Field Notes

Field Notes

Observations and Reflections on Legislative Activities

By Delegate Michael A. McDermott

Week 11 March 19-24, 2012
The news I bring you this week from Annapolis is not good. I will be providing a supplemental to these notes on some budget specifics. There will be changes and further compromises with the Senate before the final version is voted on. While I do not normally include amendment links, I did so on the budget and tax bills so you could see what was rejected by the democrat majority that rule the House. Not one Republican amendment was accepted.
Monday Evening Session
Second Reader, Third Reader
Tuesday Morning Session
Second Reader, Third Reader
There was only one controversial bill voted on this morning. HB-1204 will impose fees and further regulations for companies seeking to develop drill sites in western Maryland. No other state requires these types of fees, and now Maryland seeks to impose fees charged per acre on “potential” sites and continue to put the brakes on discovery and drilling for natural gas deposits located in Marcellus Shale. There was a significant amount of propaganda put forward by Chairman McIntosh citing many ground water contamination concerns. Although none of these instances has shown to have been caused by hydraulic fracturing in the process described, the chairman is a believer and is not swayed by many known facts. The passage of this bill only continues to set Maryland up for terrific losses of revenue due to the crafted moratorium by the General Assembly and the Environmental Matters Committee. This bill was passed on a vote of 88-49…many taking a walk on this bill while sitting at their desks.
Judiciary Hearings on Tuesday
HB-1365 would transfer collections for restitution payments from agencies like Juvenile Justice to the Central Collection Unit of the Department of Budget and Management. It was said that victims should benefit from a streamlined process and the CCU is better able to address the demands of these types of collections. The collection rate is currently 9% while CCU collection rate is 42.5%. HB-1143 would create a felony crime of Armed Home Invasion to address the increase in these types of offenses, particularly in the metropolitan areas. While there are particular cases which would support this bill, all of these offenses can be charged on existing law for the same or even greater combined sentencing. HB-1324 seeks to establish a standard for law enforcement on using eyewitness identification procedures. The goals of the bill are positive, but the opposition from law enforcement centered around the notion that we should not be legislating policy and procedures on best police practices. HB-1438 is a local bill seeking to allow Frederick County to perform background checks of a taxi applicant’s criminal history as a part of their processing. HB-1106 seeks to prohibit “inappropriate” searches of a minor by law enforcement and security (TSA) agents. It would require “probable cause” prior to a minor being subjected to intrusive searches of their person. HB-1111 seeks to provide limitation on the type of searches that can be conducted on persons in the United States. It stems from searches conducted by TSA personnel at airports but would apply to any searches conducted by agents of the government. The Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution provides protection from “unreasonable searches” and it would seem that most of the issues brought to the committee’s attention could be addressed through dealing with the TSA and congressional oversight.
HB-949 seeks to repeal the Death Penalty in Maryland and replace it with Life-Without Parole. I do not agree with removing the death penalty as an option for society in addressing certain criminal cases. There were many that testified that it should be abolished. I suggested that, perhaps, it should be a Constitutional Referendum to be put before the voters. Interestingly enough, advocates did not like the idea of asking the citizens to vote on the issue, but they would be the first to say that voters do not want the death penalty anymore. To say the least, I find this very interesting. HB-1310 would place incredible reporting restrictions on firearms dealers and require them to respond to audit demands from the State Police. Currently, dealers licensing is handled by the federal government who issues the licenses in the first place. This bill would provide the ability of the state to suspend a license for several weeks just for a clerical violation. This seems to be a significant change and intrusion from the current laws governing purchases in Maryland.
Voting Session Judiciary Committee Tuesday Evening
Bills voted favorably by the committee:,
HB-130, HB-140, HB-353, HB-509, HB-513, HB-573, HB-589, HB-604, HB-664, HB-666, HB-670,
HB-742, HB-823, HB-834, HB-860, HB-942,HB-1120, HB-1334
Bills voted unfavorably by the committee:
HB-469, HB-588, HB-611, HB-778, HB-821, HB-1020, HB-1021, HB-1066,
HB-1147, HB-1300, HB-1330, HB-1386
Judicial Hearings Conducted on Wednesday Afternoon
HB-1418 would preserve the right of a person to appeal a conviction under a writ of Coram Nobis. This is a particular writ which allows someone to come before the court with evidence and information which reveals a significant mistake made by the court during the trial. There have been some recent court cases which appear to have diminished a writ of Coram Nobis. HB-1441 would allow for the termination of an alimony payment when the recipient cohabitates. Some states have allowed for reductions in payments under these circumstances. HB-1402 would prohibit a court from incarcerating someone on a Contempt of Court Order for failing to pay Child Support who is a veteran.
Voting Session Judiciary Committee Wednesday Afternoon
Bills voted favorably by the committee:
HB-209, HB-598, HB-742, HB-762, HB-772, HB-834, HB-875, HB-1238,
HB-1326, HB-1418, HB-350
Bills voted unfavorably by the committee:
HB-1106, HB-1111, HB-1242
Thursday Voting Session-11 hours
Second Reader, Third Reader
Budget Bills Debated on Thursday
For review, these are the bills and the amendments for the $36.8 Billion budget package. I have included all of the proposed amendments offered which would have altered or eliminated various fees, taxes, transfers, or demands placed upon the citizens or local governments. All but two of them were offered by Republicans.

SB 150

Floor Amendment (Delegate Bates) {273422/1 Rejected (48-84)

Floor Amendment (Delegate Kach) {653224/1 Rejected (46-86)

Floor Amendment (Delegate McDonough) {753429/2 Rejected (40-89)

Floor Amendment (Delegate Vitale) {253229/1 Rejected (42-92)

Floor Amendment (Delegate Schulz) {573123/1 Rejected (48-82)

Floor Amendment (Delegate Costa) {743821/1 Rejected (41-88)

Floor Amendment (Delegate McComas) {313528/1 Rejected

Floor Amendment (Delegate Hough) {563720/1 Rejected (46-88)

Floor Amendment (Delegate O'Donnell) {903726/1 Rejected (47-90)

Second Reading Passed with Amendments

SB 152

Floor Amendment (Delegate Donoghue) {193826/1 Rejected

Floor Amendment (Delegate Simmons) {563124/1 Rejected (26-109)

Floor Amendment (Delegate McDermott) {813529/1 Rejected (43-85)

Floor Amendment (Delegate McDermott) {883323/1 Rejected (43-86)

Floor Amendment (Delegate McDermott) {813923/1 Rejected

Floor Amendment (Delegate O'Donnell) {693424/1 Rejected (53-79)

Floor Amendment (Delegate Krebs) {213323/1 Rejected (41-91)

Floor Amendment (Delegate Minnick) {393724/1 Rejected (50-81)

Floor Amendment (Delegate McConkey) {263922/2 Rejected (45-86)

Floor Amendment (Delegate Barkley) {243927/1 Rejected (62-72)

Floor Amendment (Delegate Serafini) {353329/1 Rejected (45-85)

Floor Amendment (Delegate Eckardt) {683729/2 Rejected (44-90)

Floor Amendment (Delegate Szeliga) {693622/1 Rejected (43-91)

Floor Amendment (Delegate George) {913820/2 Rejected (42-92)

Floor Amendment (Delegate George) {913820/3 Rejected (41-92)

Floor Amendment (Delegate Frank) {913221/1 Rejected (42-92)

Floor Amendment (Delegate McDermott) {543629/1 Rejected (51-85)

Floor Amendment (Delegate Stocksdale) {253029/1 Rejected (42-87)

Floor Amendment (Delegate Aumann) {363324/1 Rejected (45-84)

Floor Amendment (Delegate Olszewski) {933823/1 Rejected (43-78)

Floor Amendment (Delegate Krebs) {233226/1 Rejected (42-88)

Second Reading Passed with Amendments

HB 1412 is the bill which allows for counties to override their citizen imposed Revenue/Tax Caps and would require the Comptroller to take county revenue and give it directly to the Boards of Education if a county cannot make maintenance of effort on their budgets.

Floor Amendment (Delegate Kramer) {923327/2 Rejected (52-78)

Floor Amendment (Delegate Kramer) {923327/4 Rejected (46-78)

Floor Amendment (Delegate Kramer) {923327/3 Rejected (46-70)

Floor Amendment (Delegate Kramer) {723320/1 Rejected (49-77)

Floor Amendment (Delegate Haddaway-Riccio) {623020/1 Rejected (42-81)

Floor Amendment (Delegate McMillan) {963626/1 Rejected (40-86)

Floor Amendment (Delegate Krebs) {533722/1 Rejected (48-77)

Second Reading Passed with Amendments

SB 523 is the tax bill from the senate which creates various tax and fee revenues in support of the proposed budget.

Floor Amendment (Delegate Serafini) {143729/4 Rejected (41-87)

Floor Amendment (Delegate Serafini) {143729/6 Rejected (44-85)

Floor Amendment (Delegate Fisher) {983121/1 Rejected (40-67)

Floor Amendment (Delegate Szeliga) {773924/1 Rejected (42-69)

Second Reading Passed with Amendments

HB- 987 is perhaps the most potentially damaging legislation to the tax payer this session. It will require counties to fund projects to address storm water management which will cost billions. Baltimore City costs exceed $10 billion, Prince Georges exceeds $2 billion, Frederick County exceeds $4 billion, and Anne Arundel County exceeds $2 billion. These would be problem numbers if we were talking millions, but this is much worse. These are just four of the counties who fall under phase one of this mandate by the state in conjunction with the EPA (Executive Order-not legislated). While the Eastern Shore is exempt in the first round, there is no doubt we will be captured in future legislation. Many of us made strong arguments against this bill. It has everything necessary to bankrupt many of our jurisdictions in coming years while the science supporting these actions is questionable.

