Obama administration’s crackdown on for-profit colleges goes into effect

After years of challenges, the Obama administration’s crackdown on for-profit colleges will go into effect Wednesday.

The so-called gainful employment regulations require that a typical graduate of a career college (mostly for-profit schools) – or school that trains students specifically for employment — get a job that makes them enough money to pay back their loans to keep their alma mater eligible for federal financial aid funding. Specifically, a typical graduate’s annual loan payments need to be less than 8% of their earnings or less than 20% of their discretionary income. Programs that don’t meet these requirements would be at risk of losing their federal financial aid funding.

The regulations are part of a years-long push from the Obama administration to increase scrutiny on for-profit colleges, amid accusations that the schools persuade often low-income students to take on high debt loads with empty promises of a successful career. Critics argue that the rules amount to a government overreach and that by forcing programs to close, they’ll curtail access to higher education for non-traditional students who require flexibility often not offered at non-profit universities.

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NEA 'Attack' On Homeschoolers Blasted As 'Outrageous'

The National Education Association has launched an attack on the practice of homeschooling, and one leading education expert is not taking it lying down.

“The National Education Association’s radical attacks on constitutionally protected liberties and homeschooling families in particular are outrageous and should be vehemently denounced by every real educator and every real American,” internationalist journalist and educator Alex Newman declared.

The NEA’s 2014-2015 resolution on homeschooling begins like this: “The National Education Association believes that home schooling programs based on parental choice cannot provide the student with a comprehensive education experience.”

Freelance writer Patrice Lewis, who homeschools her children, seethed at that line.

“Who has the authority to define ‘comprehensive?’” Lewis asked. “The NEA? Why should they be the ones to define comprehensive and not the parents? Each family may define a ‘comprehensive’ education differently, and each parent should have the right to choose how they want their children educated.

“‘Comprehensive’ as defined by a far-left progressive agenda-driven union and special interest-supported legislators and bureaucrats is almost guaranteed to fly in the face of the morals, values and traditions of parents who don’t have similarly leftwing progressive agenda-driven views.”

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Can You Relate?

Anti-vaccine doctor behind ‘dangerous’ autism therapy found dead. Family cries foul

James Jeffrey Bradstreet’s life was full of controversy. To thousands of supporters, he was a savior: a physician who claimed vaccines caused autism and promoted radical procedures to treat those afflicted, including his own son.

To many others, however, he was a crackpot: a man who, despite his medical license, ignored science and championed dangerous, discredited and occasionally deadly treatments.

It’s no surprise, therefore, that Bradstreet’s death is proving equally divisive.

On the afternoon of June 19, a fisherman spotted Bradstreet’s lifeless body lying in the Broad River in the tiny town of Chimney Rock, N.C. He had a gunshot wound to his chest, authorities said. A gun was found in the water nearby.

That’s about all that everyone can agree on.

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$625K Multi-Match jackpot-winning ticket sold in Cambridge

BALTIMORE —A $625,000 Multi-Match jackpot-winning ticket was sold in Cambridge for Monday's drawing.

The winner, who is the second to hit a Multi-Match jackpot this year, can choose between the annuity and an estimated $312,500 cash option.

The winning ticket with the numbers 1, 5, 11, 15, 17 and 26 was sold at Goose Creek No. 21 at 1801 Race St. in Cambridge. The retailer will receive a $1,000 bonus.

The player should sign the back of the ticket and claim the prize in person at Lottery headquarters within 182 days.

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Univision Owner's Wife 'Liable in Clinton Foundation Fraud'

NEW YORK – Donald Trump’s recent spotlight on Univision’s strong political support of Hillary Clinton drew attention to Cheryl Saban, the wife of the Spanish-language TV network’s owner and a board member of the Clinton Foundation.

A respected Wall Street analyst who has investigated the Clinton Foundation, Charles Ortel, contends Saban bears legal responsibility for fraudulent financial statements related to the construction of the Clinton Presidential Library, which were used to solicit donations inside and outside the United States, including a donation of more than $100,000 from Trump.

Ortel told WND that if a pattern of inurement – the crime of personally profiting from a non-profit organization – is established “in a duly constituted criminal legal process, all directors of the Clinton Foundation, including Saban, will have serious, perhaps even criminal, legal liabilities.”

Ortel believes accounting irregularities were deliberately created to cover up the use of the charity by the Clintons and their close associates “to enrich themselves by defrauding thousands of charitable donors in the United States and around the world.”

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Trump Sues Univision for $500M — and Reveals Reason He Thinks Network Really Cut Ties With Miss USA

Republican presidential candidate and billionaire real-estate mogul Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he has filed a $500 million lawsuit against Univision over the network’s decision to cut ties with the Miss USA pageant.

The network, which was under contract to air the pageant live in Spanish, said it would no longer do so after Trump’s controversial comments on those illegally entering the USA from Mexico.

Trump, however, contested Univision’s claim, contending the network’s move was really aimed at silencing his freedom of speech as he begins his presidential campaign. Trump said in a statement that nothing he has said was different from what he has been saying for “many years.”

