NASA Rocket Launch

From NASA's Wallops Flight Facility
7:00 AM  The launch team reports that the shelters covering the rockets will be moved until the rain in the area clears. They don't expect this happening until around 8 a.m.

Countdown has started this morning towards the opening of the launch window for a NASA Terrier-Improved Orion and Black Brant V sounding rockets. The launch window is 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The webcast begins at 8:30 a.m

Four NASA suborbital sounding rockets carrying experiments to take measurements in the ionosphere will be launched between July 5 and 23 (including weekends) from NASA’s Launch Range at the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

The project is studying neutral and charged particles in the ionosphere and how each affects the way the other moves resulting in currents in the region. The variations matter because all of our communications and GPS satellites send signals through the ionosphere. A disturbed ionosphere translates to disturbed signals, so scientists want to know just what causes the ionosphere to behave in specific ways.

During the launch period NASA will launch two pairs of rockets consisting of a Terrier-Improved Orion and a Black Brant V. The rockets in each pair will be launched 15 seconds apart. Only one pair of rockets will be launched on any day.

Based on the approved range schedule, the rocket pairs are set for launch between 9:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. EDT. The experiments on the Terrier-Improved Orion rockets will release lithium in the ionosphere. The resulting clouds are not expected to be visible to the naked eye but will be seen by special cameras on the ground.

The rockets will be visible in the Wallops area.


The NASA Visitor Center will open at 8:30 a.m. on launch day for viewing the launch.


The launch will be webcast beginning at 6:30 a.m. on launch day at: http://sites.wff.nasa.gov/webcast


Launch status can be followed on Twitter at: http://www.Twitter.com/NASA_Wallops


Launch status also is available at the Wallops launch status line at 757-824-2050.

New Law In Effect For Personal Watercraft

If you own a personal watercraft such as a jet ski or wave runner, and you're under 50 a new law that went into effect July 1 says you need a state license. Between 6 and 8 hours is required to take the course.

The new law replaces one that required the license for all boaters under the age of 35.

Contact the local Coast Guard Auxiliary for information on how to take the course.

Source; shoredailynews.com

Ronald Reagan Statue Unveiled In London

Monday  July 4, 2011

A statue of former US president Ronald Reagan has been unveiled to mark 100 years since his birth.

Foreign Secretary William Hague paid tribute to Mr Reagan at the ceremony at the US Embassy in London this morning.

He said: "It is a great honour for me personally to take part in a ceremony for a man who changed the political landscape at the time I first became involved in it."

He was joined by former US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice as the 10-foot bronze figure was revealed.

Ms Rice represented the late president's widow Nancy Reagan at the ceremony, which coincided with the US Independence Day celebrations.

Mr Hague said: "He joins the ranks of great men and women whose statues adorn our London streets; Nelson, Wellington, Lincoln, Churchill, Roosevelt, Edith Cavell and Nelson Mandela.

"Statues bring us to face to face with our heroes long after they are gone.

"Ronald Reagan is without question a great American hero; one of America's finest sons, and a giant of 20th-century history. You may be sure that the people of London will take this statue to their hearts.

"Those who stop and look will be reminded of President Reagan's extraordinary achievements, and all that he stood for as a man and a leader of men and women."

He added that Mr Reagan's great political ally, former prime minister Baroness Thatcher, could not attend the ceremony.

Mr Hague said: "She has asked me to say these words to you: Ronald Reagan was a great president and a great man - a true leader for our times. He held clear principles and acted upon them with purpose.

"Through his strength and his conviction he brought millions of people to freedom as the Iron Curtain finally came down.

"It was a pleasure to be his colleague and his friend, and I hope that this statue will be a reminder to future generations of the debt we owe him."

The statue of Mr Reagan was commissioned as part of a year of celebrations to mark what would have been the 100th birthday of the former US president.

It will stand alongside existing statues of other illustrious American presidents such as Dwight Eisenhower and Franklin D Roosevelt.

Although the embassy is moving from its central London home next year, the statues will remain at their current Grosvenor Square location.

The statue was commissioned by the Reagan Memorial Fund Trust.

Mr Reagan died in 2004 at the age of 93, having served as US president between 1981 and 1989.

To acknowledge Mr Reagan's contribution to the end of the Cold War, a piece of the Berlin Wall will be installed in front of the statue.

Lady Thatcher once said he had "a higher claim than any other leader to have won the Cold War for liberty and he did it without a shot being fired".

Source;  http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/ronald-reagan-statue-unveiled-in-london-2306428.html

Early Morning Accident Involving ATV Claims One Life

Onancock

On July 3, at approximately 0112 hours, Virginia State Police Trooper B. Lewis was called to a two vehicle accident at 21000 Fairgrounds Road , in Onancock, that resulted in a fatality.

