HOMESCHOOLERS INTERROGATED ON GUNS, VACCINES

It all started with an unwanted knock on the door by a government worker and it’s being answered with a $60 million lawsuit.
 
A New Jersey family is suing the state child-protection agency after it allegedly sent a caseworker to their home to interrogate them on everything from their son’s homeschool education to questions about vaccines and guns in the house.

Christopher Zimmer and his wife Nicole of Belvidere filed a civil rights complaint in April in U.S. District Court in Trenton alleging “unlawful and unconstitutional home intrusion.”

“I won’t forget that morning for a long, long time,” said Christopher Zimmer, thinking back to Tuesday, Jan. 13, which began with a caseworker knocking on his front door.

He said Michelle Marchese, a caseworker for the state Division of Child Protection and Permanency, demanded she be let inside the house, “Now!” according to court documents. Startled by the aggressive confrontation, Christopher Zimmer asked the purpose of her visit.
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MILITARY SITE’S FORECAST FOR 2025: ECONOMIC COLLAPSE WILL LEAD TO MASSIVE 78% DEPOPULATION IN AMERICA

It effectively could throw the U.S. back into an age of agriculture

With economic malaise on the horizon and any number of triggers ready to set things into motion, military site Deagel.com recently posted their global forecast for 2025. The site, rumored to be a front for various alphabet intelligence agencies, says that America will soon see a large reverse migration as those who came here seeking riches and safety will emigrate out of the country following a serious, multi-year crisis.

According to the report the economy of the United States will dwindle from a GDP of $17.4 trillion today to just over $800 billion in the next 10 years – a decline of about 95% with respect to the goods and services produced within our own borders. Such a decline would be staggering, but it’s not the most ominous aspect of the report.

According to Deagel, the real concern is the adverse effects on our population, which is currently just under 319 million. If the forecast, which does not include the possibility of war or widespread pandemic in its analysis, is accurate then America may experience an event so massive that some 78% of our population would be wiped out, leaving just 68 million people living on American soil by 2025.

The key element to understand the process that the USA will enter in the upcoming decade is migration. In the past, specially in the 20th century, the key factor that allowed the USA to rise to its colossus status was immigration with the benefits of a demographic expansion supporting the credit expansion and the brain drain from the rest of the world benefiting the States.

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Proposed Va. school policy violates children’s privacy, invites lawsuits

FAIRFAX, Va. – Alliance Defending Freedom sent Fairfax County Public Schools a letter Wednesday that explains the problems with a proposed policy that would eliminate the longstanding and common-sense policy of designating restroom facilities for use by one sex, thus allowing students to use restrooms and changing areas reserved for the opposite sex.

Instead, ADF is offering a model policy that addresses the concerns which prompted the proposal, slated for a vote Thursday, but does not allow both sexes to use the same restrooms and locker rooms – a recipe for potential legal liability when it comes to children’s privacy and safety.

“Schools have a duty to protect the privacy, safety, and dignity of all students,” said ADF Legal Counsel Matt Sharp. “Certain advocacy organizations are ignoring this duty and pressuring schools to tear down the long-standing tradition of having distinct facilities for boys and girls at school. Schools should reject this radical social experiment, which impacts the most vulnerable members of our society, is not required by any federal law, and lacks common sense.
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Cop Gets Pissy With Citizen Who Pulled Him Over For Speeding – “I’m The Police”

PNC $5,000 Grant to Wicomico Public Libraries

Shocking: Martial Law Preparations Confirmed

Elton John: Congress can end AIDS

Grammy-winning legend Elton John is urging Congress to strengthen its fight against HIV to help end AIDS within his lifetime and “change the course of history.”

“This Congress indeed has the power to end AIDS,” John told a Senate appropriations subcommittee on Wednesday. “I am here today to ask you to use that power.”

The British songwriter was the star of a panel on Wednesday that focused on the United States’s global health programs.

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Governor Larry Hogan: I Won't Allow Actions Of The Few To Shake Progress Of The Many

What a Cop Found at the Scene of a Domestic Dispute Moved Him to Act in an Uncommon Way

It was 10:30 p.m. when Denver Police Officer TJ Young got a call about a disturbance at a residence.

Young encountered a mother and father who had been arguing because they had no food to give their four children for dinner. After the dad volunteered to leave the scene to de-escalate the dispute, the mom indicated she was still worried about how she would feed her kids, along with their grandfather.

