TIME MACHINE ... This Sunday's Preview.

1910.. New Crisfield Law And Order League tells its purpose; 1888.. Gun fire over elopement in Accomack County; 1880.. Lindseyville in Worcester County gets a new name; 1959.. Prominent Pocomoke City attorney receives judicial appointment.

1952.. It was apparently an idea whose time had not come.  See the ad for a new major kitchen appliance that was introduced, but most of us have probably never heard about it.  

What could it have been?  


It's this Sunday right here at The Pocomoke Public Eye!  

Do you have a local memory to share with PPE readers.. such as a big snow storm, a favorite school teacher, a local happening, something of interest your parents or grandparents told you about?  It can be just a line or two, or more if you wish.   Send to tkforppe@yahoo.com and watch for it on a future TIME MACHINE posting!

Would you consider helping The Pocomoke Public Eye as one of our contributors of current local items of interest?  Please contact pcitypubliceye@gmail.com

TIME MACHINE ... 1899, 1996, 1904, 1965, Mid 50's/Early 60's.

"Friendliest Town On The Eastern Shore."  Our tradition runs deep.  Excerpt from a letter to the editor from a visitor to Newtown, (former name of Pocomoke City) published in the Baltimore Sun, April 28,1847.

This place (Newtown) is a pretty snug little village, containing about 500 clever and hospitable inhabitants; it has good wide streets, quite clear of that "eye sore," known mostly over the Peninsula by the name of "deep sand"; the houses, though built of frame, are generally built substantially and with some discretion and taste; there are two neat, new, and quite handsome frame churches in it; as for the merchants of the place, suffice it to state that they are very clever and hospitable.  F. Mezick, Esq., the landlord with whom I stopped, and his very obliging and jolly assistant, are richly deserving of a passing notice, for the good treatment and the extension of the many civilities to "the stranger."

(Reader-friendly viewing of news archives/historical archives material)

February, 1899
The Washington Times (Washington, D.C.)

Pocomoke River Shut Up.

Pocomoke City, Md., Feb 11.-  The Pocomoke River is frozen over with ice one and a half inches thick at Pocomoke City. Navigation is blocked. Telegraph and telephone communication has been greatly impaired owing to the wires being covered with ice and the weight causing them to break. The thermometer was 5 degrees below zero at 7 o'clock  yesterday morning. At noon it was eight degrees above, and at 7 o'clock last night the mercury dropped to 3 degrees below. 


November, 1996
The Capital (Annapolis, Md.)

Court evacuated over 'dummy grenade'

SALISBURY- Nearly 450 state workers were evacuated in downtown Salisbury after state fire officials learned that a lawyer brought a hand grenade as evidence to use as evidence in District Court.  

Police cordened off downtown streets surrounding the W. Paul Martin Multi-Service Center for more than four hours at 9:50 a.m. yesterday after defense attorney Robert Spery told a prosecutor he had a "dummy grenade" in a car parked 50 feet from the building.

Mr. Spery said authorities over-reacted over a grenade that was inoperable.

Deputy State Fire Marshal Ruxton Bramble said authorities needed to examine the device before being certain it was safe.

Mr. Spery said he intended to use the grenade in court to help clear a client charged with threatening to blow up his house and family with a similar device.


August, 1904
The Washington Post

TRIED TO RESCUE PRISONERS

Mob Attacks Sheriff and Deupties at Snow Hill.

Special to the Washington Post.

Snow Hill, Md., Aug.23.-  A mob here today made an effort to take prisoners from the custody of Sheriff Lankford on the way from Magistrate Rowndes' office to the county jail. The prisoners had been sentenced to ten days in jail for refusing to work on the public road or to pay the seventy-five cents which the local road law provides must be paid by the person summoned to labor if he does not do the work.

Eight white men and four colored men are in jail.  Sheriff Lankford and his deputies by prompt and vigorous action put down the threatened riot, but not without hard work. The crowd surged about the officers and fought clear to the prison doors.

February, 1965
The Daily Mail (Hagerstown, Md.)

Pocomoke City Ponders Hiring Town Manager

POCOMOKE CITY, MD. (AP)-  Three organizations have recommended that Pocomoke City adopt the city manager form of government and reduce its five-man council to three persons.

The recommendations came from the Economic Development Committee, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Junior Chamber of Commerce. The issue will probably be decided at a meeting Monday night.

The proposal includes raising the mayor's salary from $200 to $800 a year, and that of the councilmen from $100 to $600 a year. Reducing the number of councilmen would finance the increases.


1956...

When I was growing up an item of interest to me was an audio tape recorder..a reel-to-reel tape machine similar to the one pictured, and I was fortunate enough to acquire one.  Over the years hours of miscellaneous audio were recorded on many reels of tape. The machine itself had been long gone when I came across the tapes about twenty years ago but I was lucky to have access to an old professional reel tape player that a co-worker let me borrow. 

So what was on the tapes? Some was just silly stuff by me and a cousin. But there was also a treasure of audio from those decades earlier such as: New Year's Eve family get-togethers; family recordings exchanged with an uncle's family in Ohio; "conversations" with a 2-year-old niece (now a mother of grown children); comments from family members regarding the coming 1960 presidential election; audio "letters" from my cousin in Pocomoke when I was away at school, telling me about news of the day from Pocomoke High, etc.; the audio from WBOC-TV's "High School Challenge" program in which Pocomoke High students participated; TV audio from election night 1960 with Walter Cronkite (and an early computer projection that Nixon would defeat Kennedy); miscellaneous audio recorded from Pocomoke's WDMV radio in the late 1950's and early 1960's.

The audio from the tapes is now preserved in digital form. Even though the tapes will probably never be played again, I still hold on to them.

