Popular Posts

Sunday, July 09, 2017

New York Times Forced To Retract Longstanding '17 Intel Agencies' Lie About Russian Hacking

Seventeen intelligence agencies”? - ?if you’ve been following the maniacal #TrumpRussia coverage to any extent, you’ve heard this phrase used uncritically, time and again, regardless of your ideological loyalties. Pundits, papers and rank-and-file establishment loyalists have been unquestioningly regurgitating the nonsensical line that 17 intelligence agencies confirmed Russian interference in the US elections ever since Hillary Clinton made that baseless assertion in a debate back in October.

The innate absurdity of the claim was immediately attacked by WikiLeaks and anti-establishment outlets who pointed out that this would necessarily need to involve full investigations from agencies like the Coast Guard, the DEA and the Energy Department in order to be true. Nevertheless, many high-profile pro-establishment outlets like Politifact and USA Today found Clinton’s claims to be 100 percent true on the grounds that James Clapper, then-Director of National Intelligence and notorious Russophobic racist, “speaks on behalf of” all 17 intelligence agencies. To this day Politifact stands by its false claim on the basis of that same spurious assertion.

A Viewer Writes: Can the City of Salisbury hold up their end of the Fire Service Agreement?

Effective July 1, the new fire service agreement between the City of Salisbury and Wicomico County went into effect. Under this agreement, SFD is responsible for covering all of their city and county territory, whether it be fire or EMS. What happens when other county stations have to come into City limits because SFD has failed to respond to the calls of service due to being on other calls at that time? What happened to their Volunteers that they have previously stated they have? Why are they not covering these calls?

Within the last several weeks, SFD has repeatedly failed to respond for 8+ minutes on some calls and as many as 15-20 minutes on others. When this happens other county stations are called into cover these calls, leading to an even longer response time. For instance, last week they were dispatched to a MVC with rollover on Hammond St. From initial dispatch, it took Salisbury 18 minutes to have a fire truck on scene because they were elsewhere and unable to respond immediately and NO RESPONSE from either volunteer station. Today, SFD was alerted to 2 separate reported AFA's at Sam's Club and Hobby Lobby at the same time. Once, no volunteer response and AC Darrin Scott responded and was first person on scene. This happens all the time, no matter the time of day.

My point here is simple. Since the volunteers from Station 1 left, or were forced to leave prior to their intended separation date, the city has been struggling to respond to calls due in large part to there not being a volunteer response out of Station 2 or Station 16. They are trying to keep up with the call volume and it's not working. They are spreading themselves too thin trying to keep up with it all because their egos are too big to work things out with the volunteers that left.

SFD is putting lives at risk because they simply think they can do it all and clearly they can't. 18 minutes to respond to a serious accident is simply unacceptable and could have been avoided had they had dedicated volunteers left in the city that actually showed up to respond to these instances.

An easy solution to this issue would be for Jake Day or Bob Culver to put their pride aside for once and put their residents first and pull the fire agreement which apparently they both have the option to do. From the understanding I have from the media, it was reported as stated by Jake Day on Sunday, May 7th in the Daily Times and on several other occasions, they were willing to allow the volunteers to service calls to the east of the RT 50 Bypass, but now they are stating that is not in the agreement and they never agreed to it?. If the agreement is pulled, this will allow for less territory the city will be responsible for, which will in turn improve on response times for SFD. Seems like it is all about money for SFD instead of the well being of the residents they serve.

In addition, why would the COUNTY COUNCIL and BOB CULVER agree to allow the CITY OF SALISBURY to dictate what happens outside of city territory? They should have no say in the ins and outs of the rest on the county especially when it comes to territory. This has extremely angered me as a COUNTY resident. This agreement means that I am giving my hard earned money to the City of Salisbury. If I wanted to support the city, I would have chosen to move inside city limits instead of in the county. This is unacceptable in itself. This agreement screws everyone except SFD.

WAKE UP BOB CULVER AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT THESE SERIOUS ISSUES THAT DIRECTLY AFFECT THE SAFETY AND WELL BEING OF YOUR CONSTITUENTS.

WAKE UP JAKE DAY AND OWN UP TO THE FACT THAT SFD HAS NOT AND CANNOT POSSIBLY SERVICE THE AREAS THEY ARE EXPECTED TO WITHOUT THE VOLUNTEER SERVICE BACKING THEM UP.

The Untold Story About The HR Director For Wicomico County

When the former Finance Director, Leslie Lewis was sinking fast in quick sand during the last budget session, it was Michelle Ennis who was called in multiple times to save her. We provided the actual video footage from PAC 14 weeks ago proving this to be a fact. 

