Sunday, January 9, 2011

Mother Gets 25 Years In Prison For Murder of Daughter

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) - A Norfolk woman has been sentenced to 25 years in prison in the death of her 4-year-old daughter.

Jathiya Wooden received the sentence Friday on the first-degree murder conviction in the death of her daughter Tamera, who suffered years of abuse. Prosecutors had sought a life term.

Wooden, 28-year-old mother of six, falsely reported that Tamera had disappered from a playground in August 2008. She later admitted that the child was hidden in a closet, and police found her body there. Prosecutors said Wooden admitted stabbing Tamera with an umbrella after the child tried to break free from being pinned behind a dresser as punishment.

Doctors said the child was starved, deprived of water and forced to stay in confined spaces. An autopsy found injuries on every part of the child's body.

www.wavy.com

Six Killed In Arizona Shooting

(AP) TUCSON, Ariz. — A gunman nearly unloaded a semiautomatic weapon at a busy supermarket Saturday during a public gathering for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, wounding the Democrat and killing Arizona's chief federal judge and five others in an attempted assassination that left Americans questioning whether divisive politics had pushed the suspect over the edge.

The shooting targeted Giffords and left the three-term congresswoman in critical condition after a bullet passed through her head. A shaken President Barack Obama called the attack "a tragedy for our entire country."

Giffords, 40, is a moderate Democrat who narrowly won re-election in November against a tea party candidate who sought to throw her from office over her support of the health care law. Anger over her position became violent at times, with her Tucson office vandalized after the House passed the overhaul last March and someone showing up at a recent gathering with a weapon.

Police say the shooter was in custody, and was identified by people familiar with the investigation as Jared Loughner, 22. U.S. officials who provided his name to the AP spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release it publicly.

His motivation was not immediately known, but Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik described him as mentally unstable and possibly acting with an accomplice.

Dupnik said Giffords was among 13 people wounded in the melee that killed six people — including 9-year-old Christina Greene, 30-year-old Gifford aide Gabe Zimmerman, and U.S. District Judge John Roll. The 63-year-old judge had just stopped by to see his friend Giffords after attending Mass. Dupnik said the rampage ended only after two people tackled the gunman. Also killed were 76-year-old Dorthy Murray, 76-year-old Dorwin Stoddard, and 79-year-old Phyllis Scheck, investigators said.

The sheriff blamed the vitriolic political rhetoric that has consumed the country, much of it occurring in Arizona.

"When you look at unbalanced people, how they respond to the vitriol that comes out of certain mouths about tearing down the government. The anger, the hatred, the bigotry that goes on in this country is getting to be outrageous," he said. "And unfortunately, Arizona, I think, has become the capital. We have become the mecca for prejudice and bigotry."

Giffords expressed similar concern, even before the shooting. In an interview after her office was vandalized, she referred to the animosity against her by conservatives, including Sarah Palin's decision to list Giffords' seat as one of the top "targets" in the midterm elections.

"For example, we're on Sarah Palin's targeted list, but the thing is, that the way that she has it depicted has the crosshairs of a gun sight over our district. When people do that, they have to realize that there are consequences to that action," Giffords said in an interview with MSNBC.

In the hours after the shooting, Palin issued a statement in which she expressed her "sincere condolences" to the family of Giffords and the other victims.

During his campaign effort to unseat Giffords in November, Republican challenger Jesse Kelly held fundraisers where he urged supporters to help remove Giffords from office by joining him to shoot a fully loaded M-16 rifle. Kelly is a former Marine who served in Iraq and was pictured on his website in military gear holding his automatic weapon and promoting the event.

"I don't see the connection," between the fundraisers featuring weapons and Saturday's shooting, said John Ellinwood, Kelly's spokesman. "I don't know this person, we cannot find any records that he was associated with the campaign in any way. I just don't see the connection.

"Arizona is a state where people are firearms owners — this was just a deranged individual."

Law enforcement officials said members of Congress reported 42 cases of threats or violence in the first three months of 2010, nearly three times the 15 cases reported during the same period a year earlier. Nearly all dealt with the health care bill, and Giffords was among the targets.

The shooting cast a pall over the Capitol as politicians of all stripes denounced the attack as a horrific. Capitol police asked members of Congress to be more vigilant about security in the wake of the shooting. Obama dispatched his FBI chief to Arizona.

Giffords, known as "Gabby," tweeted shortly before the shooting, describing her "Congress on Your Corner" event: "My 1st Congress on Your Corner starts now. Please stop by to let me know what is on your mind or tweet me later."

"It's not surprising that today Gabby was doing what she always does, listening to the hopes and concerns of her neighbors," Obama said. "That is the essence of what our democracy is about."

Mark Kimball, a communications staffer for Giffords, described the scene as "just complete chaos, people screaming, crying." The gunman fired at Giffords and her district director and started shooting indiscriminately at staffers and others standing in line to talk to the congresswoman, Kimball said.

"He was not more than three or four feet from the congresswoman and the district director," he said.

Doctors were optimistic about Giffords surviving as she was responding to commands from doctors. "With guarded optimism, I hope she will survive, but this is a very devastating wound," said Dr. Richard Carmona, the former surgeon general who lives in Tucson.

Giffords spokesman C.J. Karamargin said three Giffords staffers were shot. One died, and the other two are expected to survive. Gabe Zimmerman, a former social worker who served as Giffords' director of community outreach, died. Giffords had worked with the judge in the past to line up funding to build a new courthouse in Yuma, and Obama hailed him for his nearly 40 years of service.

An uncle of the 9-year-old girl told the Arizona Republic that a neighbor was going to the event and invited her along because she had just been elected to the student council and was interested in government.

A former classmate described Loughner as a pot-smoking loner, and the Army said he tried to enlist in December 2008 but was rejected for reasons not disclosed.

Federal law enforcement officials were poring over versions of a MySpace page that included a mysterious "Goodbye friends" message published hours before the shooting and exhorted his friends to "Please don't be mad at me."

In one of several Youtube videos, which featured text against a dark background, Loughner described inventing a new U.S. currency and complained about the illiteracy rate among people living in Giffords' congressional district in Arizona.

"I know who's listening: Government Officials, and the People," Loughner wrote. "Nearly all the people, who don't know this accurate information of a new currency, aren't aware of mind control and brainwash methods. If I have my civil rights, then this message wouldn't have happen (sic)."

In Loughner's middle-class neighborhood — about a five-minute drive from the scene — sheriff's deputies had much of the street blocked off. The neighborhood sits just off a bustling Tucson street and is lined with desert landscaping and palm trees.

Neighbors said Loughner lived with his parents and kept to himself. He was often seen walking his dog, almost always wearing a hooded sweat shirt and listening to his iPod.

Loughner's MySpace profile indicates he attended and graduated from school in Tucson and had taken college classes. He did not say if he was employed.

