Attention

The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not represent our advertisers

Tuesday, April 06, 2010

Military Can’t Find Iraq Video

Clip was withheld from Reuters after 2007 request

WASHINGTON
- The U.S. military said Tuesday it can't find its copy of a video that shows two employees of the Reuters news agency being killed by Army helicopters in 2007, after a leaked version circulated the Internet and renewed questions about the attack.

Capt. Jack Hanzlik, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, said that the military has not been able to locate the video within its files after being asked to authenticate the version available online.

"We had no reason to hold the video at (Central Command), nor did the higher headquarters in Iraq," Hanzlik said in an e-mailed statement. "We're attempting to retrieve the video from the unit who did the investigation."

GO HERE to read more.

Adam Kondziola's Arrangements

Joe,

As you know, Adam Kondziola, 28, passed away after a motor vehicle accident on the Salisbury Bypass last Friday night/Saturday morning. His family has completed the arrangements and they are as follows:

Friday, April 9, 2010

Harvest Baptist Church
119 S. Salisbury Blvd.
Salisbury, MD 21801
(410) 742-8041

Visiting Hours from 5:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Celebration of Life at 7:00 p.m.

A memorial fund has been created in his name; details will be available at the service. His obituary should run in tomorrow's newspaper.

George Collins Hit With A $500,000.00 Bond!


Incident: Bomb Scare
Date of Incident: 6 April 2010
Location: 100 block of Main Street, Hebron, MD
Suspect: George M. Collins, 38, Salisbury, MD


Narrative: On 6 April 2010 at approximately 9:00 AM, the Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office was notified by employees of the Hebron Savings Bank in Hebron, MD about a suspicious package left in their drive-thru teller lane. Upon the arrival of deputies, they located an old chest with suspicious writing on it. This find came on the heel of another suspicious package found the previous day in front of the Mardela Springs Post Office. That package was also left with suspicious writing on the exterior that was believed meant to be intimidating. Both packages were treated as if they may have contained some sort of improvised explosive device and both caused concern in their respective communities.


Investigation identified George M. Collins of Salisbury as the individual responsible for leaving behind both packages.


In today’s incident local resources were augmented by Bomb Technicians from Ocean City, MD as well as one from St. Mary’s County Maryland who arrived via Maryland State Police helicopter. The package in Hebron caused the bank, town hall and a local grocery store to be evacuated as a precaution. After the package was detonated, it was determined not to be a threat.


Shortly after the Hebron package was discovered, deputies took Collins into custody. After questioning and further investigation, he was transferred to the Central Booking Unit where he was processed and taken in front of the District Court Commissioner. After an initial appearance, the Commissioner detained Collins in the Detention Center in lieu of $500,000.00 bond. WCSO deputies received assistance from the Maryland State Police and the State Fire Marshal’s Office with this investigation.


Charges: Placing a Phony Destructive Device (2 Counts)
Disturbance of the Peace (2 Counts)
Littering (2 Counts)

PeeWee The Cat Has Been Found

Just a quick update. The cat we posted earlier has been found. Thanks Folks.

Nightly News At 6 PM

Eastern Shore Town Is An All-America City Finalist

Tuesday, April 06, 2010
Scott Wykoff and Associated Press

More than two dozen communities, including Salisbury, have been named finalists for the National Civic League's 2010 All-America City Awards.

The Denver-based organization says the cities were selected for addressing such issues as diversifying the labor force and funding services during the recession.

The other finalists are Chandler, Ariz., Bentonville, Ark., Dublin, Lynwood, Rancho Cordova and the Vernon Central neighborhood, Calif., Miami Lakes and North Miami, Fla., Acworth, Ga., Belleville and Canton, Ill., Noblesville, Ind., Des Moines, Iowa, Lenexa and Scott County, Kan., Bowling Green, Ky., Ferguson and Riverside, Mo., Lynbrook, N.Y., Gastonia, N.C., West Chester and Wyoming, Ohio, Mount Pleasant, S.C., El Paso, Texas, Abingdon, Va. and Middleton, Wis.

State Of Delaware Office Of The State Fire Marshal - Soda Bottle Bombs

The Delaware State Fire Marshal’s Office and the Delaware State Police EOD unit are investigating an incident involving “Soda Bottle Bombs” found on Monday April 5th at approximately 1600hrs.

The “Soda Bottle Bombs” were found in the pool area of the Village of Five Points West Development. They were rendered safe and taken as evidence for further investigation.

Anyone with information should contact the Sussex County Division of the State Fire Marshal, 302-856-5600 or Crime Stoppers 1-800-TIP-3333.

