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Saturday, February 10, 2018

A Viewer Writes: Wicomico First Alert Admin Steven Behr


Defendant
Name:Behr, Steven Edward
Race:WhiteSex:MaleHeight:5'9"Weight:160
HairColor:BrownEyeColor:Hazel
DOB:12/16/1987
Address:Wicomico County Detention Center
411 Naylor Mill Road
City:SALISBURYState:MDZip Code:21801

Involved Parties Information
Plaintiff
Name:State of Maryland

Attorney(s) for the Plaintiff
Name:DEAN, KAREN MARTIN
Address Line 1:Office Of The State's Attorney For Wicomico County
Address Line 2:309 E. Main Street
Address Line 3:PO Box 1006
City:SALISBURYState:MDZip Code:21803

Name:State's Attorney - Wicomico County
Address Line 1:309 E. Main Street
Address Line 2:PO Box 1006
City:SalisburyState:MDZip Code:21803


Court Scheduling Information
Event TypeEvent DateEvent TimeCourt LocationCourt RoomResult
Hearing - Video Bail / Bond Review02/08/201809:00:00CC22 Wicomico CalendarCourtroom 1CONC
Hearing - Initial Appearance02/08/201809:00:00CC22 Wicomico CalendarCourtroom 1CONC

Charge and Disposition Information
Charge No:1CJIS Code:1-0322Statute Code:CR.3.602.(b)(1)
Charge Description:SEX ABUSE MINORCharge Class:Felony Circuit Court
Probable Cause:
Offense Date From:04/01/2017To: 09/30/2017
Agency Name:Officer ID:
Charge No:2CJIS Code:3-3600Statute Code:CR.3.307
Charge Description:SEX OFFENSE THIRD DEGREECharge Class:Felony Circuit Court
Probable Cause:
Offense Date From:04/01/2017To: 09/30/2017
Agency Name:Officer ID:
Charge No:3CJIS Code:1-1415Statute Code:CR.3.203
Charge Description:ASSAULT-SEC DEGREECharge Class:Misdemeanor
Probable Cause:
Offense Date From:04/01/2017To: 09/30/2017
Agency Name:Officer ID:
Charge No:4CJIS Code:1-1415Statute Code:CR.3.203
Charge Description:ASSAULT-SEC DEGREECharge Class:Misdemeanor
Probable Cause:
Offense Date From:04/01/2017To: 09/30/2017
Agency Name:Officer ID:

Warrants Information
TypeIssueLast StatusStatus Date
Arrest Warrant02/06/2018Warrant Served02/07/2018

Bond Setting Information
Bail Date:02/08/2018
Bail Setting Type:Release on Recognizance
Bail Amount:$0.00

Bail Date:02/05/2018
Bail Setting Type:Hold Without Bond
Bail Amount:$0.00

Obama Spying On Political Enemies

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George W. Bush Praises Mass Immigration: 'We Ought to Say Thank You and Welcome Them'

Former President George W. Bush praised the inflow of illegal and legal immigrants to the United States, saying Americans should “say ‘Thank you'” to migrants and “welcome them.”

Addressing a summit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Bush criticized President Trump’s decision to end the President Obama-created Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which gave temporary amnesty to nearly 800,000 illegal aliens.

“America’s their home,” Bush said, according to the Associated Press. “They’ve got to get it fixed.”

Bush also explained how he tried to pass amnesty for millions of illegal aliens during his time in the White House, echoing the talking points often used by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and big business lobby to continue the inflow of more than one million mostly low-skilled illegal and legal immigrants to the country every year.

“There are people willing to do jobs that Americans won’t do,” Bush told his Arab audience. “Americans don’t want to pick cotton at 105 degrees (Fahrenheit), but there are [migrant] people who want put food on their family’s tables and are willing to do that. We ought to say thank you and welcome them.”

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Bombshell: DOJ, FBI Continued to Spy on Trump in White House

Grassley-Graham letter references Trump surveillance renewals through June 2017

WASHINGTON, D.C. –
The less highly-redacted version of the criminal referral letter written by Sen. Charles Grassley and Sen. Lindsey Graham made public on Tuesday provides evidence the Department of Justice and FBI were conducting FISA court-approved electronic surveillance of President Trump in the White House through at least June 2017.

