Just How Much Money Is Being Thrown Away In Salisbury For A Salary Study

Salisbury News brought forth an article a couple weeks ago referencing and pointing out a former Singer Study done about 5 years ago. This study showed that the Police Department was grossly underpaid.

Once we produced the article, the rest of the MSM picked up on it and started writing articles referencing the very same study we either woke them up to or to be kinder, reminded them of.

Nevertheless, I'd been working on an update to that story and I believe you'll enjoy my findings.

The detailed version of the Singer Study is one in which the general public was never made aware of. The study didn't just compare other municipalities. The study ALSO included large private businesses. Now, in my personal opinion, that's a load of crap. Municipalities are NOT in the business of making a profit, therefore the private sector businesses should NOT come into play.

Some might disagree by stating this needs to be done to keep retention. I disagree. WE should NOT have to pay a lawyer $450.00 an hour just because they could get the same in private practice. Most municipalities offer benefits you can't get in the private sector.

Nevertheless, we could argue that point all day long. I'm simply stating how "I" feel about how this study was done. As we move on, on Monday the Council for a second time agreed that they wanted the Mayor's Office to dig deeper into what it might cost to do yet another Singer Study. In that discussion there was talk about this study costing the taxpayers an additional $50,000.00.

Once the meeting was over I sent a text to certain Council Members saying, why can't these numbers come straight from the MML, Maryland Municipal League. That's when it was brought to my attention that the MML, (IF they could do so) wouldn't include the private sector numbers.

I made some calls to other people I know in the MML and guess what, the MML can in fact deliver this study to the City of Salisbury. After all, we're comparing one municipality, (similar to our City) to another, as the singer Study was conducted.

Get this, the MML can in fact do this study and guess what it would cost the city of Salisbury for the MML to do so, $240.00!!!!!!!!

So I was right from the very beginning. The reason I had thought of this was very similar to when the Salisbury Zoo was budgeting HUNDREDS of thousands of dollars for engineering plans for their new animal services building. I got so ticked off because I immediately said, you pay all this money into the AZA, you can't tell me there's not another Zoo in the World that doesn't have a plan similar to what Salisbury needs! What in the heck are we doing paying all of these association fees for if we can't get something back.

The bottom line is, the MML can provide what the City of Salisbury needs and they can do so very inexpensively. We do not have to pay out $40,000.00 to $50,000.00 to another organization to get what we need.

I disagree with the Mayor and Council on this matter. I believe the City should pay the MML the $240.00 for a study to be done.

Banana Boat Recalls Sunscreen After Cases Of Skin Igniting When Exposed To Flame

The maker of Banana Boat sunscreen is recalling some half-million bottles of spray-on lotion after reports that a handful of people have caught on fire after applying the product and coming in contact with an open flame.

Energizer Holdings said Friday that it is pulling 23 varieties of UltraMist sunscreen off store shelves due to the risk of the lotion igniting when exposed to fire.

The recall includes aerosol products like UltraMist Sport, UltraMist Ultra Defense and UltraMist Kids.

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HERE’S A GASP-INDUCING LESSON IN WHY YOU SHOULD NEVER STICK YOUR HEAD OUT A TRAIN WINDOW

A video has been making its rounds on the Web simply because it is a lesson in what not to do while riding on a train.

The clip, uploaded in late September by  Live Leak, shows a group of young adults on a train, enjoying themselves. The person filming a sunglasses-wearing female tells her to stick her head out the window. She does so without complaint — and without looking.

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Medicaid and Medicare Enrollees Now Outnumber Full-Time Private Sector Workers

 The combined number of people enrolled in Medicaid and Medicare--the government health-care programs for the poor, disabled and elderly--now exceeds the number of full-time private sector workers in the United States.

In 2011, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), there were 70.4 million people who enrolled in Medicaid for at least one month. There were also 48.849 million people enrolled in Medicare. That gave Medicaid and Medicare a gross combined enrollment of 119.249 million in 2011.

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County Official Proposes Bullet Tax To Curb Chicago Crime

  As Chicago struggles to quell gang violence that has contributed to a jump in homicides, a top elected official wants to tax the sale of every bullet and firearm -- an effort even she acknowledges could spark a legal challenge.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle will submit a budget proposal Thursday that calls for a tax of a nickel for each bullet and $25 for each firearm sold in the nation's second-largest county, which encompasses Chicago.

Preckwinkle's office estimates the tax will generate about $1 million a year, money that would be used for various county services including medical care for gunshot victims. Law enforcement officials would not have to pay the tax, but the office said it would apply to 40 federally licensed gun dealers in the county.