Anyone observing or finding “Soda Bottle Bombs” should STAY AWAY and notify 911 immediately.

LOST CAT IN PITTSVILLE


Hey Joe,

Have seen how good your site is at finding lost animals so thought you could help. Monday our house cat Peewee somehow got out of the house and we haven't been able to find her. She is lost in the Pittsville area.

She is a female that has all shots and has been fixed. Hopefully you can post the
attached picture to your site and find her. My daughters are extremely sad that she is missing. Thanks for all you do for the animals.

Sincerely,
Jim Riekert
410-835-2211

Don't Miss Our 6 PM News Broadcast Tonight


URGENT “BEAT THE PEAK”

7 P.M. to 9 P.M., Tonight, April 6th

7 P.M. to 9 P.M., Tomorrow night, April 7th



Because of the warm weather forecasted in our region tonight and tomorrow night, we are asking you to delay the usage of all unnecessary lights and appliances during these hours as well as turning your thermostat up 3 degrees.

While the largest consumers of electricity in the home during these hours and during this time of year are cooling costs and lighting, other large consumers of electricity include major appliances such as dishwashers, washing machines, clothes dryers, water heaters and stoves.

By delaying the use of unnecessary lighting and appliances as well as turning your thermostat up 3 degrees between 7 P.M. and 9 P.M., tonight and tomorrow night, we can save energy resources, avoid high cost energy and help the environment.

For more information on our “Beat the Peak” program visit www.beatthepeak.coop and be sure to signup for a free In-Home Indicator which you plug into the wall and it will alert you when a Beat the Peak event happens.

You can also follow our Beat the Peak alerts and other news by becoming a follower of Delaware Electric Coop on and/or.

If we all save a little, together we save a lot.

WICOMICO COUNTY COUNCIL MEETING TONIGHT!

Today's meeting starts at 6 PM so you have not missed it, in the normal place: Council Chambers on the 3rd floor of the Government Office Building.

The agenda is posted here: http://www.wicomicocounty.org/council/agenda_minutes/AGENDA.htm

Hebron Savings Bank Suspicious Package Images










The package was placed at HSB on Sunday afternoon. He drove there on his gator. It was placed against the wall by the drive-thru. He was at the bank for a while placing it in different locations. It was not easily seen. It was discovered by a drive-thru customer this morning. The bank was evacuated while just a couple of customers were inside.

Collins had a motorcycle repossessed by HSB president Greg Johnson two or three years earlier.

Happy Birthday Joe Albero On Suspicious Bomb Package At Hebron Savings Bank

The Maryland State Police had to fly in a Bomb Technician from Easton to work on the suspicious package left in the Drive Thru at the Hebron Savings Bank in Hebron, MD.

During their investigation law officials found Happy Birthday Joe Albero on the package. Further investigation on George Merrill Collins, Waller Road in Salisbury, Maryland revealed no prior arrest history and could be released as soon as this afternoon by a Commissioner.

While the Sheriff's Department charged Mr. Collins with multiple charges, because of no prior arrest history and the fact that he's probably not a flight risk, the odds of him being released are pretty good.

That being said, we are reaching out to the Waller Road Community and asking that neighbors contact the Wicomico County Sheriff's Office, (410-548-4891) immediate if they see Mr. Collins driving his Gator anywhere off his property.

Shhh!!!, What If It Was Reported That They Are Spraying Aluminum?

Could a Ban of Transparent Reporting at the Asilomar Conference be an Attempt to Cover-Up World-Wide Contamination From Stratospheric Aerosol Geo-Engineering Programs?

Geo-engineers gathered once again near Monterey California at the Asilomar International Conference on Climate Intervention Technologies meeting to develop norms and guidelines for what they say will be “controlled experimentation” on geo-engineering the planet. While many claim that stratospheric aerosol geo-engineering (SAG), aka chemtrail programs are in full-scale deployment, organizers of this meeting showed a lack of transparency by either denying or holding reporters to a high set of rules which limited what information was brought to the attention of the public. While we might never know how much information from the conference was suppressed in articles and reports, we do know some of the information that was not included. The issue of current SAG deployment and the use of aluminum in these programs seemed to be missing from reports and articles that came out of the conference.