The reel-to-reel tape machines lost favor to the much smaller audio cassette recorder/players which first became available during the 1960's. -tk



Do you have a local memory to share with PPE readers.. such as a big snow storm, a favorite school teacher, a local happening, something of interest your parents or grandparents told you about?  It can be just a line or two, or more if you wish. Send to tkforppe@yahoo.com and watch for it on a future TIME MACHINE posting!



PPE remembers JMMB.

Governor Larry Hogan Announces Tax Relief For Veterans

For Immediate Release:February 12, 2015Contact: Erin Montgomery erin.montgomery@maryland.govShareese Churchill shareese.churchill@maryland.gov410-260-3866

Governor Larry Hogan Announces Tax Relief For VeteransJoins With Secretary-Designee George Owings, Local VeteransTo Support Military Retirement Income Tax Exemption

ANNAPOLIS, MD – Governor Larry Hogan joined Maryland Veterans Affairs Secretary-designee George Owings and local veterans to announce House Bill 482 – the Military Retirement Income Tax Exemption. The bill aims to eliminate income tax on all military retirement income, phasing in relief over a period of four years, providing for 25 percent relief in the first year, and rising to 100 percent in the final year.

“Making our state as welcoming and friendly as possible to military retirees is not only common sense but it’s simply the right thing to do,” said Governor Hogan. “After years of thousands of our citizens fleeing our state, this tax cut is the first step, among many to come, to ensuring that the people who spend their lives in service to others are given the support and tax relief they deserve.”

As announced in his State of the State address, House Bill 482 is representative of Governor Hogan’s goal to fully eliminate income taxes on all retirement income. This legislation also fulfills a commitment that the governor made to Maryland’s military retirees during his campaign, and is a significant testament of his administrations commitment to the men and women who have dedicated their professional lives to the defense, safety, and security of our nation.

"I am honored to join Governor Hogan today as he visits American Legion Post 136 in Greenbelt and demonstrates his commitment to our veterans,” said Secretary-designee George Owings. “Such an early visit to a Veterans Service Organization indicates the importance Governor Hogan places on our veterans."

Under current Maryland law, military retirement income is subject to personal income tax with the first $5,000 being exempt. In 2013, there were over 54,251 military retirees in the state, of which 50,889 received pensions. Military pensions totaled over $1.4 billion or an average of $28,666 per person. 

“The American Legion, Department of Maryland supports raising the tax exemption of military retired pay for Maryland residents over the coming years until such pay is completely exempt from State income taxes,” said Russell Myers, Jr., Department Adjutant, the American Legion, Department of Maryland. “Our organization supports all efforts to increase military retired pay exemption in Maryland.”

HB 482 can be viewed here.

TIME MACHINE ... This Sunday's Preview.

1899.. Pocomoke City deals with a harsh February; 1996.. Hand grenade scare in Salisbury triggers large evacuation; 1904..  Mob in Snow Hill attempts to free a dozen prisoners going to jail; 1965.. Pocomoke City Ponders Hiring Town Manager; Mid 50's/Early 60's.. Tale of the tapes.

Read more about it this Sunday right here at The Pocomoke Public Eye!

Do you have a local memory to share with PPE readers.. such as a big snow storm, a favorite school teacher, a local happening, something of interest your parents or grandparents told you about?  It can be just a line or two, or more if you wish. Send to tkforppe@yahoo.com and watch for it on a future TIME MACHINE posting!

February PACC General Membership Luncheon

February 

General Membership Luncheon 

Wednesday

February 18, 2015

(12:00 - 1:00)

Riverside Grill

2 Riverside Drive

Pocomoke City

Featured Speaker:

Stacey Weisner

Executive Director

Delmarva Discovery Center

Tour of DDC available following lunch

Register online at

pocomoke.com

OR

Call Deb 410 957-1919 OR

email at

pocomokechamber@gmail.com

TIME MACHINE ... 1857, 1930's-50's, 1946, 1904, 1888, 1993.

"Friendliest Town On The Eastern Shore."  Our tradition runs deep.  Excerpt from a letter to the editor from a visitor to Newtown, (former name of Pocomoke City) published in the Baltimore Sun, April 28,1847.

This place (Newtown) is a pretty snug little village, containing about 500 clever and hospitable inhabitants; it has good wide streets, quite clear of that "eye sore," known mostly over the Peninsula by the name of "deep sand"; the houses, though built of frame, are generally built substantially and with some discretion and taste; there are two neat, new, and quite handsome frame churches in it; as for the merchants of the place, suffice it to state that they are very clever and hospitable.  F. Mezick, Esq., the landlord with whom I stopped, and his very obliging and jolly assistant, are richly deserving of a passing notice, for the good treatment and the extension of the many civilities to "the stranger."

(Reader-friendly viewing of news archives/historical archives material)


February, 1857
The Sun (Baltimore)

AFFAIRS IN WORCESTER COUNTY.-  The Snow Hill Shield contains the following items:

Scarcity of meal.- The low state of water in the mill ponds in this county, has prevented the mills from shipping the demand for corn meal, and many families are compelled to use hommony as a substitute. Those who have yet the old fashioned hand mills on their premesis have brought them into requisition and find them exceedingly convenient.

Dry Winter.- The present winter has been so dry that many of our farmers have been obliged to water their stock from wells. Wild animals in the forests and swamps have suffered much from the same cause.

Novel Mode Of Catching Wild Fowl.- One of our citizens has been amuzing himself during the present freeze by catching black head ducks in the Pocomoke with fish hooks and lines baited with grains of corn.

The Gipseys.- A company of Gipseys have been encamped in our vicinity for some days.


In Ocean City..

Jackson Casino, once located at 9th Street, was the place for vacationers and locals to go to gamble and party from the 1930s to the mid-1950s.

