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Friday, July 1, 2011
Police Step Up Holiday Patrols
KUNG FU PANDA 2 At The MarVa This Weekend
Thursday, June 30, 2011
East Coast Pullers, LLC- At Pocomoke Fairgrounds Last Saturday
Ms. Nancy Weller is one of them. Racing a powerful vehicle and being the 2009 East Coast Pullers Champion doesn't surprise me. She competed this past Saturday night at the Pocomoke fairgrounds against some pretty mean motors........and men.
Weller drives "Hot Damn" in the Modified Tractors class along with her teammate and father, Earl Howard.
"When I started in 1996, there was a ton of pressure on me for being a woman in a male-dominated sport," she says. "It made my push to win even stronger." (East Coast Pullers LLC)
Any takers from Worcester County (currently in any type of law) up for building a racing vehicle and facing her, or anyone, on the race track?
No Recent Developments In Search For Teen
For instant updates, follow Perry Hall Patch onFacebook and Twitter.
Ratliff ran away from her Perry Hall home shortly before 8 p.m., on June 9 after a disagreement with her father about "inappropriate text messages," police spokesman Lt. Robert McCullough said.
When Patch first reported her disappearance June 23, police believed she may be in the Dundalk area, where her mother lives.
"That is no longer the case," Batton said, adding that there have been no recent developments in the search for Ratliff.
Anyone with information about Ratliff is encouraged to call Baltimore County police at 410-307-2020.
Pocomoke Mayor and Council Meeting
The council voted to pass an $8.5 million budget for the coming fiscal year with little or no change from the figures presented at the previous meeting in June. The new budget calls for a tax rate of 75 cents per $100 on owner-occupied property, the same as last year. The rate on real property that is not owner-occupied will be 80 cents per $100.
When he asked for justification for the increases from the Maryland Transit Authority, he said, he was told there had been no study. He then called the increase a "revenue grab." He said that the Bay Bridge made a $10 million profit last year with the present tolls, adding that a large amount of the increase on its tolls will go to fund the Inter-County Connector on the Western Shore. There is no planned increase in the toll for the ICC, which opened in the past five years.
McDermott said a scheduled public hearing on July 14 would be held at Stephen Decatur High School, and he suggested the mayor or a council member attend and testify.
Source; http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/20110630/WCT01/106300325/Pocomoke-approves-600K-for-restaurant?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Worcester County Times|s
Harmon Trial Continues.....
SNOW HILL -- Jurors saw autopsy photos and passed among each other a clear plastic bag filled with bullet fragments during the first day of the murder trial of Skylor Dupree Harmon.
Harmon is charged with first- and second-degree murder in the death of Reginald Handy Jr. Harmon's uncle, Alexander Crippen, was originally charged in the May 2010 murder, but charges were dropped before Crippen's trial. Crippen was later convicted of attempting to kill a different man, based on testimony about his actions at the same scene where Handy died.
Harmon, of Pocomoke City, turned 19 this month; he was 17 when Handy was killed. Harmon is also charged with first- and second-degree attempted murder, first- and second-degree assault and reckless endangerment for alleged crimes against Torrance Davis. He has pleaded not guilty.
During the first day of testimony, police told jurors how they located a .223-caliber Bushmaster assault rifle prosecutors believe Harmon used to kill Handy.
"The day after (Handy) was struck, the Pocomoke City Police Department received an anonymous tip," said Deputy State's Attorney Paul Haskell during his opening statement. Police were directed to 500 Young St. where they found the gun, described as a "Ferrari of a weapon" -- not a cheap firearm.
Shell casings from a .45-caliber weapon and a .380-caliber weapon were also found near Handy's body.
"The actual bullet that murdered Mr. Handy was so damaged that no determination can be made" about which gun fired it, Harmon's defense lawyer, Sandra Fried, said during her opening statement.
