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Monday, December 31, 2018

Buena Regional school board dismisses ref who forced wrestler to cut his dreadlocks

A New Jersey school district said Wednesday that it will no longer compete in matches officiated by a referee who ordered one of their students to cut his dreadlocks.

The Buena Regional school board made the announcement during an emergency meeting with school board members and the community.

A wrestler at the school, Anthony Johnson, had his dreadlocks cut off just minutes before the Dec. 19 event. He was told he’d have to trim the hair or forfeit the match.

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Baltimore trying to stem decades-long disappearing act

LaShelle Rollins’ rental house in West Baltimore is wedged between a line of derelict properties valued only by street gangs, drug addicts and firefighters conducting arson drills. And even though her family’s $700-a-month address sits across from a public school, they are among the only occupants of this desolate block.

Life in an emptied-out, rundown cityscape is a slog and Rollins is worn out by all of it: The sounds of late-night interlopers stomping down the stairs of a musty wreck next door; a constant fear of fire set by vandals; the social isolation; the rats. With no faith in a prompt police response, they keep a bat at the ready.

“It’s like we’re a forgotten population,” said Rollins, a Baltimore native who’s studying for a community college degree that she hopes will get her family out of this gloomy neighborhood — maybe even out of the city that part of her still loves.

The African-American woman with a bright-eyed 6-year-old daughter and a husband on disability isn’t the only one with leaving on her mind. At a time when rival cities are gaining population, Baltimore’s decades-long disappearing act is only continuing.

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Guess What These Four Fastest Growing States Have in Common…

Keep the federal government shut down and let the states set policy.

“Non-essential” government workers… well then what the hell are they doing there?

Every penny of federal spending should be only the most absolutely crucial, necessary cent to keep the country’s most basic functions going…

I know, I know, I feel stupid just saying it.

It would truly be better if everything was left up to markets–the people. I long for the day when no sector of the economy is violently monopolized, and funded via protection racket–security and courts included.

The whole thing is a farce, the system built to serve the elite. It’s disgusting that our tax dollars pay for a single politicians’, bureaucrats’, lobbyists’, or corporate cronies’ hors-d’oeuvres, let alone their salaries, kickbacks, bailouts…

At least at the state level, we can get out easily when the government gets too ridiculous. And that’s what people are doing.

4 out of the 8 fastest growing states have no income tax: Nevada, Washington, Texas, and Florida.

Those four, along with Idaho, Utah, Arizona, and Colorado saw the largest growth in population last year of all US states.

According to the Wall Street Journal, people are fleeing from restrictive high tax states like California and New York.

Since 2010, a net 710,000 people have left California for other states. One reason is high housing prices, fueled by onerous land and zoning regulations, which have driven out thousands of middle-income families.

Jobs and businesses have also fled the state’s high taxes and regulation. A study this month by business relocation consultant Joe Vranich estimates that 1,800 businesses shifted jobs or capital out of California in 2016 and about 13,000 companies have left the state since 2008. Over the last decade $76.7 billion in capital and 275,000 jobs have moved out of the state.

… New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently blamed cold weather for the state’s population exodus, but last year frigid New Hampshire with no income tax attracted 3,900 newcomers from other states.

…Cold weather? While Illinois’s population has declined by 0.8% since 2010, Indiana’s has grown 3.1% and Wisconsin’s by 2.2%.

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Why all you've been told about these polar bears could be WRONG: Inuits have a very different story

On the afternoon of July 3, Aaron Gibbons, a hunter from the Inuit hamlet of Arviat on the north-west shore of Hudson Bay, took his three children on a boat trip.

Gibbons, 31, had a well-paid job at Meadowbank, a gold mine deep in the Arctic tundra, which took him away for weeks at a time.

But when he was home, he loved to deploy the inherited skills of his ancestors.

‘He was an experienced provider of country food for his family,’ says his uncle, Gordy Kidlapik, 60, a hunting veteran. ‘His father had brought him up that way, and he was good at it.’

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WTH? Pentagon Plan Offers Safety and Jobs to Taliban in Afghanistan in Peace Deal!

A proposed Pentagon plan will offer security and and jobs to Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.

As of July 27, 2018, there have been 2,372 U.S. military deaths in the War in Afghanistan. 1,856 of these deaths have been the result of hostile action. Many of these deaths were a result of Taliban attacks on US soldiers and Marines.

Breitbart.com reported:

The U.S. is offering Taliban narco-jihadists — the killers behind most American military fatalities during the ongoing Afghan war — safety and job opportunities as part of a peace deal, Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper reported on Thursday, citing a Pentagon plan.

Dawn quotes the Pentagon’s plan sent to Congress this week as saying, “Although some members of the Taliban may be weary of fighting and ready to lay down their weapons, they will only rejoin society if they believe their safety and the safety of their families are guaranteed, and if they have an opportunity to earn enough money to provide for their families.”


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Subject: Federal Government Employees Won't Like The Executive Order Trump Just Signed That Will Impact Them

President Donald Trump on Friday issued an executive order which would halt a planned 2.1 percent pay increase for federal government workers, something that is done automatically. Currently, about 800,000 federal employees are on furlough or working without pay because of the partial government shutdown. The only workers who are exempt from the blanket order are members of the military who are scheduled to receive a 2.6 percent pay raise, The Daily Mail reported.

"We must maintain efforts to put our Nation on a fiscally sustainable course, and Federal agency budgets cannot sustain such increases," Trump said back in August. “In light of our Nation's fiscal situation, Federal employee pay must be performance-based, and aligned strategically toward recruiting, retaining, and rewarding high-performing Federal employees and those with critical skill sets."

But not everyone sees it that way.

"This is just pouring salt into the wound,'"Tony Reardon, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents about 100,000 federal workers, said in a statement. "It is shocking that federal employees are taking yet another financial hit. As if missed paychecks and working without pay were not enough, now they have been told that they don’t even deserve a modest pay increase."

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Trump urged to nationalize ‘E-Verify’ after 700 percent surge in arrests of illegal workers

President Trump is being encouraged to sign an executive order on E-Verify after immigration police said that arrests of illegal immigrant workers and employers surged 700 percent.

Led by advocates of tighter immigration laws, Trump is getting advice to nationalize the E-Verify system that the federal government uses to make sure that contractors are hiring employees that are legally allowed to work in the United States.

“There are many changes that could be made to the immigration laws that would enable the United States to gain control over its illegal population,” said Andrew R. Arthur, a former immigration judge.

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Court Axes Obama’s Pro-Union ‘Joint Employer’ Rule

A federal appeals court ruled Friday that an Obama-era labor law that made businesses responsible for labor violations committed by contractors was too broad, Reuters reports.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled in 2015 that companies and franchisers with “indirect and direct control” of employees could be held liable for labor violations committed by contractors or franchisees. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that the board did not sufficiently define “indirect” control and sent the 2015 decision back to the board for a more restricted explanation.

The 2015 NLRB ruling overturned more than two decades of precedent while placing businesses at increased risk of violating labor laws. The ruling also empowered unions to negotiate directly with a franchise’s corporate headquarters if franchise employees sought to unionize.

Franchisers, companies and pro-business groups have sought to have the ruling overturned. An attempt by President Donald Trump’s NLRB fell flat after Republican board member William Emanuel was forced to retroactively recuse himself from ruling in a case that would affect the 2015 decision.

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IRS Has More than 3K Handguns, 3M Rounds of Ammunition

A report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) shows the Internal Revenue Service has more than 3,000 handguns and 3,000,000 rounds of handgun ammunition in its Criminal Investigation division alone.

