Pocomoke City Mayor and Council Meeting

AGENDA

POCOMOKE CITY MAYOR AND COUNCIL MEETING

7:30 P.M., MONDAY, MAY 2, 2011

CITY HALL

1.                  Call to Order, Prayer, and Pledge of Allegiance.

2.                  Review and approval of minutes from meeting of April 11, 2011.

3.                  Review and approval of bills to be paid.

4.                  Presentation of plaque to former Mayor Michael McDermott in recognition of his six years of service as Mayor of Pocomoke City (2005-2011).

5.                  Authorize Mayor to sign Proclamation for Municipal Clerks Week.

6.                  Public Hearing on proposed 2012 Community Development Block Grant application and update on ongoing CDBG projects

7.                  Res. No. 445 to authorize submission of 2012 CDBG application to State DHCD.

8.                  Discuss letter from Assateague Peoples, Inc.  regarding use of the City tent for 19^th   Annual Pow Wow on

May 20-22, 2011.

9.                  Authorize Mayor to sign Memorandum of Agreement between Pocomoke City and VDOT regarding sewer service.

10.              Res. No. 446 to authorize Mayor to sign agreement with Shore Bank for acquisition of property for use as Police Station.

11.              Second Reading of Res. # 443 to amend Charter by deleting Sections C-32 and C-33 regarding voter registration for Municipal elections.

12.              Second Reading of Res.  #444 to amend the Charter by adding language to Section 23A regarding the employment of elected officials.

13.              City Attorney to present revised lease agreement between Pocomoke City and Bloosurf Broadband Co regarding the placement of antennas on City water towers.

14.              Authorize City Manager to request proposals/bids:

a.       Architectural Services for interior modifications for new Police Station.

b.      Electrical Services for new pedestals on docks.

c.       Construction of new restaurant adjacent to Delmarva Discovery Center.

15.              Set date for auction of surplus vehicle and equipment.

Comments from the Audience

Mayor and Council items.

Adjourn

AGENDAS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE UNTIL THE

 TIME OF CONVENING.

TIME MACHINE

December, 1930

A 2,500 seat boxing arena was set to open on the Pocomoke Fairgrounds. Arena manager Henry W. Conant of Chincoteague said a series of exhibitions would be scheduled during the coming months. The opening night card would feature a bout between Eastern Shore fighter Danny Russell and an opponent from Portsmouth, Va.



January, 1931
(The Frederick Post)

Either backers of the sporting arena at Pocomoke City have an unlimited amount of cash or else they have a wonderful drawing power. Jack Dempsey is to appear in that town to referee a fight show for $2,000 or fifty percent of the gate. Dempsey will be paid off in cash and it may be the end of boxing in that section. Thousand dollar guarantees have been paid in Hagerstown but never has one man walked out with two thousand berries tucked away safely in his jeans.



February, 1931
(Cumberland Evening Times)

Former World's Heavyweight Champion Goes Over Big In Pocomoke City

Pocomoke City, Md. Feb. 4(AP)- More than 2000 Eastern Shore fight fans saw Jack Dempsey, former heavyweight champion, as he refereed two matches of a boxing card here Tuesday night. Dempsey attended a dinner as a guest of the Lions Club of Salisbury, and before he entered the ring he was kept busy autographing programs.

Words of Wisdom

To make half a kilo of  honey, bees must collect nectar from over 2 million individual  flowers

Unlikely Friends

187 East Performance - Bowden Racing Team Ready For Racing

Winter is behind us now and it's time again for mudbog racing!  The  Bowden Racing Team has been working really hard for the past few months to ready for tomorrows opening day of the Gumboro Mudbog. 

"The Grey Ghost" owned and driven by Lee and Lori Ann Sturgis have added a roll cage to their mud truck.
Lee Sturgis participated in the first ever mudbog sponsored by Checkered Flags Productions and the Salisbury Civic Center in January.

"All Night Soldier" driven by Patrick Long participated in the mudbog held at the Civic Center in January also.  He has installed a new roll cage.  Roll cages are just one of the requirements to qualify to race in some the various classes of racing at Gumboro.

