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Thursday, April 8, 2010
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Trial Could Begin As Early As July
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.
A Happy Ending For This Lucky Dog
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) - A happy homecoming is in the works for a Virginia Beach military family, but it's not what you might think.
Rick Smith and his family lost their dog "Bruno" a year-and-a-half ago when they lived in Washington State.
But just last Friday, the 9-year-old yellow lab appeared outside Kristen Abercrombie's home, covered in mud.
She took Bruno to a veterinarian, who found a microchip with his old vet's phone number. She couldn't believe how far away his family was.
The Smith family arranged for a travel kennel and plane ticket to get Bruno to Virginia. He's set to arrive in Norfolk April 8 on a flight out of Seattle.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Obama's jihad on 'jihad'
President Obama's latest strategic innovation in the war on terrorism is to ignore jihad and maybe it will go away.
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.
America No Longer 'Free' Country
The Heritage Foundation, a self-described conservative think tank that espouses a free-market, small-government ideology, today released its annual Index of Economic Freedom World Rankings. And by its metrics, America's status has dropped from "free" to "mostly free."
Ranking countries throughout the world in 10 categories, the index concludes that the United States is now the eighth most economically free nation, down two spots from last year. Hong Kong ranked No. 1, while North Korea, which was categorized as "repressed," took the bottom rung.
Only seven countries actually rated as "free" on the index, which was released in conjunction with The Wall Street Journal (owned by conservative media mogul Rupert Murdoch, owner of News Corp.).
The largest factor in the Heritage Foundation's demotion of the U.S. is the rise in government spending, especially under the Obama administration.
"The national government's role in the economy, already expanding under President George W. Bush, has grown sharply under the administration of President Barack Obama, who took office in January of 2009," the report read. "Economic growth, which collapsed in 2008, had resumed by the second half of 2009, but legislative proposals for large and expensive new government programs on health care and energy use (climate change) have increased prospects for significant economic disruptions and raised concerns about the long-term health of the economy."
Beating out the United States in terms of economic freedom were, in descending order: Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Switzerland and Canada.
VIA: AolNews
PET ADOPTION EVENT
Here's your chance to meet some of the doggies and kitties available for adoption and to help an animal that has fallen upon hard times.
The event is hosted by the SPCA Eastern Shore and Wheeler Real Estate Company. Enjoy activities such as a cake walk and face painting while looking to find your next best animal friend.
At the event will be experienced shelter staff, volunteers and trainers will be on hand to help find the right animal for visitors. The staff will be available to answer questions about any pet considered for adoption.
The adoption fee of $95 includes spray/neuter surgery, microchip, rabies vaccination, heartworm testing for dogs, FeL/FiV test for cats and distemper/parvo vaccination(s), as well as intra-nasal bordetella vaccine for dogs.
A special adoption discount is available for seniors! If you are 60 years old or older the SPCA, partnered with Purina, will drop the normal $90.00 adoption fee $45.00. Purina will pay the $50.00!!!
For more information, call the SPCA Eastern Shore at 757-787-7385 or contact them www.shorespca.com
April is Confederate Month in Virginia
McDonnell becomes the first governor since 2001 to designate April to commemorate the secessionist, slaveholding South. The last governor to do that was fellow Republican Jim Gilmore. Since then, Democrats Mark Warner and Tim Kaine refused to issue the proclamation.
McDonnell’s 368-word declaration doesn’t mention slavery.
"I wasn’t focused on that. I was focused on ... the Civil War history, and the Confederate army and the fact that we’ve got battlefields here, and frankly that this is going to be a very important event here next year that will promote tourism and economic development," he said, noting the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War.
Warner, in his first year as governor in 2002, discontinued the proclamation sought each spring by the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Before that, the proclamations were met annually with denunciations from black groups.
Black members of the General Assembly, all Democrats, said McDonnell’s proclamation was "ofensive and offered a disturbing revision of the Civil War and the brutal era that followed."
"Virginia has worked hard to move beyond the very things for which Gov. McDonnell seems nostalgic," said a statement issued by the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus.
Virginia was home to more of the war’s battles than any other state, and its Capitol in Richmond doubled as the Confederate seat of government.
McDonnell said slavery was not the lone issue contested in the war that ended with Gen. Robert E. Lee’s surrender in 1865 at Appomattox Court House, about 75 miles west of Richmond.
"There were any number of aspects to that conflict between the states. Obviously it involved slavery, it involved other issues, but I focused on the ones that I thought were most significant for Virginia," McDonnell said.
Former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, who in 1989 became the nation’s first elected black governor, said no discussion of the Old South or the Confederacy is balanced without mentioning the human bondage it tolerated.
"You have to think back about how it allowed people to be treated as inhuman," Wilder said in an Associated Press interview. "You can’t talk about this nation, its past, without saying that war was a time when many of its people were going through the ravages of hell, quite frankly."
Wilder himself issued a decree noting the Civil War. In 1990, he designated April 7-15 the "Final Chapter of the Civil War Days," recalling "those who sacrificed in this great struggle." His proclamation praised Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, but it also lauded President Abraham Lincoln and Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant.