According to the GAO, the Criminal Investigation side of the IRS also has 554 rifles, the majority of which are semiautomatic, but automatics are also included. They have an excess of 5,000,000 rounds of ammunition for the weapons, including the ammunition for the handguns.

Regarding the police division of the IRS, there are an additional 20 handguns, two shotguns, four rifles, and an additional 14,706 rounds of ammunition.

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Florida politician shoots intruder who crashed vehicle into another house while fleeing cops, police say

A Florida politician shot an alleged intruder who crashed his vehicle into another house while attempting to flee police officers, officials said.

Palmetto city commissioner Brian Williams opened fire after seeing Avelino Misreal Vasquez-Perez, 22, hiding in his garage and trying to enter the kitchen, Miami Herald reported.

“He was lawfully defending home and family,” Police Chief Scott Tyler said.

Officers attempted to pull over Vasquez-Perez about 10 p.m. Thursday after they spotted him driving recklessly and suspected he was impaired, police said. Vasquez-Perez sped off, crashed into a home in Palmetto and fled the scene with another passenger.

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Mugging Taxpayers in the Swamp

The big dollar muggings in Washington these days are not done with pistols. The sophisticated weapons of choice are “sole source contracting,” lobbyists, and insiders. And the victims are not tourists, but taxpayers.

Large multinationals game the system using the revolving door between government and the private sector, with the help of aggressive lobbying. There are so many examples, but one is the fourth largest privately- owned company in the United States, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, which originated as one of the biggest accounting companies in America.

Today they are masters of the D.C. contracting game with sole source contracting. They are not doing anything illegal, but the end result is that taxpayers and small entrepreneurs are shafted.

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Joe Donnelly: Democrats 'start losing the people' in the Midwest when they talk about 'Medicare For All'

Outgoing Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., offered a reality check to his party as some Democrats implore possible 2020 presidential candidates to adopt policy positions further to the Left in order to gin up the base.

"The talk on the coasts just doesn't get it done in the middle," Donnelly, who lost his re-election bid last month to Republican Sen.-elect Mike Braun, told CNN Friday.

Donnelly, a one-term senator who was defeated by more than double-digits thanks in part to President Trump's multiple visits to Indiana in the closing weeks of the campaign, warned that he didn't see a Democratic pathway to the White House without the Midwest. He also reminded his colleagues that "who wins the primary is not necessarily the best person in a general election," while refusing to name a specific candidate he believed could oust Trump.

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Pedestrian Collision Results in Death of Pennsylvania Woman

OCEAN CITY, MD – (December 31, 2018): On Saturday, December 29, 2018 at approximately 8:50 p.m. Ocean City police were dispatched to the area of 28th Street and Philadelphia Avenue for a pedestrian collision in the southbound lane. The pedestrian was crossing the highway when she was struck by a BMW 328i. The driver of the vehicle remained on-scene. Maryland State Police Trooper 4 responded and flew the victim to Shock Trauma in Baltimore where she succumbed to her injuries Sunday afternoon. The victim was identified as Lorena D. Merris, 56, of Landisburg, PA.

Traffic on southbound Philadelphia Avenue was diverted to Baltimore Avenue for approximately 2-hours while investigators processed the scene of the crash and cleared debris.

The Ocean City Traffic Safety Unit is currently investigating to determine the cause of the collision. The driver of the vehicle was not impaired at the time of the incident.

TRUMP SUPPORTER TRIGGERS EPIC VAPE STORE MELTDOWN ... Gets Employee Fired

A Trump supporter who was refused service at a vape shop captured what might be one of the craziest meltdowns we've ever seen ... yeah, this is just nuts.

Georgia resident Ian Furgeson tried buying something at Xhale City this week in Tucker, GA -- about half an hour outside of Atlanta -- and was apparently told to GTFO by the store employee ... who didn't want to sell anything to a Trump supporter. Furgeson was decked out in MAGA gear, BTW.

Well, things escalated quickly from there. Furgeson started recording the encounter, and the employee told him to stop or he'd call the cops.

Furgeson egged the guy on, telling him to do it ... and then the employee exploded with a "F*** OFF!" The vape store worker's breakdown only got worse from there, but weirdly enough ... he eventually calmed down and agreed to sell to Furgeson just to get him out.

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Lindsey Graham: I 'feel a lot better' about Syria pullout after lunch with Trump

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Sunday he felt less concerned about President Trump pulling U.S. troops from Syria following a two-hour lunch with him at the White House.

"We had a great lunch. We talked about Syria and he told me some things that I didn't know that make me feel a lot better about where we're headed in Syria," Graham told reporters shortly after the meeting. "He promised to destroy ISIS. He's going to keep that promise. We're not there yet, but as I said today, we're inside the 10-yard line and the president understands the need to finish the job."

Graham is one of a plethora of lawmakers who opposed Trump's decision to withdraw U.S. military personnel from the war-torn country. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis resigned in part due to the announcement.

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Franklin Graham: Facebook ban was 'personal attack toward me'

Evangelist Franklin Graham on Sunday accused Facebook of personally attacking him after the company banned him from the platform for 24 hours over a post he published in 2016.

"Why are they going back to 2016," Graham, the president of the evangelism organization Samaritan's Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, said on Fox News after discussing how the social media platform moderates content on a day-to-day basis.

"I think it was just really a personal attack toward me."

His comments came a day after a Facebook spokesperson confirmed to The Charlotte Observer that Graham had been banned from the site for 24 hours last week over the contents of a 2016 post.

The spokesperson said that Graham was mistakenly banned from the site after the post in question was flagged by its content review team for violating a company policy banning “dehumanizing language” and excluding people based on factors like sexual orientation and race.

The post had targeted Bruce Springsteen for canceling a North Carolina concert at the time due to the state's House Bill 2, or "bathroom bill."

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North Korea continues missile development

North Korea has continued its development of intercontinental ballistic missiles despite declaring a halt to launches, having conducted a missile-linked radio wave experiment early this month, it has been learned.

Despite sanctions limiting the North’s petroleum supply, the North Korean military is continuing to train at its usual levels. In response, the Japanese and U.S. governments plan to increase their surveillance of smuggling and other activities on the high seas, according to military and diplomatic sources.

North Korea conducted a launch test of its radio telemetry, which is transmitted from equipment in a missile’s components such as warhead. When a ballistic missile is launched, telemetry provides essential information about the missile’s angle, location, speed and other factors to observers on the ground.

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California organizers cancel Women's March: 'too white'

Organizers of the Women’s March in Humboldt County, California, announced Friday that they have canceled the local Jan. 19 event because the marchers are overwhelmingly white.

In a Facebook statement, the group said it opted to nix the third annual march “after many conversations between local social-change organizations and supporters of the march,” saying they would work on how to “broaden representation in the organizing committee.”

“Up to this point, the participants have been overwhelmingly white, lacking representation from several perspectives in our community,” said the statement. “Instead of pushing forward with crucial voices absent, the organizing team will take time for more outreach.”

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Local Media Ignore Immigration Status of Convicted Killer

At least five Oregon media outlets reported on the sentencing hearing on December 12 of a man convicted of stabbing his girlfriend to death. Not one of the articles found on a search mentioned the killer’s status as an illegal alien.

A Jackson County court in Medford, Oregon, found 39-year-old Enrique Solis-Garcia guilty on December 7 after he stabbed his estranged girlfriend 40 times. Solis-Garcia changed his plea from not guilty to no contest during the December hearing. The man stabbed the mother of his two children 40 times after laying in wait for her with a large knife, KOBI NBC5 reported. Solis-Garcia purchased the knife at a local Walmart the night before the murder.