All of a sudden, after she was terminated, Council President John Cannon took the word of this disgruntled employee as she claimed she had never seen the so called document the forensic auditor claimed was 'possible' fraud. After little research, evidence came to light that Leslie had, in fact, seen the document and agreed to the HR Director getting a raise.

So when the rest of your local media continue to IMPLY there's still something there, (fraud-wise) when in FACT there is NOTHING, it is extremely irresponsible of them to continue this witch hunt. Typical of the local media's bias against ANY Republican representative, the fact that they no longer have the funds to afford an investigative reporter(s), they simply run with the LIES they are being fed and come back saying, we didn't lie, someone else did. 

So here's more TRUTH. 

Did you know HR Director Michelle Ennis has been with the County for almost 15 years? That's a fact. Did you know she has TWO Masters Degrees? OK, aside from the fact that she's more than qualified to hold the position she is now in, did you know that when the recommendation came in for a pay increase for her position, it was suggested she receive a 12% pay increase to be in parity with other counties for this position? Did you also know that Executive Culver only gave her an 8% pay increase instead?

OK, now that some of the FACTS are out there, here's the BIG one. Did you know that even after being with the County for 15 years, Ennis is still being paid LESS than the MAN who held this same position before her? How ridiculous is that?!

So the mere fact, (once again) that Council President John Cannon agreed to this BS forensic audit to try to discredit both Ennis and County Executive Bob Culver, it only proves further, this was a witch hunt. 

WBOC, WMDT and the Daily Times know for a FACT that whenever someone threatens legal representation, it is against not only a state law but federal laws as well for the Executive to speak ANYTHING referencing personnel matters. Shame on the local media for attempting to continue to imply this "fraud" investigation ceased simply because the Executive refused to discuss details and they couldn't go any further. NO, it was dropped because Cannon had egg in his face because the TRUTH smacked him and the rest of the Council in the face and they're embarrassed. 

On a final note, Cannon had been warned well in advance that he needed to DROP this matter because, (as proven in the last council meeting) he was defaming Ennis and was putting the County TAXPAYERS (and local media) on very thin ice for a potential lawsuit and he went ahead and overwhelmingly defamed her to no end this week. It can easily be proven that they know better and published defaming information anyway.

So guess what Folks, this is far from over... 

Are we being unjustly fleeced by local gas peddlers throughout Delmarva?

By Thornton Crowe

Well, folks, it seems that in spite of crude oil trading at substantially lower rates, local gas distributors have once again, spiked the price -- probably under the guise of, "It's summer, let's fleece the tourists!"

Is it getting to the point where this gouging needs to be reported to some higher agency?

Sure I understand our proximity to Ocean City makes us more susceptible to higher pricing; however, should we really be paying over $0.25 more than the Midwest region where $1.90 per gallon is found throughout states like Texas, Oklahoma and even non-metro parts of Virginia?

It's gotten so bad at some points where some have told me they travel to Virginia to fill up because the price difference is stunning enough to warrant the drive! All I can do is shake my head in disgust!

Colin Kaepernick Travels 'Home' to Ghana to Trash US on Independence Day

The former NFL quarterback, who no one wants to pick up this year for some reason, tweeted out his disgust for America on Independence Day.

Kaepernick: “How can we truly celebrate independence on a day that intentionally robbed our ancestors of theirs? To find my independence I went home.”

Kaepernick released this video on Independence Day. It has over 53,000 likes.

More/Video

City of Salisbury Goes Corporate Raider?

By Thornton Crowe

"If you're not inside, you're outside..." -- Gordon Gekko

Sounds about right doesn't it, especially when you look at the massive undervalued real estate the City has let go to drinking buddies over the last decade or so. $5K and a cocktail can buy you a nice chunk of property in Downtown Salisbury as we saw with the sale of the Feldman's building -- hence, making our corrupt little hamlet and an even more sketchier place to be. 

At around the time of the old Firehouse sale, a quieter building sale occurred, involving another $5K firesale nearby. As you will see from SDAT record, this building was also purchased by Devreco, LLC in 2013 from the Wicomico 91 AF & AM Lodge (the former Freemasons' headquarters). 

Mind you, this office building is estimated at $133.6K value, sporting 3,024 sq. feet. right across the street from the government buildings. (Just a bit too obvious!) It leads one to wonder, given its close proximity to the courthouses, didn't some enterprising attorney pick this $5K gem up and rent out space to his/her legal eagle friends?  