Voting Session Judiciary Committee Friday Morning
Bills voted favorably by the committee:
HB-300, HB-480, HB-543, HB-545, HB-707, HB-774, HB-1122, HB-1441
Bills voted unfavorably by the committee:
HB-719, HB-739, HB-1082, HB-1086
Friday Session Voting
Second Reader, Third Reader
There were a couple of contested bills. HB-1275 puts greater demands on those seeking to petition a bill to referendum and would require some of the information to be available online. I view these democrat sponsored efforts as an attempt lay stumbling blocks between the people and their government. It passed 93-42. SB-150, one of the budget bills, passed along party lines with 3 democrats not voting 95-43. SB-523, the Revenue/Tax Bill, saw several more Hdemocrats unwilling to sign on the dotted line for this massive taxing package. Sadly, this bill was approved 81-56. HB-443 is Maryland’s response to Obamacare. In spite of court decisions that look to rule it unconstitutional, the O’Malley-Brown administration continue to advance this agenda. Several amendments were made on this bill to strike out taxpayer funded abortion language now and in future bills, and this was met with stiff resistance from democrats. While the amendments went down to defeat, it was clear that many are sensitive on the issue in the House and do not like it coming up for votes. HB-1412 was one of the more troubling legislative acts outside of the budget so far this year. Democrats, including Del. Norm Conway, sponsored this bill which will effectively destroy a Tax Revenue Cap put into effect by the voters in counties such as Wicomico. Not only does it allow for an override of the cap, if the Maintenance of Effort (MOE) budget for the Board of Education, it requires the Comptroller to withhold tax money due the county. Further, it requires the Comptroller to take the money and divert it to the local Board of Education to make up any money the county withheld from the budget. This is one incredible overreach by the state and may only serve to force some of our counties into a state of bankruptcy or never ending tax increases. It passed 92-46.
Voting Session Judiciary Committee Friday Evening
Bills voted favorably by the committee:
HB-1438, HB-1122
Regular Session Saturday
Second Reader Bills, Third Reader Bills
The most interesting bill of the day was HB-576 which deals with public-private partnerships on special projects throughout the state. The legislation itself is not problematic, it was an amendment placed on the bill which would allow it to be retroactive, including pending litigation in our courts. It seems the redevelopment project in Baltimore City at the Center has been bound up in court by folks who opposed the project. This amended bill would have allowed a direct appeal to the Court of Appeals by the plaintiffs in the case, and he amendment was proposed by a lobbyist for those who want the Center project to get moving. There was strong argument against the General Assembly being used in this fashion. It was said to be turning the state into a “Banana Republic” where the one with the money buys the justice they desire. While many were offended by the debate, they were only offended by the truth. This bill was amended to help one particular party with a case already before the court, and, no matter how you slice it, that is just plain wrong. I was so glad to be ending my week on such high note.

Media Blackout on Obama Eligibility Near-Total

Even though almost half of registered voters tell pollsters they are not convinced Barack Obama’s birth certificate is authentic – and even though the first official U.S. law enforcement investigation into the matter established “probable cause” that the document released with great fanfare by the White House last April is a computer-generated forgery – a virtual media blackout remains in effect on the most controversial story of the Obama presidency.

Even when one of several bombshell findings of Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s six-month investigation into Obama’s constitutional eligibility was rated last week by Internet ranking service Alexa.com as one of the most-read news stories in the entire world – due almost entirely to coverage by WND and the Drudge Report – not only the establishment press, but most of the “conservative” media as well, looked the other way. For example:

• Shortly after Arpaio’s March 1 press conference, a popular column discussing Obama’s eligibility to serve as president was published on Townhall.com – which bills itself as the “leading conservative and political opinion website” – but then, the column inexplicably disappeared from the site.

Titled “Sheriff Joe Exposes Forgery of Obama’s Selective Service Registration,” by Floyd and Mary Beth Brown of the Western Center For Journalism, it had been Townhall’s eighth-most-read and most-emailed column that day. Then suddenly it was gone – and WND’s requests for comment failed to elicit any explanation from Townhall.

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Trooper’s Arrest Suspects For C.D.S /Firearms Violations

DATE & TIME: 03/24/2012
C C. CARD NUMBER: 1254001962

LOCATION: RT 12 Snow Hill Rd @ RT 13 Bypass Salisbury, Wicomico County, Maryland

BRIEF RESUME:

On the previously listed date at approximately 2152 hours Troopers of the Maryland State Police Salisbury Barrack were dispatched to the area of RT 12 Snow Hill Rd and RT 13 Bypass in reference to a reported single vehicle collision. While Troopers were en route to the scene, the MSP Salisbury Barrack received reports that the driver of the vehicle was attempting to flee the scene on foot and a physical description was broadcasted for the driver. Responding Troopers located the suspected driver up the road from the crash and believed him to be under the influence of alcohol. While being detained a clear plastic baggie containing suspected powder Cocaine was found to be lying at the feet of the suspect prior to being searched. The baggie was observed to be dry as the ground was wet from rain.

The driver was identified as Maurice Lawrence Ruarke and was found to be Under the Influence of Alcohol. Ruarke was placed under arrest and refused all tests. Ruarke was charged for the possession of a Controlled Dangerous Substance Cocaine, and possession of CDS Parpahernalia as well as several traffic charges and transported to the Wicomico County Detention Center where he was later seen by the Wicomico County District Court Commissioner.

TOTAL CDS / CURRENCY SEIZED: 9.4g suspected powder Cocaine/ including package

SUSPECTS: *Maurice Lawrence Ruarke, W/M, 10/03/1962
1412 WestChester St Salisbury, Wicomico County, MD

Scholarship Fundraiser For The Fruitland Chamber Of Commerce

Think Spring Basket!

The basket is filled with Gift cards from, University Tire, Uno's, Chef Stewart, Luckystar, Kitty's Flowers, 31's newest Pocketbook out with shoulder strap, 4 tickets, bobblehead and hat from Shorebirds, this is just a few of the items in the basket. There are many many more.

Tickets are $5.00 a piece or a book of five for $20.00. All proceeds go to the scholarship fund. For tickets, contact, Dizzy at ADAMS RIBS FROM 11 TIL 5 MONDAY THRU FRIDAY.

Tickets will also be sold at the Fruitland Easter Parade on Saturday, March 31st and at the Fruitland Little League Field on the day of the drawing which is April 14th.

Another Business Has Left Salisbury

Twin Brothers' Animal Cruelty Retrial Begins Again

Baltimore City Circuit Judge Emanuel Brown will decide whether a jury can see a police surveillance video that prosecutors say ties twin brothers Travers and Tremayne Johnson to a pit bull that was set on fire in 2009.

The second trial in the animal cruelty case opened Friday with a series of requests by the brothers' defense attorneys for Brown to throw out key pieces of the prosecution's evidence, including the video and a gas can.

Brown held off ruling on the motions until at least Monday, when the trial continues. Jury selection could begin then.

The brothers, now 20, are accused of covering a young female pit bull, later named Phoenix by rescue workers, with an accelerant and setting her ablaze in West Baltimore. The dog was euthanized days later.

The video was a sticking point in the previous trial, which ended last year with a hung jury. The jurors deliberated for three days, but a police sergeant's narration of the silent video, recorded from a surveillance camera on a utility pole, wasn't enough to convince one of the 12 jurors of the brothers' guilt. The 35-minute video captures portions of the event, the prosecution says.

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Press Release & Public Notice

THREE MORE ELECTION REDISTRICTING PUBLIC FORUMS REMAIN ON SALISBURY CITY COUNCIL SCHEDULE

The Salisbury City Council reminds the public that there are still opportunities to participate in public forums on the election redistricting effort the City is undertaking for its local elections, as a result of the changes in city population reported by the 2010 Census. The Mayor hosted one such meeting in February, and the Council has held two so far in March.

The next meetings for public participation as Salisbury locations are:

Tuesday, March 27, 2012 – 6:30 p.m. – Harvest Baptist Church, corner of South Boulevard and Eastern Shore Drive

Thursday, March 29, 2012 – 6:30 p.m. – Fire Station #16 Training Room, Cypress Street

Monday, April 2, 2012 – 12:30 p.m. – Council Chambers (Room 301) of the Government Office Building, 125 North Division Street.

The public will learn about redistricting principles, may ask questions, can look at statistic-driven maps and provide information and feedback to the council about their neighborhoods (e.g., geographic boundaries, cohesiveness based on economics, race, shared interests, cultures or other factors, etc.)

Comments or questions may also be submitted to all City Council members via email, ALLCityCouncilMembers@ci.salisbury.md.us, or by mail to Salisbury City Council Members, 125 N. Division St., Salisbury, MD 21801. For more information, contact Kim Nichols in the City Clerk’s office’s at (410) 548-3140.

ND RECEIVES $106 MILLION IN FEDERAL FUNDING TO PROVIDE MORE CARE IN COMMUNITY SETTINGS

ANNAPOLIS, MD – Governor Martin O’Malley and Lt. Governor Anthony G. Brown today joined Maryland’s Congressional Delegation and the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene in announcing that Maryland has been awarded more than $106 million in federal grant funding to further efforts to provide long term care in community based settings rather than in institutions. The State Balancing Incentive Payment Program Grant, authorized under the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA), was designed to help states transform their long-term care systems. The competitive grant award increases the amount of federal matching funds received for each state dollar invested toward non-institutional long-term supports and services. Maryland is only the second state to win a grant award under the program.

“As a result of these additional grant funds, more of our seniors and people with disabilities will have the ability to stay in their homes, near their loved ones, rather than in institutions,” said Governor O’Malley. “Thanks to President Obama and our Congressional Delegation, the Affordable Care Act has helped states reform their health care systems to reduce costs, protect choice, and help provide quality, affordable health care for more of our fellow citizens.”

“The Affordable Care Act continues to provide Maryland with the tools and resources we need to improve health care throughout our State,” said Lt. Governor Brown, Co-Chair of the Maryland Health Care Reform Coordinating Council. “These critical funds will boost our efforts to expand access to community-based care so more Marylanders can remain in their homes and communities while enjoying a higher quality of life.”

“I believe that honor thy father and mother isn’t just a good commandment to live by, it’s good policy to govern by. This program maintains our commitment to seniors so that they can continue to get the care and support they need in their own homes and communities,” said Senator Mikulski, a senior member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee that passed the Affordable Care Act. “Thanks to what we accomplished with health care reform, quality and affordable care is becoming a reality for families across Maryland. I am proud to put funds in the federal checkbook so that Maryland’s commitment to community-based care is met dollar-for-dollar with federal support.”