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US Helped Release Iranian Prisoners As Sweetener for Nuclear Talks

At least three Americans still held in Tehran as negotiations reach final stage

The Obama administration helped to secure the release of several Iranians detained in the United States and the United Kingdom, some convicted of illegal arms smuggling, according to a report that comes as U.S. prisoners languish in Iranian jails.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday that, as part of a “wish list” Iran presented to the United States in 2009 before the current nuclear negotiations, U.S. officials helped expedite the release of four Iranian prisoners in 2012 and 2013. Three were convicted of illegally sending arms or other banned materials to Iran while the international community sought to enforce sanctions on the country’s nuclear program.

U.S. officials said that some of the prisoners had already served their full sentences, though authorities worked with Oman—a Persian Gulf country that helped facilitate the first clandestine nuclear talks between the United States and Iran—to swiftly return them to Tehran. One of the Iranian detainees, Mojtaba Atarodi, a scientist, reentered Tehran just days after he was convicted of transporting illicit materials to the country.

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Fireworks can trigger PTSD in veterans

WASHINGTON (WJLA) – While many are gearing up to celebrate the 4th of July, non-profit organization Military with PTSD is reminding people to be courteous of combat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder in your area.

MilitaryWithPTSD.org, helping families connect despite PTSD, is raising awareness about fireworks and the effects they can have on combat military veterans through the “Global Giving Campaign” – a campaign to help [at least] 2,500 disabled veterans with PTSD via a yard sign reading: “Combat Veteran lives here. Please be courteous with fireworks.”

Jon Dykes, the veteran who made the original sign, is asking those celebrating the holiday to be courteous.

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Supreme Court To Hear Case Challenging Union Fees

The Supreme Court said Tuesday it would hear a major challenge to California's public unions and decide whether they may charge fees to non-members to support collective bargaining.

At issue is a 1970s-era court precedent that allows these unions in California and 20 other states to collect "fair share" fees from all employees.

The court's conservatives, led by Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., have signaled they see these forced fees as unconstitutional because they require some employees to support a cause they oppose.

In the fall, the justices will hear a direct challenge to the fees brought on behalf of Rebecca Friedrichs, a public school teacher in Orange County who objects to supporting the California Teachers Assn.

The case is likely to be seen as crucial test of public employee unions, which have under political attack in several Republican-led states. The outcome may well have a political impact as well, because these unions have been reliable supporters of the Democratic Party.

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COULTER: ‘I’M OFFENDED’ IS NOT AN ARGUMENT AGAINST TRUMP, FACTS BACK HIM UP

The pushback against Donald Trump’s comments about Mexican immigrants is emotional, knee-jerk and not fact-based, according to political commentator and author of the new book ‘Adios, America’ Ann Coulter.

Monday, NBC announced it was cutting ties with Trump following the backlash over the GOP presidential contender’s view that Mexican immigrants are bringing their problems to the U.S.

“They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people,” Trump said during his campaign announcement earlier this month.

Coulter, who devotes a goodly portion of her new book to immigrant crime and the media’s failure to report fully on the “immigrant crime wave,” points out that arguments against Trump amount to a straw man claim that “not all Mexicans are rapists.”

“The point is: Why should America be taking in ANY RAPISTS?” Coulter wrote in an email to Breitbart News. “Were we short on rapists? By definition, we’re talking about people who have no right to be here. If Mexico is sending us 2 rapists – THEY’RE SENDING US RAPISTS.”

As Coulter points out in “Adios, America” and noted to Breitbart News, “the evidence indicates that they’re sending a lot more than” just two rapists.

“Child rape used to be an incredibly rare crime in America,” she explained. “Not anymore! In some Hispanic neighborhoods in the the United States of America, police have given up on even prosecuting statutory rape. It’s a ‘cultural thing.’”

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Breaking News! 7 People Shot In Philadelphia Mass Shooting!

At least seven people, including a two-year-old and eleven-year-old child, were injured in West Philadelphia after a shotgun-wielding attacker fired into a street picnic, local police said. The children were hospitalized in critical condition.

The report comes almost simultaneously with news from a block party in Detroit, where one person was killed and 9 injured in a shooting on the same Saturday evening.

It was not immediately clear why the West Philadelphia shooter targeted the block party on Ogden Street, according to local police.

“It looks like they just randomly fired down the street and hit anyone in their way,” NBC 10 Philadelphia quoted Philadelphia Police Lt. John Walker.

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Calls Mount To Abandon Iran Nuke Talks

The Obama administration again finds itself under pressure to walk away from nuclear negotiations amid concerns that Iran may be backing off its commitments just days before a deadline for agreement.

Talks in Vienna between Iran and the P5+1 countries — the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China — are supposed to result in agreement to limit Tehran's nuclear ambitions by the end of the day Tuesday.

That isn't likely to happen. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif returned to Vienna from consultations in Tehran on Tuesday, a week after the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, laid down a list of "major red lines" seen as a hardening of Iran's position. That pronouncement fueled renewed calls from the GOP for the Obama administration to consider walking away from the talks.

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1 in 3 Americans Owns a Gun

Nearly one in three adults in the United States owns at least one gun, according to a new study.