It really does beg the questions of how one goes about scoring one of these sweet deals and does everyone have the same luxury of buying high dollar real estate in Salisbury at bargain basement pricing?

Executive Culver Sets The Record Straight On Fire Station 1 Issue With Boy Mayor Jake Day

WICOMICO COUNTY EXECUTIVE BOB CULVER’S RESPONSE TO SALISBURY MAYOR JAKE DAY’S RECENT COMMENT TO THE DAILY TIMES ON JULY 3, 2017

In Monday’s Daily Times, Mayor Jake Day made a shocking statement to the press about the new arrangement between the City and my office concerning Station 1’s territory changes. He said we are still using the same boundaries from before, which have been “used for years” – contrary to a May article where he affirms his agreement to “willingly give up part of Station 1’s territory.” Additionally, in the attached April 25 th email to our office from the City, he outlines our discussion on this issue, clearly confirming our agreement. Like you, I am confused as to why he would make such a misleading comment to the press now after everything was settled.

I am deeply disappointed in the Mayor’s apparent attempt to renege on a deal I considered to be a closed matter. Therefore, in light of this, Wicomico County has no choice but to look closer at future agreements with the City to avoid this type of miscommunication from occurring again as it only confuses our residents whom have concerns about such matters.

A Comment I Felt Worthy Of A Post

JoeAlbero said...

7:32, Let me start with this. It was Salisbury News who paid off the breakfast/lunch debts for ALL 28 Wicomico County schools at Christmas. I say this because I believe we deserve the right to make the following statement.

I support those who say they are upset that it is we the taxpayers that pay for Welfare, WIC, Food Stamps etc. which includes 3 meals a day for these children.

Where is the accountability and again, why are WE paying for these free lunches when the children are not in school.

This is yet another snowflake program. Trust me, when I was a kid we could not afford three meals a day, period. As my waste line gets larger as I get older, I thank God I've been blessed with enough income to finally afford whatever and whenever meal I so choose to enjoy.

Being HUNGRY drove me to work my a$$ off, instead of standing in line for free meals. If you think my story is special, don't you ever forget the very people who grew up in the great depression.

If I needed a meal, I mowed a lawn or two in my neighborhood where I could afford something. There's plenty of elderly people and yes, especially renters in Salisbury who could use someone to mow their lawns for ten bucks.

Can we eject Chris Christie from the Party?


By Thornton Crowe

Good God have mercy! If only there was a way to unsee something... Coffee buzz is now history!

My question is far from being in jest as I look at this disgustingly distasteful maneuver by New Jersey governor Chris Christie. First, he bans a beach and then goes sunbathing. What kind of idiot does this - politician or not?

Christie is like the black sheep of a dysfunctional family. He's like that 'uncle' no one likes to discuss at family gatherings. You know the one. Uncle...who was incarcerated for...

The above image inspires more than mere disgust, it's absolutely offensive to the eye and principle. Not because of the obvious but because of the underlying premise behind it. Hypocrisy anyone?

It makes me wince every time we see his mug even remotely close to President Trump. All I can think of was all the warm Obama love after Sandy, Bridgegate and now this fiasco - Beachgate.

Can he be ejected by some GOP 'bouncers'? Why hasn't this been done yet? He's an embarrassment to any party he crashes.

He's no President Trump. Christie's antics are beyond any sense of acceptability so why does the White House even bother to make him a part of any conversation? Could it be the Media is trying to link this clown with the President to paint some similarity? It just seems all too convenient.

Hopefully, the GOP will wake up and dump this gaff-a-minute disaster. The last thing we all need is one more hot mess molesting our televisions and minds!

By the way, after taking office, NJ taxes are still high so really, what has he done of any merit? Nothing!

Maryland Divided Part 5: Can Salisbury and small enclaves make rural Maryland cool?

By J.F. Meils
Capital News Service


SALISBURY— Salisbury Mayor Jake Day, 34, has a floor-to-ceiling erasable board dotted with Post-it notes on the longest wall of his office.

It’s a jarring display of terrestrial organization for a millennial, but Day is hardly old school. He’s got two masters degrees, one from Carnegie Mellon in urban design and the other from Oxford in environmental policy. He is also an officer in the Maryland National Guard and a local boy whose father was recently named COO of Perdue Farms.

“There were moments when, as a 9-year-old living in Salisbury, I was thinking I really want to be mayor in this town,” said Day.

So he’s had plenty of time to think about how he’d change things in a city with a history of helter-skelter development and a stubborn crime rate.


