Head Of Prison Investigative Unit Leaving For Federal Job

The head of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Service's internal investigative unit is leaving for a federal job.

The agency announced the departure of Jesse Ballard, a 26-year veteran of the agency, on Friday.

The unit handles investigations of inmates, detainees, employees and others.

The Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services has come under scrutiny recently after a sweeping federal indictment charged 25 people in a contraband conspiracy at the Baltimore City Detention Center, including 13 correctional officers.
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Law Enforcment Torch Run Invite 6/3/13

Dear Maryland Law Enforcement Colleagues and Friends;

‘Flame of Hope’ Arrives in Worcester County!

Worcester County Law Enforcement Officer, Friends, and Supporters Participate in Statewide Torch Run Relay as Show of Support for the Special Olympics Maryland Summer Games

Maryland Torch Run Celebrates 28 Years of Success
Law Enforcement officers representing ALL of Worcester County will be on the run on Monday, June 3rd at 8:00am, taking part in the annual Law Enforcement Torch Run Relay for Special Olympics Maryland. Their mission: to escort and protect the Special Olympics ‘Flame of Hope’ as it makes its way toward the opening of the 43nd Anniversary Summer Games at Towson University, June 7-9. 
This year marks the 28th Anniversary of the Maryland Torch Run, a movement that began in 1986 with a handful of officers raising $5,000, and has grown into a true year-round effort that involves thousands of officers and sponsors raising over $3 million in 2012. Since its inception, the Torch Run has taken very seriously its role as “Guardians of the Flame”, and the Relay is an important and celebrated part of every Special Olympics competition. 
The schedule for Ocean City/Worcester County’s portion of the Torch Run is as follows (all times are approximate and subject to change): 
Monday, June 3, 2013 
8 – 8:30am Pre-Event Ceremonies, 27th Street and the Boardwalk, Ocean City, MD 
8:30am Torch Run Relay Begins. Run will proceed from 27th Street to N. Division Street. 
9:15 – 9:30am Run Concludes at N. Division Street with Photo Opportunity and Refreshment
*We will load bus to proceed to Historic Downtown Berlin, for the second leg of the Relay 
10:00 – 10:15am Meet at Worcester Preparatory School for Pre-Run Pep Rally 
10:15am Begin Second Leg through Historic Downtown Berlin 
10:45-11:00am Conclude Second Leg at Berlin Fire Department (approx. 1 mile run) 
*More Refreshments and Photo Opportunities to follow run 
This local portion of the Torch Run Relay is part of a much larger effort. Statewide, the Maryland Torch Run Relay consists of four different legs – Eastern, Western, Central and Southern – and throughout the entire week, thousands of Torch Run volunteers will cover hundreds of miles, eventually converging on Towson where the individual flames will be united in the Final Leg Ceremony and then officers from around the state will travel the final 2.5 miles to the Opening Ceremony at Towson University. It is there that the Flame is handed off to the Special Olympics athletes who have the honor of taking the final lap with the torch and then lighting the cauldron and officially declaring the 2013 SOMD Summer Games open. 
*PLEASE consider participating in the Eastern Leg of the Torch Run Relay as shown above. YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE A “RUNNER!” Each leg will have support vehicles and/or buses so you can run as much OR as little as you want. You may also ride your BICYCLE if you wish! The actual Torch Run Relay is an awareness campaign to highlight our UNITED law enforcement efforts to benefit Special Olympics and create excitement for the Special Olympics Maryland Summer Games each year. 2013 Torch Run t-shirts should be worn for this event and may be purchased in advance or purchased the morning of the event for $10. 
Our local Torch Run Leg is always VERY WELL attended and is by far the most beautiful leg of the states Torch Run relay, incorporating the refreshing Ocean City boardwalk and the beauty and charm of historic downtown Berlin, Maryland. I hope to see you at our Torch Run leg this year!!! Again, you DO NOT have to be a runner…we just ask that you be a supporter! GIVE MARYLAND SPECIAL OLYMPIC ATHLETES THE OPPORTUNITY TO COMPETE AND “GO FOR THE GOLD!” 
Torch Run Relay Week leading up to the Special Olympics Maryland Summer Games at Towson University is June 3-7, 2013! 
Contact: Sgt. Dennis G. Eade, Ocean City Police Department, 410-520-5309

Who swears more: Maryland or Virginia residents?

WASHINGTON - What the @#*! did you just say?!

A study from Marchex, a Seattle-based mobile marketing company, finds that when it comes to cursing, those who live in Maryland are right up there with the best -- or worst -- of them.