"Short and Sassy" driven by Barry Wise will be racing with a larger engine this year.  I'll have updated photos on this truck and the new engine a little later. 

"In the Mix" with driver Johnnie Edwards will be racing with a new engine also this season.

And not to forget "Sod Buster".  The  old "Sod Buster" is transforming into a new and improved mud truck.  We're all looking forward to it being at the track in time for Crisfield races in May.  Stay tuned.......... 

Don't forget opening day for Gumboro mudracing is Saturday, April 30.  Gates open at 10:00 A.M.

Lets hope racing begins at the announced 1:00 P.M. 

It's been a long winter and the Bowden Racing Team is ready to rip through that mud!

Hope to see you there!

~MELSON POWER SHOW~

SAVE THESE DATES !

WON'T BE LONG BEFORE RACING ACTION IS BACK FOR THE 2011 RACING SEASON

ALL EVENTS HELD ON THE SAME DAY!

MORE TO COME..........

~The Royal Wedding Donut~

Better hurry!

Created in honor of the Royal couple, the Royal Wedding Donut will be available in participating U.S. Dunkin’ Donuts restaurants from April 24 through the wedding day, April 29. When developing the Royal Wedding Donut, Dunkin’ Donuts’ Executive Chef, Stan Frankenthaler and his culinary team kept both wedding traditions and the couple’s favorite flavors in mind. 

For that reason, the team couldn’t resist making a heart-shaped glazed donut that’s filled with jelly. The heart signifies the love between Prince William and Catherine, and the donut is filled with jelly to represent how their lives are to be ever-filled with happiness. In honor of the traditional white wedding gown, the donut is topped with white frosting, but adds a modern twist with the chocolate drizzle, in celebration of William’s love for chocolate.  

12th Annual Board Walkin' For Pets

The Worcester County Humane Society  Could  Use Your Help

 Lisa Capitelli

Staff Writer

Dog owners will have an opportunity this Saturday to take their four-legged friends for a stroll along the Ocean City Boardwalk, while helping to raise funds for the Worcester County Humane Society, during its 12th annual Board Walkin’ for Pets event.

The activities are scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. at the southern end of the Boardwalk. Registration will take place in front of Harrison’s Harbor Watch restaurant.

Several contests will be held prior to the walk. Prizes will be awarded to the largest and smallest dogs, the canine that performs the best trick, the best dressed and the sloppiest kisser. A special prize will also be presented to the dog that most resembles its human owner.

Although the walk is for dogs, felines won’t be left out, said event co-orga- nizer Kelly Austin, secretary of the Worcester County Humane Society. Owners may submit a picture of their cat for the fifth annual Cutest Cat Photo Contest. The winner will receive a gift basket.

After the contests, owners and their dogs will be free to walk as far as they want on the Boardwalk.

Refreshment stops with drinks and snacks will be set up for dogs and owners near 12th and 27th streets.

For a $25 donation, walkers will receive a bandanna for their pooch. Participants who raise $50 will get a dog walk T-shirt and a bandanna, and walkers donating $100 or more will take home a tote bag, T-shirt and a bandanna. The walk is not only an enjoyable outing for the whole family, but the dogs seem to have a good time as well. Many people also come back year after year to participate, Austin said.

The person who pledges the most money will win the grand prize gift basket filled with goodies donated by local businesses. The youngster age 12 or younger who collects the most donations will also take home a gift basket.

Ocean City Dog Walk
2010

A total of 283 people registered to walk a dog during the 2010 Board Walkin’ for Pets fundraiser. Austin said approximately $22,000 was raised for the shelter last year, which was about half of the amount collected during the 2009 walk. She attributes the decline in funds to the economy.

“This is the largest fundraiser we do, so we’re hoping to do much better this year,” Austin said.

Funds generated through the walk go toward the general costs of running the no-kill nonprofit shelter. Those expenses include food bills, cat litter, veterinary care such as spaying or neutering, vaccines, heartworm and flea preventive, medicines, shots, cleaning supplies and maintenance. Approximately $100,000 is spent annually on veterinary costs and $700 weekly on pet food.

