I'm Just Curious?

Also on my way into the City Council Work Session I saw a Fire Truck pulling onto Rt. 50 from Hebron. As I got closer, (my camera was in the bag) I realized this wasn't a Hebron Fire Truck at all?

It was a Salisbury Fire Truck. Now recently I've watched City of Salisbury Police Cars traveling out of the City and heading West on Rt. 50 past Sasafras and West towards Hebron with their lights on and racing down the road and now I see a Salisbury Fire Truck out of place.

Is there something I don't know about a shared Police & Fire Department into the Hebron territory? I'm not kidding here Folks, I see this quite often.

Oh, you gotta admit, this is a pretty cool shot of the Fire Truck in the rear view mirror, isn't it? I wanted to prove I was heading into Salisbury just before the Bypass.

Do You Know Where Your Children Are?

As I was driving into tonight's City Council Meeting I was on the Bypass doing my usual driving over the speed limit, (it's one of my biggest faults) when three cars came upon me so fast I couldn't believe my eyes. They were doing at least 120 mph and flew past me like I was standing still.

I was able to catch up to them on the Rt. 50 exit ramp and snapped off a few shots. Look, I know if one of my kids were driving as fast as these kids were, I'd want to know. SO, that being said, if you recognize these cars and or their tag numbers, know they were in excess of 100 mph, no doubt about that. Also know there was less than 1 car length between them while driving at that speed.

The car with the DE Tags had two teenage girls in the car and as soon as they saw my camera they knew they were in for it right then and there. One can only hope it scared them half to death and they'll learn from this experience.

The Bypass is a very dangerous place for racing and I can only hope the Police start Policing that stretch of roadway more often, please? They'll save a lot of lives.

Oh, since I gave the Police a tip I get a free pas from any speeding tickets too!

Fall Is In The Air In Delmar

Renoir Does It Again!

The photo of Renoir's last win have arrived and once again Cassandra Williams, (his handler) has pulled off another Major. 5 more points to go and he too is a Champion.

Barrie Tilghman Has Been The Biggest Supporter Of The Charles Jannace Campaign!

"If" it were not for Barrie Tilghman begging the public in a Press Conference to go visit reallifejustice.blogspot.com and duvafiles.blogspot.com, I doubt very seriously Charles Jannace would have ever considered running for Office.

Now there's a new player in the field and without any question, in the very least, Charles Jannace will assure that Ron Alessi, (a good friend of the Mayors) will not succeed.

Tomorrow final numbers will actually show just how powerful the Blog Sites are to this Community as the local media and Committees have somewhat blackballed the Jannace Campaign and he has fought tooth and nail to get his message out to the Public.

There's no question that Charles Jannace has forced the other Candidates to at least adopt some of his platform issues and it has created an awareness to the public in which they are better informed and can expect far more from this new position of County Executive.

So my hat is certainly tipped to Charles Jannace for making Wicomico County a better place to live as well as do business! Remember that when you go to vote Folks.

You can't ask for a better platform than the Jannace platform, no matter what anyone says. Achieving those goals might be a whole different subject but no matter, they "all" make sense and it creates a fantastic guideline for the future.

Once again, Thanks Barrie for all your help and support.

Hey, Sucker, Look What You Can't See Any More!

Before I demolished the illegal tree stand on my property I climbed up into it and took a few shots of 1/3 of our property there. As you can see, this was a perfect spot to spot deer and other wild animals. I'll go back every other day and see if these Idiots return?

Here's To Barrie Tilghman & Chief Webster

Please do tell us who has the best environment for horses? Nevertheless, "OUR" horses were out this weekend having a blast in their very own pond. Hope you had an enjoyable weekend as well.

My Impression Of, "Flip This House."

Poll Question #4

Have you ever been to a "strip club"? (Answer separated by sex)

Male - Yes Male - No Female - Yes Female - No

Trends In News Distribution

Has anyone else noticed how the main stream media sources are almost begging for news tips, story idea's, and newsworthy photographs?

Just take a look at the front page of the disgrace and you'll see an item called "Contact Us" which is nothing more than a request for you to send in any juicy story or tip. No credit, no pay, no free paper, nothing.

Then you have WMDT TV47 with their "Newswatcher" banner at the top of their website and 30 second TV ads. Their motto is "See it, shoot it, send it in"!