More

No smoking ... and this time we mean it

Now that the Boardwalk smoking ban is in its second year, Ocean City Police have issued more tickets in the first weeks of summer.

Altogether, 52 citations were issued to smokers on the boards as of June 30, according to Police Public Affairs Specialist Lindsay Richard.

“Officers are taking a stricter enforcement approach rather than focusing on education,” Richard said. “Signage has continued to improve each year and we feel as if our residents and visitors should be aware of the ordinance by now.”

The smoking ban was imposed by the City Council in May 2015 as a health initiative and a way to keep the Boardwalk air clean and the beaches free from cigarette butts. The ban also applies to cigars, pipes, e-cigarettes and other substances that contain tobacco.

More

SFD Installing Blue Hydrant Markers



Members of the SFD are out and about installing blue hydrant markers throughout the city, this morning. The reflective blue markers assist drivers and officers with spotting hydrants after dark and help ensure necessary water sources are secured more expediently. 


Please be aware that this is an on-going project that will take some time to complete. Use caution if you happen to see apparatus moving slowly during your daily commutes. 


Thank you for your understanding.

"I am going to take his ass apart"

On Saturday, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) vowed to take Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson’s “ass apart” while speaking at the Essence Festival in New Orleans.

“Ben Carson was appointed to be the HUD secretary,” she reportedly said. “He knows nothing about the mission of HUD. He doesn’t care about people in public housing. He believes that if you are poor, it is your own fault. And he doesn’t know the difference between an immigrant and a slave.”

Waters then promised: “And if he thinks when he comes before my committee where I am the ranking member [of the Financial Services Committee] that I am going to give him a pass… I am going to take his a** apart.”

She also blasted Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.

More

Has CNN Crossed the Line?

By Thornton Crowe

The latest Twitter buzz centers around the Trump/CNN wrestling meme and the network is now threatening the 15-year-old creator with exposure unless he apologizes. If memory serves me correctly, threatening minors was against the law - not to mention publishing their identities unless they're being charged with a crime as an adult; therefore, has the network lost it's mind?

It would seem their Trump obsession is finally rearing up to bite them in the tush because their actions denote they've become absolutely unhinged. Threatening kids, creating Russian dressing stories, accosting press secretaries and the President has become mainstays for a network out of control.

Their claim is this 15-year-old is defaming them... with what? A 15 second clip? Whatever happened to that sticks & stones bit? Seems CNN's illustratoring their lack of 'tough' stock and opting to the crybaby approach, which further damages their credibility than any child could inflict.

Did you just donate $50,000 to John Cannon's Reelection?

 By Thornton Crowe

This week's latest dust up occurring within our Wicomico County government was a fabulous display of danger play for which John Cannon clearly has no finesse to pull off political operative missions! Rough & tumble, indeed.

This cunning but sloppy fraud investigation against the Executive Office, claiming there was some evil plot afoot regarding a pay raise for an employee that seemed dodgy, was merely an attempt to garner free PR for the councilman's reelection in 2018 - nothing more!

Enter, the Never-Ending Gobstopper...

Funny enough, his entire escapade was centered solely on the word of a disgruntled employee who was shown the door last May; but those trivialities are always too inconvenient to entertain. Hence, this whole 'investigation' reeks of the kind of antics those in eternal campaign mode often pull to weaken their opponents while trying to promote themselves as some kind of hero to the people!

Maryland says it won’t provide voter data to Trump election panel

WASHINGTON — Officials in Maryland say they will not be handing over the voter data requested by a commission set up by President Donald Trump to investigate alleged voter fraud.

Administrator of the Maryland State Board of Elections Linda Lamone said in a July 3 letter that sharing access to Maryland’s voter registration lists and other information requested by the commission is prohibited by state law.

Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh in a July 3 statement went even further, calling the request of voter information “repugnant.”

More

Transgender activist: Straight men should ‘work through’ non-attraction to transgender women

Seems it’s not enough for transgenders to merely push for acceptance and force laws to change so they can use bathrooms that correspond to whatever gender they identify with. Hitting deeper, the new push has been to get people to speak transgenders’ preferred pronouns in conversations — or suffer shaming and backlash.

What could possibly be next, you might ask?

Well, one transgender activist insists that straight men who don’t desire transgender women simply have an issue they “should try to work through.”

In other words — according to Zinnia Jones of Orlando, Florida — straight men should be willing to be romantic with biological men who identify as women. And if not, as Jones gets into soon, they ought to be viewed as holding an odd opinion.

