REMINDER OF SPECIAL HIGH SCHOOL SCHEDULE MAY 18-20 DUE TO HSA TESTING

All High School Students Have Altered Schedule for May 18-20 for HSA Testing
Important reminder for all high school students and their families:

All Wicomico County high schools will follow a special schedule May 18-20 during HSA testing. On those days, the only students reporting to school by 7:45 a.m. will be the students taking an HSA for Government, Biology, or the English 10 restest or Algebra retest (restests are only for students who previously took and did not pass one of these two HSAs), that day. All others will report to school between 10:35-10:45 a.m. A second, later bus run for high school students will occur on all three days.

Each school has set and will share with students its own schedule for which HSAs will be given on which days. The overall schedule on May 18-20 will be:

May 18: Periods 4-5-6-7 with PM CTE reporting
May 19: Periods 4-1-2-3 with AM CTE reporting (flexible with college and work release students)
May 20: Periods 4-5-6-7 with PM CTE reporting

-ATEX will not report on May 18-20.
-Parkside AM CTE students should report to their CTE class during 4th period.
-All CTE classes will resume their regular schedule on May 21.
-Makeups will be scheduled as need during the Maryland HSA testing window, which runs through June 4.

WV MAN IN CRITICAL CONDITION AFTER FALLING FROM OCEAN CITY HOTEL BALCONY

(May 15, 2015) – A West Virginia man is currently in critical condition at the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore after falling from a third-story balcony Thursday evening.

On Thursday, May 14, 2015, at approximately 6:40 p.m. Ocean City police responded to the area of 25th Street and Baltimore Avenue to assist Ocean City EMS after Patrick Thomas, 23, of Inwood, WV had fallen from a third-story balcony. Officers initiated medical treatment upon arrival to the scene until Ocean City EMS arrived. Thomas was flown to Peninsula Regional Medical Center by Maryland State Police Trooper 4 then later flown to University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center where was he listed in critical condition at last update.

During the investigation, officers learned that the victim had been reaching over the railing to a balcony below before falling approximately 21-feet to the ground. Alcohol is believed to have been a factor.

This weekend at Headquarters Live - Davy Knowles

WANT LIVE MUSIC? WE'VE GOT YOU COVERED. DAVY KNOWLES - FEAT. ODE & THE TIME NODE TRIO  Saturday, May 16   Blues, rock, roots and Americana all have a promising future in the talented hands of Davy Knowles. Just six years into his professional music career, Davy has an impressive record of accomplishments. He has been endorsed by some of the biggest names in the industry, and has shared the stage and the recording studio with some of his heroes. Check out this video of his appearance on the Bob & Tom Show. Doors: 7 PM | Show: 8 PM $10 Admission | 18+ Show ELTON JOHN/BILLY JOEL TRIBUTE FEATURING BRENDAN GALLAGHER Friday, May 15 - THIRD FRIDAY Come out on Third Friday to experience two of the world's musical icons coming together for one breathtaking show! The Pianoman and the Rocketman perform their greatest hits LIVE onstage. Sing and dance along with favorites like Crocodile Rock, Big Shot, Your Song, You May be Right, and many, many more. Doors: 7 PM | Show: 8 PM $10 Admission | 18+ Show SUNDAY JAMS: THE LARKS AND THE ROOSEVELT BAND Sunday, May 17   Join us on Sunday afternoon for a day of all ages music and fun! The Larks began laying down their brand of deep-pocket funky jazz in the resort beaches of Maryland and Delaware to rave reviews. The Larks are comprised of top-notch professional musicians whose list of accolades, venues played, and musicians with whom they have traded licks is too numerous to list in full. Doors: 3 PM | Show: 4 PM $4 | All Ages Welcome   WHAT IS HEADQUARTERS LIVE?  Headquarters Live is a music venue in Downtown Salisbury. The focus here is on music, sound quality and the performers. It is a truly unique experience compared to anywhere else in the area! Sure, we have a bar - serving domestic and craft beers, wines and wine cocktails - but it's so much more than that! Check out our website for more upcoming shows and events!