(Picture and text courtesy of Ocean City Life Saving Museum)


April, 1946
The Cumberland News (Cumberland, Md.)

New Street Lights

POCOMOKE CITY, Md., April 2. (AP)- A new street lighting system, increasing candlepower from  240 to 400 on each street, is being installed here, John Payne, Eastern Shore Public Service Company representative, announced.


December, 1904
The Baltimore Sun 

Peninsula General Hospital, a Gift of William H. Jackson, Opened at Salisbury.

(Excerpts)

Salisbury, Maryland, December 28, 1904:
This afternoon at the Ulman Opera house in Salisbury, Hon. William H. Jackson formerly transferred the Peninsula General Hospital, built in this city by his philanthropy, to the board of directors. 

Congressman Jackson's speech on the occasion was a model of modesty and sincerity.

The entire medical fraternity of the First Congressional District together with many physicians and surgeons from Philadelphia and New York were invited to be present and many of them came. The guests were entertained at a luncheon in the hospital building after ceremonies at the Opera House were over. 

The building is one of the most handsomest and best appointed in the State, costing about $90,000. It is presented by Congressman William H. Jackson. The furniture was given by his son, President of the Board, William P. Jackson; an ambulance was given by Walter B. Miller, and other donations,of appliances, instruments, etc., have been made by the citizens. The hospital, it is understood, will be endowed by the Jacksons and John B. Parson, president of the Union Traction Company of Philadelphia, a native of Salisbury. Details of these endowments have not yet been made public. The directors have contracted for the erection of a new building at the hospital to be used as a laundry, pumping house and ambulance garage. 

On the weekend, December 29th, 30th and 31st, the new hospital will be thrown open to the public for inspection of the building and its furnishings. The patients from the old hospital will be moved on New Years Day to the new building which by that time will be completely furnished and ready to receive them.


July, 1888
Washington Post

The Methodist Episcopal Church, at Girdletree, Md., Rev. Warren Burr, pastor, will be remodeled soon. Twenty feet will be added to the present structure, and a new tower will be built.


ACROSS THE USA

It's 1993 and here's TV's newest late night host:

Do you have a local memory to share with PPE readers.. such as a big snow storm, a favorite school teacher, a local happening, something of interest your parents or grandparents told you about?  It can be just a line or two, or more if you wish. Send to tkforppe@yahoo.com and watch for it on a future TIME MACHINE posting!



PPE remembers JMMB.

THAT'S US!

What a spectacular video from the International Space Station!   In this Vine video posted to the space station’s account, the aurora borealis glows over the northern hemisphere as the space station flies up the East Coast of the United States… and the sun rises over Greenland.   And what is that down there, below… easily recognizable in the beginning?  None other than a sleeping Delmarva peninsula.  Gorgeous!

Astronaut Barry "Butch" Wilmore posted the video on Feb 4th from 250 miles above the earth… at 17,000 miles per hour… and it’s not even blurry.

(Image and text courtesy of DelmarvaLife.  See the video at: http://www.delmarvalife.com/show/delmarva-cameos-spectacular-aurora-sunrise-video-clip-space/ )

TIME MACHINE ... This Sunday's Preview

1857.. Worcester feeling affects of a dry winter; 1946.. Pocomoke City gets new street lighting; 1904.. A new Peninsula General Hospital opens;  1888.. Renovations to Girdletree church.

What's this popular Eastern Shore destination from the 1930's to the 1950's?

And ACROSS THE USA.. 1993 brings a new late night host to TV.

It's this Sunday right here at The Pocomoke Public Eye!  

Do you have a local memory to share with PPE readers.. such as a big snow storm, a favorite school teacher, a local happening, something of interest your parents or grandparents told you about?  It can be just a line or two, or more if you wish. Send to tkforppe@yahoo.com and watch for it on a future TIME MACHINE posting! 

Would you consider helping The Pocomoke Public Eye as one of the contributors of current local items of interest?  Please contact pcitypubliceye@gmail.com

Hometown Heroes Tax Relief

Governor Hogan: Repeal The Rain Tax

'Open for business' in Md.

Op-ed: What will it take to improve Maryland's business climate? Realism and willing legislators.

By Jay Steinmetz

The political momentum exists to make the changes everyone wants to improve Maryland, and now is the time to come together to make that happen. But it will take more than highway signs and campaign slogans to turn that momentum into policy changes needed to make Maryland economically competitive. We need to define our own success, and this election helps us do that.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-hogan-business-20150204-story.html

Suspect Charged with Attempted Murder in Worcester County

SNOW HILL, Md.- A Fruitland man is facing attempted murder and related charges following a weekend shooting in Worcester County.

Detectives with the Worcester County Bureau of Investigations said that at around 1 a.m. Saturday, they were notified of a shooting victim at Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury. The victim was reportedly shot twice near the intersection of Whitesburg and Five Bridges road in Worcester County.

Detectives responded to the hospital where they made contact with the victim as well as witnesses of the shooting. Detectives learned the victim, and two other people were driving down Whitesburg Road when they stopped near the intersection of Whitesburg and Five Bridges road to assist with someone who had struck a deer with their vehicle.

It was reported that an argument started between both parties.
Investigators said that is when Kenny George White, of South Camden Avenue in Fruitland, picked up a shotgun and fired at the victim standing in the roadway.

The victim turned to flee and was shot at again by the suspect, police said.

The victim sustained injuries below his torso. The victim made it back in the vehicle and was able to get a partial license plate number. That number assisted police in finding the suspect.
The victim returned to his home in Eden and called for an ambulance. The Wicomico County Sheriff's Office initially responded to the home, where it was later learned that the shooting had occurred in Worcester County.

The Fruitland Police Department located the suspect vehicle on South Camden Avenue in Fruitland.

Detectives from the WCBI made contact White and had the opportunity to interview him. White was subsequently charged with attempted murder, first-degree assault, and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.