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Friday Freebies: Big Macs, Giant Gift Cards

Free Food

• Buy one Big Mac or Quarter Pounder with Cheese at McDonald's and get a second one for one cent. That's really, really close to free. Offer good Oct. 18-20.
• Try a free order of Bacon Tomato Mac & Three Cheese at Corner Bakery. The giveaway runs Oct. 19-25, but you have to make a reservation in advance for the date, time and location where you'll try it. There are only a limited number of reservations available at each location.
• Every Saturday now through Nov. 10, stop by your local Auntie Anne's to get a free bite- sized sample of the featured pretzel or a sip of the featured lemonade flavor.

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Ocean City Announces New Halloween Activities

Summer might be over but the free family fun continues with three new exciting events coming to Ocean City this October.

The first event is the giant “Halloween Beach Maze” on Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 20-21 and Oct. 27-28, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. each day.

Experience a “pleasant” scream as you meander the sands of the giant beach maze. Wicked witches, pirates of the sand, scary scarecrows, ghouls in the graveyard, zombies and more await your arrival. The beach maze is free for the whole family. Look for the entrance to the maze on the beach near North Division Street.

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FED UP CHRISTIANS TAKE PUBLIC STAND

This Saturday – just 17 days before Election Day – American voters of all faiths are taking to the streets in the name of religious freedom and in protest of the Obamacare contraception mandate.

On Oct. 20 at 12 noon, more than 100 “Stand Up for Religious Freedom” rallies sponsored by the Stand Up for Religious Freedom Coalition will take place in cities coast to coast, including Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Honolulu, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Minneapolis and others.

“I think the Obama administration really awakened a sleeping giant with this thing,” said Eric Scheidler, executive director of the Pro-Life Action League and co-director of the Stand Up for Religious Freedom rallies.

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Toxic Substance Found in Md. Lake

Officials at Rock Creek Regional Park are urging visitors to avoid Lake Needwood after a toxic substance was found in the water.

That substance, microcystin, was produced from blue-green algae that was detected in lake water.

Maryland follows the World Health Organization's 10 parts-per-billion threshold for safe algae levels in recreational water sources. Anything above that is deemed hazardous, and the public must be warned to avoid the waters. Lake Needwood exceeded that threshold, therefore warning signs have been placed throughout the park.

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SEE THE MASSIVE DUST STORM THAT CAUSED CHAOS & SHUT DOWN AN OK INTERSTATE

Rescue personnel from the Tonkawa Fire Department extricate a woman pinned in vehicle after it was involved in an accident on Interstate 35, one of 12 accidents involving 27 vehicles which took place during massive dust storm sweeping through Kay County, Okla. Thursday Oct. 18, 2012. Credit: AP

TULSA, Okla. (TheBlaze/AP) — A massive dust storm swirling reddish-brown clouds over northern Oklahoma triggered a multi-vehicle accident along a major interstate Thursday, forcing police to shut down part of the heavily traveled roadway amid near blackout conditions.

In a scene reminiscent of the Dust Bowl days, choking dust suspended on strong wind gusts shrouded Interstate 35, which links Dallas and Oklahoma City to Kansas City, Mo. Video from television station helicopters showed the four-lane highway virtually disappearing into billowing dust on the harsh landscape near Blackwell, plus dozens of vehicles scattered in the median and on the shoulders.

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Census: More Older Couples Living Together

Living together outside of marriage isn’t just for younger people thinking about marriage later. Some new Census Bureau numbers show the average age of cohabitation is getting older.

A new study conducted by the non-profit Population Reference Bureau for USA TODAY shows that nearly half of all couples living together are 35 or older, 13 percent are 55 or older, and almost 30 percent are divorced.

And 41 percent of couples living together have children in the home.

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TWO MORE BRUTAL BIDEN GAFFES ON CAMPAIGN TRAIL

Two epic gaffes at one campaign stop. First, Vice President Joe Biden told a group of supporters that Paul Ryan "has written a book called The Young Guns with two other members of the House, no these are Republican leaders in the House. You had, unfortunately, the bullets are aimed at you.” Then he lost track of which version of planet Earth he's on and wondered who in the audience had served in our war with Iran.

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Unions, Watchdog Groups Renew Call For Capping 'Exorbitant' Contractor Salaries

A collection of federal unions and watchdogs groups wrote to the House and Senate Armed Services Committee urging support for a law capping taxpayer-funded contracting compensation costs at $230,700. That is the maximum salary earned by the highest-paid federal employees.

Contractor salaries are now capped at $763,029, per a 1998 law that sets annual compensation benchmarks.

"With budget cuts and sequestration looming, it is fiscally irresponsible to allow private contractors to charge escalating and exorbitant rates to the government," the groups' letter stated. Under the current formula, the increase in compensation costs paid to contractors has grown 53 percent faster than inflation, the groups said.

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AFTER COMMITTING SUICIDE IN 1998, 'NEWSWEEK' FINALLY GETS BURIED

It took almost 15 years, but the rotting and decayed corpse calledNewsweek will finally be buried as a print edition at the end of this year. Newsweek's actual time of death, though, was by suicide in 1998, the day Matt Drudge published a story on the Drudge Report: the explosive news that a sitting president had engaged in a clandestine affair with a 22 year-old intern.Newsweek had the story but refused to publish it, and when you choose protecting power and the status quo over reporting truth -- you're officially dead as a news outlet. (Yeah, I'm looking at you Politico, BuzzFeed Politics, and CNN.)