Austin said about a dozen shelter dogs will be walked by volunteers this year. That number is down from last year because, during the last two months, several dogs have been adopted. All shelter dogs will wear “adopt me” bandannas.

At this time, there are approximately 30 dogs and more than 100 cats staying at the shelter.

Tickets for the Worcester County Humane Society’s $10,000 cash raffle will be sold during walk registration. The cost is $20 per ticket. They can also be purchased at the shelter on Eagles Nest Road, off Route 611 in West Ocean City, or at Healing Hands Animal Hospital on East Main Street in Salisbury. The winning ticket will be drawn during the humane society’s annual dinner in November.

For more information, call 410-213-0146 or visit www.boardwalkinforpets.com.

Source; http://www.oceancitytoday.net/news/2011-04-29/Lifestyle/DOG_DAY_DELIGHT.html

Arrests Made As Appliances Are Returned

Nancy Drury Duncan

Staff Writer

ACCOMAC -- Two men who apparently tried to take a number of appliances from a used furniture store in Accomack County got more than they bargained for.

The heist ended with the store's owner holding a shotgun on the suspects until police arrived.

Storm Carter, 61, of Keller and Joseph Washington, 35, of Nelsonia, were found guilty of grand larceny in Accomack Circuit Court by Judge A. Bonwill Shockley.

The suspects were seen driving away from behind the store one night last June by store manager Jean Jones, who had dropped by.

She had her children in her car, she said. She said the truck and a flatbed trailer were filled with items belonging to the business, and she followed as it quickly drove away.

She called police and her father, the owner of the business, as she pursued the truck. Finally, the men stopped, walked back to her car and apologized to Jones, saying they would take the items back.

"They did go back," Jones said. "They started throwing thing off the truck and trailer really fast."

The items were described as a large steel air handler, used air conditioners and metal appliances as well as metal storage shelving that was bought to go inside the building to hold pallets of merchandise.

"They even took our appliance cart to load the stuff up with," she said.

Her father Andrew Willey, arrived as the men were throwing the items off the truck and trailer.

He testified that he went into his building and came out with a shotgun that he held on the men until police arrived.

"They did not attempt to leave?" defense attorney Terry Bliss asked Willey.

"Would you leave with a shotgun on you?" he asked back, causing the courtroom to erupt in laughter.

Bliss argued that her client thought it was a junk pile and didn't mean to steal. Garrett Dunham, attorney for Washington, said the crime was not grand larceny because it was hard to put a value on the items, which were not new.

"It is pretty hard to get around the fact that this was on someone else's property," said Shockley.

"Sorry guys, both guilty of grand larceny. If they thought it was junk, all they had to do was call up and ask if it was junk and offer to haul it away," she said.

Both Washington and Carter were allowed to remain free on bond until sentencing.

Source;  http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/20110427/ESN01/104270302/Appliances-returned-arrest-made?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Eastern Shore News|s

Pocomoke City Volunteer Fire Company Hosts Convention

The Del-Mar-Va Volunteer Firemen's Association Convention to be hosted by
The Pocomoke City Volunteer Fire Company

Ron Taylor, Convention Chairman

 

On April 28, 29 & 30, 2011 The Pocomoke City Vol. Fire Co. will host the 82nd Delmarva Volunteer Firemen's Assoc. and the The 77th Ladies Auxiliary Convention. The Association members include fire and rescue stations from Wilmington, DE to Cape Charles, VA

On Thursday, April 28, 2011 at 6:00 p.m., there will be a "Meet the Host" function at the Pocomoke City Vol. Fire Co. - 1410 Market St.

On Friday, April 29, 2011 starting at 9:00 a.m., the opening ceremony and meetings will be held at the Pocomoke City Vol. Fire Co. - in the Community Center. Friday evening will be the associations annual banquet, also at the community Center - beginning at 6 p.m.

On Saturday, April 30, 2011 at 9 a.m., there will be the Memorial Service at Bethany United Methodist Church (next to the Post Office in Downtown Pocomoke City). This service will recognize all of the deceased members.  Pocomoke members recognized  will be Raymond Spence, firefighter and Joy Parsons, Ladies  Auxillary member.