Mauro Oliveira, webmaster of GeoEngineeringWatch said that aluminum became a concern to many after the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) meeting when independent journalists sent shockwaves around the world after breaking the story of scientists discussing the plausibility of spraying 10 to 20 mega-tons of aluminum into the sky in SAG campaigns. Francis Mangels, a retired USDA/USFS Biologist commented on the use of aluminum by saying, “although aluminum is an abundant element, it does not exist naturally in the environment in free form. Dispersing massive amounts of ultra-fine aluminum particulates as proposed by geo-engineers into the stratosphere would have unquantifiable human health and environmental impacts”. When scientists were asked about the risks associated with the use of aluminum sprayed as an aerosol in SAG programs, they admitted that they have only begun to research aluminum and have published nothing. They also admitted that something terrible could be found in the future that they don’t know about. Also, when asked about deployment of current programs, scientists denied that any SAG programs have been deployed. This contradicted the findings of many who claim that SAG programs are well under-way and that high amounts of aluminum and other harmful substances from these programs are being found resulting in the devastation of eco-systems and the health of people around the world.

GO HERE to read more.

Toyota: Sales Incentives Extended Through April

Discounted leases, zero-percent financing helped boost sales amid recalls

NEW YORK - Toyota will continue to offer most of its heavy incentives throughout April after the deals helped lift its sales more than 40 percent last month, the automaker said Tuesday.


Toyota Motor Corp. will continue to offer cheap leases on up to eight of its most popular models, including the Camry, Corolla and RAV4. It is scaling back its zero-percent financing offers to just six vehicles instead of eight, but is expanding a popular two-year free maintenance program to all customers.


The free maintenance program was limited to just return customers in March, but Toyota said it is expanding the program because it was popular among customers.


GO HERE to read more.

U.S. Court Rules Against FCC On Net Neutrality

Ruling is setback for agency's push for national broadband plan

WASHINGTON - A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that the Federal Communications Commission lacks the authority to require broadband providers to give equal treatment to all Internet traffic flowing over their networks.

The ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia is a big victory for Comcast Corp., the nation's largest cable company. It had challenged the FCC's authority to impose so-called "net neutrality" obligations on broadband providers.

The ruling also marks a serious setback for the FCC, which is trying to officially set net neutrality regulations. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski argues that such rules are needed to prevent phone and cable companies from using their control over Internet access to favor some online content and services over others.

GO HERE to read more.

Veteran Employee Of Griscillo’s Thriftway Charged With Theft Over $300,000

Incident Location: Thiftway, 196 Penn Mart Shopping Center, New Castle, Delaware, New Castle County

Date of Occurrence: April 2009 – November 2009

Involved Parties: Suspect Allan Finlaw, 47, of Carney’s Point, New Jersey

Resume: Detectives from the Delaware State Police Financial Crimes Unit have completed the investigation into the theft of over $300.000 from the Griscillo’s Thriftway in New Castle.

Yesterday afternoon, Troopers formally charged Allan Finlaw with 8 counts of Falsifying Business Records (felony). He voluntarily turned himself at Troop 2, accompanied by his attorney, and was released on a $13,000.00 unsecured bond.

This investigation revealed Mr. Finlaw, a 20-year-employee at the grocery store, was responsible for making the bank deposits for the business. An audit of the business records revealed Finlaw began to keep some of the proceeds from these deposits in the beginning of 2009. He would then make up the shortage by using the following days deposit to cover his tracks. This behavior continued through November of 2009.

In all, the business lost over $300,000.00 and eventually closed.

Delaware Electric Co-op's Connection Card Program Hits A Milestone


Delaware Electric Co-op’s Connection Card Program hits a milestone
Members have saved over $500,000 on prescription
drugs since the program began




GREENWOOD-- Delaware Electric Co-op members using their Co-op Connections card have realized huge savings at pharmacies and participating local and national businesses.

During the month of March, savings on prescription drugs for Delaware Electric Co-op members surpassed $500,000 since the Connections Card program began in October, 2007.

The Co-op Connections card is a three prong savings program for electric cooperatives across the country. There is the prescription drug saving program, local business discount program and the national business discount program.

Local and national pharmacies, through a discount prescription program, offer 10 to 60 percent savings on many prescription drugs. Currently, over 48,000 independent and national pharmacy chains are participating in the program. Also, more than 160 local businesses across the Delaware Electric Co-op service area are participating by offering discounts unique to their business.

“This is another way your Electric Cooperative is working for you, our member,” said Bill Andrew, Delaware Electric Co-op President & CEO. “But remember, the only way we can do better and to save more is for you to make sure you are using your Cooperative Connections Card whenever and wherever you can,” he continued.