Last year, Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue signed a bill designating April as Confederate Heritage and History Month in that state.
Arson Suspected At Church in Onancock
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 Election Results
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.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
OH, NO! MOSQUITOES!!!!
A wet year and a warm weekend could mean swarms of mosquitoes on the Eastern Shore this spring. The season typically runs from March to November, with May to October being the prime months.
With warm weather now upon us, it won't be long before mosquitoes are breeding. That is why it is important for homeowners to check their yards for standing water, buckets and other places water could collect.
If you would like to keep mosquitoes away be sure to use insect repellent when you're outdoors, cover up as much of your skin as possible, eliminate standing water near your home and install or repair screen doors and windows.
Okay. I get that! And all containers have been emptied. My screens and doors stay fixed because if I don't keep them repaired it makes the house look ugly on the outside. The grass has been cut already this year and will get another good mowing before the weekend. Sooooo, I have done ALL I can possibly do to rid my yard of these horrible insects! Please take into consideration when you publish these little bits of info that this is HOT weather with humidity in this area. We have just spent a long cold winter and for some reason being outside and moving around planting flowers, etc. while being COVERED IN LONG SLEEVES AND LONG PANTS is not a happy thought!
So, Accomack County and the state of Virginia the best thing YOU can do for the fine tax payers of this county and state is get the VDOT out on the roads in the communities where there are homes and clean the ditches. If you would do YOUR part then maybe MY attempt at keeping these insects at bay wouldn't seem like such a waste of time. Don't you suppose that the green stagnate water sitting in front of our homes might be a breeding ground too?
By the way, you won't have to stop and check the ditch in front of my house or next door. We make the attempt to keep our water flowing. It's the other neighbors that don't care.
Sorority Removed From VaTech Campus
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) - Virginia Tech has removed a sorority from campus because of several incidents of alcohol consumption inside the chapter's house.
The university has denied recognition of the Delta Zeta chapter for two years after a pattern of incidents of members drinking in the sorority house, Byron Hughes, assistant director of student conduct, said Monday. Such incidents violated an in-house alcohol ban set by the national sorority as well as the university, Hughes said.
The violations occurred over the last couple years, with the latest incident reported in January. The university informed the sorority the following month of its decision to deny recognition, which means the group cannot use university facilities, recruit members or otherwise operate as a campus organization.
University officials say sorority members living in the house can stay there until the end of the school year. Virginia Tech's campus housing division administers leases for Delta Zeta and the 11 other sorority houses.
A representative of Delta Zeta's national office didn't return a phone message left Monday.
Since the start of the 2009-10 school year, five Virginia Tech fraternities have lost university recognition for alcohol-related violations, Hughes said. The length of such sanctions ranges from two to four semesters, and it depends on the severity of the violations and the group's history of student conduct.
The fraternities are Alpha Epsilon Phi, Delta Kappa Epsilon, Tau Kappa Epsilon, Phi Kappa Psi and Alpha Tau Omega, he said. The school's club rugby team also lost university recognition.
www.wavy.com
Women March Topless
The women, preceded and followed by several hundred boisterous and mostly male onlookers, many of them carrying cameras, stayed on the sidewalk because they hadn't obtained a demonstration permit to walk in the street. About a thousand people gathered as the march passed through Monument Square, a mix of demonstrators, supporters, onlookers and those just out enjoying a warm and sunny early-spring day.
After the marchers reached Tommy's Park in the Old Port, some turned around and walked back to Longfellow Square, but most stayed and mingled in the park. Some happily posed for pictures.
Police said there were no incidents and no arrests – nudity is illegal in Maine only if genitals are displayed.
However, McDowell said she plans to organize similar demonstrations in the future and said she would be more "aggressive" in discouraging oglers.
Monday, April 5, 2010
The Lone Ranger and Tonto went camping in the desert.
Tent all set up, both men fell sound asleep.
Some hours later, Tonto wakes the Lone Ranger and says, 'Kemo Sabe, look
Towards sky, what you see? '
'The Lone Ranger replies, 'I see millions of stars.'
The Lone Ranger ponders for a minute then says, 'Astronomically speaking, it tells me there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets.
Astrologically, it tells me that Saturn is in Leo. Time wise, it appears to be approximately a quarter past three in the morning. Theologically, the Lord is all-powerful and we are small and insignificant. Meteorologically, it seems we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. What's it tell you, Tonto?'
Last Chance for Baltimore's a-rabs
Unless something is done by a foundation or a new group of preservation- and business-minded volunteers, we may soon see a-rabbing vanish. There are only a couple of a-rabs still in operation -- due to strut in an Easter parade on Pennsylvania Avenue today -- and there could be more again, but getting anything more from the city than a donation of land for new stables seems like a nonstarter.
The city made a promise nearly three years ago to help the a-rabs after having to evacuate them from a crumbling city-owned stable in West Baltimore. But many of the animals ended up in a ramshackle stabling area in a muddy hollow under a bridge, and the a-rabs took the blame for the lousy conditions there. Last fall, prodded by the Humane Society of the United States, Baltimore health officials took all the horses to an animal rescue farm in Howard County, creating a distinct, made-for-TV impression that the a-rabs had abused their animals.