After a search warrant was obtained for his home, detectives said they found a shotgun and shotgun shells. They were recovered and seized as evidence.

Police searched the area on Whitesburg Road, where the reported shooting had occurred. Their search revealed two “spent” shotgun shells matching the description of the shotgun shells found at White's house, investigators said.

White was taken to the Wicomico County Detention Center for processing.
SOURCE [WBOC.COM]

Pocomoke Elementary School

Best Public Elementary Schools in Maryland

 Best Public Elementary Schools ranks 40,403 elementary schools based on key student statistics and 4.6 million opinions from 280,000 students and parents. A high ranking indicates that the school is an exceptional academic institution with a diverse set of high-achieving students and faculty, and the students are very happy with their experiences.

An additional 8,824 schools received a grade but were not eligible for ranking. For more information, read the full methodology.

 

Pocomoke Elementary School

Overall
Niche Grade

• Grades
  PK, K-3
• Students
  389
• Type
  Public
• Ranking
  94th in MD
  
   Pocomoke Elementary School is a public school in Pocomoke City, Maryland. It has 389 students in grades PK and K-3. According to state standards, 95% of students at this school are considered proficient in math and/or reading.

Reptile Festival

A Night of Music With a lot Of Food and Wine

Are you planning any special events or promotions surrounding Valentine's Day?

Are you planning any special events or promotions surrounding Valentine's Day?

Any special deals you want people to know about?

Contact Debbie at the Chamber so the word can get out!

Call 410 957-1919 OR

Email: pocomokechamber@gmail.com 

Submit your information by COB each Thursday

Maryland Chamber of Commerce Legislative Report

The following information is provided by the

Maryland Chamber of Commerce Legislative Report

January 29, 2015

Hogan Budget Unveiled 

Governor Larry Hogan unveiled his budget proposal on Thursday, January 22. The simple white on black cover was as stark as the budget challenge within. For the current fiscal year ending on June 30, the state has a total shortfall of $423 million. The estimated budget gap for the following fiscal year is $802 million. Thus, according to Hogan's budget proposal, the cumulative FY 2015 and 2016 budget challenge is $1.25 billion.

By all accounts the Governor's FY 2016 budget is structurally balanced. Proponents praise the bold action necessary to get spending under control while others question whether the proposal is too aggressive given the timeline. The proposed budget does however, reflect promises made during the campaign; there are no new taxes or fees, no layoffs and no furloughs.

The largest single contributor to this fiscal year's shortfall is Medicaid. The Medicaid shortfall is largely attributed to higher than budgeted enrollment due to the Affordable Care Act, higher costs of new Hepatitis C drugs and a decline in the cigarette tax revenue. To help close the FY 2015 budget gap, Hogan proposes cutting in half an increase in the rates paid to Medicaid healthcare providers, using funds from another insurance program to fund Medicaid, as well as, a 2% agency reduction. FY 2016 solutions include reducing healthcare provider rates to the FY 2014 levels, employee compensation adjustments and aid to education. State spending on education would increase in FY 2016 but at a rate less than educators and county leaders would like.

Generally speaking economic development programs fared well. The Biotechnology, CyberSecurity, and Research and Development Tax Credits along with the Stem Cell Research Fund were all level funded or received very modest reductions sending a clear message that "Maryland is open for business". For more information on how the budget could impact Maryland's business climate contact Mat Palmer at mpalmer@mdchamber.org.

The  Chamber (Maryland) recognizes the Governor's budget proposal included some tough choices and the Chamber (Maryland) supports the Governor's efforts to align state spending with state revenues breaking the cycle of having to deal with midyear cuts and structural deficits. The House Appropriations Committee will act first on the Budget and has already begun to have briefings on the Hogan Administration's budget actions.
  

For more of the Maryland Chamber of Commerce Legislative Report, visit the For Immediate Release section on pocomoke.com.

Whoever said “beggars can’t be choosers” never met Somali Muslims

Whoever said “beggars can’t be choosers” never met Somali Muslims in Minnesota. These Muslim imports in Minneapolis are now demanding a tax-funded “halal” non-pork food shelf at a free food pantry for the poor. As if it’s not bad enough that nearly all the “American” Muslims who have joined ISIS have been Somalis from Minneapolis, their relatives here are demanding that Americans adhere to the same Sharia Laws the Islamic State fighters are trying to impose throughout the Middle East. A group of first-generation Somali Americans says they need help in developing a food shelf that specializes in healthy foods that do not contain pork or pork byproducts. “It’s about human rights also, basic human rights to get the proper food and also healthy food,” said Imam Hassan Mohamud.

“Human rights”? Seriously? Their arrogance and self-entitlement has to be unprecedented for a group on the public dole. Tens of thousands of Somalis settled in Minneapolis/St. Paul after Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and later Barack Obama imported them and funded massive “refugee” centers there. Welfare, schools, hospitals and social services have been crushed by the burden of immigrants who lack the most basic skills to live in a modern society.

This is hardly the first demands Somalis have made on the good people of Minneapolis. When the influx of Somali thugs naturally resulted is a massive increase in crime a decade ago, Somalis demanded a $48 million Sharia-compliant “youth center” to keep Somali gangs “out of trouble”.

We have read for several years now how Muslim cab drivers in Minneapolis and several airports have kicked out blind passengers with guide dogs (dogs are “unclean” in Islam), or customers transporting alcohol. They came here, taking advantage of American generosity, and returned it by enforcing their own brand of Sharia Law upon us.

Liberals in Minnesota have bent over backwards for them, setting up foot-washing basins in their airport and even at a university, in response to their demands.

But as with most appeasement, these refugees keep making more demands. Now it is for “halal” products (meat slaughtered with Islamic prayers and a ban on pork).

