The Pocomoke Public Eye

Monday, August 2, 2010

The SPCA-Eastern Shore Needs OUR Help

As we all are aware of during these rough times for so many people the family pet is the first to get neglected and "kicked to the curb". Too many times they are let loose in a neighborhood unknown to them, left behind when the family they love leaves them without a kiss and a goodbye or, if lucky, they will end up at the SPCA -Eastern Shore.

The SPCA-Eastern Shore does not receive tax dollars and has only the public to count on for assistance with the caring of these animals. Because they are a "no kill" facility they have plenty of animals to feed...........many sad animals.

I found a link on their website today that I think will help them if we all sign up! It won't cost us a cent and only take a few minutes to get signed on. Here it is.......... and remember it's simple to do.....
Shop at Food Lion? You can help us out!

If you use your Food Lion MVP card you can help us out. It will not change what you buy or what you pay. Read the simple instructions and do it today!
Here are the simple instructions.

Support the Eastern Shore SPCA

With

Food Lion’s MVP Program

"COMMUNITY REWARDS"

You can help support the SPCA by "linking" your Food Lion MVP card. Every time you shop and purchase "Food Lion" brand products using your MVP card the amount you spend on qualified items will be automatically credited to the SPCA. All Food Lion stores support this program! Please tell your family, friends, and neighbors who may shop at Food Lion to "sign up".

Signing up is easy. If you find that you need assistance in linking your card, give the SPCA a call at: (757) 787-7385.

The Enrollment Process is as Follows:

Go to "www.Foodlion.com"

Click "MVP Rewards" (I found the link under "Community Outreach")

Click "Register Your MVP Card" (box in lower right corner of page)

Click where it says "Register Your MVP Card" to support your favorite school or charity.

Enter your 12-digit MVP card number (NOTE: The # is on the back of your card, starts with the small # to the left of the barcode followed by the 10-digits under the barcode & ending with the small # to the right of the barcode)

Click "Submit"

Enter your "Contact Information"

Click "Submit"

Go to "Add an Organization to Support" box

Enter Code # "252153"

Click "Find"

Click "Add"

Click "Sign-Out"

Eastern Shore SPCA- Caring for animals in Accomack and Northampton Counties.

Please help. And please urge others to do so too.

Highest Environmental Honor Awarded To Wallops

WALLOPS ISLAND --NASA's Wallops Flight Facility has been awarded the highest environmental recognition within the Commonwealth of Virginia for programs protecting the area's natural resources.

Wallops is only the second federal facility in the Commonwealth of Virginia to receive this Extraordinary Environ-mental Enterprise level of the Virginia Environment-al Excellence Program.

"VEEP E4 status is the highest level of environmental recognition in the commonwealth. Wallops joins an elite group which not only strives for environmental excellence within their own missions, but also reaches beyond their facility fence line in proactively working with community partners to promote environmental stewardship," said Carolyn Turner, Wallops head of the Environmental Office.

The facility is currently pursuing renewable energy sources, alternative fuels, and LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certifications for existing buildings. The Wallops Environmental office also specializes in pollution prevention, hazardous waste management, protecting endangered species, recycling, storage tank management and environmental planning.

These programs are managed through the Wallops environmental management system, a process aimed at reducing the facility's impacts on the environment by identifying impacts, setting goals to minimize those impacts, improving procedures and tracking progress.

VEEP is a partnership program that has a goal of a more sustainable Virginia. The program is aimed at improving environmental performance and stewardship through a beyond-compliance collaboration with the Department of Environmental Quality.

The award program has stepped levels. The higher the level, the more advanced the facility's environmental program. To be awarded the Extraordinary Environ-mental Enterprise award, a facility must display a commitment to the highest environmental performance.

Some of the requirements for a facility to receive this award include a fully implemented environmental management system including a pollution program, community involvement, and continuous and sustainable progress. Another main component is maintaining a record of sustained compliance.

Sustained compliance requires that the facility be in good standing with the federal and state regulations. It also requires the facility to have less than two environmental violations in the previous three years. Wallops has had no violations.

"Wallops Flight Facility is always striving for environmental excellence," Turner said.

www.easternshorenews.com

Sunday, August 1, 2010

A Lazy Dog-Day? Afternoon...............

Hope everyone got the chance to do nothing today except cat nap!

Pocomoke Crime Reports for the Month of July

Guess The Picture

Don't rush.

Study the picture and try to determine what it represents.

=============================================================

Put on your thinking cap.

============================================================

HAY FOR SALE

Now keep in mind Obama thinks Arizona is over doing it and their problem is a big joke and they are over reacting. that was his response to their plea of needing serious immigration laws and money to patrol the deserts toward the Mexican border where American tourists and innocent people have been killed for stumbling onto drug transactions in the wild west on U.S. Soil

Stopped in Arizona , from Texas , headed to California !

SURPRISE, IT AIN'T FOR HORSES!

You will probably wonder now every time you see a load of hay going down the highway....

What if the hiding place had illegals, terrorists, or maybe even a dirty bomb?

What if Arizona wasn't as concerned as it is???

GO GET 'EM ARIZONA!

Hat Tip; Kack

UNBELIEVABLE PHOTO

This is a beautiful photo of a giant American flag in Arizona . The photo is authentic, UN-Touched and was taken on regular Kodak 35mm film. The person who took the Picture couldn't believe the image created by the sun's rays. Nice of them to share it with the world! Read what it says under the picture.

Hat Tip; Kack

Muslim Heritage

Barack OBAMA,
during his Cairo speech, said:
"I know, too, that Islam has always been a part
of  America 's story."