Rather than simply taking off and filing a report, Young decided to help. He headed to a restaurant and bought a meal for each member of the family out of his own pocket, returning to the residence with the food.

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Ocean City Tonight

The fog has been around all day.

NY Times Blamed Reagan/Bush for LA Riots, But No Blame in Baltimore

Is President Obama responsible for the Baltimore riots? If you take a look at how The New York Times portrayed the reaction to the Los Angeles riots of 1992, apparently so. 

For those who came in late, in 1992 one Rodney King was arrested by Los Angeles police after a high speed chase. King was later found to be legally intoxicated under California law as well as having traces of marijuana in his blood. The arrest was captured on videotape. The police were seen beating King -- and, as with Baltimore and today’s case of Freddie Gray, all hell soon broke loose when the officers were acquitted. Unlike Freddie Gray, Rodney King did not die, and in the day eventually emerged amid the riots to plead for calm. 

Today, as the events in Baltimore unfold - now with formal charges including murder brought against six Baltimore cops - there is one striking aspect that is not present as it was in Los Angeles. 

That would be blaming the President of the United States. 

Yes, that’s right. As Los Angeles burned, the media was quick to finger the real culprit as then-incumbent Republican President George H.W.Bush. Not to mention his predecessor, Ronald Reagan - then four years gone from the White House.

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Florida woman held hostage calls for help by ordering pizza

A Florida mother held hostage by her boyfriend used the Pizza Hut app to notify police she needed help, authorities said.

Cheryl Treadway, 25, was allegedly being held at knife point in her home by Ethan Nickerson, 26, in Avon Park, the Highlands County Sheriff’s Office told ABC News on Wednesday.

"She was held hostage by him all day," Public Information Officer Nell Hays said.

Treadway and Nickerson's three, young children were also present during Monday's incident, authorities said, noting that the incident was sparked by an argument the couple had.

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Mass. Asking Middle Schoolers if They Engage in Anal, Oral, Gay Sex, or if Parents Have a Gun

Middle schools and high schools in Massachusetts have come under fire for demanding that students as young as 12-years-old fill out surveys informing authorities if they have engaged in gay sex, or oral and anal sex. The survey also asks if they or their family have guns in the house.

Critics say the survey has no place in school and in many cases ask kids questions they neither understand nor are prepared to comprehend and answer.

These surveys are not shown to parents nor are parents alerted that their kids are being asked these extremely personal, probing and shocking questions.

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Gov’t Reportedly Ordered Church to Remove Pro-Life Signs Within 10 Days or Face a Potential Fine

A conservative legal firm is claiming victory after government officials reportedly dropped their demand that a Virginia church remove two pro-life signs that were being displayed on its property.

The Rutherford Institute, the legal firm that represented Valley Church of Christ in Harrisonburg, Virginia, said in a press release that zoning officials recently levied criminal charges against the house of worship over the signs.

Church leaders received an April 20 letter informing them that someone had complained about the signs, which the city initially claimed were displayed in violation of an ordinance governing banners.

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‘I Have Some Questions’ : Middle-Class Millennial Female Writes Scathing Open-Letter to Hillary

A young millennial has taken aim at Hillary – and good for her, if you ask me. She isn’t backing down, and she is asking all the right questions. More from TheBlaze:

A self-described “middle-class millennial female” penned a scathing letter aimed at Hillary Clinton Tuesday, skewering the Democratic presidential candidate over criminal justice reform and accusing of her of lacking transparency.

The open letter, written by National Review reporter Katherine Timpf, took issue with Clinton’s announcement in a speech last week that it’s “time to end the era of mass incarceration.”

“I have some questions,” Timpf said at the outset of her letter.

Timpf wrote that she found Clinton’s current position odd, given her previous record as first lady.

Now, I do agree with that statement — and I don’t mean to be all judgies or whatever — but I gotta say I was pretty surprised to hear it coming from you. After all, your record seems to suggest that you do think that locking people up is the answer. During your time as First Lady, while Bill was enacting policies that provided funding to build more prisons and pushed states to adopt harsher sentencing laws, you cheered him on.

You made sure everyone knew that this “tough on crime” approach wasn’t just your husband’s — it was yours, too. During a speech in 1994, you said we need “more prisons” (why would you want more if you thought they did “little to reduce crime”?) and “more and tougher prison sentences for repeat offenders” (people like Freddie Gray, whose plight you now suddenly seem to sympathize with).

Timpf then took aim at Clinton over recent accusations she wasn’t transparent during her time as secretary of state.

