Sunday, November 05, 2017

Up to 27 shot at Texas church after gunman opens fire

More than 20 people have been killed inside a Texas church - including a two-year-old child - after a gunman dressed in full combat gear opened fire during the morning service before cops shot him dead.

The shooting happened at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, where around 50 people usually attend service, according to local reports.

Wilson County Commissioner Albert Gamez Jr told CNN that at least 27 people have been killed in the shooting, but the death toll is expected to climb.

'My heart is broken,' Gamez said. 'We never think where it can happen, and it does happen. It doesn't matter where you're at. In a small community, real quiet and everything, and look at this, what can happen.'

At least 24 others were injured in the horrific shooting. Witnesses said a man 'in full gear' walked inside the church and opened fire just before 11.30am.

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Breaking News: Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has profited handsomely from a shipping company with business ties to Vladimir V. Putin's family

After becoming commerce secretary, Wilbur L. Ross Jr. retained investments in a shipping firm he once controlled that has significant business ties to a Russian oligarch subject to American sanctions and President Vladimir V. Putin’s son-in-law, according to newly disclosed documents.

By Thornton Crowe

As many of you are aware, Salisbury News reveals a lot of the corruption and ill-practice of local business, yet time and again, we see the local leaders do nothing to fix problems. It's not like you have no idea what's taking place in your own backyard.

Do you think Salisbury News is just revealing these issues for fun or to curry favor with some secret clandestine group? If you believe that puff n' stuff spin, then you are a part of the problem because you promote corruption by trying to hide it. You are equally complicit in this apparent malaise and no better than the leaders that ignore issues adversely affecting people in their community.

First, the whole situation with the Royal Farms' sanitation problem revealed a couple weeks ago. Where is the Health Department and why haven't they made a public statement to indicate any action taken against the convenience store chain? It's not like pictorial evidence hasn't been presented to prove the claims of sanitation violations, yet, we've heard nothing but crickets as to any official response to this issue.

Second, the situation the Fire Station 1 (former) and the fact the contingencies for the sale included a very specific vein the building was purposed for, yet once again, there is no public statement. No action whatsoever has been taken to quill the public's perception of this egregious misuse of the building as it now houses a corporate entity not associated with local arts and entertainment -- clearly a violation of the original sale.

Lastly, why is the City of Salisbury's administration offices still located in the GOB when it was revealed several months ago, they have been in default of their rent and other operating expenditures for well over a decade? Yet, the Mayor and his staff still squat in a building they put forth nothing for short of the electric bill. Would John Cannon let you live in one of his rental homes if you weren't paying the rent? So why is Cannon and his compadres allowing the City to do something he wouldn't accept from his own tenants?

My fellow citizens, you are your own rainmakers. Hence, the real question here is:

When will the storm begin?

Salisbury WalMart North Violating Your 4th Amendment Rights?

Just wanted to let you know of a disturbing new policy at the North Salisbury Walmart. They have begun checking receipts at the door causing a backup of people trying to get out the door. Walmart is not a membership store (like Sam's) so there is no contract between them and customers to allow this.

These searches are unlawful and a violation of your 4th amendment rights! Unless they observed you conceal items they cannot force you to show a receipt. You have purchased items at the register, firmly decline these searches of yourself and your property. Ridiculous they are using associates that should be ringing up people or helping customers and instead have them harassing customers.

The whole time I was in the store customers were paging for assistance multiple times in site to store, the fish department, the fabric department and there was a huge line at the pharmacy with one cashier only, and only like 3 regular cashiers for 25 checkout lanes. Now they want to hold you up longer to wait for a receipt check!

Publishers Notes: I have personally experienced the same thing and wondered if what they were doing is legal. From this point forward I will tell them absolutely not, call the Police if they so choose.