A statement from ICE Public Affairs provided to Breitbart News confirmed that Enrique Solis-Garcia, a Mexican national, was illegally present in the U.S. at the time of the murder of Noemi Ruiz.

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U of Cincinnati Pays $47K to Student Deprived of Due Process Rights

A student at the University of Cincinnati is about to receive a $47,000 settlement as a result of the university’s failure to allow him to defend himself against sexual assault accusations.

The male graduate student, named John Doe in the suit, sued the university in 2016 over their refusal to allow him to defend himself after he was accused of sexual assault by a classmate. In the lawsuit, Doe alleged that he was never given a real chance to defend himself against the allegations. Doe was suspended immediately following the investigation.

Doe’s attorneys argued that the school unfairly favored the female student to appease those who might accuse them of not protecting female students from sexual assault.

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Mizzou Officials: Tall Men Asking Out Short Women Is Sexual Misconduct

A former vice chancellor at the University of Missouri argued in a deposition that it can be sexual harassment if a tall man asks a short woman out on a date.

According to a report from the St. Louis ABC affiliate, a former vice chancellor at the University of Missouri argued during depositions for a campus sexual assault case that it could be considered sexual assault for a tall male student to ask a short female student out on a date.

Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Cathy Scroggs, who resigned from the university in 2017, argued that the alleged perpetrator had committed harassment simply as a result of his “power over” the female student. The power the alleged perpetrator had, according to Scroggs, came nothing more from his physical stature.

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Jesse Jackson lie busted by scrappy Chicago neighborhood website

Jesse Jackson was getting away with a big lie so well that the Chicago Sun-Times even wrote an editorial based on his phony claim. As the old, wry journalism joke goes, Jackson’s lie was so agreeable to the prejudices of MSM-ers, that it was “too good to check.”

Enter the brave and scrappy bloggers at CWB Chicago, a neighborhood blog that:

…was created in 2013 by five residents of Wrigleyville and Boystown who had grown disheartened with inaccurate information that was being provided at local Community Policing (CAPS) meetings.

We knew from city data that robberies in our neighborhood had been soaring to record highs for three consecutive years. Yet public officials and police representatives at CAPS meetings continually said that crime was going down.

Telling the truth and calling BS on pols, papers, and people that perpetuate lies is a habit at CWB Chicago, which is why I read it so often, even though I have never lived in Chicago (though I admit a great fondness for the city, despite its many, worsening problems). Among the worst of those problems: criminals roaming the streets, far too many of them either out on low bail, or charged no bail at all, under the terms of the Illinois Bail Reform Act of 2017.

CWB reported:

Rev. Jesse Jackson made a pre-Christmas plea for 19 publicly-unnamed Cook County Jail inmates to be released. These individuals were jailed merely for being poor, Jackson said, adding that “liberating the poor” was in the spirit of Christmas.

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Ice isn’t melting in the Arctic and Antarctic, yet big insurance hikes loom for purported sea level rise

The warmist fraud has a big problem: its predictions of doom have consistently failed to generate any serious pain. Yes, they blame hot weather in the summer in global warming, and if there are hurricanes, they must be caused by “climate change,” though when we have a year with few hurricanes, or, as in 2018 no tornadoes at all, nobody sings the praises of the benefits of “climate change.”

But they’ve hit a gold mine with their predictions of island nations being sunk beneath the waves, and coastal communities (especially in rich countries) forced to be abandoned. Their institutional clout is considerable, as they have Big Science, Big Education, Big Government, and Big Business all on board with their scheme to extract money from people for the crime of using energy (while exempting wealthy members of their elite from the strictures). Especially when there’s money to be made from fear-mongering.

The theory is that melting ice at the earth’s polar regions will swamp us. And that is triggering moves to raise insurance premiums on coastal properties that are supposed to be flooded, in low-lying coastal places like Florida, as the Sun-Sentinel writes:

"In just two or three years, Congress may change the way it sets rates in the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) to reflect more realistic assessments of risk, including the expected impacts of sea-level rise.

"According to the chair of Miami’s Sea Level Rise Committee, FEMA officials believe the largest provider of flood insurance in the United States will be aligning the cost of premiums much closer to the heightened risks of flooding. And that the changes will come sooner than many expect."

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Stores increasing age requirement to buy guns raises legal questions

The last year saw a major surge in attempts to raise the minimum age for gun purchases, raising legal questions that have yet to be firmly answered.

The push for a higher age intensified after the Valentine’s Day shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, which spurred states and some companies — including Dick’s Sporting Goods and Walmart — to impose a 21-year-old minimum age to purchase firearms.

Gun-rights advocates say the age of adulthood is 18 and, given the Second Amendment’s guarantee of a right to bear arms, any attempt to limit young adults amounts to illegal discrimination.

Tristin Fulton, 18, of Michigan, put that to the test, suing Dick’s in March after the store would not allow him to buy a shotgun.

That case recently was “resolved,” according to James Makowski, an attorney for Mr. Fulton.

Mr. Makowski declined to go into detail about the case itself, but said age is a protected class under Michigan’s anti-discrimination laws.

A spokesman for Walmart says the retail giant is confident in its age policy and feels it’s on solid legal and constitutional footing.

“We stand behind our decision, and we’re going to continue with that position,” said spokesman Randy Hargrove.

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Intern, 22, is mauled to death by a lion which escaped a locked enclosure at a North Carolina zoo

The heartbroken family of a North Carolina preserve intern who was mauled to death by a lion that escaped its enclosure said the recent college graduate died 'following her passion'.

Alexandra Black, 22, was killed by a male lion named Matthai while working Sunday at the Conservators Center in Burlington.

Officials said an animal husbandry team led by a keeper was doing a routine cleaning when one of the lions managed to break free from a locked space.

Matthai then entered the area where the team was cleaning and quickly mauled Black to death.

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Dossier fails the test of time

Yahoo News’ Michael Isikoff, an early public conduit for Christopher Steele’s anti-Trump dossier, now says the former British spy’s sensational Russia collusion charges lack apparent evidence and are “likely false.”

As Election Day loomed in September 2016, Mr. Isikoff was the first Washington journalist to write about Mr. Steele’s memos. He focused on Mr. Steele’s contention that Trump campaign volunteer Carter Page met with nefarious operatives of Russian President Vladimir Putin during a publicly announced trip to Moscow in July 2016.

As reported by the Daily Caller, Mr. Isikoff this month told Mediaite columnist John Ziegler: “When you actually get into the details of the Steele dossier, the specific allegations, we have not seen the evidence to support them, and in fact, there is good grounds to think that some of the more sensational allegations will never be proven and are likely false.”

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Acting ICE director wants politicians in sanctuary cities charged with crimes

WASHINGTON -- The acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says politicians who run sanctuary cities should be charged with crimes.

Thomas Homan said in an interview Tuesday with Fox News Channel's Neil Cavuto that the Department of Justice needs to file charges against municipalities that don't cooperate with federal immigration authorities and deny them funding.

He also says politicians should be held "personally accountable" for crimes committed by people living in the U.S. illegally.

Homan says, "We've got to start charging some of these politicians with crimes."

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has repeatedly vowed to withhold federal money from localities that refuse to give federal immigration authorities access to jails and provide advance notice when someone in the country illegally is about to be released.

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11-Year-Old Docked Points for Not Bashing Trump

To say that some people dislike Donald Trump may well be the understatement of the year. It's hard to imagine any duly elected president seeing so many protests, yet here we are.