The Imam leading this protest actually claimed that there were beans with pork in it and this was a “literacy” issue that required more government funding and special halal-compliant beans. But one commenter on the article from Minneapolis wrote:

As someone who made use of the foodshelf recently, I can tell you that most of the food doesn’t contain pork. I hear what they are saying about a literacy issue, but can’t the food shelf people just point out the cans of pork and beans? Besides, the food shelf is based on donations!

This is not about Muslims “making do” or getting help on what to eat. The Koran demands that Muslim make any country they live in adapt to them and Sharia Law. The last thing they plan to do is assimilate.

One blogger added:
How long until they demand separate entrances to the food pantry for men and women and separate entrances for Muslims who don’t want to see any Christmas or holiday food or decorations?
The state of Maine has also been crushed by Somalis that Obama has forced upon them. The Governor of Maine, Paul LePage has valiantly been trying to cut off cash aid to Somalis – nearly all of whom are on welfare – since Obama has purposely dumped thousands of them in Lewiston and Portland.
America got Black Hawk Down and 18 dead Americans. Somalis got 90,000+ “asylum” slots in America, free housing, Sharia-compliant facilities, and a lifetime of welfare. How do you say “chumps” in Somali?

TIME MACHINE ... 1967, 1899, 2004, 1966-67, 1989

(Reader-friendly viewing of news archive/historical archive material)

July, 1967
The  Daily Times (Salisbury)

(Excerpts)  

Kindergarten Plan Ok'd For Worcester in '67-68

SNOW HILL -  A full program of free kindergarten classes will be provided in all Worcester County schools in 1967-68 accodomg to Robert W. Gaddis, superintendent of education.

Over 500 children are expected to attend.

Mr. Gaddis said that the board of education decided to give full support to the new kinddergarten program which is partially financed by state funds. The state will pay 37 1/2 percent of the cost, with the remainder financed by county and federal money.

Worcester County has had a kindergarten program in four county schools previously, but it has been under a tuition system, where the parent paid $20 per month for each child. This teaching for pre-schoolers was started at a PTA project in 1958.


March, 1899
The Gaffney Ledger (Gaffney, S.C.)

BIG LUMBER MILL BURNED

Entire Town of Salisbury, Md., Was Threatened With Destruction

SALISBURY  MD.,  March 14.-  At 4 o'clock this morning fire broke out at Jackson's mill, located at the lower end of Main St., and spread rapidly.  A high wind scattered the sparks in every direction and increased the violence of the flames.

The fire department worked heroically, but the flames got beyond their control and help was asked from Wilmington, Crisfield, and Pocomoke City.

The mill and the big lumber yard, containing millions of feet of lumber, were soon reduced to ashes. The flames spread to adjoining property and there was great apprehension that the entire lower part of the town would go.

The fire was got under control about noon, with assistance of fire engines from Wilmington, Del., and Pocomoke City, Md. No estimate of the damage can yet be made. 


October, 2004
The Somerset Herald (Princess Anne)

(Excerpts)

Courthouse marks 100th year

PRINCESS ANNE-  A building that has long been at both the literal and figurative center of town -the Somerset County Courthouse- will mark its 100th birthday Friday with a rededication ceremony and an open house.

The event will be an opportunity for the public to see the inside of a building they might never have a reason to visit.

"The courtroom's the best part of it," said attorney Jack Willing, Jr., one of the organizers. "There's a lot of heritage there that people can see."

While the present building is marking its 100th anniversary, the court system in Somerset County dates back 338 years, according to attorney Tony Bruce, who conducted research for the rededication.

The sign reads as follows:

SOMERSET COUNTY CIRCUIT COURTHOUSE

1904

THE COURTHOUSE WAS DESIGNED IN THE GEORGIAN REVIVAL STYLE BY ARCHITECTS FRANK E. AND HARRY R. DAVIS OF BALTIMORE, AND WAS BUILT BY W. P. PUSEY AND SON OF SNOW HILL. THE RED BRICK STRUCTURE IS ENRICHED WITH INDIANA LIMESTONE FEATURES AND STANDS ON THE SITE OF THE 1833 COURTHOUSE WHICH HAD REPLACED THE FIRST ONE OF 1747 AFTER IT BURNED. THE SCALE AND STYLE OF THE COURTHOUSE REFLECT THE EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY PROPERITY AND THE COLONIAL HERITAGE OF SOMERSET.

ACROSS THE USA ..  

July, 1966
Hazelton Standard-Speaker (Hazelton, Pa.)

(Excerpt)

KANSAS CITY (AP) -  The AFL-NFL championship football game probably will be played on a neutral site, with the Rose Bowl probably having the best chance, Lamar Hunt said Sunday.

Hunt, owner of the Kansas City Chiefs of the American Football League, was quoted by the Kansas City Star as saying the special three-man committee from the AFL and the National Football League will meet soon to work out a number of the details.

"I think one of the first things we'll consider is the site of the Super Bowl - that's my term for the championship game between the two leagues." 


October, 1966
The Troy Record (Troy, N.Y.)

(Excerpts)

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) -  Pasadena in effect shut the door of its famed Rose Bowl yesterday for the proposed superbowl championship game Jan 8. between the National and American Football Leagues.

Fear of losing its long association with college football people, notably the Athletic Association of Western Universities and the Big Ten and their annual New Year's Day Classic, was a prime reason for backing off from the professional people.

The Pasadena Chamber originally contacted the two leagues about the possibility of staging the so-called super bowl here. The city controls the big bowl 11 months of the year while the Tournament Of Roses has the stadium in December and through the New Year's Day game.


November, 1966
The San Bernardino County Sun (San Bernardino, Calif.)