“Keeping seniors as independent as possible for as long as possible is an important goal and this grant, which is made possible by the Affordable Care Act, will ensure that seniors receive long-term care services at home or in community-based settings,” said U.S. Senator Ben Cardin. “I am a big champion of expanding community-based health care services and this federal grant will help us make that possible.”

The grant award is an integral component of a broad state approach to expand community-based care. Other aspects of the state approach include new investments to transition individuals from nursing homes to the community, adoption of a better screening tool to identify people who need services, and formation of a new consumer council. All of this supports the state’s ongoing efforts to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act mandate to provide services to individuals in the most integrated setting appropriate to their needs.

“We have a responsibility to transform our long term care system into one that allows as many individuals as possible receive services in home and community-based settings, and this additional federal funding will help us as we continue our efforts to fulfill that important responsibility,” said Charles J. Milligan, Deputy Secretary for Health Care Financing at the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

More information about Long Term Care in Maryland and the state’s efforts to reform the system to provide more services and supports in the community can be found at http://mmcp.dhmh.maryland.gov/longtermcare/SitePages/Home.aspx. More information about the CMS State Balancing Incentive Payment can be found at http://www.medicaid.gov/AffordableCareAct/Provisions/Community-Based-Long-Term-Services-and-Supports.html.

Under the leadership of Governor O’Malley and Lt. Governor Brown, Maryland has implemented reforms that have expanded health coverage to more than 300,000 Marylanders, nearly half of them children. With the passage of this year’s budget, the number of Marylander’s with health care coverage could reach 400,000.

Governor O’Malley AND LT. GOVERNOR BROWN ON THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT

ANNAPOLIS, MD – Governor Martin O’Malley and Lt. Governor Anthony G. Brown today issued the following statement on the anniversary of the Affordable Care Act:

“Two years ago today, President Obama had the courage and the foresight to take an important step forward, and our nation is now poised to help millions of American families and small businesses and their employees gain access to high-quality, affordable health care coverage.

“In Maryland, we’ve extended coverage to over 300,000 of our fellow citizens, half of them children, because we've chosen together to invest in health care. We are moving forward with implementation of the Affordable Care Act to strengthen coverage, improve health, and support our competitiveness in the global economy. The day after the Affordable Care Act became law, we established the Health Care Reform Coordinating Council to oversee federal reform in Maryland, and today, our State is recognized as a national leader for our efforts to build Maryland’s Health Benefit Exchange, and find new and innovative ways to deliver quality, affordable health care to more of our citizens.

“As we continue the conversation about the Affordable Care Act, from our nation’s kitchen tables to the Supreme Court, we must ask ourselves what is the cost of inaction? When a small business is paying another 15, 17 or 20 percent annually every year for health insurance, how many fewer employees can they employ? What are the dollars that might have gone into expanding markets for their product or for their services? What are the opportunity costs for our families when a mom or dad has to choose between whether kids have a roof over their head, food on the table or health care?

“Together, we must build that stronger America we all carry in our hearts by making better health care choices for our families and children.”

This session, under Lt. Governor Brown’s leadership, the Administration is working to pass the Health Benefit Exchange Act of 2012 to support the successful operation of the Exchange and the Maryland Health Improvement and Disparities Reduction Act of 2012 to reduce health care disparities in Maryland.

Easter Spending Expected to Soar Past $16B This Year

Along with his counterparts, Santa Claus and Cupid, the Easter Bunny will do his share to contribute to the U.S. economy this year.

A new survey by the National Retail Federation shows Americans will shell out more than $145 each this year on everything from clothing to candy and decorations for Easter. That number is up 11 percent from last year.

Tough economic times won't keep the Easter bunny away this spring.

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Fruitland Police Department Press Releases 3-26-12

DATE & TIME: March 19-20, 2012

INCIDENT: Theft / Assault(x’s2)/ False Imprisonment

LOCATION: Throughout Fruitland

CASE NO.: 2012-0373 and 0378

PERSON CHARGED: Andrew R Parsons Age 45

ADDRESS: Fruitland, Maryland

CHARGES: Assault 2nd Degree(x’s2)
Assault 1st Degree
Reckless Endangerment
False Imprisonment
Theft under $100
Telephone Misuse
Malicious Destruction of Property

DISPOSITION: Released to Central Booking

SYNOPSIS: Between the dates of March 19th and 20th 2012, Fruitland Police had learned that the above named suspect had been involved in a series of crimes. On March 20, 2012 Officers located the suspect and arrested him after a shoplifting incident at the Wine Rack. That investigation led to Officers learning that on the previous evening, the suspect had assaulted two women and had caused visible injuries to both. The suspect was reported to have prevented one of the women from leaving a residence and to have attempted to smother her with a sofa cushion while destroying her cell phone. Additionally, Officers learned that the suspect had left threatening messages on another female’s voice mail after assaulting her. The suspect was arrested and transported to WCDC and was served with additional warrants later that day.

DATE & TIME: March22, 2012 @ 1418 hours

INCIDENT: Marijuana Possession

LOCATION: E. Cedar @ Morris

CASE NO.: 2012-0384

PERSON CHARGED: Elmer L. White Age 18

ADDRESS: Marion Station, Maryland

CHARGES: Possession of Marijuana

DISPOSITION: Released to Central Booking

SYNOPSIS: On the above date and time a Fruitland Officer initiated a traffic stop on a vehicle in which the above named suspect was a passenger. The officer became aware that the vehicle occupants were behaving in a very suspicious manner and requested assistance from the Fruitland Police K-9 Unit. The K-9 handler observed the K-9 to alert positively at the vehicle for the odor of a Controlled Dangerous Substance and upon further conversation with the passengers, an officer noticed the suspect to be mumbling and sweating profusely. The suspect was discovered to be attempting to eat a quantity of suspected Marijuana. The suspect was arrested and transported to WCDC without further incident.

Battle Over Obama Health Law Reaches High Court

The monumental fight over a health care law that touches all Americans and divides them sharply comes before the Supreme Court on Monday. The justices will decide whether to kill or keep the largest expansion in the nation's social safety net in more than four decades.

Two years and three days after President Barack Obama signed into law a health care overhaul aimed at extending medical insurance to more than 30 million Americans, the high court begins three days of hearings over the law's validity.

The challenge from 26 states and a small business group puts the court smack in the middle of a heavily partisan fight over the president's major domestic accomplishment and a presidential election campaign in which all his Republican challengers oppose the law.

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Rep. Andy Harris, M.D., Statement On The Two-Year Anniversary Of President Obama's Health Care Law

Rep. Andy Harris, M.D., released the following statement regarding the second anniversary of President Obama’s health care law:

“Two years ago, President Obama and Nancy Pelosi claimed that Obamacare would lower health care costs and immediately create 400,000 jobs. All it has actually done is raise health care premiums by over $2,000 and, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, potentially reduce the labor supply by 800,000 jobs, as a result of additional new taxes on business. The House voted to repeal the President’s Medicare rationing board –the IPAB- this week, but we must continue to be committed to repealing all of the dangerous and costly Obamacare law.”

3.1-Magnitude Quake Hits Same Va. Town 7 Months Later

WASHINGTON - A magnitude 3.1 earthquake struck just outside Mineral, Va. late Sunday night.

WTOP listeners say they felt the earthquake in Orange and Spotsylvania counties.

Lamont James was watching TV with his wife in their home in Spotsylvania County when they felt the shaking.

"Me and my wife, we felt the house shaking, so I went outside and I saw my neighbor and he came out and said ‘Hey did you feel that?' I said ‘Yes I felt that too' and I said ‘Oh my god, here we go, another earthquake again,'" he says.

"In comparison to the earthquake we had last summer, it felt like the tremor we had that evening and then again the next day," he says.

The U.S. Geological Survey reports the earthquake struck a little after 11:21 p.m. Sunday, just eight miles from Mineral, which is about 85 miles south of the District.

There are no reports of damage.

A magnitude 5.8 earthquake struck the same area on Aug. 23, 2011.

WTOP will bring you more details as they become available.

Source

Lewes Family Arrested For Growing Marijuana

Location: 20000 block of Waterview Road, Lewes, DE

Date of Occurrence: Thursday March 22, 2012 at approximately 8:15 a.m.

Defendant, Charges, and Bail Information:
Brian M. Cini, 50, Lewes, DE
Manufacturing a Controlled Substance
Maintaining a Drug Property
Conspiracy 2nd
Possession of Marijuana
Possession of Drug Paraphernalia

Arraigned at JP and released on $7,500.00 unsecured bond

Kathleen Cini, 49, Lewes, DE
Manufacturing a Controlled Substance
Maintaining a Drug Property
Conspiracy 2nd
Possession of Marijuana
Possession of Drug Paraphernalia

Arraigned at JP and released on $7,500.00 unsecured bond

Kerstie Cini, 20, Lewes, DE (No Photo Available)
Possession of Marijuana
Possession of Drug Paraphernalia

Released on a Criminal Summons

Resume:
Lewes, DE- The Delaware State Police Sussex County Drug Unit has arrested members of a Lewes family after the culmination of a several month long investigation into manufacturing marijuana in their house.

On Thursday, March 22, 2012, at approximately 8:15 a.m., the Sussex County Drug Unit, with the assistance of the Sussex County Governor’s Task Force, executed a search warrant at a residence in the 20000 block of Waterview Road, Lewes.

Brian Cini, Kathleen Cini, and Kerstie Cini were all taken into custody at the residence. During the execution of the search warrant, detectives located 94 marijuana plants in various stages of growth totaling more than 4,300 grams, electronic manufacturing and indoor growing equipment, documents, and drug paraphernalia.

Brian Cini and Kathleen Cini were both charged with Manufacturing a Controlled Substance, Maintaining a Drug Property, Conspiracy 2nd, Possession of Marijuana, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. They were arraigned at JP2 and released on $7,500.00 unsecured bond.

Kerstie Cini was charged with Possession of Marijuana and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and was released on a criminal summons.

Woman Arrested On Embezzlement Charges

Location: Westwood Farms Inc., 21906 Esham Lane, Millsboro, DE

Date of Occurrence: Between August 25, 2009 and August 19, 2011

Victim: Westwood Farms Inc.