In the study, researchers surveyed a nationally representative sample of 4,000 adults in the United States on gun ownership. The researchers found that about 29 percent of respondents said they owned at least one gun.

Most of the gun owners were white men older than 55, and the majority of them were married, the researchers said.

The rates of gun ownership varied from state to state, with the lowest rate in Delaware, at about 5 percent, and the highest in Alaska, at nearly 62 percent.

The researchers found that both the rates of gun ownership and gun deaths were higher in states with looser gun-control policies, compared with states that have stricter policies.

The new findings are important in showing the toll that gun violence in the United States takes on people's lives and health, the researchers said. In 2013, a total of 33,636 people in the United States died, and 84,258 were injured, due to gun violence, the researchers said.

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Governor Larry Hogan Announces Rain Tax Repeal Takes Effect Today

Tax Relief for Veterans, Fair Campaign Finance Fund Become Law

ANNAPOLIS, MD - Governor Larry Hogan today announced several key bills he signed into law following the 2015 legislative session, including the repeal of the rain tax, will take effect today, July 1. The repeal of the rain tax, SB 863, was one of several bills initially proposed by the Hogan Administration during the 2015 General Assembly. This bill revokes the requirement that forced local jurisdictions to mandate an increase in taxes for the collection of a storm water remediation fee.

“Our citizens made it perfectly clear that taxing struggling and already overtaxed Marylanders for the rain that falls on the roof of their homes was a mistake that needed to be corrected,” said Governor Hogan. “And today, I can finally declare that the most universally detested tax throughout the state has come to an end.”

The governor also announced that tax relief for retired military would also go into effect today. SB 592, which was introduced by the Hogan administration, increases the existing military retirement income tax exemption to $10,000 from the previous exemption of $5,000.

“Under this law, our veterans will be taxed less, which not only honors our men and women in uniform for their service and sacrifice, but also encourages more people to live and retire in our state,” said Governor Hogan.

The following bill also becomes law today:

HB 485, Election Law - Fair Campaign Financing Fund - Income Tax Checkoff, directs the Comptroller to restore the check-off on state income tax return forms to allow an individual or couple to contribute up to $500 to be designated as a contribution to the Fair Campaign Financing Fund. The legislation also directs that any fines and penalties assessed under Maryland’s election code also be appropriated into the Fair Campaign Financing Fund to be used to support the Maryland public campaign financing law.

15 Weeks: Treasury Says Debt Has Been Frozen at $18,112,975,000,000

The portion of the federal debt that is subject to a legal limit set by Congress closed Friday, June 26, at $18,112,975,000,000, according to the latest Daily Treasury Statement, which was published at 4:00 p.m. on Monday.

That, according to the Treasury's statements, makes 15 straight weeks that the debt subject to the limit has been frozen at $18,112,975,000,000.

$18,112,975,000,000 is about $25 million below the current legal debt limit of $18,113,000,080,959.35.

The Daily Treasury Statement for March 13 was the first to show the federal debt subject to the limit closing the day at $18,112,975,000,000. Every Daily Treasury Statement since then has reported the same thing: the debt closing the day at $18,112,975,000,000.

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WCSO Press Release 7-1-15

Incident: DUI and Possession of Cocaine

Date of Incident: 28 June 2015

Location: 300 block of N. Salisbury Blvd., Salisbury, MD

Suspect: Leonard Kennedy Davis, 50, Fruitland, MD

                               

Narrative: On 28 June 2015 at 8:47 PM a deputy stopped a vehicle operated by Leonard Davis for operating a vehicle while not wearing a seat belt. Upon making contact with Davis, the deputy detected a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage; based on the odor, other physical indicators and empty beer bottles in plain view, the deputy initiated sobriety testing. During the testing process, Davis attempted to flee the scene on foot, forcing the deputy to give chase and engage in a physical struggle to take Davis into custody.

During the pursuit, Davis discarded a baggie of what would be indentified as cocaine.

During subsequent processing, Davis submitted to the breath test with a result of .10.

Davis was processed and the Central Booking Unit and taken in front of the District Court Commissioner. Following an initial appearance, the Commissioner detained Davis in the Detention Center in lieu of $20,000.00 bond.

Charges: Possession of Cocaine, Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol, Attempt by Driver to Flee on Foot and Resisting Arrest

***********************************

 Incident: WCSO Warrant Arrests

Date of Incident: 26 June 2015 

1. On 26 June 2015 a deputy arrested Melody Rae Lord, 42 of Salisbury, MD, on a Circuit Court Bench Warrant. The warrant was issued after Lord failed to appear for a violation of probation hearing in a Burglary case. Lord was detained without bond.

Incident: WCSO Warrant Arrests

Date of Incident: 29 June 2015

 1. On 29 June 2015 a deputy arrested Jory Michael Joseph, 21 of Salisbury, MD, on a District Court Bench Warrant. The warrant was issued after Joseph failed to show for a Driving Suspended case.  Joseph was detained on a bond of $5,000.00.