AN AMERICAN
CITIZEN'S RESPONSE:

Dear Mr.
Obama:

Were those
Muslims that were in America when the Pilgrims
first landed? Funny, I thought they were
Native American Indians.

Were those
Muslims that celebrated the first Thanksgiving
day? Sorry again, those were Pilgrims and
Native American Indians.

Can you
show me one Muslim signature on the United
States Constitution?

Declaration
of Independence ?

Bill of
Rights?

Didn't
think so.

Did
Muslims fight for this country's freedom from
England ? No.

Did
Muslims fight during the Civil War to free the
slaves in America ? No, they did
not. In fact, Muslims to this day are
still the largest traffickers in human
slavery. Your own half brother, a devout
Muslim, still advocates slavery himself, even
though Muslims of Arabic descent refer to black
Muslims as "pug nosed slaves." Says a lot
of what the Muslim world really thinks of your
family's "rich Islamic heritage," doesn't it Mr.
Obama?

Where were
Muslims during the Civil Rights era of this
country? Not present.

There are
no pictures or media accounts of Muslims walking
side by side with Martin Luther King, Jr. or
helping to advance the cause of Civil
Rights.

Where were
Muslims during this country's Woman's Suffrage
era? Again, not present. In fact,
devout Muslims demand that women are subservient
to men in the Islamic culture. So much so,
that often they are beaten for not wearing the
'hajib' or for talking to a man who is not a
direct family member or their husband.
Yep, the Muslims are all for women's rights,
aren't they?

Where were
Muslims during World War II? They were
aligned with Adolf Hitler. The Muslim
grand mufti himself met with Adolf Hitler,
reviewed the troops and accepted support from
the Nazi's in killing Jews.

Finally,
Mr. Obama, where were Muslims on Sept. 11th,
2001? If they weren't flying planes into
the World Trade Center , the Pentagon or a field
in Pennsylvania killing nearly 3,000 people on
our own soil, they were rejoicing in the Middle
East . No one can dispute the pictures
shown from all parts of the Muslim world
celebrating on CNN, Fox News, MSNBC and other
cable news networks that day. Strangely,
the very "moderate" Muslims who's asses you bent
over backwards to kiss in Cairo , Egypt on June
4th were stone cold silent post 9-11. To
many Americans, their silence has meant approval
for the acts of that day.

And THAT, Mr.
Obama, is the "rich heritage" Muslims have here
in America .

Oh, I'm sorry, I
forgot to mention the Barbary Pirates.
They were Muslim.

And now we can
add November 5, 2009 - the slaughter of American
soldiers at Fort Hood by a Muslim major who is a
doctor and a psychiatrist who was supposed to be
counseling soldiers returning from battle in
Iraq and Afghanistan .

That, Mr. Obama
is the "Muslim heritage" in America
.

Hat Tip; Mrs. M.

Free Carbon Monoxide Alarms Offered By Rural Health

EXMORE --Medical experts believe that unborn babies, infants, and children are at greater risk for carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning. Based on these findings, the Virginia Department Health has awarded Safe Kids Eastern Shore Coalition/Eastern Shore Rural Health System a grant to offer free carbon monoxide alarms.

The program's primary goal is to educate the at-risk groups about CO poisoning prevention and detection and fire prevention. The families will be provided a free CO alarm and instruction on the proper maintenance of the alarms.

The alarms will be available at the "Get Alarmed" program:

Wednesday, Aug. 4, 5:30 p.m., Parksley Volunteer Fire Department;

Thursday, Aug. 5, 5:30 p.m., Community Fire Company, Exmore;

The program is for the whole family and will include a brief safety presentation, pizza and drink, a firehouse tour and the free carbon monoxide alarm. Each family will need to complete an application form. Preference will be given to those who have completed and submitted a form and to early arrivals on the day of the program.

In 2008 and 2009, fire departments throughout Virginia responded to approximately 1,000 carbon monoxide exposure-related incidents each year, according to the Virginia Fire Incident Reporting System.

According to the United States Fire Administration, each year in America, CO poisoning claims approximately 500 lives and sends more than 15,000 people to hospital emergency rooms for treatment.

With extremely cold days last winter, there were more frequent use of fuels that can produce carbon monoxide. Often called the "invisible killer," carbon monoxide is an invisible, odorless, colorless gas created when fuels -- such as gasoline, wood, coal, natural gas, propane, oil and methane -- burn incompletely. In the home, heating and cooking equipment that burn fuel are potential sources of carbon monoxide. Vehicles or generators running in an attached garage or in a basement can also produce dangerous levels of carbon monoxide.

Call Faye Godbey, Onley Community Health Center, 757-787-7374, ext. 6 for more information.

www.easternshorenews.com

Man Faces First-degree Assault Charges For Throwing Woman Into Busy Street

OCEAN CITY – A Westminster man faces first-degree assault and other charges this week after allegedly scooping up a woman walking on 49^th Street and running with her at a full sprint before tossing her onto a crowded Coastal Highway.

At around 2 a.m. on Wednesday, an Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officer observed a man, later identified as Steven B. Barnett, 20, approach a group of several women walking eastbound on the street. Without warning or provocation, Barnett allegedly picked up one of the women and began running toward Coastal Highway with her in his arms.

According to police reports, Barnett carried the woman as if he was cradling her to the center of the bus lane on the southbound side of Coastal Highway. Barnett was allegedly running at full speed as he carried the victim onto the highway before throwing her forward. The officer observed Barnett flee the scene after tossing the female victim into the crowded roadway.

A crowd reportedly gathered around the victim who was still lying in the highway. According to police reports, traffic was flowing heavily on Coastal Highway in the area, but the victim’s family members were able to carry her from the roadway before any vehicles reached her.

