Pork in the Park Returns to Salisbury’s WinterPlace Park April 24 & 25

Salisbury, MD – Pork in the Park, an Eastern Shore staple, will return to Salisbury’s WinterPlace Park on Friday, April 24 and Saturday, April 25. Sponsored by Gateway Subaru, the two-day event offers live music, attractions, craft vendors, delicious food and cold beverages. Admission is $3 for adults and children twelve and under are admitted free.

This year’s festival introduces several new, family-friendly attractions. Amusements feature the Rommel’s Ace Inflatable Park, which offers an Unlimited Bounce Area for kids under 18. Youth can enjoy unlimited access to over a dozen bounces, slides and obstacles all day for only $10. Individual tickets can also be purchased. Specialty Inflatables like sumo wrestling, twister and jousting are also available for youth and adults on a ticketed basis. (Inflatables are subject to change based on availability.) The Inflatable Park and Specialty Inflatables will be open until 8 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday.

On Saturday, families can spend the day in the Kids Zone, which is free to festival attendees. Featuring a free bounce house for toddlers, free face painting, free balloon animals and performances from Sunshine the Clown, The J.J. Show, Hula Hoop with Katie Cook and Carlos the Juggler, the Kids Zone’s entertainment line-up runs from 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Times are limited for each event, so please visit www.PorkinthePark.org for a complete Kids Zone schedule.

In addition to the many youth activities, Pork in the Park features plenty of adult offerings as well. The People’s Choice Wing Competition, sponsored by Allen Harim Foods, returns on Saturday from 12 – 3 p.m. Attendees will have the opportunity to sample the best wings local restaurants have to offer in this March Madness bracket-style competition. Brackets are $10 and include 20 wing tasting tickets. Saturday also marks the return of the festival’s 5thAnnual Cornhole Tournament, where teams of two will battle for $500 in cash prizes and bragging rights. Registration is currently open for the tournament.

Throughout the festival, live music will be featured on the main stage. Front Page News headlines Friday night, while Such Fools will close out the festival on Saturday. In between sets, pig and ‘hot dog’ races will amuse attendees as they snort, squeal and bark around the track. Staying true to its name, Pork in the Park will continue to spotlight a variety of barbeque vendors. This year’s line-up includes Always Smokin Food Vendors, Hess BBQ, Kloby’s Smokehouse, Smoke Shack, The Crabby Hog, Whatchu Cooking Willis, The High Spot and Warhorse Smokers BBQ.

The festival is open Friday, April 24 from 4 - 10 p.m. and Saturday, April 25 from 10 a.m. - 10 p.m. Free shuttle service is available from the Tri-County Council Building off Route 50 (31901 Tri-County Way, Salisbury). The shuttle runs all hours of the event and for a half hour after closing. For more information, visit www.PorkinthePark.org.

PTA Dinner and Auction

Get-R-Done

My Two Cents, But No More...

America’s Decay Is Speeding Up

As one who loves America — not only because I am American, but even more so because I know (not believe, know) that the American experiment in forming a decent society has been the most successful in history — I write the following words in sadness: With few exceptions, every aspect of American life is in decline.

The Decline of the Family: Nearly half (48 percent) of American children are born to a mother who is not married. Forty-three percent of American children live without a father in the home. About 50 percent of Americans over 18 are married, compared to 72 percent in 1960. Americans are having so few children that the fertility rate fell to a record low 62.9 births per 1,000 women in 2013. And in an increasing number of states, there are now more deaths than births.

The Decline of Education: Compared to nearly all of American history, the average American school teaches much less about important subjects such as American history, English grammar, literature, music and art. Instead, schools are teaching much more about “social justice,” environmentalism and sex.

Any of us who receive emails from large numbers of Americans can attest to the deteriorating education — including among those who attended college — in written English. In sophisticated commentary on websites as well as in email, one encounters the most basic errors: “it’s” instead of “its;” “their” instead of “there;” “then” instead of “than,” etc.

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How much you have to earn to be considered middle class in every US state

Annapolis, Maryland. Maryland has the highest median income in the US.

A recent analysis from Pew Charitable Trusts' Stateline blog found that the middle class shrunk in every state in the US between the years of 2000 and 2013 (the most recent data available).

"Middle class" is a tricky concept. Depending on where you live, you can feel middle class earning as much as $250,000 a year — about five times the US median income of $52,250 from the same time period.