The key sentences are on page 4 of the Grassley-Graham letter, reading as follows:

In defending Mr. Steele’s credibility to the FISC [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court], the FBI had posited an innocuous explanation for the September 23 [Yahoo News] article, based on the assumption that Mr. Steele had told the FBI the truth about his press contacts. The FBI then vouched for him twice more, using the same rationale in subsequent renewal applications filed with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court in April and June 2017.

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Report: John McCain Associate Received Trump Hoax Dossier Directly from Fusion GPS Prior to FBI Handoff

TEL AVIV — David J. Kramer, a former State Department official and longtime associate of John McCain, received a copy of the infamous, largely discredited 35-page dossier on President Donald Trump directly from the controversial Fusion GPS political opposition research firm, according to a report in the Washington Post.

Kramer obtained the dossier from Fusion GPS after McCain expressed interest in the document, according the report. McCain then reportedly passed the dossier directly to FBI Director James Comey.

The new details mark the clearest indication yet that McCain may have known that the dossier originated with Fusion GPS, meaning that he may have knowingly passed on political opposition research to the FBI.

Until now, it has not been clear whether McCain was aware of the origins of the dossier when he hand delivered the unsubstantiated document to Comey.

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Senator Addie Eckardt, District 37 Weekly Wrap-Up February 9, 2018

On February 5, 2018, I attended the Watermen's Caucus Legislative Reception along with representatives of the Eastern Shore: John Wingrove (Congressman Andy Harris) Delegate Arentz (District 36), Delegate Ghrist (District 36), Melissa Kelly (Senator Chris Van Hollen), Delegate Jacobs (District 36), and Kim Kratovil (Senator Ben Cardin).
This Week in Annapolis
As the fifth week of Maryland’s Legislative Session concludes, I am pleased to share with you how the General Assembly is working for you, your families, and your businesses; each day, bills are introduced, heard in committee, and passed on the floor that continue to affect each and every Marylander.  

Concerning HB 1 of the 2017 Session, Labor and Employment – Maryland Healthy Working Families Act, the Maryland Senate voted on February 7, 2018 to advance SB 304 – Maryland Healthy Working Families Act – Delay of Effective Date that would delay the accrual and implementation of paid sick leave until July 1, 2018; this bill will now be moving over to the House of Delegates for a vote. The Senate floor vote demonstrates that we recognize that businesses need more time to prepare for the implementation and also need guidelines on how to enact this initiative. For more information on what this legislation is and how your business could be affected, please visithttps://mdchamber.org/what-next-a-primer-on-hb-1-compliance-from-shawe-rosenthal/ or contact the Office of Small Business Regulatory Assistance atSmall.Business@Maryland.gov.

On February 7, 2018, the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee held a hearing on SB 373 – Education – Head Start Program – Annual Appropriation that I co-sponsored. This legislation would require that the Governor include an appropriation of at least $3,000,000 for the Head Start program in each annual budget submission, a $1.2 million increase from the current funding of $1.8 million. The Head Start program promotes the school readiness of low-income children by enhancing their cognitive, social, and emotional development while also targeting the entire family unit through parent education sessions and community services. Funding for this program currently comes largely from the federal government while the State provides supplemental funding that was cut in in 2010; this legislation would reallocate the $3,000,000 to reduce the summer learning loss and increase school readiness skills.
My Bill Hearings This Week
On February 6, 2018, Paige and Brooke Simonsen joined me in Annapolis to testify in support of SB 341 – Hunting –Required Outerwear – Daylight Fluorescent Pink to the Senate Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs Committee (EHE). This legislation would add daylight fluorescent pink as an authorized hunter safety color, along with daylight fluorescent orange. Immediately after the bill hearing, EHE unanimously voted in favor of SB 341 so it will be going to the Senate floor shortly for a vote. You can read more about Paige and Brooke’s story at https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/hot-pink-for-hunters-sisters-ages-9-and-12-push-for-new-law-in-maryland/2018/02/07/6105665c-0c13-11e8-8890-372e2047c935_story.html?utm_term=.879936e3d31d.
 