When the officer arrived on scene, he noted the victim appeared to be injured with her ankle swollen and disfigured, according to police reports. The victim told the officer she believed her ankle was broken, and the officer concluded she would not have been able to get out of the way of oncoming traffic without the help of her family.

Meanwhile, the victim’s sister told the officer she did not know Barnett prior to the incident, nor had any of the family members or individuals in the group. The victim’s sister led the officer in the direction Barnett had fled to no avail. However, when the officer returned to the scene, he observed Barnett talking to a different OCPD officer.

The victim later told police Barnett appeared intoxicated when he picked her up suddenly, and while she repeatedly shouted at him to put her down, he continued to run toward the highway and told her he was going to “throw her in the street.”

The victim confirmed to police she had never met Barnett and had no prior contact with him that night. Barnett was arrested and charged with first- and second-degree assault and reckless endangerment. He was released later on Wednesday after posting a $10,000 bond.

www.mdcoastdispatch.com

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Accomack County Officials Support Beach Parking

ACCOMAC -- Accomack County officials voted unanimously to support Chincoteague in the town's effort to keep parking available at the beach on Assateague Island.

The Board of Supervisors will add its voice to those of Chincoteague town officials who are determined to battle efforts to eliminate or reduce beach parking at Assateague Island National Seashore in favor of a shuttle system.

The vote came after Chincoteague Councilman John Jester made a plea for the county to join the town in supporting the continuation of parking at the beach.

A study by Volpe National Transportation Systems Center commissioned by the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge in anticipation of the updating of the refuge's master plan in the coming years gave four options for getting visitors to the beach --two of which involved some type of shuttle service. The transportation alternatives are partly in response to the threat of rising sea levels and storms that have necessitated the rebuilding of the parking lots at the beach after each winter in recent years.

"Wherever Volpe's been, shuttles seem to follow in national parks," Jester said. He called the idea of families taking a shuttle bus to the beach, loaded down with all their gear, "ridiculous."

Jester said 500 surveys returned to a beach access committee of the town showed 80 percent of those surveyed say they come to Chincoteague to go to the beach; 80 percent said they would not feel safe during a storm at the beach; and 75 percent said if a shuttle service is implemented they would think about not coming back to vacation there.

Jester said Accomack County in 2009 collected $401,500 in hotel taxes from Chincoteague and the town's real estate represents $1.1 billion out of a total in the county of $3.6 billion, with 45 percent or more of homes on the island being second or vacation homes. Those property values, and taxes collected by the county, would likely decrease if the beach was no longer accessible by private vehicle, he said.

"The bottom line is the economy of Chincoteague and of Accomack will suffer," he said.

County supervisors appeared to agree wholeheartedly with Jester.

"I hope this board will do anything they can to prevent the shuttle service," Supervisor Jack Gray said. Ron Wolff agreed, as did Donald Hart Jr., who said of the Fish and Wildlife Service, "In their opinion, human beings are a nuisance."

Hart made the motion to support a letter Chincoteague will write objecting to the proposed elimination of beach parking and also to ask state and federal elected officials to go on the record as to what their stance is on the matter.

Supervisor Wanda Thornton of Chincoteague said the same issue came up in 1999 but was thwarted by a concerted effort including local officials making several trips to Washington, D.C., to present their case.

"The deal was then that they were going to bus the people from Wallops ... We were able to change that whole equation then and we can do it now," she said.

www.chincoteaguebeacon.com

"Earl Weaver" The Family Pet

REST IN PEACE "EARL WEAVER". You were loved and you will be missed.

This is "Earl Weaver" an adopted dog and family pet. Earl Weaver was saved from being put to sleep on the eve of his execution. For many months he did nothing but exist in a kennel at the dog pound. He had no trips out of doors, no fresh air and ate, slept and went to the bathroom all in the same place. He had no family anymore and not even a nibble for a new home.

Well, he found a new home. And for a few short months "Earl Weaver" had the best medical care, the best in food, the softest bed and even received a doggy education. He had others to play with, a park to play in, toys of his own and someone to love. There were road trips and plenty of trips to the store for more toys. All he had to do was provide protection for his owner in which he did. It made him proud and he worked so hard.

Suddenly a few days ago "Earl Weaver" developed an attitude that no one had ever seen in him. His actions and behavior became so untypical of "Earl Weaver" that his owner quickly took him to his doctor for a blood test. It was determined today that "Earl Weaver", when living with his first family, (who lost him to the shelter for mistreating him) had fed him lead. The lead that he had been fed once upon a time was destroying his kidneys and his brain.

Yep, someone gave this animal something harmful that could not be detected until Earl did something wrong........like BITE! Thank goodness no one was bitten and his attitude was taken seriously by his owner before something unfortunate did happen.

The decisions we have to make in life sometimes seem so unfair. But for the fairness to "Earl Weaver" and so he would never harm a person (not meaning to), the owner, along with Earl's doctor made the hard decision to put "Earl Weaver" to sleep.

So it's a very sad time right now for those that loved him. But on a happy note he got his time to walk free, play in the park, chew bones and do all the things dogs should get to do when they are loved and especially when someone gives them a chance.

We're going to miss that funny, happy dog.

Isn't it odd though if you really give it some thought........ If a dog bites someone, acts unruly, threatens, or even looks mean the first thing to be done is to be put to sleep. Well, my goodness, we can't have an animal running our streets acting like that!!! What if he was to harm someone????? What if some person really got hurt? Dogs have been known to kill!!!