It's so bad that now an 11-year-old in Annadale, New York, was docked 15 points on a homework assignment because she failed to answer a question demanding students bash Trump:

Vincent Ungro, a dad from Annadale, New York, has an 11-year-old daughter who attends I.S. (Intermediate School) 75. She asked him for help with her vocabulary homework last Friday night because she was trying to fill in the blanks from a word bank to complete her assignment -- and was really puzzled.

“President Trump speaks in a very superior and _________ manner insulting many people. He needs to be more __________ so that the American people respect and admire him,” read one homework sentence.

The next question was: “Barack Obama set a _________ when he became the first African-American president.”

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New Years Resolutions

Do you have any, 
or do you ever fuss with such a thing?

Michael A. Pretl

Salisbury - Michael A. Pretl, attorney and environmentalist, was born to Mildred S. and Stephen A. Pretl on October 20, 1942 and left this life on December 25, 2018.

Mike was educated at St. Charles Seminary in Catonsville, Catholic University and received his Juris Doctor from Georgetown Law School.

He was a partner at Smith, Somerville and Case law firm for many years before starting his own firm to fight for women rendered infertile by the Dalkon Shield intrauterine device. He then became General Counsel to the American Urological Association where he remained for 17 years.

During all the years Mike practiced law, he was also active in the community. An early president of the Northeast Community Organization and Baltimore Neighborhoods, Inc., Mike was involved in the fight to peacefully integrate Northeast Baltimore. During his time at NECO, Life Magazine designated Greater Northwood as one of the best integrated communities in the US. Mike was a longtime board member of the Community Law Center which continues to offer pro bono representation to communities in need of legal representation to fight vacant housing, liquor license violations and urban blight. One of the organizations of which he was most proud was Marylanders Against Handgun Abuse which fought for common sense laws to protect people from unlawful weapons.

When Mike and his wife, Michele Hughes, moved to the Shore, he began helping local groups to achieve their nonprofit status. To date, Mike has received nonprofit designations for more than 100 organizations. One of Mike's most important projects was the Maryland Citizens' Health Initiative or Healthcare for All, a group of both local and statewide organizations working to make certain that all Marylanders had access to quality healthcare. He served as the secretary/treasurer and counsel to the board at the time of his death.

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Transgender wrestler wins second straight Texas girls' high school title

CYPRESS, Texas — For the second year in a row, a transgender wrestler has won the Texas girls’ Class 6A 110-pound division.

Mack Beggs, an 18-year-old senior from Euless Trinity High School near Dallas, entered the tournament in Cypress outside of Houston with an undefeated record. He beat Chelsea Sanchez — whom he beat for the title in 2017- in the final match Saturday.

Video posted online showed a mix of cheers and boos from the crowd following Beggs‘ win.

Beggs is in the process of transitioning from female to male and taking a low-dose of testosterone.

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Trump signs executive order canceling planned pay increase for federal workers in 2019

President Donald Trump issued an executive order Friday that cancels a planned pay increase for federal workers in 2019.

Trump previously called the raise, a 2.1% increase set to take effect in January, "inappropriate" and an unrealistic burden on the federal budget.

The order also cancels a yearly paycheck adjustment calculated in order with the region of the country where workers are posted.

When addressing lawmakers in an August letter, Trump cited his authority to adjust pay for federal employees as he sees appropriate considering "national emergency or serious economic conditions affecting the general welfare."

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IRS unable to recoup nearly $1 billion in Obamacare subsidies

The IRS overpaid nearly $4 billion to Obamacare customers through tax credits last year, and because of the way the law is written it can’t even try to collect on a quarter of that, the Treasury Department’s inspector general reported this week.

All told, the Treasury Department paid out roughly $27 billion in Obamacare subsidies in the 2018 tax-filing season, with overages accounting for $3.7 billion of that. Only $2.7 billion was recaptured.

The $1 billion left over is small compared to the overall federal budget, but it is 20 percent of the president’s border wall funding request that’s spurred the current government shutdown.

Overpayments were built into Obamacare, with most people who buy insurance on the Affordable Care Act’s exchanges collecting subsidies through the IRS to help them afford their plan premiums.

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It Was Dr. Paul Scott Who Drowned In West Ocean City Yesterday

I was shocked to learn that my neighbor Dr. Paul Scott was the person who drowned yesterday on Herring Creek. He was attempting to bail some water out of his house boat when he slipped and fell into the frigid water and drowned. 

Paul was a very kind and gentle soul who will be missed by the many people he touched in his lifetime.  

*UPDATE-Victim Identified* Troopers Investigating Fatal Pedestrian Crash – Delmar

Delmar – The Delaware State Police have identified Brandon W. Kennedy, 33, of Delmar as the pedestrian who was struck and killed in a vehicle crash that occurred at approximately 12:16 a.m., Saturday, December 29, 2018, on northbound Sussex Hwy. (U.S. 13), north of Line Rd. in Delmar.

Click on the following link to view the original release:

https://dsp.delaware.gov/2018/12/29/troopers-investigating-fatal-pedestrian-crash-delmar/

Anyone with information regarding the incident is asked to contact Cpl. A. Mitchell of the Sussex County Collision Reconstruction Unit at (302)703-3267.

Information may also be provided by calling Delaware crime stoppers at 1-800-TIP-3333 or via the internet athttp://www.delaware.crimestoppersweb.com

Troopers Investigating Shots Fired Incident – Seaford

Seaford – The Delaware State Police are investigating a shots fired incident that took place in Seaford Saturday evening.

At approximately 6:59 p.m., Saturday, December 29, 2018, Troopers responded to the 26000 block of Bethel Concord Rd. in Seaford, for the report of gunshots being heard in the area. The investigation determined that the exterior of an unoccupied residence had sustained damage as a result of multiple gunshots. An unknown make and model vehicle was seen fleeing the area at the time the shots were heard.

Anyone with information regarding the incident is asked to contact TFC J. Hastings at Troop 5 by calling 302-337-1090.

Sunday, December 30, 2018

BREAKING NEWS: DROWNING IN WEST OCEAN CITY AREA

Ocean City Fire EMS dispatched to Water View Dr. for a reported drowning. Body found floating in the water. Subject pronounced deceased.

A Viewer Writes: "The Dude"

Just when you think you've heard it all from the idiot Jake Day and the children called Salisbury city government this comes out. He's recently had another brain fart and now has named his pathetic marathon, get this, Salisbury "the dude" marathon. The ridiculously ignorant name took some serious thought from top city government officials. 

How did they come up with such a childish name you ask? Day supposedly named the event "the dude" because the course has some sort of resemblance to a small man when looking at it mapped out. Way to go Salisbury, just when you thought you couldn't do or say anything dumber.

Over One Million US Gun Owners Refuse To Obey Ban

Residents of New Jersey were given a deadline to turn in their gun magazines or become felons overnight, and so far, no one is complying.

Unless you’ve been under a rock lately, then you’ve likely seen the unprecedented push by all levels of government to separate law abiding Americans from their guns. No, this is not some conspiracy theory. The president himself ushered in a new level of gun control doing what his liberal predecessor even refused to do by banning bump stocks. However, as states across the country seek to limit the ability of innocent people to defend themselves, people are disobeying.

In May, Gov. Phil Murphy signed a law that reduced the maximum capacity of ammunition magazines from 15 rounds to 10.Citizens immediately sued the government, citing the unconstitutional nature of the ban, but they failed.

“New Jersey’s law reasonably fits the State’s interest in public safety and does not unconstitutionally burden the Second Amendment’s right to self-defense in the home,” the court wrote in their decision. “The law also does not violate the Fifth Amendment’s Takings Clause because it does not require gun owners to surrender their magazines but instead allows them to retain modified magazines or register firearms that have magazines that cannot be modified.”