Defendant, Charges, and Bail Information:

Valerie D. Onley, 41, of Salisbury, MD (Photo Attached)
Theft over $100,000.00
Theft over $50,000.00 but less than $100,000.00 (2 counts)
Theft over $1,500.00 (25 counts)
Unlawful Use of a Credit Card (6 counts)
Conspiracy 2nd
Falsifying Business Records (26 counts)
Failure to Pay Delaware State Taxes (2 counts)

Arraigned at JP3 and committed to Delores J. Baylor Women’s Correctional Institute on $24,500.00 secured bail.

Suspect and Charges:

James A. Onley Jr., 41, of Salisbury, MD (No Photo Available)
Theft over $100,000.00
Theft over $50,000.00 but less than $100,000.00 (2 counts)
Theft over $1,500.00 (25 counts)
Unlawful Use of a Credit Card (6 counts)
Conspiracy 2nd
Falsifying Business Records (26 counts)
Failure to Pay Delaware State Taxes (2 counts)

To be charged upon his return to Delaware.


Resume:
Millsboro, DE- The Delaware State Police have arrested a Salisbury woman after she embezzled more than $400,000.00.

Valerie D. Onley, 41, was employed with Westwood Farms Inc., in Millsboro since September of 2008 where she was a bookkeeper. Between August of 2009 and August of 2011, she was the primary person in charge of payroll, paying bills, and all finances. She then began to steal money from the company by writing checks to herself and her husband, using business credit cards for personal purchases, and using the company funds to pay her personal bills. In all, the theft totaled more than $400,000.00.

Her husband, James A. Onley Jr. is also charged with the above offenses, due to him cashing over $20,000 worth of checks that were written to him on the business account. James is currently incarcerated in Maryland on an unrelated matter and will be processed on the charges upon his return to Delaware.

Valerie was arraigned at JP3 on the above charges and committed to Delores J. Baylor Correctional Institute on $24,500.00 secured bail.

Iraqi Woman Beaten to Death in California, Hate Crime Suspected

A woman from Iraq who was found beaten, lying in a pool of blood in her in El Cajon, Calif., home next to a note saying “go back to your country,” has died and police are investigating her death as a possible a hate crime.

Shaima Alawadi’s 17-year-old daughter found her unconscious on the dining room floor of her home Wednesday. She was taken to the hospital and put on life support, but she was taken off life around 3 p.m. Saturday.

“Our understanding is that she was beaten and she was hit with some kind of a tool about 8 times in the head. She was knocked on the floor and was found in a pool of blood,” said Hanif Mohebi, the director of the San Diego chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Alawadi was a 32-year-old mother of five children, ranging in age from eight to 17.

“A week ago they left a letter saying this is our country not yours you terrorist, and so my mom ignored that thinking it was just kids playing a prank,” Alawadi’s daughter, Fatima Al Himidi, told ABC News affiliate KGTV. “But the day they hit her, they left another note again, and it said the same thing.”

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Group Offers $10,000 For US Black Teen's Killer

A black political group offered a $10,000 reward Saturday for the killer of an African-American teenager, amid a nationwide uproar which has prompted a rethink of America's race issues.

The New Black Panther Party displayed a wanted poster on its website with a picture of George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer who shot Trayvon Martin, 17, last month.

"WANTED!!! For the murder of Trayvon Martin... ALIVE, not dead or harmed," the poster read.

Several dozen supporters of the group known by its acronym NBPP -- unrelated to the revolutionary Black Panther Party active in the 1960s-1980s -- meanwhile protested for the third time this week at the police headquarters in Sanford, Florida.

"An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth," leader Mikhail Muhammad told the Orlando Sentinel. "We don't hate anyone, we hate injustice."

Activists had called for the mobilization of 5,000 black men to capture Zimmerman. And Muhammad said the NBPP was receiving donations from black entertainers and athletes, with a goal to collect $1 million by next week.

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ABC News Blogs Lawsuit: Student Body President Removed Over Gay Prom Proposal

A student body president in Alpharetta, Ga., said he was removed from his leadership post after school administrators disagreed with an idea he proposed to make the titles of prom king and queen open to gay couples.

Reuben Lack, 18, was removed from his post on Feb. 8, 2012 for "pushing personal projects," according a suit the teen filed in federal court.

Lack, whose Facebook says he is straight, alleged the suit that administrators at Alpharetta High School violated his first amendment rights when they shut down a student council meeting discussion on modifying the prom king and queen tradition to make it accessible to gay couples.

The school countered that Lack was let go for not fulfilling his duties as president.

"The student was essentially a poor leader," Suzann Wilcox Jiles, attorney for the district said in a statement issued to the Atlanta Journal Constitution. "He behaved in manner not becoming of student body president including but not limited to rescheduling meetings with little notice, directly going against the instructions of the faculty advisers."

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Hilarious Texts From Parents Gone Bad

Brothers Stephen and Wayne Miltz, creators of the popular crazythingsparentstext.com, recently published a book of hundreds of private text messages between parents and children. A selection of our favorites:

Mom: Love you, kiddo!

Me: Aw, thanks. Love you, too!

Mom: Sorry, wrong person

Me: Dad, my bank account has ten dollars in it!

Dad: Oh good, our plan to get you to contact us succeeded

Me: I was offered a job!

Dad: Accept it before they realize their mistake.

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Paul Ryan: I'd "Consider" Vice Presidential Run

Republican Congressman Paul Ryan left the door open Sunday to running as the GOP's vice presidential candidate, telling CBS' "Face the Nation" that he'd "consider it" if asked.

Ryan, speaking with CBS News' Norah O'Donnell, initially said he was "so focused" on his current job at the moment that a vice presidential bid was "something I'm not even considering right now."

When pressed, however, Ryan said he would "consider" taking the job if asked.

"It's just something I'm not even considering right now," the Wisconsin Republican told O'Donnell initially. "I'm so focused on my job in Congress. If I wanted to be president or vice president so badly I would have run for president. I don't - so I didn't.

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MILLER: Obamacare’s Hefty Tax Bill

President Obama promised to make health care more affordable, but instead he’s done the opposite. The White House and congressional Democrats slipped 20 new taxes into the Obamacare legislation to raise $500 billion to help pay for the new entitlement’s $2.6 trillion cost. It’s now up to the Supreme Court to provide relief.

Mr. Obama claims to want to raise taxes only on “millionaires and billionaires,” but his signature health care law hits the middle class hard. Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) analyzed the 2,700-page bill and came up with a comprehensive list of its levies.

“Obama promised no taxes of any kind for those who earn less than $250,000. Obamacare broke that pledge repeatedly,” ATR President Grover Norquist told The Washington Times. “They deliberately hid the taxes and wisely understood that delaying the pain by making the effective date after the election, maybe you could get through the election.”

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US Could Bring Hate Charge in Fla. Teen Shooting

The U.S. Justice Department could bring a hate crime charge against the shooter in the killing of black Florida teenager Trayvon Martin if there is sufficient evidence the slaying was motivated by racial bias and not simply a fight that spiraled out of control, legal experts and former prosecutors say.

So far, only one such clue has surfaced publicly against 28-year-old George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch captain who fatally shot the 17-year-old Martin on Feb. 26 in the central Florida town of Sanford. On one of his 911 calls to police that night, Zimmerman muttered something under his breath that some listeners say sounds like a racial slur. Zimmerman's father is white, and his mother is Hispanic.

"It sounds pretty obvious to me," said Donald Tibbs, a Drexel University law professor who has closely studied race, civil rights and criminal procedure. "If that was a racial epithet that preceded the attack on Trayvon Martin, we definitely have a hate crime."

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Tax Breaks Exceed $1 Trillion, Report Says

A congressional report detailing the value of major tax breaks shows they amount to more than $1 trillion a year—roughly the size of the annual federal budget deficit—and benefit wide swaths of the population.

The figures could be useful to lawmakers of both parties and President Obama, who are looking for ways to shrink future deficits and offset the anticipated cost of overhauling the much-criticized U.S. tax code, an effort likely to include tax-rate cuts. Both parties are looking to trim or eliminate tax breaks to achieve those goals.

Obama has suggested eliminating breaks for corporate jets and oil and gas companies to reduce deficits. He also has raised the possibility of reducing tax breaks for U.S. multinationals that ship jobs overseas, as a way to offset the cost of lowering the corporate tax rate to 28% from the current 35%.

The new report, by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, underscores how far-reaching many of the tax breaks are, which makes changing them a politically daunting task.

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Maryland Tobacco Bill Would Increase Taxes on Smokeless, 'Little Cigars'

A typical Monday at Francis Keller's smoke shop in Annapolis sees regular customers coming in, as they do on a daily basis, to have a smoke. However, a pending increase in tobacco taxes is threatening his livelihood.

Keller, who took over The Smoke Shop from his uncle in 1966, could see his business shut down if the Maryland General Assembly goes through with tax bills that include tobacco tax provisions.

Both the House and Senate version of the tax legislation would raise taxes on smokeless tobacco and so-called "little cigars." However, Keller worries that instead of bringing in tax dollars, it will drive customers away.

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Biden Calls Republican Budget an Attack on Seniors

COCONUT CREEK, Florida (Reuters) - Vice President Joe Biden joked about his age with Florida retirees on Friday and portrayed Republican attempts to cut Social Security and Medicare as an attack on the dignity of aging Americans.

"I don't like that word 'elderly' anymore," the silver-haired and balding 69-year-old vice president joked at a packed retirement community recreation center in Florida. He said he preferred the phrase "more mature."

President Barack Obama dispatched Biden to Florida, an electoral battleground with the nation's largest concentration of people 65 and older, in an effort to paint a stark contrast between his approach to Social Security and Medicare and that of his Republican rivals.

"Look us over, look into your heart and ask ... who do you believe is genuinely committed to preserving the dignity of people in terms of their healthcare and their basic, basic ability to live?" Biden said.

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Robert Bales Shooting: Afghan Families Paid for Deaths Injuries

Two weeks after Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales allegedly went on a rampage near an Afghanistan Army base, killing more than a dozen Afghan civilians, the United States military paid relatives of the deceased and injured, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Military officials held a ceremony in Kandahar on Sunday, during which the U.S. paid relatives $50,000 for each death and $11,000 for each person injured during the March 11 shooting spree, the report says.