WELL GUESS WHAT!!! WE HAVE HUMAN BEINGS IN THE STREETS DOING ALMOST THE SAME THINGS THAT WE EUTHANIZE AN ANIMAL FOR. CHANCES ARE ONCE THEY GO TO THE "HUMAN POUND" THEY WILL GET THE CHANCE TO GET OUT AND DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN!

We tolerate bad behavior from humans that can cause us MORE harm than a dog could ever do.

Johns Hopkins Researcher Buried In Florida

North Palm Beach, Fla. —

The wooden pews were filled Friday morning as friends and family remembered slain Hopkins researcher Stephen Pitcairn as a young man with an "intense" and "inquisitive" nature.

"He grabbed you and you just wanted to be where he was," said Chris "Suds" Southard, youth director at First Presbyterian Church in North Palm Beach, Fla., where the funeral was held.

Standing behind the pulpit, Rev. Ronald Hilliard tried to comfort the grief-stricken, still reeling from the death of the Jupiter, Fla., native who was robbed at knifepoint Sunday night while walking to his Charles Village apartment.

In North Palm Beach, the reverend urged that the family not to lose sight of the vibrant life Pitcairn was able to lead.

"The value of life is not in longevity … the value of life is based on the quality of the chapters that God has written," he said.

The funeral brought together those who knew Pitcairn throughout his life, cut short just two days before his 24th birthday: graduates from The Benjamin School, which Pitcairn attended for 14 years; classmates from Kalamazoo College in Michigan; and colleagues from Johns Hopkins medical center in Baltimore.

"We are just devastated as a school community," said Robert Goldberg, head of school at The Benjamin School. "Our heart is just so heavy for the Pitcairn family."

Pitcairn, a researcher at a cell engineering laboratory on the Johns Hopkins medical campus, was on the phone with his mother, Gwen Pitcairn, around 11 p.m. Sunday when he was confronted by a man and a woman in the 2600 block of St. Paul St., police say. His mother listened as he pleaded with the robbers and was stabbed in the chest.

Authorities have charged John Alexander Wagner, 34, and Lavelva Merritt, 24, who police say were "hunting to rob someone," with first-degree murder in his death.

During the 90-minute service, Hilliard urged the family not to focus on the tragic circumstances surrounding Pitcairn's death. He suggested that the family may be wondering what would have happened if circumstances had been different.

"We may be sad about the book ending before we were ready," said Hilliard, but that sadness should not overshadow the value and impact that Pitcairn's life had.

"The reality is that in God's eyes, Stephen's life was complete," he said.

Speakers largely avoided discussing the tragic circumstances surrounding Pitcairn's death, instead paying tribute to his Christian faith.

Emily and Elise Pitcairn remembered their brother as intelligent and tenacious. Nancy Reugg, Pitcairn's former fourth-grade teacher, said that many details about the young man had faded from her memory over the years, but his curiosity remained in sharp focus.

The service, held inside First Presbyterian's flower-filled sanctuary, featured a number of quotations from Psalms. Those in attendance sang "Amazing Grace" and watched slides of pictures of Pitcairn, accompanied by music played by his former guitar teacher.

Some of the photographs of Pitcairn as a small child elicited sniffles, tears and even momentary laughter. One photograph featured a young Pitcairn wearing oversized sunglasses, and, momentarily, people laughed.

www.baltimoresun.com

This murder didn't have to happen if the court system cared about who they released back into society.

1st US Execution For A Female Since 2005 Set For September

RICHMOND, Va. — A Virginia woman who used sex and money to persuade two men to kill her husband and her stepson to collect a $250,000 life insurance policy was scheduled Thursday to be executed in two months, which would be the first U.S. execution of a woman in five years.

A judge set a Sept. 23 execution date for Teresa Lewis, 41, the only woman on Virginia's death row. She would be the first woman executed in the state in nearly a century.

Lewis offered herself and her 16-year-old daughter for sex to two men who committed the killings. She provided money to buy the murder weapons and stood by while they shot her husband, Julian Clifton Lewis Jr., 51, and stepson Charles J. Lewis, 25, in 2002 in Pittsylvania County in south-central Virginia.

Lewis rummaged through her husband's pockets for money while he lay dying and waited nearly an hour before calling 911.

The gunmen, Rodney Fuller and Matthew Shallenberger, were sentenced to life in prison. Shallenberger committed suicide in prison in 2006.

Lewis' daughter, Christie Lynn Bean, served five years because she knew about the plan but remained silent.

Lewis' attorney James Rocap III claims Shallenberger said about two years before his suicide that it was him, not Lewis, who planned the killings and that he was using Lewis to get to her husband's money.

"The truth about her involvement in the tragic deaths of Julian and C.J. Lewis does not require or justify her execution, especially in light of the fact that the lives of those who actually gunned down Julian and C.J. were spared," Rocap said.

Lewis would be the first woman executed in the U.S. since Frances Newton died by injection in Texas. Newton shot her husband and two young children to death to collect insurance money.

Lewis would also be the first woman executed in Virginia since 1912, when 17-year-old Virginia Christian died in the electric chair for suffocating her employer.

Women commit about 12 percent of the murders in the U.S. annually, and few ever reach the execution chamber.

Out of more than 1,200 executions since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976, only 11 women have been executed. Of the more than 3,200 inmates on death row nationwide, 53 are women.

Women usually don't commit torture murders, they aren't serial killers and often don't have a history of other violent crimes compared with men who get sentenced to death, said Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center. They also typically kill someone they know.

"I think it's those facts, rather than just gender that make the difference," he said.

