Toddler found wandering naked outside IHOP, passed-out adults charged

PANAMA CITY, Fla. (CBS12) — A toddler found wandering naked in the parking lot of an IHOP led to the arrest of his passed-out mother and her fiancé.

Last Friday, Panama City Police took a call from restaurant employees that they found the boy at around 5:30 a.m., all alone in the parking lot. The employees covered him with an apron. They also noticed a couple in a van nearby, passed out. The employees were unable to wake them up.

Police responded. According to the city, officers found the couple to be under the influence of drugs. Police not only found drugs in the van but nine-month-old twins. One of the twins was covered in blankets and pillows.

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Congolese Migrants Monitored for Ebola Along Texas Border

A public health official in Laredo, Texas, said 20 Congolese migrants were monitored for Ebola and other diseases in shelters in his city and across the Mexican border in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas. Shortly after his announcement during a Laredo City Council meeting, the World Health Organization (WHO) considered declaring a “global emergency” in response to a massive outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

“We have 8 Congolese right now in one of our shelters and a dozen in Nuevo Laredo,” Laredo Health Director Dr. Hector Gonzalez told the Laredo City Councilman George Altget during a council meeting on April 4. “For them, my concern was Ebola.” He said that due to the time element, the Congolese migrants were not developing symptoms of Ebola. “But, we’re on alert to check that,” he said.

A report from the WHO states that, as of April 10, there have been more than 1,200 reported cases of Ebola in the Congo (1,140 confirmed, 66 probable).

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California man sets self on fire in Target parking lot: officials

A California man on Wednesday suffered third-degree burns to the front half of his body after he used a lighter to melt a gasoline-filled jug, fire officials said.

The unintended immolation took place in a Target parking lot in Modesto, about 100 miles east of San Francisco. The man, who was not identified, had melted the mouth of the jug to make pouring gasoline into his car easier, his girlfriend told investigators.

The jug exploded into flames, setting the man and another vehicle on fire, The Sacramento Bee reported. Dustin Bruley, a supervisor of the Stanislaus Regional Fire Investigation Unit, told The Bee that the man was burned from his face to his feet and his shoes were melted.

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https://www.foxnews.com/us/california-man-sets-self-on-fire-melts-shoes-in-target-parking-lot-officials

This ‘Innovative’ Housing Program Serves Just 3 Households

Macy Valdez works in Denver but for a long time didn’t think she could afford to live here. She earns $38,000 a year as a receptionist at the Saint Joseph Hospital cancer center, too little to afford rent in many downtown apartments.

Yet since January, Valdez, 28, has been living in a one-bedroom apartment seven blocks from her office in a building complete with a game room, a gym and a pool. She moved in thanks to a city program that blends public and private funds to subsidize rents for lower-income workers.

City leaders nationwide have been calling Denver to learn about the Lower Income Voucher Equity program — “LIVE Denver,” for short — since Democratic Mayor Michael Hancock announced the first-of-its-kind partnership in 2017. The program has been profiled in national newspapers, and Denver officials regularly tout it at housing conferences.

But nearly two years in, LIVE Denver is serving only three households and might never achieve the scale city leaders promised. Saint Joseph Hospital is the only employer to partner with the city so far. City officials now expect the program to serve about a hundred households, a quarter of the 400 households they initially estimated.

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Rashida Tlaib Calls for Hunger Strikes to ‘Shut Down ICE’

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.) urged her supporters to join her in a hunger strike to push for action to "shut down" U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), arguing the radical push to abolish ICE can't be achieved by Congress.

Tlaib, headlining a Detroit fundraiser this past weekend for the Michigan Coalition for Human Rights, complained of colleagues who are constantly "policing" what she says and lack willingness to embrace bold stands such as abolishing ICE. She called on her activist audience to join her in a hunger strike at the border.

"It's going to take movements outside the halls of Congress," Tlaib told the crowd, according to video captured by America Rising, a conservative group.

"I want you all to shut them down, we can shut them down," Tlaib said to applause. "Don't wait for this Congress to act, shut them down."

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CNN's April Ryan calls for Sarah Sanders to be fired

CNN political analyst April Ryan called for the firing of White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders on Thursday, claiming Sanders “lied” to the media following the release of the Mueller report.

