61 Years Ago Today

"It's Howdy Doody Time" Today is the 61st Anniversary of the Howdy Doody Show.

The names and faces have changed but the Show lives on right here in Salisdoody. Nevertheless, how old are YOU feeling right about now?

Two Years Ago Today

It was two years ago today County Executive Rick Pollitt appointed Councilwoman Debbie Campbell to head a County Wide Neighborhood Group ultimately called the Wicomico County Neighborhood Congress.

GO HERE to see the original article.

HELP, LOCAL MISSING PERSON

Joe,

My son, David Hill is missing. He is 33 years old. He left his father's house on Tuesday. He called his grandmother from a Citgo station in Ocean Pines on Christmas Day. His cousin and her husband went to pick him up from the phone booth but he wasn't there. His brother and father, rode to Ocean Pines and Ocean City looking for him. He hasn't called and we're worrying about him. Has anyone seen him or know where he's at? He had been diagnosed as bi-polar and it's possible he hasn't been taking his medication.

Thank you,
Bonnie Lavish

If any of you have seen David, please contact me at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com. I will make sure the Mother is made aware of any updates. You can also contact any of your local police departments and give them an update as well. Any comments posted on this article that are not related to the subject at hand will be rejected. Questions as to why he might be missing will also be rejected. We're looking to help the Parents find their missing Son. I will keep you updated as the information comes in.

UPDATE: The Parents have made contact with the Maryland State Police just recently. They will be back in touch with me after they have given them the details. Since they hadn't made contact with any Police Agency before they contacted me, we didn't want to suggest calling any particular Agency, since they weren't aware of him being missing as of yet.

UPDATE #2:
Joe,
Trooper Keidel just called me.
David is officially listed as a missing person now.
He is not at any local hospital.
Anyone with any info should contact:
Maryland State Police at 410-749-3101

Thank you so much.
Bonnie

Angry Parent Asks YOUR Help to Find Hit and Run Driver

Late in the day yesterday a Pocomoke Tattler reader posted a copy of a Craigslist ad offering a reward for a hit and run driver in the Tattler Forums. By the time I read this and clicked through to Craigslist the ad had been flagged and removed. Below is a partial of what was written:

REWARD OFFERED FOR INFORMATION REGARDING the driver of a Silver/Gray 80s-early 90s model Cadillac with Maryland Handicapped plates.

This vehicle was involved in a HIT AND RUN Friday December 26th on US 13 South just south of US 50 overpass at or about 4:50 p.m. EST. The 80s model Silver Cadillac side-swiped the Chevy Blazer traveling south on US 13, forcing the Blazer off into a ditch, causing physical damage to the vehicle and injury to the driver of the Blazer.

If your neighbor has a silver Cadillac which shows damage ON THE DRIVER SIDE OF HIS CAR from an accident that he did not have prior to Friday, December 26th, contact me. THE TRUCK HE RAN OFF THE ROAD INTO A DITCH AND A TREE WAS TOTALED!!!

I would like to believe the fine, outstanding, honest and honorable people of Salisbury and the Eastern shore would volunteer information helping in the investigation of a HIT AND RUN involving injury, but… recent events have removed any such faith in the people I came to know and love as a child growing up in Crisfield and Salisbury.

So today, I choose a more dependable way to solicit help… I will PAY CASH for information that brings this HIT AND RUN DRIVER TO JUSTICE!!!! Click here to read the entire post.
***************

This type of thing really gets me that someone can cause an accident then keep on trucking without so much as a hello, goodbye screw you or nothing. I sent an e-mail to the address listed on the ad and received this response this morning.

So I sent an e-mail to the address listed to verify the incident and this is the response that was waiting in my inbox this morning.

Hi Billy!

Yes! Thanks for your interest.

December 26th, 2008 at 4:50 p.m., my son was returning to Crisfield where he is staying with my aunt, when he was forced off the road by a driver who made no effort to stop.
The incident occurred just south of the US-50 overpass, the north end of Salisbury’s US-13.

My son was driving southbound on US-13 and was in the left/inside lane when a male driver in a late 80’s model silver/gray Cadillac bearing Maryland handicapped license plates began tailgating him very close and then according to testimony of my son and his passenger, the car then whipped around on the passenger/right side of my son’s 1988 Chevy Blazer and according to information provided to me, side-swiped the Blazer forcing it off the road at highway speeds.

My son said it was all he could do to keep the truck from flipping over as it was sliding sideways into ditch/impression and before he could get the truck to a complete stop it slammed into a tree, totaling the vehicle, bending the frame dramatically. I placed an advertisement on craigslist/eastern shore and received a posting saying the vehicle was known in the Pocomoke area where it has been seen at the Walmart store there.

