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Observations and Reflections on Legislative Activities
By Delegate Mike McDermott
March 14th-18th, 2011
On Monday evening prior to session, there was a significant union rally on the Lawyer’s Mall which greeted us as we moved toward the State House. It was all about the Governor’s budget and their dislike for what has been proposed by the O’Malley Administration. I found it interesting that the governor actually came out and took the stage to speak to the crowd and proclaimed, “I don’t like the budget either!!!” Of course, the crowd was happy about this proclamation. So, I guess it may be true for democratic governor’s in Annapolis...you can have your cake and eat it too!
On Tuesday morning, the session was brief and we only voted on one bill:
HB-209: Vote 139-0 On Third Reader in Favor. Authorizing the purchase of agricultural land preservation easements if the land meets specified requirements and is subject to specified regulations governing the use of the land; clarifying that specified provisions of the Act do not exempt a landowner from complying with specified local laws or State or local requirements; prohibiting land subject to agricultural easement from being used for specified purposes; allowing a landowner to reserve up to three 1-acre lots to construct single-family residential dwellings, etc.
On Tuesday afternoon, I met with a sub committee to review the Child Neglect statute being championed by Lt. Governor Brown. We made many recommendations for changing the bill and hope to have it ready for committee soon.
On Tuesday, the following bills were heard in the Judicary Committee
HB-1174: Would give more power to the Division of Parole and Probation when it comes to reimposing sentences for violations of parole or probation. It would allow for lesser sentences on minor offenses and should reduce some prison costs.
HB-899: Would provide police powers to a unit within the Division of which deal specifically with the apprehension of offenders on Warrant Retake Orders. Currently, officers are not able to arrest for violations which occur in the process of their warrant service or other related actions.
HB-677: Would make it a crime in Maryland for any municipality or government to grant “sanctuary status” to illegal aliens. It would require the state to enforce federal laws addressing illegal immigration. It was argued clearly on both sides, but it is clear that Maryland is fast becoming a sanctuary for illegal immigrants due to our lax enforcement policies and the current lack of enforcement by authorities from ICE.
HB-724: Would increase the statute of limitations for 4th Degree Sex Offense from one year to three. This bill will probably be amended to allow for extended limitations in the case where a victim is a juvenile.
HB-898: Would not allow for Bondsmen to fail to collect the full amount of their bond premium through various finance arrangements made with bonding companies. It does not allow for these companies to finance bonds, merely have an arrangement for collecting payment over time.
HB-1207: Would allow local government entities to prohibit the sale of drug paraphernalia to a minor. It allows for the revocation of business licenses, etc by the local authorities for violations. It is believed that this type of tie in would impact the sale of drug paraphernalia items to minors locally. Based on questions asked, the bill may create confusion across county or municipal boundaries.
HB-1075: Would repeal the Death Penalty in Maryland. This bill seeks to respond to the finding of the Maryland Commission on Capitol Punishment completed in 2008 which recommended abolishing the death penalty in Maryland in favor of Life in Prison.
HB-1074: Would provide an exemption for any Division of Correction employee or other related service employee to exempt themselves from participating in the process of a state execution. This is a no brainer, though, in all fairness, we simply do not exercise the death penalty in Maryland.
HB-804: Would require the MVA to place a certain notation on the driver’s license and state issued ID’s of convicted sex offenders. It is said this may aid law enforcement officers in identifying potential bad guys who may be involved in an abduction when stopped for another violation.
HB-1128: Would alter the definition of sexual contact to include any penetration by any part of the body or object. The current law does not make provision for penetration by other parts of the human body. Some recent cases have made this an issue that needs to be addressed according to some state’s attorney’s who testified in favor of the bill.
On Wednesday, the following bills were heard in the Judiciary Committee:
HB-1277: Would set the policy of the State so as to encourage the use of special needs trusts or supplemental needs trusts by individuals with disabilities of all ages to preserve funds in order to provide for the needs of the individuals not met by public benefits and to enhance their quality of life. The bill encourages self reliance on the part of those with disabilities.
HB-1296: Would allow for the electronic transmission of Eviction related documents. This is currently being done manually by the Clerks and Sheriff’s Office personnel. This would save time and certainly speed up the process by which these papers are transferred and eventually served.