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WEST: Why Obamacare is Bad for America’s Health

On Monday, the Supreme Court will consider the legality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also referred to as Obamacare. The high court will pore over Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution to determine the true meaning behind the words, “The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common Defense and general welfare of the United States; To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations and among the several states, and with the Indian Tribes.” The 2012 Supreme Court must determine whether the Founders had any intention of mandating the behavior of private enterprises and individuals.

To me, the answer is obvious: absolutely not.

Our nation was founded on the Declaration of Independence. Freedom of choice and a free market are at the core of our nation’s soul. A governmental mandate for the behavior of individuals and private enterprises is anathema to what our founders intended. The prospect of having an unelected panel of bureaucrats determining fundamental decisions about our individual health care is perhaps the most personal and intimate intrusion into our lives. The concept of this absurd and dangerous law surely ranks with the gr

ievances laid down 236 years ago.In January 2011, Florida federal District Judge C. Roger Vinson ruled the individual mandate unconstitutional, stating: “Never before has Congress re

quired that everyone buy a product from a private company (essentially for life) just for being alive and residing in the United States. If [the government] has the power to compel an otherwise passive individual into a transaction… it is not hyperbolic to suggest that Congress could do almost anything it wanted.” Today, this prediction is being attempted before our very eyes.

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Mississippi State University Shooting: Student Shot and Killed on Campus

STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP/ABC7) - A student was shot to death at a Mississippi State University residence hall late Saturday night, prompting campus-wide alerts as authorities searched for suspects who fled the scene.

University spokeswoman Maridith Geuder said police received a call about the shooting at Evans Hall around 10 p.m. Saturday. The victim was taken to a hospital where he subsequently died.

The Clarion Ledger reports that the victim has been identified as John Sanderson of Madison, Ms. and that the three suspects are not students at Mississippi State.

Three male suspects fled the building in a blue Crown Victoria. As of early Sunday, no arrests had been made and the campus remained under advisory conditions on Sunday morning.

The Starkville Daily News reports that law enforcement officials are "aggressively searching" for the suspects. School administration officials enacted a "Maroon Alert" on campus, which indicated emergency conditions. The school's website said the alert continued well into the morning.

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The Real Meaning of MPH

Zimbabwe Probes Trump Brothers’ Hunting Trip

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwean conservationists said Friday they are investigating the legality of a hunting spree in the country by the heirs to U.S. magnate Donald Trump’s fortune after photos showed up online of the brothers posing with dead game animals.

The independent Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force said that Trump’s sons Donald Jr. and Eric killed an elephant, an endangered leopard, a buffalo, a crocodile and other “big game” animals on a 2011 trip arranged by a South African safari firm that is not registered in Zimbabwe.

Photographs of the brothers — one with the slain leopard and another showing one brother holding up an elephant’s severed tail in one hand and a knife in the other — have been were withdrawn from at least one website after a flurry of protests.

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Prostitution ring in Madrid Tattooed 19-Year-Old Woman With Bar Code

A Spanish National Police investigation into two Madrid prostitution rings led to the rescue of a captive 19-year-old woman who was tattooed with a barcode on her wrist after she tried to escape the ring, authorities said Saturday.

The bar code served as a form of identity for the woman and as certificate of "ownership" by one prostitution ring, and beneath the bar code was also tattooed the amount of money she owed the ring, police said.

Held hostage by a pimp, the woman had multiple lesions from being beaten and whipped, and her head and eyebrows were shaven because she tried to flee, police said.

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Santorum Scores Huge Win in Louisiana

Did Mitt Romney hit the Etch-A-Sketch reset button too early?

That’s what Romney aide Eric Fehrnstrom must be asking himself today after Rick Santorum’s huge victory in Louisiana where he came close to winning a majority of the vote among four remaining candidates.

Santorum was projected the winner with less than 20 percent of the vote counted on the basis of a commanding 45 percent to 28 percent lead over Romney, with Newt Gingrich getting 19 percent and Ron Paul with 6.

Santorum’s win was his fourth in the South, where front-runner Mitt Romney has not been able to connect with conservative voters.

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Dick Cheney Undergoes Heart Transplant Surgery

Former Vice President Dick Cheney was recovering Saturday evening after undergoing heart transplant surgery, his office said.

Cheney, 71, had surgery at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, Virginia.

He had been on the cardiac transplant list for more than 20 months, a statement from his office said.

"Although the former vice president and his family do not know the identity of the donor, they will be forever grateful for this lifesaving gift," it said.

Cheney has a history of heart trouble, suffering at least five heart attacks since 1978. His first occurred when he was 37.

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DHS: Illegal Immigrant Population is 11.5 Million

About 11.5 million illegal immigrants were in the U.S. last year, a figure that was essentially unchanged from 2010, according to the latest estimate the Homeland Security Department released Friday.

Homeland Security’s demographers said recent economic and security trends appear to have halted what had been a steady rise in illegal immigration, but haven’t significantly reversed it.

“It is unlikely that the unauthorized immigrant population increased after 2007 given relatively high U.S. unemployment, improved economic conditions in Mexico, record low numbers of apprehensions of unauthorized immigrants at U.S. borders, and greater levels of border enforcement,” the demographers said in their report.

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CNNMoney Caught Changing Report on ‘Green’ Jobs Numbers, Casting Them in More Positive Light

At 7:50 am Friday morning, CNNMoney reported on the embarrassingly small number of jobs the “green” energy industry has contributed to the nation’s workforce. The story was titled “‘Green’ jobs just a small portion of workforce.”

"As Kermit knows, it’s not easy being green,” the story began. “There were only 3.1 million green jobs in the U.S. in 2010.”

Translation: After receiving billions in federal subsidies ($100 billion from the stimulus program alone), “green” jobs account for only 2.4 percent of the nation’s employment.

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Where Did Stimulus Money Really Go?

When President Obama signed his economic stimulus plan into law on February 17, 2009, he promised it “includes help for those hardest hit by our economic crisis,” and “As a whole, this plan will help poor and working Americans.”

But the newest data on how the stimulus money was given out across the 50 states and the District of Columbia shows a perverse pattern: The states hardest hit by the recession received the least money. States with higher bankruptcy, foreclosure, and unemployment rates got less money. And lower-income states also received less.

Rather than helping out those in the toughest shape, it looks like Democrats ended up helping their supporters, including unions and many very wealthy supporters.

According to the Obama administration’s Recovery.gov, a total of $504 billion of federal contracts, grants, and loans to states and territories were awarded between February 17, 2009, and December 31, 2011. The amounts vary a lot across states, with the very lowest at $978 per capita in Virginia and the highest at $2,495 per capita in Alaska. The District of Columbia is the real winner at a whopping $7,603.

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DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES?

Novice to experienced oyster shuckers will go head-to-head on Sunday in a battle for the title of “Fastest Shucker on the Shore.”

Depending on the number of contestants, three or four shuckers will compete at a time during the ninth annual competition, scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. at the West Ocean City Greene Turtle. The shucker(s) who cleanly open the most oysters in each three-minute round move on.

More than 3,000 oysters were shucked and eaten last year. Tom Creveling, representing Harrison’s Harbor Watch, won the 2010 and 2011 events. Last year, he narrowly edged out Jeb Vetock, also of Harrison’s Harbor Watch. Creveling shucked 61 oysters in the final round, while Vetock opened 59.

“That was the closest it’s ever been,” said Chad Rogers, Greene Turtle West general manager and contest organizer.

Both shuckers are set to participate this year, Rogers said.

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Opinion 'Hunger Games' Shoots Arrows at Big Government, Big Media, Hits Bullseye

The new movie “Hunger Games” seems destined to be a big hit. Yes, “Games” is a challenging story--a dystopian future in which an oppressive government forces young people into gladiator-type battles-to-the-death--but it’s getting good buzz and good reviews. One critic described “Games” as “like ‘American Idol’ with a body count.”

So c’mon folks! Head down to the ‘plex, buy your ticket, plunk down another $10 for soda and popcorn, and watch good-looking actors and actresses exchange longing glances as they kill each other.

Yet everyone should know one thing: “Games” is not just another slasher/horror scream flick--but rather a furious critique of our political system, in which the central government grows rich from the toil of the masses, even as that same political elite finds entertainment in the contrived and manipulated death of its subjects.

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Was Boy in K.C. Fire Attack a Victim of His School's Racist Teaching?

The boy raised his hand, eager to answer the question. "What would you know about it?" exclaimed the teacher dismissively. "You're not our race."

This was not dialogue from a Hollywood movie. According to a woman named Melissa Coon, it was what a teacher at East High School in Kansas City told her 13-year-old son, Allen, when he attempted to answer a question during Black History Month. Coon identifies that teacher as Mrs. Karla Dorsey, who is black; Allen is white.

As has already been reported, Allen was a victim of a vicious racial attack last week in which two older black teens doused him with gasoline and set him alight, saying, "This is what you deserve. You get what you deserve, white boy." Not surprisingly, Coon has pulled her son out of East High and, concerned about further racial violence, intends to leave the K.C. area.

While this crime is making headlines, Coon states that it was merely the horrible culmination of continual racial harassment her son had to endure at East High. Moreover, after conducting an investigation that included extensive interviews with parents and students, I've learned that Coon's son is not alone. Other white students also report a pattern of racial harassment at the high school at the hands of their peers -- and, shockingly, their teachers.

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Judge: FDA Must Act to Remove Antibiotics From Animal Feed

A federal judge on Thursday ordered regulators to start proceedings to withdraw approval for the use of common antibiotics in animal feed, citing concerns that overuse is endangering human health by creating antibiotic-resistant "superbugs".

U.S. Magistrate Judge Theodore Katz ordered the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to begin proceedings unless makers of the drugs can produce evidence that their use is safe.

If they can't, then the FDA must withdraw approval for non-therapeutic use of those drugs, the judge ruled.

The FDA had started such proceedings in 1977, prompted by its concerns the widespread use in livestock feed of certain antibiotics - particularly tetracyclines and penicillin, the most common. But the proceedings were never completed and the approval remained in place.