In this analysis, Pew defined middle class households as those earning 67%-200% of a state's median income. So ... how much is that? 
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The 5 Dumbest Ideas That Have Taken Root In America

Humans are extremely adaptable creatures; so we tend to quickly acclimate ourselves to our circumstances until they become the “new normal.” However, sometimes when you have a hole in the bottom of your boat, it’s a better idea to try to address it than to just keep bailing water all day long. For example, here in America we seem to believe that…

1) The only religion it’s okay to mock is the most popular one, Christianity: Roughly 80% of Americans are Christian; yet which religion is openly mocked by Hollywood and the mainstream media? Is it Judaism? No, that would be anti-Semitic. Is it Islam? No, those guys might kill you. Is it Hinduism or Buddhism? No, there aren’t enough of them around to draw notice. Ninety five percent of the attacks on religion in America are against the faith held by the majority of the people who sadly are a little too inclined to turn the other cheek to put a stop to it. All major religions deserve to be treated with a modicum of respect and that’s doubly true for Christianity since this nation was founded and shaped by Christians seeking religious freedom. If Christians don’t demand respect, no one should be surprised when they don’t get it.

2) Diversity is all about skin color: A lot of people would tell you that Nancy Pelosi, Sheila Jackson Lee, John Kerry, Dan Savage and Luis Gutierrez all together would be a “diverse” group. Well, what’s so diverse about five people who say the same things, think the same things and march in lockstep on every issue? The only real value of diversity is that it interjects new ways of thinking about and approaching a problem. If you take that away, diversity is meaningless and may even do more harm than good. If you don’t have diversity of thought, then you don’t have diversity.

Once again, you can read it all here.

Surprise! Obama slams Christians during prayer breakfast

You’d think if there was the president could show a little unity, it would be a prayer breakfast. Nope. He managed to slam Christians with his comments. It’s so, so bad.

“On Easter, I do reflect on the fact that as a Christian, I am supposed to love. And I have to say that sometimes when I listen to less than loving expressions by Christians, I get concerned. But that’s a topic for another day,” Obama said.
 
“Slamming Christians at his prayer breakfast,” Glenn said.

“Seriously when he wants to say something nice about Christians, it’s hollow and lifeless and emotionless. When he wants to bash them, he’s excited, he’s smiling, he’s laughing. It’s so clear about how he actually feels about these things. He can’t hide it anymore,” Stu said.

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Breast Milk Sold Online Contaminated With Cow's Milk

Selling breast milk is big business.

Each year tens of thousands of women post ads on websites, offering their extra milk for $1 to $3 an ounce: "My rich milk makes giants!" promises one seller. "Organic and Gluten Free Breastmilk," claims another. Then there's this one: "470 oz. of breastmilk must go!!!"

But some women online aren't delivering what they're advertising.

Scientists at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, analyzed 102 samples ordered from popular Websites and found about 10 percent of them were "topped off" with cow's milk.

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Found Dog

Found this dog in my front deck about 5 pm on Pine Pole Rd Princess Anne and she hasn't left. She keeps trying to get in the house. We stuck a crate with some old towels in it and a food and water dish. So she has a choice if going in the crate for shelter. I can be reached at 443-944-3262 
Natalie

We The People

Marion Barry's widow sues her late husband's kidney donor

WASHINGTON (WJLA) - The widow of former D.C. Mayor Marion Barry is suing the woman who donated a kidney to Barry in 2009.

The lawsuit claims that Kim Dickens does not have permission to use Barry's likeness - referred to as his "celebrity image" in court documents - to promote her charity, the Barry Dickens Kidney Foundation.

The foundation promotes organ donation and its website says Dickens and Barry founded the group together - a claim that Barry's widow, Cora Masters Barry, contends isn't true.
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Knockout Game Back? It never went away

Wicomico Winners in Young Authors Contest from 11 Schools Earn Regional, State Honors

Winners of the 2014-2015 Eastern Shore Reading Council (ESRC) Young Author’s Contest have been announced. Wicomico winners represent 11 schools and most of the grade levels from 2 through 12. Winners from Wicomico County Public Schools placed 1st in eight categories of this year’s ESRC Young Authors Contest.

Entries placing 1st in the Eastern Shore Reading Council contest were forwarded to the state level for judging. Two Wicomico authors who won 1st place at the state level – Kayla Thornton of Parkside High and Alison Sahler of James M. Bennett High – will be recognized during the SoMIRAC (State of Maryland International Reading Association Council) conference April 15 in Hunt Valley, Md.

The Eastern Shore Reading Council will honor all of this year’s Young Author’s Contest winners (including the Wicomico winners listed below) at an April 9 reception at Salisbury University. Students from Wicomico County Public Schools who achieved a 1st-place finish at the local and/or recognition at the state level will also be recognized at the May 5 Wicomico County Board of Education Awards & Recognitions Night.