On Thursday morning, the following bills were presented for Third Reader:
Third Reading Calendar (House Bills) #18
HB 86
Third Reading Passed (104-33)
HB 110
Third Reading Passed (138-0)
HB 263
Third Reading Passed (136-0)
HB 435
Third Reading Passed (140-0)
HB 463
Third Reading Passed (139-0)
HB 481
Third Reading Passed (137-3)
HB 486
Third Reading Passed (140-0)
HB 507
Third Reading Passed (94-46)
HB 522
Third Reading Passed (140-0)
HB 581
Third Reading Passed (139-0)
Third Reading Calendar (House Bills) #19
HB 621
Third Reading Passed (137-2)
HB 630
Third Reading Passed (135-5)
HB 634
Third Reading Passed (140-0)
HB 667
Third Reading Passed (138-0)
HB 674
Third Reading Passed (139-0)
HB 679
Third Reading Passed (103-35)
HB 727
Third Reading Passed (140-0)
HB 729
Third Reading Passed (108-32)
HB 749
Third Reading Passed (119-20)
HB 833
Third Reading Passed (130-3)
Third Reading Calendar (House Bills) #20
HB 837
Third Reading Passed (140-0)
HB 849
Third Reading Passed (139-0)
HB 864
Third Reading Passed (140-0)
HB 877
Third Reading Passed (140-0)
HB 913
Third Reading Passed (140-0)
HB 972
Third Reading Passed (130-10)
HB 994
Third Reading Passed (122-9)
HB 1017
Third Reading Passed (139-0)
HB 1018
Third Reading Passed (140-0)
HB 1025
Third Reading Passed (140-0)
HB 1088
Third Reading Passed (140-0)
On Thursday afternoon, the Judiciary Committee heard the following bills:
HB-1118: Requiring the juvenile court, in specified child in need of assistance hearings, to send written findings to specified individuals and agencies if the court finds that specified reasonable efforts were made but that a specified condition exists. Bills like this are generally procedural applications which may slightly modify one aspect of an existing law.
HB-1190: Seeks to expand a pilot program dealing with children in need of supervision to Cecil County and Prince Georges County. The program has been used successfully to divert children from the juvenile delinquency system. They wish to see it work in a more rural county. The bill carries a fiscal note of $250,000.00 and this may be a stumbling block.
HB-790: Seeks to create a crime of Home Invasion and see it classified as a violent crime. There was testimony that these crimes are often being treated as property crimes instead of violent offenses. We heard from several victims of home invasions.
HB-1305: Would expand the notification that a school receives when a student is arrested for certain offenses. It would add the charges of drug distribution to the offenses reported to certain school officials. This makes a lot of sense.
HB-825: Would provide a method for a juvenile defendant who has been waived to adult court to appeal the decision to the Court of Appeals. This may create some unnecessary delays in criminal trials for a very low number of instances annually in Maryland. I think it may need further review before implementation.
On Friday, the following bills were voted on during the morning session:
Third Reading Calendar (House Bills) #21
HB 124
Third Reading Passed (139-0)
HB 128
Third Reading Passed (118-22)
HB 245
Third Reading Passed (139-0)
HB 268
Third Reading Passed (138-1)
HB 279
Third Reading Passed (138-0)
HB 376
Third Reading Passed (139-0)
HB 417
Third Reading Passed (139-0)
HB 466
Third Reading Passed (127-11)
Third Reading Calendar (House Bills) #22
HB 476
Third Reading Passed (138-0)
HB 506
Third Reading Passed (136-2)
HB 535
Third Reading Passed (139-0)
HB 637
Third Reading Passed (139-0)
HB 643
Third Reading Passed (140-0)
HB 944
Third Reading Passed (139-0)
HB 1093
Third Reading Passed (139-0)
Third Reading Calendar (House Bills) #23
HB 38
Third Reading Passed (108-30)
HB 188
Third Reading Passed (140-0)
HB 195
Third Reading Passed (102-36)
HB 203
Third Reading Passed (133-4)
HB 286
Third Reading Passed (138-0)
HB 413
Third Reading Passed (139-0)
HB 453
Third Reading Passed (139-0)
Third Reading Calendar (House Bills) #24
HB 456
Third Reading Passed (130-8)
HB 468
Third Reading Passed (138-0)
HB 479
Third Reading Passed (138-0)
HB 482
Third Reading Passed (139-0)
HB 542
Third Reading Passed (139-0)
HB 543
Third Reading Passed (139-0)
HB 545
Third Reading Passed (139-0)
HB 590
Third Reading Passed (140-0)
Third Reading Calendar (House Bills) #25
HB 596
Third Reading Passed (140-0)
HB 597
Third Reading Passed (138-0)
HB 600
Third Reading Passed (139-0)
HB 741
Motion Special Order until 3/22 (Delegate Feldman) Adopted
HB 752
Third Reading Passed (138-0)
HB 793
Third Reading Passed (140-0)
HB 888
Third Reading Passed (140-0)
Third Reading Calendar (House Bills) #26
HB 940
Third Reading Passed (133-6)
HB 953
Third Reading Passed (139-0)
HB 973
Third Reading Passed (137-0)
HB 996
Third Reading Passed (139-0)
HB 1028
Third Reading Passed (125-14)
HB 1095
Third Reading Passed (138-0)
HB 1119
Third Reading Passed (138-0)
On Friday afternoon, the Judiciary Committee voted on the following bills:
Favorable: HB-921, HB-1072, HB-1118, HB-1174
Unfavorable: HB-835, H-872, HB-1037,
"The last full Moon so big and close to Earth occurred in March of 1993," says Geoff Chester of the US Naval Observatory in Washington DC. "I'd say it's worth a look."