The home of "Charm City" ranked second behind Ohio for states where residents are the most likely to curse during consumer-to-business transactions. Virginia, on the other hand, is among the top five states where residents are least likely to swear during these phone conversations.

Last year, a different survey found D.C. was the worst among major markets when it comes to employees using foul language at work.
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SALI5BURY CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION AGENDA MAY 20, 2013

COUNCIL CHAMBERS, ROOM 301

GOVERN IENT OFFICE BUILDING

1:30 p.m. Critical Areas Ordinance— Further Discussion— Jack Lenox

2:00 p.m. COPS Grant— Chief Barbara Duncan

2:30 p.m. Request to Authorize Application for Port Security Grant for Boat Lift and Canopy Shelter for the Fire Boat— Chief Rick Hoppes

3:00 p.m. Maryland Bikeways Program — FY 14 Grant— Teresa Gardner

3:15 p.m. EDU Free Zone —Teresa Gardner

3:45 p.m. Request to Amend Ordinance to Permit Property Owners to Paa Capacity Fee Prior to Water

Meter Setting— Further Discussion - Teresa Gardner

4:15 p.m. Request to Reallocate Funds from the Parkside and Hampshire Road Lift Stations to the Mill Street Pumping Station— Teresa Gardner

4:45 p.m. Wastewater Credit Allowance— Further Discussion— Teresa Gardner

5:15 p.m. General Discussion

5:30 p.m. Adjournment

Grant Received For Regional Health Insurance Assistance Prog.

Worcester County Health Department has been selected by the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange to implement a regional consumer assistance program to help educate, determine eligibility and enroll uninsured residents into private health plans or Medicaid.

“We are honored to be selected as the connector program for the Lower Eastern Shore,” said Worcester County Health Officer Deborah Goeller. “We look forward to working with our state and local partners to help people select plans offered through Maryland Health Connection.”

The Maryland Health Benefit Exchange is the public corporation and unit of Maryland state government responsible for the implementation of the state-based insurance exchange through the Affordable Care Act.
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The First Stealth Fighter Goes To The Boneyard

Berlin Planning Head Resigns After Ultimatum

BERLIN -- Berlin Planning Director Chuck Ward resigned Tuesday morning after being told he had a choice to make -- step down or he would be terminated.

"I resigned. My letter of resignation is on file in Town Hall," Ward said in a statement Thursday.

While Ward refused to go into detail over what transpired that led to him stepping down, Mayor Gee Williams was specific in an interview this week. He outlined the council’s reasons for seeking Ward’s resignation on Wednesday.

At the Mayor and Council meeting on Monday, concerned merchants converged on town hall to protest what they believed was a pending crackdown on sidewalk clutter, such as sandwich-style signs and tables and chairs. At an April Historic District Commission meeting, the topic of sidewalk accessibility was broached, and Ward was asked to evaluate the code and issue suggestions. The mere possibility of a crackdown on these items sparked concerns throughout the business community, and the Mayor and Council decided at Monday’s meeting to work toward amending the existing code and clarify exactly what is allowed and what is not.
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Somerset County Sheriff's Office Press Release 5-18-13

Brandi Martia Warr of Severn Maryland, arrested 5-8-13 for driving without a license, driving on a suspended drivers license, failure to stop at a stop sign, and failing to display a driver’s license. Warr was released on signature pending court actions.

Deondre Lamont Brown of Crisfield, arrested 5-9-13 on a warrant for failing to appear in court. Brown was held on a $1,000 bond.

Corey Eugene Fontaine Jr. of Crisfield, arrested 5-10-13 on a warrant for failing to appear in court. Fontaine was later released after posting bond.

Abygail Dorethea Horner of Princess Anne, and Cheyenne November Patton of Pocomoke, arrested 5-10-13 for possession of suspected marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, and underage possession of alcohol. Both parties were released on a criminal citation pending court actions. The arrest was the result of an investigation where deputies were called to the Somerset County Intermediate School regarding students entering the school smelling like burnt marijuana. An inspection of Horner’s vehicle by school staff was conducted, and deputies recovered a suspected marijuana pipe, and a bottle of liquor.

Shelby Dawn Frost of Crisfield, arrested 5-11-13 for possession of suspected marijuana, and possession of drug paraphernalia. Frost was released on a criminal citation pending court actions. The arrest was the result of deputies investigating a truck parked in the former Riggin’s Market lot. Deputies smelled a strong odor of suspected marijuana from inside the truck. Deputies later recovered two suspected marijuana blunts under frost’s leg.