2. On 29 June 2015 a deputy arrested James Anthony Haynes, 30 of Ocean City, MD, on a District Court Bench Warrant. The warrant was issued after Haynes failed to show for a CDS Possession case. Haynes was detained on a bond of $10,000.00

3. On 29 June 2015 a deputy arrested Melvin Alexis Colon-Cruz, 39 of Salisbury, on a District Court Bench Warrant. The warrant was issued after Colon-Cruz failed to show for a Possession of CDS Paraphernalia case. Colon-Cruz was detained on a bond of $1,000.00.

Incident: WCSO Warrant Arrests

Date of Incident: 30 June 2015

1. On 30 June 2015 a deputy arrested Matthew James Thompson, 28 of Salisbury, MD, on two Circuit Court Bench Warrants. The warrants were issued after Thompson violated the terms of his probation in two felony theft cases. Thompson was detained on a bond of $100,000.00.

2. On 30 June 2015 a deputy arrested Bethenia Dolores Christopher, 51 of Princess Anne, MD, on a District Court Bench Warrant. The warrant was issued after Christopher violated the terms of her probation in a CDS Possession and Resisting Arrest case. Christopher was detained without bond.

3. On 30 June 2015 a deputy arrested Zyeaire Allahastarr Brent, 19 of Salisbury, MD, on a Circuit Court Bench Warrant. The warrant was issued after Brent violated the terms of his probation in a 3rd Degree Sex Offense case. Brent is also a registered sex offender. Brent was detained on a $25,000.00 bond.

**********************************************************************************

Releasing Authority: Lt. Tim Robinson       Date:  1 July 2015

Televisa Cuts Ties to Donald Trump Following NBC, Univision

Grupo Televisa SAB severed ties with Donald Trump after he labeled Mexican immigrants as rapists and drug dealers and then refused to back down from the comments.

The world’s largest Spanish-language media company followed NBC and Univision Communications Inc. in ending its relationship with the businessman and U.S. presidential candidate. Televisa said it was “unacceptable” to have any commercial ties with Miss Universe or any other Trump-related companies.

“Mr. Trump hasn’t demonstrated understanding or respect towards Mexican migrants and has offended the entire Mexican population,” Televisa said in an e-mailed statement on Monday. “Televisa isn’t indifferent to these declarations and energetically condemns all forms of discrimination, racism and xenophobia.”

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Wicomico County Flood Plain

On June 16, 2015 The Wicomico County Council adopted an update to Chapter 149 of the Wicomico County Code entitled Floodplain Management. This new ordinance replaces the current code adopted in 1984 and addresses increasing tidal waters, increasing storm events and better mapping technology. The new ordinance will be effective August 16, 2015 and will coincide with the new Flood Maps ( FIRM) issued by Federal Emergency Management Agency ( FEMA) which become effective August 17, 2015

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‘Wall That Heals’ arrives in Dover

DOVER — You could hear the roar just after 3 o’clock on Tuesday afternoon.

That’s when The Wall That Heals rolled into Kent County Veterans Memorial Park on South Little Creek Road escorted by police and nearly 100 motorcycles.

The Wall That Heals is a half-size mobile replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

The replica tours the nation. It stopped in Dover on one other occasion, in October 1998 at Legislative Mall.

“I saw the actual wall in D.C. and it was humbling,” said Ron Sarg, chairman of the Delaware Commission of Veterans Affairs and a Vietnam veteran. “And with the traveling wall here,
it’s an excellent opportunity for anyone who can’t make it to D.C. to have that experience.”

It was an 18-months-long project to secure the Wall’s return to Dover. It was accomplished with the cooperation of representatives of the Commission of Veterans Affairs and Kent County Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 850.

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Riddle Me This...

Mikulski, Other Top Officials Exchanged Emails With Clinton Through Private Address

WASHINGTON (AP/CBS) — Senior Obama administration officials and other top officials knew as early as 2009 that Hillary Rodham Clinton was using a private email address for her government correspondence, according to some 3,000 pages of correspondence released by the State Department late Tuesday night.

Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D -Md.) was one official who corresponded with Clinton through her personal email,according to CBS News.

Mikulski exchanged emails with Clinton after the former secretary fell in 2009 and fractured her right elbow.

“Oops. When I wanted you to trip… I didn’t mean that literally. Be careful. Do the therapy. Get well,” Mikulski wrote.

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MARIJUANA AND MARRIAGE

For those who haven't heard, Washington State recently passed two laws. They legalized gay marriage and legalized marijuana.

The fact that gay marriage and marijuana were legalized on the same day makes perfect Biblical sense.

Leviticus 20:13 says: "If a man lies with another man they should be stoned".

Apparently we just hadn't interpreted it correctly before!

Pruden: Why Gays ‘Can’t Get No Satisfaction’

You might think the gays, the liberals and the mellowed-out folks who groove on kittens and little living things would be content to lie in a patch of sunlight in the corner and purr together.

Chief Justice John Roberts told them it was OK to celebrate, though it’s not clear why a chief justice who said the Constitution had nothing to do with the gay marriage decision would urge anyone to celebrate setting the Constitution aside.