"We're getting out of here. We are freaked out," 33-year-old David Cleveland, who lives a few doors down from Loughner's house, told The Associated Press.

Cleveland said he was taking his wife and children, ages 5 and 7, to her parent's home when they heard about the shooting.

"When we heard about it, we just got sick to our stomachs," Cleveland said. "We just wanted to hold our kids tight."

High school classmate Grant Wiens, 22, said Loughner seemed to be "floating through life" and "doing his own thing."

"Sometimes religion was brought up or drugs. He smoked pot, I don't know how regularly. And he wasn't too keen on religion, from what I could tell," Wiens said.

Lynda Sorenson said she took a math class with Loughner last summer at Pima Community College's Northwest campus and told the Arizona Daily Star he was "obviously very disturbed." ''He disrupted class frequently with nonsensical outbursts," she said.

In October 2007, Loughner was cited in Pima County for possession of drug paraphernalia, which was dismissed after he completed a diversion program, according to online records.

"He has kind of a troubled past, I can tell you that," Dupnik said.

Giffords was first elected to Congress amid a wave of Democratic victories in the 2006 election, and has been mentioned as a possible Senate candidate in 2012 and a gubernatorial prospect in 2014.

She is married to astronaut Mark E. Kelly, who has piloted space shuttles Endeavour and Discovery. The two met in China in 2003 while they were serving on a committee there, and were married in January 2007. Sen. Bill Nelson, chairman of the Senate Commerce Space and Science Subcommittee, said Kelly is training to be the next commander of the space shuttle mission slated for April. His brother is currently serving aboard the International Space Station, Nelson said.

Giffords is known in her southern Arizona district for her numerous public outreach meetings, which she acknowledged in an October interview with The Associated Press can sometimes be challenging.

"You know, the crazies on all sides, the people who come out, the planet earth people," she said with a following an appearance with Adm. Mike Mullen in which the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was peppered with bizarre questions from an audience member. "I'm glad this just doesn't happen to me."

www.timesdispatch.com

SUNDAY BRUNCH at The Bay Queen Restaurant and Bakery

DON'T FORGET!!

The BAY QUEEN RESTAURANT AND BAKERY is now open!

Stop by today for SUNDAY BRUNCH


"Home cooked comfort food" Daily special for $5.95.
Restaurant Hours:
MONDAY THRU SATURDAY 6:00 AM until 9:00 PM
SUNDAY 6:00 AM until 7:00 PM

While you're there check out the bakery.

Located on Rt. 13 North at the Days Inn just before the Ford dealer.

Suspicious Package Found In Pocomoke

At the request of the Pocomoke City Police Department, the Worcester County Fire Marshal's Office assisted with a suspicious package found at a PNC Bank.

The incident was reported at 1:30PM in the 600 Block of Linden Avenue in Pocomoke City, Maryland.

An arriving Officer found the device and requested assistance from the Fire Marshal's Office.

The Ocean City Bomb Squad was requested and with the use of a robot, the device was examined and found to be a discarded electrical component left behind by a contractor.

Anyone with questions may contact the Fire Marshal's Office at the number listed above or email jmcmahon@wcfmo.org.

worcester county firemarshall

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Beau Oglesby Takes Office As State's Attorney for Worcester County

SNOW HILL – State’s Attorney Beau Oglesby was sworn into office Monday in front of a crowd of officials, friends and family.

“It’s no secret why Beau has ascended,” said Wicomico County Sheriff Mike Lewis, who worked with Oglesby when he was a prosecutor for Wicomico County.

Lewis pointed out the great working relationship Oglesby had with law enforcement
“I could quickly see that he’s what most law enforcement officers call a ‘masterful prosecutor,’” said Lewis. “I’m so, so proud to stand here today…it’s a great day for law enforcement and a great day for justice.”

Caroline County Circuit Court Judge Karen Jensen also opted to give Oglesby a few words of introduction. Jensen spoke of Oglesby’s time serving in Caroline as an assistant State’s Attorney, calling him a “fierce and able advocate.” She informed him that he would be coming into a lot of power in his office, which carried an equivalent amount of responsibility. Finally, she thanked him on behalf of Caroline County and forecasted a bright future for Worcester with Oglesby’s transition.

“You can’t imagine the journey this has been,” said Oglesby after being introduced. “I’ve been through a lawsuit … lost an election by 14 votes … turned it around this time and won by 93.”

Oglesby went on to thank everyone that supported him, especially his family, who joined him during the swearing in.

“I look around the room and I’m so overwhelmed,” he said.

Joking that at least part of his introduction was wrong, Oglesby admitted to not being as organized as Jansen had claimed him to be.

“I’ve prepared some comments, they’re around here somewhere,” he said.

Choosing to speak from memory instead, Oglesby offered a special thanks to the members of law enforcement in attendance.

“You make me want to be a better prosecutor each and every day,” he said. “I can’t imagine you [the police] doing the job halfway and seeing someone fall down on the other half.”

Oglesby also spoke about his life growing up.

“Mom was judge and jury, dad was the executioner,” he said.

Despite the light attitude, Oglesby stressed that his family life helped him learn values.

“There’s right and wrong. There’s black and white. But there’s also an area of gray,” he said.

Finally, he took a moment to address his own family, telling his children that he would still be busy even after the campaign, but promising them, “it won’t take me as long to get home.”

Oglesby then thanked his wife for her support. The whole experience managed to choke Oglesby up toward the end of his speech.

“This is the first time I’ve cried in court,” he said.

Lewis joked, “It won’t be the last in this county.”

Oglesby concluded by once again thanking everyone who supported him.
“God bless you and God bless Worcester County,” he said.

Car Theft Lands Teen One Year In Jail

SNOW HILL -- An 18-year-old charged with stealing cars and joyriding down to Georgia with two other people will spend a year in jail.

Dennis John Cross Jr. of Greenbackville was sentenced to four years in jail with all but three suspended. He also will be on three years of supervised probation. He agreed to plead guilty to unauthorized removal of property -- that is, someone else's car -- in exchange for prosecutors dropping other charges of theft and burglary.


He also will have to pay restitution to his theft victims, a figure which has yet to be determined, prosecutors said. Pending drug charges of marijuana possession and possession with intent to distribute were dropped in the plea agreement in Worcester County Circuit Court on Thursday.

Cross and two other teen boys stood accused of motor vehicle theft and burglary in a case police said involved several missing vehicles and an attempted escape to Atlanta. Police said the three stole cars in May and June in and around Whiton and Public Landing, rural areas in central Worcester County.

One man, Jacob Tyler Derr, 19, of Snow Hill entered into a plea agreement in October on burglary charges in which additional charges of burglary and theft were dropped. He also was sentenced to three years in the Worcester County Jail with all but one suspended.

A third accomplice was a juvenile at the time, and police have not released his name or his disposition, though detectives with the Worcester County Bureau of Investigation traveled to Atlanta to detain him. Police said they found the juvenile in possession of the stolen cars.