I presented SB 215 – Motor Vehicle Registration – Exception for Golf Carts – Town of Vienna to the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee on February 6, 2018. This legislation would allow golf carts to be driven within the town limits of Vienna so as to promote tourism and community involvement.

On February 8, 2018, I presented SB 466 – Estates and Trusts – Administration of Estates – Waiver of Fees to the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee. This was the first of seven pieces of legislation that I will be sponsoring that came as a recommendation of the Task Force to Study Tax Sales in Maryland. This legislation would allow the Registers of Wills to waive probate fees for opening estates when transferring property from a deceased relative to a family member; by doing so, this would prevent at-risk families from being forced into tax sale and foreclosure due to the inability to pay the necessary fees to transfer the title of the home.
Paige and Brooke Simonsen, as well as Matthew Hurst, joined staff and I in Annapolis on February 6, 2018 to present SB 341 to authorize daylight fluorescent pink as a hunter safety color.
Recently Sponsored Legislation
SB 828: Income Tax – Personal Exemptions – Inflation Adjustment
I am reintroducing legislation that index, based on a cost-of-living adjustment, the value of the income tax personal exemption and the additional exemption for elderly or blind individuals.

SB 829: Income Tax Subtraction Modification – Retirement Income (Fairness in Taxation for Retirees Act)
This bill would expand the existing State pension exclusion subtraction modification by allowing income from the all retirement plans to be included within the subtraction modification.

SB 830: Income Tax – Standard Deduction – Inflation Adjustment
This legislation was initially introduced in 2017 and would alter the value of the standard deduction based on the annual change of the cost-of-living adjustment.

SB 950: Health Occupations – Treatment of Lyme Disease and Other Tick-Borne Diseases – Disciplinary Action
Maryland ranks among the top fourteen states in the country for the reported number of people with Lyme Disease; this legislation would allow for the integrative, complementary, and alternative methods of testing and treatment by medical practitioners for Lyme Disease in Maryland.

SB 951: Tax Sales – Vacant and Abandoned Property
Currently, only Baltimore City has the legal authority to reduce or eliminate property liens; this legislation would grant this authority to all jurisdictions. This is an important tool to address blight and put properties back into productive use, as it allows a property to be transferred with clear title, increasing the likelihood that the property will be purchased.

SB 952: Tax Sales – Homeowner Protections
Under current law, if a homeowner has eligible delinquencies totaling $250 or more, then a property must go to tax sale; however, Baltimore City is the exception and determined that a property must go to tax sale when delinquencies total $750 or more. This legislation would allow all jurisdictions the ability to increase the threshold of which a property must be put into tax sale from $250 up to $750.

SB 953: Tax – Property – Collateralization of Tax Lien Securities
This legislation would allow jurisdictions to use a system that allows liens to be placed into a Trust, and used as collateral for loans to the jurisdiction creating cash flow for the jurisdiction. This would allow the jurisdiction to potentially see some financial gain out of properties that might otherwise cycle through tax sale.

SB 954: Property Tax – In Rem Foreclosure and Sale – Vacant and Abandoned Property 
This would enable jurisdictions to voluntarily create the judicial In Rem tax sale system with additions that provide constitutionally defensible language for jurisdictions to select which properties go through this system. The In Remsystem allows jurisdictions to use a deed sale system to address vacant properties, not a tax sale certificate system, in which clear and insurable title is delivered at the completion of the deed sale system. 

SB 955: Income Tax – Angel Investor Tax Credit Program
This bill would create a tax credit against the State income tax for investors that make qualified investments in Maryland innovation businesses. In order to address the needs of rural counties, the credit is equal to 66% of the qualified investment, and 50% for urban counties. This credit will also be available twice a year to allow rural counties to gather investors.

SB 956: Alcoholic Beverages – Maryland Beer and Brewery Promotion Program – Establishment
This legislation would establish the Maryland Beer and Brewery Promotion Program within the Department of Commerce.

SB 957: Income Tax Credits – Poultry Houses – LED Lighting and Solar Panel Systems
This bill would provide a $5,000 tax credit per poultry house that is retrofit with LEDs and solar panels; this would serve as incentives for growers to integrate LED lighting with solar panels.