In May 2017, following the turbulent firing of FBI Director James Comey, Sanders told reporters that “countless” FBI agents had lost confidence in Comey despite one reporter’s assertion that the “vast majority” of them supported his leadership. According to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office, Sanders told investigators her claim was a “slip of the tongue” and was “in the heat of the moment,” admitting that it was not founded on anything.

Ryan, who is also a White House reporter for the American Urban Radio Networks, blasted the press secretary on Thursday night for “lying” to the American people.

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https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/cnns-april-ryan-calls-for-sarah-sanders-to-be-fired 

AMERICA’S RAGE: Where Are the Investigations into Hillary Emails, Clinton Foundation, Uranium One, AGT Intl, Obama FBI and DOJ Crimes?!?

Attorney General Bill Barr stated that the Mueller Special Counsel did not find the Trump campaign colluded in Russian efforts to tamper with the 2016 election. The Special Counsel report completely exonerated President Trump on the junk charges brought against him by a corrupt Democratic operatives inside the DOJ and FBI.

This was a devastating blow to Democrats, liberal media hacks and Deep State operatives.

But this is not enough! For a decade now Americans have seen the Obama Administration, the Clintons, the Clinton Foundation and Obama’s Deep State FBI, DOJ and their cohorts in the Mainstream Media and Democrat Party get away with numerous crimes.

Where is the investigation into their crimes? When will Americans receive justice?

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County takes steps to add to room tax

After voting unanimously last month to consider increasing room tax rates to 5 percent, the Worcester County Commissioners introduced legislation this week to set the wheels in motion, with a subsequent public hearing scheduled in late May.

Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan pitched the idea of increasing the room tax, which is imposed at the county level, from 4.5 percent to 5 percent during the commissioners meeting on March 19.

Although frequently, if erroneously, called a hotel room tax, the charge is applied to all room rentals, from hotel rooms to condominiums.

Kelly Shanahan, Worcester County’s assistant chief administrative officer, told the commissioners Tuesday that raising room tax rates involves two stages.

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Resort raises tram fares, talks wage increase

Although not officially adopted, the Ocean City Council concluded a recent series of public meetings on the $138 million fiscal 2020 budget with a wrap-up meeting on Tuesday.

In the wrap-up, council members discussed lingering topics and made some changes to the budget, although the bottom-line impact is not yet known.

Budget hearings began April 2 and the fiscal document is to set to be finalized next month. A first reading is scheduled May 6 and a second reading is scheduled May 20.

Items discussed during the wrap up included:

Tram fare increase

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Governor Hogan Signs Sweeping Reforms of UMMS Board Into Law

Swift, Bipartisan Response to Revelations of 

Wrongdoing and Corruption

ANNAPOLIS, MD—Governor Larry Hogan today signed major legislation to completely overhaul the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) board of directors, a swift response to revelations of wrongdoing and corruption that have prompted a public outcry. The legislation removes the members of the board, bars no-bid contracts for UMMS board members, and requires a full, independent audit.

House Bill 1498, which was sponsored by the late Speaker Michael Busch, is one of 195 bills the governor signed today alongside Senate President Thomas V. “Mike” Miller and Speaker Pro Tem Adrienne Jones.

“Today, we are enacting sweeping changes to bring much-needed reforms and transparency to the University of Maryland Medical System board,” said Governor Hogan. “UMMS is an institution near and dear to the hearts of many Marylanders, myself included. There cannot even be the appearance of impropriety from those connected with the hospital system, especially in positions of such importance.”

Last month, immediately after questionable financial dealings involving UMMS board members were first uncovered, Governor Hogan held a meeting with UMMS leaders and the presiding officers to demand answers and begin the work of cleaning up the board. The governor committed to pursue major reforms and demanded for UMMS board members to sever their relationships and step down.

On April 1, Governor Hogan asked the state prosecutor to conduct a formal investigation into the allegations of “self-dealing and no-bid contracting” involving Baltimore City Mayor Catherine Pugh’s role as a member of the UMMS board.

“This legislation is a good first step, but more needs to be done,” Governor Hogan added. “I remain committed to holding UMMS leaders accountable, and I will appoint board members who will serve with integrity and transparency.”

The Mueller report just left egg on Democrats’ faces

They wanted it, and they got it. Special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election has been released, and it confirms — yet again — what everyone except liberal conspiracy theorists already knew: President Trump’s campaign and Russia didn’t collude. Good news: We still elect our presidents!