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Princess Anne PD: Street closure for Somerset Avenue

No parking signs will be posted today for no parking on Somerset Avenue for early morning hours of Friday 5/8/15. This is for street sweeping and the sweeping should be completed by 8:30 am. The no parking signs will remain posted but changed to reflect no parking for Streetfest on Saturday 5/9/15 from 8 am to 5 pm.

Foster Teen Who Made Adoption Plea at Church Finds His Forever Home

It has been two years since a Florida teen in foster care stood up in front of his church and asked someone to adopt him. Now, he has finally found his forever home – and his adoptive mother has been with him all along.

Back in 2013, Davion Navar Henry Only told his church, “I’ll take anyone. Old or young, dad or mom, black, white, purple – I don’t care. And I would be really appreciative, the best I could be.”

His passionate plea spurred 10,000 calls, and he was placed with a family in Ohio, but it wasn’t a good fit. Then, he turned to his case worker of 10 years, Connie Going, and asked her to adopt him.

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A Professor At Polk State College Allegedly Failed A Student For Refusing To Say Jesus Is A “Myth”

The hatred and persecution of Christians in America is growing at an exponential rate. Because this student would not submit to this Marxist professor’s view of Christianity, she received four zeroes on four papers, which is unheard of, unless of course the professor is making a political statement – which he was. The Dean of Academic Affairs Donald Painter sees nothing wrong with the materials or the course and condescendingly told the parents of this 16 year-old, ‘too bad you got offended, but you knew what the course was like,’ or something to that effect. Being a professor is not open season to belittle and punish students merely because they do not subscribe to the professor’s radical opinions,” Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, said in a press release. And he’s absolutely right.

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Va. lawmaker rebuked for posting pic of snarling police dog

A Virginia legislator apologized after drawing criticism for posting on Facebook a photo of a snarling police dog along with a reference to the recent civil unrest in Baltimore.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports (http://bit.ly/1H0Nec7) that the post and picture were captured Tuesday and reposted on the left-leaning blog Blue Virginia.

The picture shows a K-9 handler in SWAT gear restraining the menacing dog. A headline says, “Go ahead and run.” A caption at the bottom reads, “He likes fast food.

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BREAKING NEWS: Senate passes Iran nuclear review bill

The Senate passes a bill giving Congress power to review any Iran nuclear deal, sending the measure to the House.

Blogger who organized Texas cartoon competition threatened with death

Islamic State have purportedly issued a chilling death threat aimed at right wing blogger Pamela Geller and claimed they have 'soldiers' in 15 U.S. states 'ready to attack'.

Two gunmen were killed and a police officer wounded after shooting broke out at a Prophet Mohammed cartoon event in Garland, Texas at the weekend which Geller helped organise.

ISIS quickly moved to claim the attack as its own work - and has now issued a terrifying death threat aimed at Geller, as well as claiming to have 71 'trained soldiers' operating within America.

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Former Funeral Services Owner Arrested for Felony Theft

Harrington, DE – Delaware State Police Detectives have arrested a former funeral services owner with felony theft after it was determined she defrauded and elderly victim of more than $6,000.00.

The investigation began in April 2015 after detectives received information by the caretaker of an 88 year male who resides in Harrington, that $6,300.00 in pre-paid funeral service was purchased in 2008 at the Deborah E. Harris-Nock Funeral Services located in Laurel, DE. A follow-up by the caretaker to the agency revealed the company was closed in 2013 and would not be able to provide the services in which were purchased. Numerous attempts were made in an attempt to get re-imbursement for the funds which were not fulfilled.

On Thursday May 7, 2015, Deborah E. Harris-Nock, 61 of Greenwood, turned herself into detectives at Troop 3 after a warrant was obtained for her arrest. She was charged with Theft $1500 or Greater and Victim is 62 Years of Age or Older and released on $2,000.00 unsecured bond.

If anyone has had similar incidents involving the Deborah E. Harris-Nock Funeral Services they are asked to contact Sgt. J. Lloyd at 302-741-2802. Information may also be provided by callingDelaware Crime Stoppers at 1-800-TIP-3333, via the internet atwww.delaware.crimestoppersweb.com, or by sending an anonymous tip by text to 274637 (CRIMES) using the keyword "DSP."

Prince announces 'Rally 4 Peace' concert Sunday in Baltimore

BALTIMORE (AP) - Prince has announced plans to perform at a concert in Baltimore following recent unrest in the city over the death of a man who was fatally injured in police custody.