The meetings will resume, at the Community Center, following this service with the election and swearing in of officers of the Delmarva Vol. Firemen's Assoc. for 2011-2012.

Tommy Trice, a member of the Denton Volunteer Fire Co., is the present president of the association and Barbara Starkey, a member of the Easton Ladies Auxiliary, is the present president of the Delmarva Ladies Auxiliary.

The Convention is closed following a parade at 2 p.m.

The parade will stage at the Pocomoke City Middle School...travel 8th St. to Market St. and then South on Market Street, concluding at the Fire Station (1410 Market St.).

The reviewing stand will be located in front of Hartley Hall Nursing Home.

The general public is invited to attend the opening ceremonies on Friday at 9 a.m. and are welcome to enjoy the parade of antique and modern firefighting equipment and marching members of the Associations member companies.

Awards will be presented at the Pocomoke City Vol. Fire Co., 1410 Market St., following the parade.

www.pocomokefire.com

~PANCAKE SUPPER~

ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT PANCAKE SUPPER

Emmanuel Episcopal Church

in

Jenkins Bridge, Virginia

SUNDAY   May 1, 2011

4:00 PM  until  7:00 PM

MENU:  Regular and buckwheat pancakes, fried apples, sausage, scrambled eggs and drinks

Tickets:  Adults - $8.00 each     Children   $4.00 each

Tickets can be purchased from any church member or by calling the church office at 824-5043.

Only a  limited number  of tickets will be available at the door.

Takeouts will be available after 5 p.m.

The women of the church will be host a bazaar. Baked goods, books, craft items, and flower bulbs will be for sale.

A hand-crafted "bird condo" will be featured as a raffle item.

"Mr. Messenger" William H. Kerbin Sr. is a 2011 MDDC Hall of Fame Inductee

Congratulations ! Bill Kerbin !! 
I found this article yesterday (written Feb. 9) and thought that maybe there were a lot of people that weren't aware that the quiet Bill Kerbin is somewhat a celebrity.  It makes me feel so good when I see that the people I saw on a daily basis working in downtown Pocomoke finally get some recognition they so richly deserve.  This article says it all of the wonderful person he is. 
I searched for a follow up article on the awards ceremony and dinner but I just figured perhaps Bill hasn't written it yet.

February 9, 2011 — After a decades-long career as a journalist and editor in Worcester County, MD, the semi-retired former MDDC President William H. Kerbin, Sr., is a 2011 inductee to the association's Newspaper Hall of Fame. Greg Bassett, executive editor of The Daily Times, had this to say about Kerbin:

Readers who only know him through what’s in print now are missing quite a story in Bill Kerbin.

Newspapering is in his family. The Democratic Messenger, owned by his father since the mid-1940s, was his first taste of the work; he was stuffing inserts into papers when he was 8 years old. He interned with Salisbury’s The Daily Times as a young man as well, and by the early 1970s, he was reporting on Worcester County news.

When a businessman and Virginia politician, George McGrath, purchased the Messenger and combined it with a Worcester newspaper he already owned, the Pocomoke Democrat, Kerbin became the combined paper’s founding editor. He continued to report and write stories, and “he took a hell of a lot of pictures,” said his sister, Charlotte K. Cathell. His centrally located office had a wide-open-window’s view of the town’s daily life.

Residents, colleagues and friends say Kerbin – also a former MDDC board member – practiced community journalism before anyone thought to call it by that name. “He was always noted for his involvement with the community. He not only reported the news; he was always there to help and support nonprofit organizations,” said Gee Williams, who worked as an editor alongside Kerbin in the newspaper group for 20 years.

“No news story was too big or too small, ever”, Williams said. “He definitely was a classic community journalist that way. He not only knew the issues in those communities; he knew the people.”