Authorities searched for Cross for a month last summer after he evaded police when found in a stolen car in Georgia during a traffic stop. In late July, he was arrested as he allegedly tried to escape another traffic stop in Berlin; police had stopped the SUV he was in for a broken headlight.

www.delmarvanow.com

Friday, January 7, 2011

NASA Hosts Robotics Events Saturday

Students from the Eastern Shore will gather this weekend at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility for the start of a national robotics competition.

Students interested in robotics will meet Saturday morning at the facility to get details of the first challenge in the 2011 FIRST Robotics season, which kicks off this weekend.

NASA said a live event will be held in Manchester, N.H., and will be televised at numerous locations nationally, including at Wallops. The mission will be a game created by FIRST Robotics. Teams across the U.S. will then receive a kit of parts with which to build a machine used to accomplish the mission.

NASA says Saturday's Eastern Shore event will feature speakers from Eastern Shore robotics teams, NASA and the Navy.

www.shoredailynews.com

Accomack County Board of Supervisors Meeting

The Accomack County Board of Supervisors met on Wednesday, January 5th at the Board Chambers in Accomack. This was an organizational meeting and but was also opened up for public comment on a proposal for the Mary N. Smith Middle School building in Accomac.

Supervisor Donald Hart has been elected as the new Chairman of the Board of Supervisors. Out-going Chair, Laura Belle Gordy, was elected to serve as Vice-Chair. The new Chairman presented Supervisor Gordy with a plaque of appreciation, calling her a lady of class and thanking her for her service.
The Board voted unanimously to keep regular meetings for the upcoming the year the same, which is the third Wednesday of each month beginning at 5:00 p.m. Work sessions will be held quarterly or when called.

Ethan Brenner of Painter, and a member of the FIRST Robotics Team, was allowed to address the board and invited them to an upcoming Season Kickoff. That event will be held locally for the first time and will be Saturday, January 8th at 9:00 a.m. at the NASA Wallops Visitor Center. The board congratulated Brenner on the Teams Efforts.

Wednesday nights meeting was Supervisor Steve Malletes last. Mallette resigned from the board of supervisors in November. The board discussed how to fill the position and voted unanimously for the following process: The position is now open to interested parties from district 6. Anyone who would like to be considered must submit a letter and or resume to the County Administrator by 5:00 p.m. on January 10th. There will be a Board of Supervisors meeting on Wednesday, January 12th at 5:00 p.m. so the board can meet and talk with each interested individual. These people are allowed to bring supporters who wish to speak on their behalf. Chairman Hart emphasized that he wants a positive meeting and that negative remarks about those seeking the position will not be tolerated. Should the board decide to appoint a Supervisor, that person will be sworn in on January 13th, and will have the necessary materials to prepare him or her for the regular January 19th meeting. The newly appointed supervisor will fulfill Mallettes term and the seat will be up for reelection in January 2012.

Hart also reminded the board that he would like them to make a decision with the publics input to avoid a judge from Virginia Beach having to appoint one, due to the fact that the eastern shore has no resident judge at this time.

Several citizens attended this meeting concerning the fate of the Mary N Smith Middle School building. A presentation was made by Mr. David Koogler of Mark-Dana Corporation and numerous residents of what is known as the Mary N. Smith Community as well as other shore citizens made their opinions known.
www.shoredaylynews.com

Berlin Has New Year's Eve Celebration

The Berline Chamber of Commerce and the Berlin people in general always seem to have the brightest ideas. What a great idea this was! And, as with anything they seem to attempt, they had the best of luck. How wonderful for Berlin. jmmb
A crowd of approximately 1,000 people watched as a large disco ball descended from above Town Center Antiques in Berlin late last Friday. As the glittery silver ball reached its destination near a clock on North Main Street, the giant crowd roared, welcoming the New Year with palpable excitement.

“It was incredible,” said Barb Stack, a Berlin business owner who instituted the town’s inaugural New Year’s Eve celebration. “It was much better than we ever anticipated. Everybody just had a ton of fun. We were just overwhelmed by the response.”

Organized by the town and the Berlin Chamber of Commerce, the Dec. 31 party was expected to draw a small crowd — only about 100 or 200, according to Michael Day, the town’s director of Community and Economic Development. Undoubtedly, organizers were surprised when hundreds of revelers gathered along Main Street and its side streets, sidewalks and on the porch and front yard of the Atlantic Hotel.

“It was unpredictable as to how many people would show up,” Day said. “There were some things we didn’t think about.”

For instance, Day said, the town should have arranged for portable toilets and for street vendors to sell food and coffee. He added that perhaps the deejay should have been asked to remind people to use the trashcans, or perhaps those trashcans should have been placed in the streets instead of up against buildings.

Day and others had also not anticipated that people would take confetti to the event. Two members of the Public Works Department cleaned it up hours later, but soon after the crowd headed home it was Day, Town Administrator Tony Carson and Stack, owner of Design Resources, assisted by several town residents who picked up the larger trash items such as beverage cups and cans on the street.

Carriage rides were scheduled to begin at 8:30 p.m., but approximately 30 people were in line 30 minutes earlier, so they began at 8 p.m.

The giant crowd was a pleasant surprise for Berlin businesses open that evening.

The Atlantic Hotel had its own New Year’s Eve event in its ballroom, but people attending the outside ball-drop could buy a drink at a bar set up on the porch. The hotel also had free hot chocolate and cider for the revelers.

Every room at the hotel was booked, either as part of the special two-night package to go with the New Year’s Eve soiree or otherwise booked in advance.

“It was the best weekend the hotel has had since Mr. Fager took over,” said hotel employee Jude Robinson.

The Globe was so packed with people that owner Jen David instituted a “one in and one out” policy for the night. As one person left, another could enter. She did it, she said, “to make sure everybody was comfortable and that we could serve everybody.”

David was not only pleased with the business at The Globe, but the response to the town’s new event.

“For us, it was wonderful. And we were really, really happy to see locals as guests and attending the event,” she said.

Prior to the New Year’s Eve event, Tim Lawrence, director of the town’s Electric Utility, and lineman Fred Litchfield practiced a trial run for the ball drop on Thursday. Other advance preparations included building a device to swing the ball away from the building’s exterior, clearing snow from the streets and setting up the outdoor stage in front of Rayne’s Reef Luncheonette.

A meeting of town department heads will be held this week to discuss what would be needed to make next year’s event even better.

www.oceancitytoday.net

Obama Oks Joint Forces Command Closure

Hampton Roads stands to lose at least another 160 jobs as part of Defense Secretary Robert Gates' plan to overhaul defense spending.

The details of Gates' plan, announced Thursday, raised red flags among some area leaders and regional advocates, who argued that Gates didn't offer enough specifics about how the cutbacks would save money or improve national defense.