Fried went on to say that because the bullet hit Handy's spine, then fractured into several pieces, ballistics experts cannot determine if it was fired from the weapon police found on Young Street. Fried also told jurors no DNA evidence or fingerprints linked Harmon to the assault rifle.
Several witnesses who had also testified during the Crippen trial told jurors what they saw and heard the night Handy was killed.
Testimony from Torrance Davis, Handy's cousin, came out of an agreement with the State's Attorney's Office. In exchange for testimony, the state agreed to dismiss a pending assault case against Davis in addition to getting rid of a bench warrant in a separate case.
During his testimony, jurors saw the all-black assault rifle, topped with a scope, that police say killed Handy. Davis testified he received the weapon about two weeks before Handy's death, in exchange for crack cocaine, but later gave the weapon to someone else. Davis was unable to testify how the weapon would have ended up in Harmon's hands, because of an objection sustained by the judge.
Davis said that during the time he had the gun, he was able to fire it and knew what it sounded like. He said he could tell the difference between its sound and other gunshots.
"That gun makes a unique noise," Davis said. "It's like a cannon."
Testimony from Deputy Dale Trotter of the Worcester County Bureau of Investigation clarified for jurors how Harmon could have used the .223-caliber semiautomatic rifle to make a shot from about 65 yards away at 10 p.m.
"It was not an infrared scope but it was a hunting scope," Trotter said. "The ambient light from the street lighting would be enough that you could look through the scope and pick up your target."
Trotter testified that when police found the "military-grade weapon" it had a 10-round magazine. Eight bullets remained in the magazine, with one in the chamber. That indicated, Trotter said, one bullet had been fired from the weapon.
Assistant State Medical Examiner Russell Alexander testified that after the fatal bullet hit Handy's spine, a fragment continued through his body and hit his aorta, the largest artery in the body, causing massive bleeding.
"He died of a gunshot wound to the back," Alexander said.
Source: http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/20110630/NEWS01/106300385/Assault-rifle-shown-during-murder-trial?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|frontpage
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Worcester County- Skylor Harmon Trial
County Hires Cowger To Run Liquor Sales
Cowger, of Pocomoke City, has been in charge of managing the county's transition from a liquor board whose members are chosen by the governor to a system in which a county-controlled department manages retail and wholesale distribution of spirits.
Cowger has experience both as the former director of the LCB from 2001 through 2005. He is also a former Worcester County Commissioner who declined to run for re-election in 2010. He has also been an active member of the Pocomoke Volunteer Fire Company for more than 25 years, serving two terms as president.
As director of the Department of Liquor Control, Cowger's annual salary will be $85,000, a county spokeswoman said.
A campaign to disband the Worcester LCB, mounted by Ocean City business leaders who said the board gave some bars and restaurants better prices on liquor than others, led to a Maryland comptroller's investigation in 2010 that found problems in how the LCB managed and sold its inventory. A bill to end the LCB and give control over liquor sales to the county passed the legislature this spring and was signed by Gov. Martin O'Malley. It takes effect July 1.
Source; http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/20110628/NEWS01/110628033/SNOW-HILL-Cowger-is-hired-by-county-to-run-liquor-sales?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Worcester County Times|s
Hundreds Of Virginia Laws Will Take Effect On Friday
The wide array of new laws ranges from an expansion of the availability of protection orders to new measurement standards for selling shelled oysters. Here are some of the highlights.
ABC
Booze towns: Residents of towns with a population of more than 1,000 will now be able to vote on whether their county should allow the sale of mixed drinks. Previously, town residents could not vote in such county referendums. The law is meant to address situations where a “dry” town is located in a “wet” county, or vice-versa.
Budget
Business
Civil law
Sexual abuse: Minors who are victims of sexual abuse will now have 20 years from the time of the incident to file a civil lawsuit. The previous statute of limitations was two years.
Criminal justice
Education
Environment and natural resources
Taxes
Transportation
Deceased voters: Even if an absentee voter dies before Election Day, the vote still will count so long as the voter was entitled to vote when he cast the ballot.