(Excerpt)

WASHINGTON (AP) -  President Johnson signed into law yesterday a bill giving the merger of the American and National Football Leagues limited immunity from anti-trust laws.

Under the merger plans, the leagues will play a Super Bowl game in January pitting the AFL champions against the NFL winners, will hold a common draft, and will plan a schedule for inter-league pre-season games next summer.

Two new cities will join the combined league to eventually be formed by 28 teams.

On Nov. 1 the NFL made New Orleans the 16th franchise, to begin operations in 1967. The new club will participate in the January draft. The AFL's 10th club is expected to begin operation in 1968. Two more teams are expected to be added after that.


January, 1967
The Bonham Daily Favorite (Bonham, Texas)

(Excerpt)

LOS ANGELES (UPI) -  The war of words between the American and National Football leagues is on the verge of being settled Sunday when the Kansas City Chiefs meet the Green Bay Packers in the Super Bowl for the world championship of pro-football.

"It's been a war of words for seven years and now we'll settle it on the grass," Coach Hank Stram of the AFL champion Chief's said in his final press conference.

Coach Vince Lombardi said there wasn't a chance in the world that his NFL champion Packers would fail to take the challenge of the Chief's seriously when they meet Sunday in the Memorial Coliseum before a crowd of around 70,000 fans. An estimated 60 million persons also will be watching the game on two television networks (CBS and NBC.)

"It's the first time its been played, so I don't know," Lombardi commented on his personal reaction. "It seems like a game should have some tradition before you can tell what it means."


The Super Bowl match-ups and winners, 1967-2014:
http://espn.go.com/nfl/superbowl/history/winners


It's" Bud Bowl I" from 1989!

See this and other vintage Anheuser Busch commercials. 
http://archive.org/details/dmbbvt00302

(Courtesy of Duke University Libraries Digital Collections)



Do you have a local memory to share with PPE readers.. such as a big snow storm, a favorite school teacher, a local happening, something of interest your parents or grandparents told you about?  It can be just a line or two, or more if you wish.  Send to tkforppe@yahoo.com and watch for it on a future TIME MACHINE posting!




PPE remembers JMMB

TIME MACHINE ... This Sunday's Preview.

1967- Tuition-free kindergarten coming to Worcester County schools; 1899.. Pocomoke firemen help battle fire that threatened entire town of Salisbury; 2004.. Somerset County Courthouse marks 100th year.

ACROSS THE USA: 1966-67.. articles reflect issues leading up to the first Super Bowl; and take a look at 1989's "Bud Bowl I" commercial.

It's this Sunday right here at The Pocomoke Public Eye!  

Do you have a local memory to share with PPE readers.. such as a big snow storm, a favorite school teacher, a local happening, something of interest your parents or grandparents told you about?  It can be just a line or two, or more if you wish.   Send to tkforppe@yahoo.com and watch for it on a future TIME MACHINE posting!

Would you consider helping The Pocomoke Public Eye as one of our contributors of current local items of interest?  Please contact pcitypubliceye@gmail.com

Worcester student's racist post sparks outcry

Photo stirs negative reaction among current and former students.

 

A racist-fueled Instagram photo circulated through the timelines of many students and athletes late Thursday evening, causing quite a stir among readers.

The photo — which The Daily Times will not post due to its nature — involved two swastikas and two skulls paired with the phrase "DAY OF THE ROPE," "HANG 'EM HIGH & HANG 'EM SLOW," rotating in a circle around a noose in the center. The emblem was based on a black background, and was likely an image taken from the Internet.

Additionally, the post said the location of the user was in "Auschwitz."

At about 11 p.m. Thursday night, the post was approximately a day old.

It garnered more than 80 likes and 37 responses on the Instagram page before being taken down before midnight Thursday.

On a Twitter account under the same username, "#RaceWarWeek" had been posted at about 2:30 p.m. Thursday, but was deleted sometime Friday morning.

Other photos on the now deleted Instagram page showed pictures of a teenage male in a football uniform that Stephen Decatur high school players wear.

Most local Twitter users were appalled as the post spread.

"My timeline consist of: teamgetaplate, racism, more teamgetaplate, more racism, a little more racism and a tiny bit more of teamgetaplate," Stephen Decatur junior guard Dayona Godwin tweeted, referring to the newly dubbed Washington High School fan section and the Instagram post.

"It's 20 freakin 15, why do people have to be so racist and disrespectful?" tweeted Kevon Turnamian, who is a well-known Bleacher Creature, referring to the fan section of James M. Bennett.

"There's another race war at Decatur?! Just grow up," former Decatur student David Bernal-Clark tweeted, which he followed with, "Racism is ignorant. Everyone is equal. Everyone just needs to get over themselves."
Friday morning, Barbara Witherow, coordinator of public relations and special programs for Worcester County Schools, was not aware of the incident.

After The Daily Times shared a screenshot of the Instagram post and the tweet, Witherow wrote in an email: "Social media activity by students is difficult to govern because it almost always occurs outside of the school day and off of school property. Almost all policies and procedures associated with student codes of conduct address infractions or suspected infractions that occur on school property, school buses, or at a school sponsored event.

"Social media activity that is disruptive to the school environment — no matter where it originates — is a matter of great concern and requires action."

Witherow continued: "Although I cannot speak directly about a specific case, I can assure you that cases brought to our attention are addressed in the manner explained. It is absolutely essential that our schools have environments where all students feel safe and respected."

At about 4 p.m. Friday, the Instagram account was deleted, but Twitter spoke the verdict.
"They made me delete my Instagram :-/," the user tweeted.

rmarshall@dmg.gannett.com On Twitter/Instagram: @DTimes_Marshall

PROTOCOL
When a school is made aware of social media activity that is disruptive to the school environment, the following actions are taken:

• The student is immediately interviewed to investigate the activity.