Since then, it's become clear that claims of mistreatment were greatly overstated.
Now, of course, the city has liberated the animals from their Howard County sanctuary and returned them to their owners in a deal that will have the a-rabs going through patronizing "training" and inspection by the Humane Society, which believes horse-drawn wagons and carriages constitute a "business of cruelty."
The city won't provide a stabling area, and one of the last of Baltimore's a-rabs, Donald Savoy Jr., is on his own to find new accommodations.
Mr. Savoy and his nephew and niece, James and Shawnta Chase, own 15 of the horses that were confiscated. They have lost all income from a-rabbing since November. They have transferred their horses to another farm outside Baltimore, meaning they would have to move them by trailer each time they need them -- an impractical prospect.
Soon there could be only a couple of a-rabs, those one or two still working out of the old Bruce and Carlton street stables.
And, of course, there's the whole question of whether a-rabbing still makes sense. Do we kiss another Charm City tradition goodbye or try to preserve it within the frame of a sustainable business model for 21st-century Baltimore?
The University of Baltimore chapter of Students in Free Enterprise took a look and concluded that a-rabbing won't work as a way to address the problem of food deserts -- places in the city with little or no easy access to grocery stores and supermarkets with fresh produce.
It's a timing problem -- getting fresh fruits and vegetables onto the wagons and into Baltimore's neighborhoods. Jim Kucher, executive director of entrepreneurship programs at UB, says even a decentralized plan -- my idea, with four or five stables and delivery areas in different sectors of the city -- won't work because it requires a produce wholesaler to make too many stops each day. Mr. Kucher believes trucks or vans would be better suited for neighborhood food delivery.
He and his students might be right.
But, given what's at stake -- the loss of another tradition in the old palatinate -- then all concepts deserve a full study.
There is already a group of civic-minded volunteers working on this. They haven't given up. They see a new generation of a-rabs spread throughout the city, maybe working out of stables on the northwest side of town (Pimlico) or over on the east (Clifton Park), and they see them selling things that Baltimoreans want -- coffee beans by the bag, fresh produce for locavores through a connection with small farmers in the region, even Christmas trees and wreathes when it's time. They see the a-rabs as part of both the city's green movement and its heritage tourism -- part of its past, part of its future. This is worth more effort, one last time. If you want to get involved, get in touch.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/
US Space Shuttle Nears End of Its Voyage
Thousands of workers protest in Titusville, Florida over plans to cut up to 9,000 jobs at the nearby Kennedy Space Center.
Space shuttle worker Alan Newton expects to lose his job when the shuttle program ends this year. "I'm planning on doing whatever I have to to find another job. As much as I don't look forward to it, I do know that I'm going to have to," he said.
Since NASA put a man on the moon in 1969 Florida has been the hub of American space exploration.
The region around the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral even calls itself The Space Coast.
The U.S. government estimates NASA boosted Florida's economy by around $4billion in 2008, and generated more than 40,000 jobs.
The Dixie Crossroads restaurant in Titusville depends on business from space workers. Its owner, Lauralee Thompson, says she is worried about a future without the space shuttle. "People don't tend to go out and eat a lot when they don't have a lot of money. So, you know, the impending layoffs at the Cape are a major concern for us," she said.
Political and business leaders are scrambling to find ways to soften the economic impact of the layoffs, meeting recently in Orlando to discuss options.
One projection indicates that 23,000 jobs with direct or indirect ties to the space industry, could be lost in Florida within a year.
Mark Nappi from United Space Alliance, NASA's largest shuttle contractor, says job cuts at the Kennedy Space Center could be just the beginning. "For every job that's created by the space program, there are jobs that are affected by that. If I lose my job and I'm not out buying cars, I'm not using the doctor, I'm not going to restaurants. Obviously there's a trickle effect out into the economy so there's a loss of jobs as a result," he said.
Some shuttle workers had hoped to get jobs developing a rocket and capsule to take astronauts back to the Moon by 2020.
But the Obama administration says it wants to scrap the program, known as Constellation, following an independent panel's finding that NASA lacks the resources to see it through.
Instead, the White House favors using private operators to carry astronauts into orbit.
Shuttle worker Jeffrey Bell argues NASA should continue with Constellation. "Let's not have to rely on other countries and private industry. Let's keep the jobs, let's keep the community, and let's move forward," he said.
Space Florida, the agency responsible for developing the state's aerospace sector, says it is trying to attract new industries that use space-based technologies.
President Frank DiBello predicts workers will be able to find jobs once the shuttle program ends. "It's an available pool of skilled labor talent that other industries covet. We want to be able to apply them to new generation space programs, but also we intend to diversify Florida's economy," he said.
Some of these NASA workers claim efforts to redeploy their skills in other areas come too late with just four shuttle missions remaining.
President Obama is set to visit Florida in April to host a conference on his administration's plans for space.
www.voanews.com
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Dismembered Heads, Limbs Found at Waste Facility
The severed heads and torsos were traced back to Bio Care Southwest, a New Mexico company that harvests and sells organs from people who had agreed to donate their bodies to science. The heads were hacked off with some kind of chain saw, according to The Associated Press.