The gays, liberals, etc., spent the weekend reading Justice Anthony Kennedy’s majority opinion to each other, marveling at his skill in the law, his mastery of logic and reasoning, above all the poetry of his purple ode to love — it’s not quite the right shade of lavender, but it will do. But even that is not enough.

Some of the gays, liberals, etc., are angry at Chief Justice Roberts because he suggests that the ruling will “pave the way” for polygamy, not that there could be anything wrong with that. If nobody has a right to say who you can love, as President Obama reminds us, then no one can rightly say how many people a body can take on a honeymoon. Congress might even consider an apology to the Mormons for insisting that they had to disavow polygamy, once a key doctrine of their church, before Congress would admit Utah to the union.

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Attorney in Charge of IRS’ Email Production Now in Charge of State Dep’t Emails

(CNSNews) - Catherine Duval, the attorney in charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s email production to Congress, has changed jobs: She now manages the State Department’s email production to Congress, Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) told a hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Thursday, June 25.

Both the IRS and State Department have come under congressional scrutiny over their email production amid suspicions that critical documents may have been withheld or destroyed.

Word that Catherine Duval – also known as Kate Duval -- has worked at both the IRS and the State Department came last Thursday, when Gowdy questioned Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration J. Russell George and Deputy Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration Tim Camus.

“I want to ask you about another name. Have you ever heard of the name Kate Duval?” asked Gowdy.

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Supreme Court Returns to Affirmative Action

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Supreme Court agreed today to review the constitutionality of the consideration of race and ethnicity in college admissions cases.

The case involves the admissions practices at the University of Texas at Austin. It is possible that the Supreme Court could rule in a narrow way about UT. But the case also gives the justices, several of whom are dubious of the consideration of race by schools and colleges, a chance to limit or ban the consideration of race in college admissions. The case will now be heard in the fall, with a decision likely in early 2016. The issues in this case are likely to be debated in the 2016 presidential race.

As is the norm in cases it agrees to hear, the Supreme Court did not issue any explanation.

Read more about this story here.

New York Formalizes Ban on Fracking, Ending 7-Year Review

New York formalized its ban on high-volume hydraulic fracturing for natural gas on Monday, concluding a seven-year environmental and health review that drew a record number of public comments.

"After years of exhaustive research and examination of the science and facts, prohibiting high-volume hydraulic fracturing is the only reasonable alternative," Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joe Martens said in announcing the decision. "High-volume hydraulic fracturing poses significant adverse impacts to land, air, water, natural resources and potential significant public health impacts that cannot be adequately mitigated."

In its decision, the DEC noted that more than 260,000 public comments were submitted on its environmental impact study and proposed regulations, an unprecedented number. The agency said most of the comments urged it to severely restrict or prohibit fracking.

New York is the only state with significant natural gas resources to ban fracking, which has allowed other states to tap huge volumes of gas trapped in shale formations deep underground. The technology has produced new jobs, created economic growth and reduced energy prices but has triggered concern that it could pollute air and water, cause earthquakes and pose long-term health effects that aren't yet known.

While environmental groups praised the ban, drilling proponents have said the decision was based on politics rather than on science.

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A Viewer Writes...

Why is delmarva power adding all this crap in the bills they mail out? How is this OK and who's making money from it?

America's Favorite Fast Food Chain Is...

Not everyone likes Chick-fil-A's politics, but they sure seem to like the food.

It's the highest ranking fast food restaurant in the U.S. for customer satisfaction, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index Restaurant Report 2015.

The chicken restaurant was the subject of controversy and protests a few years ago after its CEO made remarks that offended the LGBT community.

But that hasn't stopped fans from flocking to its restaurants, and giving it high marks for customer experience.

"It is laser-focused on a particular product," said Forrest Morgeson, director of research at ACSI. "It focuses on one thing and does it exceptionally well ... and that is chicken sandwiches."

This is Chick-fil-A's debut on the list and its score is the highest ever achieved in the category.

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Valerie Jarrett Organized White House Rainbow Lights

White House Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett was one of the mobilizing forces behind the decision to light up the White House with the colors of the gay pride movement to celebrate the Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage.

According to the Washington Post, Jarrett worked with gay rights organizations to pay for the display to avoid using taxpayer money. The idea came from one of Jarrett’s aides who was also the LGBT liaison in the White House.

“Tonight, the White House was lit to demonstrate our unwavering commitment to progress and equality, here in America and around the world,” a White House official explained in a statement. “The pride colors reflect the diversity of the LGBT community, and tonight, these colors celebrate a new chapter in the history of American civil rights.”

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Police: Boy found dead on swing was there nearly two days

The story was chilling and heartbreaking: A 3-year-old boy was found dead in a Southern Maryland park, his mother pushing him on the swing.

More than a month after Ji’Aire Donnell Lee’s death, the Charles County Sheriff’s Office revealed more terrible details: Ji’Aire was alive when his mother put him on the swing. He stayed on it for almost two days.

A medical examiner’s office has ruled that Ji’Aire’s death was a homicide, and the sheriff’s office said Tuesday that he died of hypothermia and dehydration during his long time on the swing. The autopsy report will be sent to the county state’s attorney’s office, which will decide whether to file charges against Ji’Aire’s mother, Romechia Simms.

