Ocean City Councilman Joe Hall Hates OC Visitors

Joseph T Hall II ▶ Citizens-for OceanCity

"It is very difficult for you to make informed choices when people are only feeding you part of the idea that support their closed minded views. The council has only asked for the big picture on parking meters. No one, even me has suggested blanketing ocean city with meters. I'm biggest supporter of getting users of our roads to pay for street repairs. Meter's do that. Why should property owners pay the whole 41 million in needed road repair and the day trippers and visitors that flood our roads and trash our town ride free. This is not about wheather we can or can't do roads. We have too. We are behind. This is who is the fairest to pay. I think it has to come from property tax and meter revenue. It's to big of number to be payed totally by one or the other. Please get whole picture before making up your mind. This bill is out there and it must be paid. We can no longer pass the ball down the road for another year. We can't afford to be city of no."

Survey Says We're All Still Suckers For That Thing Where You Buy Cheesy Valentine's Day Gifts

Your Valentine's Day bahumbuggery isn't fooling anyone — consumers are still throwing cash at cute stuffed animals, jewelry, candy and fancy meals to show their loved ones they're just that — loved. At least, according to a report detailing the mushy gushy season's shopping trends.

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No Matter How Great Those Super Bowl Commercials Are, Don't Forget To Pee

We know you don't want to look up the Super Bowl commercials on the Internet the day after, that's how dedicated you are to viewing each and every one when they air, but please, for the love of your urinary tract, don't forget to get up and pee at some point.

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Kodak Wants To Wipe Its Name Off Of Academy Awards Venue

It's generally seen as bad form for a bankrupt company like Kodak to have its name plastered on a theater as a title sponsor. Kodak, which filed for Chapter 11 protection last month, has realized it would have a lot more cash to burn if it could wriggle out of a $75 million, 20-year commitment to slap its name on the Kodak Theatre, which hosts the Academy awards.

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Anti-Gay Group Tells JCPenney To Fire New Spokeswoman Ellen DeGeneres

Conservative group OneMillionMoms.com, an offshoot of the American Family Association, doesn't like that JCPenney has hired Ellen DeGeneres as their new spokeswoman. Not because of her dance moves or jokes on her talk show, but because she's gay.

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Report Links Taco Bell To 2011 Salmonella Outbreak In 10 States

Last fall, at least 68 people in 10 states fell ill following an outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis. In the months since, the Centers for Disease Control have only referred to a possible source of that strain as "Restaurant Chain A," but a new report claims to have confirmed that the anonymous chain is actually Taco Bell.

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Israeli Officer: Iran Able To Make 4 Atom Bombs

The head of the Israeli army’s military intelligence branch, Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, says Iran already has enough enriched uranium to make four atom bombs.

In a rare public appearance, he told the annual Herzliya security conference Israel has conclusive evidence that Teheran is trying to develop nuclear weapons.

'When Khamenei gives the order to produce the first nuclear weapon – it will be done.'

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Homeland Security Scores Big Time

The Homeland Security Department scores a field goal days before the Super Bowl. Working with officials of the NFL, federal officers shut down hundreds of websites and seized nearly $5 million worth of counterfeit Super Bowl merchandise. Immigration and Customs Enforcement teamed up with Customs and Border Protection and Postal inspectors to carry out raids across the country. Operation Fake Sweep started in October and concluded yesterday. It also scooped up phony hockey, basketball and baseball merchandise.

Federal Pay To Remain Frozen

Federal pay would stay frozen for another year to help the Defense Department avoid sequestration cuts in a new plan from Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.). They say the bill would save $110 billion dollars a year. The Pentagon is facing a half-trillion dollars in automatic cuts, unless Congress does something. Earlier this week, the House cleared a one-year extension to the federal pay freeze to cut spending. But the Senate is unlikely to approve, and President Obama has promised to veto any bill that would undo sequestration.

Record 1.2 Million People Fall Out Of Labor Force In One Month, Labor Force Participation Rate Tumbles To Fresh 30 Year Low

A month ago, we joked when we said that for Obama to get the unemployment rate to negative by election time, all he has to do is to crush the labor force participation rate to about 55%. Looks like the good folks at the BLS heard us: it appears that the people not in the labor force exploded by an unprecedented record 1.2 million. No, that's not a typo: 1.2 million people dropped out of the labor force in one month! So as the labor force increased from 153.9 million to 154.4 million, the non institutional population increased by 242.3 million meaning, those not in the labor force surged from 86.7 million to 87.9 million. Which means that the civilian labor force tumbled to a fresh 30 year low of 63.7% as the BLS is seriously planning on eliminating nearly half of the available labor pool from the unemployment calculation. As for the quality of jobs, as withholding taxes roll over Year over year, it can only mean that the US is replacing high paying FIRE jobs with low paying construction and manufacturing. So much for the improvement.