Earlier this week, New Mexico police arrested Bio Care's owner, Paul Montano, and charged him with three counts of fraud. On Thursday, Montano pleaded not guilty.
After scientists returned the organs to Bio Care, the company was supposed to cremate the bodies and send the ashes back to the families at no cost. On its Web site, Bio Care reassures its potential clients, "At Bio Care, you will always be treated with dignity, respect and honesty."
But police say that's not what happened. Instead, at least 12 containers' worth of dismembered heads and limbs from Bio Care turned up at Stericycle, a Kansas City, Kan., medical waste treatment plant, leaving many families in shock and wondering whose ashes they had received.
A Stericycle employee alerted police after finding a partly burned head and torso in a truck at the facility. Stericycle said it routinely processes soft-tissue organs, "but never heads and torsos."
Families were stunned.
"To not give you everything and to have the head shipped someplace else, it's really disturbing," New Mexico resident Chuck Hines told the AP. Hines' 83-year-old father died of a stroke, and his body was donated to Bio Care.
On Thursday, investigators identified another of the bodies as the husband of Darlene Dillard. "What sick people," Dillard told The Kansas City Star. "That is so sick."
Florida Food-Scam Convict Is Too Fat to Jail
A 600-pound Florida man with a long record of scamming restaurants and convenience stores pleaded no contest this week to five charges that he sought refunds by making false claims, including one that a $50 order of beef jerky from a 7-Eleven was moldy.
The no-contest plea was the best prosecutors in Seminole County could hope for. If they had brought him to trial, the state would have had to pay to transport him to the courthouse from the nursing home where he's been bed-ridden for months. It would have also been obliged to pay for any medical care he might have needed.
So they struck a deal with lawyers for the accused man, George Jolicoeur, 38. If he pleaded no contest to five counts of petty theft, he wouldn't go to jail or serve probation.
"He's in his prison cell," Assistant State Attorney Kyan Ware said, the Orlando Sentinel reported. "He's not getting out of that bed."
The case began in 2007, when the 7-Eleven owner complained to police about Jolicoeur's bogus refund attempt. When Officer Jeff Sabounji went to Jolicoeur's home in Sanford, near Orlando, to arrest him, he heard what sounded like a male voice trying to sound like a female saying Jolicoeur was not home. This was followed by a female voice saying, "George, turn yourself in."
On his way to the police station for questioning, according to the police report, Jolicoeur told the officer, "The beef jerky got me."
Jolicoeur was arrested two months later for a similar scam at another 7-Eleven in which he put a gallon of ice cream on the counter and said he had 10 of them that were damaged, for which he received a false reimbursement of $50.
Since his 2007 crime spree, Jolicoeur became ill. He was eventually transferred from a hospital to a nursing facility, where he breathes with the help of a respirator.
In 2005 he pleaded no contest to five similar crimes.
VIA: AolNews
Teen Suspended Over Revealing Prom Dress
The Oxford, Ala., high school student found her perfect prom dress online -- a seafoam green cocktail frock with a jeweled bodice and a tutu-style skirt. Unfortunately for DeRamus, the dress got her kicked out of her prom and suspended for three days for violating her school's dress code.
"I was so excited because it was my senior prom and I'd never been to a senior prom," DeRamus told Alabama's WBRC-TV.
But her excitement didn't last long.
Oxford High School officials said DeRamus's outfit was too low-cut and too short, breaking the rules of the school's dress code -- which stipulates that necklines must not plunge below students' breastbones and skirt hems must not be higher than six inches above the knee.
"It's there for the protection of kids... not for management of kids," Oxford High School Principal Trey Holloday told WBRC.
Even so, DeRamus argued her dress was not that revealing.
"'What cleavage?' That's exactly what I said," DeRamus said. " I wasn't trying to be rude or anything, but that's what I feel."
Of the 352 Oxford High students who attended the prom, officials said 18 violated the dress code. All but DeRamus chose paddling as punishment, with DeRamus opting for a three-day suspension.
"I'm a little too old to get paddled...This is high school, we're seniors," DeRamus told WBRC. "If we're going to act up, give us another option besides being paddled because this isn't the 1940s. We don't take corporal punishment now."
DeRamus's mother, Darrie DeRamus, supported her daughter's decision -- and her choice of dress.
"If I felt like there was too much cleavage on that dress, I wouldn't have purchased the dress," she said. "It would've stayed in the store and I wouldn't have gone on the Internet and paid for it."
VIA: AolNews
Happy Easter!
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Teens at Easter Egg Hunt Find Body in Iowa Park
Police Sgt. Chris Scott says the teens came across the man's body in a wooded area at Beaverdale Park on Saturday morning.
He says the teens had accompanied their siblings to the park's egg hunt but wandered away. The body was found at least 300 yards from where the egg hunt took place. He didn't know how old the teens were.
About 100 children participated in the annual event.
Police say they don't suspect any foul play, and an autopsy is planned.
The man's name hasn't been released pending notification of his family.