A 2004 Pontiac GTO, Driven by Larry Lee Ricketts II, 39 YOA of Hacksneck, VA, was traveling eastbound Route 126 when it came upon a 2002 Kawaski ATV , driven by Robert Brownlie, traveling in the eastbound lane. Mr. Ricketts swerved to avoid the ATV, lost control of his vehicle, ran off the road, overturned, and struck a tree.

Mr. Ricketts died on the scene. His passenger, Andrew Netherv, was seriously injured and flown to Norfolk General.

Robert Brownlie, 28 YOA, of Accomack was charged with operating an ATV on a highway, no taillights, and riding with no helmet.

Alcohol was not a factor.

Source; shoredailynews.com

~HAPPY 4TH OF JULY~

Land of the free......................

Home of the brave.........

Thanks for the photo Sheri.

Pocomoke City Mayor and Council Meeting

A G E N D A

POCOMOKE CITY MAYOR AND COUNCIL MEETING

7:30 p.m., Tuesday, July 5, 2011

City Hall

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

2.      Review and approval of minutes from meeting of June 20, 2011.

3.      Review and approval of bills to be paid.

4.      City Manager and Police Chief to introduce new police officer David Mason.

5.      Representatives from LGIT Insurance Agency to present grant funds for training program for police department.

6.      Authorize Mayor to sign agreement with Becker Morgan Group Architects for design of interior of new police building.

7.      Discuss letter from Col. Richardson High School for upcoming golf tournament.

8.      City Manager to discuss proposed T.U.L.I.P. program of event insurance for groups which rent City buildings and facilities.

9.      Discuss possible appointments to various City boards and commissions.

Comments from the Audience.

Mayor and Council Items.

Adjourn.

AGENDAS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE UNTIL THE TIME OF CONVENING.

TIME MACHINE

October, 1964

The latest business addition to downtown Pocomoke was SILCO celebrating its' Grand Opening at Front and Market Streets near the Marva Theatre. Grand Opening specials included: Ladies Shirts..$1.27, Men's Shirts..$1.48, Large Cannon Blankets..$2.77, Men's Boots with steel shank and waterproof insulation..$3.69, TV Tray Tables with sturdy collapsible stand.. regularly 94 cents for 59 cents each.


October, 1967

R.E. Powell & Co. held dedication ceremonies for its newly remodeled store, the former Coffman-Fisher clothing store, at the northwest corner of Second and Market Streets in Pocomoke.

Footnote: Some may have childhood memories of climbing the steps above the balcony level to Coffman-Fisher's toy department which was set-up once a year for the Christmas season.



April, 1946

Peoples Food Market, located on the northeast block of Willow Street in Pocomoke, was inviting customers to come see fresh donuts being made in their Downyflake donut machine, "makes them right before you..fresh and hot! The donuts..plain, cinnamon, and sugar..were 29-cents a dozen.

Footnote: People's Food Market was operated by William Kleger and was Pocomoke City's first self-service food market. In 1960, following renovations, the store's name was changed to Bill's Foodland.

Numerous enterprises occupied Willow Street between Clarke Avenue and Front Street. Recalling the scene during the 1950's: on the east side of the street next to People's Market was the Flax Confectionery Store, the WBOC Pocomoke City radio studio, and the County Liquor Dispensary on the corner (Clarke & Willow) with the telephone company office and operators on the second floor; across the street on the west side of Willow Street was Creath Appliances, Gladding Brothers (Dodge) automobile dealership, Lewis Laundry And Dry Cleaners, and J. Scott Porter (Studebaker) automobile dealership.



June, 1972

Delmarva's third Ames Discount Department Store was holding its Grand Opening on Route 13 south of Pocomoke City with a new Chevy Nova to be given away. The other Ames locations were in Salisbury and Seaford.



March, 1975

Pocomoke City merchants were promoting Pocomoke Spring Festival Days.."Put Pocomoke Power In Your Shopping Dollars." Participants in the campaign included: Scher's...Schoolfield & Ham...Modern Office Supply...Miller's Dress Shop...H. Merrill Walters Insurance...Eastern Shore National Bank...The Adkins Company Of Pocomoke...Vincent Jewelers...Sears...Maryland National Bank.

OC Inspires Social Phone App

Brett Martin shows off the new Sonar app he created. /

Thomas Melville/Daily Times

 

The Daily Times

Written by Charlene Sharpe

OCEAN CITY -- When asked how he came up with the concept behind his new iPhone app, Sonar, company founder Brett Martin started talking about Ocean City.