Full Moons vary in size because of the oval shape of the Moon's orbit. It is an ellipse with one side (perigee) about 50,000 km closer to Earth than the other (apogee): diagram. Nearby perigee moons are about 14% bigger and 30% brighter than lesser moons that occur on the apogee side of the Moon's orbit.
"The full Moon of March 19th occurs less than one hour away from perigee--a near-perfect coincidence1 that happens only 18 years or so," adds Chester. A perigee full Moon brings with it extra-high "perigean tides," but this is nothing to worry about, according to NOAA. In most places, lunar gravity at perigee pulls tide waters only a few centimeters (an inch or so) higher than usual. Local geography can amplify the effect to about 15 centimeters (six inches)--not exactly a great flood.Indeed, contrary to some reports circulating the Internet, perigee Moons do not trigger natural disasters. The "super moon" of March 1983, for instance, passed without incident. And an almost-super Moon in Dec. 2008 also proved harmless.
Okay, the Moon is 14% bigger than usual, but can you really tell the difference? It's tricky. There are no rulers floating in the sky to measure lunar diameters. Hanging high overhead with no reference points to provide a sense of scale, one full Moon can seem much like any other.
The best time to look is when the Moon is near the horizon. That is when illusion mixes with reality to produce a truly stunning view. For reasons not fully understood by astronomers or psychologists, low-hanging Moons look unnaturally large when they beam through trees, buildings and other foreground objects. On March 19th, why not let the "Moon illusion" amplify a full Moon that's extra-big to begin with? The swollen orb rising in the east at sunset may seem so nearby, you can almost reach out and touch it.
Don't bother. Even a super perigee Moon is still 356,577 km away. That is, it turns out, a distance of rare beauty.
http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2011/16mar_supermoon/
Dear Worcester County Residents,
I have been in office as your Sheriff for three months. As your sheriff, I ride our county roads every day and sometimes at night. One day a week, when possible, I leave the office and patrol the county the entire day, always looking at ways to better serve and make you safe.
In December 2010, I was sworn in as your sheriff. I immediately appointed my chief deputy, J. Dale Smack, and operations officer, Col. Doug Dods, two outstanding individuals and leaders.
I then met with my command staff about promotions in our agency. Promotions can be very difficult when you have so many good deputies and very few openings. I am blessed to have outstanding employees sworn and civilian.
In January, two sergeants were promoted to lieutenant, Lt. Andy McGee and Lt. Eddy Schreier. With these promotions, I am able to have someone in command until 3 a.m. and sometimes later. Previously, when command staff went off duty at 5 p.m., to speak with command you had to wait until the next morning. With the opening of slots at Ocean Downs, a commander is able to maintain the impact it has on our county and see if we need to address any issues.
Det. Sgt. Nate Passwaters was promoted. He is in charge of the Criminal Enforcement Team (narcotics, tobacco, high profile criminals). Team members are the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office, ATF, feds, Virginia State Police, Accomack County Sheriff’s Office, and just recently, the Ocean City Police Department and the Maryland State Police have also joined with us. Having these agencies all working together to cross state lines and throughout our county targeting drug dealers is outstanding. Many arrests have been made and more will come.
Promoted to sergeant, Matt Crisafulli, our D.A.R.E. deputy assigned to our schools to teach the dangers of alcohol, tobacco, drugs and bullying of other students. More programs are being looked at by our School Resource Deputies, as we are reaching out to our students to be more productive in school and be model students.
Three deputies were promoted to corporal. Cpl. Katie Edgar, who now is in charge of our K-9 program, Cpl. Bethany Ramey, who is a member of our CET, and Cpl. Lisa Maurer, who is part of our civil division, as well as our agency quarter master. All of these promotions will better serve the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office and our county.
Later this year, more promotions are expected. With retirements this past year, I have hired four new trainee/deputy sheriffs — two from Pocomoke, one from Snow Hill and one from Somerset County — and they will graduate in June from the Police Academy. I want to give our young people the opportunity to begin their career with the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office and hopefully, they will end their career with us.
With retirements and the new positions, this is a savings in our budget. A new policy that I have enacted is, anyone I hire full time who resides outside of Worcester County has one year to relocate here, in order to have a take home vehicle.