New York City Council Considers Allowing Non-citizens to Vote

New York City Councilman Daniel Dromm (D-Queens) is leading an effort to draft legislation to let non-citizens vote in New York City’s municipal elections

New York City Councilman Daniel Dromm (D-Queens) is leading an effort to draft legislation to let non-citizens vote in New York City’s municipal elections. Though the final details have not been worked out and a bill has not yet been introduced in the city council, advance discussion of the legislation reveals that it would provide voting privileges to documented residents who have lived in New York City for at least six months. Such individuals would not be allowed to vote in state or federal elections.

Members of the city council are reportedly discussing the legislation with Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office, and a bill might be introduced before summer. The 51-member council currently has 48 Democrats and only three Republicans. De Blasio is a Democrat.

Britain’s Guardian newspaper, which covered the story more thoroughly than the New York press, quoted Dromm as saying, “Enfranchising non-citizens would make communities like mine more important to city-wide and state officials. We can’t ignore them if they can vote.”

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NRP Blotter 4-8-15

Oyster violations and illegal deer hunting activities on the Eastern Shore topped the list of charges filed last week by Maryland Natural Resources Police officers.

A dockside oyster inspection in Dorchester County by NRP officers resulted in 37 citations being issued last Friday to a local seafood buyer and a seafood business.

Officers conducting a compliance check at the Wingate County Dock on March 25 measured oysters in two metal bins, one of which was already loaded in a box truck operated by Capt. Phips Seafood, a business based in Secretary. Of the 43 bushels inspected, 37 contained oysters ranging from eight percent to 49 percent below the 3-inch minimum size.

The buyer, Mary Catherine Sears, 33, of Wingate, received 19 citations for possessing undersized oysters and Capt. Phips Seafood was issued 18 citations for the same offense.

The defendants are scheduled to appear in Dorchester District Court on June 17. Each charge carries a maximum fine of $1,000.

Coach loses his job after posting an open letter about Obama on Facebook

A Maine lacrosse coach lost his job when he posted a letter on Facebook criticizing President Obama

A Maine lacrosse coach lost his job when he posted a letter on Facebook criticizing President Obama with an unflattering–but accurate–description of America’s Muslim heritage.

Scott Lee told The Conway Daily Sun last month he is a politically minded conservative. “I thought it was an interesting letter to President Obama and his current administration who are not paying attention to Israel and focusing on Iran,” he said.

Lee, 48, coached the boys lacrosse team at Fryeburg Academy, a private “independent secondary school that serves a widely diverse population of local day students and boarding students from across the nation and around the world,” according to the school’s website, which notes the school was incorporated in 1792.

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Mexican Officials Find Secret Passageway They Believe Was Being Constructed to Smuggle Illegal Immigrants Into the U.S.

Mexican soldiers have discovered the start of a secret underground tunnel they believe was being built as a passageway into the U.S. But it isn’t just any tunnel: This one begins in a closet inside a house near Tijuana, Mexico, where a ladder dives 66 feet underground into the passageway that spans 500 feet in length.

Mexican officials said Tuesday that the path was still being constructed when it was discovered and that it didn’t reach the U.S. border. However, officials believe had they not made the discovery when they did the tunnel would have eventually come out in California, about 22 miles from San Diego, the Daily Mail reported.

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Obama's Information Website: Try It, You Won't Like It

A redesigned information website launched by the Obama administration last week looks like a bad April Fool’s joke.

Users can no longer search federal spending by keywords or find information that was previously available. Type in "contracts" and the response comes back empty.

Billed as a "transparency" tool, Usaspending.gov makes it more difficult to track taxpayer dollars.

"Information, such as how much the Pentagon spends on Viagra, used to be available at the click of a button," the Washington Free Beacon noted. "Locating those same contracts on the new website is virtually impossible, akin to finding a needle in a haystack."

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Kentucky GOP May Let Rand Paul Run for Senate and President

As Sen. Rand Paul prepares to make his long-awaited announcement Tuesday that he'll seek the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, the Kentuckian will almost certainly get a big campaign boost in his home state: a change in state party rules to permit him to seek re-election to his Senate seat while running for president.

Under Bluegrass State election law, a candidate currently is prohibited from appearing on the ballot twice in the same election year. Last month, acting on a motion by Republican National Committeeman (and former Republican National Chairman) Mike Duncan, the state GOP's leaders voted unanimously to end participation in the May presidential primary and instead elect national convention delegates through statewide caucuses run by the party.

The party's state central committee still has to act on this, but it is widely thought to have no difficulty at the next scheduled committee meeting this summer.

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