More

Construction for medical marijuana houses underway

Though the state legalized medical marijuana in 2012, not a single dispensary has opened, no patients have been treated and both the licensees and the regulators have remained quiet on the subject.

Three types of licenses are available: growers, processors and dispensers.

In Showell near Route 113, however, the first of the grow operations in Worcester is beginning to take shape. Three greenhouses are being built for the purposes of marijuana cultivation by licensee Shore Naturals LLC, registered to Erick Bruder, with an address in Ocean Pines.

The site is a former Perdue chicken facility, sold a couple of years ago bundled with others totaling approximately 700 acres in a deal worth about $3.5 million. The lot is less than a mile from the main facility representing the bulk of the 700 acres and only measures about 12 acres.

More

Hogan-Rutherford Administration Announces Over $22 Million to Fight Heroin and Opioid Epidemic

80% of Funding for Local Jurisdictions and Service Providers, Includes $2 Million for 24 Hour Crisis Center in Baltimore City

ANNAPOLIS, MD — Maryland’s Opioid Operational Command Center, Department of Health, and the Governor’s Office of Crime Control & Prevention today announced more than $22 million to fight the heroin and opioid epidemic. Eighty percent will go to Maryland’s 24 local jurisdictions and service providers to fund prevention, enforcement, and treatment efforts throughout the state. 
“Finding real solutions to the heroin and opioid crisis that is ravaging our communities is a top priority of our administration and a cause that myself and Lt. Governor Rutherford have been personally committed to since before we took office,” said Governor Hogan. “This new funding will make real differences in people’s lives as we work together to turn the tide in this deadly fight.”
The funding for Fiscal Year 2018 includes the first $10 million of Governor Larry Hogan’s $50 million commitment to address the crisis announced in March 2017, the first $10 million from the federal 21st Century Cures Act, and $2.1 million from the Governor’s Office of Crime Control & Prevention. 
"With this funding plan, Maryland reaffirms Governor Hogan's commitment to helping equip our local communities as we work together to battle this epidemic throughout the state," said Maryland Department of Health Secretary Dennis Schrader. "For example, $2 million of the Cures Act funding is being committed to establish a 24-hour crisis center in Baltimore City."

Straight Guys Really Don’t Like Dudes Kissing Dudes

For straight guys, seeing images of two men kissing creates the same physiological stress as pictures of rotting flesh and maggots, according to research published recently.

Scientists found that straight men felt disgust when shown slideshows of gay men kissing. Researchers said this reaction was similar to the disgust straight men experienced when shown images rotting flesh or maggots. That was even true for straight men who reported no prejudice against homosexuals.

The American Institute of Bisexuality, a non-profit charity that “focuses on outreach within the bisexual community,” funded the study. Researchers saidtheir goal was to make science “more inclusive of LGBTQ identities and experiences.”

“We originally were interested in understanding the health effects of same-sex vs. mixed-sex public displays of affection for the couples in the relationship,” Dr. Karen L. Blair, a psychologist at St. Francis Xavier University who authored the research, told PsyPost.

More

Tangier mayor hopes that Trump call leads to a seawall

Tangier Island sits like a fishhook in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay, a fishing village known for its distinct local accent and eroding shoreline. Every now and again, it makes the news for a quirky event, like when the mayor found some oysters attached to a crab, or a tragic one, as when a longtime resident drowned.

That changed in June, when President Donald Trump called Tangier Mayor James “Ooker” Eskridge. The president, who has suggested in the past that climate change is a hoax, told Eskridge not to worry about rising sea levels. “Your island has been there for hundreds of years,” he told Eskridge, “and I believe your island will be there for hundreds more."

Trump offered such reassurance after seeing a CNN report about the island, home to about 400 souls, many of whom trace their roots to three families that arrived from England in the 1600s. CNN’s Jennifer Gray reported that 87 percent of the island voted for Trump. Eskridge said he loved Trump “as much as any family member I got.” If Gray saw Trump, Eskridge pleaded, let the president know they needed help.


More

Thirty-five people indicted on Federal Conspiracy Charges for Trafficking in Contraband Cigarettes, Distributing Synthetic Drugs and Money Laundering


St. Louis, MO – Thirty-five (35) people were indicted in St. Louis on charges of conspiring to traffic in contraband cigarettes, conspiracy to distribute synthetic drugs and money laundering.