A statement issued Tuesday says the pop icon will perform Sunday at "Rally 4 Peace," a concert at the Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore.

The statement says the event is meant to be "a catalyst for pause and reflection" after the recent protests and riots over Freddie Gray's death that prompted Maryland's governor to bring in the National Guard. Attendees of the concert are asked to wear gray.

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Governor Larry Hogan: Our Toll-Tax Rollback Will Ease The Squeeze

Governor Larry Hogan On Tax-Toll Rollback Plan: It's What I Promised To Do

Governor Larry Hogan Announces Maryland Tax-Toll Rollback Plan

BREAKING NEWS: TWO Maintenance Workers At ECI Electrocuted, One Dead

While one worker got electrocuted, the other tried pulling him off the box and also got electrocuted. The first person has died. The second worker remains hospitalized. 

Ice hockey fans riot in Vancouver as Canucks lose Stanley Cup final

Police fire teargas and stun grenades as Canucks fans torch cars and smash shop windows after defeat to Boston Bruins

Violence erupted in Vancouver on Wednesday night after the city's ice hockey team lost in the final of the north American championship, the Stanley Cup.

Angry, drunken Vancouver Canucks fans took to the streets, setting cars and rubbish bins ablaze, smashing windows, showering giant TV screens with beer bottles, dancing atop overturned vehicles and looting shops. Two police cars were trashed.

Police responded with teargas, the first time it has been used by city officers since riots in 1994 – also sparked by a Canucks defeat, according to the Globe and Mail.

Police also used pepper spray and flash-bangs – non-lethal stun grenades – but struggled to contain the crowds. More than 100,000 supporters had gathered in central Vancouver to watch the crucial final game.

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Maryland’s University System Approves Tuition, Fee Hikes

ADELPHI, Md. (AP) — Students at University System of Maryland schools will be paying more next year.

The Board of Regents approved an increase in tuition rates and student fees Wednesday. The increases are expected to boost the system’s revenue by $50 million.

Most undergraduates who are Maryland residents will see a 5 percent increase. But University of Maryland, Baltimore County students will see a 7 percent increase since the school deferred a mid-year 2 percent tuition hike.

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Real Life Shawshank Guy Who Spent 56 Years on the Lam Finally Caught In Central Florida

Franky Freshwaters is no Andy Dufresne, but he’s a real life Shawshank convict who got away from a 20 year sentence over 56 years ago. For more than half a century Frank has been on the run using an alias by the name of William Cox. Now that the U.S. Marshals have finally caught up with him, they need to do what needs done, even though Franky has lived almost his entire life, and he’s even collecting Social Security benefits. He was arrested in his Florida mobile home at 79-years-old.

“[We] approached him, showed him the 1959 picture, asked if he’d seen that person. He said he hadn’t seen him in a long time,” One of the Brevard County Sheriffs, a Major Tod Goodyear, involved in the arrest said of their confrontation just recently in a Time article.

Freshwaters served time at the Ohio State Reformatory made popular around the world for being the setting of the 1994 film Shawshank Redemption, which is still often considered the greatest movie of all time, and ranks at #1 in the IMDB database. Although he served time at the Reformatory, he found a way to escape while working at a farm that prisoners were often sent to do labor. Freshwaters had only served seven months of a 20 year sentence for violating his probation on a manslaughter charge. This was all back in the year 1959.

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17 Different Videos Showing Military Preparations for Obama’s “Martial Law” Exercises

If you doubted the seriousness and the scope of President Barack Obama’s Jade Helm 15 domestic military exercise, you need to look at these videos.

These 17 videos on YouTube show that Jade Helm 15 — a set of special operations exercises many believe might be a precursor to martial law — isn’t anything to sneeze at.

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Baltimore Reporter ‘Steps Back’ From Covering Riots Because She is in Gay Relationship With Prosecutor of Cops

Last week the Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby charged 6 Baltimore police officers with murder and a list of other crimes as long as your arm.

But earlier this week the Baltimore Federal Order of Police wrote a letter demanding that the prosecution of the 6 officers be removed from State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby and given to a special prosecutor because Mosby and her staff have all sorts of conflicts of interest.

One charge that he FOP made is that Mosby has ties to the Freddie Gray family. But the FOP also complained of the “lead prosecutor’s connections with members of the local media.”

What does this mean? Well, as it happens Mosby’s lead prosecutor is one Janice Bledsoe and Bledsoe is in a gay relationship with one of WBAL’s leading “investigative journalists,” Jayne Miller.

