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Sunday, September 27, 2015

Lost Dog In Powellville: UPDATE

I was wondering if you could post a lost dog for us? We lost our female chihuahua this afternoon around 2pm in the Powellville Elmer Davis loop area. Her name is Chloe and is very shy. She had on a purple harness. She was scared off by a loud noise and we have not seen her since. We think possibly someone found her and picked her up. Any help you could provide we mean the world to us. 443-944-4282.

Dog Found In Salisbury: UPDATE

Found young black female dog. John Deere green collar. Call 443-614-2490. Zion road. Salisbury.

Supermoon lunar eclipse viewing party tonight at the NASA Visitor Center

The weather is not cooperating for our supermoon lunar eclipse viewing party tonight at the NASA Visitor Center. We will...

Posted by NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Sunday, September 27, 2015

Salisbury City Council Agenda & Packet For 9-28-15

Carson: Muslim Shouldn't Be Elected President

Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson says Islam is antithetical to the Constitution, and he doesn't believe that a Muslim should be elected president.

Carson, a devout Christian, says a president's faith should matter to voters if it runs counter to the values and principles of America.

Responding to a question during an interview broadcast Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press," he described the Islamic faith as inconsistent with the Constitution.

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Carson Stands by Comments About Not Advocating a Muslim President

Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson caused a controversy over the weekend when he said that he wouldn't advocate electing a Muslim as president of the United States.

On "Hannity" tonight, Carson said he "absolutely" stands by his comments, explaining that we must not elect a person as commander-in-chief if their faith contradicts the Constitution.

Carson pointed out that there are no Muslims countries that operate the same way that our system does.

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BREAKING NEWS: Boehner Will Resign from Congress

WASHINGTON — Speaker John A. Boehner will resign from Congress and give up his House seat at the end of October, according to aides in his office.

Mr. Boehner was under extreme pressure from the right wing of his conference over whether or not to defund Planned Parenthood in a bill to keep the government open.

Source

Mathias reopens third span debate, dualization requests

At an annual meeting on transportation issues in Salisbury with Maryland Secretary of Transportation Pete Rahn, Sen. Jim Mathias (D-38) unearthed a decades-old debate about adding more crossings between eastern and western shores.

It was a continuation of a discussion between Mathias and Rahn started months before, as Mathias, an appointee to the Executive Nominations Committee, interviewed Rahn before his appointment.

“At a minimum, all cabinet secretary [nominees] come and tell you their plans and qualifications to see if we can support them,” Mathias said. During his meeting with Rahn, Mathias said he was “emphatic about the needs of the rural areas.”

These needs include the Routes 113 and 90 dualizations and overall better access to the Eastern Shore from the rest of the state, up to an including better bridge access.

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Rent Stabilization in Salisbury: By City Council Candidate Muir Boda

Publishers Notes: Mayor Jim Ireton recently proposed a rent stabilization package claiming Salisbury landlords are making too much money. This is Muir's response to that proposal.


After careful thought and consideration, along with an extraordinary amount of research, I have come to the conclusion that rent control in Salisbury would put us on a path of devastative decline. Therefore, I unequivocally oppose any type of legislation that would implement these types of failed policies.

In 1992 The American Economic Review published a poll of 464 economists where 93% of them opposed Rent Control laws. (1)  From Milton Friedman and F.A. Hayek to Gunnar Myrdal and Assar Lindbeck, economists from across the political spectrum have consistently opposed Rent Control.
Myrdal, a Swedish Economist who was the architect of the Swedish Labor Party's Welfare State once said,  “Rent control has in certain Western countries constituted, maybe, the worst example of poor planning by governments lacking courage and vision.” (2)
Lindbeck, another Swedish economist, stated, “In many cases rent control appears to be the most efficient technique presently known to destroy a city—except for bombing.” (3)
This issue is not about right or left politics. It is not about greed or the ensuing accusations that those opposed to Rent Control are in the pockets of the landlords. This is about understanding basic economics and the fact that property values will decline, tax revenues will decline and an imbalance will be created in the housing market by effectively removing the availability of single family housing. Blight and crime will increase and the resources of the City of Salisbury will be severely strained. In addition, those who have historically received the benefits of rent stabilization, rarely and at a much lower percentage, move into home ownership.
My last point on this subject is that the Rent Stabilization legislation put forward that is modeled from the one implemented in College Park, MD is no longer in effect as of 2014. College Park began seeing the negative effects of  Rent Stabilization and had the courage to end it.
Walter Block, a renowned American economist, has two detailed and convincing arguments against rent control here and here. I encourage the reading of both articles.
All of our energy and resources should be focused on attracting good paying jobs, moving people into home ownership, reducing juvenile crime and finding ways to create better opportunities for this and future generations.