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Worcester County Sheriff's Office Press Release 3-24-12

On March 18, 2012 at 0634 hours, A Worcester County Sheriff's Office Deputy respond to The Alamo Hotel, West Ocean City, Maryland in reference to disorderly subjects out front. There were three subjects in the parking lot fighting. The Deputy identified Isreal Christopher Haggerty 2nd.who had been fighting in the parking lot As The Deputy was talking with Isreal Haggerty, he was approached by a juvenile female who stated she had been assaulted.

That Juvenile became disorderly and the Deputy attempted to place her under arrest. As the Deputy was attempting to place handcuffs on her, the juvenile assaulted the Deputy. As the Deputy attempted to restrain the juvenile Mr. Haggerty physically attacked the Deputy. The Worcester County Deputy used his Tazer and subdued Mr. Haggerty and placed him under arrest.

The juvenile began to fight with another subject with the help of a Mr. Stark and Mr. Monroe. The Deputy place those three subjects under arrest.

It was learned that Mr. Monroe and Mr. Haggerty had broken into another apartment in the Alamo hotel.

Those who were arrested and charged are:

1) Isreal Christopher Haggerty—19----Dundalk, Md.
Assault police officer - disorderly conduct - 1st &3rd burglary - obstruct/hindering
Committed $50,000.00 bond

2) Brent Michael Monroe—19----Baltimore, Md.
Disorderly conduct - 1st & 3rd burglary
Committed $25,000.00 bond

3) Stephen Darrell Stark---44----Ocean City, Md.
Disorderly Conduct
Released on recognizance

4) Juvenile female—17---Dundalk, Md.
Disorderly conduct - assault police officer - assault 2nd degree - resisting arrest
Held by DJJ in Laurel Md. Facility

Courtroom manners should spell R-E-S-P-E-C-T

On any given day in any given trial courtroom across Maryland you can find folks wearing a wide array of apparel, including T-shirts, jeans, tank tops, sweatpants, and even pajamas. While court is in session, sheriff’s deputies beseech gallery observers to cease conversing and canoodling. And at the end of a busy day, the courthouse hallways are adorned with soda cans and gum remnants, and the gallery benches are emblazoned with new graffiti.

Since when did we start treating courtrooms like our living rooms?

While members of the bar did not commit many of the aforementioned offenses, I’ve seen lawyers come to court in business casual, deposit garbage on the floor and chew bubble gum at trial table.

Put it all in the blender and it creates an environment where it feels OK to say and do whatever you want without consequences. Worse, it gives the impression that the courtroom and those occupying it don’t deserve respect. It becomes abundantly apparent when people curse during victim impact statements, refer to the judge by just her last name and loudly snicker at opposing counsel that we are not in Kansas anymore.

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Could Wicomico County Support This?

KISS AND MOTLEY CRUE: THE TOUR

Confederate Flag Back at Georgia Fort After 148 years

As Fort McAllister fell to the Union Army of Gen. William T. Sherman days before Christmas in 1864, one of his artillery officers seized the Confederate flag of a vanquished company of Georgia riflemen.

The officer carried the silk banner home to Maine as a souvenir, and it stayed in his family for three generations in a box along with a handwritten note: "To be return to Savannah or Atlanta sometime."

Nobody knows for sure why the late Maj. William Zoron Clayton wanted his Civil War trophy flag returned to the South. But after 148 years, his wish has been honored.

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The One Chart That Says It All

Depending on debt to fuel nominal growth leads to an economic death spiral.

Sometimes one chart says it all. Here is a chart of the S&P 500 (a broadly based measure of the U.S. stock market) in a ratio with total consumer credit, courtesy of frequent contributor Chartist Friend from Pittsburgh [9].

Charted against consumer credit, the S&P 500 (SPX) collapsed after the 2000 dot-com bubble burst and has been tracing out a descending channel since then.

About Speed Cameras

Despite claims by those who profit from photo enforcement, speed cameras are very unpopular with the general public. Photo enforcement has been placed to a popular vote in US communities a total of 24 times, in 23 of those votes the public has rejected cameras,... that is a 95.8% rejection rate. Speed camera programs only survive because they are accompanied by massive PR and media campaigns, including astroturfing by speed camera contractors and corporate lobbying by photo enforcement companies. Most Americans have lived most of their lives without speed cameras and most states still do not have them. There is nothing radical about opposing speed cameras. It is the belief that we can only be safe with cameras watching our every move which is extreme.

Some reasons why many people oppose speed cameras include:

The right to face your accuser in court and cross examine witnesses is guaranteed by the US Bill of Rights. Speed cameras deny you this right because the accuser is a machine.

Speed cameras are a form of mass surveillance over ordinary drivers. The government is forbidden from engaging in sweeping surveillance systems without warrants to look for offenders of crimes. Only DRIVERS, rather than career criminals, are currently considered bad enough by the state legislature to justify such a system. It is possible that the cameras, or the data they collect, could one day be used for purposes other than speed enforcement, which may already be happening.
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Making $2.13 An Hour And The Boss Skims Tips? How We Can Fight Exploitation In Restaurants

Tipping catches workers between customer whims and employer exploitation. But some states and businesses are changing their ways.

Two weeks ago, a story about a wealthy California business executive leaving a 1 percent tip on a $133 lunch bill went viral on the Internet. Supposedly, the banker wrote "Get a real job" on the receipt as a smarmy reinforcement of his own status as a member of the 1 percent and as a put-down of the Occupy movement.

The restaurant in question quickly provided evidence that the damning receipt was Photoshopped. But it spread like wildfire because a rich businessman treating a waiter like garbage sounded true to many people. In recent months, the poor treatment of restaurant labor has received increased media attention. People inundate comment sections on blog posts and news stories about restaurants, sharing their own horror stories.

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Star Parker: Car Insurance Won't Cover Your Neighbor's Tune Up, So Why Should 'My Health Insurance Cover Your Sex Life?'

Speaking at one of the more than 130 “Stand Up for Religious Freedom” rallies around the country on Friday, activist and author Star Parker told the crowd gathered at the Health and Human Services building in Washington, D.C., that the government is trying to force its ideology on the people.

“Mountains of data point to the connection between traditional marriage and religion to civil order and economic prosperity,” Parker said. “Yet, we are here today, because our times necessitate that we defend both sexual integrity and religion from the onslaught of the same big government and social engineers that gave us the sexual revolution and the war on poverty.

“No more should my auto insurance cover your tune up, should my health insurance cover your sex life,” Parker said. “Not your Viagra, not your condoms, not your birth control devices, not your abortions.”

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40 Years Ago Today, Feds Denied The Truth About Pot -- Now It's Obama's Chance To Act

A congressional commission on US drug policy did something extraordinary 40 years ago: it told the truth about marijuana.

Forty years ago today, the members of a congressionally mandated commission on US drug policy did something extraordinary: they told the truth about marijuana.

On March 22, 1972 the National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse, chaired by former Pennsylvania governor Raymond P. Shafer, recommended that Congress amend federal law so that the use and possession of cannabis would no longer be a criminal offense. State legislatures, the commission added, should do likewise.

“[T]he criminal law is too harsh a tool to apply to personal possession even in the effort to discourage use,”concluded the 13-member commission, which included nine hand-picked appointees of then-president Richard Nixon, “It implies an overwhelming indictment of the behavior which we believe is not appropriate. The actual and potential harm of use of the drug is not great enough to justify intrusion by the criminal law into private behavior, a step which our society takes only with the greatest reluctance.

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Tobacco Tax: Saving Lives or Hurting Business?

The Telecom Scammers' Latest Ploy To Screw You For More Cash

Fees, surcharges and taxes make wireless companies tons of money.

Do you watch movies via a wireless connection on your laptop, tablet, smartphone or even TV set? If so, have you received a love letter from your service provider informing you to either go on a digital data diet or plan to pay more to suck down more streaming 1s and 0s? If not, it will arrive shortly.

The leading wireless companies are changing the usage and pricing models they have long used, shifting the industry from one with “unlimited” plans to “limited” deals.

These new limited plans tier data downloads to the ability to pay. AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and Virgin Mobile have either introduced or plan to introduce “data cap” or throttling programs on their 3G and 4G wireless users. Sprint remains the only leading provider offering an unlimited data plan that isn't subject to throttling.

When thinking about your latest wireless toy, it's important to remember two key facts. First, according to Europe’s Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OCED) the U.S. ranks first in total wireless users, with 200.2 million subscribers as of June 2011. However, it ranked ninth in terms of users per 100,000 people of a nation’s population, with 65.5 per 100/k – this compares to #1 Korea (96.3) and #2 Sweden (93.6).

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Gallup: Church-Going Americans Enjoy Life More, Approve Obama Less

A Gallup survey released Thursday reveals that Americans who attend religious services at least once a week enjoy life more than Americans who do not.

A separate Gallup survey, meanwhile, shows that Americans who attend religious services at least once a week are also less likely to approve of the job Barack Obama is doing as president.

The Gallup survey on the emotional disposition of religious and non-religious Americans was based on interviews with 329,152 adults conducted throughout 2011.

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Exposed: Massive New Spy Center Built To Track Your Emails And Phone Calls

An investigative reporter reveals that the NSA has established listening posts throughout the nation to collect and sift through billions of email messages and phone calls.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: A new exposé in Wired Magazine has revealed new details about how the National Security Agency is quietly building the largest spy center in the country in Bluffdale, Utah, as part of a secret NSA surveillance program codenamed "Stellar Wind." According to investigative reporter James Bamford, the NSA has established listening posts throughout the nation to collect and sift through billions of email messages and phone calls, whether they originate within the country or overseas. The Utah spy center will contain near-bottomless databases to store all forms of communication collected by the agency. This includes the complete contents of private emails, cell phone calls and Google searches, as well as all sorts of personal data trails—parking receipts, travel itineraries, bookstore purchases and other digital "pocket litter."

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New-home Sales Fell in February for Second Month

WASHINGTON — Sales of U.S. new homes fell in February for the second straight month, a reminder that the depressed housing market remains weak despite some improvement.