Yes, Trump once taunted Russians to find Hillary Clinton’s missing e-mails. Yes, Trump’s inner circle took a meeting with a Kremlin-linked lawyer. And yes, Paul Manafort, Roger Stone and others have been charged with crimes. These things look bad and, to varying degrees, they are. But they don’t add up to any kind of Kremlin–Fifth Avenue conspiracy to subvert democracy.

In fact, Trump’s election is now the most verifiably legitimate election in history. No other campaign has endured the kind of scrutiny that the Trump team has withstood. For nearly two years, 19 lawyers and 40 investigators questioned some 500 witnesses worldwide. They issued 500 search warrants and 2,800 subpoenas.

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Why the ‘Free the Nipple’ Win in Court Is a Loss for Women

A federal appeals court thinks there’s no difference between a man’s bare chest and a woman’s naked chest—and, despite what some feminists are saying, that’s bad news for women.

Ignoring the real biological differences between men and women strips women of our rights to physical privacy. And even as more and more women are speaking out about their experiences of sexual harassment, the ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit—that’s likely to be appealed to the Supreme Court—tells them that those experiences are not legitimate.

As part of the #MeToo movement, women have shared wrenching personal stories of sexual harassment, ranging from unwelcome comments and touches to the extreme of rape.

Thousands of women have related stories of the trauma they experienced because of unwelcome looks, comments, and physical contact with their breasts. These women know, innately, that their breasts are intimate, sexual parts of their bodies, and when their breasts aren’t respected, women suffer serious emotional harm.

But on Feb. 15, the federal court upheld an injunction that prohibits the city of Fort Collins, Colorado, from enforcing a law that prohibits females 10 years old and older from going topless in public.

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Study: Nearly 1M Migrant Children Could Enter U.S. Before 2020 Election

Nearly one million migrant children could enter the United States, either unaccompanied or with their border crossing parents, before the 2020 election if projected rates of illegal immigration pan out, new research finds.

Current illegal immigration projections by Princeton Policy Advisors researcher Steven Kopits predicts that there could be about 1.28 million border apprehensions this calendar year — a rate of illegal immigration that would exceed every fiscal year of former Presidents George W. Bush and Obama.

Kopits’ finds that up to 300,000 migrant children could enter the country by the time school begins in September for most students under a scenario where illegal immigration continues at projected rates throughout the next year and a half.

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Major Increase In Depression Among Young Adults Over Last Decade May Be Due To Digital Media

Mental health issues, notably depression, increased significantly for young adults in the last ten years, and researchers pin some of the blame the rise of the popularity of digital media.

“Cultural trends in the last 10 years may have had a larger effect on mood disorders and suicide-related outcomes among younger generations compared with older generations,” says study lead author Dr. Jean Twenge, professor of psychology at San Diego State University and author of the book iGen, in a release. “More U.S. adolescents and young adults in the late 2010s, versus the mid-2000s, experienced serious psychological distress, major depression or suicidal thoughts, and more attempted suicide. These trends are weak or non-existent among adults 26 years and over, suggesting a generational shift in mood disorders instead of an overall increase across all ages.”

Dr. Twenge and her team analyzed data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, a nationally representative survey tracking drug and alcohol use, mental health, and other health issues in Americans over age 12 since 1971. The research team examined survey responses from over 200,000 youths between the ages of 12 to 17 from 2005 to 2017. They also analyzed 400,000 individuals over the age of 18 between 2008 to 2017.

Overall, the rate of major depression symptoms reported in the last year jumped 52% in adolescents between 2005 and 2017 (from 8.7 percent to 13.2 percent), and 63% in young adults 18 to 25 (from 8.1 percent to 13.2 percent). Young adults also reported psychological distress symptoms in the last 30 days 71% more between 2008 to 2017 (from 7.7 percent to 13.1 percent). Suicide-related thoughts and outcomes increased 47% between 2008 and 2017, affecting 10.3 percent of young adults (up from 7 percent).

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AK-47-toting migrant smuggler sparked deadly shootout with ICE

An AK-47-toting man smuggling illegal immigrants opened fire on ICE agents in Phoenix last week, sparking a shootout that left another member of his smuggling gang dead, according to court documents detailing the latest episode in what authorities say is growing violence in the illegal immigrant economy.