Powerball Price Will Double To Play - Odds To Win Improve
Lottery officials say starting Jan.15, the price of a Powerball ticket will go from $1 to $2.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Launch From NASA Cancelled Until Wednesday
18-Year-Old Arrested For Rape In Pocomoke
Reynolds was initially held on $75,000 bond. Court records show bond was lowered to $25,000 after a bond review hearing on June 23, and that Reynolds was subsequently released on bond.
A preliminary hearing in District Court is set for July 19.
Source; http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/20110627/NEWS01/110627016/POCOMOKE-CITY-Police-say-18-year-old-raped-teen?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Worcester County Times|s
One-Armed National Guard Vet Catches Foul Ball
Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBzQGm-Qmbk
Senator Ralph S. Northam Recognized by the Virginia Sheriffs' Association
August Execution Set For Virginia Inmate
Jerry Terrell Jackson, 29, is scheduled to be executed Aug. 18 for the murder of 88-year-old Ruth Phillips of Williamsburg.
A nationwide shortage of sodium thiopental forced many states to substitute pentobarbital, but some have questioned its use. Defense attorneys called for an investigation after a Georgia inmate executed last week using the new drug appeared to struggle during the lethal injection.
Courts have ruled that the change in drugs is not significant enough to postpone executions.
Attorneys for Jackson did not immediately respond to calls and emails seeking comment. They are likely to appeal Jackson's case to the U.S. Supreme Court and ask Gov. Bob McDonnell to commute his sentence to life in prison.
"Justice will finally be carried out for the commonwealth and the family of Mrs. Ruth Phillips," Attorney General's Office spokesman Brian Gottstein said.
"I think it's about time. I think it's really overdue," said Richard Phillips, Ruth Phillips' son, who found his mother dead after she failed to show up for church. "The law is the law, and if we don't respect the law and stand by the law, what have we got? Nothing?"
Phillips said he does not plan to witness the execution.
"There have been times where you want to have vengeance, but that's not my thing," he said.
Ruth Phillips, a widow for 30 years, followed her son to Virginia from New Hampshire in the late '90s. She worked as a seamstress making slip covers and draperies until her death, Richard Phillips said.
Phillips said Jackson's attorneys should not try to fight the execution. Once it has been determined that Jackson was guilty and that the conviction was appropriate, "that's the time to hang it up," he said. He encouraged them to be concerned not only with their client, but with the victims.
"If they were really thinking about compassion and justice, they would let it go," he said.
Source; http://hamptonroads.com/2011/06/execution-date-set-man-death-williamsburg-woman
FREEDOM FEST In Crisfield
Please Pray For Courtney
Courtney was taken from the nursing home, that she has been a patient for some time, to the ER at Shore Memorial yesterday afternoon. Yesterday evening she was transported to the Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters.
Please send prayers and more prayers for her speedy recovery.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Launch From NASA On Tuesday
ORS-1 is the Operationally Responsive Space Offices first operational satellite. Rapidly developing and fielding ORS-1 is an important step to demonstrate the capability to meet emerging and persistent war-fighter needs on operationally relevant timelines.
The Minotaur 1 rocket, integrated by Orbital Sciences Corporation (OSC), is a four-stage vehicle, two stages being refurbished Minuteman II stages and the other two stages being OSC developed. The Minotaur is about 70 feet tall and 5 feet wide. The U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Centers Space Development and Test Wing has overall mission management responsibility. This will be the fourth Minotaur 1 rocket launched from NASAs Wallops Flight Facility and the Spaceport since December 2006.
Based on the approved range schedule, the rocket is set for launch between 8:28 and 11:28 p.m. EDT. The backup launch days are June 29 July 10 . The launch may be visible, depending on cloud cover and ones viewing location, in the eastern United States from southern New York to North Carolina. It may be seen as far west from the Atlantic Coast as West Virginia and western Pennsylvania. Further information on the mission, including where to view the launch, is available on the internet at: www.nasa.gov/centers/wallops/missions/ORS.html
Chicken BBQ This Weekend- Pocomoke City Vol. Fire Co. Is Cooking!!