SB 968: Task Force on Rural Internet, Broadband, Wireless, and Cellular Service – Study and Extension 
SB 717 – Connecting Rural Maryland Act of 2017 of the 2017 Session established the Task Force on Rural Internet, Broadband, Wireless, and Cellular Service to study and make recommendations on how to providing communication services to all of Maryland; this year’s legislation would extend the Task Force and allow them to continue working until November 30, 2018.
Coming Up Next Week
February 14, 2018 is the bicentennial celebration of the birth of Frederick Douglass, a Talbot County native who escaped slavery to become a noted abolitionist, preacher, and advocate of women’s rights. In recognition of this, I have introduced Senate Joint Resolution 6 – Commemorating the Bicentennial of the Birth of Frederick Douglass which would recognize the bicentennial on a State level. In addition, the Frederick Douglass Honor Society will present a Bicentennial Wreath Laying Ceremony at the Frederick Douglass Statue by the Talbot County Court House. Later that same afternoon, Maryland Department of Natural Resources Program Open Space and County Council of Talbot County will be hosting the Dedicatory and Groundbreaking Ceremony of the Frederick Douglass Park on the Tuckahoe. 

Also on February 14, 2018, I will be presenting two bills to the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee: SB 404 – Home Gaming – Bunco and SB 467 – Sales and Use Tax – Tax-Free Period for Back-to-School Shopping – School Supplies.

On February 15, 2018, I will be presenting SB 468: Landlord and Tenant – Residential Leases – Water and Sewer Bills and SB 711 – Health Occupations – Applications for Renewal of Licenses, Permits, Certifications, or Registrations – Available by Mail.
Scheduled Hearings
 February 14, 2018 at 1:00 pm
  • SB 404: Home Gaming – Bunco
  • SB 467: Sales and Use Tax – Tax-Free Period for Back-to-School Shopping – School Supplies
February 15, 2018 at 1:00 pm
  • SB 468: Landlord and Tenant – Residential Leases – Water and Sewer Bills
  • SB 711: Health Occupations – Applications for Renewal of License, Permits, Certifications, or Registrations – Available by Mail
February 20, 2018 at 1:00 pm
  • SB 709: Environment – Water and Sewer Service
  • SJ 6: Commemorating the Bicentennial of the Birth of Frederick Douglass
February 22, 2018 at 1:00 pm
  • SB 968: Task Force on Rural Internet, Broadband, Wireless, and Cellular Service – Study and Extension
February 23, 2018 at 1:00 pm
  • SB 3: Dorchester County—Hurlock—Alcoholic Beverages—Place-of-Worship of School Distance Restrictions
  • SB 51: Dorchester County—Alcoholic Beverages—Beer and Wine Festivals
  • SB 140: Dorchester County—Alcoholic Beverages—Class C Per Diem Licenses—Catering Club Events
  • SB 283: Alcoholic Beverages—Auxiliary Winery Permit
March 7, 2018 at 1:00 pm
  • SB 828: Income Tax – Personal Exemptions – Inflation Adjustment
  • SB 829: Income tax Subtraction Modification – Retirement Income (Fairness in Taxation for Retirees Act)
  • SB 830: Income Tax – Standard Deduction – Inflation Adjustment
  • SB 950: Health Occupations – Treatment of Lyme Disease and Other Tick-Borne Diseases – Disciplinary Actions
March 9, 2018 at 1:00 pm
  • SB 951: Tax Sales – Vacant and Abandoned Property
  • SB 952: Tax Sales – Homeowner Protections
  • SB 953: Tax – Property – Collateralization of Tax Lien Securities
  • SB 954: Property Tax – In Rem Foreclosure and Sale – Vacant and Abandoned Property
March 13, 2018 at 1:00 pm
  • SB 955: Income Tax – Angel Investor Tax Credit Program
March 14, 2018 at 1:00 pm
  • SB 957: Income Tax Credits – Poultry Houses – LED Lighting and Solar Panel Systems

Charges Dropped Against Patriot Picket

Seems after everyone had a chance to consider all the evidence that was there for the Capitol Police to consider BEFORE making any arrest, they have now dropped all charges. We believe this unlawful arrest was made by a Government Representative {a democrat [someone who doesn't believe in the Bill of Rights} to force the MCP to break the law, hopefully a law suite will bring the communist out in the open.