Gates said he plans to decommission the Navy's Norfolk-based Second Fleet, turning over control of its ships and operations to Fleet Forces Command. Both are headquartered at Norfolk Naval Station. President Barack Obama on Thursday night also approved an earlier plan to shut down the Joint Forces Command in Norfolk and Suffolk.

None of the more than 120 ships would leave Norfolk, Gates said during a Pentagon news conference, but about 160 military positions could be eliminated.

"During the Cold War, this command had distinct and significant operational responsibilities," he said. "Today, its primary responsibility is training and mission preparation."

The Second Fleet was established in 1950 in Norfolk and has participated in several historic military operations, including a 1962 naval blockade during the Cuban missile crisis. It also trained more than half the Navy's ships that were deployed during operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 1990 and 1991.

Under the new arrangement, the Second Fleet ships would be under the direct command of Adm. John C. Harvey Jr., the four-star head of Fleet Forces Command.

In a memo from the White House, the president said he accepted Gates' plan to shut down JFCOM - a move he announced in August - on a date to be determined by Gates.

Pentagon officials have said they expect that some parts of the command could remain in the region but have not specified how many of JFCOM's 3,760 jobs in the region might remain.

Gates said that officials are "still refining the details but expect that roughly 50 percent of the capabilities under JFCOM will be kept and assigned to other organizations."

The statement doesn't shed light on how many jobs might be lost and what kinds of positions might remain, said Craig Quigley, who heads the taxpayer-funded Hampton Roads Military and Federal Facilities Alliance, which lobbies to protect the region's military assets.

Local members of Congress said they don't have enough information to judge whether the cuts proposed by Gates are defensible.

U.S. Rep. Scott Rigell, R-Virginia Beach, whose district includes the Second Fleet and JFCOM headquarters, said Gates' decision about Second Fleet is troubling because he didn't provide any data to justify the change.

U.S. Rep. Randy Forbes, R-Chesapeake, was more emphatic, saying he believes Gates' efforts are part of a larger effort by the Obama administration to restrict military spending so that the funds can be spent elsewhere.

"You have no analysis, no documentation," Forbes said. "You simply have the cut, and then you back fill the analysis."

Forbes, who has become chairman of the readiness subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee, has said he wants Congress to have a more direct role in setting defense priorities.

"We're going to be demanding audits of the Department of Defense," he said.

Gates also said the Navy will cut costs by reducing land-based staffs for submarines, patrol aircraft, destroyer squadrons and an aircraft carrier strike group.

The Navy was careful to point out that no ships, subs or aircraft will depart Norfolk or any other homeport as a result of the changes.

"We're going to streamline shore-based infrastructure by consolidating," said Lt. Courtney Hillson, a Navy spokeswoman. "But we're not moving any ships or planes - just people."

Gates said the Navy will use the savings to develop a new generation of electronic jammers and unmanned aircraft, and to buy more F/A-18 fighter jets, a new destroyer, a littoral combat ship, an ocean surveillance vessel and fleet oilers.

www.hamptonroads.com

Virginia 911 Center Guides Distressed Pilot To Land

ACCOMAC -- The Eastern Shore of Virginia 911 Center staff successfully faced an unusual emergency situation the evening of Dec. 27, when it was contacted to provide assistance in landing to a pilot in distress over Accomack County.


The emergency situation was further complicated by the recent snowstorm. It was a time in which a caller was assisted and no local fire trucks or ambulances were called.

"It was a very unique call," said Jeff Flournoy, 911 Center Director.

Flournoy said at 9:30 p.m. last Monday, the 911 center received a call from the pilot of a Cessna 150 airplane requesting assistance to land his airplane after he experienced an electrical failure losing lighting, communications, and navigation equipment functionality while flying from Norfolk to Atlantic City, N.J.

The situation was dire, Flournoy said. "He told me he has a flashlight in his hand, looking at a map," Flournoy said of the pilot.

After contacting several airports for an "open and available runway," one was located at the Salisbury Airport in Maryland and the plane landed safely at 10:18 p.m.

Working with multiple agencies, the communications officers at the 911 center remained on the telephone with the pilot until he safely landed.

Flournoy recognized 911 staffers Susan Linton, Krista Kilmon, Ashley Mapp, Rudy Hudson and Tonya Taylor, all of whom had a role in the successful landing.

He said his staff handled the call with a great degree of skill -- it already was busy with the snow-related vehicle incidents.

"We were handling all the numerous calls from the snow and its aftermath and during that time, this call came in and involved us making a lot of phone calls and bring committed to this pilot."

In addition to locating an available runway and working to keep contact with the pilot, which was lost at times and then regained, the 911 center staff's assistance included providing the estimated distance to the airport, wind check information, and even contacting his family during the incident and just after the incident to report a safe landing.

The center report said they process thousands of 9-1-1 calls each year, but "9-1-1 calls from pilots flying an airplane are rare."

www.easternshorenews.com

Thursday, January 6, 2011

18-Month Sentence For Ocean City Man

SNOW HILL -- An Ocean City man who set fire to an abandoned concrete plant was sentenced to 18 months in jail for second-degree arson.

John Edward Cropper, 46, was first given a harsher, 10-year sentence by Worcester County Circuit Court Judge Thomas C. Groton III. The judge suspended all but 18 months of the sentence, telling Cropper if he slipped up again, he'd face the remaining years behind bars.

Additional charges of malicious destruction of property and trespassing merged with the arson charge. Cropper's sentence also includes five years of supervised probation and $1,170 in fines and court fees. The judge authorized the 18 months to be served on work release.

Assistant Worcester County State's Attorney Diane Cuilhe sought a harsher sentence -- second-degree arson carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in jail and a $30,000 fine -- based on Cropper being charged with a string of arsons in 1987.

According to Joel Todd, who was a deputy state's attorney at the time, Cropper became the main suspect in a series of Ocean City arsons in the 1980s. Officials eventually found probable cause to charge him, but in court he was found not criminally responsible.

Cuilhe said prosecutors believe Cropper poses a risk as a repeat offender based on comments he made to authorities at the time of the 1987 incidents: "I light 'em and I fight 'em."

In court, Cropper apologized for the fires set this spring, saying he's raising a 13-year-old son who "would greatly resent it" if his father were jailed. He also said he works full-time as an engineer on a clamming boat and can't miss work.

The judge noted Cropper's record of minor offenses, which include arrests for theft, burglary and drug possession.

Ocean City Police said on the evening of March 28, an officer on patrol stopped Cropper as he was walking near the Cropper Concrete plant. Though they share a name, the plant's owners and the defendant are unconnected.

Cropper, who rents a home on nearby St. Louis Avenue, claimed he was looking for his dog. The officer testified to noticing a strong smell of lighter fluid or gasoline on him. The officer let Cropper go and, with another officer, did a property check of the plant.

Inside a maintenance building, the officers smelled smoke and eventually found two small fires burning. The officers put out the fires and quickly brought Cropper back for questioning.