Curt Lippoldt came to know Kerbin not long after Lippoldt moved to Pocomoke City in 1971. Lippoldt would become Pocomoke’s mayor, from 1986 to 1998, and he says Kerin managed well a challenge familiar to any small-town journalist: fairly covering an acquaintance who happens to be in politics. “I really liked the way he reported,” Lippoldt said. “Nothing can be more boring to citizens than city council meetings, but he wrote it in a very interesting style. We have a very informed citizenry thanks to Bill’s style of writing about civic affairs.”

Through the 1970s, ‘80s and ‘90s, Kerbin oversaw the coverage of a county that was changing rapidly; more houses being built; more businesses extending their reach; and more being demanded of local government by voters. Kerbin witnessed “the growth of county government,” says Williams, who is now mayor of Berlin.

“It went from being very parochial and very limited as the ‘70s were beginning to much more what we understand today” – expected to help attract high-tech jobs, prevent violent crime and the spread of drugs, and manage intense growth pressures while preserving the natural environment. “The tremendous progress of the local schools – he covered a lot of that,” Williams said, along with the efforts to restore and revitalize historic downtown Snow Hill and Pocomoke.

Kerbin was as active in civic life as he could be without holding public office himself. A leading layperson in his church, he also belonged to the Rotary and today is involved with the Relay for Life, a cancer fundraiser. But, Lippoldt said, he held apart enough his civic engagements and his duties to readers to present the best news he could. “I never, ever found one inkling that what he reported was influenced by what he said or did,” said Lippoldt. “He never editorialized.”

The semi-retired Kerbin still covers Pocomoke City government and community news for MDDC member paper, the Worcester County Times, a descendant of the Messenger.

Kerbin will be (was) honored at the Hall of Fame Dinner taking place Thursday, April 21, 2011, in conjunction with MDDC's Annual Awards Assembly.

Source; http://www.mddcpress.com/mc/page.do?sitePageId=124238

Second Body Found In River Not Linked To Phylicia Barnes Case

Jessica Anderson

 The Baltimore Sun

The body of a Virginia man found less than four miles from where Phylicia Barnes' body was spotted has ended in another roadblock for investigators, who said Tuesday that the two deaths are not related.

Darryl Harper, 53, of Richmond, Va., was identified as the man found the same day that Barnes' body was pulled from the Susquehanna River on April 20. But investigators said they have found nothing to connect him to the teen or to her disappearance, according to Maryland State Police.

Detectives "were looking at this case as it was — two people who were found dead. They needed to determine how they ended up that way. I don't know that there was any kind of hope" that they were connected, state police spokesman Gregory M. Shipley said Tuesday.

"Investigators look at these things matter-of-factly," he said, adding, "They will continue to gather additional details on what led to his death."

State police matched fingerprints from Harper with prints entered in the National Crime Information Center database for missing persons. Police said Harper, who had been reported missing by his wife, had stayed at a hospital in southern Pennsylvania for mental health problems and had a history of attempting suicide.

Barnes, who would have turned 17 in January, went missing from her half sister's Northwest Baltimore apartment three days after Christmas. The search for her drew local, state and federal police into an investigation that baffled detectives, who, along with volunteers, searched through the city's Leakin Park and Patapsco Valley State Park.

Last week, crews working on the Conowingo Dam reported a body floating in the river; the body was identified as Barnes. She was found naked, without obvious signs of trauma to her body. Several hours later, boaters reported finding Harper's nude body in the river south of the dam, which prompted speculation that the two deaths might be related.

City police, who led the Barnes investigation for months, as well as the girl's family, said they had no reason to search the area around the river, which divides Cecil and Harford counties.

Baltimore police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said that identifying Harper was "an alley … we have to explore. At least now we can rule that out."

He said 12 state troopers are continuing to investigate Barnes' death, alongside city homicide detectives who have worked the case for months.

"Now we can focus on her death investigation. The next step is the cause of death," Guglielmi said.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has not yet determined the cause and manner of death for Barnes and Harper, as they continue to perform tests. Dr. David R. Fowler, the state's chief medical examiner, would not comment further, citing the pending investigation.

Shipley said detectives are investigating the death of Harper, who was reported missing by his wife on April 15. She told police she last spoke to her husband in mid-March.