Having grown up in the resort, Martin knows well the transformation it undergoes from May to September, when the quiet waterfront town is filled to capacity, with every hotel swamped with umbrella-toting, beach chair-dragging families and rentals overrun with college students working by day and partying by night.

"You've got that small-town feeling, but it's hyper-socialized," said 28-year-old Martin, who now lives in New York.

The busy atmosphere, where locals find friends for a week at a time, is just the place to try Sonar. The app lets users know who and what they have in common with other people at their location. As Martin puts it, it shows users that strangers aren't so strange.

"It uncovers the hidden connections you share with people nearby," Martin said.

Sonar uses information from sites such as Facebook, Foursquare and Twitter to show users how they are connected to other people who are checked in at the same location.

"It canvasses the Internet for people who have declared themselves there," he said.

It then provides the user with a list of the other people at the location and how they are relevant -- whether they share Facebook friends, went to the same college or like the same bands.

While it functions best at locations such as concerts and conferences where there are large numbers of people, Sonar works anywhere that people might be hanging out, Martin said. He theorized Seacrets during Fourth of July weekend would be a good spot for Sonar.

He said what's great about Sonar is that people do not need to be using it to show up as a connection. If they use Facebook, Twitter or Foursquare, Sonar can figure that out and make use of location-based data in those applications.

"You'll meet all sorts of people you'd never have known," Martin said.

Since being launched five weeks ago, Sonar -- a free app -- has attracted tens of thousands of users, Martin said.

About Martin

A Worcester Preparatory School graduate, he worked as an investment banker and completed a sailing trip from Maine to Dominica before deciding to learn to write code for computer applications.

Merle Marsh, director of special projects at Worcester Preparatory School, said she's not surprised Martin came up with such an innovative product. Martin, who attended Dartmouth College after Worcester Prep, was also a Fulbright Fellow, Marsh said, studying in Italy.

"Brett Martin is an extremely bright and creative young man," Marsh said. "Even when he was in our Lower School here at Worcester Prep, I could tell he was able to think outside the box."

Martin said his early teachers at Worcester Prep and even his summer employers at Malibu's Surf Shop helped get him to where he is now.

"They were the ones telling me to do what I wanted to do, and that's what I'm doing," he said.
 

HOW TO GET THE PHONE APPVisit www.sonar.me to learn about the free app, which is available on Apple's App Store. You sign in with a Foursquare account.

 
Source;  http://www.delmarvanow.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/201107030432/NEWS01/107030301

Melson Power Show

TRUCK AND TRACTOR PULLING

GARDEN TRACTOR PULL

200 FT. SAND DRAG

Registration:  3:00 PM

Events begin:  5:00 PM

9343 Guy Ward Road

Parsonsburg, Maryland

FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY !!

www.melsontractorpull.webs.com  and on FACEBOOK

Fire Destroys Barn On Eastern Shore

ACCOMACK CO. – Fire destroyed a barn and damaged an adjacent building in rural Bloxom on the Eastern Shore.

Crews from four towns responded to the fire on Mappsville Road around 9:00 a.m. and smoke could be seen for miles.

They arrived to find flames engulfing the two-story building.

Crews even pulled water from a nearby lake to help the firefight.

There were no immediate reports of injuries.

Stations alerted - Bloxom, Parksley, Atlantic and Saxis
Additional tankers were requested from Tasley and New Church

Photos by Hailey Berry & Cathy Johnson

The Flag That Inspired 'The Star Spangled Banner'

Flags and beer: A Baltimore tradition

Our view: The kindness of a Baltimore brewer plays a small part in the story of America's national anthem

Written by Rob Kasper

During the Fourth of July weekend in Baltimore, there will be plenty of flags flying and beers sipped. This connection between the American flag and Baltimore beer goes back almost 200 years and played a small but interesting role in history.

During the War of 1812, seamstress Mary Pickersgill was hard at work on the large American flag that would eventually fly over Fort McHenry and inspire Francis Scott Key to write the poem that would become The Star Spangled Banner. In the summer of 1814, Washington had just been burned, and the British were turning their attention to Baltimore, then the third largest port in America and home to privateers, a nemesis of the British Navy.

The story goes that Colonel George Armistead, who was preparing the defense of the fort, felt that the only thing still needed was "a flag so large that the British should have no difficulty seeing it from a distance." Mrs. Pickersgill got the job because she was an accomplished seamstress, having learned the flag making trade in Philadelphia from her mother, Rebecca Young. She also had family connections. She was related by marriage to Commodore Joshua Barney and General John Stricker, two of the men in charge of the defense of Baltimore.