Cropper at first denied that he had been on the concrete plant grounds. But police found dirt on his boots that matched that of the property, and found his hands reeking of a flammable liquid, as well as black marks on his hands.

www.delmarvanow.com

Some Believe The Rapture To Begin May 21, 2011

All right everybody, empty those pension funds, quit your jobs, and repent, because the end times are so nigh you can mark them on your calendar.

Apparently, the second coming is scheduled for May 21, 2011, according to Harold Camping, the leader of independent Christian ministry Family Radio Worldwide. He’s gotten that message out to Christians around the country—through radio shows, the Internet, and like-minded independent churches—and started a small movement whose members are convinced that they shall know the day and the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh.
Camping, 89, tells the AP that the dedicated can read the Bible like a kind of cosmic calendar. “Beyond the shadow of a doubt, May 21 will be the date of the Rapture and the day of judgment,” he says. He figures the subsequent end of days will occur sometime around October.
The AP talked to a lot of people who agree, including one woman who is organizing an RV caravan across the country to spread the news. "Time is short," she says.

www.newser.com


Here's more..........


If there had been time, Marie Exley would have liked to start a family. Instead, the 32-year-old Army veteran has less than six months left, which she'll spend spreading a stark warning: Judgment Day is almost here.

Exley is part of a movement of Christians loosely organized by radio broadcasts and websites, independent of churches and convinced by their reading of the Bible that the end of the world will begin May 21, 2011.

To get the word out, they're using billboards and bus stop benches, traveling caravans of RVs and volunteers passing out pamphlets on street corners. Cities from Bridgeport, Conn., to Little Rock, Ark., now have billboards with the ominous message, and mission groups are traveling through Latin America and Africa to spread the news outside the United States.

"A lot of people might think, 'The end's coming; let's go party,' " said Exley, a veteran of two deployments in Iraq. "But we're commanded by God to warn people. I wish I could just be like everybody else, but it's so much better to know that when the end comes, you'll be safe."

In August, Exley left her home in Colorado Springs, Colo., to work with Oakland, Calif.-based Family Radio Worldwide, the independent Christian ministry whose leader, Harold Camping, has calculated the May 21 date based on his reading of the Bible.

She is organizing RVs carrying the message from city to city, a logistical challenge that her military experience has helped solve.

The vehicles are scheduled to be in five North Carolina cities between now and the second week of January, but Exley will be gone overseas, where she hopes eventually to make it back to Iraq.

"I don't really have plans to come back," she said. "Time is short."

Allison Warden, 29, of Raleigh, has been helping organize a campaign using billboards, postcards and other media in cities across the United States through a website, We Can Know.

Asked about reactions to the message, which is plastered all over her car, she laughs.

"It's definitely against the grain. I know that," she said. "We're hoping people won't take our word for it or Harold Camping's word for it. We're hoping that people will search the Scriptures for themselves."

www.timesdispatch.com

Maryland's Hand Gun Laws Upheld By Md. Court of Appeals

BALTIMORE - Maryland's highest court has ruled the state's handgun laws are still constitutional despite a 2008 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that gutted gun statutes in D.C.

In an opinion issued Wednesday, the Maryland Court of Appeals affirmed a gun possession charge levied in Prince George's County against Charles F. Williams, Jr.

Williams said the state's gun regulations violated his right to "keep and carry arms" under the Second Amendment, and based his argument in part on the Supreme Court's decision in District of Columbia v. Heller.

The high court in that case said barring a person from possessing a handgun in the home is unconstitutional. Williams, according to the opinion, said the Second Amendment establishes the "right of persons to keep and bear arms for lawful purposes."

Williams also based his argument on another recent gun decision by the Supreme Court in McDonald v. City of Chicago. But the appeals court unanimously rejected his claims and upheld his conviction.

"The defendant wished to extend the Second Amendment beyond what the Supreme Court held in the Heller case -- that a person has an individual right to possess a gun in their home and for self-defense," says Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler, who argued the state's case before the appellate court last year.

"What this defendant said is, 'You shouldn't convict me for toting a gun on the streets of Prince George's County, because I have an individual right to carry a gun outside of the home,'" Gansler says.

The court specifically said the Maryland law governing Williams' conviction falls outside of the Second Amendment's scope, because it bars having a handgun in public.

The judges also said Williams did not have standing to challenge aspects of the state's gun permit statutes "because he had failed to even apply for a permit to wear, carry, or transport a handgun."

Gansler says no other state has changed its gun laws based on the Supreme Court's decision regarding the District.

www.wtop.com

Rigell Sworn In As Part Of the 112th Congress

Hampton Roads' newest member of Congress, U.S. Rep. Scott Rigell, was sworn in today (Wednesday) as part of the 112th Congress.

He's part of the new Republican majority that has taken over leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives and vowed to move quickly to consider legislation that would repeal the health care overhaul law passed last year.

Rigell, 50, defeated Democratic incumbent Glenn Nye in the 2nd Congressional District election in November. The district covers Virginia Beach and parts of Norfolk and Hampton.

Rigell, who has never held elected office before this year, campaigned promising to cut spending and government regulations and to focus on job creation.

He acknowledged that one of the things he has to figure out is how to exert influence. “I do not intend to hunker down in my office and hope I don’t say something stupid," he said. "I want to swing the bat.”

Republican House leaders have said they hope to push for a vote by next week to repeal the health care law. If passed, the measure would still need approval of the Democratic-controlled Senate and would have overcome a likely veto by President Barack Obama.

Three veteran Hampton Roads congressmen also began new two-year terms, with two returning Republicans slated to lead subcommittees of the House Armed Services Committee.

U.S. Rep. Randy Forbes of Chesapeake is to be chairman of the readiness subcommittee, and U.S. Rep. Rob Wittman of Westmoreland County will head the oversight and investigations subcommittee.

U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Newport News, returns for his 10th term in Congress.

www.hamptonroads.com

Bay Queen Restaurant and Bakery Hours

BAY QUEEN RESTAURANT AND BAKERY

"HOME COOKED COMFORT FOOD"

Open -- MONDAY THRU SATURDAY
6:00 AM until 9:00 PM
SUNDAY
6:00 AM until 7:00 PM
SUNDAY BRUNCH MENU WILL BE AVAILABLE

Blue Plate Specials Daily for $5.95

TAKE OUT AVAILABLE OR DELIVERY

In addition to great food, the bakery section is making Smith Island Cakes daily, featuring their Original "Smith Island BabyCakes". Cakes on hand daily.

The Bay Queen Restaurant and Bakery has 2 dining rooms, one that can be rented for private affairs.

Here's just a few of the customers that stopped by on opening day.
~~Enjoy your meal~~

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Bay Queen Restaurant and Bakery Opens Today

OPEN TODAY !!

Don't forget to stop by the Bay Queen Restaurant and Bakery today and see what's cooking!

(How about a nice warm bowl of soup with a grilled sandwhich and for dessert a slice of Smith Island cake. Mmmm....)