Delaware Electric Co-op and electric cooperatives across the country have provided these cards for their members to receive discounts from any of the participating businesses or pharmacies across the nation. For a full listing of discounts and benefits provided by the Coop Connections Card, visit our website at http://www.delaware.coop/. For members who have misplaced their cards call our office at (302) 349-9090 in Sussex County or (302) 398-9090 in Kent County for a replacement.

Delaware Electric Cooperative is a member-owned electric utility serving over 77,000 member-owners in Kent and Sussex County, Delaware. For more information visit us on the web at www.delaware.coop or http://www.beatthepeak.coop/ or follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

Michael Steele Digs In His Heels

A defiant Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said he is mending his spending but not stepping down.

"I hear our base out there, I hear the leadership," Steele told ABC's "Good Morning America." "And we're taking steps to make sure that we're even more -- how shall we say? -- fiscally conservative in our spending."

But asked whether he would resign, Steele bluntly responded, "No."

A recent Federal Election Commission report on RNC expenditures included hundreds of thousands spent on private jets, luxury hotels and a $1,946 reimbursement for a night at Voyeur, a sexy Los Angeles nightclub with a lesbian and bondage theme.

Steele said he was "angry" when he learned of the nightclub expenditure, took steps to deal with the situation -- then blamed his critics for blowing it out of proportion.

"I think a lot of this has really kind of taken it a lot further down the road and blowing it up larger than it needs to be," the chairman said.

So far, no leading Republican has come forward to call for Steele to step down, and if Steele is getting behind the scenes pressure to go, he sounds like he is resisting.

But pushing out the Republican Party's first black chairman is a tricky business, and many Republicans have so far preferred to criticize Steele's leadership while publicly stopping short of demanding his ouster.

A recent National Journal survey of Washington Republican insiders found that 71 percent believe Steele is a liability to the party, while 20 percent judged him an asset.

[ Inconvenient Factoid: Ignoring all the spin, the first black chairman of the RNC has reportedly raised $96 million since he was elected, but has already blown through most of it, with the fall midterm elections still seven months away-- Editor ]

Many top donors have said they will no longer donate to the committee, opting instead to give their money to congressional committees, the Republican Governors Association, or individual campaigns.

The key responsibility of the party chairman is raising money, and a new splinter group of former Republican officials is planning to challenge him on that front.

New American Crossroads includes former RNC Chairman Mike Duncan and former RNC co-Chairwoman Joanne Davidson. Former Chairman Ed Gillespie, along with former Bush administration political adviser Karl Rove, are also involved, among others.

More here

Salisbury Police Department Press Releases

On April 5, 2010 at approximately 10:22 pm, Officers of the Salisbury Police received a call to respond to the Peninsula Regional Medical Center to meet with the victim of a rape. Upon arrival the officers met with a juvenile female who advised that she had been raped by a subject known to her family. The victim advised that the assault occurred at a residence on Jefferson Street, and during the assault the suspect refused to let her leave the residence. Detectives from the Salisbury Police responded and following her interview, obtained an arrest warrant then took the suspect into custody.

ARRESTED: Ernest Carlton Johnson, 45 years of age
Salisbury, Maryland
CHARGES: Second degree rape
Second degree assault
False imprisonment
Reckless endangerment
DISPOSITION: Released to Central Booking
CC # 201000013512

On April 5, 2010 at approximately 1:57 pm, Officers of the Salisbury Police received a call to respond to the Sears Department Store at the Centre at Salisbury for the report of two (2) shoplifters. Upon arrival the officers met with store security who advised that store employees had observed the below listed suspects taking clothing from the store without making any attempts at payment. The suspects were stopped and the property was recovered and returned to the store.

ARRESTED #1: Jaleshia Antionette Turner, 18 years of age
Princess Anne, Maryland
ARRESTED #2: Juvenile, 12 years of age
Princess Anne, Maryland
CHARGES (Both): Theft (under $ 1000)
DISPOSITION: Suspect # 1 released to Central Booking
Suspect # 2 released to guardian
CC # 201000013440

On April 6, 2010 at approximately 2:05 am, Officers of the Salisbury Police received a call to respond to the five hundred (500) block of Winder Street for the report of an assault. Upon arrival the officers located an adult female victim of a domestic assault. The victim advised that she had been assaulted by the below listed suspect during an argument. The suspect struck the victim a number of times in her facial and torso areas. The victim was transported to the Peninsula Regional Medical Center for treatment, and the suspect was taken into custody.

ARRESTED: Randy N. Nelson, Sr., 46 years of age
Salisbury, Maryland
CHARGES: First degree assault
Second degree assault
Reckless endangerment
DISPOSITION: Released to Central Booking
CC # 201000013531