  1. Richard M. Alson, J. R. Kearl, and Michael B. Vaughan, “Is There a Consensus Among Economists in the 1990’s?” American Economic Review 82, no. 2 (1992): 203–209.
  2. Gunnar Myrdal, “Opening Address to the Council of International Building Research in Copenhagen,” Dagens Nyheter (Swedish newspaper), August 25, 1965, p. 12; cited in Sven Rydenfelt, “The Rise, Fall and Revival of Swedish Rent Control,” in Rent Control: Myths and Realities, Walter Block and Edgar Olsen, eds. (Vancouver: The Fraser Institute, 1981), p. 224.
  3. Assar Lindbeck, The Political Economy of the New Left (New York: Harper and Row, 1972); cited in Sven Rydenfelt, “The Rise, Fall and Revival of Swedish Rent Control,” in Rent Control: Myths and Realities, Walter Block and Edgar Olsen, eds. (Vancouver: The Fraser Institute, 1981), pp. 213, 230.

Family of Ahmed Mohamed Hires High-Profile Attorneys to Pursue ‘Severely Traumatized’ Son’s ‘Legal Rights’ in Clock Incident

The family of Ahmed Mohamed, the 14-year-old student arrested for bringing a “homemade” clock assembled inside a small case to school, has retained high-profile attorneys to “pursue Ahmed’s legal rights and regain his science project from the Irving Police Department.”

In a statement provided to TheBlaze, Universal Media Group, the marketing company handling media inquiries for the Mohamed family, said the parents have pulled Ahmed and his two siblings out of the Irving Independent School District “because of religious persecution and made the decision to homeschool the children.” The family claims their son has been “severely traumatized” by the incident.

The family’s attorneys, Thomas Bowers and Reggie London, are “concerned that the proper protocol and procedures were not followed and that this will be a psychological blemish on the fourteen year old boy,” according to the statement.

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Loud Booms In Worcester County

Many of our residents have been reporting loud booms over the past two nights. Last night, many of us felt our homes shake from an unknown source. Tonight those noises continued. What we are hearing are sonic booms that are courtesy of our Armed Forces. As one Veteran recently said, be glad they are our planes. Tonight, many in the county could actually see the military jets deploying flares and conducting maneuvers along the coast. With the right conditions and wind directions, the noise can impact our area. Most of the time, these exercises are conducted extremely high and over the ocean.These exercises may continue depending on weather, over the next few nights.

Visiting The ATM In Salisbury


DECLARATION OF OPEN SEASON ON CRACKAS

Extremely STRONG language

OFFENDED MUSLIMS ERUPT ON SCHOOL BOARD

A school-board meeting in New Jersey descended into chaos when a room full of angry Muslim parents were denied a last-minute request by its members.

Tempers were so raw last Thursday when the Jersey City Board of Education decided not to close schools for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha that officials had to order security to "take charge." The holiday falls on Sept. 24.

"We’re going to be the majority soon!" said one woman into a microphone, WNBC-TV reported Sept. 17.

The speaker's statement echoed a top Islamic preacher, Sheikh Muhammad Ayed, who said during a recent sermon at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque of Muslims taking root in America and Europe, "We will breed children with them, because we shall conquer their countries – whether you like it or not," WND reported.