From there, Newsweek's death spiral was nothing more than a glorious slow-motion train wreck. About ten years later, with subscriptions plummeting, the insufferable John Meacham took over as editor with a brilliant business plan that transformed the weekly into something that was both biased and smug -- a "Morning Joe" in print, if you will. He raised the subscription price and aimed at profitability by appealing to elite liberals.

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THE NUMBER OF OBAMA SUPPORTERS WHO HAVE NEVER HEARD OF THE 9/11 BENGHAZI ATTACK WILL TERRIFY YOU

Americans everywhere are wondering how the Obama administration will be able to recover from such a significant and deadly intelligence error in Benghazi, Libya. The White House reportedly ignored multiple calls for additional security at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, even after the U.S. and international intelligence community warned of increased terrorist activity in Libya.

Ultimately, U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans lost their lives in a fiery terrorist attack on the 9/11 anniversary.

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LOOKS LIKE "CONSPIRACY THEORISTS" WERE RIGHT AGAIN

So much for last week’s aberration initial claims print of 339K (revised higher of course to 342K). With expectations of an increase to 365K, the DOL just came out with a whopper of a miss, the largest in three months, at 388K, an increase of 46K in one week, which was also the highest print in three months. Remember: this number will be revised to 391K next week. So much for single print indicative of a recovery. As the chart below shows, the rate of change was a 13.45% from last week: the highest in five years! So far, there has been no explanation from the BLS or DOL for last week’s outlier print. And no, last week’s print was not due to  California, which the DOL reported just decreased by 4,979 in the week ended Oct 6, not the required 49K. What is however worse, is that it is becoming increasingly clear that nobody at the DOL knows what is actually going on following a statement by the Labor Dept that “it appeared that state-level administrative issues were distorting the data“, and numbers are simply picked out of thin air. Finally, in truly amusing news, those on Extended Benefits have once again started to rise, after dropping to virtually 0 following expiration of state benefits. 

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OBAMA: BENGHAZI MURDERS 'NOT OPTIMAL'

Today, according to the White House pool report, President Obama told Jon Stewart during a Comedy Central Daily Showtaping that the deaths of our ambassador to Libya and three other Americans were “not optimal.” This comes just weeks after President Obama told CBS News’ Steve Kroft on 60 Minutes that the murders of four Americans in Benghazi were “bumps in the road.” By way of contrast, President Obama described the YouTube video “The Innocence of Muslims,” which had nothing to do with the Benghazi attacks, as “crude and disgusting,” an “insult,” and said that its message “must be rejected by all who respect our common humanity.”

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John McCain Slams Obama, Rice On Libya

MILWAUKEE, Wis. — In what appeared to be off-the-cuff remarks here at a campaign event supporting Republican Senate candidate Tommy Thompson, Sen. John McCain hit the Obama administration hard for its early response to the attacks on the U.S. mission in Libya last month.

Particularly, he fumed over the administration's early suggestion that the attacks were a spontaneous response to an inflammatory anti-Muslim video, noting U.N. ambassador Susan Rice's early talk-show account.

"Maybe in our U.N. ambassador's mind, there are people sitting around in their living rooms there that said, 'Gee, there's a hateful video there. Grab your mortar, honey! We're going to a demonstration!'" McCain said.

His remarks drew laughs from Thompson and two other Senators that appeared at the veterans-centered Thompson rally — Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham.

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Planned Berlin Farmers Market Relocation Upsets Vendors

BERLIN -- For the first time since its founding two decades ago, the Berlin Farmers Market might be leaving downtown.

According to the Chamber of Commerce, the move will be a win-win for farmers and Berlin, serving to free-up much needed parking space downtown while giving farmers two new, larger locations to operate from.

However, several of those same farmers are passionately opposed to the re-location, saying it was decided without their consent and could doom the market.

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How To Get Over Failure

You've started a company and it goes belly-up. Or you launched a new product and not only does it fail to sell, customers actually hate it. Or you get fired.

What happens when you dare to dream, make that dream real, and then fail?

There's the plucky Henry Ford quotation which admittedly, and almost embarrassingly, I have used: "Failure is only the opportunity to begin again more intelligently." Since Ford was eventually wildly successful, this aphorism does reassure, but it also jauntily skips over the emotional precipice on which we teeter when we fail.

No matter how many chirpy quotes I may tweet out, when I fail my initial response is despondency, pessimism, and the feeling that perhaps I need to relocate to another city because I can never show my face in public. Ever. Again. I tend to identify with Margery Eldredge Howell, who said: "There's dignity in suffering, nobility in pain, but failure is a salted wound that burns and burns again."

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