The incident has drawn scant national attention, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and federal prosecutors have been tight with details, saying the April 11 shootout is still under investigation.

But the picture that emerges from the court documents is of an abusive immigration-smuggling gang running a stash house on an Indian reservation that spans the border, preying off the misery of migrants whom they kidnapped and extorted for money before delivering to their destinations.

Authorities were tipped to the gang when one of the migrants, who’d wasn’t a client but whom the gang kidnapped just after he snuck across the border, managed to escape through a window and flagged down a police officer.

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BREAKING: State’s High Court Rules Against OC In Boardwalk Property Battle

OCEAN CITY – The state’s highest court on Friday denied a petition by the Town of Ocean City to hear an appeal in the battle over ownership of a Boardwalk property, essentially bringing closure to the longstanding case.

The state’s Court of Appeals on Friday denied a petition for writ of certiorari filed in February by the town against Nathans Associates, the heir and owners of the century-old-plus building the east side of the Boardwalk at South Division Street, which, for decades, has been home to the iconic Dumser’s Dairyland. The petition asked the Court of Appeals to hear the case after the lower Court of Special Appeals ruled twice against the town.

The high court’s denial of the petition brings closure to the case, which has made its way up and down the court system since a decades-old agreement between the town and Nathans Associates expired in 2016. The town prevailed in the initial case at the Worcester County Circuit Court level, but Nathans Associates appealed that outcome to the Court of Special Appeals.

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Governor Hogan Calls Special Session of the Maryland General Assembly

House of Delegates to Elect New Speaker on May 1

ANNAPOLIS, MD—Governor Larry Hogan today signed an executive order calling for the Maryland General Assembly to convene a special session on Wednesday, May 1.

This special session, which comes at the request of the presiding officers, will allow the House of Delegates to elect a successor to the late Speaker Michael E. Busch.

“It is my solemn duty to call a special session of the General Assembly in order to elect a successor to Speaker Busch,” said Governor Larry Hogan. “As we close a significant chapter in our state’s history, we will continue the critical work that Mike Busch dedicated so much of his life to doing.”

Click here to access a signed copy of Executive Order 01.01.2019.04.

Proclamation Convening the General Assembly of Maryland in Extraordinary Session at Annapolis Maryland on May 1, 2019

Whereas, the Honorable Michael E. Busch, Speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates, passed away on April 7, 2019, causing an outpouring of grief from the citizens of the State;

Whereas, Speaker Busch was the longest-serving speaker in the State's history, and was widely respected and admired for his lifelong dedication to service to the State and its citizens; and

Whereas, the House of Delegates, in accordance with its rules, must elect a new speaker to succeed Speaker Busch;

Now, therefore, I, Lawrence J. Hogan Jr., Governor of the State of Maryland, by virtue of the authority vested in me by Article II, Section 16, of the Maryland Constitution and the Laws of Maryland, hereby proclaim and convene a special and extraordinary session of the General Assembly of Maryland to commence on Wednesday, May 1, 2019, in the City of Annapolis to enable the House of Delegates to elect a new Speaker.

Amazon and Walmart testing program to let food-stamp recipients buy groceries online

Amazon and Walmart on Thursday are kicking off a two-year pilot established by the government to allow low-income shoppers on government food assistance in New York to shop and pay for their groceries online.

ShopRite will join the retailers early next week, said the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. The USDA has long required that customers using electronic benefits transfer, or EBT, pay for their purchases at the actual time and place of sale. So the move marks the first time SNAP customers can pay for their groceries online.

ShopRite and Amazon are providing the service to the New York City area, and Walmart is providing the service online in upstate New York locations. The agency said the pilot will eventually expand to other areas of New York as well as Alabama, Iowa, Maryland, Nebraska, New Jersey, Oregon and Washington. The pilot will test both online ordering and payment. SNAP participants will be able to use their benefits to purchase eligible food items but will not be able to use SNAP to pay for service or delivery charges, the agency said.

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NYC cathedral suspect is a college instructor who had booked a flight to Rome

A 37-year-old man who was arrested Wednesday after entering St. Patrick's Cathedral carrying two cans of gasoline, lighter fluid and butane lighters had also been arrested at a New Jersey cathedral this week and had booked a flight to Rome, the New York Police Department said.