Their menu will consist of a home cooked comfort food dinner and offer "Blue Plate Specials" for the resonable price of $5.95 daily. Take-out menu and delivery are available too!

Along with the delicious foods, the bakery will be making Smith Island cakes daily and featuring their Smith Island "BabyCakes".

Located on Route 13 North at the Days Inn (right next to the ford dealership).

The folks at the Bay Queen Restaurant and Bakery are excited about this new adventure look forward to serving you.

~~Let us know how you like it!~~

This Weekend At the MarVa Theater

Showing Friday, January 7th and Saturday, January 8th
at 7:00 PM.

Sunday, January 9th at 2:00 PM

Tickets: $5.00

PLOT:

As Harry races against time and evil to destroy the Horcruxes, he uncovers the existence of three most powerful objects in the wizarding world: the Deathly Hallows.
Rated PG-13

Victim Of Baseball Bat Beating Still Hospitalized

SNOW HILL -- An altercation following a rural-road rendezvous on New Year's Eve has left one man hospitalized and another facing serious assault charges.

Kenneth Lee Wharton III, 18, of Snow Hill has been charged with first-degree assault, second-degree assault, reckless endangerment, armed robbery and theft after he allegedly beat 21-year-old Kendrick Lee Hall with a baseball bat.

According to court documents, both men met at Snow Hill Middle School on Friday before driving, in separate cars, to the end of Brick Kiln Road.

In charging documents, police allege Wharton demanded money and Hall's Droid X smart phone before beginning to beat him with a baseball bat.

Wharton told police that after driving to the location around 2 a.m., Hall "grabbed him and attempted to kiss him." Wharton admitted to hitting Hall "six or seven times," but maintained he never took the smart phone or stole $10, according to police. The men are considered to be acquaintances, police say.

On Monday, Hall was in fair condition at Peninsula Regional Medical Center after suffering a parietal bone fracture, a minimally depressed skull, hematoma, brain contusion, nasal bone fractures, an orbital wall fracture and numerous bruises on his back, according to court documents filed in District Court to support the charges against Wharton.

Dr. David Kerrigan, a trauma surgeon at PRMC, said patients who experience bleeding in or around the brain are given at least one year to recover and can experience an array of short- and long-term symptoms.

"If a patient gets good care, even in optimum circumstances they can have bad results," said Kerrigan. "On the flip side, you can have great results with very little invasive treatment."

Kerrigan, who was not speaking directly about Hall's condition, said side effects of similar brain and head injuries can range from headaches and migraines to bouts of depression and difficulty with everyday tasks.

Wharton has been released on bond, pending a preliminary hearing scheduled on Jan. 28.

www.delmarvanow.com

Ohio Ex-Convict Charged With Murder

An ex-convict who was already charged with kidnapping a 13-year-old girl has been indicted on charges of aggravated murder in the deaths of her mother, her little brother and a family friend, whose dismembered remains were found in a hollow tree.

The victims' bodies were found in central Ohio nearly two months ago after suspect
Matthew Hoffman allegedly told police where to look.

The indictment returned today by a Knox County grand jury charges Hoffman with aggravated murder, burglary, kidnapping, rape, tampering with evidence and abusing a corpse.

A combination of three photos acquired by WBNS-10TV shows murder victims Tina Herrmann, Kody Maynard, and Stephanie Sprang.
Matthew Hoffman is charged with the murders of Tina Hermann, left, her son Kody Maynard, center, and family friend Stephanie Sprang.

If convicted, the 30-year-old unemployed tree trimmer could face life in prison without parole. Prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty, because of the wishes of the victims' families, The Associated Press reported.

The bodies of Stephanie Sprang, 41, Tina Herrmann, 32, and Herrmann's 11-year-old son, Kody Maynard, were located in a wooded area in mid-November. The remains were stuffed inside garbage bags that had been placed in a hollow tree. The victims had been missing for a week before the bodies were discovered, police said.

The indictment alleges Hoffman murdered the victims during a Nov. 10 burglary at Herrmann's home in Howard, about 60 miles northeast of Columbus.
Hoffman was previously charged with kidnapping after Herrmann's 13-year-old daughter was found in the basement of his Mount Vernon home on Nov. 14. The girl was wounded, tied up and gagged, police said. The indictment alleges she was also raped.

During a Nov. 18 news conference, Knox County Sheriff David Barber said investigators found the victims' bodies based on information received from Hoffman.

Authorities have yet to offer a motive in the case. Barber previously said Hoffman had been watching the family but did not elaborate.

Hoffman, an ex-con who served prison time in Colorado for arson and other charges, is being held in the Knox County jail on $1 million bond, the AP reported.

Ocean Downs Casino Now Open

State officials were on hand Tuesday for the grand opening of Maryland's second slots casino.

Ocean Downs opened for business Tuesday afternoon with 750 slot machines available.

Gov. Martin O'Malley led the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The line of gamblers and the curious assembled long before, 11 News reporter David Collins said. Even those with long life experiences enjoyed it.

"This is magnificent. I've been to Vegas and I've been around. This is just as good as anything I've seen anywhere else," said former Gov. Marvin Mandel.

The casino is currently operating 750 of its 800 slot machines, including video BlackJack games and a roulette wheel.

The $45 million facility employs 236 people. The building isn't flashy, and owner William Rickman said it's not meant to be.

"We're never going to set the world on fire here. We have 800 machines. We will probably stay at that for quite some time. It is just going to be an addition to the community," he said.

The casino is Maryland's second slots parlor. A 2008 voter referendum allows for five parlors to be built, but the Ocean Downs location, which is about five miles outside of Ocean City, has more restrictions than any other location in the state.

The restrictions were necessary to get the bill passed through the General Assembly, but Senate President Mike Miller took strong exception to them and vowed change.

"This is nonsense personified. This is a great facility. This man had to do it by overcoming every restriction possible," Miller said. "You go to a casino and they offer a group of games. He can't do that here. They offer free food. He can't offer that here. They have a hotel you can stay in. He can't do that. They have a golf course. He can't have that here. They have amusements. He can't have any."

Miller continued, "The only thing he can have is one piano. What kind of nonsense is that?"

The restrictions were necessary to appease residents in and around Ocean City. Many businesses joined in on residents' concerns about slots tarnishing the resorts family image, but the frosty reception shows signs of thawing.

"There are lots of good opportunities out there. I believe hotels are discussing partnerships," said Tom Perlozzo of the Ocean City Chamber of Commerce.

"We are talking with restaurants and golf courses," said Ocean Downs General Manger Joseph Cavilla.

The governor said the casino is a good thing.

"I think the legislation was very narrowly drawn and narrowly crafted, and I do not believe it will be a hurt to Ocean City. In fact, on the contrary, I think it will be an added attraction," O'Malley said.

Few places are open this time of year in Ocean City, and the casino appears to be a welcome adult attraction, Collins reported.