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Kentucky Clerk Davis: To Some I'm 'Hitler' and 'Homophobe'

Kentucky clerk Kim Davis, who was jailed for almost a week after refusing to issue same-sex marriage licenses with her name on them, said she's been treated badly by people, but she's "never once spouted a word of hate."

"I've not been hateful," a tearful Davis told ABC's "Good Morning America" in the first part of a segment aired Tuesday. "I'm just a normal person that has been touched by the grace of God and his mercy."

The second part of the interview was to air on "The View" later in the morning.

But, she told interviewer Paula Faris that she hasn't "always been a good person," because "when I didn't live for God I didn't live for him. I was living for the devil."

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After ‘Nooses’ Found, College President Jumps on ‘Hate Crime’ and Urges Campus to ‘Stand Together Against Intolerance.’ Then the Truth Comes Out.

A University of Delaware student reported finding three “nooses” hanging from a tree Tuesday evening in front of a building on campus, one day after Black Lives Matter activists staged a protest.



Acting President Nancy M. Targett got on Twitter and announced that campus police were “investigating” the “hate crime.” She added, “We need to stand together against intolerance.”

She went further on the UD Facebook page, saying: “We are both saddened and disturbed that this deplorable act has taken place on our campus. This hateful display stands in stark contrast to Monday night’s peaceful protest and discussion. We condemn this despicable action and ask everyone in our community to stand together against intolerance and hate.”

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BERNIE SANDERS: MY BUDGET WON’T BE BALANCED ‘TAXES WILL GO UP’

“So yes, taxes would go up..."

Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders says, if elected his first budget would not be balanced and “taxes will go up.”

Sanders was describing himself as a “deficit hawk” on Bloomberg Politics’ With All Due Respect when he was asked if he was president if the first budget he would submit would be balanced.

“No, no. Arguably you could not do that,” Sanders responded.

Read more

MEDIA PROMOTES “PEDOPHILE RIGHTS”

Not long after same-sex marriage ruling, leftists now demand rights for pedophiles

Leftist media is now promoting “pedophile rights” as the next “social justice” movement, not long after the Supreme Court ruled in favor of same-sex marriages.

Salon.com published an op/ed by a self-described pedophile asking Americans to “learn to accept” pedophiles and be “understanding and supportive” of their “sexual orientation.”

“So, please, be understanding and supportive,” pedophile Todd Nickerson wrote. “It’s really all we ask of you.”

He blamed his “sexual preference” on his brain while asserting he’s “not a monster.”

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Rep. Elijah Cummings to make announcement on Senate seat

BALTIMORE —Rep. Elijah Cummings said he plans to make an announcement regarding his intentions on whether to run for Sen. Barbara Mikulski's seat.

The Maryland Democrat said he expects to divulge his plans in "maybe less than two weeks."

Three announcements will take place in Baltimore City, and Baltimore and Howard counties, Cummings said.

Cummings has represented Maryland's 7th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1996.

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Open Container In Berlin

While visiting Berlin last weekend I noticed these signs placed around town to let people know they can't carry alcohol beyond certain points. 

This is something I suggested for the Downtown Plaza in the evening on weekends. While we do publish all of the police press releases, never once have we published someone being ticketed or arrested for violating this law in Berlin. 

Keep in mind, there are hundreds, (if not thousands) of people in Downtown Berlin on any given weekend, unlike Salisbury. It's just a shame that your representatives in Salisbury are so close to Berlin, yet they rarely ever go out there to see their success. 

Hopefully County Executive Culver has the opportunity with a new economic development department to start growing the County with similar marketing ideas.

Stephanie Rawlings-Blake to propose tax breaks for supermarkets in food deserts


In an effort to boost food access in Baltimore, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake plans to introduce legislation Monday offering 10-year tax breaks to supermarkets in parts of the city where dedicated grocery stores are scarce.