Annual Chicken B-B-Q
Half BBQ Chicken <> Baked Beans <> Potato Salad <> Roll
Sunday sales while supply lasts
Happy Monday!
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Truck and Tractor Pull At the Pocomoke Fairgrounds
Modified Four Wheel Drive Trucks
Super Modified Tractors
Super Stock/Pro Stock Tractors
Blog Format Poll
The original format just got a little old and boring for us so we decided to make a change. Your opinion is valuable to us so your participation in the poll would be greatly appreciated. If you don't like the new format and have an idea of your own about how the blog should look let us know and we will run that by the readers and see if the majority agrees. If so we will make that change and run another poll on that format to see how it flies.
Thanks
PPE
TIME MACHINE ... December, 1924
(The Denton Journal)
Big Revival on the Peninsula
An old fashioned revival and anti-cussing movement is sweeping the Delmarva Peninsula, and swearing, bootlegging, unclean stories and the like are very unpopular, especially among the railroad men, says a dispatch in the Wilmington Evening News. The reason is that this old fashioned revival is spreading over the Peninsula like a prairie fire. The movement started at Pocomoke City the middle of September. Rev. George W. Cooke, the well known evangelist, heard of some bootlegging down that way, and made up his mind that all that was needed was an old fashioned revival, such as was known 50 years ago. He opened a meeting in the Methodist Episcopal Church, just opposite the spot where the Methodist parsonage had been burned be alleged bootleggers. It was not long until men all through the community were getting converted and changing their lives. The most popular subject, on the streets, in the stores and factories and homes, was the revival. One day the community was stirred by the conversion of one "hard case" and then another until the buildings were packed shortly after six o'clock to hear the evangelist.
There were no spectacular methods, just straight from the shoulder he-man sermons. Repeatedly Mr. Cooke would say: "This is no revival for a half-dozen old women and a few children- this is for men and for men who will pay 100 cents on the dollar and give 16 ounce to the pound. Go out and live the way you know a red-blooded Christian ought to live." Before the meetings were closed hundreds were converted, and money raised to replace the old parsonage with a new one, amounting to $10,000, and the new converts gave a large part of the money.
The work then spread to Delmar and the Evangelist Cooke was called to foster the work. He began to preach and the people began to come until it was impossible to get a seat in the Methodist Episcopal Church after 630 in the evening. Nightly the place was packed to suffocation and often they had to have "double headers" in one of the other churches. Two meetings were going on at once and the whole community was strangely stirred.
The community for miles around was singing: "I have the joy down in my heart," and people in stores and on trains and in the railroad shops and the banks were praying and changing their lives. Pool rooms were renovated, dark backrooms with liquids of more than 2.75 per cent were cleaned out , foul stories were discontinued and cussing on the streets became almost a criminal offense.
A Pennsylvania Railroad inspector, after making his tour of the peninsula, remarked, he had never known such an absense of cussing before among railroad men. From one end of the peninsula to the other the chief topic of conversation is religion, and hundreds are being converted, homes are being reunited, and feuds of long standing are being straightened out. A Jewish merchant remarked, "This is very wonderful, for they are paying me money that has been owing for years." He afterward made a subscription to the church as he said this religion had been good for him.
James M. Tunnel, prominent Sussex county attorney, and late candidate on the Democratic ticket in Delaware for United States Senator, remarked- "I don't know what has happened on the peninsula, but at least a dozen men have spoken to me about their changed lives, and about the revival in Delmar."
The revival is spreading like an oldtime conflagration and it is sweeping into the churches men who have never been touched before. The prayer meetings of a handful have increased into the hundreds in many places and it is hard to tell where it will stop. While the work continues at Pocomoke City and Delmar and other places, Evangelist Cooke is now at Seaford, to which place the work has spread.