The responder said he drives US-13 on a regular basis and appears to be a classic car buff who pays attention to cars he sees on the road. He says there are not many of the year and model Cadillacs described on the eastern shore and this one has made appearances in Pocomoke and Princess Anne.

So I suspect this car makes treks from the Pocomoke area to the Delmar area where it appears he might have been coming from, perhaps returning home to Pocomoke or Princess Ann later that afternoon.

The car should not be hard to find… There can only be so many silver Cadillacs in lower Delmarva that were issued handicap license plates.

From the description I received, it is not hard to imagine this was an intentional ROAD RAGE incident where my son did not get out of his way fast enough so he ran my son off the road. An action that could very easily have been fatal.

The Blazer as seen prior to the afternoon of December 26th, 2008

I don’t know how vigorously local police go after this sort of thing… I suspect it will be CITIZENS who track this guy down. Any help you can provide in identifying the driver of the HIT AND RUN vehicle would be appreciated.

If this was ROAD RAGE and an intentional act, then the citizens of Delmarva are at risk every day this driver is on the loose.

Who will be NEXT? YOUR son or daughter? There’s just no way to know. If he did this once, then he is capable of doing it again and the fact that he did not bother or feel any obligation to stop to see if anyone was hurt… well that classifies this driver as dangerous. Who does that sort of thing? Runs people off the road and then does not care enough to stop to see if they are alive or dead?

This was a very violent roadway exit by this Blazer, it plowed dirt, jumped ditches and slid into a tree. This is a recipe for a fatality and yet… somehow… these kids got lucky.

Thank you for any assistance you can provide.

I am not sure if the Maryland State Police or Salisbury City Police responded to this scene, I have had a call in to find out, but so far…. Still waiting! My son is devastated by this. He had just purchased this truck so he would have transportation to look for a job in his newly chosen community he wanted so much to call home.

I was born in Crisfield, lived in Salisbury until age 21 when I moved to Las Vegas, NV, my home for 34 years. My son, now 25 was born in Las Vegas and ironically enough… he fell in love with Crisfield and THE SHORE and has decided that is where he wants to live. He had been there a week prior to this event.

Thank you,
Jon Dize
Stg2@cox.net
Below are photos of the Blazer being recovered from the accident scene 5:30 p.m. December 26th, 2008.
So my question to the readers is; can you help get this dangerous driver off the road?

Holy Cow! Salisbury News Ranked #1 Everywhere

Dear Joe:

Congratulations on "Acing" the top three spots with Blognetnews today / this week.

I followed your lead a few weeks ago and put a counter or page rank thing on our website and we have gone from 7 to 16 to 12 to number 4 this week.

So I checked your site and there were three aces on your wall.

Sincerely,

Billy Burke

I received the message above and couldn't believe what I was seeing! Salisbury News was ranked #1 by Blognetnews in Maryland, Delaware and on Delmarva. I'm not sure how this could have happened but Billy was right, triple aces. I'm not even sure if that has ever happened before but it sure is sweet! Once again, thanks to ALL of YOU, your support and visits continue to make Salisbury News one of the best Blogs in the State of Maryland and Delaware. Cool Stuff! Thanks for the heads up Billy/Boss Hogg.

ANOTHER PAY RAISE FOR MARYLAND’S JUDGES?

Letter To The Editor:

"As many other State of Maryland employees become victims of the O’Malley furlough and salary reduction scheme and officials report that the State’s revenue deficit is going to be much greater than anticipated just three months ago, Maryland’s judges may be in for a double digit pay raise. Recently, the State’s “Judicial Compensation Commission” recommended increasing judicial salaries by about $40,000 over a 4-year period.

When fully phased-in, the annual salary of the lowest level of the judiciary (District Court) would be $167,000 and the highest member (Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals) would receive $220,210. In the past several years, Maryland judges have received regular salary increases each year – in 2005, the comparable salary range was $114,502 to $155,852. At present the range is $127,252 to $181,352. Besides a liberal retirement plan and health insurance program, Maryland judges receive 5 weeks paid vacation in addition to 11 paid holidays, 15 days sick leave and up to 6 paid personal days.

If approved by the General Assembly, O’Malley’s wife would soon get more pay from the State of Maryland as a District Court judge that he now receives as the Governor -- $150,000, if that does become any (or much) greater. The Governor appoints the Commission's seven members. Two are nominated by the Senate President, two by the House Speaker, and one by the Maryland State Bar Association.

