's "grotesque" income inequality will be his issue:

"This is where I am right now," Sanders told MSNBC on Monday: "The great moral and economic and political issue of our time is the grotesque level of wealth and income inequality that we are experiencing.

"You know, the American people know that there is something profoundly wrong when you have the top one tenth of 1 percent owning more wealth than the bottom 90 percent, and 99 percent of all new income going to the top 1 percent.

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