If passed by the City Council, the proposed bill would give new or renovating supermarkets in certain areas of the city an 80 percent discount on their personal property taxes for 10 years. Personal property taxes are assessed against large pieces of equipment businesses own like freezers — they are separate from taxes on real estate. Baltimore's personal property tax rate currently stands at 5.62 percent.

To qualify for the tax breaks, opening or remodeling supermarkets would have to spend $150,000 or $25 per square foot of floor space, whichever is greater, on new personal property. They would also have to be in or adjacent to a food desert, an area where supermarkets are scarce, incomes are low and many households do not have automobiles to get to the grocery store.  

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Trump drops out of Heritage event after birther backlash

Donald Trump canceled his appearance Friday evening at a major campaign stop for the GOP presidential field in South Carolina as he faces criticism from both Republican and Democratic candidates over his failure to address claims that President Obama is a Muslim and "not even an American."

Trump’s campaign announced in a statement Friday he no longer plans to speak at theHeritage Action Presidential Forum at the Bon Secours Arena in Greenville.

“Mr. Trump has a significant business transaction that was expected to close Thursday,” the campaign said. “Due to the delay he is unable to attend today’s Heritage Action Presidential Forum. He sends his regrets and looks forward to being with the great people of South Carolina on Wednesday in Columbia."

He will miss the event amid outcry from both parties that he did not correct comments made by two men at a Thursday night rally.

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U.S. Soldiers Told to Ignore Afghan Allies’ Abuse of Boys

KABUL, Afghanistan — In his last phone call home, Lance Cpl. Gregory Buckley Jr. told his father what was troubling him: From his bunk in southern Afghanistan, he could hear Afghan police officers sexually abusing boys they had brought to the base.

“At night we can hear them screaming, but we’re not allowed to do anything about it,” the Marine’s father, Gregory Buckley Sr., recalled his son telling him before he was shot to death at the base in 2012. He urged his son to tell his superiors. “My son said that his officers told him to look the other way because it’s their culture.”

Rampant sexual abuse of children has long been a problem in Afghanistan,particularly among armed commanders who dominate much of the rural landscape and can bully the population. The practice is called bacha bazi, literally “boy play,” and American soldiers and Marines have been instructed not to intervene — in some cases, not even when their Afghan allies have abused boys on military bases, according to interviews and court records.

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Donald Trump Grilled on Obama, Muslims: ‘It Wasn’t People From Sweden That Blew up the World Trade Center’

Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump was grilled Sunday regarding his reluctance to correct a comment deriding Muslims several days ago as well as his views on President Obama’s faith and place of birth.

Jake Tapper, host of CNN’s “State of the Union,” called an audience member’s comment — “we have a problem in this country; it’s called Muslims” — at a Thursday rally for Trump “raw, unvarnished, ignorant bigotry.”

“You are a leader,” Tapper said. “You’re the frontrunner in the Republican race. Do you not have a responsibility to call out this hatred?”

Trump suggested he could be “politically correct” and then asked, “Are you trying to say we don’t have a problem? Because I think everybody would agree … we certainly do have a problem. I mean, you have a problem throughout the world.”

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CAIR Calls for Carson to Leave Race

Neurosurgeon Ben Carson should withdraw from the presidential race for his comments that a Muslim shouldn't be president, a prominent Muslim-American group said Sunday.

"I think his remarks should be repudiated by everyone on the political spectrum and that he should withdraw," Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation's largest Islamic advocacy group, told the Washington Examiner on Sunday.

Carson, who is third in the Washington Examiner's presidential power rankings, spoke on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday and said that he wouldn't "advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation."

Hooper said that Carson's comments were unconstitutional according to Article Six of the Constitution, which forbids a religious test as a requirement for qualification to any public office.

He added that he is constantly dismayed by the "Islamophobia [exhibited] by the right wing of the political spectrum."

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Things Have Changed In Salisbury Since This Photo Was Taken

Sent in by a reader

Salisbury Mall Mid 70s

What changes can you notice in this picture? 