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Family Of Md. Captive Killed By Drone Backs Hostage Czar

The family of an American captive killed in a drone strike said Wednesday it would welcome the creation of a hostage czar to coordinate government efforts to free those held.

Rep. John Delaney, D-Md., introduced legislation last week to set up a “czar,” soon after President Barack Obama apologized for a drone strike in January that accidentally killed Warren Weinstein of Maryland and Giovanni Lo Porto, an Italian citizen. The strike targeted an al-Qaida compound along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

“Ordinary families like ours should have an official who can coordinate the efforts of government agencies and whose sole responsibility is to bring American hostages home,” Weinstein’s wife, Elaine, said in a statement in which she also thanked lawmakers for congressional resolutions honoring her husband’s memory.

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School Districts Around the Country Wasting Millions of ‘White Privilege’ Training

Our school districts are always whining that they don’t have enough of our tax dollars. But now news is out helping us understand why. They are wasting millions of our tax dollars on “white privilege” training for school teachers and employees.

EAGNews has a great article detailing the millions of education dollars that our schools are wasting.

EAGnews recently obtained a partial list of American school districts that contract with San Francisco-based PEG for educational consulting services. Most of those services come in the form of workshops for teachers and other staff members.

Forty-two districts on that list responded to an EAGnews request for information about how much they have paid PEG over the past five years.

The total amount was $3.9 million between 2010 and 2015, with some districts spending a lot more than others.

The biggest spender on the list was Pittsburgh Public Schools, which paid PEG a whopping $586,300 over a four-year period.

The district’s initial investment was $231,000 in the 2010-11 school year. It spent $96,100 the following year, then $183,200 in 2012-13 and $76,000 in 2013-14.

Then there’s the Osseo, Minnesota school district, which has paid PEG $533,800 over the past three years.

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Governor Hogan Rolls Back Tolls Statewide – Saving Marylanders $54 Million A Year

$2.50 Bay Bridge Toll Returns For Maryland E-ZPass Users; $4 For Drivers Paying Cash

Plan Eliminates Monthly Account Fee And Doubles Discounts For Maryland E-ZPass Holders

ANNAPOLIS, MD – Governor Larry Hogan today delivered on his promise to roll back Maryland’s high toll rates and put money back in the pockets of hard-working Maryland families and businesses. From the Bay and Hatem bridges to the Harbor Crossings, the Intercounty Connector (ICC), and the new I-95 Express Toll Lanes (ETL), Governor Hogan’s toll rollback, which takes effect July 1, 2015, will save Maryland citizens $270 million over the next five years.

“We are proud to announce what by far is our largest tax relief package to date and marks the first time tolls have been lowered in Maryland in nearly 50 years,” said Governor Hogan.  “This tax cut will put more than a quarter billion back into the pockets of our beleaguered Maryland taxpayers, and back into our economy.”

Responding to the governor’s calls to lower tolls, the Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) Board today approved recommendations from MDTA staff to decrease toll rates across the state, increase E-ZPass Maryland discounts, and eliminate the monthly $1.50 E-ZPass account fee.

The following toll reductions and changes are effective July 1, 2015:

• Eliminate the E-ZPass Maryland monthly $1.50 account fee for Maryland residents.
  
• Reduce all Cash, Video, Commuter and Shoppers’ toll rates at the Bay Bridge (US 50/301), including a reduction in the two-axle cash rate from $6 to $4 round trip and in the Commuter rate from $2.10 to $1.40.
   
• Increase the E-ZPass Maryland discount from 10% to 37.5% at the Bay Bridge – toll drops from $5.40 to $2.50 round trip.
  
• Increase the E-ZPass Maryland discount from 10% to 25% for the Baltimore Harbor (I-895) and Fort McHenry (I-95) tunnels, the Francis Scott Key Bridge (I-695), the Thomas J. Hatem Memorial Bridge (US 40) and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway (I-95) – toll drops from $7.20 to $6 round trip – and for the Governor Harry W. Nice Memorial Bridge (US 301) – toll drops from $5.40 to $4.50 round trip.
  
• Reduce two-axle toll rates on the ICC/MD200 and I-95 ETL for all pricing periods by $.03 per mile. This change reduces a two-axle, peak period trip from I-270/I-370 to US 1 on the ICC from $4.40 to $3.86 (E-ZPass), and a two-axle, peak period trip on the I-95 ETL from $1.75 to $1.54 (E-ZPass). Other ICC and I-95 ETL toll rates also will be reduced based on standard multipliers per axle.
   