Study: Primary Reason Why Teens Can't Find Work? Higher Minimum Wage.

This week, the Mercatus Center at George Mason University released the results of a studylinking rising minimum wages to declining teen employment rates. According to the study, although there could be three possible reasons for the decline in teen employment in the United States since 2000, a rising minimum wage, rising returns to schooling, and increasing competition from immigrants, the authors found that the higher minimum wage was the predominant factor. Additionally, the study suggested that higher minimum wages for teens leads to lower future earnings.

The study, authored by David Neumark of University of California, Irvine, and Cortnie Shupe of the German Institute for Economic Research, on nearly 20 years of data, found that the percentage of teens who weren’t working but still wanted a job plunged from 24% in 1994 to 13.2% in 2009. The study stated that the principal effect of higher minimum wages since 2000, in terms of human capital, was to reduce employment opportunities that could help the teens find jobs later.

The authors write, “Thus, the evidence, if anything, says that teens exposed to higher minimum wages since 2000—the same teens who left combined employment and school enrollment for enrollment only—had lower human capital investment.”

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Another longtime Comey aide leaving FBI

The longtime head of public affairs at the FBI -- who was a confidant of former director James Comey -- is planning to retire, Fox News has learned.

A notice went out this week for a retirement get-together for Michael Kortan scheduled for Feb. 15. Since 2009, Kortan has served as assistant director for public affairs, an influential job that controlled media access. He also served under former director Robert Mueller, now leading the Russia probe.

The FBI confirmed to Fox News that Kortan is retiring.

It's unclear whether the retirement was long-planned or in any way precipitated by recent events. The FBI said he was finishing 33 years of service.

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Senator Mathias Introduced Legislation To Better Protect The Elderly In Nursing Homes

Entitled:

Maryland Nursing Home Resident Protection Act of 2018

Sponsored by:

Senator Mathias

Status:

In the Senate - Hearing 2/08 at 1:00 p.m.

Synopsis:Requiring the Maryland Department of Health to investigate certain complaints against certain nursing homes within 48 hours of receiving a complaint; requiring the Department to make a certain effort to investigate within 24 hours complaints alleging immediate jeopardy to residents of certain nursing homes; requiring the Department to develop a certain data dashboard; etc.
Analysis:Fiscal and Policy Note
All Sponsors:Senators MathiasKingManno, and Peters
Additional Facts:Bill File Type: Regular
Effective Date(s): July 1, 2018
Committee(s):
Finance  View Committee Hearing
Broad Subject(s):Health Care Facilities and Regulation
Narrow Subject(s):Consumer Protection -see also- Unfair Trade Practices
Electronic Government -see also- Electronic Communication
General Assembly -see also- AELR Cmte; Leg Policy Committee
Health, Department of
Investigations and Inquiries -see also- Crim Bckgrnd Invest
Legislative Services, Department of
Nursing Homes -see also- Continuing Care; Long-Term Care
Public Information
Time
Statutes:Article - Health - General
(19-1408, 19-1408.1)

Bermuda becomes first jurisdiction in the world to repeal same-sex marriage

British island territory swaps marriage for domestic partnerships for LGBT couples in move criticised as attack on equal rights

Bermuda has become the first jurisdiction to legalise and then repeal same-sex marriage, in what critics have called an unprecedented rollback of civil rights by the British territory.

Bermuda’s governor has signed into law a bill reversing the right of gay couples to marry, despite a supreme court ruling last year authorising same-sex marriage.

Walton Brown, Bermuda’s minister of home affairs, said the legislation signed by Governor John Rankin would balance opposition to same-sex marriage on the socially conservative island while complying with European court rulings that ensure recognition and protection for same-sex couples in the territory.

Bermuda’s Senate and House of Assembly passed the legislation by wide marginsin December and a majority of voters opposed same-sex marriage in a referendum.

“The act is intended to strike a fair balance between two currently irreconcilable groups in Bermuda, by restating that marriage must be between a male and a female while at the same time recognising and protecting the rights of same-sex couples,” said Brown, whose ruling Progressive Labour party proposed the repeal.