She fashioned two flags, a massive 30 foot by 42 foot flag with stars that measured two feet point to point, and a smaller 17 foot by 25 foot flag called a storm flag. In bad weather the larger flag, soaked with moisture, could be too difficult to hoist, so the smaller storm flag could be substituted.

Assembling these large flags required a lot of room, which Pickersgill's house on Queen Street, now called Pratt Street, did not have. She, however, was on good terms with a neighbor, George I. Brown, who has just bought a brewery at Lombard Street and the Jones Falls. Brown had purchased the brewery from the mayor of Baltimore, Dr. Edward Johnson. The mayor, in partnership with his son in law, Thomas Peters, had brewed an ale that pleased the populace. But eventually the mayor found the demands of simultaneously brewing and governing too heavy a load and eventually sold the brew house at auction in 1813.

Brown owned the brewery for only five years, selling it in 1818 to Eli Claggett. But in that short span he earned a small place in American history by allowing Pickersgill to stretch her material on the floor of the brewery's malt house and sew the pieces into the flag that gave us our national anthem.

Pickersgill's massive flag now hangs at the Smithsonian American History Museum in Washington. The East Baltimore corner that once housed Brown's brewery, and for a time was known as Brewer's Park, is now a Marriott hotel. A painting by R. McGill Mackall hangs in Baltimore's Flag House and Star Spangled Banner Museum at the corner of East Pratt and Albemarle streets showing the seamstress working on the flag in the brewery's malt house.

While the Fourth of July in a national holiday, Baltimore has some distinctive ways to acknowledge its link to American history. Fort McHenry has recently opened a new $15 million visitors center where the stories the defense of the fort and Key's inspirational poem are dramatically told. Recordings play many different renditions of the national anthem including "To Anacreon in Heaven," the drinking song that provided the melody for Key's lyrics. Monday afternoon in the Inner Harbor, staff members of the Flag House, following the tradition of Pickersgill, will help the public assemble a flag. And in backyards around the city, adult citizens can open a cold one and toast our forbearers, brewers and patriots both.

Source;  http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/editorial/bs-ed-flag-and-beer-20110703,0,7235437.story

In Some States Fast Food Chains To Serve Alcohol

(NewsCore) - A number of fast food chains are adding alcoholic drinks to their menus in an attempt to boost business, USA Today reported Friday.

Burger King recently opened "Whopper Bars" that sell beer in Miami, Las Vegas, and Kansas City. Sonic plans to introduce beer and wine at two of its restaurants in South Florida, the report said.

Starbucks also recently began selling beer and wine at four of its Seattle coffee shops.

According to Ron Paul, president of restaurant consulting firm Technomic, selling alcohol is a great way for fast food chains to compete with casual dining.

"For consumers, it's basically about having it your way -- even if it's having a beer with your burger," he said.
However, critics believe that alcohol sales will send the wrong message to the restaurants' patrons, who are often young people.

"Fast food plus fast alcohol equals fast drunks," said Michele Simon, research and policy director at the Marin Institute, an alcohol-industry watchdog group.

Dean of Boston University's School of Hospitality Administration, Christopher Muller, agreed. "You don't want someone downing a quick beer, then getting into their cars and driving off. It's a delicate balance of risk and reward," he told USA Today.

The Burger King "Whopper Bars" sell beer for $4.25. Sonic's Miami location will offer three types of draft beer, 25 kinds of bottled beer, and 10 kinds of wine in the restaurant, but not to patrons in their cars.

Source;  http://www.myfoxphilly.com/dpps/money/burger-king-sonic-and-other-fast-food-chains-to-serve-alcohol-dpgonc-20110701-to_13941819

KKK Fliers Circulating In Somerset County

Written by

Earl Holland
WESTOVER -- Police are encouraging Somerset County residents to be on the lookout after flyers promoting a Ku Klux Klan event in Virginia were found on the Lower Shore.

The Maryland State Police received a call this week from a passer-by who discovered multiple flyers in driveways and mailboxes in southern Somerset. On the pieces of paper were the date and time for an event scheduled to take place in Martinsville, Va., along the southern edge of the mainland of the state.

Lt. Krah Plunkert, the commander of the MSP Princess Anne Barrack, said following the call troopers were immediately dispatched to the scene where they found additional flyers. An information incident report was filed.

"We are very sensitive about what these flyers have been stating," Plunkert said. "We have increased patrols within the area and are asking people to report any kind of suspicious activity similar to this."

This has not been the first time Somerset County has dealt with an issue like this. Earlier this year, several traffic signs were vandalized in Marion Station with racial slurs and "KKK" spray painted on many of them. Following a police investigation, two adults and a teenager were convicted of malicious destruction of property.