• Establish a 30% discount at the Hatem Bridge for three- and four-axle vehicles with E-ZPass Maryland – three-axle toll drops from $16 to $11.20, while four-axle toll drops from $24 to $16.80.
  
• Increase E-ZPass Maryland supplemental rebate program for vehicles with five or more axles by 5 percentage points per trip level.

The following change is effective January 1, 2016:

• For vehicles using the Childs Street and I-695 turnaround exits at the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel and Key Bridge respectively, toll rates will decrease to $2 per axle for three-to-six-plus-axle vehicles. For example, three-axle vehicles will see a toll reduction from $8 to $6 and four-axle vehicles from $12 to $8.

“I have thoroughly reviewed the toll-reduction plan, and I’m confident the MDTA will continue to maintain its sound financial footing and commitment to safety and quality services,” said MDTA Chairman and Transportation Secretary Pete K. Rahn. “A lot of hard work went into the development of this proposal, and I’d like to thank MDTA board members for their careful analysis and approval of this toll-reduction plan.”

To take advantage of the new E-ZPass discounts, motorists are urged to sign up for a Maryland E-ZPass. The new discounts increase from 10% to a range of 25% to 37.5%.

“If you turned in your E-ZPass years ago because of the monthly maintenance fee, it’s time to come back,” said MDTA Executive Director Bruce W. Gartner.

The $54 million annual toll reduction is made possible by efficiencies in MDTA’s capital and operating budgets that will allow the agency to meet its financial responsibilities and implement the governor’s toll rollback. For a detailed list of toll reductions statewide, visit mdta.maryland.gov.

To break the cycle of poverty in Baltimore, fix the culture of poverty

That’s the upshot of two fascinating new studies from Harvard economist Raj Chetty and his colleagues. In the 1990s, the federal government launched an experiment, called the Moving to Opportunity project. It created a lottery for housing vouchers that would allow the winners to move out of high-poverty neighborhoods into low-poverty ones.

The project’s initial findings were a disappointment for people — like me — who argue that culture matters quite a lot. It did find that neighborhood poverty was a big factor in determining economic mobility, but researchers saw little evidence that getting poor people out of poor communities and into thriving ones helped them all that much.

But Chetty et al. revisited the data, looking at how a move affected young children. The changes were enormous. The earlier kids got out of impoverished neighborhoods, the better they did over their lifetimes.

Poor kids who left poor neighborhoods were much more likely to go to college and earn more. Chetty estimates that giving kids (age 8 on average) a voucher to move into low-poverty areas increases their lifetime earnings by about $302,000. The data suggest that girls were 26 percent less likely to become single mothers.

In a larger study, Chetty and other colleagues looked at earnings data for 5 million families in the U.S. over 17 years. The findings were the same: Neighborhoods matter. A lot. Economist Justin Wolfers writes that these studies “are the most powerful demonstration yet that neighborhoods — their schools, community, neighbors, local amenities, economic opportunities and social norms — are a critical factor shaping your children’s outcomes.”

Wolfers is right to include a laundry list of possible explanations for why neighborhoods matter. The presence of economic opportunities in non-poor neighborhoods — i.e., jobs — is surely important. But not all-important. If it were, the initial findings of the 1990s study wouldn’t have been so lackluster.

Some social scientists argue that peers are more important than parents in determining how kids turn out. Others argue that parents, particularly married parents, are the crucial factor. And everyone agrees that schools, criminal justice policies and racial attitudes are important variables. The debates are about how much weight we should give them.

All of these factors influence each other. In very poor neighborhoods they combine to compound problems. In middle-class neighborhoods, they reinforce each other in positive ways.

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Lowering the bar puts American society at risk

PARIS — Stupidity and obesity are now matters of U.S. national security. And it’s only the tip of a more significant iceberg that threatens America from within.

An organization called Mission: Readiness comprised of more than 500 retired generals and military leaders routinely publishes reports — including one just last month — detailing how a significant number of American kids these days are either too fat to be effective fighters or too low-scoring in math, literacy and problem-solving to pass the basic military enlistment exam.

Granted, the way modern warfare is heading, future recruits might spend their days sitting at a desk and operating a joystick, directing missile fire from drones. Lockheed Martin and Teledyne Scientific & Imaging have developed a rifle system for the U.S. Department of Defense called “EXACTO” that allows amateurs to hit targets at extreme ranges, effectively democratizing sniper credentials. It’s not merely a tool that makes expert snipers better; EXACTO could make it possible for a soldier to focus on brushing the desert sand off his Hostess Ding Dongs while racking up some “American Sniper”-style kill shots. Sounds like the U.S. military has a good jump on the potentially depressing future of warfare, using innovative technology to compensate for a generation of recruits too fat to fight.