• Parents are contacted and informed of the activity.

• Every effort is made to have inappropriate postings deleted.

• Consequences are determined based on a student's previous violations, the severity of the activity and the specifics gleaned from the investigation.

• If criminal activity is suspected, law enforcement is contacted.

• A student may be referred to school counseling or services available in the community, depending on the outcome of the investigation.

 

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Delmarva Power Pocomoke City Reliability Improvement Project

In 2015, Delmarva Power will invest $1 million to improve electric service for customers in Pocomoke City.

Between March & August 2015, Delmarva Power will upgrade and modernize its electric distribution system along the following streets:

• Market Street (between 10th Street & Pocomoke Beltway/Old Virginia Road)

• Payne Avenue (between Market Street & Route 13)

• Pocomoke Beltway (between Cedar Street & Route 13)

• Walnut Street (between 2nd & 10th Streets)

• 10th Street (between Market & Walnut Streets)

The Pocomoke City electric reliability improvement project will include the replacement of about 70 electric distribution poles and the installation of new wire, crossarms, switching equipment and other assorted upgrades.

Once the pole replacement and line construction are complete, crews will convert customers to the new power lines.  These conversions will necessitate planned outages of several hours. Prior to the conversion, crews will notify customers who will be affected by an outage.  Any outages for businesses will be coordinated to take place during non-business hours.

Over the last five years, Delmarva Power has invested approximately $1 billion to strengthen its transmission and distribution systems to improve reliability.  This project is one of numerous infrastructure improvements planned throughout their service territory over the next several years designed to improve service to their customers.

Questions about the project can be referred to Delmarva Power Senior Public Affairs Manager Jim Smith at jim.a.smith2@delmarva.com or at (410) 860-6366.

Injured Bald Eagle Causes Stir On Route 50

Injured Bald Eagle Causes Stir On Route 50
Unusual sight this afternoon when an injured bald eagle caused traffic to come to a crawl on Route 50. Some Good Samaritans stood guard over the bald eagle, which was bleeding, until DNR and volunteers arrived. Photos by Heather Vest and Harry Reinhart

 

UPDATE: Injured Bald Eagle Reportedly Recovers On Its Own After Being Transferred To Nearby Woods
Charlene Sharpe, Staff Writer
WEST OCEAN CITY – “There is something truly majestic when you get to see a bald eagle.”
That’s what area resident Kristi Clarke was thinking when she turned around to get a better look at the eagle she saw standing in the median of Route 50 in West Ocean City. That’s when she saw it fly into an oncoming vehicle.
“It actually hit the side of the car,” she said, “knocking itself to the ground.”
Although it landed in the left lane of eastbound Route 50, vigilant motorists were quick to stop and block the bird that lay prone on the asphalt. Clarke, who called 911 as soon as she saw what happened, says she watched as the bird tightened its wings, trying to lift its body off the ground. With the help of an onlooker, the eagle was eventually able to stand.
“Although blood ran down its body from what was its right eye, he stood with such strength and fortitude,” Clarke said.
An officer from Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources reached the scene — near the intersection of Route 50 and Jerry Mack Road — shortly after and moved the eagle from the roadway.
“It was stunned and appeared to have a leg injury,” said Candy Thomson, public information officer for Maryland Natural Resources Police. “But the officer said the bird was active and mobile.”
The officer consulted with one of the wildlife rehabilitators Natural Resources Police typically works with and was instructed to take the eagle into the woods nearby and to watch it to see if it recovered on its own. Thomson said it did and was left to return to its natural environment. She said incidents like Sunday’s were not unusual.
“It happens often enough that NRP has a list of wildlife rehabilitators across the state with whom we work to ensure that injured wildlife receives appropriate attention,” she said.
Thomson said if needed those rehabilitators would take over the care and treatment of the injured animal.
Motorist Heather Vest was among the crowd of onlookers who watched as the NRP officer covered the bird in a towel and carried it off in a large plastic tub. She said there was an animal carcass in the median that the animal may have been scavenging before the incident.
“It appeared unconscious when we first arrived. My husband approached with a couple other drivers. At that point, the eagle regained consciousness and raised its head. Neither driver knew who may have hit it,” Vest said in an email to The Dispatch.
Clarke said seeing the eagle up close and watching it recover from what appeared to be a near-death experience was incredible.
“What a true life synonym of America,” she said.

[SOURCE]

TIME MACHINE ... 1883, 1918, 1943, 1959, 1995, 1963, 1878.

"Friendliest Town On The Eastern Shore."  Our tradition runs deep.  Excerpt from a letter to the editor from a visitor to Newtown, (former name of Pocomoke City) published in the Baltimore Sun, April 28,1847.

This place (Newtown) is a pretty snug little village, containing about 500 clever and hospitable inhabitants; it has good wide streets, quite clear of that "eye sore," known mostly over the Peninsula by the name of "deep sand"; the houses, though built of frame, are generally built substantially and with some discretion and taste; there are two neat, new, and quite handsome frame churches in it; as for the merchants of the place, suffice it to state that they are very clever and hospitable.  F. Mezick, Esq., the landlord with whom I stopped, and his very obliging and jolly assistant, are richly deserving of a passing notice, for the good treatment and the extension of the many civilities to "the stranger."


October, 1883
The Baltimore Sun 

Pocomoke, Md., Oct 5, 1883: The Pocomoke Times gives some details of the cyclone which passed over Worcester County, Md., on Tuesday, October 2. The storm was in fact a furious hurricane, during which the rain fell in torrents. For miles fence rails lay in and along the road and large pine trees of the toughest were twisted and broken as if they had been straw. William Trader, returning to Pocomoke from Snow Hill, was blown with his horse and carriage over a fence into an adjoining field, destroying his carriage. James T. Hancock, who had just recently built a new house, had it blown off its foundation, carried thirty feet and dashed to the ground a total wreck. Corn stacks, stables, carriage houses and out houses of all kinds were completely wrecked. Thomas Dickerson, near Girdletree, had a part of his house blown away and his wife injured. A number of Worcester residents suffered from the storm to a greater or less extent. The storm, coming from the west, began about 3 o'clock in the afternoon and lasted nearly an hour.