Officials said 5.5 percent of slots proceeds will be set aside for local impact grants, and 60 percent of that will go to Worcester County. Ocean City will get 20 percent of the revenues, and 10 percent will go to the town of Berlin. Another 10 percent will go to the community of Ocean Pines.

After a test run before the grand opening, the casino donated $10,000 in slots revenues to American Legion Post 166 in recognition of its charitable work. The casino management matched the proceeds.

www.msn.com

Northampton County Circuit Court Sentences

Northampton County Circuit Court was in was in session yesterday and the following sentences were handed down:

Lavar Arthur Washington of Exmore was sentenced to five years imprisonment for two counts of breaking and entering and three counts of grand larceny. Washington will also be under supervised probation upon his release.

Arthur Lavern Moore of Exmore was sentenced to 3 years and 10 days imprisonment for a 3rd offense DUI, 3rd offense driving on a suspended license, felony eluding and reckless driving.

www.shoredailynews.com

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Opening Tomorrow In Pocomoke........

OPENING TOMORROW !!

BAY QUEEN RESTAURANT AND BAKERY

The folks that operated the sandwhich shop and bakery once located in downtown Pocomoke, next to the MarVa Theater, will open their doors on Wednesday in a new location offering not just those tasty and petite Smith Island "BabyCakes", but a full menu.

Their menu will consist of a home cooked comfort food dinner and offer "Blue Plate Specials" for the resonable price of $5.95 daily. Take-out menu and delivery are available too!

Along with the delicious foods, the bakery will be making Smith Island cakes daily and featuring their Smith Island "BabyCakes". (you MUST try one)

Located on Route 13 North at the Days Inn (right next to the ford dealership).
The folks at the Bay Queen Restaurant and Bakery are excited about this new adventure look forward to serving you.
More information on this tomorrow morning.

Beau Oglesby Sworn Into Office As State's Attorney For Worcester County

Beau Oglesby's wife and children flanked him as Circuit Court Clerk Stephen Hales administered the oath of office, swearing him in as Worcester County's state's attorney.

When Hales asked Oglesby to raise his right hand, his daughter, Georgia, 6, and son, Evan, 4, standing at his feet, also obliged.

Once he was sworn in, his wife, Anne, handed him a new prosecutor's badge. He held it high over his head and beamed.

Oglesby pledged to be passionate and courageous and to make the State's Attorney's Office better than it is today.

"You can't imagine the journey that this has been," he said. "This campaign was never easy; we never thought it was going to be easy. We're very proud to be standing here."

It was standing-room-only for the dozens of law enforcement officers, elected officials, well-wishers and other attendees in the main courtroom at the historic Worcester County Courthouse.

Oglesby told them that, growing up, "My mom was judge and jury and my dad was executioner" -- but his father's punishments always fit the crime. He hopes to bring a similar fair and even-handed attitude to his new job.

Friends in Ocean Pines first approached Oglesby to run for state's attorney in 2001 as a Republican. He lost by 14 votes to incumbent Joel Todd, a Democrat, in the 2006 race.

In their November 2010 rematch, Todd lost by 93 votes in a race that again came down to absentee ballots. He has since been hired as an assistant prosecutor for Wicomico County. Todd did not attend the swearing-in.

During the campaign, Oglesby had the unanimous backing of county law enforcement agencies, the chiefs of which all attended in full dress uniform. He thanked them specifically for their support.

"You make me want to be a better prosecutor each and every day," he said. "I do what I do because of you. I will always do my best for you."

Seated at the courtroom tables, Oglesby's family was to his left, and to his right sat Sheriff Mike Lewis of Wicomico County. They first met in 1997 while Oglesby was an assistant state's attorney in Wicomico County and have fostered a friendship between families so close that Lewis' wife, a nurse, delivered both the Oglesby's children.


Lewis said he's watched Oglesby grow in his career into a "masterful prosecutor."

"It's no secret why Beau Oglesby has ascended to where he is today," Lewis said. "I'm so, so proud to stand here today. People need to know Worcester County is in for a real treat. It's a great day for law enforcement and it's a great day for justice."

Oglesby has worked with Todd and his staff since the election, poring though hundreds of pending case files, preparing for his first day on the job. Among them are several homicide cases, including the Feb. 8 murder trial of Justin Michael Hadel, who stands accused of killing Delaware woman Christine Sheddy.

He has already made one personnel change to his office by replacing Deputy State's Attorney Mike Farlow with Cheryl Jacobs, a Baltimore city prosecutor.

"We've been waiting eight years for this," said Terry Pinnix, an Oglesby campaign supporter. "This time, we just shook a lot more hands."

www.delmarvanow.com

Baltimore Teen Likely Fell From Plane

BOSTON — —
A Massachusetts prosecutor said Friday it's likely that a North Carolina teen originally from Baltimore whose mutilated body was found in a Boston suburb fell from the sky after stowing away in an airplane's wheel well.

Norfolk District Attorney William Keating cited evidence including a handprint in the wheel well, clothes strewn along the plane's flight path and an autopsy report indicating the teen fell "from a significant height."

Keating said Friday that he had informed federal transportation safety officials about the apparent airport security breach by 16-year-old Delvonte Tisdale.

"To withhold any information at this point I think would endanger public safety," said Keating, a Democrat who was elected in November to represent Massachusetts' 10th Congressional District.

Keating held a news conference Friday after police searched a wooded area in Milton near where Tisdale's body was found last month. Along a path a Boston-bound plane would have taken while approaching the city, they found dark sneakers with white stripes and a red shirt matching clothing Tisdale's family said he'd worn, Keating said. Keating said an autopsy showed trauma to Tisdale's body "was consistent with a fall from a significant height."

Investigators also discovered a handprint in grease inside the wheel well on the left side of a Boeing 737 that took off from Charlotte Douglas International Airport in Charlotte, N.C., on Nov. 15, the night Tisdale's body was found, Keating said.

"We feel it's important to inform federal transportation safety officials that it appears more likely than not that Mr. Tisdale was able to breach airport security and hide in the wheel well of a commercial jet liner without being detected by airport security personnel," Keating said.

Keating called what happened to Tisdale "a terrible tragedy."

"But if that was someone with a different motive, if that was a terrorist, that could be a bomb planted on there undetected," Keating said.

Jon Allen, a spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration, said: "We will work with the airport, which is responsible for access control security, to conduct a thorough investigation based on the facts and information provided by law enforcement."

Tisdale was a member of the Air Force ROTC program at North Mecklenburg High School near Charlotte. His father, Anthony, said the family had moved from Greensboro to Charlotte in the summer so the teen could join that program. Anthony Tisdale said his son was happy in Charlotte and stayed out of trouble.

But Delvonte Tisdale's brother, Anthony Tisdale Jr., said his brother was unhappy in North Carolina and had never wanted to leave Baltimore.