I have hired a retired Worcester County Sheriff captain part time to manage our evidence room. This position was being held by a full-time lieutenant. This is another huge savings in our budget and frees up time for the full-time lieutenant to handle other duties. I have hired a retired detective/ Maryland State Trooper to work in the child advocacy center on crimes that are committed on our children. This detective worked many years in this field and we are very fortunate to have him on board. This position is funded by a grant and will cover costs of salary, vehicle and equipment.
I have assigned two part-time deputies to our sex offender program. We have reached a high of 84 and that figure is going to increase with new laws coming in effect. We constantly monitor these individuals, where they live and their work place.
More bars and stores will be checked throughout our county to make sure they are not selling alcohol or tobacco to minors. I expect businesses to train their employees to look for false ID’s.
At one time we provided court security for only two courts; today, we provide coverage for seven courts, plus our government center. The parttimers handling these duties do an outstanding job.
We recently met with the county on our budget for 2011-2012. We have been told not to ask for any additional money in the new budget. We will honor that request and our budget committee has shuffled money around in accounts to cover other accounts. Using our part-time deputies in differ- ent roles and reassignments of fulltime deputies makes our agency better. I will continue to look at ways to make our county a safer place.
Meetings are being set up throughout the county for county residents to come and voice their concerns. Please be a voice for your community. If you see any suspicious activity, give us a call. Be involved for a safer county.
This past week, our agency honored retired Sheriff Charles T. Martin at the Grand Hotel in Ocean City. Many of his relatives and friends and law enforcement attended this event to honor Sheriff Martin for 16 years of outstanding service to the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office and our residents. We will certainly miss him.
Reggie T. Mason
Sheriff of Worcester County
Contact person for questions or more info: Lynne Calvert calvert72@verizon.net
NO GUYS ALLOWED !!
2011 Mud Bog Event Schedule
Location: Gumboro Mud Bog
Saturday April 9th
Saturday September 24th
Saturday October 8th
Location: Crisfield Mud Bog
Sunday May 29th
Sunday July 31st
Saturday September 3rd
Bowden Racing
Time & Date: Saturday March 26, 2011
7:00 PM until 10:00 PM
Lots of fun! Very nice auction items, 50/50 and more!100% of the proceeds go to the Courtney Bloxom Fund.
For tickets and more information go to: http://www.bringyourbling.net/
The victim was identified as Jean Calcagno, 51, of the 2500 block of Kentucky Derby Drive, Virginia Beach.
Bernstein said that the vehicle was found by a private diving company, which was brought in during the joint search effort that involved bridge tunnel personnel, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Virginia Marine Police, the Virginia Beach police and fire departments, and other agencies.
The body was recovered during the third diving attempt by the private company, Croft Diving Corporation. “They had better equipment than us and were able to perform longer dives,” Bernstein said Tuesday evening.
The bridge was closed to southbound traffic for several hours. It was not clear how far in the water the car had traveled before divers were able to spot it.
Tom Anderson, deputy director for the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel said it appeared the car was going at least the speed limit, 55 mph, when the crash occurred and that the vehicle had crossed through guardrail into the water.
Source: www.wtkr.com
Girl Friends' Dinner
A group of 15-year-old girlfriends discussed where to meet for dinner. Finally, they agreed to meet at the Dairy Queen next to the Oceanview restaurant because they had only $6.00 among them and Jimmy Johnson, the cute boy in Social Studies, lived on that street.
10 years later, the group of 25-year-old girlfriends discussed where to meet for dinner. Finally, they agreed to meet at the Ocean View restaurant because the beer was cheap, the restaurant offered free snacks, the band was good, there was no cover and there were lots of cute guys.
10 years later, the group of 35-year-old girlfriends discussed where to meet for dinner. Finally, they agreed to meet at the Ocean View restaurant because the cosmos were good, it was right near the gym and, if they went late enough, there wouldn't be too many whiny little kids.
10 years later, the group of 45-year-old girlfriends discussed where to meet for dinner. Finally, they agreed to meet at the Ocean View restaurant because the martinis were big and the waiters had tight pants and nice buns.
10 years later, the group of 55-year-old girlfriends discussed where to meet for dinner. Finally, they agreed to meet at the Ocean View restaurant because the prices were reasonable, the wine list was good, the restaurant had windows that opened (in case of a hot flashes), and fish is good for cholesterol.
10 years later, the group of 65-year-old girlfriends discussed where to meet for dinner. Finally, they agreed to meet at the Ocean View restaurant because the lighting was good and the restaurant had an early bird special.
10 years later, the group of 75-years-old girlfriends discussed where to meet for dinner. Finally, they agreed to meet at the Ocean View restaurant because the food was not too spicy and the restaurant was handicapped-accessible.
10 years later, the group of 85-years-old girlfriends discussed where to meet for dinner. Finally, they agreed to meet at the Ocean View restaurant because they had never been there.
Life is not the way it's supposed to be. It's the way it is. The way we cope with it, is what makes the difference.