She told Richmond police that her husband left that city in early March to move belongings from their former apartment in Cockeysville. The couple moved to Richmond in February.

On March 25, she told police that a relative, who lives in the Harrisburg, Pa., area, called to tell her that Harper had checked himself into a mental health facility in Pennsylvania.

Police confirmed that he stayed in the hospital one night. According to his wife, Harper had told a relative in March he was going to jump off a bridge. She said her husband had attempted suicide in 2006.

Source;  http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-barnes-body-identity-20110426,0,6268576.story

Supreme Court Rejects Review Of Health Care Law

The Supreme Court rejected a call Monday from Virginia's attorney general to depart from its usual practice and put review of the health care law on a fast track. Instead, judicial review of President Barack Obama's signature legislation will continue in federal appeals courts.

The justices turned down a request by Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, a leading opponent of the law, to resolve questions about its constitutionality quickly. The Obama administration opposed Cuccinelli's plea.

Only rarely, in wartime or a constitutional crisis, does the court step into a legal fight before the issues are aired in appellate courts. Hearings already are scheduled in May and June in three appeals courts.

The case still could reach the high court in time for a decision by early summer 2012.

Justice Elena Kagan apparently took part in the court's order Monday, as there was no announcement that any justice sat out. There had been questions about whether she would participate because she served as Obama's solicitor general when the law was passed. Kagan indicated in Senate testimony last year that she played no role in the administration's planning and handling of challenges to the law.

So far, five federal judges have ruled on challenges to the law. Two Republican appointees, in Florida and Virginia, have declared it unconstitutional in whole or in part. Three Democratic appointees, in Michigan, Virginia and Washington, D.C., have upheld it.

Cuccinelli filed suit on behalf of Virginia, while 26 states joined in a separate lawsuit in Florida claiming that Congress exceeded its authority in requiring citizens to buy health insurance or pay a penalty starting in 2014.

In asking the high court to pluck the health care cases from the appeals courts before decisions were rendered there, Cuccinelli said delay imposes a "crippling uncertainty" upon the states.

In December, U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson in Richmond declared that the heart of the sweeping legislation -- the requirement that citizens buy health insurance or pay a penalty starting in 2014 -- is unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson of Florida came to the same conclusion in January in striking down the law in its entirety.

Both rulings have been put on hold pending appeals.

In the meantime, the federal and state governments have begun to put in place other parts of the law, including changes in payment rates under the Medicare system for older and disabled Americans and a provision allowing children up to age 26 to remain on the parents' health insurance policies.

Source; shoredailynews.com

At The Mar-Va ~ Two Shows One Night ~ Tickets While They Last

THE DATE HAS BEEN CHANGED

ELVIS  AND   NEIL DIAMOND

  Saturday  May 28th at 7 PMTickets: $15 in advance, $20 at the door

A Cash Bar will be available

*Door Prizes will be given!

Come to the Mar-Va to experience two amazing acts in one night.

One hour of Elvis and one hour of Neil.

Advance tickets will be available at the following locations:- The Mar-Va Box Office
- The Pocomoke Chamber
- Country Blossoms
- Market St. Deli
                - T's Corner

For more information, call the Box Office: 410-957-4230

Gaddam Quackenbus

I took this one at the Riteaid in Salisbury check out the managers names.

Crop Circle?

I was cleaning out old pictures that I had saved on my cell phone and I came across this little gem. This circle is much more pronounced in the winter months but as you can see it's still very obvious. The circle itself is about 20' (twenty feet) in diameter and the line of grass that makes-up the circle is probably around 2' (two feet) wide.

It's also right here in Pocomoke but about 3-4 miles outside of town.

What is it? 

Ford Recalls Over One Million F-150's

Faced with mounting government pressure, Ford Motor Co. has agreed to recall 1.2 million F-150 trucks and 16,000 Lincoln Mark LT pickups. The number is in addition to the 135,000 trucks that Ford recalled in February for the same problem: sudden, unexpected air bag deployment. Ford is also recalling 89,000 trucks in Canada and 47,000 in Mexico.