Elton Wesley Cottman of Princess Anne, arrested 5-12-13 for driving under the influence of alcohol, driving while impaired by alcohol,  negligent driving, loud music from a vehicle, speeding, and improper turn at an intersection. Cottman was released on citations pending court actions. The arrest was the result of a traffic stop conducted by deputies on Somerset Ave, Princess Anne.

James Lee Byers of Princess Anne, arrested 5-12-13 on a warrant for failing to appear in court. Byers was held on a $500.00 bond.

Willie Lee Rogers of Westover, criminal summons served 5-13-13 for theft $1,000 to under $10,000. Rogers was released on signature pending court actions.

\Earvine Troy Lamonte Fields of Salisbury, arrested 5-13-13 for two warrants regarding failing to appear in court. Fields was held on a $1,000 bond.

Nina Marie Shores of Salisbury, arrested 5-15-13 on a warrant for failing to appear in court. Shores was released after posting bond.

Taru Malik franklin of Crisfield, arrested 5-15-13 on a warrant for violation of probation. Franklin was held on a $50,000 bond.

Matthew Stephen Ruark of Pittsville, arrested 5-15-13 on a warrant for failing to appear in court. Ruark was held on a $500.00 bond.

Josua Arthur Timmons of Princess Anne, criminal summons served for forgery of private documents, uttering false documents, and theft less than $1,000. Timmons was released on signature pending court actions.

Meron Tesfae Mulu of Princess Anne, arrested 5-16-13 on a warrant for disorderly conduct. Mulu was later released on personal recognizance pending court actions.

25 Everyday Things You Never Knew Had Name

• 1. Tittle

  
  The dot over an ‘i’ or ‘j.’

• 2. Lunule

  
  The white, crescent shaped part at the top of a nail.

• 3. Crepuscular Rays

  
  Rays of sunlight coming from a certain point in the sky. Also known as “God’s rays.”

• 4. Ferrule

  
  The metal part on a pencil.

• 5. Gynecomastia

  
  Man-boobs.
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Cat Found 5-18-13

This cat has been hanging around a family members house off of Dagsboro Rd in Salisbury. Very loving, in tact male. Front declawed! Skinny. Can't keep him. Needs to be inside (obviously). Anyone missing him or want this sweetie pie? Cathy 443.235.0387

WE’RE FROM THE IRS & WE’RE HERE TO HELP

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT: IRS equips agents with 12-gauge Remington shotguns

Police Magazine has a report that should be quite comforting to all of us seeing as how the IRS is above reproach and all.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will arm its agents with Remington 870 pump-action shotguns, according to a solicitation request by the agency.

The federal tax collector posted an acquisition notice earlier this month on FedBizOpps.gov. The IRS will close its acquisition request on Wednesday.

The IRS will purchase 60 Remington Model 870 Police, 12-gauge pump-action shotguns for its Conservative Criminal Investigation Division. The Remington parkerized shotguns will include a 14-inch barrel, modified choke, Wilson Combat ghost-ring rear sight and XS4 contour-bead front sight, Knoxx reduced-recoil adjustable stock, and Speedfeed ribbed black forend, according to the notice.
The shotguns are designated as the only shotguns authorized for IRS duty, based on compatibility with existing IRS shotguns, certification by an armorer, combat training and protocol, maintenance and parts.

Wait for it… wait for it…

“What could possibly go wrong?“

Source

Two Clarksburg Maryland Men Caught Going Through Parked Cars

On May 15, 2013 at approximately 1:30 a.m. Ocean City Police responded to the 8800 block of Rusty Anchor Road, in reference to a citizen report of three males tampering with parked cars. When officers arrived in the area, they observed two males tampering with parked cars by trying door handles to see if the vehicles were unlocked.

Officers confronted the two suspects at which point one of the suspects fled from police. When officers attempted to subdue the suspect later identified as Harry Gardner Holmes, III, 25 of Clarksburg, MD, Holmes assaulted an officer. Holmes was subdued and subsequently arrested by an officer equipped with an Electronic Control Device (ECD/Taser). The second suspect, who was identified as Christopher Ryan Holmes, 22, of Clarksburg, MD, was taken into custody without incident. During the on scene investigation police determined the two suspects are brothers and staying in the 94th Street area. Officers located several witnesses and victims and determined the suspects had gained entry to at least two vehicles.

Per OCPD procedure H. Holmes was treated by OC EMS and transported to Atlantic General Medical Center for treatment after being subdued by an ECD/Taser. He was released from the AGH and transported by officers to the Ocean City Public Safety Building.