Meanwhile, many commentators missed the point when Russian President Vladimir Putin recently called for the reinstitution of mandatory minimum fitness standards for Russian schoolkids by 2016. Britain’s Telegraph newspaper called it “the revival of the Soviet-era physical evaluation programme.” Apparently physical fitness standards promote communism. Maybe we can just declare all standards “communist” and do away with them completely.

I recall the similar “ParticipACTION” program while growing up in Canada. Intended to promote physical fitness and healthy living, the program taught me the importance of goal-setting, the value of uncompromising standards, and the relationship between effort and reward. Last I checked, those tenets represented the very foundation of excellence in a free society.

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Democrats hold massive rally for Hillary

WHY BLACKS HAVE BEEN SCREWED OVER SO BAD

Harris' Heroes: Maryland kids give up recess to learn science

Students at a Maryland elementary school are giving up their recess to learn science. The "Chemistry Club" is held only once a month, but it's already having an impact.

At Dayton Oaks Elementary School in Howard County, budding young chemists are getting instructions for their next experiment. They will test whether certain certain household products are acids or bases using red cabbage.

But this is not your average fourth grade science class. Patricia Takahara is a college chemistry professor and a volunteer science coach with the American Chemical Society. Once a month, she comes to the school to do experiments with the students.

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FLORIDA MAN FACES 15 YEARS IN JAIL FOR HAVING SEX ON THE BEACH (STILL NO BANKERS IN JAIL)

Story demonstrates how completely and totally broken the U.S. justice system is

A jury Monday found a couple guilty of having sex on Bradenton Beach after only 15 minutes of deliberation.

The convictions carry a maximum prison sentence of 15 years.

Both Caballero and Alvarez will now have to register as sex offenders.

Ronald Kurpiers, defense attorney for the couple, said his clients were “devastated,” by the verdict. Though Dafonseca hinted that they’d be speaking with the judge about whether or not 15 years was appropriate for Caballero, Kurpiers said the judge would have no discretion.

“That’s what he’ll get,” Kurpiers said.

– From the Miami Herald article: Couple Found Guilty of Having Sex on Florida Beach

This is what “justice” looks like in the Oligarch States of America. If you’re a pleb who gets caught having consensual sex on the beach, you’re immediately convicted and face up to 15 years in the gulag. Meanwhile, if you’re a banking executive responsible for crashing the global economy, you’re rewarded with trillions in taxpayer bailouts and backstops and given free reign to continue your crime spree. Criminal charges are never considered, despite the extreme negative impact your actions have on society at large, and you’re always given a slap on the wrist via deferred prosecution agreements, or DPAs. Don’t believe me? Let’s look at an excerpt from last year’s post titled, The U.S. Department of Justice Handles Banker Criminals Like Juvenile Offenders…Literally:

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WCSO Press Release 5-7-15

Incident: Assault / Violation of a Protective Order

Date of Incident: 4 May 2015

Location: 28000 block of Canterbury Dr., Salisbury, MD

Suspect: Sherwood R. Wescott, 50, Salisbury, MD

No Photo Available

Narrative: On 3 May 2015 at 9:00 AM deputy served both a Criminal Summons and an Interim Protective Order on Sherwood Wescott following allegations of an assault made during a domestic related altercation the previous evening. Following the service of both, Westcott left the residence with the instruction that he was unable to return to the residence per the conditions of the protective order. At approximately 1:00 PM, the Sheriff's Office received information that Wescott returned to his residence.

The investigating deputy applied for and received a warrant for the arrest of Wescott and he was served the following day and brought to the Central Booking Unit for an initial appearance. Wescott was subsequently released after posting bond.

Charges: Assault 2nd Degree

               Violation of a Protective Order

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Incident: Most Wanted Arrest

Date of Incident: 4 May 2015

Location: Wicomico County

Suspect: Heather Renee Bennett, 28, Federalsburg, MD

Heather Bennett

Narrative: On 4 May 2015 at 9:35 AM one of Wicomico County's Most Wanted fugitives surrendered at the Sheriff's Office following her recent profile on WBOC's Delmarva Life. Bennett was being sought on a Circuit Court Bench Warrant that was issued after she violated the terms of her probation in a CDS Distribution Case.