Tell your state legislators what you think of this proposed pay raise – go here for e-mail and other addresses to reach them:" http://mlis.state.md.us/mgaweb/mail32.aspx

SALISBURY UNIVERSITY PURCHASE REPRESENTS ANOTHER SOCIALIST MOVE

It is interesting to note that The Daily Times reporter, Greg Latshaw, chose to report on SU's latest acquisition - Dresser Industries property. It would have been nice and fitting for a former Daily Times reporter, Joe Cacchiolli, to have authored the writing as he had in-depth knowledge and had extensively researched the deal some years ago.

You see the former Daily Times reporter knew full well that it looked very bad, both, politically and economically, for another private enterprise firm to have 'bitten the dust' I knew this as he contacted me on numerous occasions to try and 'smoke-out' the dissemination of adverse propaganda.

But I believe that Janet Dudley-Eshbach's latest announced SU move 'takes the cake' especially in light of the fact that the projected State budget deficits are expected to exceed 2 billion dollars by the next fiscal year, even despite State worker furloughs.

The University system is suppose to enlighten ones logic which brings me to the million dollar question. Where are all of the graduates going to work in Maryland's new found Industrial ghost town? What could have caused such a catastrophic deterioration in our industrial environment? Could it have been the overburdening system itself that has suffocated so many of Maryland's industrial giants?

There are very few industries left here in and around Wicomico. Most have moved overseas to China, Taiwan, Mexico. According to The Daily Times previous reporting article Wicomico's latest fatality, Powerwave, was suppose to become the new eastcoast silicon valley.

Better wake up folks. You've been hoodwinked once again by none other than one of your own educational institutions.

Straight No Chaser

Been enjoying your blog for the last year and a half or so...Thought your readers might enjoy this Christmas youtube video that a friend of mine sent the link to. These guys have talent! Shame they aren’t coming to the Civic Center.

Happy Holidays to you and yours,

Kevin

Kevin, Thank you. Although it is a bit late being posted, I couldn't agree more, these guys are enjoyable.

A Thing Of Beauty

PECANS IN THE CEMETERY

On the outskirts of a small town, there was a big, old pecan tree just inside the cemetery fence. One day, two boys filled up a bucketful of nuts and sat down by the tree, out of sight, and began dividing the nuts.

'One for you, one for me One for you, one for me,' said one boy. Several dropped and rolled down toward the fence.

Another boy came riding along the road on his bicycle. As he passed, he thought he heard voices from inside the cemetery. He slowed down to investigate. Sure enough, he heard, 'One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me.'

He just knew what it was. He jumped back on his bike and rode off. Just around the bend he met an old man with a cane, hobbling along.

'Come here quick,' said the boy, 'you won't believe what I heard! Satan and the Lord are down at the cemetery dividing up the souls.'

The man said, 'Beat it kid, can't you see it's hard for me to walk.' When the boy insisted though, the man hobbled slowly to the cemetery.

Standing by the fence they heard , 'One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me. '

The old man whispered, 'Boy, you've been tellin' me the truth. Let's see if we can see the Lord.'

Shaking with fear, they peered through the fence, yet were still unable to see anything. The old man and the boy gripped the wrought iron bars of the fence tighter and tighter as they tried to get a glimpse of the Lord.

At last they heard, 'One for you, one for me. That's all. Now let's go get those nuts by the fence and we'll be done.'

They say the old man made it back to town a full 5 minutes ahead of the kid on the bike.

SMILE, God Love s You

Another Violent Shooting in Salisbury Last Night

The shooting that occurred last night near the Exxon Station at Vine St & Rt 13, just outside PRMC, is allegedly a drug deal gone bad. The victim of the shooting was shot in the abdomen and once in the thigh, both bullets went clear through, one bullet was found lying on the ground next to the victim. According to our sources the victim is well known by local authorities as an alleged drug dealer and the suspect was identified by the victim. The victim gave the street name of the suspect to the police. The police recognized this name immediately. It should be known that both the victim and the suspect have very long list of priors.

Names are being withheld until further notice from law enforcement agencies.

What's Up With The Daily Times?

After several e-mail messages tipping me off about the Daily Times today, I took a stroll over to their Website and couldn't believe my eyes. Today's paper is mostly old Salisbury News. I mean, right down to the old barns and so forth.

Oh well, it just goes to show you Folks, you can get all of your local news right here for free and not have to pay that rag any more. These people have no pride whatsoever. Isn't it funny how all of a sudden out of nowhere they did an article about the Homeless from Elkton, yet they said NOTHING at all about the Mayor and Police Chief taking every ones belongings here in Salisbury. This is what I mean by them covering up stories Folks.