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Updated SPD Press Release

Why The Peaceful Majority Is Irrelevant

From Paul E. Marek

I used to know a man whose family were German aristocracy prior to World War II. They owned a number of large industries and estates. I asked him how many German people were true Nazis, and the answer he gave has stuck with me and guided my attitude toward fanaticism ever since.“Very few people were true Nazis,” he said, “but many enjoyed the return of German pride, and many more were too busy to care. I was one of those who just thought the Nazis were a bunch of fools. So, the majority just sat back and let it all happen. Then, before we knew it, they owned us, and we had lost control, and the end of the world had come. My family lost everything. I ended up in a concentration camp and the Allies destroyed my factories.”
We are told again and again by experts and talking heads that Islam is the religion of peace, and that the vast majority of Muslims just want to live in peace. Although this unquantified assertion may be true, it is entirely irrelevant. It is meaningless fluff, meant to make us feel better, and meant to somehow diminish the specter of fanatics rampaging across the globe in the name of Islam.
The fact is that the fanatics rule Islam at this moment in history. It is the fanatics who march. It is the fanatics who wage any one of 50 shooting wars world wide. It is the fanatics who systematically slaughter Christian or tribal groups throughout Africa and are gradually taking over the entire continent in an Islamic wave. It is the fanatics who bomb, behea
The fanatics rule Islam at this moment in history.
d, murder, or execute honor killings. It is the fanatics who take over mosque after mosque. It is the fanatics who zealously spread the stoning and hanging of rape victims and homosexuals. The hard, quantifiable fact is that the “peaceful majority” is the “silent majority,” and it is cowed and extraneous.Communist Russia was comprised of Russians who just wanted to live in peace, yet the Russian Communists were responsible for the murder of about 20 million people. The peaceful majority were irrelevant. China’s huge population was peaceful as well, but Chinese Communists managed to kill a staggering 70 million people. The average Japanese individual prior to World War II was not a war-mongering sadist. Yet, Japan murdered and slaughtered its way across Southeast Asia in an orgy of killing that included the systematic murder of 12 million Chinese civilians - most killed by sword, shovel and bayonet. And who can forget Rwanda, which collapsed into butchery? Could it not be said that the majority of Rwandans were “peace loving”?
History lessons are often incredibly simple and blunt; yet, for all our powers of reason, we often miss the most basic and uncomplicated of points. Peace-loving Muslims have been made irrelevant by the fanatics. Peace-loving Muslims have been made irrelevant by their silence. Peace-loving Muslims will become our enemy if they don’t speak up, because, like my friend from Germany, they will awaken one day and find that the fanatics own them, and the end of their world will have begun.
Peace-loving Germans, Japanese, Chinese, Russians, Rwandans, Bosnians, Afghanis, Iraqis, Palestinians, Somalis, Nigerians, Algerians and many others, have died because the peaceful majority did not speak up until it was too late. As for us, watching it all unfold, we must pay attention to the only group that counts: the fanatics who threaten our way of life.

HISTORICAL COMMENTS BY GEORGE CHEVALLIER 5-18-13

Hitting the Road

The N.Y., P. & N. railroad station in 1905.

My grandfather, Albert L. Disharoon, said very little about his early years, probably because therewasn’t too much variety in his life. His formal education ended in 1904 when he was 15 years old and still in the fifth grade. He then began a life of hard work that would last for some 63 years when he finished building his last house at age 78. His first job was working for his father on the family farm. Apparently his father had a way of dispensing punishment with what my grandfather called a buggy whip. He was made to lean over a railing and, when his father struck him he said he could see his own blood spurt from the wound on his stomach. One day, when he was 16, he took the whip from his father before he could touch him, pushed him down a flight of stairs and told him he was the last man that was ever going to lay a hand on him. That night, he left home for good,

He walked the two miles to Salisbury by way of Anderson Road (now Pemberton Drive) and went to the railroad station. The railroad station in 1905 was the N.Y., P. & N. Station (New York, Philadelphia andNorfolk) and was located on the West side of the tracks about 200 yards South of where the Union Station is today. He inquired of the station attendant when the next train was coming through. He said he didn’t care at the time whether it was heading North or South. The attendant told him that the only train going through that night was an express going South, to which my grandfather replied, “I didn’t ask what it was, I asked when it was coming through.”

Around 9:30 that night he took a chance that could have ended his life before it started. He said the train was going 30-35 mph as it approached the station. The attendant told him he could never catch it, but he hadn’t figured on my grandfather’s desperation and determination. As the train approached, he began running down the platform and was positioned to make his move when the train’s box cars passed close to him. He often told me that when he grabbed the ladder attached to one of the box cars he knew that if he didn’t hang on he would have been thrown under the train and killed. The jolt he got when he was snatched up by the speeding train separated him from his prized derby hat and relieved him of all the buttons on his leather jacket. But, hang on he did. He was now heading South, with no hat, and only the clothes on his back and $4.35 in his pocket. He said his hat had his name in the hatband and one of his family ended up with the hat. When he finally came home for good in 1910, the hat wasn’t returned to him and he never had much to do with his family for the rest of his life. He stayed on that train until he finally got off in Pee Dee, South Carolina.