Dover Police On Scene Of Shooting

Dover Police are on scene at a shooting incident in the Capital Green neighborhood. Access to the area is extremely...

Posted by Dover Police Department on Friday, May 15, 2015

BREAKING NEWS: Jury Reaches Verdict In Penalty Phase Of The Boston Marathan Bomber

A verdict has been reached in the penalty phase of the Boston Marathon bombing trial. Details coming: http://cnn.it/1JNAAeo #TsarnaevWatch #CNNgo: http://CNN.it/go

Posted by CNN on Friday, May 15, 2015

Baltimore’s problems not rooted in racist police

Attorney General Loretta Lynch has announced a Justice Department investigation to determine whether the Baltimore Police Department’s practices are unconstitutional and violate civil rights; in short, whether or not the police force there is racist. It will come as no surprise if the investigation concludes that it is, because accusing the department of racism diverts attention from the city’s real problem: Baltimore, a laboratory for liberal policies, is a failed city that has shortchanged the poor for decades.

Baltimore has received over $1.8 billion in stimulus money from the Obama administration, including $467.1 million to invest in education and $26.5 million for crime prevention. Still, parts of the city remain mired in poverty and despair. There are 16,000 vacant buildings in Baltimore and an unknown number of “vacant” fathers. Between 2000 and 2010, Baltimore lost 5 percent of its population. The liberal solution of raising taxes hasn’t worked. Many of those who could escape the city have.

“Every single major urban center in America is run by Democrats — more specifically, liberal progressives, black or white,” writes former Congressman Allen West.

It is undeniable that it is liberal policies that have failed — from anti-poverty programs, to dysfunctional schools from which they refuse to let the poor escape because of the political donations they receive from teachers’ unions.

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Yard Sale Tomorrow

Community yard sale tomorrow at 7am in Tamarac Village next to Parkside High School.

ELDERLY CANCER PATIENT CALLS 911 BECAUSE HE HAS NO FOOD

When 81-year-old Clarence Blackmon returned home Tuesday after spending months in the hospital for cancer treatments and rehab, his refrigerator was empty.

He had nothing to eat and no way to get to the store. Hungry and desperate, he called 911. He asked the operator if someone could go to the store for him and buy some groceries.

He told the operator whatever she could do would help.

"I can't do anything. I can't go anywhere. I can't get out of my damn chair," Blackmon said in his 911 call.

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An update to this story can be found HERE

See No Evil: What We Chose to Ignore in the April Jobs Report

We live in an age where bad economic news is not only unwelcome, but it is routinely overlooked or excused. On the other hand, good news is spotted and trumpeted even when it doesn’t exist. An ideal illustration of this dangerous tendency towards collective selectivity came last week when the markets and the media somehow turned an awful employment report into an ideal data set that confirmed all optimism and contained nothing but good news for investors. In truth, it was anything but.

The stakes were high with this year’s April non-farm payroll report. It was the first major employment report of the Second Quarter and it was hoped that it would show an economy bouncing back from a sluggish winter. But there was cause for concern. The March report had been an unmitigated disaster. Only 126,000 jobs were created when 247,000 were expected. Then, two lesser April employment reports had been released, the ADP private payroll data and the Challenger jobs cuts report that came in far below expectations (Challenger showed the biggest month over month increase in layoffs in three years). Even more harrowing was the recently released .2% annualized GDP in the First Quarter, a dismal April trade deficit, and the worst back to back monthly productivity reports in almost a decade. We needed good news, and we needed it bad.

The April report’s headline was all most people needed to see before breathing a collective sigh of relief. 223,000 jobs were created during the month, which was a full 3,000 jobs more than the 220,000 that had been predicted by the consensus of economists. In addition, the unemployment rate held at a very low 5.4% (matching the consensus), the lowest number since the Market Crash of 2008. The steady rate, and the modest beat (of a modest expectation) were received like a strand of garlic to ward away evil spirits. Icing the cake was the understanding that the report was not so good that it would accelerate the Federal Reserve’s timetable to raise interest rates. As a result, it was termed a “Goldilocks” report, which many consider to be the best of all possible outcomes. But even a casual look beneath the surface should have thoroughly deflated the euphoria.