VIA: AOLNEWS
The History Of Pocomoke by Murray James (6)
This time the Conference was held in Alexandria, Va., in February, 1876. From that time to the present, I have held my membership in the Conference as a Supernumerary. Now while the shadows of evening gather around me and admonish me that the most of my life work is already done, I review the past and call up, in memory, the days of my childhood, when I bowed at the knees of my mother and learned to say : "Our Father who art in heaven," and : "Now I lay me down to sleep." When I think of my childish sports and plays with my brothers and sisters, at the old homestead ; and my young associates, with whom I used to play on the old hill, which is now the Public Square. When I call to mind the time when I married my wife, the companion of my youth and the mother of my children, and that it was here that most of the struggles of life have accorred, in supporting my family.
As I call up in memory my dearest ones, who are no more with me here, but whose mouldering dust sleeps in their graves, in the burying ground of the Methodist Episcopal Church. When I think of my early christian association with many, with whom I took sweet counsel in christian fellowship, who have crossed the river before me, and are now in the better land, around whose dying beds I have stood and witnessed their last shouts of victory a8 they passed away.
I say, in reviewing the past, I am constrained to say out of a full A Brief History of the Author's Life, 39 heart, with good will to all my fellow citizens, and malice towards none, Oh! New Town, New Town, now Pocomoke City; with all thy faults I love thee still. JAMES MURRAY. HISTORY OF POGOMOKE} GlTY FORMERLY NEW TOWN, ITS ORIGIN AND TOWN LIMITS. CHAPTER I. In writing a history of New Town, I have been no little perplexed in gathering up evidence in regard to its origin.
There is, however, one item oi historical fact which gives some clue to it, namely : A certain Col William Stevens, who was, probably, staff officer to Lord Baltimore, estab- lished in 1670 what has since been called, for many years, Stevens' Ferry. A scrap of Col. Stevens' history may not be out ot place here.
He had a grant from Lord Baltimore to take up all the lands from the mouth of the Pocomoke River to Lewis- town, Delaware, and settle the same, which he did, with a colony of Welsh, Irish and English. He was one ol Lord Baltimore's counsellors, was Judge of Somerset Court for twenty-two years, and departeS this life the 23d day of December, in 1687, in the fifty -seventh year of his age. The reader will remember that, originally, Somerset County embraced all of Worcester County too. and the Court House stood on the rise of ground, on Edwin Townsend's farm, in Somerset County, at the junction of Cokes Bury and Snow Hill roads, leading to Dividing Creek Bridge. Indeed, the farm, from our earliest recol- lection, until recently, has been called Court House Farm, but now the name is becoming obsolete.
Formerly New Town. 4 1
Steven's Ferry reached from the Somerset side of Pocomoke River, adjoining the Phosphate Factory of Freeman, Lloyd, Mason and Dryden, to the foot of the Pocomoke Bridge, on the Worcester side. This Ferry was the center of business for this whole sec- tion of the country.
The country on both sides of the river was, with some •exceptions, a dense wilderness. The historical fact of Stevens' Ferry being erected in 1670 will serve as a nucleus with which to associate the history of New Town. All other evidence, which I have been able to obtain relative to the origin of the place is traditional. Tradition says : About the time or shortly after the erection of Stevens' Ferry a New England trader came up :the Pocomoke River in his vessel, ladened with New England Rum and Cheese, and sought a landing at the Ferry, to sell his cargo, but the authorities drove him oft", ; and he dropped his vessel down the river to the next knoll -on the Worcester side, which we used to call the Hill, but is now called the Public Square.
Here he pitched his tent and traded with the sparse inhabitants, as they would come with their produce to trade for Rum and Cheese. The reader must conclude, of course, that the plank 'lent which he put up was the only house, or substitute for a house, in the neighborhood ; all around him were forest .trees, between him and the river were mud flats and luckahoes. 42 History of Pocomoke City, Tradition goes on further to say : That about the yean 16S3 or '84 the place was then called Meeting House Land- ing, in view of the saying that a Presbyterian House of. Worship was erected on the lot which was called, when I was a boy, the Sacher Lot, a nick name for Zachariah, as. the lot then belonged to one Zachariah Lambertson, but: now belonging to William J. S. Glarke, known of late: years as the Adreon Lot, at the foot of Willow St. "History states that about the year 1680, a petition was; gotten up by Colonel William Stevens and others, and', sent to the Presbytery of Laggan, Ireland, for a Minister- to come and settle in this part of the Colony to preach the- Gospel and look after the interests of the Presbyterian Church in these western wilds." "
In 1682 the Rev. Francis Makemie, was sent to the- Colony, a man of celebrity, under whose supervision and: oversight, tradition says, this house was built. About the year 1700, the Tobacco Warehouse was built.. Tobacco having been made a legal tender by the House- of Burgesses, and a fixed price per pound established, for- all debts, public and private, the warehouse became the: place of deposit for the circulating medium.