(This is part 1 of a 7 part story of my grandfather’s life – part 2 next week)

County Approves Employee Raises; Bus Contractors Get Lower Amount

SNOW HILL -- Worcester County employees and teachers will get a raise in the upcoming fiscal year, but it likely will not be what they were hoping for.

During budget deliberations on Tuesday, the County Commissioners began a line-by-line inspection of the fiscal year 2014 to close the estimated $7 million gap between requested expenditures and anticipated revenue and naturally the conversation eventually came around to salary increases for county employees, teachers and school bus drivers.

On the table was an across-the-board 2.5-percent salary increase for all county employees including teachers, but after considerable debate, the commissioners voted for the two-percent increase option.
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QUOTES OF THE DAY 5-18-13

“The state is the great fiction by which everybody seeks to live at the expense of everybody else.”

Frederic Bastiat

“War is just a racket. A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of people. Only a small inside group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few at the expense of the masses.”

General Smedley Butler

“I believe in adequate defense at the coastline and nothing else. If a nation comes over here to fight, then we’ll fight. The trouble with America is that when the dollar only earns 6 percent over here, then it gets restless and goes overseas to get 100 percent. Then the flag follows the dollar and the soldiers follow the flag.”

General Smedley Butler

“In March, 1915, the J.P. Morgan interests, the steel, shipbuilding, and powder interest, and their subsidiary organizations, got together 12 men high up in the newspaper world and employed them to select the most influential newspapers in the United States and sufficient number of them to control generally the policy of the daily press. … They found it was only necessary to purchase the control of 25 of the greatest papers. An agreement was reached; the policy of the papers was bought, to be paid for by the month; an editor was furnished for each paper to properly supervise and edit information regarding the questions of preparedness, militarism, financial policies, and other things of national and international nature considered vital to the interests of the purchasers.”

Oscar Callaway

More Foreclosures And Suicides Than During The Great Depression

The San Francisco Chronicle notes that it is difficult to keep track of foreclosure rates now … let alone during the Great Depression:
Foreclosure rates of the late 2000s are often compared with those of the Great Depression, which took place through the first half of the 1930s. However, there were no public or private agencies keeping track of foreclosure rates at that time. Indeed, the government still does not keep an official statistic on the number of homes in foreclosure or repossessed by banks and lenders.

But the Chronicle provides estimates of foreclosures during the 1930s:
A 2008 article by David C. Wheelock, an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, cited annual reports issued by the Federal Home Loan Bank Board during the 1930s. These reports reveal that the foreclosure rate exceeded 1 percent from 1931 until 1935. At the worst point in the Depression-era economic crisis, in 1933, about 1,000 home loans were being placed in foreclosure by banks every day.

How does that compare to the last 5 years?
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Homeless High Risk Tier III Sex Offender Notification

Edward L. Thornton, 41, Georgetown , DE
5’06” tall, 210 lbs.
Brown hair, brown eyes

Resume:
Georgetown, DE- Edward Thornton is not wanted. This is a Homeless Sex Offender Public Notification. Thornton is a high risk Tier III sex offender who has registered as homeless in Georgetown, DE. If you have information that Edward Thornton is occupying a residence please contact 302-672-5306 or by utilizing the Delaware State Police Mobile Crime Tip Application available to download at: http://www.delaware.gov/apps/ Information can also be provided to the Delaware Crime Stoppers at 1-800-TIP-3333. Information may also be provided via the internet at www.tipsubmit.com

Send an anonymous tip by text to 274637 (CRIMES) using the keyword "DSP."

Report: There’s No Health Benefit In Drastically Cutting Your Salt Intake

Watching someone dump a whole lot of salt on their meal might make a person cluck in disapproval — “Don’t you know that too much salt is bad for you?” And while a person’s blood pressure can go up, leading to possible ill health effects like heart attacks and strokes, a new report says that there is no good reason for people to aim for the very lowest of the low levels recommended by national guidelines.

We know — it sounds like taking years of public health warnings and medical advice and throwing it out the window. But while you shouldn’t go unscrewing the lids on your salt shakers just yet, a group organized by the government to study sodium consumption says there’s no need to make drastic cuts in your salt intake, reports the New York Times.

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