The Commerce Department said Friday that new-home sales dropped 1.6 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 313,000 homes. Sales have fallen nearly 7 percent since December.

While a mild winter and three months of strong job growth have lifted re-sales, those conditions haven’t benefited the new-home market. The current pace is less than half the 700,000 that economists consider to be healthy.

Economists cautioned that the housing market is a long way from fully recovering.

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Bragging On The Radio About How You Lied To Get Out Of Jury Duty Is A Bad Idea

Yapping about how you lied to get out of anything mandatory is always a bad idea if you don't want to get caught, but doing it publicly over the airwaves to crow over how you got out of jury duty? That's just begging for trouble, as a woman in Denver found out recently.

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Pelosi: Obamacare Allows You to Quit Your Job and Become 'Whatever'

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Thursday that Obamacare facilitates the type of “liberation” that the “Founders had in mind” because it allows you to quit your job and become a “photographer,” a “writer,” a “musician”--or “whatever.”

“As you hear from these stories, this is a liberation,” Pelosi said at a Capitol Hill news conference Thursday.

“This is what our founders had in mind--ever expanding opportunity for people.

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1.36 Million Pounds Of Toxic Chemicals Dumped Into Maryland’s Waterways

BALTIMORE – Industrial facilities dumped 1.36 million pounds of toxic chemicals into Maryland’s waterways, according to a new report released today by Environment Maryland. The report, Wasting Our Waterways: Industrial Toxic Pollution and the Unfulfilled Promise of the Clean Water Act also cites that 226 million pounds of toxic chemicals were discharged into 1,400 waterways across the country.

“Maryland’s waterways are a polluter’s paradise right now. Polluters dump 1.36 million pounds of toxic chemicals into Maryland’s lakes, rivers and streams every year,” said Ewa Krason, Field Organizer with Environment Maryland. “We must turn the tide of toxic pollution by restoring Clean Water Act protections to our waterways.”

The Environment Maryland report documents and analyzes the dangerous levels of pollutants discharged to America’s waters by compiling toxic chemical releases reported to the U.S. EPA’s Toxics Release Inventory for 2010, the most recent data available.

Major findings of the report include:

· Industrial facilities discharged approximately 922,688 pounds of chemicals linked to cancer into the Curtis Creek in Maryland.

· The Gunpowder-Patapsco Watershed is ranked 43rd in the nation for highest amount of total toxic discharges, with 1,339,183 pounds discharged in 2010. That is 98% of the toxic chemicals released into all of Maryland’s waterways in 2010.

Environment Maryland’s report summarizes discharges of cancer-causing chemicals, chemicals that persist in the environment, and chemicals with the potential to cause reproductive problems ranging from birth defects to reduced fertility. Among the toxic chemicals discharged by facilities are arsenic, mercury, and benzene. Exposure to these chemicals is linked to cancer, developmental disorders, and reproductive disorders.

“There are common-sense steps that we can take to turn the tide against toxic pollution of our waters,” added Krason.

In order to curb the toxic pollution threatening the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, Environment Maryland recommends the following:

1. Pollution Prevention: Industrial facilities should reduce their toxic discharges to waterways by switching from hazardous chemicals to safer alternatives.

2. Protect all waters: The Obama administration should finalize guidelines and conduct a rulemaking to clarify that the Clean Water Act applies to all of our waterways - including the 10,000 miles of streams in Maryland and 4 million Marylander’s drinking water for which jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act has been called into question as a result of two polluter-driven Supreme Court decisions in the last decade.

3. Tough permitting and enforcement: EPA and state agencies should issue permits with tough, numeric limits for each type of toxic pollution discharged, ratchet down those limits over time, and enforce those limits with credible penalties, not just warning letters.

“The bottom line is that Maryland’s waterways shouldn’t be a polluter’s paradise, they should just be paradise. We need clean water now, and we are counting on the federal government to act to protect our health and our environment,” concluded Krason.

GOP Presidential Candidates Plan Maryland Visits

ANNAPOLIS — Republican presidential candidates are planning to visit Maryland next week.

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum’s national press secretary said in an email Friday that Santorum is planning a visit to Maryland on Tuesday. Alice Stewart says details are still being worked out.

Texas Rep. Ron Paul’s campaign announced on its website a town hall meeting at the University of Maryland, College Park on Wednesday night.

A co-chairman of Newt Gingrich’s Maryland campaign recently announced the former House speaker also is planning a visit to Maryland on Tuesday.

Frontrunner Mitt Romney was in Arbutus this week.

There are 37 delegates at stake in Maryland’s April 9 primary.

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Caption This Photo 3-24-12

Egypt is Looking to Get Cozy With Iran

Although Saudi Arabia had good relations for more than 30 years with Egypt under now-ousted President Hosni Mubarak, the kingdom is warily watching political developments in Cairo as the Muslim Brotherhood shows increasing strength, according to a report from Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin.

As a consequence, Egypt is leaning more toward a strategic relationship with Iran. Closer Egyptian ties with Iran also were underscored by Egyptian parliamentary member Mohamed Abu Hamed, who resigned recently from the Free Egyptians Party, or FEP, which has enthusiastically embraced closer strategic relations with Tehran even though it opposes the Brotherhood.

The Free Egyptian Party was formed last year in the aftermath of the ouster of Mubarak. It has swiftly risen in popularity in opposition to the Freedom and Justice Party, or FJP of the Muslim Brotherhood.

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Bernanke: The Man, The Legacy And The Law

Fed chairman Ben Bernanke is covered in a long profile by Roger Lowenstein in the Atlantic [21]. The sympathetic account takes the reader blow-by-blow through the criticism that he has received from virtually all quarters during his tenure as Fed chair. What Lowenstein hones in on are the reviews and criticisms of Bernanke’s performance in “resurrecting the economy” — the interest rate policy, his interpretation of the dual mandate, quantitative easing, Operation Twist, etc. But for a piece that clocks in at 8,287 words, Lowenstein pays scant attention to the emergency actions taken to save the financial system itself. Here’s one snippet:

Under the Federal Reserve Act, the Fed is authorized to make loans under “unusual and exigent circumstances” as long as the loans are “secured to the satisfaction of the Federal Reserve banks,” meaning, as long as the Fed does not expect to suffer any losses. A fair argument can be made that in the depths of the crisis, some of the Fed’s emergency loans violated this dictum.

For some reason Lowenstein chooses not to actually discuss any of these arguments.

Did the Fed actually break the law?

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House of Delegates Passes Budget Package

ANNAPOLIS — The House of Delegates has approved a package of budget measures, including an income tax increase for people who make more than $100,000.

The House also voted Friday to double the state’s “flush tax” on sewer bills from $30 a year to $60.

The income tax increase would go up a quarter of a percent for single filers with more than $100,000 in taxable income. It would go up a quarter of a percent for joint filers who make more than $150,000 of taxable income.

The House also approved splitting teacher pension costs with counties. The split would be phased in over three years.

A panel of House and Senate lawmakers will need to work out differences in the budget legislation approved by the two chambers.

Source

Bernanke's Banking Misdirection

Ben Bernanke tells EU to clean up banks ... Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke has exhorted Europe's leaders to take further action to beef up banks and help southern Europe claw its way back to health, warning that the world financial system is not yet on a sound footing. Strains in global financial markets "continue to pose significant downside risks", said Bernanke. –

UK Telegraph

Dominant Social Theme: You've got to get your banks in better shape, the way they are in the US.

Free-Market Analysis: This is surely a dominant social theme – that banks can be seen as healthy due to so-called stress tests. The whole idea is that the paper money reserves held by banks must be adequate to surmount any larger financial downturn.

This is part of a larger dominant social theme of the power elite, that central banking economies have banks or even money in the normal sense. In the modern world, money is anything but "normal."

But the elites that want to create world government want to insist on mimicking pre-modern monetary environments. They need to create the perception that the faux-money of central banking is every bit as valid as previous monetary systems.

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Immigration Records Missing for Week of Obama's Birth

After months of searching, investigators commissioned by Maricopa County, Ariz., Sheriff Joe Arpaio to examine Barack Obama’s eligibility for office found Immigration and Naturalization Service travel records for foreign flights into Hawaii in 1961, only to discover that records for the week of Obama’s birth were missing.

Investigators were searching to determine if Barack Obama might have been born in a foreign country and returned to Honolulu in or around August 1961 with his mother, Ann Dunham.

Arpaio’s team looked at databases in the National Archives and Records Administration with microfilm of INS passenger records for foreign flights arriving in Honolulu and New York City.

If Obama was not born in Hawaii, as he and the Hawaii Department of Health have been insisting, there should be INS passenger cards that the new mother filled out for herself and her infant son upon arrival in Honolulu from a Pacific Rim city or arrival in New York City from across the Atlantic.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY 3-24-12

“In the autumn of 1929 the mightiest of Americans were, for a brief time, revealed as human beings…The privileged have regularly invited their own destruction with their greed.”
John Kenneth Galbraith

Author Dishes Alec Baldwin Taste of His Own Venom

Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., who was attacked as an “oil whore” by actor Alec Baldwin and “big oil’s top call girl” by environmentalist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is getting some verbal cover-fire from another prominent climate-change skeptic.

Author and talk-show host Brian Sussman, a meteorologist, went on the Tweet counter-offensive today – directing a pithy challenge to debate Baldwin and/or Kennedy about global warming claims.

“If Jim Inhofe is an ‘oil whore’ then Alec Baldwin is an eco-slut,” Sussman said in his first salvo on Twitter.

He followed that one minute later with this: “If Jim Inhofe is an ‘oil whore’ then Alec Baldwin is an enviro-hooker.”

Less than 60 seconds later, he Tweeted: “If Jim Inhofe is an ‘oil whore’ then Alec Baldwin is a green strumpet.”

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IT'S A BIG CLUB & YOU AIN'T IN IT

There’s a reason that education sucks, and it’s the same reason it will never ever ever be fixed. It’s never going to get any better, don’t look for it. Be happy with what you’ve got. Because the owners of this country don’t want that. I’m talking about the real owners now, the big, wealthy, business interests that control all things and make the big decisions.

Forget the politicians, they’re irrelevant.