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Halo Groundbreaking

What: HALO “Harvest of Hope” groundbreaking

When: Friday, 3 February 2012, at 1:30PM

Where: Garden area adjacent HALO Ministries Café behind the Giant Market at 119 South Blvd (South Boulevard and Eastern Shore Drive)

Info: Event is open to the public. Parking is available adjacent to the garden.

Valentine's Day Special

PUBLIC NOTICE

SPECIAL MEETING AND WORK SESSION SCHEDULED

In accordance with §SC2-4 of the Salisbury City Charter, a majority of the City Council
have called for a Special Meeting to be held on Monday, February 6, 2012, at 4:00 p.m. for the
purpose of considering revisions to Ordinance No. 2185 (Towing Ordinance) and Ordinance No.
2186 (towing fee structure) for first reading.

This special meeting will be held in Conference Room 306 of the City/County
Government Office Building (125 N. Division Street).

Immediately following the Special Meeting, the regularly scheduled Work Session will
be held. Both meetings are open to the public. Agendas and briefing materials can be found
online at http://www.ci.salisbury.md.us/cityclerk/briefingbook/WS2612.pdf. Hard copies are
available from the City Clerk’s office, (410) 548-3140.

Education Groups Want To Strengthen Requirement For Maintaining School Funding

Education groups in Maryland are asking the legislature to require waivers from counties that fall below maintenance of effort funding levels. Maintenance of effort mandates county governments to spend no less per student than the prior year or face penalties reducing annual increases in state aid.

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Worcester County Sheriff’s Office Press Release 2-3-12

On 02/02/2012 at approximately 1816 hours, members of the Worcester County Sheriff's Office arrested Skylar James Snead, W/M, age 22, of Dickerson, Maryland on a District Court Arrest Warrant issued on 01/31/2012 for Burglary-Fourth Degree and Theft-Less than $100. Snead was later taken before a District Court Commissioner and released pending trial.

Our View: Wicomico Schools Have Ample Funding

Yesterday's Daily Times feature article gives the impression that our counties K-12 education is in dire financial straits. However - the financial situation is not as bad as The Daily Times staff would have you believe. As most people know - The Daily Times staff is heavily laced with contributors that have strong affiliations and ties with the Board of Education - thus their agenda is to prop-up and syphon off as much taxpayers money as the public will allow them. Today - SBYnews gives our readers our version of the school budget.

Position on County Funding of Education
There are approximately 14,531 students and 1082 teachers in Wicomico County. That means there are approximately 13.43 students per teacher. If that is the case - then there should be fewer teachers - (reduced through retirement) - until the ratio is between 20/1 or 25/1. So let's run the numbers and see how this stacks up for Wicomico's taxpayers.

With a 20/1 ratio - we would need 727 teachers total. If they were all paid a top salary of $55,100 the teacher total would be 40.06 million dollars. Look at it another way - if the ratio is permitted to rise to 20/1, there would be 355 fewer teachers to pay. Presuming the most senior teachers (highest paid) would be the ones to retire, and, presuming they all make about 55.1k/year, then the County would save 19.56 million dollars - ($55,100 x 355 = 19.56m)

If the ratio went to 25/1 there would be 501 less teachers in Wicomico County. Then the savings would be even higher at $27.6 million dollars. At this level of savings - the County could easily afford to pay the remaining teachers substantially higher salaries. Moreover, at this level our County could even escrow and build a capital improvement budget whereby our County would not have to reach out and ask the State for anything. Upon reviewing the Maryland Board of Public Works website - it shows that there are currently three counties that are not requesting any State assistance for capital improvements - (Kent, Talbot, & Worcester).

Note: The current salary of a school teacher is very close to what a Federal employed Engineer would be making if you adjust for the fact that the Engineer is obligated to work 1940 hours verses a school teacher 1488 hours. Someone with a non-technical degree might not make as much as an Engineer. 1940/1488 is 1.303. That's the amount to multiply when you compare your salary with people that work all year and get two weeks and holidays off.

The big problem (or perk) with teaching is that they don't work all year. On the bright side - it gives them the opportunity to experience other jobs during the summer - or - to take long vacations if they can afford them.