Delvonte's grandmother, Lula Mae Smith, said Friday evening from her home in Baltimore that she hadn't been told about the prosecutor's finding.

"This is a surprise," Smith said. "He was such a good boy. I don't know what happened — why he would jump on an airplane. I just don't know."

Laura Attikou, Delvonte's aunt, said her brother's son was well-behaved and had a good life.

"The biggest mystery to me is how did he get on that plane? Where was security?" she said from her home in Greensboro, N.C. "We're still at a loss. We're still in shock."

Keating said Tisdale was last seen by a sibling at home in North Carolina at 1:30 a.m. The flight he's believed to have boarded took off at about 7 o'clock that evening, and investigators confirmed flight times and paths with the Federal Aviation Administration, he said.

Just before 9 p.m., someone who lived near where the body was found heard a loud crashing noise, Keating said. At 9:30 p.m., Tisdale's body was discovered without shirt or shoes by a group of college students in Milton, an affluent Boston suburb.

Keating said his office first tried to determine whether Tisdale was a crime victim. The body was found after apparently being run over by a Jeep and then an Audi, and investigators found blood and tissue on the undercarriages of both vehicles. But Keating said there was no proof of a hit-and-run, Keating said.

He said police also interviewed family members in North Carolina without finding a "scintilla" of evidence of foul play.

Last week, detectives visited the Charlotte airport to take samples of grease used in maintaining the planes, to see if it matched grease found on Tisdale's pants. (The tests have not been completed.) That's when they found scuff marks and the handprint in the wheel well, Keating said.

Keating acknowledged initially that it seemed like a remote possibility that a teen could sneak onto a commercial jet.

"This wouldn't be the first [possibility] a person would think about," he said.

Taxi Cab Robbery Arrest

The investigation is continuing, but Ocean City Police have arrested 17 year old Thomas Scaniffe of Ocean Pines for his involvement in a couple of taxicab robberies that occurred on December 30th. He is charged with armed robbery and other offenses and is being held in default of $250,000 bond in the Worcester County jail. Anyone with information should call 410-723-6604.

NEWS RELEASE; OCEAN CITY & OCEAN PINES TAXICAB ROBBERY – UPDATE

Ocean City Police have identified and charged a suspect in the taxicab robberies that took place on December 30, 2010. On January 1, 2011, Ocean City Police arrested
Thomas Scaniffe, 17, of Ocean Pines.

Scaniffe was charged as an adult with armed robbery, robbery, first degree assault, second degree assault, two counts of theft less than $1,000 and resisting/interfering with an arrest. After his initial appearance by an Ocean City District Court Commissioner, Scaniffe was held on a $250,000 bond and transferred to Worcester County Jail.

On December 30, 2010, at approximately 1:15 a.m., the Ocean City Police responded to the area of 5th Street and Edgewater Avenue in reference to an armed robbery.
Officers interviewed the victim of the robbery, who was an on-duty taxicab driver. The victim told officers he received a call from a restricted phone number requesting a cab ride from Ocean Pines to Ocean City. The cab driver picked up two males at approximately 12:50 a.m. on Marview Drive and brought them to Ocean City. Once at 5th Street, the two males assaulted the taxicab driver, taking money and other items.

A second similar incident took place on December 30, 2010 at 9:30 p.m. A taxicab driver responded to Brandywine Drive in Ocean Pines. Two males entered the cab, demanded money, and assaulted the driver with a weapon.


The investigation is ongoing. Ocean City and Ocean Pines Police ask anyone with knowledge about the incident or the suspects to contact the Ocean City Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division at 410-723-6604.

www.wgmd.com

Swearing In Ceremonies For Rigell On Wednesday

Scott Rigell will become the new second district congressman tomorrow. Rigell will be officially sworn in during ceremonies at Capitol Hill.

The new house majority leader John Bohener has decided to make the swearing in ceremonies low key so as to demonstrate the seriousness of the issues this Congress will face.

After an overall swearing in ceremony, each of the new representatives will be sworn in personally by Boehner. Melody Scalley will be at the ceremony and the following press conference and will be reporting on the activities.

Rigell defeated incumbent Congressman Glenn Nye in the November election, one that saw the Republicans win a 63 seat majority in the House.

The Second District was one of three that changed parties from Democrat to Republican. Two other Democrats, Tom Periello and long time Congressional veteran Rick Boucher also lost their seats.

Former Extension Agent Begins Prison Sentence

A long time community activist and former winner of the Presidents Award for Excellence began serving a jail sentence for embezzling public funds Monday.

Brenda Holden who was a former family and consumer sciences Extension agent for Virginia Tech will serve two years in prison and will face $100,000 in fines. Holden pled guilty and was sentenced earlier this month but was allowed to spend the holiday season with her family.

Holden who has worked as an Extension agent for years continued to serve the community as a volunteer for the Salvation Army this Christmas despite her legal difficulties.
Judge Glen A. Tyler said, "This is one of the most serious cases of misuse and misappropriation. This cannot be something that you simply walk away from and put on probation. What message does that say to public officials?"

Hawaii's New Governor Wants To But Obama's Birth Controversy To Rest

Enough is enough. Hawaii's new governor, Neil Abercrombie, wants to put to rest the so-called birther controversy, possibly by releasing additional information to confirm that President Obama was indeed born in the 50th state on Aug. 4, 1961.

Abercrombie, a Democrat who knew Obama's parents, has asked the Hawaii's attorney general and health department if more records can be made public to stifle persistent false allegations that the president is not a natural-born citizen of the United States, according to the New York Times and The Hill newspaper. To become president, an individual must have been born in the United States and be at least 35 years old.

"It's an insult to his mother and to his father, and I knew his mother and father; they were my friends, " the exasperated governor told the Times in a phone interview. "It's an emotional insult. It is disrespectful to the president. It is disrespectful to the office. . . . Let's put this particular canard to rest."

Abercrombie, who served 22 years in the U.S. House before his election as governor in November, told CNN he wants to do whatever it takes to quash the controversy and put the "birthers" in the "proper light, which is to say they have a political agenda not worthy of any good American."

"As quick as we can, we will" release more information, he said. "This is a transparent state in terms of our communication with one another. This is the Aloha state. We care for each other, we look out for each other."

Obama's parents are deceased. His father, Barack Obama Sr., was born in Kenya; his mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, in Kansas. In 2008, the Obama campaign released a "certificate of live birth" for Kapiolani Maternity and Gynecological Hospital in Honolulu, CNN said. But critics -- who would become known as "birthers" -- demanded a copy of the actual birth certificate.

Abercrombie did not say whether he is considering making the birth certificate public, but he conceded he would not be able to convince some skeptics no matter what he put out. "Conspiratorial theorists are never going to be satisfied," he said. "This has gone into another area of political attack."

But he said he would press ahead because "it's a matter of principle with me."

The president and his family are spending the Christmas holidays on the island of Oahu, just outside of Honolulu.
www.politicsdaily.com