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Hat Tip; Eric
Family friendly and striving to be a worthy choice for your Internet browsing. Comments and material submissions welcome: tkforppe@yahoo.com . Pocomoke City-- an All American City And The Friendliest Town On The Eastern Shore.
The contest is sponsored annually by the Junior Woman's Club to raise funds for the Vi-Byrd and Junior Woman's Club scholarships, which are given to a Pocomoke High School graduating senior.
Sheddy Murder Trial -
by - Amber Watson
SNOW HILL, Md. - The State's Attorneys Office in Worcester County is preparing for the trial of the man accused of killing Christine Sheddy.
Justin Hadel was indicted by the Grand Jury last month. Authorities say Hadel killed Sheddy when they both stayed as a guest in a house on Byrd Road in Pocomoke in 2007.
Almost two and a half years later since Sheddy went missing, police found her remains at the River House Inn, a bed and breakfast in Snow Hill.
State's Attorney Joel Todd says the trial could begin as soon as July.
The Obama administration is removing terms such as "jihad" and "Islamic extremism" from the U.S. National Security Strategy in an attempt to convince Muslim countries that America doesn't view them solely through the lens of counterterrorism. It's reasonable to look beyond terrorism in developing relationships with Islamic states. Our assistance programs are based on humanitarian motives, for example, so they need not explicitly draw links between promoting good will and hopefully making it less likely that people will fly aircraft into our buildings.
But the National Security Strategy is not some kind of outreach initiative, it is the framing document for America's global safety. The United States cannot effectively combat the root causes of Islamic extremism by ignoring them. The war on terror - rather, the "overseas contingency operation," in O Force terminology - won't be effective if this country overlooks the nature of the enemy and his motives. The U.S. strategic blueprint is not the proper place for a public-relations stunt.
Even the Muslim majority states in question understand the religious component of terrorism as a motivator, recruiting tool and strategic road map. They are threatened by Islamic extremism even more than the United States and have no problem describing the threat by its true nature, which must be understood if it is to be defeated.
The most troubling signal is the one being sent through the bureaucracy that any thoughtful discussion of Islamic radicalism and the global threat it poses will be hazardous to one's career. Analyses of the extremist Muslim threat will be increasingly deleted from briefing papers, assessments and planning documents. Those who continue to spread the alarm will be marginalized and ignored. Such sanitizing may please the White House, but it's likely to put the United States in more danger as threats that should have been detected in advance slip by because officials have been trained not to look for them.
The new development is a disturbing example of Mr. Obama's seeming obsession with all things Muslim. It's reminiscent of the Department of Homeland Security's 2009 draft glossary of domestic extremist groups that listed Christian and Jewish organizations as threats but didn't include any Muslim groups. Or the administration's obstinate unwillingness to describe the Fort Hood massacre as an example of Islamist terrorism, even though the shooter - Nidal Malik Hasan - clearly was wrapped up in that ideology and shouted the traditional jihadist war cry "Allahu Akbar!" before opening fire.
Mr. Obama's Muslim mania increasingly pervades government and has yet to be adequately explained or even addressed. It places America in growing peril.
ONANCOCK -- The historic Metropolitan United Methodist Church at 21445 Bayside Road may have been saved by the quick response of some young people who happened to be driving by late Easter Sunday when they saw the wooden front doors of the church ablaze.
They quickly stopped their car and began trying to put out the fire while at the same time calling longtime church member Jesse Poulson. Poulson rushed to the church and also called police and Metropolitan's minister, the Rev. Mina Sumpter, who arrived moments later.
Poulson got the phone call about 10 p.m.
Officers from the Accomack County Sheriff's Office and the Onancock Police Department responded to the scene.
Poulson credited one young woman in particular with helping save the church because she remembered her grandmother, who lives nearby, had a fire extinguisher in her house. "She ran and got it. By the time I got there, the fire was out," Poulson said.
The historically African-American church, which dates to 1870, has about 150 members. The congregation had celebrated Easter services earlier that day.
Poulson is stymied as to why someone would want to set the church on fire, but speculated because of the fire's location that the person wanted it to be discovered rather than to actually burn the church down.
The building has three other entrances which are less apparent to passersby than the one where the fire was started. "They wanted it to be seen," he said, adding, "We've never had anything comparable to this in my memory, and I'm 67."
Damage was limited to the front door and items found at the scene indicate the fire was likely intentionally set.
POCOMOKE CITY -- Robert Hawkins and Diane Downing have been elected to serve on the Pocomoke City Council, representing District 1 and District 2, respectively.
"I'm very excited," Downing said after the results were announced. "I'm ready to get to work."
For Downing, a lifelong Pocomoke City resident, her victory represents her first foray into elected politics. Downing -- a former member of the city's Board of Elections and an employee of Worcester County government -- said she planned to clean up Pocomoke's neighborhoods, instituting neighborhood watches and other initiatives to combat local crime.
She said she also plans to create more opportunities for local youth to keep them out of trouble.
Tuesday's election marks only the second time Robert Hawkins has been challenged for the District 1 seat since first running for the position 22 years ago.
The veteran of City Hall first ran after retiring from a job with the federal government and had the time, he said, to attend meetings and represent the town at state and county functions.
"I go to a lot of meetings," Hawkins said, mentioning his position on the Lower Shore Tri-County Council and other local boards. "And I get something out of every one."
In his next term, the councilman said he will focus on updating local infrastructure, bringing more businesses to the historic downtown and encouraging companies to set up shop in the city's industrial park.
"I want to get another grocery store here and other small businesses," Hawkins said after his victory Tuesday. "That's what I'll work for."
Downing and Hawkins will take office at the next meeting of the Pocomoke City mayor and council on April 13.
Here's the demwit Clown you should "retire""In 1963, the McDonald’s Corporation unveiled a clown with hamburger bun-shaped shoes and a food tray hat that has since profoundly shaped advertising, eating habits, and the global food system.
Never before had a food corporation so sharply focused its marketing beyond (and around) those with the purse on those with the greatest pull on the purse strings. The strategy was simple and ingenious: build brand loyalty among children and you will have customers for life.
Today, there is scarcely a child who doesn’t recognize Ronald McDonald nor a parent who hasn’t been nagged to visit the Golden Arches. The use of the iconic clown has propelled McDonald’s growth into an international fast food juggernaut.
But success has come at the expense of our children’s health. Since the inception of Ronald McDonald, obesity rates have more than tripled among American children and the prevalence of diet-related conditions like type 2 diabetes has skyrocketed.
Click on the links to the right to learn how Ronald has become not only the face of, but the engine behind the health epidemic. Find out about the clown’s pioneering efforts to market unhealthy food to kids, disguise marketing as charity, and outflank the most well-intentioned parents. There are also new findings about American attitudes toward the “hamburger-happy” clown.
In all, find out why it’s time the huckstering was reserved for talent night at the retirement home. If Ronald continues at the job he’s been doing, the joke will be on the health of future generations."