The recall is for certain models from 2004-2006, which the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) had been investigating. Their investigation found at least 269 cases of sudden air bag deployments, resulting in 98 injuries.  The investigators determined “if the clockspring jumper wire comes in contact with the driver side frontal air bag lower horn plate, the wire insulation may become chafed, creating a potential for a short circuit. If this occurs the air bag warning lamp may illuminate indicating that service is required.”

 Or, the air bag could inadvertently deploy, a problem which has resulted in chipped teeth, fractured arms, and burns. It could also result in the loss of vehicle control. So, the recall has been implemented.
Ford will notify owners and instruct them further on where to get the free repairs performed. Or owners may contact the customer relationship center at 1-866-436-1332. Click here to see the NHTSA’s official notification .  ....

VIA; Ford-Trucks.com

One Final Ride Around Baltimore For William Donald Schaefer

Marylanders — hands on their hearts, crisply saluting or wiping away tears — lined streets and gathered at landmarks to bid personal farewells to William Donald Schaefer Monday afternoon, as the former mayor and governor was taken on one final trip by motorcade through his beloved Baltimore.

"His heart was in the city, and I wanted to say goodbye," said Bronwyn Mayden, who watched from Lexington Market, near her office at the University of Maryland School of Social Work, where she is an assistant dean.

It was an oft-repeated sentiment along the 14-mile course that served as a partial rewinding of Schaefer's life, one largely lived within the boundaries of a city that bears the legacy of his terms in office.


For two hours, the motorcade traveled to some of the spots nearest and dearest to his heart, from his childhood home in West Baltimore to the Inner Harbor, from Camden Yards to Corned Beef Row, from Federal Hill to Little Italy. Along the way, he would be feted by music — by players from the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra to those from the Baltimore Colts turned Baltimore Ravens Marching Band — and heralded with signs, some handmade with messages of gratitude, others old campaign posters, yellowed and faded.




Most touching to the former aides and friends who had choreographed the tour, though, were not the landmarks that he had a hand in building, but the people who gathered along the motorcade route or waited at the stops. Some were fellow politicians he had worked or battled with, some were advocates who represented neighborhoods or causes, most were simply Baltimoreans who came out for one final show of support.



Photo by reporter Julie Scharper via Twitter Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake leads Schaefer's casket into City Hall.



"It was all the people he loved and who loved him," said Lainy LeBow-Sachs, Schaefer's longtime aide, who received multiple flowers and tributes on his behalf. "And that's what he was all about — people, people, people."



The day began in Annapolis, with Schaefer lying in state at the State House for several hours. Then the motorcade, led by motorcycle police and carrying some of Schaefer's closest friends, made its first stop at his childhood home, 620 Edgewood St. in West Baltimore, where a Maryland flag was flying from its porch.

There, a warm and welcoming crowd applauded as the cars approached, waved signs and offered up pots of Schaefer's favored African violets — the kind of scene that would be repeated as the group criss-crossed the city.



More; http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-schaefer-motorcade-20110425,0,2338692.story

GUMBORO MUD RACING THIS SATURDAY

First Saturday of racing at Gumboro!

Saturday   April 30, 2011

Gate opens at 10:00 AM

Adults:  $7.00 - Children under 10 FREE

(ALL CHILDREN MUST BE ACCOMPANIED BY AN ADULT!!!)

BACK AGAIN THIS YEAR IS THE POWER RACING FOR THE KIDS!

Pit admission this year will be $5.00 per person.  NO excessive vehicles in the pit.

 PLEASE NO ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES!!!

For more information:  www.gumboromudbog.com

Race will begin @ 1:00 PM

NASA Joining Forces With Military Families For Education Programs

ORLANDO, Fla. -- NASA's Office of Education will kick off a new campaign on Thursday, April 28, focused on reaching out to America's military families and engaging them in agency activities to promote science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education.

This initiative supports the Joining Forces campaign announced by First Lady Michelle Obama and Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, earlier this month.

During the NASA Education Pre-Launch Summit at the Peabody Hotel in Orlando, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and Associate Administrator for Education Leland Melvin will lay out the agency's plan to share educational resources and programs with students of military families.