Viewer Comment: Salisbury is Gone

In response to the Folk Festival article today:

Salisbury will never go back to being that postcard picture some of us grew up with. There's no way it can happen because the new demographics moved here and changed the politics along with everything else we held dear in this area. It's a shame we sold ourselves out like cheap goods at a flea market but what's done is done.

The dye has been cast, so if you long for the old Eastern Shore, you'd be better off relocating to Cambridge, Easton, Princess Anne or Berlin because this town is incapable of going back to what it once was. It's been sold off for parts by local business leaders and there's nothing left resembling what the old timers loved about the area.

Far from the farming community it used to be, Salisbury is not where it's at anymore. It's just a mishmash of fakery and posers trying to be cool. It's never going back to those days of old so why continue to belly ache about it. The locals sold themselves and their children for momentary hipdom.

The Nasty, Filthy, Disgusting Royal Farms Saga Continues

So I was just in the Royal Farms in Hebron and noticed all this grease, dirt , cobwebs, dust, and flies on all the overheads, even over food/drink areas.

I asked the girl in a different colored shirt from the others (red) if she was a manager. I told her I work in food safety and a microbiology lab and that this would be a major food safety violation. She said “ well the health department wants us to clean it, but we aren’t because I’m scared of heights” I said well someone needs to, this is serious and needs to be done before someone gets sick and you get shut down, her reply “ I don’t care and I ain’t doing it!!”

Folk Music Festival: Reality Disconnect

Image of the Virginia Folk Music Festival 2016

By Thornton Crowe

As of late, there's been many rumors swirling about revenue projections for this insidious Folk Music Festival. They are unrealistic figures but ones designed to hoodwink you, the voters, into believing this event will save Salisbury's economy while providing a fun time for all. Just how much fun will be if the projected 200K visitors come to the area for a seventy-two hour stint?

Imagine the traffic alone and you'll be on Travelocity booking your escape.

In reality, periodic events only promote irritation for locals along with temporary jobs, which is not what the area needs because it doesn't replace gainful employment with benefits. There seems to be a grave disconnect between the minds at City Hall and the reality of the citizens who put them there - so why do you keep voting for these pie-in-the-sky thinkers? Do you really think they are in tune with you based on a few fancy schmancy words they utter at some political meet & greet?

Reality dictates in downtown real estate alone, there is no area for this event to be executed correctly. There's no room for event vendors, tour buses, venue stages, parking for the masses (90K), hotel accommodations for visitors and talent along with everything else involved for such an event.

Apparently, some outside our local government have participated in bamboozling the event's national selection committee into believing the City has the capacity when it clearly doesn't have a clue of how to plan such an event. Therefore, the national promoter has been scammed as much as local citizens.

The Folk Music Festival, in reality, will do nothing more than tarnish our area's reputation once word gets out to all promoters. Local leadership doesn't seem to understand the music promotion business is relatively small and everyone shares their experiences with others. Once the word gets out, it's toxic to any area receiving bad reviews. This will make an impact on the Civic Center's ability to bid for shows - and it's not in a positive way!

Honestly hope they prove me wrong but....

In short, Salisbury cannot handle this festival and the whole ordeal just makes the City look more ridiculous and inept than ever before. While it should be telling to witness the spectacle unfold, smart citizens will probably bail for the three-day blowout as it will no doubt metamorphose into an incubus of criminality, mismanagement, embarrassment and upheaval, which Salisbury will be left to clean up for years to come.

UPDATE:
In response to 3:21PM's comment about the mess left by Woodstock crowd. Here is an image of the debris left behind. Is this what will happen to Salisbury next September?

Salisbury Maryland Police Department Gives Out Expired Cookies, Trick Or Treat!

On Monday night the Salisbury Police Department was giving away an entire box of expired Girl Scout cookies to every child at the Trunk or Treat event in Salisbury. One has to wonder what the Health Department thinks of such a thing.