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Found Dog (Bivalve Area) UPDATE

My friend found what looks to be a female chocolate lab or fox red lab at the Bivalve Post Office. She appears well taken care of and had no collar. 

MSP Fallen Heroes Ceremony

Each year in May, the Maryland State Police honor those who have lost their lives in the line of duty at the Fallen...

Posted by Maryland State Police on Thursday, May 14, 2015

Government Censorship on the Rise

Cities and counties across the U.S. are banning advertising about religion, politics, abortion, environmental causes — any topic that risks offending people. For example, Lackawanna County, Pa., is barring bus ads that promote atheism and claims it will reject ads that promote religion, too. New York, Philadelphia and Chicago are cracking down on political ads in mass transit.

Government bureaucrats don’t want the “distraction” of dealing with controversial ads. Too bad they don’t realize — or don’t care — that freedom requires hearing distasteful ideas. Half a century ago, as totalitarian governments gripped Eastern Europe and muzzled freedom fighters, George Orwell warned, “If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they don’t want to hear.”

On April 29, New York City’s transit authority voted to exclude political ads from buses, trains and platforms. Thomas F. Prendergast, transit chairman, defends it, saying controversial ads “have been a distraction” for the transit system. New York’s new rule was triggered by a federal court decision a week earlier ordering the transit authority to display a provocative ad smearing Islam as a religion that advocates killing Jews. No matter how offensive the ad is, the judge ruled, transit officials can’t pick and choose. To get around the ruling, transit officials banned all political ads.

Philadelphia is also stifling free speech. On March 30, Pamela Geller and her controversial anti-jihadist organization, the American Freedom Defense Initiative, won a federal court battle against transit officials there. The judge ordered transit officials to display Geller’s ad, which said, “Islamic Jew-hatred: It’s in the Quran.” To avoid complying, Philadelphia took the coward’s way out, just like New York, and banned all political ads.

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Governor Larry Hogan: Changing The Status Quo

Why is North Korea executing high-level officials with anti-aircraft guns?

North Korea has reportedly executed a top official, Defense Minister Hyon Yong Chol, in a most North Korean manner: by shooting him to pieces with an anti-aircraft gun in front of a crowd of hundreds of other officials.

That's according to South Korea's intelligence service (NIS), which has a history of exaggerating reports about North Korea that make the country look bad. Indeed, while South Korean lawmakers at first described the NIS as categorically stating that Hyon had definitely been executed, the NIS later told the press that they were certain Hyon had been purged, and that they believed with confidence that he had been executed, but were still working to verify the latter.

In any case, there's reason to believe this could have actually happened — and that it could speak volumes about North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's hold on power.

First, the official story, according to South Korean intelligence: Kim Jong Un allegedly deemed his defense minister, Hyon Yong Chol, disloyal for dozing off during high-level events and for second-guessing Kim's orders. (You can bet the truth is probably closer to second-guessing, or outright insubordination, than it is to unauthorized napping.) On April 30, Hyon was stood before an anti-aircraft gun — which is essentially a mobile platform of four machine guns large and powerful enough to shoot down an airplane — and executed.

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Governor Larry Hogan: Protecting Pensions Is My Responsibility

12-Year-Old Critically Injured After Being Struck By Baltimore Police Car

BALTIMORE (WJZ) — A 12-year-old boy is hospitalized after being struck by a Baltimore police cruiser.

It happened just after 4 p.m. Thursday in the 3800 block of Falls Road.

City police say the boy was struck after running out in front of a marked patrol car.

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Governor Larry Hogan: Here Are The Facts

In 3rd trial, dad guilty of hurling girl to death off cliff

LOS ANGELES (AP) — In the nearly 15 years since Sarah Key-Marer got the chilling news that her 4-year-old daughter had plunged to her death from a sea cliff, the mother has waited for the girl's father to take responsibility.

He never did, and after two previous juries deadlocked, jurors Wednesday convicted Cameron Brown of first-degree murder in the death of Lauren Sarene Key.

A shocked Key-Marer breathed heavily and began crying as the verdict was read in Los Angeles Superior Court.