AG Gurbir Grewal applauded the ruling on Twitter stating:

“This just in: for months, individuals have been challenging NJ’s limits on large capacity magazines—a sensible law to address mass shootings. Today, the court of appeals upheld the law. Big win for public safety and law enforcement safety!”

This month, citizens were given a December 11 deadline on their new ban on standard capacity magazines. The law effectively turned one million law abiding gun owners into criminals, literally over night if they failed to turn in the magazines.

Somehow, New Jersey lawmakers thought insane individuals who want to carry out mass shootings would be lining up to turn in their 15 round magazines as anyone caught with one of these banned magazines is now committing a fourth-degree felony. However, even the law abiding citizens are choosing to disobey—and that’s a good thing.

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Uh Oh – Food Stamp Money Will Run Out By The End Of January If The Government Shutdown Lasts That Long

If this government shutdown stretches into February there won’t be money for food stamps
According to the Department of Agriculture, if this government shutdown stretches into February there won’t be money for food stamps.

And it certainly looks like this shutdown could last for quite a while, because President Trump is not backing down on his demand for border wall funding, and the Democrats have pledged not to give him a single penny. So a few weeks from now, approximately 38 million people could be suddenly cut off from the food stamp program. If that scenario were to unfold, there is no telling what could happen. After just a few days, government workers are already freaking out about having their paychecks delayed. If people are getting this restless already, what will things look like when tens of millions of Americans are suddenly cut off from their primary source of food money?

Even though the government has been shut down, the Department of Agriculture still has some existing financial resources at their disposal, and they are assuring us that those enrolled in the food stamp program will still receive their benefits “for January”. The following comes fromCNN

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So Sears In Salisbury Is Closing, Who Gives A Crap?

I know for me personally, I haven't shopped in a Sears Store in over 20 years. Outside of Craftsman tools, (which they lost that exclusivity years ago) what the hell does Sears have to offer, they're just a store, period.

Sears was one of the many companies that destroyed the local home town hardware stores. We stood there and watched companies like Sears and WalMart slowly kill local businesses and didn't do a thing about it. Instead, more people shopped there because the price was less, how do you like it now?

Amazon is now cornering the market by making sure, (within 10 years) you never visit another mall or store again. So what will you do about it this time? My guess, NOTHING. Idiots like Jake Day will watch the malls disappear, yet put out press releases expressing how commercial property values are on the rise, PLLLLLEASE!

Yeah, kinda like when Palmer Gillis bought the old Feldman's property on the river for $5,000.00. Yes, that's not a typo, I said five thousand dollars. Yet we are supposed to believe commercial properties are on the rise while the City keeps selling off parking lots for pennies on the dollar as well. 

K-Mart and Sears are gone, big deal. Leave it to WBOC to find Idiots out there who will go on camera and talk about how this is such a hardship on our community. 

Sears, you refused to keep up with the times, you failed, goodbye. The ONLY sorrow I will have about Sears closing in Salisbury is for the employees who will be out of so many jobs. Expect Jake Day to put out a press release next week stating how unemployment is at an all time low in Salisbury because so many Idiots will believe it. 

Time to build some more affordable housing in Salisbury. Hey Salisbury, "It's Happening".

More Bullsh!t From Salisbury Maryland Mayor Jake Day

Salisbury Leads Maryland in Commercial Property Value Growth

Salisbury –
Maryland’s State Department of Assessment and Taxation has released the results of their latest assessments of residential and commercial properties, and Mayor Jake Day is pleased to announce that the Salisbury area leads the state with a 30.9 percent increase in commercial property valuation. Statewide, the average is 12.5 percent.

“I’m not surprised at the results given the tremendous growth we’ve seen over the past few years,” said the Mayor. “The purpose of our constant and tireless efforts to grow the economy in our City is to create value for the families, shop owners and workers of our community. These significant and dramatic increases in value represent concrete evidence that those efforts are working. The vast majority of the properties assessed this year are in our great City and I am delighted to see our hard-working citizens gaining ground faster than anyone else in the state.”

According to SDAT, overall high sales prices and lower vacancies led to the dramatic rise in commercial property values. Total property assessments rose 11% in the portion of Wicomico County that was assessed for January 1, 2019, the fourth highest increase in the State. The increase in Full Cash Value of properties in the Salisbury area rose more this year than any year since the housing bubble burst in 2008.

The latest assessments were reached by evaluating the last 3 years’ sales, and factoring for improvements to the properties being assessed and/or the surrounding properties. Property value increases will be phased in over the next 3 years, while losses in property value will be implemented in the coming tax year.

If Federal Workers Are Suffering This Much Already, How Bad Will It Be When The Government Is Still Closed In February?

After just 4 days, federal workers are flocking to social media to share heart-wrenching stories of the misery and pain that they are suffering through because of the current government shutdown.

As you will see below, it is being claimed that some federal workers were actually forced to return Christmas presents just so that they could afford to pay their mortgages, others are claiming that President Trump “destroyed Christmas”, and the wife of one federal worker says that she is going to have to kill her cat if this shutdown goes much longer.

You couldn’t make this stuff up even if you tried, and it makes one wonder how these people would survive if a real national crisis actually erupted.

The truth is that thousands of federal workers are currently experiencing a paid vacation over the holidays, and ultimately their annual pay won’t be a penny lower than it otherwise would have been.

Other federal workers are currently working without pay, but they will get paid later. Like the above group, their annual pay will be just the same as if the government never experienced a shutdown at all.

But if you go to social media, you would be tempted to believe that America had just entered the apocalypse. Here is a sampling of some of the comments under the #ShutdownStories hashtag on Twitter…

On the first day of the shutdown, one federal worker was “obsessively” checking his bank accounts

Day 1 of the #Shutdown: Got my furlough papers. Had brunch with fellow feds. Obsessively checked news and bank accounts. Contemplated a “#shutdownbeard Drank @Jameson_US with @bstiteler, ate mom’s Christmas cookies. Fell asleep to @BritishBakeOff. #shutdownstories

Oh the humanity!

Instead of working, he was forced to have brunch with friends, eat his mother’s cookies and fall asleep watching television.

How much suffering can one person take?

And if he has multiple “bank accounts”, he must not be hurting too much.

Another deeply troubled federal worker was wondering how she would possibly pay for Christmas if paychecks were delayed for a few weeks

@TeaPainUSA whenever I talk about my air traffic control husband working without pay on Twitter, all I get is hateful remarks about how he WILL & won’t lose a dime. Um YEAH I KNOW that, but what are we supposed to do about Christmas & bills in the meantime? #ShutdownStories

Seriously, has this person ever heard of a “credit card”?

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Ramadan Held On $2.5M Bond After Initial Court Appearance

WEST OCEAN CITY — One of two local brothers indicted again in October for his role in a vast cigarette trafficking and tax fraud scheme appeared in a New York court on Wednesday and remains held on a $2.5 million bond.

Basel Ramadan, 47, of West Ocean City, appeared in Kings County, N.Y. Supreme Court on Wednesday for a preliminary hearing. Ramadan’s West Ocean City home was raided for the second time in five years in October by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Homeland Security (HSI) officials with support from local law enforcement agencies as part of Operation Sidestep, a months-long investigation into criminal cigarette smuggling and various money-laundering and tax-related crimes.

Basel Ramadan, who was taken into custody along with his brother Samir Ramadan, was indicted in New York as a result of the investigation. The local brothers had been arrested and ultimately convicted of the same crimes in 2013. Basel Ramadan had an initial appearance in Kings County Supreme Court on Wednesday was ordered to be held on a $2.5 million bond, or a $1 million cash bond, neither of which had been posted as of late Thursday. Basel Ramadan’s trial has now been tentatively set in for Feb. 13. The disposition of Samir Ramadan’s case is not known as of Friday.