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Cotton, Rubio Introduce Bill Banning Govt. Use of Chinese Telecom Devices

Republican Sens. Tom Cotton (Ark.) and Marco Rubio (Fla.) introduced a bill Wednesday to prohibit government use of telecommunications products from two Chinese companies.

The Defending U.S. Government Communications Act would prohibit the U.S. government from purchasing or leasing equipment or services from Huawei or ZTE, according to a statement from Cotton’s office. Cotton said the government should not trust devices from companies so closely linked to the Chinese communist government.

"Huawei is effectively an arm of the Chinese government, and it’s more than capable of stealing information from U.S. officials by hacking its devices," Cotton said. "There are plenty of other companies that can meet our technology needs, and we shouldn’t make it any easier for China to spy on us."

Rubio said the government ought to guard its critical infrastructure closely.

"Chinese telecom companies, like Huawei, are directly linked to the Chinese government and communist party. For national security reasons, we cannot allow a foreign adversary to embed their technology in U.S. government systems or critical infrastructure" Rubio said.

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Rep. Keith Ellison: Trump is a White Supremacist

Speaking at a rally in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday billed as “A Day of Action Against Trump’s White Supremacy,” Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) said the goal of the anti-Trump, pro-illegal alien movement should be “justice for all.”

“Justice for all,” Ellison said. “And that means whether you’re born here or not.”

“It’s really not about no politician, including me,” Ellison said. “It really is about the pressure you all have brought to this moment.”

“You’ve got to talk about his message in Spanish, but also in English,” Ellison said. “Man, you’ve got to talk about this issue in Somalian, in Hebrew, in Arabic.”

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Demo Memo(s)

The House Intelligence Committee voted unanimously Monday to release the Democrat rebuttal to the Republicans’ FISA memo. President Donald Trump will now have five days to decide if he will release it to the public, which he has previously stated he would do. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), the author of this rebuttal memo, accused Republicans of seeking to distort the facts with the FISA memo produced by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA). Democrats claim that Nunes coordinated with the White House in creating the FISA memo, a charge Nunes has strongly denied.

Meanwhile, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) “leaked” a six-page response to the FISA memo, in which he argues that the FBI’s acquiring of a FISA warrant based on the dubious and unverified Christopher Steele dossier was perfectly fine because of Steele’s solid reputation with the FBI and because the allegations made within the dossier have not been disproven.

Andrew McCarthy of National Review astutely notes that the court is interested in the credibility of eyewitnesses, not the reputation of the agent who collected the information. If the FBI, as the FISA memo alleges, relied heavily on the unverified information from the Steele dossier, then the FBI did not meet the standard necessary to justify receiving a surveillance warrant. McCarthy writes, “So far, the FBI and Justice Department have provided only cause for grave concern that they gave a federal court unverified, highly unreliable information that was essential to the court’s probable-cause finding, and that they did so without being candid with the court about the biases of the information’s purveyor. That being so, the burden is on the FBI and the Justice Department to prove that they did not act improperly in seeking the FISA warrant — especially since they, rather than the rest of us, are in possession of the information that they insist would vindicate them.”

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Dem Rep: ‘Many of Our Members Are Furious’ With Pelosi’s DACA Speech

An anonymous House Democrat told a reporter on Wednesday that many members of their caucus were not pleased with Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's (D., Calif.) recent marathon speech.

Pelosi spoke for hours on the House floor Wednesday urging lawmakers to reject any spending compromise that didn't protect former recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, an Obama-era directive protecting illegal immigrants brought to the country as children.

The speech was well-received by many liberals, but one Democrat told Bloomberg's Sahil Kupar that there was significant dissent within the ranks.

"Many of our members are furious," the member said. "We have spent the last three weeks insisting that we don't want to shut the government down over DACA, and she essentially made the whole thing about it."

"Virtually everyone trying to win seats outside of California feels she has hurt their chances," the House Democrat concluded.

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Democrat Running in Virginia Discovers New Southern Accent in New Home State

The leading Democratic candidate for a Virginia House seat the party is targeting in 2018 moved to the state just a year-and-a-half ago, but you'd never know it from watching his campaign's first ad.