News In Numbers

$130

Price of a small vial of medical marijuana in Minnesota, which is more than double the cost of a similar product in Colorado, driving some patients to buy the drug illegally (and cheaper) instead.
AP | SEPTEMBER 25, 2015

14.4%

Portion of American city managers who are women. In the 1980s, it was 13 percent.
GOVERNING | SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

195

Number of the 12,000 new children in New York City's pre-K program who live in the city's poorest ZIP codes. Research shows that kids from low-income families benefit from pre-K the most.
PROPUBLICA | SEPTEMBER 23, 2015

75%

Increase in the number of newborns, toddlers and preschoolers in Vermont's custody over the past 18 months as the state cracked down on parents addicted to heroin.
THE BURLINGTON FREE PRESS | SEPTEMBER 22, 2015

57%

Portion of teenagers in Utah who live with their married, biological parents, compared to just 32 percent in Mississippi.
HARPER'S | SEPTEMBER 21, 2015

$10,000

Amount Arizonans donated to a police charity for the chance to tase Glendale’s mayor in June. "You gotta do something a little crazy" to get people interested, said Mayor Jerry Weiers.
CBS SPORTS | SEPTEMBER 18, 2015

43%

Portion of Louisiana state lawmakers who were automatically re-elected this week because no one ran against them.
THE NEW ORLEANS TIMES-PICAYUNE | SEPTEMBER 17, 2015

423,000

Approximate number of people who lost health insurance this year because of "immigration and citizenship issues" -- nearly four times as last year. Advocates say the overwhelming majority of them are legal U.S. residents and citizens victimized by the inefficient system for checking documents.
AP/YAHOO NEWS | SEPTEMBER 16, 2015

10,000

The number of Virginians with criminal records whose voting rights have been restored by Gov. Terry McAuliffe. Ex-offenders in the state can now vote, run for public office and serve on juries.
CHARLOTTESVILLE NEWSPLEX | SEPTEMBER 15, 2015

$80,000

Annual salary of Kim Davis, the municipal clerk from Kentucky who spent five nights in jail for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. She returns to work Monday.
THE LEXINGTON HERALD-LEADER | SEPTEMBER 14, 2015

72

Number of the 101 recent cigarette tax increases across the country that failed to meet their initial revenue targets.
GOVERNING | SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

$6.4 million

Amount the city of Baltimore has tentatively agreed to pay the family of Freddie Gray, who suffered a fatal spinal injury while in police custody in April. The settlement exceeds the combined total of more than 120 other lawsuits brought against Baltimore police.
THE BALTIMORE SUN | SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

345

Total number of shootings in New York City between June 1 and August 31, which makes this summer one of the safest in 25 years.
NEW YORK MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

27

Number of Alaskans who were approved for Medicaid on the first day that the state started offering public health insurance to more people.
ALASKA DISPATCH NEWS | SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

120

Number of new HIV cases prevented over a two-year period by lifting Washington, D.C.'s ban on spending city money on needle exchange programs.
THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR | SEPTEMBER 4, 2015

20%

Portion of people with mental illness who were arrested within a year after participating in Miami's postbooking diversion program to keep them in treatment and out of jail. In contrast, 72 percent of those who didn't participate in the program returned to jail within one year.
GOVERNING | SEPTEMBER 3, 2015

30

Number of U.S. cities that reported increases in violence in the last year, following years of declining murder rates.
THE NEW YORK TIMES | SEPTEMBER 2, 2015

$120 million

Amount that Alaska loses in revenue for every $5 drop in oil prices. The state’s budget relies heavily on oil revenue, so declining prices have caused major financial problems.
THE ATLANTIC | SEPTEMBER 1, 2015

18%

Decline in daily traffic delays in the Washington, D.C., area during the summer. Gridlock returns on “Terrible Tuesday,” the morning after Labor Day.
THE WASHINGTON POST | AUGUST 31, 2015

299 billion

Estimated number of cigarettes that Americans smoked in 2010, down from 456 billion in 2000. States that depend heavily on cigarette tax revenue face funding problems because the money tobacco brings in is declining.
GOVERNING | AUGUST 28, 2015