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Female Tourist Who Complained About Islamophobia Raped & Murdered by Islamists in Morocco

Urged in Facebook post: “Never judge people by their appearance”

One of the female Scandanavian hiker victims who was raped and murdered by Islamic State supporters in Morocco previously posted a video on her Facebook page showing a bearded Muslim man urging people to “never judge people by their appearance.”

BREAKING NEWS; Police Action On Mt. Hermon Road

Five police cars at Mount Hermon Discount Pharmacy on Mount Herman Road in Salisbury. Couple of them have long guns out.

Newly elected Democrat ends Maryland county's jail immigration-screening arrangement

A Maryland county is ending its contract with the federal government to screen detainees for immigration status, county officials announced Thursday.

Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman, a Democrat, campaigned against the program, which went into effect last December under Pittman’s Republican predecessor. Pittman, who was joined at a news conference by county police Chief Timothy Altomare and Terry Kokolis, the superintendent of the county’s detention facilities, said public safety officials determined the program doesn’t have a meaningful effect on keeping people safe.

“Our county detention staff should be focusing on local law enforcement responsibilities rather than furthering controversial federal immigration policy,” Pittman said.

Under the 287(g) program, county detention staff screen people taken into custody for allegedly committing crimes to determine their immigration status.

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Gallup: Michelle Obama Beats Hillary Clinton as 'Most Admired' Woman

Former First Lady Michelle Obama has beaten failed 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s 17-year reign as the “most admired” woman in Gallup’s annual poll.

Previously, Mrs. Obama finished second to Clinton three times in the poll.

Americans’ admiration for Clinton crashed so hard this year that she did not even finish second place after Mrs. Obama, instead tying with First Lady Melania Trump, whom the establishment media has relentlessly attacked.

“The year 2018 brought about a change at the top of Gallup’s Most Admired Woman list for the first time in 17 years, with Hillary Clinton falling back now that she has more fully retreated to private life after a long career as first lady, U.S. senator, secretary of state and two-time presidential candidate,” Gallup pollsters note. “Michelle Obama stepped into that void as she has authored a best-selling autobiography and is promoting it with a major tour of large U.S. arenas.”

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With All Due Respect, It's Time The City of Salisbury Remove This Image From Their Home Page

When you go to the city of Salisbury's Facebook page, this is the image that pops up. While we ALL loved Bull, he did in fact take his own life and now Mayor Jake Day is plastering Bull everywhere you turn, on line or in person. Now Jake may want HIS children growing up thinking it's OK for a hero cop to take his own life, I firmly disagree.

Bull took the cowards way out of life and is certainly no hero. Especially if you actually knew HOW Bull took his own life and Jake Day wouldn't DARE tell the public what he did. Instead, just like a typical Liberal, cover the truth up and memorialize what that Liberal wants you to think and believe.

Mark Meadows Says Trump Will Not Budge On Requested Amount For Wall Funding

Republican North Carolina Rep. Mark Meadows said President Donald Trump will not budge on the $5 billion requested for a border wall Wednesday, as the government enters its sixth day of a partial shutdown.

Meadows, chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, said he does not believe Trump will agree to the Democrats’ counteroffer of $1.3 billion that could be used for the border wall, saying he does not think the amount is “reasonable.” The government will remain shut down until a compromise can be worked out among the two parties.

“I can tell you, if they believe this President is going to yield on this particular issue, they’re misreading him, misreading the American people,” Meadows told CNN on “Inside Politics.” “I see no evidence that would suggest he would come even close to 1.3” billion dollars in border wall funding.

This comes as Meadows pushed strongly against a short-term funding bill that would have funded the government until Feb. 8, saying the wall is necessary and that “the time to act is now.”

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The Creator Of Kwanzaa Is A Criminal Loon Who Allegedly Tortured Naked Women With A Karate Baton And A Toaster

It’s Christmastime, America, and you know what that means: It’s almost Kwanzaa! It’s also the season when public school classrooms across the fruited plain have pointedly avoided Christmas, but have teemed with lessons about Kwanzaa and a handful of other holidays which aren’t Christmas.

As a public service, then, The Daily Caller is once again here to tell you the true – and truly bizarre – history of the violent, deranged and radical black nationalist who concocted the completely artificial holiday of Kwanzaa in 1966.

The creator of Kwanzaa is Maulana Ndabezitha Karenga, a 77-year-old professor of Africana studies at California State University, Long Beach. His real name is Ronald Everett. He was born in rural Maryland, the fourteenth child of a sharecropping Baptist minister.

Karenga was convicted in 1971 for brutally torturing two naked women. The weapons of torture included a soldering iron, a vise and, of course, a toaster.

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TRIPLETS all become autistic within hours of vaccination…

The vaccine industry is a criminal operation

A VAXXED video that has been banned almost everywhere is going viral on Brighteon.com, the Youtube alternative video community for free speech on vaccines, GMOs, natural medicine and more.

As the video shows below, healthy triplets all became autistic within hours of vaccination, once again demonstrating that vaccines cause autism. The parents, the McDowell family in Detroit, Michigan, have spoken out publicly against the horrific medical violence being committed against children every day across America through toxic vaccines. (See AutismTruthNews.comfor more reporting on vaccines and autism.)

The names of their three children, pictured above, are Richie, Robbie and Claire. All three children were vaccinated on the same day, and within hours, they all become severely autistic.

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Wicomico Recreation’s Indoor Community Yard Sale is Saturday, Jan. 5

SALISBURY, Md. – Find unique items at Wicomico Recreation’s Indoor Community Yard Sale, coming up at the Wicomico Youth & Civic Center on Saturday, Jan. 5.

The yard sale will run from 7 a.m.-noon, and admission for members of the public who want to shop is $3 per person. Children younger than 12 are admitted free when accompanied by an adult.

“There will be hundreds of tables for shoppers to browse at the event,” said Vanessa Junkin, assistant director of marketing and public relations for Wicomico County Recreation, Parks & Tourism. “Head over early and see what you can find.”

Sellers can make reservations for table and booth rentals at the Wicomico Youth & Civic Center box office (500 Glen Ave., Salisbury, MD, Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-6 p.m.; closed New Year’s Day), online at www.WicomicoCivicCenter.org (an online fee may apply) or by phone at 410-548-4911. Reserve a space by Jan. 4 at noon, while tables and booths last.

Table rentals are $15 and booths are $40 for a 10-foot space including three tables. Regular setup for sellers will begin at 4 a.m. the morning of the sale. Early setup for sellers is available on Friday, Jan. 4, from 5-8 p.m. for an additional $5.

For more information, contact Allen Swiger at 410-548-4900 x108 or aswiger@wicomicocounty.org.

Saturday, December 29, 2018

Two Ball Drops Planned In Berlin On New Year’s Eve

BERLIN – The town will once again ring in the new year with celebrations for both children and adults Dec. 31.

Berlin will host a New Year’s Eve ball drop for kids at 6 p.m. followed by a second ball drop at midnight as the town celebrates the official start of 2019.

Ivy Wells, the town’s economic and community development director, said the addition of the event for children has expanded the success of Berlin’s New Year’s Eve celebration.

“The kids ball drop was so well received last year,” she said. “It gave parents the chance to celebrate with their kids without having to keep them up until midnight. Berlin is one giant family and families celebrate together.”

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Shutdown: Democrats Confident Trump Will Crack

Democrats are said to be confident that they will win the shutdown over border security — that President Donald Trump will cave to their demands and sign a spending bill to re-open all federal government departments without receiving any funding for his border wall.