At this juncture of time, the name of the place wast changed from Meeting House Landing to Warehouse- Landing, or both may alternately have been used. Why the change was made, whether the log Church had been, abandoned or not, is all left to conjecture. I remember, well, the old Tobacco Warehouse, it stood about 120 years, and when it was torn down there was Formerly New Town. 43 good material in it, and though I was but a child, yet I had many a romp and play in it, with my little associates, in hide-and-go-seek. It's large tobacco hogsheads, and and scales, and weights are still fresh in my memory. It stood on the hill, between the pump and the south-west corner of Smullen & Bro's., Store. From 1700 to the days of the Revolution, there is no evidence that I have been able to obtain, either historical or traditional, in regard to New Town. There are some few facts, however, which are within the writer's own knowledge, which may serve as reminiscences of that period, and fill up in some little degree the place of the lost history.
I allude to some few old houses,, which were probably coeval with the Old Tobacco Ware- house, one or two of which stood on the ground, now occupied by Smullen & Brother's Storehouse, one adjoining the ground now occupied by Twilly & Brother's Livery Stables, inhabited by an old lady by the name of Elizabeth Matthews. There were three or four more, only one of which I shall call the reader's attention to, which was a small red house, and stood on the south-west corner of Market and Second Streets. In this house a Revo- lutionary Soldier lived by the name of Daniel Spaulding. These houses served as land marks, pointing to the period from 1700 to 1776, and show conclusively that they were once occupied by those who have long since passed away, and, so far as we have been able to ascertain, have left no tidings behind them.
44 History of Pocomoke City
County Airport on Site List For Navy Practice
The Accomack County Airport is on the list as a possible practice landing site for the Navy. According to an article in Saturdays Virginian Pilot, the Accomack County Airport is among eight sites in Virginia that qualify for use as practice landing sites for Navy turboprop aircraft. The turboprops include the E-2 Hawkeye AWACS radar plane and the C-2 Greyhound. The prop driven aircraft are significantly quieter than the jet fighter aircraft that have caused a lot of controversy in Virginia Beach. The planes would use the strip for field-carrier landing practice.
According to the article, the Navy is considering several sites to relieve the problem of too many aircraft scheduled for landing practice at the same airstrip. The Navy has long sought to build an outlying landing field but has run into considerable local opposition at the sites being considered. Fentress Field in Chesapeake has gotten so busy serving fighter jets that Norfolks turboprop training squadron has to travel as far as Florida to conduct landing practice five or six times a year.
In addition to the Accomack County Airport, the Navy is also considering the Hanover County Municipal Airport in Ashland, Richmond International Airport, Chesterfield County Airport, Emporia Municipal Airport, Newport News-Williamsburg International Airport, Norfolk International Airport and Chesapeake Regional Airport.
Some Accomack County officials contacted for the article showed interest in the proposition. Atlantic District Supervisor Ron Wolff told the Pilot that the airport had to cut back on operations due to budget issues. He said I, personally, as a member of the board, would certainly hope the county would entertain the idea of this for the Navy.
County Administrator Steve Miner said he looks forward to hearing more about the Navys requirements. It would be a benefit to the community as well as the navy.
In order to be considered, the airfield must have a runway thats at least 5000 ft. long and 100 ft. wide and be able to support a 25,000 lb. single gear weight. The project would be a win-win for the Navy as well as cash strapped communities eager to attract federal dollars. Accomack County would certainly fit that description.
Originally the Accomack County Airport was built by the Navy in World War II as a training site and was later turned over to the County when it became a surplus property. According to the article Ted Brown , a spokesman for the Navys Fleet Forces Command said it isnt an all or nothing game. Brown said multiple airfields could negotiate contracts with the Navy. The Navy currently has contracts to use two outlying airfields in Alabama for planes to practice from Whiting Field in Florida.
Even though the project is in its earliest planning stages, it couldnt come at a better time . Accomack County Supervisors who are struggling in the face of lost state funding to balance the County budget, have announced layoffs among county employees. The Accomack County School Board is also is facing the daunting task of operating the school system after funding cuts. It isnt known as of now how much the County could expect to get from renting the field to the Navy for use as a practice landing site or if the revenue would significantly affect current projections.
www.shoredailynews.com
DOCTOROFMINDMD Explains Paranoia
Direct LINK HERE
Remember Dyed Easter Biddies??
During a conversation last week with my sister concerning Easter dinner today the chat turned to some of the Easters we had celebrated years ago.
This particular day the Easter topic turned to baby chicks. Having lived on a farm and my father being a chicken grower for many years my sister and I know all there is to know about chickens and how to care for them. Two more baby chicks would be no problem.
On a weekend before Easter Mother would take us to the Ben Franklin 5 and 20 Cent Store where at the end of an aisle were colored baby chicks. We don't remember the colors being as vivid or the large assortment of colors those many years ago. We don't remember the colors we chose but what we do remember is that at the end of the aisle, huddled closely together under the heat lamp were the cutest baby chicks we had ever seen and couldn't wait to get them home.
Does anyone remember these? Did you ever own one?
Friday, April 2, 2010
I can't find my TV channels
Everything is everywhere now, just when I was getting used to digital and where the stuff was that I wanted to watch..POOF.. they changed it.
Is this like moving items in a supermarket?
Retire Ronald McDonald?