Lewis' first attempt to kill her husband failed. The plan was for the men to kill her husband as he came home from work and make it look like a robbery, but a car was too close and foiled the plot. A few days later she found out her stepson was coming home on leave from Army National Guard duty, and they decided to wait and kill him, too, so they could get all the insurance money.

Lewis pleaded guilty to capital murder, allowing a judge to determine her sentence. Her attorneys believed she stood a better chance of getting a life prison term from the judge who had never sentenced anyone to death, than from a jury.

In a 2004 interview with The Associated Press, Lewis said she hired the hitmen to escape an abusive relationship. She said she and Shallenberger became lovers and concocted the scheme to murder her husband, who she said was an abusive alcoholic.

In a hearing before the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in March, Rocap argued that Lewis was too dependent on other people and prescription drugs to have plotted the murders. He said the trial lawyers' failure to raise dependency disorder and drug addiction as mitigating factors at sentencing violated Lewis' constitutional right to effective assistance of counsel.

Rocap said he would appeal her case to the U.S. Supreme Court and will file a clemency request with Gov. Bob McDonnell.

www.google.com

Cell Phones Are 18 Times Dirtier Than Toilet Handles

You may want to peel your mobile phone away from your face, considering it may be dirtier than a toilet handle, the Daily Mail reported.

A U.K. study tested 30 mobile phones for levels of potentially harmful bacteria, or the total viable bacterial count (TVC).

High TVC levels don’t pose any immediate harm, but usually indicate poor hygiene.

The results revealed that 25 percent exceeded the acceptable TVC by 10 times and have 18 times the TVC as a handle on a public restroom toilet. The Which? magazine study suggests that 14.7 million of the 63 million phones being used in the U.K. could pose a health risk, the report said.

“Most phones didn’t have any immediate harmful bacteria that would make you sick straight away, but they were grubbier than they could be,” said Ceri Stanaway, a researcher with Which? magazine.

One phone’s TVC level was so high it put its owner at risk of a serious stomach ache, the report said.

“The levels of potentially harmful bacteria on one mobile were off the scale. That phone needs sterilizing,” Jim Francis, a hygiene expert, said.

The phone with the most bacteria had more than ten times the acceptable level, as well as 39 times the safe level of enterobacteria, which includes Salmonella.

“What this shows is how easy it is to come into contact with bacteria,” Stanaway said. “People see toilet flushes as being something dirty to touch, but they have less bacteria than phones.”

The tests also found E. coli and staphylococcus aureus, among other food poisoning bugs, but at safe levels. There was also 170 times the acceptable level of the bacteria associated with human waste, fecal coliforms.

“People need to be mindful of that by observing good hygiene themselves and among others who they pass the phone to when looking at photos, for example,” Stanaway said.

www.foxnews.com

Woman Honks Horn And Gets Beat Up- Attacker Jailed

MOLINE, Illinois - UPDATE: A man accused of road rage punched a woman in the face and put a juvenile passenger in a headlock, according to court documents.

28-year-old Jason Leslein of Moline was arrested Wednesday after police say he beat up a woman after she honked her horn at him.

Police officials said the incident occurred Monday afternoon after the 54-year-old female driver honked at Leslein near the intersection of 25th Street and 12th Avenue in Moline.

Investigators were back in the neighborhood Friday interviewing witnesses and say it appears Leslein swerved into the victim's lane, triggering her reaction to honk.

According to court records, Leslein is accused of punching the female victim in the face ''causing facial fractures'', and putting her passenger in a headlock and striking him in the head.

Leslein, who lives in the neighborhood ,is still in jail. He has been arrested more than 20 times.
www.wqad.com

Maryland's Restrictions On Handgun Carry Permits Challanged

The gun rights advocates who successfully challenged the District's gun laws have moved their campaign to Maryland, filing a federal lawsuit claiming that the state's weapons restrictions violate the Second Amendment.

The seven-page suit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore challenges Maryland's restrictions on handgun carry permits. Under state law, applicants must show, among other things, that they are not addicted to drugs or alcohol, don't have a history of violence and have a "good and substantial reason" to carry a gun.

Plaintiff Raymond Woollard, a Navy veteran who once fought with an intruder in his Baltimore County home, was denied a permit because the state found that he could not show he had been subject to "threats occurring beyond his residence," according to the suit.

"He was only denied for lack of a so-called good and substantial reason," said Cary J. Hansel, one of the plaintiffs' lawyers. He said Woollard met all of the other hurdles.

"Imagine a world in which you had to go to the government and show a good and substantial reason to exercise your constitutional rights," Hansel said. "We are not arguing there shouldn't be background checks, fingerprints, mental examinations or training requirements."

The lawsuit comes in the aftermath of recent court victories for gun rights advocates. In June, the Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment provides Americans a fundamental right to bear arms that cannot be violated by state or local governments. The decision extended the court's landmark 2008 ruling that struck down the District's decades-old ban on handgun possession.

Raquel Guillory, a spokeswoman for Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler declined to comment on the case, saying that state officials had not reviewed the arguments.

But Guillory said the attorney general's office reexamined state gun laws in the context of the recent Supreme Court rulings. "We have reviewed Maryland gun laws and concluded none of them are so stringent as to violate the Second Amendment," she said.

The lawsuit, also filed on behalf of the Bellevue, Wash.-based Second Amendment Foundation, names the Maryland State Police superintendent, Col. Terrence B. Sheridan, and three members of the state handgun permit review board as defendants.

Hansel said a permit generally is needed to carry a handgun outside the home in Maryland. There are some exceptions, he said, including taking a gun home after it is bought or traveling to a shooting range.