And finally WBOC.com with a dedicated menu item on their website called "Your Story Idea's"

All of these ploys are meant to get the best possible, breaking news stories to the news outlet in a timely fashion simply so they can "run" with it as if it were their own staff and hard work bringing you the latest. You might say "What's wrong with that, don't you even ask for people to call you with their tips?" And I can only say there is one BIG difference between the local blog sites and the media sources mentioned above. They are out to make a PROFIT with your free contribution. The sell advertising space and in the case of the disgrace they even have the nerve to sell the rag they call daily news.

The face of news as we know will change in the near future. Blog sites are fast becoming a reliable means of legitimate news and is able to distribute the information in a fast and efficient manner.

Breaking The Law

Yesterday Jennifer and I took a stroll around our property in Willards and came upon a brand new deer stand directly on our property, completely illegal.

As we were tearing down the stand, three 4-wheelers came racing across the field next to our property and while they were riding in our direction all we could hear them saying was, "OH SH*T!"

It had to kill these people to watch us tear down this brand new stand and walk away with it but you know what, tough sh*t! I must have posted a hundred no hunting no trespassing signs around this property. They just don't listen! I've read articles about people getting snagged all over the Eastern Shore for illegally hunting and I simply thought it might not have been as wide spread as I had originally thought but I just can't keep people off my property.

Now I'll call in DNR and hopefully they make a few arrests and some of these people will learn? Have you seen or heard of similar problems where you're from?

One Of Our Horse Trails In Delmar

Do you think the horses might have liked it here Chief?

The Former City Council Work Session In October

Along with the agreement of all present (the flying monkeys) to remove the ability of councilpersons to request information from council meeting audience members, and the miserable solution to the mounted patrol mounts, the firetrucks came back to haunt.

Last month, with only a bid of $600 for the 1981 American LaFrance pumper (probably $150,000 purchase price, with over $120,000 in improvements), the council looked to investigate selling the vehicle on eBay. A similar truck was selling at the time (not the final price) for over $6000. At Monday's work session, the finance officer came to the meeting to tell them, after a month of opportunity, that she didn't know how much it would cost to sell the vehicle, or how many city employee man-hours would be necessary to carry out the sale. She delivered this information in kind of a whiny and nervous voice, which indicated to me that she hadn't made any effort at all to do the investigation, which would have taken her about 20 minutes on the eBay site, or, worse yet, was instructed by someone either not to even try or to supress her findings if she did. Having had rather extensive experience myself with selling on eBay (I've actually made mortgage payments with profits from selling mostly junk on eBay,) I can, with assurance, relate that the listing cost for the truck would be under $100, that eBay would take as a selling fee 6% or so of the final selling price, and that a totally unexperienced seller could list an item, with pictures and description, in under two hours. An experienced user could do it in 20 minutes. I attempted to relate this information to the council, but you know how it is: I was gaveled down, and after the meeting, dissed by Dunn. The more probable truth behind the matter is that the council (minus Mrs. Campbell) wants to give the truck away to the Fairmount Volunteer FD! Gary Comegys led the discussion on this one, and remarked (like it came to them as a pleasant surprise) that it would build a good relationship with Fairmount via a goodwill effort. What *%##^@# goodwill do we have to build with Fairmount, I have to *^#@&&*# ask??! Here we are with a major budget deficit looking us square in the eye, the mayor and council giving more away every time they meet, and we choose to dispose of a valuable piece of property for what will amount only to boosting Gary Comegys' reputation within the Maryland fire community? Oh, yeah, you can bet that his plate at the muskrat and 'coon dinner down there will be forever gratis. And the presentation of the piece will undoubtedly be by Gary, representing the City among a large gathering of redneck voters, followed by a big spread in the Times, with pictures, of course, and these will be framed for the wall of the Fairmount VFD. The PR will follow Gary, but it won't follow the City. Frankly, if Fairmount wants the engine, let them bid for it. $6000 and more can be had quite handily through both fundraising and State and even Federal grants held and requested by Fairmount. Gary can show them how, he being the all-things-fire-station knowledgeable fellow that he is.