Bottom Line - Wicomico's Superintendent John Fredericksen - has all of the tools at his disposal to bring Wicomico's educational budget into alignment with our public's financial expectations. The problem is - he may have already allied himself to special interest - after all - our County does not yet have an elected school board and thus it is not a true reflection or representation of our taxpayers constituency. In fact - it is laced heavily with educators who have shown that they have no qualms about imposing their will upon the people - (i.e. BMS).

We hope that our elected County Council members will take all of the above into consideration before they allocate additional taxpayers resources to the educational entity. As we said - John Fredericksen has all of the tools necessary - question is - how will he use them.

New Posts to fall below.

22 Senators Propose Lockbox For Transportation Funds

After Gov. Martin O’Malley proposed a 6% sales tax on gas to pay for infrastructure projects, Sen. Rob Garagiola and 21 other senators moved to make the tax more salable with a proposed constitutional amendment to safeguard the Maryland Transportation Trust Fund, which governors have repeatedly raided to balance the general fund budget.

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All 14-Year-Old Wants Is For Md. To Vote 'No' On Gay Marriage

WASHINGTON - A Bowie girl told Maryland legislators Tuesday all she wants for her birthday is for them to vote "no" on gay marriage.

While reading from a written statement, the home-schooled 14-year-old from Bowie told Maryland's Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee she feels badly for children who have two parents of the same gender, and fears a world where a legislature or court can change the definiton of any word, such as "marriage" in this case.

The video first appeared on the gay rights advocacy site ThinkProgress.org/lgbt.

"Even though some kids think it's fine, they have no idea what kind of wonderful experiences they miss out on," she said.

"I don't want more kids to get confused about what's right and okay," said the girl. "I really don't want to grow up in a world where marriage isn't such a special thing anymore."

Check out the audio of her appearance here:



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MATTHEW ALAN SCHIRLING CONVICTED OF COUNTERFEITING AND GUN CHARGES BY A WICOMICO COUNTY JURY

On January 31, 2012, after a two day trial in the Wicomico County Circuit Court, a Wicomico County jury found Matthew Alan Schirling, age 27, guilty of eight (8) counts of Possession of a Firearm by a Prohibited Person, Manufacture and Possession of Counterfeit U.S. Currency, Conspiracy to Manufacture and Possesses Counterfeit U.S. Currency, and Possession of Marijuana. The charges against Schirling originated from a joint investigation conducted by officers of the Salisbury Police Department, Fruitland Police Department, Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office, and the Maryland State Police, in February of last year. On February 9, 2011, a search and seizure warrant was executed at the residence of 1013 Caroline Street, Salisbury, Maryland, by the above listed law enforcement agencies. During the execution of the warrant, officers recovered eight (8) regulated firearms, 78 grams of Marijuana, $45,000.00 in U.S. Currency, and $13,370.00 in Counterfeit U.S. Currency.

Schirling was facing a maximum sentence of forty (40) years without the possibility of parole for being convicted of the eight firearms charges, and he faced the possibility of an additional twenty (20) years for counterfeiting U.S. currency.
State’s Attorney Maciarello stated: “This case was the product of good police work and communication and collaboration between the Salisbury Police Department, Fruitland Police Department, Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office and the Maryland State Police. Our local law enforcement agencies worked as a team to make our community a safer place. Guns and drugs are a constant danger to our citizens, and counterfeit currency is a danger to our local economy. We are thankful for all of the hard work and support that our local law enforcement agencies provided in bringing this case to trial.”

Wicomico County State’s Attorney Matthew A. Maciarello commended the Salisbury Police Department, Salisbury Police Department Safe Streets Officers, Fruitland Police Department, Wicomico County Sheriff’s Department, Wicomico County Bureau of Investigation, Maryland State Police Crime Lab, United States Secret Service, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

Mr. Maciarello also thanked Deputy State’s Attorney Ella M. Disharoon who prosecuted this case on behalf of the State. For more information or for an interview please call the Office of the State’s Attorney at (410) 548-4880 or go to www.wicomicosao.com.

Philosophy

Now here's an interesting little tidbit; a glimpse, if you will, into the functioning of the intellectual mind.

Being a technical person, I understand things much easier when they are put into a graphical format. This is a deceptively simple philosophy I have been working on and refining most of my life. I am delighted to say that I believe I have refined it down to its simplest form to share it with a select band of friends who may appreciate it. I hope you understand its elegance and simplicity.