According to the suit, Woollard, who lives on a Baltimore County farm, was with his family on Christmas Eve 2002 when a man shattered a window and broke into his home. Woollard trained his shotgun on the man, but the two fought and the intruder pulled the gun away. Woollard's son eventually got another gun, ending the fight.

The intruder was convicted of burglary in that case and ultimately was sent to prison after violating probation, according to the lawsuit. The man, who was released from prison in 2005, lives about three miles from Woollard.

Woollard's handgun permit was renewed in 2005, according to the lawsuit. He sought to renew it again last year but was denied. The board found that Woollard had not "submitted any documentation to verify threats occurring beyond his residence, where he can already legally carry a handgun," the suit states.

www.washingtonpost.com

Friday, July 30, 2010

PONY PENNING: Pony Auction

I'll just bet there were lots of happy, smiling faces yesterday after the 85th Pony Penning Auction. And some droopy sad faces too coming from those not lucky enough with their bidding. Bidding has to be hard work when you want a Chincoteague pony to take home for your very own.
Today families will back their trailers up to the tiny stables that the ponies have been tenderly tucked into over night and load their "next best friend" to take them to a new home.

The remaining ponies will be returned to Assateague Island today. The return trip is just the reverse for them. Some of them have made the trek to the main land before so going home should be rather easy. It's on the quiet island of Assateague that the ponies will be able to roam and graze and occasionally look at the people going by.

I'm wondering if the pony going to a new home has any thoughts.

PONY PENNING: Pony Auction Go here for some wonderful photos

Baltimore Lab To Conserve Remains of Ship Found At World Trade Center

A conservation team from Maryland's archaeology lab is in Manhattan this week, working to recover the remains of a wooden sailing ship found buried at the World Trade Center site.

The ship's fragile timbers are being extracted from the muck, wrapped, labeled and packed for shipment next week to the Maryland Archaeological Conservation Laboratory, part of the Jefferson-Patterson Park & Museum in St. Leonard, where they will be treated so they may eventually be reassembled.

The lab was built, in part, to conserve and store artifacts recovered from Maryland waters.

But over the years, the "MAC" lab has been enlisted to help with many far-flung projects, including conservation of pieces of Blackbeard's ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge, found off the North Carolina coast in 1996, and a dugout canoe found in New Jersey that the lab carbon dated to A.D. 200.

"Our conservators have a great deal of experience with recovering and conserving waterlogged timbers, such as those found at the World Trade Center," said Nichole Doub, the MAC's head conservator, in a statement.

But the lab's director, Patricia Stamford, said this was the largest shipwreck project the lab has taken on. The process will entail up to a year of soaking in antifreeze, and then freeze-drying to drive out the remaining water and preserve the wood, she said.

The New York ship was found July 13, during excavation work for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. The dig will make way for construction of a new vehicle security center and tour bus parking facility. Workers removing the black ooze 20 to 30 feet below street level struck the regularly spaced and contoured timbers.

Archaeologists on the project identified them as those of a ship dating to the late 18^t^h or early 19^t^h century, which was likely placed there as landfill. They then hired the MAC lab to remove and conserve the wood.

www.baltimoresun.com

Beltway Sniper Malvo Claims More Shootings, Co-conspirators

Lee Boyd Malvo is claiming that he and fellow Beltway sniper John Allen Muhammad lined up co-conspirators to broaden the campaign of violence that paralyzed the Washington region eight years ago, but that the collaborators backed away, according to a television interview.

Malvo also claimed responsibility for 42 shootings, many more than he and Muhammad had been linked to, according to a forensic psychiatrist who interviewed the man, now 25.

The revelations were greeted skeptically by lawyers involved in the case that shook the region in 2002.

The claim of 42 shootings "doesn't seem very plausible," said Katherine Winfree, who prosecuted Muhammad in Montgomery County in 2006 and spent hours interviewing Malvo before he testified against his one-time father figure.

Winfree also doubts that the pair had collaborators. "I would just find it very surprising if there were other people actually involved in the planning and going to participate in carrying out these multiple shootings," she said.

Until now, Malvo and Muhammad had been linked to as many as 27 shootings and 17 deaths nationwide, according to a tally by the Associated Press. Much of that blood was shed during a rash of killings in the Washington area in October 2002 that left 10 dead and three wounded. Malvo is serving a life sentence in Virginia; Muhammad was executed there last year.

The new claims came to light in interviews with actor William Shatner for a show that aired Thursday night on the A&E network. But a copy of the script provided by the network shows that Malvo, who has lied before to shift responsibility for the crimes from Muhammad to himself, initially denied outside involvement.

"Lee, was there anybody else involved?" Shatner asked him in a telephone interview. "Were there any co-conspirators?"

"Uh, no," Malvo replied, speaking from prison.

Shatner reminded Malvo that he had told his psychiatrist that there were co-conspirators.

"There were two others," Malvo said. "There were two other people who were supposed to be involved. But in the end, they end up backing out." One, he said, was killed by Muhammad.

The FBI declined to comment on Malvo's claims, according to the Associated Press.

Malvo also told Shatner that "there was supposed to be three to four snipers with silenced weapons, silenced rifles, and in this way you could do a lot more damage along the entire Eastern Seaboard."

Shatner, best known for his role in "Star Trek," acknowledged on camera the lack of concrete information. "We were not able to ascertain the identity of any co-conspirator and acknowledge the inconsistencies in Malvo's accounts," he said.

The show, "Confessions of the D.C. Sniper with William Shatner: An Aftermath Special," generated considerable buzz Thursday, aided by an interview that Shatner gave to ABC's "Good Morning America."

Defense attorney Jonathan Sheldon, who represented Muhammad, said: "I think this is sort of a ratings thing. Were there other people who knew of these shootings and were supporting them in some ways? I think it's really, really highly unlikely."