1918

Only 6 more days before Prohibition

(Maryland Historical Society photograph.)

"Prohibition [Jefferson Liquor Company storefront with customers], [1918]. [Probably] 15 North Liberty Street, Baltimore, Maryland."


April, 1943
The Salisbury Times 

Old Dominion Club now Coast Guard Hospital

Accomac, Virginia, April 10, 1943-  The Old Dominion Club, one of the most beautiful properties in Chincoteague, located in a little grove on the east side of the island, with deep water all around, is to become the Coast Guard Hospital, it was announced last night by Lt. Charles Mister, in command of the coast Guard at Chincoteague. Lt. mister said the property will be taken over April 15th and $42,000 in new equipment will be brought to the island and installed at once. The Old Dominion Club was taken over to meet the requirements of the Coast Guard and other service men until a permanent hospital can be erected. The Old Dominion Club was built by New York sportsmen and has fourteen rooms.


November, 1959
The Cumberland News (Cumberland, Md.)

Veteran Worcester Sheriff Dies At 71

ASSATEAGUE BEACH, Md. (AP)-  Edwin D. (Ned) Lynch, veteran Worcester County sheriff, died Sunday of a heart attack while rounding up stray cattle he owned.

The 71-year-old law officer had been sheriff in Worcester County for seventeen years, having been elected last fall to a fifth four-year term. Prior to that he served eight years as deputy sheriff and constable.

He lived at the county jail in Snow Hill.

Lynch was also a farmer and cattleman. He had been flown to Assateague Island from the mainland and was with a son, Wilson, when he suffered the attack.


January, 1995
The Somerset Herald (Princess Anne)

Professional wrestling coming to Pr. Anne

Mt. Vernon VFC sponsors fundraiser

The Mt. Vernon Volunteer Fire Company along with ACW Wrestling will bring an afternoon of professional wrestling to Princess Anne in March.

The volunteer firefighters recently signed a contract with American Commonwealth Wrestling promoter Ed Zohn to bring professional wrestling to the Tawes Gym at UMES. Included on the Saturday, March 18 card will be Cactus Jack, Shane Douglas, 2 Cold Scorpio, Ron Simmons plus women wrestlers Angel and Peaches.

Tickets for the 1 p.m. event will be $10 for general admission, $15 for ringside seats. Ticket sales and advertisements in a souvenir booklet will benefit the Mt. Vernon VFC.  More details will be released as the event date nears.


January, 1963 (Time Machine archive)
(The Salisbury Times)

POCOMOKE CITY - New officers of the city volunteer fire department were elected recently.  They are: Joe Byrd, president; Joe Mariner, vice-president; James Fykes, secretary; Raymond Dryden, treasurer; Fred U. Henderson, chief; Raymond C. Dryden, assistant chief; George Young, chief engineer; Clayton Lambertson, trustee.

On the ambulance committee are: Lee Ray Thompson, president; R.I. Givens, secretary and treasurer; Herbert Somers, Pete Dulick, and Dwight Campbell, trustees.


ACROSS THE USA

December, 1878 (Time Machine archive)
The New York Times

Every man for himself is emphatically the modern sentiment, and there are some signs of completing this declaration of independence  by adding the clause "Every woman for herself, also."

 "THE STRAIN UPON MODERN LIVING."

(Excerpts)

What is more clear than the fact that now no family is left to itself and to its own traditions and habits, but that the most out-of-the-way homes, whether in the backwoods or on the distant coast, are within reach of the world's vast and intense life, and no strangers to its hopes and fears, its learning and its folly, its triumphs and its disasters.

Not only every family that takes a newspaper, but every person who hears the village gossip, knows what is going on all over the globe, and every man who has to buy or sell anything, has cause to revise his estimates from day to day; and very often men lose their appetite for their breakfast by news from the great market of America or Europe that prices have changed sadly to their hurt.  A considerable proportion of pain goes with the news of the day, and a large portion of unwholesomeness, for disasters and scandals are dwelt upon with more minuteness than successes and satisfactions, and no great bargains or great weddings are reported half as fully as great frauds and great divorce and scandals.

It is not remarkable that the rich and conspicuous should strive to outshine each other in dress and living, but the remarkable thing is that in our modern life there are now no radical distinctions of class or fortune in costume or habits, and that all persons, and especially all women, follow the same fashions as far as they can, and catch the course of the same social ambition.  So far as street dress is concerned, the wives, and especially the daughters, of the poorer classes, make, relatively, far more display than their richer neighbors, and to a certain extent, the exactions of modern society are in the inverse proportion of means and abilities, since they who have least fortune and talent are subject to the same high pressure from the reigning mode, and women who are not usually trained to earn their own living are beset by the same ruling passion for dress and ornament.

The palace of merchants and bankers, and the cottages of farmers and mechanics among us have a similar story to tell. Indeed it may be set down as part of the universal strain on modern living, that its exactions are out of proportion to its means, and the exaction presses upon every family, while the means at hand vary from wealth, or what is called competency, down to limitation and want.

Surely our modern living is under great strain, and many lives break down beneath the pressure.


Do you have a local memory to share with PPE readers.. such as a big snow storm, a favorite school teacher, a local happening, something of interest your parents or grandparents told you about?  It can be just a line or two, or more if you wish. Send to tkforppe@yahoo.com and watch for it on a future TIME MACHINE posting!



PPE remembers JMMB.