Once again I'll remind everyone that I frequently get calls from employees at the Daily Times asking me what the connection is when people call them the Tilghman Times. Being that I know they're reading this article, DO YOU GET IT NOW?

The Daily Times only tells you what's already out there. Very Rarely do you get the luxury of ANY investigative reporting from that Newspaper, because they're so afraid the mad woman from the GOB will come in there again screaming and yelling, cursing like a sailor and tell them what they can or can't say or do.

So look around Folks. ALL of your Main Stream Media on the Eastern Shore are coming to Salisbury News and taking stories from us on a daily basis, never having to leave their building. I'd say it's time to drop that subscription.

Twas The Day After Christmas

Twas the day after Christmas, and all through the house,
Every creature was hurtin', even the mouse.
The toys were all broken, their batteries dead;
Santa passed out, with some ice on his head.

Wrapping and ribbons just covered the floor, while
Upstairs the family continued to snore.
And I in my T-shirt, new Reeboks and jeans,
I went into the kitchen and started to clean.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the sink to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the curtains, and threw up the sash.

When what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a little white truck, with an oversized mirror.
The driver was smiling, so lively and grand;
The patch on his jacket said "U.S. POSTMAN."

With a handful of bills, he grinned like a fox
Then quickly he stuffed them into our mailbox.
Bill after bill, after bill, they still came.
Whistling and shouting he called them by name

"Now Dillard's, now Broadway's, now Penny's and Sears
Here's Robinson's, Levitz's and Target and Mervyn's.
To the tip of your limit, every store, every mall,
Now charge away--charge away--charge away all!"

He whooped and he whistled as he finished his work.
He filled up the box, and then turned with a jerk.
He sprang to his truck and he drove down the road,
Driving much faster with just half a load.

Then I heard him exclaim with great holiday cheer,
"Enjoy what you got. . . . . .you'll be paying all year!"

HISTORICAL MOMENTS BY GEORGE CHEVALLIER

Salisbury’s Methodist Churches

No history of Methodism in Salisbury is complete without the history of both Asbury and Trinity Churches.

Asbury was built first in 1801. This was called the “red meeting house”. A new white frame, green shuttered church was built in 1856 and outgrown by 1886. In 1872 it had been named Asbury United Methodist Church in honor of Bishop Francis Asbury, who had visited the congregation in 1805 and again in 1810. All structures have been built at the same location which is on the East side of Division Street near Broad Street.

The congregation of Trinity Methodist Church was formally organized in 1866. The secretary of this organization was Nannie Rider, who later became the wife of Elihu E. Jackson. They married in 1869 in the small chapel on what was once was the corner of Bond and Old Water Streets, where the present government office building now stands. This structure was destroyed by fire in 1884. They worshipped in the courthouse until they built a new a new church in 1886.

When Asbury built their stone church in 1886, the building committee consisted of William H. Jackson, T. H. Williams, James T. Truitt and James E. Ellegood. William H. Jackson told them if they built it out of stone he would pay for any shortfall in their building fund. This is the building that stands today, but is occupied by Faith Community Church. A new Asbury was built on Camden Avenue and has been in use since 1963.

Back to Trinity. When the church burned in 1884, they built a new church but outgrew it by 1904. Since Nannie Rider had married E.E. Jackson and he had made not only quite a name for himself but a considerable fortune, he completely paid for the building of a new church in that year. The members of Trinity continue to worship in that building to this day.

The speculation is that the wife of E. E. Jackson and the wife of William H. Jackson didn’t see eye to eye. W. H. Jackson was a leader in Asbury. The new Trinity Church was built across Division Street from Asbury.

Deals, Deals, Deals!

So the big question of the day is, did YOU go out shopping yesterday, (the day after Christmas) and take advantage of the so called great deals out there?

I have to be honest with you, my Wife and I did stop at Sam's Club Friday and bought just a few small items. We walked out of there with $140.00 worth of items for about $50.00. I had been watching those monstrous ornaments in Sam's, you know, the ones that are so big you think, there's no way that's going to fit on a tree, so what the hell are they worth? There's two to a box and they're ALL the same. It's not like there's 10 or 20 of them to spread around a tree in the yard. Plus, they were about $29.00 a box. They dropped down to about $12.00 or so but just as I had thought, they were still loaded with them and no one had any of them in their carts when I looked around.

We then drove over to Target to look at the ornaments and walked out of there empty handed. Next we hit Michael's and spent $7.00 and that was it. A man can only take so much of that pansy kind of shopping but I do enjoy one on one time with my Wife and it's rare we get the opportunity to bark at one and other over stupid looking ornaments.