Marc Lamparello, a college instructor, has been charged with attempted arson, reckless endangerment and trespassing, according to police.

"There doesn't appear to be any connection to any terrorist group or any terrorist-related intent here," said John Miller, the New York Police Department's deputy commissioner of intelligence and counterterrorism.

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Students Deserve Credit For Talking

How bad could it have been?

That’s what many were wondering after last week’s press conference on the legitimate threat made by students at Snow Hill Middle School last month.

While details are scant, what we do know is authorities were alerted by the school system of a potential school shooting plot. School officials learned about it when concerned students shared what they were hearing. A police investigation ensued, and the threat was found to be credible. Evidence was found in the homes of two juveniles supporting a planned shooting event at the middle school and confirmed, “the plot had been several months in the making,” according to a press release.

Human nature dictates a need for more information. There are many unsubstantiated rumors circulating in the community about this threat, but it will be weeks or maybe months before we know exactly what the two juveniles intended to do to their classmates, teachers and administrators at the small middle school with students in grades 4-8.

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"I would classify it as federally funded drug dealing": Dozens arrested in massive opioid bust

Just after sunrise in Cookeville, Tennessee, federal, state and local agents prepared for the largest opioid takedown of medical providers in the country. Dozens of people were arrested in seven states after prescribing 32 million pills.

"If you overprescribe, if you steal from a taxpayer, you're going to go to jail," said Special Agent Derrick Jackson.

Wednesday's operation stretched across states among the hardest hit in the opioid crisis. In all, they indicted 60 individuals including doctors, nurses and pharmacists. In one case, a Tennessee doctor known as "the rock doc" who piloted a reality TV show about his clinic, allegedly prescribed dangerous combinations of opioids in exchange for sexual favors.

Agent Jackson drove CBS News through Clay County and Cookeville, a small town with fewer than 8,000 residents. But it's also home to three pharmacies on the same block. Two of them prescribed more than 1 and a half million opioid pills.

Dozens indicted Wednesday are also charged with billing Medicare and Medicaid for unnecessary prescriptions.

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ISIS-Linked Group Posts Notre Dame Cathedral Warning: ‘Wait for the Next’

Supporters of the Islamic State group used Monday’s fire at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris to threaten future attacks, even though the investigation of the blaze has so far shown no links to terrorism, according to published reports.
 
“Wait for the next,” was the translation given to one image posted by an Islamic State-linked group that showed flames near the bell towers of the cathedral, the U.K. Daily Mail reported, citing the privately run SITE Intelligence Group. The towers survived.

Another piece of propaganda spelled out “Have a good day,” in Arabic letters, while another called the fire “retribution and punishment,” SITE reported, according to the Daily Mail.

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North Carolina Dem. Gov. Vetoes Newborn Protections

North Carolina Democratic governor Roy Cooper vetoed legislation that would require doctors to provide care to newborns who survive abortion.

On Thursday, Cooper vetoed the bipartisan Born Alive Abortion Survivors Act passed by both chambers of the Republican-controlled state General Assembly. He called the legislation an "unnecessary interference between doctors and their patients" in a release announcing the veto.

"This needless legislation would criminalize doctors and other health care providers for a practice that simply does not exist," he said.

Cooper's response to the bill contrasts from the statements of Virginia Democratic governor Ralph Northam, who told a radio station that care can be withheld without the consent of the mother. Northam defended a late-term abortion bill—which was eventually blocked Republican lawmakers—by citing his career as a doctor.

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1800 Migrants Illegally Enter El Paso Sector in ONE DAY

El Paso Sector Border Patrol agents apprehended more than 1,800 migrants who illegally crossed the border Tuesday. More than half crossed into the El Paso Metropolitan Area.

Lordsburg Station agents patrolling near the remote Antelope Wells Port of Entry in the New Mexico boot heel region encountered a group of 230 shortly before 1 a.m. on April 16, according to El Paso Sector Border Patrol officials. The agents began the long task of medically screening, processing, and transporting the migrants to the station.

About five minutes after the apprehension of the first group, another set of agents encountered a group of 360 migrants just west of Mount Cristo Rey in Sunland Park, New Mexico, officials reported.

The agents working in the Antelope Wells Port of Entry area encountered yet another large group of 130 migrants at about 11:45 p.m. to close out their day.