For years Salisbury News would get calls asking if we'd promote certain events where someone had cancer and an organization would be selling 300 tickets for $10.00 each for a chicken dinner, or whatever. Rather then advertising the event, we would purchase all 300 tickets and ask that they box up each meal. We would then go to the location the day of the event and pick up all the meals and deliver them to the homeless and or people in need. So we'd kill two birds with one stone and all of this was done with the funds we raise from our advertisers.

The next thing we knew, every non profit was confronted by the Health Department demanding they never do this again with Salisbury News, this is the honest to God truth. The Health Department was confronted by then Mayor Jim Ireton and Police Chief Barbara Duncan. Karma is a bitch now, isn't it Chief.

Publishers Notes: I want to clarify, the Health Department was not present at the "Trunk or Treat" event.

BREAKING NEWS: HIGH SPEED CHASE IN FRUITLAND

Multiple, (15) police vehicles are chasing a white 4X4 truck north bound on Rt. 13 in Fruitland. More to come...

Update from a viewer:

Hey Joe,
There is a gathering of State Police both uniformed and undercover, a canine, and a helicopter flying over Fulton Street off of Eastern Shore Drive.

Breaking News: The charges against Paul Manafort, President Trump's ex-campaign chief, include money laundering, tax fraud and foreign lobbying violations

Paul Manafort and his former business associate were indicted on Monday on money laundering, tax and foreign lobbying charges, a significant escalation in a special counsel investigation that has cast a shadow over President Trump’s first year in office.

Mr. Manafort, the president’s former campaign chairman, and his longtime associate Rick Gates, surrendered to the FBI on Monday. The special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, said Mr. Manafort laundered more than $18 million to buy properties and services.

In front of the Salisbury Mall. Big truck ran over small car.

Caption This Photo 10-30-17

Daylight Saving: What Do People Really Think?

Do you believe we should continue with Daylight Savings Time or eliminate it completely?

Breaking News: Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl won't serve time in prison for deserting his base in Afghanistan in 2009. He will be dishonorably discharged.

Sergeant Bergdahl was 23 and a private first class when he walked off his base in eastern Afghanistan in June 2009. Army investigators would later characterize his departure as a delusional effort to hike to a larger base and cause enough of a stir that he would get an audience with a senior officer to report what he felt were problems in his unit.

But the soldier, who is now 31, was captured by the Taliban within hours, and would spend five years as a prisoner, his treatment worsening after every attempt he made to escape.

They are now down to only one register at the counter but they have two self ordering kiosks that no one seems to be using, at least while we were in there. We didn't even notice them until we had already finished ordering. Aside from that, I like to pay cash when I order food, call me old school. I just don't like using a credit/debit card to pay for 99% of the things I purchase. How about you?

Do You Agree?

A Viewer Writes: Busy GeoEnginering Day

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg doesn't Plan to Retire

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg doesn’t plan to retire just yet.

“As long as I can do the job full steam, I will do it,” the 84-year-old said at an Equal Justice Works event Friday.

"I used to have an answer that worked for a lot of years,” Ginsburg said of her future retirement. “It was Justice Braindeis, when he was appointed he was the same age as I was, 60. And he stayed for 23 years, so I expect to stay at least as long. Well, now I've passed Brandeis, I've passed [Justice Felix] Frankfurter.”

Ginsburg has served on the Supreme Court for 24 years.

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Maryland State Police Search For Suspect Who Rammed Police Vehicle In Princess Anne

(PRINCESS ANNE, Md.) – Maryland State Police are searching for a suspect who is wanted for, among other charges, ramming a police vehicle during a traffic stop Wednesday in Princess Anne.

At about 11:15 a.m. Wednesday, members of the Maryland State Apprehension Team and MSP Gang Enforcement Unit were attempting to apprehend Lamount Maurice Potter Jr., 21, of Crisfield, who was wanted on an outstanding violation of probation warrant for possession with intent to distribute narcotics. Investigators attempted a traffic stop on a 2017 Ram 2500 pickup truck in the area of McCain Drive and College Backbone Road in Princess Anne, Maryland.