You know how it is guys. While we THINK these things are stupid and ugly, the Wife goes and decorates the tree year after year and you look at it and say, WOW, that darned thing looks pretty nice. Insert foot in mouth.

So tell us what you did on Friday. This should get real interesting. Hopefully everyone sees the HUMOR in this article.

Pittsville, Maryland To Outlaw Skateboards

This Comment came in from THIS ARTICLE from Salisbury News and I thought it worthy of a Post...........

Daily Times Article

"Pittsville Commissioners pass skateboarding ordinance

By Earl Holland • Staff Writer • December 17, 2008

PITTSVILLE -- Town residents who skateboard will now be limited to private property and away from streets and sidewalks.

The Pittsville Commissioners passed a new town skateboarding ordinance by a majority vote of 3-1, with one person abstaining.

The law, which prohibits the use of skateboards on town streets and sidewalks, went into effect at the start of the business day Tuesday morning. Anyone caught in violation of the ordinance could be subject to confiscation of the board and the possible issuance of a municipal citation and a fine.

At last month's meeting, the town voted to move the proposed ordinance from first reading to a second reading, consisting of a public hearing and final vote.

Commission President Denver Moore said the intent of the ordinance was to curb concerns over harassment by skaters of residents as well as safety of skateboarders.

"Some children would not show the proper respect to people when they were asked not to skate on their property or to move out of the way on the streets," he said. "No one wants to see a child on a skateboard getting struck by a car and killed."

Moore, along with Commissioners Ted Farlow and George Whited, voted in favor of the ordinance, with Commissioner Lucille Jones voting against. Commissioner Wayne Knapp abstained from the vote.

Jones said she voted against the ordinance on the grounds that the mandate would be tough to implement.

"Who's going to enforce it and who's going to determine fines?" she said.

In addition to the worries about enforcement, Jones said the ordinance unfairly penalizes those who have been courteous and have adhered to the rules.

"I don't see any reason to punish all of the children because of the actions of a few," she said. "Not all of the children who skateboard are bad ones."

"THE GODS HAVE SPOKEN"

I've lived here all my life, and I would like to know how these assholes get into office, they're not elected by any election procedure that I know of! Why is there always at least one ranking Fireman always on the team?

Native Son"

The Most Beautiful Heart

One day a young man was standing in the middle of the town proclaiming that he had the most beautiful heart in the whole valley.

A large crowd gathered and they all admired his heart for it was perfect. There was not a mark or a flaw in it. Yes, they all agreed it truly was the most beautiful heart they had ever seen. The young man was very proud and boasted more loudly about his beautiful heart.

Suddenly, an old man appeared at the front of the crowd and said, "Why your heart is not nearly as beautiful as mine." The crowd and the young man looked at the old man's heart. It was beating strongly, but full of scars, it had places where pieces had been removed and other pieces put in, but they didn't fit quite right and there were several jagged edges.. In fact, in some places there were deep gouges where whole pieces were missing.

The people stared ­ "How can he say his heart is more beautiful?" they thought.

The young man looked at the old man's heart and saw its state and laughed. "You must be joking," he said. "Compare your heart with mine, mine is perfect and yours is a mess of scars and tears."

"Yes," said the old man, "Yours is perfect looking but I would never trade with you. You see, every scar represents a person to whom I have given my love - I tear out a piece of my heart and give it to them, and often they give me a piece of their heart which fits into the empty place in my heart, but because the pieces aren't exact, I have some rough edges, which I cherish, because they remind me of the love we shared."

"Sometimes I have given pieces of my heart away, and the other person hasn't returned a piece of his heart to me. These are the empty gouges - giving love is taking a chance. Although these gouges are painful, they stay open, reminding me of the love I have for these people too, and I hope someday they may return and fill the space I have waiting. So now do you see what true beauty is?"

The young man stood silently with tears running down his cheeks.

He walked up to the old man, reached into his perfect young and beautiful heart, and ripped a piece out. He offered it to the old man with trembling hands. The old man took his offering, placed it in his heart and then took a piece from his old scarred heart and placed it in the wound in the young man's heart. It fit, but not perfectly, as there were some jagged edges.

The young man looked at his heart, not perfect anymore but more beautiful than ever, since love from the old man's heart flowed into his.

They embraced and walked away side by side.

A Thing Of Beauty

A Local Photo

Courtesy Of The Skinkle's

Don't Forget Today's Classified Ads

The link to the classified ads is on the right hand side bar of the Blog. Go take a look.