In total, the El Paso Sector agents apprehended a total of more than 1,800 migrants on Tuesday — at least half entering in the El Paso Metropolitan area, officials stated.

During the first six months of Fiscal Year 2018, El Paso Sector agents apprehended less than 11,000 migrants who illegally crossed the border from Mexico. So far this fiscal year, that number has skyrocketed to more than 71,000.

“It is very clear that the cartels and their smugglers know the weaknesses in our laws,” Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan said during a visit to the Texas border this week. “They know that family units and unaccompanied children will be released with no consequences for their illegal entry”

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SBY MSP Press Release 4-19-19 (Alcohol Related Traffic Crash)

Ex-CIA Analyst: US Intel Community Biased for Democrats

The U.S. intelligence community holds an institutional bias toward the Democratic Party, and this has grown under President Donald Trump, according to former CIA analyst John Gentry.

Gentry, who is now a Professor at Georgetown University's Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, wrote in an article for the International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence that former senior intelligence leaders, including CIA Director John Brenan, and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, had broken traditionally held prohibitions by publicly discussing liberal political views and criticizing Trump.

"The attacks on Trump were unprecedented for intelligence officers in their substance, tone, and volume," he wrote. "Critics went far beyond trying to correct Trump's misstatements about U.S. intelligence; they attacked him as a human being."
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Hogan signs bills on hate crimes, cyberbullying

ANNAPOLIS, Maryland — Gov. Larry Hogan, R, pored over almost 200 bills Thursday, signing into law measures concerning cyberbullying, hate crimes and a state-recognized Freedom of the Press Day.

At this stage, Hogan has the choice of signing a bill into law, allowing it to become a law without signing, or vetoing the bill — with the exception of bills he’s already vetoed that have been overridden.

Thursday marked one of four bill signings Hogan has scheduled for April and May. Subsequent signings are scheduled to take place April 30, May 13 and May 23.

While these signings generally begin the day after the legislative session ends, Hogan delayed the ceremony out of respect for House Speaker Michael Busch, who died April 7, one day before the end of the session.

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The next Speaker should be one of substance, not style

The history of the speakership in Maryland dates back to February of 1777, following the state’s 1776 Constitutional Convention, where Maryland’s first Speaker of the House was selected from the county he founded, Montgomery County. Delegate Thomas Wooton, who a year prior to being selected by his colleagues as the state’s first Speaker, introduced legislation that broke Frederick County into three counties, Frederick, Washington and Montgomery – which was the first counties in the nation to be established by elected representatives.

Since its inception, Maryland has had a total of 106 gentlemen to have served as Speaker of the MD House of Delegates. Over the past 242 years, we’ve witnessed several different term limits on the number of years one could serve as Speaker, from one year to two years to now indefinitely; as well as a long list of farmers, former military and businessmen selected to serve in this role. But what we have yet to see happen to-date is the election of an African American or a female to this powerful position – which is guaranteed to happen this year with the election of three highly qualified candidates vying for the seat.

The selection between Prince George’s County Delegate Dereck Davis, Baltimore City Delegate Maggie McIntosh and Baltimore County Delegate Adrienne Jones will certainly tear apart the fabric of the democratic establishment, as each have long histories of distinguished service to their party, and have developed lasting relationships with the other members that serve in this distinguished body. But there can only be one winner, and the other 138 members of the House (excluding these three who will certainly vote for themselves) should carefully weigh the future of this state, and its politics, before casting their vote next month.

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Feds: 1 in 4 Inmates Are Foreign-Born, Costing U.S. Taxpayers $1.4B Annually

About one in four federal inmates are either an illegal alien, legal immigrant, or suspected foreign-born criminal, a new federal report concludes.

In total, there were nearly 240,000 inmates in the federal prison system as of 2018, a Department of Justice (DOJ) report finds. Of that total, nearly 60,000 of those prisoners were illegal aliens and legal immigrants who have been ordered to be deported, were in proceedings to be deported, or were currently under investigation by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to confirm their foreign-born status.

This dictates that about one in four — or about 25 percent — federal inmates are born outside the U.S. and came to the country either illegally or legally.