Bennett was detained on a bond of $25,000.00

Charges: Violation of Probation

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Incident: Warrant Arrest

Date of Incident: 4 May 2015

Location: 6000 block of Freedom Way, Salisbury, MD

Suspect: Jaime Lynn Dailey, 39, Salisbury, MD

Jaime Daily

Narrative: On 4 May 2015 at 5:30 PM a deputy arrested Jaime Dailey AKA Jaime Willey at a residence in the 6000 block of Freedom Way in Salisbury. Dailey was being sought on a Circuit Court Bench Warrant that was issued after she violated the terms of her probation in a First Degree Arson case.

Dailey was detained without bond pending an initial appearance in front of a Circuit Court Judge.

Charges: Violation of Probation

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Incident: Assault

Date of Incident: 5 May 2015

Location: 34000 block of Legacy Lane, Pittsville, MD

Suspect: William C. Beverly, 30, Pittsville, MD

No Photo Available

Narrative: On 5 May 2015 at 7:40 PM a deputy responded to a residence in the 34000 block of Legacy Lane for a reported intoxicated subject, later identified as William Beverly, who was being argumentative with EMS personnel who had been summoned to the residence. Upon arrival, the deputy discovered that family members had summoned help for Beverly due to his condition. Instead of cooperating, Beverly refused to answer questions and repeatedly tried to push his way past the deputy and EMS personnel. The deputy placed Beverly under arrest and placed him in a patrol vehicle for transport.

While in the patrol vehicle, Beverly repeatedly banged his head against the window and mobile data terminal in what appeared to be an attempt to injure himself. When the deputy further attended to Beverly, he then kneed the deputy and spit in his face. A WCSO patrol vehicle equipped with a prisoner transport cage was brought in and Beverly repeatedly banged his head on the cage barrier and the window during transport.

Upon an initial appearance in front of the District Court Commissioner, Beverly was detained in the Detention Center in lieu of $25,000.00 bond.

Charges: Assault 2nd Degree

                                                                          

Releasing Authority: Lt. Tim Robinson        Date:  6 May 2015

Maryland spends $288 million every year to imprison Baltimore residents — and the results are bleak

Washington, DC – According to a report released in February by the Justice Policy Institute and the Prison Policy Initiative, Maryland taxpayers are spending $5 million or more to incarcerate people from each of about half of Baltimore’s communities (25 of 55), with total spending of $288 million a year on incarcerating people from Baltimore in Maryland’s prisons.

Based on data recently made available by a new Maryland law, The Right Investment?: Corrections Spending in Baltimore City shows for the first time where people who are incarcerated are from, and how much Maryland taxpayers spend on their incarceration.

The report includes detailed maps and information that can better inform investment decisions in these communities to help solve long-standing challenges and improve public safety.

“Spending $288 million every year to incarcerate people from Baltimore isn’t the right choice for Maryland taxpayers,” said Marc Schindler, executive director of the Justice Policy Institute. “This costly investment in incarceration can decrease public safety, and undermine the ability to redirect funds to better long-term solutions that could prevent crime from happening in the first place, including education, housing, drug treatment and employment opportunities.”

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Civil forfeiture: You can’t make this stuff up

More and more people are being presumed guilty and forced to prove their innocence; the "seize money and let the courts sort it out" mentality is a perfect example of this

“You’re just making this stuff up.”

So responded Iowa State Rep. Clel Baudler, chairman of the Public Safety Committee and member of the Government Oversight Committee.

In April, I had traveled to Des Moines to testify regarding civil asset forfeiture. Baudler’s reaction to a law-abiding citizen attempting to state facts and express concerns speaks volumes on the growing rift between citizens and law enforcement.

No, Representative Baudler, I was not making anything up, not even exaggerating. The facts speak for themselves. The only mistake I made was anticipating (hoping) that our elected representatives would be familiar with this important issue.

For example, on April 15, 2013, on westbound Interstate 80, Bart Davis and John Newmerzhycky were stopped by Iowa State Patrol for failure to signal. Dash-camera footage clearly shows the vehicle using its signal, meaning this traffic stop had no basis and was illegal. But what happens next is what is really egregious. Rightfully earned poker winnings in the amount of $100,200 were seized due to a nonexistent connection to an unspecified crime. The victims are now suing the state. This incident certainly left an imprint on my mind, but apparently to Baudler, it is just another day for Iowa law enforcement.

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