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New laws take effect in Maryland on July 1

ANNAPOLIS, Md. —New laws approved in Maryland's last legislative session are taking effect on July 1.

Eight things to know about them:

STORMWATER FEES

State-mandated stormwater management fees will end, but nine counties and the city of Baltimore will need to show they are paying to meet federal mandates to clean polluted stormwater.

Republican Gov. Larry Hogan campaigned against the state-mandated fees, which were approved in the last hour of the 2012 legislative session, and he made repeal a priority of his first session. Critics referred to the fees as "the rain tax."

The repeal measure that passed earlier this year by wide margins in both houses of the Maryland Legislature has the approval of environmentalists, because it creates greater accountability for the state's 10 most populated jurisdictions in preventing pollution in stormwater from entering the Chesapeake Bay.
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BREAKING NEWS: Obama announces opening of embassy in Cuba

President Obama announces that the U.S. and Cuba have agreed to open embassies in each other's capitals, after they were shuttered more than a half-century ago.

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Passing of Former Chief Leslie Payne

Another notable loss in our community is one of former Salisbury Police Chief Leslie Payne. He not only served the City of Salisbury for more than 20 years but also served in the Criminal Justice Academy at Wor-Wic Community College for many years.

He leaves behind many loving family members, including wife, Barbara Holt Payne, and stepdaughter Linda Hamilton, actress most famous for her roles in The Terminator movies and Beauty & The Beast tv series.

Chief Payne will be laid to rest next Wednesday at the Rehoboth Presbyterian Church cemetery near Marion Station, in Somerset County.

Christian Iraqi Teen Seeks US Asylum

An Assyrian Christian teenager from Iraq is hoping to find asylum in the United States to avoid returning to her village in northern Iraq, which has been captured by ISIS–its church destroyed and slavers from the savage terror state on the prowl for young girls to kidnap.

As reported by KCRA News in Sacramento, Soyana Isaac Israel, 17, was brought to California with the help of the Assyrian Medical Society for a series of surgeries, after a botched operation in Iraq confined her to a wheelchair as a little girl. Unless she is granted asylum, she and her mother will be forced to return home after her final operation in November. Her father and four sisters are still in Iraq, having fled their village after the sacking of the church to seek refuge in a neighboring town.

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Salisbury Escape Room

Escape Salisbury - Discover hidden clues, solve puzzles, and unlock the mysteries before time runs out. Join the social craze in the first ever Escape Room in Salisbury. Ask about group discounts for corporate team building, private functions, birthday parties, etc.

For more information visit www.socialcoreconcepts.com or emailakitzrow@socialcoreconcepts.com

Fireworks lobby to Obama: Enough with all the rules

Fireworks manufacturers have been on something of a winning streak of late: Sales of both low-and high-grade celebratory explosives in the U.S. are projected to top $1 billion this year; more states than ever now allow consumers to buy sparklers, Roman candles and other do-it-yourself pyrotechnics. Obscure regulations are being scaled back to help light up the country's summertime skies.

But with the Fourth of July busy season bearing down, the industry says it still has one big problem: President Barack Obama's administration.

Whether it be duplicative safety rules on the fireworks themselves or requirements that truckers limit their weekly time on the road, the makers, marketers and distributors of pyrotechnics complain that Obama's regulators are "completely insane" by forcing so many standards on an industry that's as much a part of a patriotic summer as baseball and apple pie.

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Myanmar fisherman goes home after 22 years as a slave

The last time the Burmese slave made the same request, he was beaten almost to death. But after being gone eight years and forced to work on a boat in faraway Indonesia, Myint Naing was willing to risk everything to see his mother again. His nights were filled with dreams of her, and time was slowly stealing her face from his memory.

So he threw himself on the ground and roped his arms around the captain's legs to beg for freedom.

The Thai skipper barked loud enough for all to hear that Myint would be killed for trying to abandon ship. Then he flung the fisherman onto the deck and chained down his arms and legs.

Myint was left for three days to burn in the searing sun and shiver in the nighttime rain, without food or water. He wondered how he would be killed. Would they throw his body overboard to wash up on shore, like the other corpses he'd seen? Would they shoot him? Or would they simply bash his head open, as they had done before?

He was never going to see his mother again. He would simply disappear, and she wouldn't even know where to look.

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Ending Washington’s Mandate on Common Core

The United States Senate will soon begin debate on a bill to get the federal government out of our local classrooms by permanently ending Washington’s mandate on Common Core.

Common Core started out as a state-led effort to create high standards that states would voluntarily adopt, but the Obama administration had different ideas. It disrupted that process by forcing states to adopt the standards, first through Race to the Top grants, and next through waivers. Waivers from onerous provisions of No Child Left Behind are granted only to states that agree to implement the White House’s preferred education policies — Common Core.

It says a lot when even The New York Times refers to the waiver process as “the most sweeping use of executive authority to rewrite federal education law since Washington expanded its involvement in education in the 1960s.”