Potter was originally a passenger in the truck, which was being operated by Lashae Caprice Smith. According to investigators, Smith initially attempted to drive around several police vehicles to avoid being stopped by police. Smith then reversed the truck and intentionally struck a police vehicle parked behind it.

Smith then got out of the vehicle – it is unclear whether she was pushed or got out voluntarily – and Potter moved over into the driver’s seat where he accelerated the truck and deliberately rammed another police vehicle on the front driver’s side, disabling the police car. Potter then accelerated through the police vehicle, pushing it forward, before striking a UMES road sign and driving through a ditch to escape police capture.

Potter then drove northbound on Route 13 before abandoning the vehicle in the area of Route 13 and South Boulevard in Salisbury approximately 15 minutes later. The suspect then ran away from the scene.

A Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office K-9 unit arrived on scene to attempt a K-9 track, which was met with negative results. MSP Aviation responded to assist with the search for Potter, which also was met with negative results. At this time, police are still attempting to locate Potter.

No police personnel or civilians were injured during this incident. If anyone should see Potter, or have information regarding his whereabouts, you should contact police immediately.

Family Visiting Baltimore Inner Harbor Attacked By Teen Mob

It’s the heart of Baltimore’s tourism industry, but the Inner Harbor turned into a nightmare for a visiting family of 10 earlier this month.

Out of nowhere, they were swarmed and beaten by a large number of teenagers.

While the family that was attacked does not want to be identified, they do want their story to be heard. They told their story to WJZ off-camera.

“They swarmed us,” said Stacey. “They hit my husband in the head. They knocked him out… and then it was just complete bedlam.”

It happened on the day of the Baltimore Marathon, Oct. 21. The event brought a big crowd to the harbor that night. The 10 family members, from grandparents to grandchildren, were walking by the H&M store when they were overwhelmed.

“And they punched my nephew in the face and knocked him to the floor,” Stacey said. “My sister went to protect her son, and they were kicking her. I was kneeling with my husband, screaming ‘Somebody help us, why is nobody helping us?'”

Baltimore City police spokesman T.J. Smith says groups of teens have been a problem in the city.

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A Viewer Writes: Salisbury Fire Dept Volunteers

I received mail this week claiming to be the 2017 Fund Drive for the Fire Department.

I am hoping other readers can educate me on this.

The information is misleading as part of it say Salisbury Fire Department and part of it says SFD Volunteers.

I thought the volunteers were divorced from SFD.

Whats the deal?

AGAIN: Girl Beat With Baseball Bat By Teens In Baltimore...

Another brazen assault, and another mother left in awe. It’s a story that is only being shared with WJZ.

“These attacks, these assaults, someone is going to get killed,” said Kia Martin, whose daughter was attacked at the Inner Harbor on Halloween.

For the third time in just days, a group of teens strike yet again at the Inner Harbor.

This time, Kia Martin’s daughter is one of the victims.

“The group of teens surrounded my daughter and her friends,” she said. “My daughter was stomped, kicked, punched, thrown to the ground, beat with a baseball bat.”

“She has three staples in her head, both of her hands are broken. I’m pissed. I’m pissed,” she said. “I just don’t understand why a group would want to go around and terrorize innocent people. My daughter walks that path to and from school every day, and to think that this can happen, it scares the hell out of me.”

More here

Until Some Pissed Off Spouse Kicked Out The Lights...

SPD glows purple this weekend to help raise awareness about Domestic Violence & show support for victims & survivors. DV affects us all.

Delaware Could Let Students Decide Race, Gender Without Parental Consent

White boys could soon self-identify as black girls in Delaware.

The state Department of Education is considering sweeping regulations regarding discrimination that would allow children to determine their gender and their race.

The proposed “Regulation 225 Prohibition of Discrimination” could set the stage for a gender-bending, cultural appropriation free-for-all in the nation’s first state.