"Lauren was our gift from God, the best thing that ever happened to us," Key-Marer said outside court. "We just learned to live with the pain."

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High-ranking gang member had list of juror names

The defendant who obtained a jury pool list, triggering a mistrial for six suspects in the killing of a Waynesboro reserve police captain, is a high-ranking gang member who recruited while behind bars awaiting trial, according to court records.

Travis Leon Bell, also known as Kweli Uhuru, possessed the jury pool list for “at least one night,” or 15 hours, while being held in the Central Virginia Regional Jail in Orange County and “had some conversations about names,” according to court transcripts obtained Wednesday by The Daily Progress and The News Virginian.

A day earlier in Charlottesville, the leak of the jury pool list prompted federal Judge Glen E. Conrad to declare a mistrial for Bell and five others accused in the killing of Kevin Wayne Quick, 45. The case now either won’t be tried in Charlottesville until next year or will be moved to a new venue, the judge has said.

Bell was known as “Big Homie,” a term of respect for higher-ranking Bloods members. He and Gert Arthur Wright III, also known as Halisi Uhuru, whom authorities described as the highest-ranking gang member of the six suspects, both recruited while in jail, according to court records.

Siblings Daniel Lamont Mathis, Shantai Monique Shelton and Mersadies Lachelle Shelton, all of Albemarle County, and Bell, of Front Royal, are accused of murder, racketeering and robbery. Wright and Anthony Darnell Stokes, both of Manassas, are charged with racketeering and obstruction of justice.

All six defendants are members of the 99 Goon Syndikate, an affiliate of the Bloods, according to prosecutors.

FBI agent Scott Cullins raised concerns about the safety of the 134 people on the jury pool list during a May 7 meeting in Conrad’s chambers with the judge and lawyers on both sides, according to court transcripts. The agent said each of the defendants is tied to the United Blood Nation, which he described as having a history of retribution and intimidation.

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Governor Larry Hogan Addresses Increased Education Funding And State Pension Shortfalls

Administration Takes Steps To Ensure Fiscal Responsibility And Appropriate Funding To Pensions Of State Employees And Teachers

ANNAPOLIS, MD – Governor Larry Hogan today reaffirmed the state’s commitment to K-12 education funding, and announced plans to ensure that the pensions of Maryland state employees and teachers are not put at risk following actions by the General Assembly earlier this year.

“I was elected to deliver fiscal responsibility to Annapolis, which means putting an end to the damaging, budgetary gimmicks that put the state’s long term financial stability at risk,” said Governor Hogan. “But I also want to set the record straight on the investments my administration has made in K-12 education, including a $109 million increase in funding over last year.”

The Hogan administration will provide more in K-12 education funding than any governor in the history of Maryland, including:
$6.1 billion in K-12 total investments
$318 million in school construction
$109 million in additional K-12 funding over FY2015
$68 million in discretionary education funding (GCEI)

“We have taken steps to grow education funding, but the state still faces $18.7 billion in unfunded pension liabilities, following $625 million in cuts to pension contributions in the last few years. To address this situation, I’ve decided not to follow the General Assembly’s recommendation to raid the pension fund,” said Governor Hogan. “Doing so would be shortsighted and irresponsible, and I was elected to end this very type of reckless budgeting and governing.”

Since 2012, the State of Maryland has failed to make $625 million in payments to the state employee pension system. During this most recent legislative session, the General Assembly sought to once again reduce payments and further jeopardize the long-term stability of the system. In order to safeguard pension contributions and deliver the necessary funding this year and next, Governor Hogan has committed to supplemental education funding in the form of GCEI at $68 million in FY2016.

The governor also announced that he would allow the mandated GCEI spending bill to pass into law this year without his signature.

Other items in the FY2016 budget will also be fully funded. These include a range of healthcare-related provisions including adult day care, physician rates for Medicaid services, heroin addiction treatments, health services to pregnant women and a variety of other healthcare-related budget items.

Finally, Governor Hogan will provide $30 million in funding from the State’s Capital Budget for the Prince George’s County Hospital, following the completion in 2015 of a 5-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) relating to the hospital’s operating costs.