Politicians are put there to give you that idea that you have freedom of choice. You don’t. You have no choice. You have owners. They own you. They own everything. They own all the important land, they own and control the corporations, and they’ve long since bought and paid for the Senate, the Congress, the State Houses, and the City Halls. They’ve got the judges in their back pockets. And they own all the big media companies so they control just about all the news and information you get to hear.

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Dramatic Video: Chaos After Quadruple Murder Trial Ends in Not Guilty Verdict

A dramatic scene unfolded in a Massachusetts courtroom Thursday after a jury acquitted one man accused in a quadruple murder trial and deadlocked over another.

The execution-style killings of three adults and a toddler had become known as the “Mattapan Massacre,” Boston’s Fox 25 reported.

Court officers restrained two women who rushed forward to the defendants’ table, screaming after the verdict was announced.

Watch a report from the Boston Globe Here

WOW ! With Just A Plastic Bottle

GO HERE

Sen. Panel OKs Bill to Add 6th Casino, Table Games

ANNAPOLIS — A panel of state Senators is supporting legislation to expand gambling in Maryland.

The Budget and Taxation Committee voted 10-2 Friday afternoon to move the bill to the full Senate.

The proposal would create a sixth Maryland license for a slot machine parlor to be built in Prince George’s County and legalize table games at that location and the state’s five other slots sites.

It would also increase the share of revenue casino operators keep and relieve the state of an obligation to buy slot machines, which has proved to be an ineffective expense.

If the legislature passes the bill it will have to be ratified by a majority of Maryland voters.

Source

New Device Makes Wheelchairs Obsolete

GO HERE

IMPACT Conference Expected to Draw 3,000

Approximately 3,000 high school students, parents and youth group leaders are expected to attend this weekend’s Metro- Maryland Youth For Christ IMPACT High School Conference at the Ocean City convention center, where they will participate in a variety of seminars, workshops, concerts, exhibits and prayer.

The theme of this year’s conference is “Connect.”

“No theme is more relevant to kids than ‘connect,’” said Metro-Maryland Youth For Christ Executive Director Robert Arnold. “Facebook, Twitter … every possible way they are trying to connect with friends and family.”

The three-day conference will feature regional and national entertainers, including musical acts Disciple, Tenth Avenue North, Ascend the Hill and artist KJ-52.

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Somerset County Sheriff's Office Press Releases

Sally Jean Adams of Marion, criminal summons served for theft over $1,000. Adams was released on signature pending court actions.

Archie Davis Saunders of Princess Anne, arrested 3-16-12 on a warrant regarding violation of probation. Saunders was later released on a $5,000 unsecured bond.

Sharnell Zellah Miles of Salisbury, criminal summons served for assault second degree. Miles was later released on signature pending court actions.

Carlton Young Jr. of Salisbury, arrested 3-17-12 on a warrant regarding failing to appear in court. Young was held on a $500.00 bond.

Everett Lee Bozman Jr. of princess Anne, arrested 3-19-12 on a warrant regarding violation of probation. Bozman was later held on a $5,000 bond.

Stacy Lynn Corbin of westover, criminal summons served 3-19-12 regarding theft less than $1,000 and theft under $10,000. Corbin was later released on signature pending court actions.

Stephen Lelend Alford Sr. of princess Anne, arrested 3-19-12 on a warrant regarding second degree assault, and reckless endangerment. Alford was later released on a $5,000 unsecured bond.

Wayne Evans Spence of Salisbury, arrested 3-19-12 on a warrant regarding violation of probation. Spence was later released on a $5,000 bond.

David brant Filmer of Salisbury, arrested 3-20-12 on a warrant regarding violation of probation. Filmer was held on a $25,000 bond.

Lonnie franklin Burkes of Eden, arrested 3-21-12 on a Maryland state Police warrant regarding unauthorized use of vehicle. Burkes was later turned over to MSP.

Michael Troy Gatling of Dover Delaware, arrested 3-21-12 on a warrant regarding violation of probation. Gatling was released after posting $1,000 bond.

Angela Leigh Losiewski of Dames Quarters, arrested 3-21-12 on a warrant regarding failing to appear in court. Losiewski was released after posting $250.00 bond.

Cash Grab on Md. Highway After Armored Car Spill

HYATTSTOWN, Md. - Coins and bills spilled from an armored truck on northbound Interstate 270 Friday morning, and passersby stopped and scooped them up.

Maryland State Police are investigating how the cash came out of the truck -- owned by Garda -- shortly after 9 a.m.

Police are asking motorists who helped themselves to the cash to return it to the Rockville barracks.

An eyewitness says it was like a "snow globe of cash."

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Douglas Urges Common Sense Before Imposing Yet Another Tax

Richard Douglas, candidate for U.S. Senator, noted that the Maryland General Assembly's House Ways and Means Committee is holding hearings today on a "Luxury Surcharge" tax that would affect boat, airplane and other vehicle owners.

"The Annapolis tax-a-thon marches on," said Douglas. "Here's another ill-conceived attempt coming out of Annapolis to thwart the progress of yet another key Maryland industry," said Richard Douglas. "With soaring fuel costs, and a gas tax hike still on the table, this is the last thing Maryland's marine industry needs right now."

"I would urge our legislators in both Annapolis and Washington to stop harming businesses and look for ways to reduce government spending."

While voicing strong support for federalism in America, Douglas noted that Sen. Ben Cardin consistently hides behind the principle to avoid breaking ranks with Governor O'Malley and his anti-worker circles in Annapolis.


Said Douglas, "Federalism should not become an excuse for dereliction of duty. Cardin should support efforts to reduce taxes on Marylanders, and he should loudly oppose O'Malley's efforts to raise them."

Batman Pulled Over on Route 29

Montgomery County Police tweeted a photo Friday afternoon of an unlikely traffic stop. Batman was behind the wheel with the wrong tags on the Batmobile.

Officers pulled the Caped Crusader heading southbound on Route 29 at Prelude Drive.

The back tag on the Batmobile - in this case a black Lamborghini - was the superhero's emblem rather than state tags required by law, according to police.

The man, who has not been identified by police, was heading down to a hospital to visit sick children in the hospital.

Police say the photo of their officers pulling over Batman became a sensation on Twitter.

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Proposal To Raise Judicial Retirement Age Pending In Senate

A vote on a proposed constitutional amendment to raise the mandatory retirement age of judges from 70 to 72 has been put on hold until Friday, when floor amendments will be offered.

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HISTORICAL COMMENTS BY GEORGE CHEVALLIER 3-24-12

Eating Out

How many remember the days when there was no “fast food”? The first place to open up was Carroll’s out on South Salisbury Boulevard. This opened up the world of 15 cent hamburgers to a town that had previously only had places such as Johnnys and Sammys where hamburgers were 20 cents in 1952. Generally people only went out to eat for some special occasion. They usually “dressed up” because that was the thing to do.

My grandfather built two restaurants in Salisbury. The first one was the Shoreman. Most recently it was the police headquarters on the campus of Salisbury University until it was demolished for a new building. It was my grandfather’s practice to take us all to dinner on Sunday at the Shoreman and it was quite a treat in those days. My grandmother always drank her water and ate the rolls so that when they came to take our order, she would always say she wasn’t hungry and wouldn’t order anything. This angered my grandfather, but, she not being able to hear, his arguments were always ignored.

The other restaurant he built was built around 1960. It was the restaurant and motor lodge of Howard Johnson out on Route 13 North. It was because of his building the restaurant and motor lodge that I got my first real job as busboy in the restaurant. Towards the end of the summer of 1960, the management put up a sign that anyone breaking any dishes would have to pay for them. It didn’t take me long to figure out that my weekly pay of $33.75 (of which I cleared $25.87) would be wiped out by one tub load of dirty dishes. Since the doors to the kitchen swung both ways and waitresses were always coming and going, I figured it was only a matter of time that we would meet in the middle, with my tub of dishes making me the loser.

There were other fine places to have dinner. The Wicomico Hotel had been serving meals since it opened in 1924. It was an elegant place with their name embossed on all the silverware. Tea was served by way of an individual silver teapot filled with steaming hot water and the tea bag in your cup with it. The former hotel is now One Plaza East and has nothing but offices in it now.

Another fine eating establishment was the Chantry House. It was located directly north of the Court House where the government office building is now. Like the hotel, they had cloth table cloths and napkins and their name embossed on the tableware.

Looking at the menu from Johnnys and Sammys from 1952, some of their famous cuisine was as follows: Clam chowder – 20 cents, oyster sandwich – 30 cents, seafood platter (fried shrimp, scallops, oysters, crab cake, breaded haddock, choice of two vegetables, rolls, butter, and coffee or tea) - $1.75 and, my favorite, Maryland fried oysters, pickle and chips - $1.25 (no vegetables, just a whole plate of single fried oysters). Of course, in 1952 the people made a lot less money so the prices are probably in keeping with the times. The quality and quantity are not the same, though.

County Police Chief Refuses to Testify in Scandal Probe

WASHINGTON - Anne Arundel Police Chief James Teare is refusing to testify at an inquiry scheduled by the County Council surrounding his part in a corruption scandal.

The scandal surrounds County Executive John Leopold who has been indicted on corruption charges.

Among the things he's accused of: having county police officers, acting as his security detail, act as lookout while he had sex in county parking lots.

Councilman Jamie Benoit says he wants to know "What the chief knew when, what action if any he took..and it will inform our judgment as to whether or not the chief can continue on as the chief of police".

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Md. Early Voting Begins Today

BALTIMORE -- Maryland's primary election day is less than two weeks away, but early voting in Maryland begins Saturday.

In the heavily Democratic state of Maryland, political analysts predict strong turnout by almost 1 million registered Republicans.

Crews were setting up the last of five early voting sites in Baltimore City on Friday afternoon. Statewide, there are 46 early voting locations.

"It seems as though it's been a trend that each time, early voting numbers increase. People like that flexibility of having six days to choose when they want to come," Baltimore City Election Director Armstead Jones said.
- Maryland Early Voting Locations
- Commitment 2012 Election Coverage
- Interactive Guide To Delegates, Primary/Caucus Dates This is Maryland's first presidential contest with early voting, which ends Thursday. The primary takes place April 3.

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