As for the second truck, the SFD has requested to keep it for parts, as they have a very similar, if not identical engine in service. This will no doubt grace a bay in the new $12M and climbing firehouse on the bog until it is a skeleton and only worth pennies per hundredweight. Actually, I like this idea of recycling this engine, as the cost of body and other parts for these is astronomical. I wish that they'd thought about this before they first offered it for sale.

As an update, as of late October, straight from the horse's mouth, the SFD has decided not to keep the second engine, stating that it would be more of a bother to keep it than not.

City Of Salisbury Horse Auction

To All Those Concerned:

After several meetings Jennifer and I came to learn from several different people that Chief Webster and Barrie Tilghman were absolutely NOT going to allow Jennifer and I to own and or even purchase "any" of these horses. "I don't care if Albero offers a million dollars for each horse, he's not getting them."

Bill & Judy Hearne respectfully asked us to step aside and not place any bid on the horses as it would simply do no good at all. We have respected that request as I wouldn't want the Chief or Pam visiting our home and seeing just how the other side lives anyway. (LOL)

It is funny to see and know they'll go to all these extremes and expenses just to keep Jennifer & I out of the Zoo, (Grandparents Membership) purchase land and even horses now from the City. That's OK Barrie, you'll be out of Office soon enough and we'll all make sure a proper Mayor replaces you.

More importantly Folks, I trust the Hearne Family and I believe these horses will in fact go to good homes. As soon as I know more information I'll let you know.

Mathias & Conway Are Off To The Races

Today at Ocean Downs Race Track they were holding/broadcasting the World Series of Horse Racing, (The Breeders Cup). Mathias & Conway knew exactly where to be as they made very sure that all the gamblers in the Club House were greeted with smiles, brochures, handshake, hugs and everything they wanted to hear from these two candidates.

It was heard throughout the Club House, "WE WANT SLOT MACHINES, WE WANT SLOT MACHINES!" Well, what you want and what you're going to get are two different things!

Since I used to live in Ocean City I thought I'd throw out some information 99% of you weren't aware of. Did you know that every Sunsations Store has an electrical outlet in the floor every 8 to 10 feet apart? I wondered why these people were buying out these locations like there was no tomorrow and building these grand stores for tee shirts? I finally asked someone who was helping build out many of the locations and he replied, they're doing it because they're banking on Slots coming to Ocean City and they want to be 100% prepared ahead of time.

That also explains why the current owner of Ocean Downs bought back the Race Track that was failing and then invested so much money rebuilding the main building. It was always well known that Jim Mathias was dead set against Slots coming into Ocean City. However, things have changed now that he's no longer there. Could he know something we don't? Could it be that Slots may be just around the corner but not under his watch as Mayor?

On the other side of the coin, could this be why he's running elsewhere because he wants to help prevent such a thing from happening? Oh, the game of politics, isn't it just grand?

County Executive Hopeful Charles Jannace & Son Worked The Salisbury WalMart Today

As Charles Jannace would hand out campaign pamphlets they'd sometimes find themselves all over the ground in WalMart and or directly in the trash can. I'm confident some actually stayed in the posession of some voters but when I asked one of the employees inside WalMart what their thoughts were they said, we've been picking these things up off the floor all day long as well as emptying the trash cans because their so full.

You gotta hand it to the guy though, he's out there giving it his best. Could it still be a day late and a dollar short though? We'll see on Tuesday. Little Charles was testing the enter/exit doors as he'd run in and out of them making sure they worked properly.

Welcome To The Salisbury Lowe's

Obviously the Chief Of Police is doing a MUCH better job with Crime and Gangs in the City!

Let's see, we started out only months ago where the Chief actually said there were no Gangs in Salisbury and now he's admitting things with Gangs are actually pretty serious.

Rather than Gangs slowing down and getting a grip on things, more graffiti is showing up in areas we hoped would never be exposed.

So please, do tell us Chief, why shouldn't we join forces with a County Wide Police Department when we have daily proof you're behind the 8-Ball every day. Oh, maybe you just don't see all this crime and my Blog Site has made your job even easier? You don't have to go anywhere as I'll deliver the photos and locations so you don't have to do anything!

I'm sad for the Officers trying to hold their heads high while their Boss sits in Ocean City in a complete other County while they clean up your mess as best as possible.