Below is an excerpt from the liberal loon website RetireRonald.org it's simply amazing how a liberal will place blame everywhere except where it belongs.
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."
You can read more of this crap HERE
EASTER EVENTS
An Easter Festival will be held on April 3rd at the Old Onancock High School from 3:00 PM- 5:00 PM. There will be games, prizes, sno-cones, candy, inflatables, an Easter Egg Hunt and special guest Dora the Explorer!
Saturday, April 3, is the Annual Egg Hunt at Metompkin Elementary School at 10:00 AM. Age categories will be 2 & under, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12.
On Saturday, April 3 from 8:00 AM- 10:00 AM, come have breakfast with the Easter Bunny at the Parksley Firehouse. Breakfast will be $3.50 and pictures with the Easter Bunny will be $5.00.
The Melfa United Methodist Church is having their annual Easter egg hunt on Saturday April 4 at 10:00 AM! We will have face painting, games, and refreshments!
Remains Found At Weirwood Airport
After sharing a good laugh about the well thought out joke, it was realized that WAVY-TV had also posted the story on their website.
HAPPY APRIL FOOL'S DAY !!!
www.shoredailynews.com
USE CAUTION WHEN BURNING PLEASE
The National Weather Service has issued a special weather statement regarding the increased fire danger threat for the next several days.
"Conditions are ripe for wildfires," said John Miller, VDOFs director of resource protection. "We advise all citizens to remain aware of these conditions and take extra care this weekend. Fire crews across the Commonwealth are on high alert."
The sunshine and warm temperatures are sure to entice people outside and many will want to clean up their yards and fields. Some will turn to burning the debris theyve accumulated over the past several months. The burning of debris and trash is the No. 1 cause of wildfires in Virginia, so VDOF officials recommend alternatives to burning, especially under the conditions expected this weekend.
"Take the debris to an approved dump or recycling facility," said Miller. "If thats not an option, consider building a brush pile that will help support wildlife on your property."
If someone must burn, be aware of state and local laws that are in place for your protection and the safety of your family and neighbors. The states 4 PM Burning Law is in effect through the end of April. Outdoor burning is allowed between 4 p.m. and midnight every day. Burning is prohibited at all other times. Violations of the law are Class 3 misdemeanors which carry a fine of up to $500. In addition, anyone who lets a fire escape is liable for the cost of suppressing the fire as well as any damage to someone elses property. Certain localities across the state also have additional restrictions. Check with your local fire department before starting a fire.
Tips for Burning Safely:
Contact your local fire department before starting the fire.
Do not burn when winds are up. (If your flags are flapping or your wind chimes are playing their tune, its probably not a good time to burn.)
Keep your pile small less than 10 feet in diameter and 3 feet in height. Add material to your fire as the pile burns down. Dont add any material to your fire after midnight.
Clear the area around the pile down to bare soil.
Keep water, rakes and shovels handy.
Stay with your fire until its completely out and you have doused the hot ashes with water.
Have a fully charged cell phone with you and call 911 as soon as the fire gets out of your control. (Let the trained firefighters suppress the blaze.)
www.shoredailynews.com
New Chincoteague Bridge Open Today
The new Chincoteague Bridge is set to open today. The one mile long bridge crosses Black Narrows and Lewis Creek Channel and will connect to Chincoteague Island at Maddox Boulevard. The new stoplight is also set to begin full functionality today with green meaning go yellow meaning caution, and red meaning stop for motorists traveling on both Maddox Boulevard and Main Street.
The bridge has been in the works for several years and has cost an estimated $70 million. The new bridge is 40 feet wide, with two driving lanes. More than 500,000 work hours have been put into the construction.
www.shoredailynews.com
Thursday, April 1, 2010
The History Of Pocomoke by Murray James (5)
This rehearsal was too much for him. He said he had never gone through anything like that. He then asked me how much I thought he ought to give me. I told him, I thought he ought to give me five or ten dollars. In a moment he drew his pocket book and handed me five dollars. Another incident in connection with this begging expedition, which I liked to have forgotten, took place in the Preacher's Meeting, at Wash- ington.
After I had stated my cause, and after resolution passed, and letter given the Rev. R. W. Black, who I perceive by the Minutes of the Baltimore Conferenee is Presiding Elder of East Baltimore District, but at the time of which I am writing was stationed at "Wesley Chapel, in Washington, stepped forward and said : Brother Murray, I have a little oil in the cruse and some meal in the barrel yet, and here is something for your cause." With this he handed me ten Hollars. I have often thought of that dear brother for this generous outburst of benevolence.
The year closed up. Conference approaching, and this } T ear away from my family again. The Conference this time was to meet in the City of Norfolk, Virginia. The course of study for the third year, upon which I had to be examined was : Watson's Institutes, (the third and fourth parts,) Nast's Introduction to the New Testament, Butler's Analogy of Natural and Revealed Religion, Angus' Hand Book of the Bible, Whately's Logic, and Written Sermon. The books to be read were : Hagenbach's History of Doctrines, Hurst's A Brief History of the Author's Life.