Muhammad and Malvo had obtained a car and guns from others, but to call those people co-conspirators unfairly suggests that they bear blame for the crimes, Sheldon said.

Sheldon questioned the number of shootings mentioned by Malvo but said it is not implausible that the pair committed more than they were accused of. He said the FBI approached him before Muhammad's execution date in November, asking him to speak to his client about unsolved murders.

"They were talking about a few individual shootings," Sheldon recalled, adding that they mentioned cases in Arizona and Florida. But Muhammad refused to acknowledge any role in any crimes, Sheldon said, including six fatal shootings in Maryland.

On the show forensic psychiatrist Dr. Neil Blumberg shared a conversation he had with Malvo: "Lee told me that there were approximately 42 shootings that he and Muhammad engaged in, but it actually appears to have been considerably more than that. Prior to arriving in the D.C. area, Lee and Muhammad traveled all over the country, robbing people, shooting people, killing people."

Blumberg added, "On average, they were shooting people at least three to six times a month."

When Shatner asked Malvo directly about other shootings, he answered: "Well ... for example, there was, uh, two in Arizona, Florida, Texas, Washington State, Alabama, uh, Georgia, Mississippi."

Winfree, now Maryland's chief deputy attorney general, was interviewed for the show and appears on camera. According to a transcript, she discussed how Malvo confessed to her in 2006 that four years earlier he had killed 60-year-old Jerry Taylor on a golf course in Arizona.

Shatner picks up the thread: "He confirmed killing Taylor and later confessed to the Tucson police. He also admitted shooting Albert Mychlezyck who survived, John Gaeta in Hammond, La., and a case in Texas."

Malvo and Muhammad stood trial for murder only in Virginia and Maryland.

But Winfree said Thursday that she doubts the 42 figure.

"If people had unsolved shootings they wanted to close, it seems a lot more of those would have been found out," she said. "I just really question the accuracy of that big number being quoted now."

When she interviewed Malvo in 2006, he had already been sentenced to life in prison; Muhammad had been condemned to die. She said that after escaping Muhammad's controlling influence, Malvo finally seemed eager to unburden himself and tell all.

"My impression is, he was using it as a catharsis," Winfree said. "He wanted to come clean, to be able to help law enforcement close cases. He wanted families to know what had happened to their loved one. He wanted to make things as right as he possibly could."

Malvo had hoped to be moved to a different prison, she said, so he had an incentive "to be as expansive as he could."

"Yet, we never heard about co-conspirators or a number as high as 42," she said. "I don't know what his motivation is now. It's got to be pretty boring in prison when you know you're never getting out."
www.baltimoresun.com

New Hospital To Be Built In Accomack County

NASSAWADOX -- The new Riverside Shore Memorial Hospital will be built in Accomack County.

The Shore Health Services Board of Directors voted to build the new facility between Keller and Parksley, while maintaining "significant outpatient, diagnostic and physician services" in Northampton, according to a prepared statement from the hospital.

The Riverside Health System Board of Directors approved the local board's decision.

Officials were not specific about exactly where the new hospital would be located within the territory proposed.

"RHS is proud to endorse the local board's decision. We are excited to support the board in expanding the availability of health care services for all Eastern Shore residents from the bridge-tunnel to the state line," said Bill Downey, Riverside Health System chief operating officer.

The new hospital will replace the existing structure in Nassawadox, which was built in 1971.

"I would look at it as a good sign," Onancock Mayor Bruce Paone said of the announcement, which came midday Thursday.

Onancock's Town Council recently appointed a committee to pursue the hospital's relocation. The town also sent a letter to Riverside Chief Executive Officer Richard J. Pearce inviting him to tour its new water and sewer facilities, which could have been a major selling point in the consideration of where to build the new hospital.

Northampton County Supervisor Spencer Murray, who has been an outspoken proponent of keeping the hospital in Nassawadox, also reacted to the announcement, saying, "Obviously, I'm very disappointed that they have decided to move north, but I don't blame our neighbors to the north for wanting the hospital."

Northampton County was to release an official statement about the announcement later Thursday.

"We have researched and evaluated our options for several months in our strategic planning and board meetings," said SHS board Chairwoman Caramine Kellam. "We sought the opinions of many stakeholders, including physicians and other health care providers and individuals from all areas of the Shore. All perspectives were systematically aired, discussed and genuinely considered."

Hospital inpatient and directly related support services will move north "to an as yet undetermined location," the statement said, while the Nassawadox location likely will include an express care center with extended hours.

The release also said that by the end of this year, $3 million in improvements to the Nassawadox site will be made, including an upgraded CT scanner and digital mammography and digital archiving systems.

www.delmarvanow.com

Andy Rooney says " Pray if you want to!"

Andy Rooney says:

I don't believe in Santa Claus, but I'm not going to sue somebody for singing a Ho-Ho-Ho song in December. I don't agree with Darwin , but I didn't go out and hire a lawyer when my high school teacher taught his Theory of Evolution.

Life, liberty or your pursuit of happiness will not be endangered because someone says a 30-second prayer before a football game. So what's the big deal? It's not like somebody is up there reading the entire Book of Acts. They're just talking to a God they believe in and asking him to grant safety to the players on the field and the fans going home from the game.

But it's a Christian prayer, some will argue.

Yes, and this is the United States of America and Canada , countries founded on Christian principles. According to our very own phone book, Christian churches outnumber all others better than 200-to-1. So what would you expect -- somebody chanting Hare Krishna?

If I went to a football game in Jerusalem , I would expect to hear a Jewish prayer.