Roger Dean Huffstetler, who is both outraising and outspending his Democratic opponents in Virginia's largely rural fifth district, announcedhis campaign less than a year after he moved in the summer of 2016 to Charlottesville, a blue city located near the center of a rural red district. His first ad—which, based on a nearly $50,000 expenditure, appears to have been created by a major D.C. advertising firm that made ads for Barack Obama's presidential campaigns—attempts to erase any outsider image he may have.

The ad, "Best I Can," opens with Huffstetler driving an old white Ford truck through a Virginia farm and then sitting atop a bale of hay to speak of his rural upbringing. The way he speaks, however, caught the ear of one Virginia voter.

"I've seen him speak publicly," said Richard Foxx, a farm owner from inside the district. "The R.D. Huffstetler I've heard over the last year and a half doesn't quite sound like our current governor Ralph Northam, but in the ad he sounds a lot like our current governor Ralph Northam."

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The Oxford Study Saying Trump Supporters Share More Fake News Is Fake News And taxpayers paid for it

An Oxford University study being spread by mainstream news outlets that claims Trump supporters share the most fake news is itself fake news.

Researchers at the Computational Propaganda Project, who are the recipients of over $200,000 in taxpayer funding, spent "several years" developing its "junk news" list, which is actually full of the most popular conservative websites on the internet.

Websites included on the researchers' "watch list" of propaganda news outlets includes theWashington Free Beacon, the Daily Caller, National Review, and the Drudge Report, which is theseventh most highly visited media publication in the United States.

Contrary to the claim that conservatives are sharing the most fake news, the study proves nothing other than finding conservatives tend to share conservative media online.

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Flu spreading through the air can be KILLED using UV lamps

The flu virus spreading through the air can be killed off by special ultraviolet light lamps costing just £700 each, a new study suggests.

Continuous low doses of far ultraviolet C (far-UVC) light kills airborne flu viruses without harming human tissues, causing skin cancers or cataracts.

The findings could pave the way to installing the overhead lamps in hospitals, surgeries, schools and airports to help stop seasonal epidemics.

The results, led by Columbia University, come amid the worst flu outbreak in recent years in the US, with every state except rocked by the virus.

And the deadly outbreak has claimed the lives of more than 200 people in the UK, but appears to be slowing down as the end of season approaches.

Scientists, led by Professor David Brenner, conducted the new trial on the H1N1 virus - the same strain that killed 50 million in the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic.

But, in theory, far-UVC light could also kill the H3N2 strain, dubbed 'Aussie flu', which has sparked widespread fears of a similar pandemic this winter.

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George Soros Spent $100K On Local DA Race

George Soros helped tip another district attorney’s race with more than $100,000 in support of his preferred candidate — and he did it without anybody finding out until after the campaign.

A Soros-funded national political action committee (PAC), Justice & Public Safety, spent more than $100,000 on behalf of Portsmouth, Virginia Commonwealth Attorney Stephanie Morales between Sept. 9 and Nov. 4, the PAC’s FEC filings reveal. Soros’s support for Morales’s campaign has not been previously reported.

Soros has repeatedly backed left-wing district attorney candidates with massive donations typically only seen in gubernatorial, congressional or presidential campaigns. Soros spent more than $9 million on local DA races in 2015-2017 alone, allowing the New York resident to influence local criminal justice policies all across the country.

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Flu Is Causing 1 in 10 American Deaths and Climbing

Along with the pneumonia it spawns, this year’s epidemic may be killing 4,000 people every week.

The amount of influenza ravaging the U.S. this year rivals levels normally seen when an altogether new virus emerges, decimating a vulnerable population that hasn’t had a chance to develop any defenses.

It’s an unexpected phenomenon that public health experts are still trying to decode.

The levels of influenza-like illnesses being reported now are as high as the peak of the swine flu epidemic in 2009, and exceed the last severe seasonal flu outbreak in 2003 when a new strain started circulating, said Anne Schuchat, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s acting director. Swine flu, which swept the globe in 2009 and 2010, sickened 60.8 million Americans, hospitalized 274,304 and killed 12,469, according to CDC data. Deaths from the current outbreak will likely far outstrip those of the 2009-2010 season.

“This is a difficult season, and we can’t predict how much longer the severe season will last,” she said. “I wish there was better news, but everything we are looking at is bad news.”

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