Politico reported Thursday evening that Democrats “are plotting ways to reopen the government while denying the president even a penny more for his border wall when they take power Jan. 3.”

They are basing that conclusion on the past behavior of Republican leaders when facing a swamp of negative media coverage about national monuments closed, paychecks delayed, and office doors shut. While Trump and the GOP leadership are putting on a brave face, the Democrats plan simply to pass a”continuing resolution” bill to re-open the government once they take control of the House, and pass it along to the Senate, daring Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) — long opposed to shutdowns — to refuse. “[T]hey’re confident that their political leverage will only increase the longer the shutdown lasts — a notion that some GOP leaders agree with privately,” Politico adds.

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Residents Express Support For Wicomico Nursing Home; Financial Issues Plague Facility

SALISBURY – Community members called on county officials last week to support a county-owned nursing home.

Last week, several county residents came before the Wicomico County Council to advocate for the Wicomico Nursing Home after learning the facility was experiencing financial issues.

In November, representatives of the Wicomico Nursing Home came before the county council to request a $489,320 loan to sustain operations through fiscal year 2019. At the time, officials attributed financial woes at the facility to low occupancy, personnel costs and write offs of bad debt.

At the recommendation of staff, the county council earlier this month approved a loan that would keep the facility afloat through June 30, 2019.

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The man who could impeach Trump: Nancy Pelosi hires new top lawyer

Speaker-designate Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has picked a new guiding force for Democrats investigating and potentially impeaching President Trump when they take control of the House next year.

Douglas Letter, a 40-year veteran of the Justice Department and former associate counsel in President Bill Clinton's White House, will be appointed to the role of House general counsel, Pelosi said in a statement.

Read the full story here.

West OC Bike Path Review Raises Bridge Questions

OCEAN CITY- A review of the proposed bike-friendly trail along the Route 50 corridor from Route 611 into Ocean City raised some eyebrows this month for its apparent design flaw that has it crossing the busy highway.

During last Monday’s Mayor and Council meeting, Councilman Tony DeLuca briefed his colleagues on some of the highlights from a recent Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee including an update on a proposed bicycle and pedestrian-friendly trail along the Route 50 corridor in West Ocean City. Bicycle traffic along the section of Route 50 from Route 611 to the bridge has created challenges for years, but the issue has exacerbated recently with the proliferation of new hotels and shopping in West Ocean City.

Perhaps more importantly, more and more J-1 visa summer workers are living in West Ocean City where housing is often more available and more affordable and are commuting to jobs on the island on foot and on bicycles. To that end, the State Highway Administration (SHA) has been developing plans for a bicycle and pedestrian-friendly path along the Route 50 corridor in West Ocean City. There is some existing bike-friendly infrastructure along that section of highway, particularly in front of the outlets on the north side, but SHA is planning on tying the existing paths together with a more comprehensive system.

Ocean City’s bike and pedestrian advisory committee has been privy to the plans and got a review during a meeting this month. As chairman of the committee, DeLuca updated the Mayor and Council on the proposed plans during last week’s regular meeting.

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Trump Defies 'Fake News' CNN: 'I Will Sign' MAGA Hats for the Troops

President Donald Trump responded to media complaints on Thursday because he signed Make America Great Again hats for the troops overseas.

“If these brave young people ask me to sign their hat, I will sign,” Trump wrote on Twitter, defying CNN and other media reports complainingabout his token of appreciation for soldiers overseas.

Trump signed dozens of campaign MAGA hats for soldiers who brought them during his surprise visit to troops in Germany and Iraq.

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AGH’s Penguin Swim To Celebrate 25th Anniversary

BERLIN – Event organizers with the 25th Annual Penguin Swim say it is not too late to register for next week’s fundraising event.

On Tuesday, Jan. 1, Atlantic General Hospital (AGH) will host its 25th Annual Penguin Swim at the Princess Royale Oceanfront Hotel on 91st Street in Ocean City. There, swimmers will brave the chilly conditions and frigid ocean waters to raise money for health care services at the facility and in the community.

“The penguin swim is a fun, annual event to support our not-for-profit community hospital,” Special Events Coordinator Joy Stokes said. “Each year, hundreds of penguins raise funds to help the hospital provide the excellent quality care our community depends on. Individual and team fundraising efforts by Penguin Swim participants enable Atlantic General to continue to provide that care.”

Last year, the event attracted hundreds of participants and raised $78,000 for AGH. Since its inception, the event has raised nearly $1.1 million.

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Second Migrant Caravan to Leave from Honduras in January

A caravan of migrants, estimated at up to 15,000 people, is set to depart from Honduras in mid-January a few months after the previous caravan, according to the San Diego Union Tribune.

“They say they are even bigger and stronger than the last caravan,” said Irma Garrido of Reactiva Tijuana Foundation, which advocates for migrants.

The previous caravan left Honduras in October, and is currently stuck at the U.S. border with Mexico, with many migrants taking refuge in crowded shelters while applying for asylum in America. This new caravan likely will “stay in the south of Mexico in Chiapas and Oaxaca,” according to Garrido. “Their aim is to request work there.”

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Troopers Investigating Fatal Pedestrian Crash – Delmar

Delmar – The Delaware State Police Collision Reconstruction Unit is investigating a fatal motor vehicle crash involving a pedestrian that occurred overnight in Delmar.

The initial investigation has determined that at approximately 12:16 a.m., Saturday, December 29, 2018, a 2018 Honda Accord, driven by a 45 year old Seaford man was traveling northbound on Sussex Hwy. (U.S. 13) in the left lane, north of Line Rd. A 33 year old Delmar man, who was on foot attempting to cross Sussex Hwy. in a westerly direction, proceeded directly into the path of the Honda at which time he was struck by the front left bumper. After being thrown onto the hood of the vehicle the pedestrian came to rest in the grass median of Sussex Hwy. The Honda continued northbound for a short distance before coming to a stop in the grass median. There are no crosswalks in the area where the collision took place.

The pedestrian, who was wearing dark clothing and not carrying a light was transported to Peninsula Regional Medical Center where he was pronounced deceased. Impairment on his behalf is undetermined at this time. Identification is pending notification of next of kin.

The driver of the Honda was properly restrained and was not injured. Impairment is not a factor on his behalf.

The northbound lanes of Sussex Hwy. were closed for approximately 3.5 hours while the scene was investigated and cleared.

Anyone with information regarding the incident is asked to contact Cpl. A. Mitchell of the Sussex County Collision Reconstruction Unit at (302)703-3267.

Information may also be provided by calling Delaware crime stoppers at 1-800-TIP-3333 or via the internet athttp://www.delaware.crimestoppersweb.com

'I'm not allowed to talk about that': Nancy Pelosi office stonewalls on her shutdown vacation in Hawaii

Nancy Pelosi, the next speaker of the House of Representatives, is reportedly spending the government shutdown at a Hawaiian resort.

A person answering the media contact number for Pelosi's office identified herself as "press desk." When asked about the vacation, she told the Washington Examiner: "I'm not allowed to talk about that." She said she would pass on a message on to the deputy chief of staff, Drew Hammill, who did not respond.

According to the Washington Free Beacon, the California Democrat was seen Thursday at the Fairmont Orchid resort, which features accommodations up to almost $5,000 a night.

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This Is Exactly The Kind Of Behavior That You Would Expect During A Stock Market Implosion…

If a doctor tells you that his patient’s condition is swinging up and down wildly, is that a good sign or a bad sign?

If a doctor tells you that his patient’s condition is swinging up and down wildly, is that a good sign or a bad sign? Of course the answer to that question is quite obvious.