If I went to a soccer game in Baghdad , I would expect to hear a Muslim prayer.

If I went to a ping pong match in China , I would expect to hear someone pray to Buddha.

And I wouldn't be offended. It wouldn't bother me one bit.

When in Rome .....

But what about the atheists? Is another argument.

What about them? Nobody is asking them to be baptized. We're not going to pass the collection plate. Just humour us for 30 seconds. If that's asking too much, bring a Walkman or a pair of ear plugs. Go to the bathroom. Visit the concession stand. Call your lawyer!

Unfortunately, one or two will make that call. One or two will tell thousands what they can and cannot do. I don't think a short prayer at a football game is going to shake the world's foundations.

Christians are just sick and tired of turning the other cheek while our courts strip us of all our rights. Our parents and grandparents taught us to pray before eating, to pray before we go to sleep. Our Bible tells us to pray without ceasing. Now a handful of people and their lawyers are telling us to cease praying.

God, help us. And if that last sentence offends you, well, just sue me.

The silent majority has been silent too long. It's time we tell that one or two who scream loud enough to be heard that the vast majority doesn't care what they want. It is time that the majority rules! It's time we tell them, "You don't have to pray; you don't have to say the Pledge of Allegiance; you don't have to believe in God or attend services that honour Him. That is your right, and we will honour your right; but by golly, you are no longer going to take our rights away. We are fighting back, and we WILL WIN!"

God bless us one and all...Especially those who denounce Him, God bless America and Canada , despite all our faults We are still the greatest nations of all. God bless our service men who are fighting to protect our right to pray and worship God.

Let's make 2010 the year the silent majority is heard and we put God back as the foundation of our families and institutions. And our military forces come home from all the wars.

Keep looking up.

Crisfield City Officials Begin Comparing Wind Turbine Proposals

CRISFIELD -- City officials plan to begin studying proposals from six companies hoping to install wind turbines at the city's sewage treatment plant where electricity bills are running about $20,000 a month.

The comparisons could take awhile, because "it won't be apples to apples," Mayor Percy Purnell said at this week's City Council meeting.

Bidders were asked for proposals that included more than just the cost of a turbine.

"It could take a month of study," he said.

Bids opened during the council meeting ranged from $4.7 million for a 1.5- megawatt turbine to $1.1 million for a 750-kilowatt model.

The city wants to build two or three large wind turbines -- about 300 feet tall -- on land next to the sewer plant to generate power for the plant.

Additional electricity would power other city-owned buildings, such as City Hall, the police station and fire department, and also be sold back to the grid.

Officials are hoping to hear soon if a $4.18 million grant application to the Maryland Department of the Environment has been approved.

If the money is awarded, the city also will need to borrow $625,300 toward the project, according to Noah Bradshaw, the city inspector who is spearheading the project.

For several months, wind speeds in Crisfield were measured with an anemometer atop a city water tower. The 18- to 19-miles-per-hour average that was captured is enough to sustain a wind farm, he said.

Bradshaw -- who has attended seminars at the American Wind Institute -- is also in the process of trying to start a smaller wind turbine project at the American Legion post in Crisfield.

Aside from the environmental benefits, wind power is expected to take a huge burden off the budget. After the city upgraded its sewage treatment plant, electricity bills jumped from about $13,000 per month to $20,000.

City officials have said they want to take the savings and put the money into street paving and other projects.

www.delmarvanow.com

229th Military Police Company Arrive Home In Virginia Beach

~~~WELCOME HOME 229th MILITARY POLICE COMPANY~~~

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) - Approximately 120 Soldiers from the Virginia Beach-based 229th Military Police Company returned home to Virginia on Thursday after serving in Iraq since October, 2009.

Approximately 80 soldiers from the Hampton Roads and Richmond areas arrived around noon at Birdneck Elementary School to be reunited with their families and friends.

Another 40 soldiers from the Roanoke and Southwest Virginia area arrived at Patrick Henry High School about 90 minutes later.

The soldiers returned to the U.S. on July 23, arriving at their demobilization station at Fort Dix, New Jersey. There they conducted a number of different administrative activities to transition from active duty back to traditional National Guard status prior to returning to Virginia Beach. The soldiers began their tour on federal active duty on August 3, 2009.

While headquartered in Virginia Beach, the 229th is made up of soldiers from all over the state. Approximately 60 soldiers are from the Hampton Roads area.

Officials say the unit was expected to provide police training to the Iraqi Police, but was task organized and provided additional training to also conduct protection service detail missions. The unit was requested by name to provide route security for Vice President Joe Biden’s visit to Iraq on Jan. 22, 2010.

When the Iraqi national elections were conducted in March 2010, soldiers from the 229th helped maintain security, working side by side with Iraq Police. During the six-day time period of the elections, soldiers lived with their Iraqi Police counterparts at the Provincial Division of Police and the Patrol Headquarters.

The unit was also very active in conducting humanitarian missions while in Iraq. On their own initiative soldiers improved the conditions and safety at a local elementary school in West Rasheed, Baghdad as well as establishing a partnership with the adjoining hospital. In addition to distributing school supplies donated by family members, the company also filled in a sinkhole and installed 26 windows.

Soldiers in the company conducted more than 400 combat patrols and travelled more than 100,000 miles on Iraqi roads. The company provided personnel for traffic control points for several high level ceremonies to help make sure they were conducted safely.

No Virginia Guard Soldiers were killed or wounded in action during the company’s tour of duty in Iraq.

Soldiers from the company were awarded 11 Combat Action Badges, 22 Bronze Star Medals, one Meritorious Service Medal and 107 Army Commendation Medals.

www.wavy.com