The Senate’s bill, the Every Child Achieves Act, would reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. Language I fought to include in this bill will, once and for all, end the Obama administration’s use of waivers to force or incentivize states to adopt Common Core standards.

And it will end the Obama administration’s — and, for that matter, any future administration’s — ability to use any tool of coercion to force states to adopt Common Core — or any set of standards at all, whether it’s Common Core by another name or some new set of standards. Period.

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Huckabee: Maybe We Should Ask Chinese Hackers For Lois Lerner’s Emails

During a speech in Baltimore at the National Sheriffs’ Association Presidential Forum on Law Enforcement Monday, Republican presidential hopeful Gov. Mike Huckabee gave an interesting response to a question about cyber security.

“We’ve seen just last week what happens when supposedly the Chinese have now hacked into the personell records of upwards of 20 million government employees. The one positive out of all that is that the only hope we have of maybe recovering Lois Lerner’s emails from the IRS is to get them from the Chinese,” Huckabee joked to a laughing crowd of sheriffs.

Huckabee attended the Baltimore meeting to curry favor with law enforcement officials. Huckabee pandered to the crowd, largely dismissing claims of police militarization and employing rhetoric about blaming criminals instead of law enforcement.

He also discussed immigration, emphasizing the importance of closing the border and speaking on deportation. Huckabee said immigrants who want to come to America and learn the language and assimilate may be welcome, but he’d be hesitant otherwise.

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Brady Center Must Pay Ammo Dealer’s Legal Fees After Failed Lawsuit

A federal judge has ordered the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence pay the legal fees of an online ammunition dealer it sued for the Aurora movie theater shooting.

The order, which was issued last week, comes after Judge Richard P. Matsch dismissed the gun control group’s suit that sought to hold Lucky Gunner legally responsible for the 2012 shooting. The Brady Center had argued in their suit that the way Lucky Gunner sells ammunition is “unreasonably dangerous and create a public nuisance.” “A crazed, homicidal killer should not be able to amass a military arsenal, without showing his face or answering a single question, with the simple click of a mouse,” Brady Center’s Legal Action Project Director Jonathan Lowy said at the time. “If businesses choose to sell military-grade equipment online, they must screen purchasers to prevent arming people like James Holmes.”

Judge Matsch disagreed with the Brady Center’s argument. He said the suit was filed for propaganda purposes.

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FLASHBACK--Judge Robert Bork: Moral Life of Nation Could be Decided by One Judge

[Editor's Note: In this interview with CNSNews in 2009, Judge Robert Bork warned that just "one judge"--Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy--effectively had the power to decide "the moral life of the nation.” Bork made the assertion after warning: "But we are going to see in the near future a terrible conflict between claimed rights of homosexuals and religious freedom. You are going to get Catholic hospitals that are going to be required as a matter of law to perform abortions. You are going to get Catholic or other groups’ relief services that are going to be required to allow adoption of a child by homosexual couples. We are going to have a real conflict that goes right to the heart of the society.”]

(CNSNews) - “Now, it’s a funny situation in which the moral life of a nation is in effect decided by one judge, because you have four solid liberal votes, four solid originalist votes, and one vote you can’t predict too accurately in advance,” said Judge Robert Bork, reflecting on the balance of the U.S. Supreme Court, in an interview with CNSNews.com.

Bork was pondering what the outcome might be if the court at some future point were to answer the question of whether the government has the constitutional authority to force Catholic hospitals to perform abortions.

It is Justice Anthony Kennedy whom Bork believes holds the court’s deciding vote on such issues.

The judge spoke with CNSNews Editor in Chief Terry Jeffrey in a videotaped interview Jan. 8, 2009. Here is a transcript of the conversation.

Keep reading..

Obama Defies Federal Judge, Fails to Rescind Amnesties

The Obama administration still hasn’t fully rescinded the 2,000 three-year amnesties it wrongly issued four months ago in violation of a court order, government lawyers recently admitted in court, spurring a stern response from the judge who said the matter must be cleaned up by the end of July — or else.

It’s the latest black eye for President Obama’s amnesty policy and the immigration agency charged with carrying it out. The agency bungled the rollout, issuing three-year amnesties even while assuring the judge it had stopped all action hours after a Feb. 16 injunction.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency responsible for overseeing the amnesty, said it’s trying to round up all of the permits, sending out two-year amnesties and pleading with the illegal immigrants to return the three-year cards.

But they are having trouble getting some of the lucky recipients to send them back.

“USCIS is carefully tracking the returns of the three-year EAD cards, and many have been returned within weeks,” the agency said in a statement to The Washington Times. “USCIS continues to take steps to collect the remaining three-year EAD cards.”

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Same-sex Marriage Is Only The Beginning

“Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”

What Winston Churchill said in 1942 following a British military victory in North Africa might also be said about Friday’s narrow 5-4 decision by the Supreme Court legalizing marriage between people of the same sex.

That the majority threw a bone to religious people, their churches and institutions, saying they could continue to preach and teach that homosexual marriage is wrong, will almost certainly be challenged by gay activists and secularists whose goal is to drive religious people, and especially Christians, out of the public square.