In Bureau of Prisons (BOP) custody, alone, foreign-born prisoners account for more than 20 percent of the total federal prison population. This confirms that about one in five federal inmates in BOP custody are foreign-born. There were nearly 40,000 foreign-born inmates in BOP custody as of 2018.

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New WOC Movie Theater Granted Beer, Wine Sales; No Drinking In Movies Will Be Permitted

BERLIN — In what will be a new concept for Worcester County, a movie theater in West Ocean City will include a small bar following approval from officials this week.

The Worcester County Board of License Commissioners (BLC) agreed to grant Flagship Premium Theaters a beer and wine license Wednesday. The license will allow the theater, which is expected to open May 15, to install a small bar in its lobby.

“This is a new concept for Worcester County, but I think you’ll find it’s a very benign concept,” said Joe Moore, the theater’s attorney.

Moore told the board that Flagship Premium Theaters, which will occupy the space previously occupied by Michaels in the White Marlin Mall, was seeking a beer and wine license to set up a modest bar in a portion of the theater’s lobby. The space, to be called the Pig and Whistle, would serve beer and wine as well as light fare. Moore said the company already had a Pig and Whistle bar in its Wareham, Mass., location and that it had been successful.

He stressed that patrons would not be able to take their alcoholic drinks into the theater.

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DHS Considers Classifying Fentanyl As 'Weapon Of Mass Destruction'

An internal government memorandum attained by Task & Purpose reveals that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is considering labeling fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction (WMD).

Dated Feb. 22, 2019, under the title "Use of counter-WMD authorities to combat fentanyl," the memo said the toxic painkiller would be identified as a WMD "when certain criteria are met," and that DHS officials have "long regarded fentanyl as a chemical weapons threat."

Fentanyl is one of the most potent synthetic opioids out there, is considered to be 100 times more potent than morphine. Pain management physicians prescribe fentanyl to patients who experience severe pain but is also sold illegally.


The illegal form of fentanyl has been responsible for a massive spike in opioid-related deaths from 2011 to 2018. In 2017, approximately 28,000 Americans fatally overdosed on the drug.

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HUD moves to cancel illegal immigrants' public housing access

The Trump administration is proposing a new rule to try to block some 32,000 illegal immigrant-led families from claiming public housing assistance, saying it’s unfair to hundreds of thousands of Americans who are stuck on waiting lists.

Housing and Urban Development notified Congress Wednesday of the new rule, kicking off a schedule of publication and notice and comment that could have the plan finalized later this summer.

The plan would scrap Clinton-era regulations that allowed illegal immigrants to sign up for assistance without having to disclose their status.

Under the new Trump rules, not only would the leaseholder using public housing have to be an eligible U.S. person, but the government would verify all applicants through the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database, a federal system that’s used to weed illegal immigrants out of other welfare programs.

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Baltimore sees biggest population loss in single year since 2001, census estimates show

The U.S. Census Bureau’s annual population estimates have rarely brought good news for the city of Baltimore in recent years. The latest release is no exception.

The city lost 7,346 people, or 1.2% of its population, during the 12 months that ended July 1, 2018, according to census figures published Thursday.

The decline, which puts Baltimore’s estimated population at 602,495 as of July 1, 2018, is the biggest loss the city has experienced in a single year since 2001. It also marks the fourth year in a row in which the city’s population has fallen, starting in 2015.

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Thank God It's Friday

What will you be doing this weekend?

ACLU, 16 groups ask speaker hopefuls for greater openness, legislative reforms, term limits

By Len Lazarick
Len@MarylandReporter.com
The ACLU, Common Cause and 15 other progressive groups and unions are asking the candidates for speaker of the House of Delegates to answer a questionnaire that commits them to greater openness in the legislative process and to term limits for the speaker and committee chairs.

The twelve-part questionnaire raises many of the issues that have long troubled witnesses, advocates, lobbyists and journalists about how the legislature operates.

“We need to know where House Speaker candidates stand on good governance issues, because they will shape the direction of the state for decades to come,” said Dana Vickers Shelley, executive director of the ACLU of Maryland. “Marylanders deserve and rightly demand that legislators demystify the political process and allow for greater civic engagement. Moreover, decentralization of power, diversity, and inclusion affords our communities more robust and representative debate on important issues.”

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Friday Morning Funnies

 

Raffle: One week Rental Outter Banks Vacation House

Crazy Baseball Dodge