And if a doctor tells you that his patient’s condition is “stable”, is that a good sign or a bad sign? Just like in the medical world, instability is not something that is a desirable thing on Wall Street, and right now we are witnessing extreme volatility on an almost daily basis. On Thursday, the Dow was already down several hundred points when I went out to do some grocery shopping with my wife, and at the low point of the day it had fallen 611 points. But then a “miracle happened” and the Dow ended the day with an increase of 260 points. As I detailed yesterday, this is precisely the sort of behavior that you would expect during a chaotic bear market.

As Fox Business has noted, bear market rallies are typically “sharp, quick and usually short”. I figured that the momentum from Wednesday would carry over into the early portion of Thursday, so I was surprised when the Dow was down by so much as we neared the middle of the day. But then around 2 PM we witnessed an extraordinary market surge

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Buchanan: 2020 - Year Of The Democrats? Maybe Not

If Democrats are optimistic as 2019 begins, it is understandable.

Their victory on Nov. 6, adding 40 seats and taking control of the House of Representatives, was impressive. And with the party’s total vote far exceeding the GOP total, in places it became a rout

In the six New England states, Republicans no longer hold a single House seat. Susan Collins of Maine is the last GOP senator.

In California, Democrats took the governorship, every state office, 45 of 53 House seats and both houses of the legislature by more than 2-to-1. In the Goldwater-Nixon-Reagan Golden State bastion of Orange County, no GOP congressman survived.

Does this rejection of the GOP in 2018 portend the defeat of Donald Trump in 2020, assuming he is still in office then?

Not necessarily.

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Meadows: 'Looks Like We Could Be in For a Very Long-Term Shutdown'

On Thursday’s broadcast of CNN’s “The Lead,” House Freedom Caucus Chair Mark Meadows (R-NC) stated that “at this point, it looks like we could be in for a very long-term shutdown.”

Meadows said, “Well, obviously, over the last 24, 48 hours, things have not progressed. There’s been a lot of conversations between rank and file members, not necessarily Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi, but senators, House members, with some of their Democrat colleagues. And it really comes down to this, Democrats are dug in that there’s not going to be any money for the wall. We passed obviously, 5.7 billion out of the House, and even a compromise that the administration — the president has put forth a number of different proposals with Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi, have really fallen on deaf ears. So, at this point, it looks like we could be in for a very long-term shutdown.”

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Pelosi Taps Florida Democrat to Lead Climate Change Panel

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi has appointed Florida Rep. Kathy Castor to lead a special committee on climate change that will be reinstated in the new Congress.

Pelosi, the likely House speaker, said Castor brings experience, energy and "urgency to the existential threat of the climate crisis" facing the United States and the world. Castor is set to begin her seventh term representing the Tampa Bay area and serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

"Congresswoman Castor is a proven champion for public health and green infrastructure, who deeply understands the scope and seriousness of this threat. Her decades of experience in this fight, both in Florida and in the Congress . will be vital," Pelosi said.

Castor said in a statement that she was honored to lead the panel and pledged to "act with urgency to reduce carbon pollution" and "unleash" American ingenuity to create clean-energy jobs.

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Sarah Sanders fades into background as Trump opts to 'engage directly' with media

We have come to bury the White House daily press briefing, not necessarily to praise it.

Under the highly accessible President Trump, televised media briefings by press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sandersin the once-crowded White House press room have dwindled almost out of existence.

After adhering to the traditional five-briefings-per-week schedule early in the administration, the White Housestarted cutting back noticeably on the often-raucous exercises last summer. By August, only a handful of televised question-and-answer sessions were held per month.

In October, there was one briefing.

On Nov. 20, when a live Thanksgiving turkey awaiting a presidential pardon wandered into the White House press room, a journalist joked that the turkey had made more appearances at the press secretary’s podium in November than Mrs. Sanders had. She held her only briefing of the month on Nov. 27.

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Troops Cleared In MAGA Hat-Gate, CNN Hardest Hit, Plus The Best Interviews Of 2018

On the Friday edition, we have our video show. This week, it’s a look back at some of the best interviews we’ve had this year. There’s also the audio-only version with the interviews, as well as added content on the news of the day.

And that news involves the U.S. Air Force declaring our troops who asked the president to sign their MAGA hats did not violate military rules, much to the chagrin of CNN; the government shutdown continues and it’s barely even news; an illegal alien murdered a police officer on Christmas Day in the sanctuary state of California and the story is getting minimal national coverage because it goes against the liberal narrative on immigration; and the Boston Marathon bomber is seeking a new trial because, even though his lawyers admit he is guilty, they say he didn’t get a fair trial because that trial wasn’t moved out of Boston.

You can’t make this stuff up. Plus clips of our interviews with Tucker Carlson, Ann Coulter, David Limbaugh, Ken Starr, Gregg Jarrett, and Michael Foley.

Watch the show:

Ohio lawmakers override John Kasich's gun bill veto

The state Senate in Ohio has overridden a veto from Gov. John Kasich on a gun proposal that pushes the burden of proof to prosecutors in shootings involving self-defense.

The Republican governor on Dec. 20 vetoed House Bill 228. The state Senate then convened after Christmas session and the GOP-majority chamber overrode Kasich's veto.

H.B. 228 makes several changes to Ohio's law regarding firearms. One of the most notable involves adjudication of self-defense shooting cases. The burden is now pushed from defendants to prosecutors to show the accused did not use their weapons "in self-defense, defense of another, or defense of that person's residence."

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Lindsey Graham Writes An Open Letter To Nancy Pelosi About The Border Wall

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham told House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and her Democratic caucus on Friday that there would not be a deal on a funding bill unless it included appropriations to construct a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.

“To Nancy Pelosi and the House Democrats,” Graham tweeted. “No Wall Money, No Deal.”

The House passed a stopgap funding bill on Dec. 20 that included $5.7 billion for a border wall, however, with a 51-seat majority in the Senate, Republicans fell short of the necessary 60 votes needed to send it to President Donald Trump’s desk for signature.

Harris, Booker And Warren To Announce 2020 Bids Next Month: NBC

One months from now, most of the contenders for the 2020 Democratic nomination will have officially declared their intention to run, according to NBC News. In a report published Friday, NBC News said that Senators Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris and Corey Booker are all planning to announce their campaigns next month, while a handful of other contenders are also gearing up for campaign launches of their own.

The reason candidates are planning to announce so early in the cycle really comes down to one factor: Money, as NBC explained. Particularly in what's expected to be an intense battle of attrition between potentially more than a dozen candidates, the candidates with the biggest purses will have a distinct advantage.

Many potential Democratic candidates have circled January or early February on their calendars as the ideal launch window — early enough to try to raise an impressive amount of money in the first quarter of the year without stepping on November's midterm elections.

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Meanwhile, Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Cory Booker of New Jersey and Kamala Harris of California are all also quietly preparing for potential campaign launches in early 2019, people close to them have said.

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MSNBC stunned at new survey showing how many Hispanics voted for Republicans in midterms

Looks like the heated rhetoric didn't work

A new survey appeared to stun the progressive MSNBC news outlet when it showed that Latinos had not dropped in support for Republicans despite what many saw as racially insensitive rhetoric from the president.

VoteCast data from the Associated Press showed that 32 percent of Latinos voted for Republicans at a time when many pundits and most Democrats hoped that the demographic group might lead an electoral revolt against President Donald Trump's immigration policies.

"Data from November's elections show the GOP's position among Latinos has not weakened during the Trump administration, despite the president's rhetoric and policy," read the tweet from MSNBC.

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