35 History of Rationalism, D' Aubigne's History of the Reformation, "Wythe's Argument of Science and Revelation.
I met the Com- mittee with the other members of the Class. I learned after the Chairman made his report to the Conference, that my examination was highly complimented. When the appointments were read out I was to go to Old Point Comfort, Va. The appointment was then called Chesapeake City, but has since been changed to Old Point Comfort. This was a station with a comfortable parsonage. Here I had to preach twice every Sabbath, hold prayer-meetings, class-meetings, and attend the Sabbath School. To this place I had to go without my family, as my dear son was too low to move.
A few day's before he died I received intelligence that he was worse and I hastened home, but his spirit had departed, as I was leading the Class at Old Point, on Sabbath evening, at six o'clock, April the 27th, in the 25th year of his age. We buried him in the Methodist Episcopal Church burying ground, of Pocomoke City.
This closed up the life of John W. Murray, who was a bright light in my family and also in his native town in which he was reared and in which he died. My wife and I had five children born to us ; three are now dead, namely : James Henry, Lavinia Catherine and John Wil- liam, and two are still living, namely : Francis Thomas, who is engaged in the railroad business in the City of Peoria, 111., and Harriet Ann, wife of Rev. Albert Jump of the St. Louis Confer- ence, who is stationed in the City of St. Louis, Mo. It is but just to the name of Francis T. Murray, my son, to say that he was a delegate from Worcester Couuty to the Constitutional Conven- tion of 1864, and was one of that patriotic band who passed the Ordinance giving to Maryland a free constitution.
After the death and burial of our son, my wife and I packed up our house- hold goods and moved to Old Point Comfort.
After being settled in the parsonage, an arrangement was entered into with Captain Woodfin, governor of the Soldiers National Home at Hampton,
(36 A Brief History of the Author's Life.)
Va., by and with the consent of the Official board of the Church to serve that institution as chaplain, giving it preaching once in four weeks, visiting the Home every week and burying the dead. Frequently I was by the bedside of the sick and dying two or three times a week, trying to give a word of cheer. I pursued this course during the time I served them, and to show the spirit of those men at my last appointment when I told them that for two years I had served them to the best of my ability and now I must bid them good by.
They came forward, took me by the hand and gave me the greatest assurance of their appreciation of my visits to that Institution. Captain Woodfin, the Governor of the House, is deserving great credit for the tact which is exhibited in the laying out of the grounds, for the wise and judicious man- agement, as the executive officer of the Home, which is seen cov- ering the entire Institution, for it is ©ne of the grandest places to look at and to visit.
Doctor "W. M. Wright, the Surgeon of the Home at that time, is among the princes of the land, a man of noble bearing. The Church at Old Point was not large in its membership, but a nobler set of men and women I have never met, in supporting the Gospel.
When I went to this appointment there was a debt on tbe Church of eight or nine hundred dollars, at the end of my two years stay there, I reported to Conference the debt reduced to one hundred and seventy-five dollars. I formed many pleasant associations while there, and had many warm friends. The first year that I was there I took no vacation.
The second year my health was perceptibly failing. I asked for a few weeks rest, this was readily granted, and a letter was handed to me by William H. Kimberly, Esq., containing a sum of money to bear my expenses, with the names of the doners : Harrison Phoebus, William H. Kimberly and James Kelly. For this surprise I made my acknowledgements. The first year closed up with some few accessions as the result of a revival meeting. The approaching Conference met in Alexan-
A Brief History of the Authors Life. 37
dria, Va., in the latter part of February, 1874. I met the Com- mittee of the fourth year's course. The answers to all questions in this course of study had to be submitted to the Committee of Examination in Writing.
To insert them here in detail would be too burdensome, as they amounted to about seventy-five in number, together with the statements required, and rilled over sixty-three pages, of closely written matter, in a book of three inches and rive eighths wide, by five inches and five eighths long.
The leading topics upon which this course of study was based were laid down in sections as fol- lows : Section I, Personal Religions, Life and Habits. Section II, Examination of the Bible. Section III, On the Doctrines of the Bible. Section IV, Church Organization and Government. Sec- tion V, Ecclesiastical History. So far as I know this examination was entirely satisfactory. The appointments were read out and I was returned to Old Point. During this year, as I have already stated, my health began to fail, and I had to contemplate the propriety of asking, at the hands of the Conference a rest for one year.
I made it a subject of special prayer and sought direction from him who heareth in secret. The year closed up in peace and success in the interests of the church. The approaching Conference was to be held in the City of Portsmouth, Virginia. When it convened I made my request known, which was granted, though not without an expression of regret by the Presiding Bishop, Doctor Jesse T. Peck. I took a supernumerary relation with the understanding that I was to return to the work the next year. I then moved to New Town, now Pocomoke City, and commenced fitting up a resting place.
In October, of this year I received a letter from the Presiding Elder, of Richmond District, inquiring whether or not I could take charge of Vienna Circuity which was left vacant by the former pastor, who had left his post. Immediately, I answered that I would, and, as soon, thereafter, as I could get ready, I started for the work.
This Circuit embraced
38 A Brief History of the Author ] s Life. five appointments.