Sorry Chief, you're a nice guy and all but you know what, it's getting pretty bad in Salisbury and it's getting far worse under your watch, like it or not. Blame it on transient criminals all you want, they're coming here for a reason and I'd say it's because Salisbury is an easy target and the Chief of Police is asleep behind the wheel.

Enough is enough and it's time for immediate changes.

Do You Think The City Of Salisbury WWTP Can Sell The Coast Guard Human Feces From Their Sludge Pit????

Landfill gas to heat shipyard in $3 million, 15-year deal

By Brent Jones

Sun Reporter

November 1, 2006

It's praised as a win-win deal for everyone: The U.S. Coast Guard gets a cheap supply of energy, cash-hungry Baltimore receives a total of $3 million, and tons of landfill gas laden with methane are prevented from leaking into the atmosphere.

Under an agreement scheduled to be announced today, the Coast Guard will pay the city $200,000 annually for 15 years for the methane, which will come from the city's Quarantine Road Landfill, where it accumulates naturally as solid waste decays.

The gas will be piped about a mile to the Coast Guard shipyard in Curtis Bay, where a methane-powered co-generation plant will generate electricity and produce enough steam to heat the shipyard during the winter.

Construction of the plant is expected to begin next summer and to be completed by the spring of 2008. The city will begin receiving payments for the gas after the pipeline is completed and the plant begins to operate.

Methane is the primary component of natural gas, but it is more cost-effective when derived from landfill gas. Coast Guard officials say the new system will eventually result in saving millions of dollars in utility costs. But those savings will not appear for 15 years after the Coast Guard pays for the plant and pipeline.

Cmdr. John Slaughter, facilities engineer for the shipyard, said the use of methane to generate electricity and thermal energy will enable the Coast Guard to satisfy a federal mandate requiring agencies to become more energy-efficient.

"We will be pumping 30,000 pounds of steam per hour," Slaughter said.

The deal is part of a broader national push by businesses and governments to generate electricity or steam from decomposing garbage buried in landfills. The shift allows for federal tax breaks and gives an alternative to rising natural gas prices.

Last week, the city signed a contract with a Milwaukee-based company to use methane produced by the Back River sewage treatment plant to generate electricity. Officials expect the deal to save the city $1.4 million a year in energy costs while improving air quality.

"Public works has been on a course to reduce energy and protect the environment through a number of projects," said George L. Winfield, the city's public works director. "The bottom line is, this is something else the city is doing to protect the environment."

Environmentalists point out that methane is a potent greenhouse gas and is 23 times more effective at trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide, the gas most closely associated with global warming.

Government officials in Anne Arundel and Baltimore counties have embarked on similar plans to sell landfill gas.

The Quarantine Road landfill opened in 1985, holds about 10 million tons of waste and averages about 35,000 tons of rubbish every month. It is one of five public solid waste disposal sites in the city, resting on 126 acres.

Landfills are also the largest source of methane emissions created by man in the United States, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

City officials expect an overflow of gas from the Quarantine Road landfill and plan to sell off gas rights beyond the needs of the shipyard.

"I think that is a very viable option," Winfield said. "We don't have definitive information on how much methane gas will be generated. But we continue to add materials to landfills. We just know there are going to be an opportunities for other non-governmental entities."

Link to the article: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.methane01nov01,0,6842256.story?coll=bal-local-headlines

Nemo's Championship Photo Is In

Don't forget the Dog Show in Salisbury sponsored by the Salisbury Kennel Club on November 10th, 11th & 12th. (Friday, Saturday & Sunday)

We have Renoir entered in that show as well. There's not enough dogs in his class to possibly win a Major but the more points the better.

GO CASSANDRA WILLIAMS!

SALISBURY CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION AGENDA

NOVEMBER 6, 2006
4:30 p.m.
CONFERENCE ROOM 305
GOVERNMENT OFFICE BUILDING

4:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Pipe stem annexations – Paul Wilber

5:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. Discussion and outline of proposed amendments to Planned Development Districts (PDD) – Jack Lenox/Paul Wilber

5:30 p.m. – 5:50 p.m. Ordinance – amendment to the rental license ordinance to allow the license to be withdrawn if a nuisance violation – Chief Allan Webster

5:50 p.m. – 6:20 p.m. Review of annexation incentive policy – John Pick

6:20 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. General discussion/upcoming agendas