What might be a preview of things to come occurred last week when the Fairfax County (Va.) School Board voted 10-2 to approve a “gender identity” curriculum for children starting in seventh grade. News reports said the crowd that showed up for the vote overwhelmingly opposed the decision, but majorities no longer matter. Minorities rule, except on the Supreme Court.

Given their political clout and antipathy to Christian doctrines, some gay activists are likely to go after the tax-exempt status of Christian colleges that prohibit cohabitation of unmarried students, or openly homosexual ones, as well as churches that refuse to marry them. As with legal challenges to the owners of bakeries that have been in the news for refusing to bake a cake for same-sex weddings, activists who demand total conformity to their agenda will seek to put out of business and silence anyone who believes differently.

This is diversity? No, this is enforced orthodoxy of a different kind and thus in violation of the Constitution and the special protection the Founders gave to people of faith. It was Thomas Jefferson, a deist who edited his own version of the Bible, who said,

“No provision in our Constitution ought to be dearer to man than that which protects the rights of conscience against the enterprises of the civil authority.”

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[ Jefferson.. isn't he that "Separation of Church and State" fellow? --Editor]

Officer in triple-fatal crash indicted for earlier road rage

WASHINGTON — An off-duty Takoma Park Police officer involved in a March 2015 crash that killed three people has been indicted for a 2014 road rage incident.

Officer Travis Ala, 28, has been indicted by a Prince George’s County grand jury on charges of first and second degree assault and use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence.

Prosecutors say on July 6, 2014, Ala was driving on Route 50 westbound in Bowie, when he encountered the victim’s car in the left hand lane. Angry that the victim’s car wasn’t traveling fast enough, Ala swerved around the vehicle, pulled in front of it and applied his brakes.

The victim’s car avoided Ala’s. As the off-duty-officer’s car attempted to pass, a witness in the victim’s vehicle says Ala pulled out a black handgun and pointed it at them.

The victims began taking pictures of Ala, while pulling over to avoid him.

Eventually, Ala drove away. The victims were able to get Ala’s license plate number and police traced the vehicle to him.

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Having Dispensed With God, Leftists Now Aim for Christians

1-2-3-4-5. Five leftist lawyers, currently abusing their authority as Supreme Court Justices, unleashed their activism upon the U.S. Constitution Friday and created a non-existent right to same-sex marriage. The Fourteenth Amendment may provide equal protection under the law, but by applying it to expand the definition of marriage the Court has created a constitutional crisis in America. The First and Tenth Amendments, which respectively promise freedom of individual religion and award jurisdiction to the States of all powers not enumerated in the Constitution, have now been placed in direct conflict with the Fourteenth Amendment.

“Love Wins”? Not here it doesn’t, nor does anything but the will of five judicial despots, followed by the bullying mob rule of the Left and its Rainbow Mafia. Need proof?

In 2008, before the Saul Alinsky-ite Barack Obama and his Chicagoland gang occupied the White House and began “fundamentally transforming” our nation, there was debate, dissent and dialogue about all sorts of issues, including those issues fomented by the hard Left in order to label the response of the Christian Right as extremist.

In 2008, homosexual couples could enter into a legal, binding contract for shared property, power of attorney for making health care decisions, probate of wills, etc., and were, in most cases, receiving health care benefits from employers. These same homosexual couples were consummating their relationship in the privacy of their own domicile without harassment.

In 2008, Christians could speak their opinions and stand on their faith while understanding their voice was respected in the public square.

In 2015, however, those same Christians are in grave danger of losing legal standing because their beliefs are pitted against a brand new, heretofore undiscovered constitutional right. Tolerance is only for those who agree with the mob-rule Left.

What changed in seven years?

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SPD Press Release 7-1-15 ( 14 Shoplifting Arrests)

State Department Ejects Free Beacon Reporter from Briefing

VIENNA — Officials with the Department of State threatened to call security Monday on a Washington Free Beacon reporter who was attempting to report on a briefing held by senior Obama administration figures in Vienna on the eve of an expected nuclear agreement with Iran.

Two State Department officials booted the Free Beacon from a room where Wendy Sherman, the undersecretary of state for political affairs, was talking to reporters, despite the Free Beacon’s being credentialed by the Austrian government for the ongoing Iranian nuclear talks.

Western observers present in Vienna for the talks linked the State Department’s behavior to jitters over media coverage revealing a still growing list of concessions being made to Iran by the Obama administration.

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Investment Advice

If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in Delta Airlines one year ago, you would have $49.00 today!

If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in AIG one year ago, you would have $33.00 today.

If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in Lehman Brothers one year ago, you would have $0.00 today.

But, if you had purchased $1,000 worth of beer one year ago, drank all the beer then turned in the aluminum cans for the recycling refund, you would have received $214.00.

Based on the above, the best current investment plan is to drink heavily & Recycle. It is called the 401-Keg.

And as a bonus... A recent study found that the average American walks about 900 miles a year. Another study found that on average Americans drink 22 gallons of alcohol a year. That means that the average American gets about 41 miles to the gallon! Makes you damned proud to be an American!

Uncle Sam, The greatest illusionist ever