Indicted were the following individuals:

Mohammed Almuttan, aka Abu Ali, 35, St. Louis, MO

Rami Almuttan, aka Abu Louay, 33, St. Louis, MO

Hisham Mutan, aka Abu Mohamed, 41, St. Louis, MO

Saddam Mutan, aka Abu Ali, 24, St. Louis, MO

Mazin Abdelsalam, aka Abu Mohammad, 38, St. Louis, MO

Najeh Muhana, aka Abu Yazan, 41, Fairview, NJ

Fares Muhana, aka Abu Yamama, 40, Cliffside Park, NJ

Obama Still Thinks He’s POTUS – Meets With South Korean President To Discuss Trump

If I am not mistaken, a former President is not supposed to conduct ‘shadow diplomacy’. Obama went to South Korea to speak at a conference and met with the new Progressive socialist leader of South Korea, Moon Jae-In, today for 40 minutes. They have a lot in common. Moon wants to use diplomacy with the NoKos. They tried it before and it never ends well. It never worked under the Obama administration either. Obama is trying to undercut the Trump presidency. It’s rude. It’s one thing if you are invited as part of a diplomatic delegation… this is something else altogether.

I’m not even sure this is legal. And I don’t remember any other Presidents pulling this. Sure there are state visits, but they are either cursory in nature or sanctioned by our State Department. Dare I say this is ‘colluding’ with the South Koreans? Just a thought. Attacking President Trump over climate change while with an ally we are trying to work with on the brink of war, goes beyond unethical, right into subversive. It’s cowardly to stand on foreign soil and criticize the sitting President of the United States.

More

Mailman appears to pepper spray dogs in security video

HOUSTON (KTRK) --A northwest Houston family wants a mail carrier disciplined for spraying their dogs with what appears to be pepper spray even though security video shows the dogs posed no threat.

The Cruz family's three dogs were outside last Thursday but behind a closed gate when the United States Postal Service mail carrier approached to deliver the mail.

Jose Cruz says what happened next was shocking.

His home video shows the carrier spraying the three lap dogs until they retreated. A thick metal gate separates them from the mailbox and the mail carrier.

More

No One Is Interested In The Daily Times Any More

I had to make a run to WalMart Sunday afternoon. When I got in line I noticed just how many papers were sitting in the rack no one seems to be interested any more. 

So for the heck of it I picked one up to see how thick it was and was amazed at how it only had three tiny sections, (a couple pages each) and the rest was ad flyers. 

It's no wonder they are downsizing again. I received a letter from a former Editor last week congratulating me on how well SBYNews is doing. I had been told the Daily Times is well below 10,000 printed papers per day and is failing fast. I asked, how many of them are sitting in racks at WalMart, WaWa, Royal Farms and so forth, they couldn't answer but we all know a ton of the printed editions end up in the recycle bins and ultimately the landfill and they are NOT purchased. 

One glance at our numbers from yesterday will clearly tell you who the news leader is here on the Shore. Our sources are second to none. Our real time publishing is hours, if not days ahead of everyone else. Once the advertisers walk away from that no good waste of paper and realize no one is reading them any more, (which will be very soon) Boy Mayor Day will have to explain why there's yet another empty building Downtown, just like the former Mayor had to do when they left in the first place. 

San Francisco to pay $190G to undocumented immigrant over sanctuary law violation, lawyer says

A man from El Salvador in the U.S. illegally who sued San Francisco after police turned him over to immigration authorities in violation of the city's sanctuary law is set to be awarded $190,000, his attorney said Thursday.

Pedro Figueroa-Zarceno, 33, reached the settlement agreement with the city attorney's office, said Saira Hussain, a staff attorney at the Asian Law Caucus who represented Zarceno. The agreement must be approved by the Board of Supervisors.

“It’s really important for San Francisco to remain a sanctuary city not in name only but also in practice,” Hussain told The San Francisco Examiner. “Our hope is that the department is going to look into this further and really examine the way that the department can do more."


More
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/06/30/san-francisco-to-pay-190g-to-undocumented-immigrant-over-sanctuary-law-violation-lawyer-says.html

Justice Department OKs Texas Voter ID Law

The Department of Justice will withdraw from a legal challenge to Texas’ voter ID law, after the state legislature enacted several legislative fixes to the law to assuage the Department’s concerns.

Reuters reports that the Department filed a motion informing the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas that it would withdraw from a challenge to the law because the state’s new amendment to the statute “removes any ‘discriminatory effect’ or intent the Court found … and advances Texas’s legitimate ‘policy objectives’ in adopting a voter ID law.” The amendment Texas adopted eased some of the law’s photo identification requirements.

More