Bolden will deliver the keynote luncheon address at 12:30 p.m. EDT and join invited military families afterward for hands-on STEM education activities. Military families also will attend the launch of space shuttle Endeavour on Friday as NASA's guests.

This outreach to military families is just one of many programs NASA education offers using the excitement of exploration to engage the nation's youth in STEM-related studies. The goal is to open the door to exciting future career options.

For more information about NASA's education programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/education  

Prayers For Courtney Bloxom

Please remember to keep Courtney Bloxom and her family in your prayers.

Joshua Nordstrom Is Chairman of Robotics Challenge

Written By:  Bill Kerbin

POCOMOKE CITY -- A number of students from the Eastern Shore of Maryland and Virginia have been participating in Eastern Shore Robotics, a program in which they have been actually building robots at a section of the MIST building in Pocomoke City.

Having participated in the recent regional competition the students now have their sights set on the national championship. And to participate in this event they have to raise money.

One planned fundraiser is the Robotics Technology Exposition and Challenge set for Saturday, May 21, at Midway GM/Toyota. The Worcester/Accomack, Northampton and Salisbury teams will be demonstrating their robots at this event. Members of the teams will also be available to discuss the process that they use in building their robots. The event will feature the robots built and used in this year's first competition by the local teams.

In addition to Midway and the teams, the event will be co-sponsored by the Mid-Atlantic Institute for Space and Technology. Recently team members spoke to the Pocomoke mayor and Council and were given a contribution toward the national championship.

Joshua Nordstrom, who is chairing the event, said that he and the other sponsors want to show the students that there are career opportunities in the science, mathematics, engineering and technology fields; that there are scholarships and internships available.

He is hoping for additional corporate sponsors who will want to set up booths and displays. This year he is hoping to raise $3,000 to help fund the trip to the national championship and to expand the event in the future.

Anyone interested in the event can contact Fotios Skouzes at 410-957-6570 or Joshua Nordstrom at 4190-957-2222.

Source; http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/20110421/WCT01/104210312/Shore-students-set-to-show-off-robotics-work?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Worcester County Times|s

NJ Man Pleads Guilty To Gun Trafficking From The Eastern Shore

Beasley is one of five arrested in June 2010 for smuggling guns from the Eastern Shore.  Three of the five men were from the Eastern Shore of Virginia.

TRENTON, N.J. (Associated Press)

A New Jersey man has admitted leading a network that smuggled guns from the Eastern Shore of Virginia to Trenton and sold them to gang members and drug dealers.

Trayle Beasley, 30, of Trenton pleaded guilty Monday in state Superior Court to being a leader of a firearms trafficking network. The state Attorney General's Office will recommend a 12- to 14-year prison term at sentencing on May 31.

Authorities say guns linked to Beasley have been used in at least two homicides in Trenton, including the shooting death of a 13-year-old girl at a block party in June 2009.

Criminal Justice Director Stephen Taylor said Monday that 75 percent of crime guns in New Jersey come from out of state. Virginia is the second biggest source, behind Pennsylvania.

Source; http://hamptonroads.com/2011/04/nj-man-pleads-guilty-gun-trafficking-eastern-shore

Words of Wisdom

If you are right handed,  you will tend to chew your food on the right side of your mouth. If you are left handed, you will tend to chew your food on the left side of your mouth.

For All Of You

We hope that today you will be able to celebrate Easter with your loved ones.

~~HAVE A VERY WONDERFUL EASTER SUNDAY ~~

Spring Painted By Nature

The grass has been cut.  Edging done.   Gardening complete!  Flower beds have been raked and weeded and now hold the blossoms that will last throughtout spring into summer.... then fall.

So many finely manicured lawns on the backroads of the Eastern Shore in Virginia.  Or anywhere else during spring.  Neatness counts for most people.....as if does for me.

But I  still prefer to watch and see what Nature designs in Spring.

She always paints with such beauty all of her  disorganized organized mess.

Always leaving just the right touches.

Get out and enjoy the Spring and enjoy the works of Nature.......while the beauty is  still here.