“All students enrolled in a Delaware public school may self-identify gender or race,” the proposed regulation states.

The state educators use a term called “Protected Characteristics” to describe race, ethnicity, national origin, sex, gender, gender identity and other characteristics protected by state or federal law.

And the proposed regulation should scare the living daylights out of every mom and dad in the state. It clearly states school leaders would not necessarily be required to notify parents if Billy suddenly decides to identify as Sally.

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Poll: 6 In 10 Black Americans Say Police Unfairly Stopped Them Or A Relative

A new poll out this week from NPR finds that 60 percent of black Americans say they or a family member have been stopped or treated unfairly by police because they are black. In addition, 45 percent say they or a family member have been treated unfairly by the courts because they are black. The poll is a collaboration between NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

The poll reveals the consequences of these stops for black Americans personally and across society — 31 percent of poll respondents say that fear of discrimination has led them to avoid calling the police when in need. And 61 percent say that where they live, police are more likely to use unnecessary force on a person who is black than on a white person in the same situation.

Previous polls have asked similar questions, but ours is unique in that it's the first to ask about lifetime experiences with policing. It's part of NPR's ongoing series "You, Me and Them: Experiencing Discrimination in America."

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Do you believe that you or someone in your family has been unfairly stopped or treated by the police because you or they are African-American?

Jesse Jackson Calls On NFL Players To Escalate Their Protests

I didn’t think I could possibly like the Reverend Jesse Jackson any less than I do, but today is just full of surprises. Other than the asshats of the Houston Texans yesterday, most of the NFL protests were scaled way back. If Jackson gets his way, it won’t be that way for long. Speaking to the Houston Chronicle on Sunday, Jackson said, “The players should escalate their nonviolent protests. Donald Trump called them ‘sons of bitches.’ (Colin) Kaepernick is not degrading the flag. He’s kneeling to pray, which is in our best tradition. If we had not knelt and prayed nonviolently, where would we be today as a society?” Oh, bull feces. Kaepernick is not kneeling to pray. He’s facing the wrong way for Mecca. And what Jackson really wants… just can’t wait to see… is violence, regardless of what he says.

All of this came to pass after Texans Owner Bob McNair made disparaging comments about the players last Friday. During that meeting, McNair mangled the saying, “can’t let the inmates run the asylum.” Saying instead, that you “can’t let the inmates run the prison.” He eventually apologized for the reference, but it gave ammo to the leftists and militant black nationalists unfortunately. This didn’t sit well with NFL Executive Vice President of Operations Troy Vincent either, who took offense to those comments. Nor did it make the union or the NAACP happy.

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Congressman Says Jeff Sessions Has Recused Himself on Uranium One Deal

Attorney General Jeff Sessions told a small group of lawmakers in late September he was recused from appointing a special counsel to look into potential corruption surrounding the Uranium One deal and Fusion GPS’s work on the Trump dossier, according to one of the lawmakers present.

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) told Breitbart News on Wednesday that he and other House Judiciary Committee Republicans had met with Sessions at the Justice Department on September 28 in advance of an upcoming committee hearing with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein later this month.

Gaetz said that when he asked Sessions to appoint a special counsel to investigate the 2010 Uranium One deal and Fusion GPS, the attorney general stood up, said he could not discuss the matter because he had recused himself, and walked out of the room, leaving them with a group of Rosenstein staffers “who showed no interest.”

“He said that anything that had to do with 2016 election, or Russia, or the candidates in the 2016 election, fell under the scope of his recusal, and he left the room,” Gaetz said.

Other House members present at the meeting were Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) and Reps. Jim Jordan (R-OH), Ron DeSantis (R-FL), and Louis Gohmert (R-TX).

Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said others in the room do not remember Sessions saying anything like that and that the subject was “discussed.” She would not comment on whether Sessions has recused himself.

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