Plunkert said he contacted local authorities in Martinsville about the event and was told it has been held annually by the group but is "poorly organized and poorly attended."

Kirkland Hall, the president of the Somerset County branch of the NAACP, said he was informed of the incident by Plunkert and said he was surprised but not shocked.

"I'm 60 years old, so I've seen everything, but I am concerned because we're trying to improve race relations in Somerset County," Hall said. "To see that these groups are trying to recruit people here is kind of sad. After what has happened in Somerset County and other places, I guess they feel it is a recruiting ground, but we hope it's not."

Hall said while he has not received any complaints so far about the flyers, he is asking for members of the community to band together to reject the message the flyers represent.

"It's not just an individual project," he said. "Everybody has to step forward in this county and let people know we will not tolerate something like this."

Plunkert said that MSP will have their "ears to the ground" regarding the flyers.

"As very sensitive as it is, it's hard to believe that we have this going on in this day," he said. "We will not tolerate any kind of message promoting religious or ethnic prejudice in Somerset County."

Source; http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/20110701/NEWS01/107010309/Somerset-warns-KKK-fliers?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|frontpage

Murder Trial Ends In Mistrial

Written by

Jennifer Shutt

SNOW HILL -- The trial of a 19-year-old on charges he committed murder with an assault rifle ended in a mistrial, with jurors unable to agree on a verdict.

Prosecutors said they planned to re-file felony charges against Skylor Dupree Harmon, 19, of Pocomoke City after jurors in his trial told a judge they could not deliver a unanimous verdict. Harmon had been charged with first- and second-degree murder in the death of Reginald Handy Jr. After hearing from the jury, which had been discussing the evidence for four hours, Circuit Court Judge Thomas C. Groton III declared a mistrial.

Harmon will continue to be detained at the Somerset County Detention Center until another trial date can be set, according to Deputy State's Attorney Paul Haskell.

The jurors had heard hours of testimony and a lengthy closing statement from the defense on Thursday before beginning to deliberate on a verdict.

Jurors were tasked with weighing the testimony of Rasheema Schoolfield, who testified she saw Harmon within yards of where the presumed murder weapon was found, and a few feet away from where a casing from the .223-caliber Bushmaster assault rifle was later discovered. She never told police, or testified, she saw Harmon touch any gun.

Police officers testified they reviewed text messages sent to Torrance Davis, Handy's cousin, in which Schoolfield admitted to seeing Harmon with a gun. That was something Schoolfield adamantly denied on the stand during the trial.

Jurors also had to decide whether or not they believed the military-style weapon found about 65 yards away from where Handy was shot in the back was, in fact, the gun that killed him.

A ballistics expert, Jaimie Smith, told jurors he could not conclusively say the bullet that killed Handy had been fired from the weapon found by police. Smith is the expert who told police bullets from a .380-caliber or a .45-caliber handgun were not linked to the fatal shot.

Harmon's uncle, Alexander Crippen, was originally charged with the May 2010 murder, but his charges in the Handy case were dropped before Crippen's trial. When Crippen was originally charged within weeks of the murder, police and witness testimony placed him within feet of Handy, shooting a handgun.

Police originally believed bullets from a .380- or a .45-caliber weapon caused Handy's death. Then Smith told authorities his analysis of the crime scene suggested those weapons were ruled out.

Source; http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/20110701/NEWS01/107010311/Mistrial-declared-murder-trial?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|frontpage

~FIREMAN'S CHICKEN BBQ BEGINS TODAY~

POCOMOKE CITY VOLUNTEER FIRE COMPANY

2011 ANNUAL CHICKEN BBQ

July 1st, 2nd, 3rd -

Route 13- South of Pocomoke City

Menu includes:
Half BBQ Chicken & Baked Beans & Potato Salad &Roll

$7.00 Adults / $8.00 at the door.
Sunday sales while supply lasts

Tickets can be purchased from any Pocomoke Firefighter OR at First Shore Federal- Market St. in Pocomoke.

Take some home tonight!

VA To Enforce Fishing Registration Requirements

Associated Press

NEWPORT NEWS

The Virginia Marine Police will soon begin cracking down on fishermen who haven't registered with the Virginia Fisherman Identification Program.

Authorities will begin issuing citations after the Fourth of July weekend. Any adult who fishes in Virginia's saltwaters or for saltwater species in tidal waters is required to register.

Anyone who buys a Virginia saltwater fishing license is automatically registered. Anglers who fail to register could face a fine of up to $500.

The Virginia Marine Resources Commission says fewer than 28,000 people have registered this year. The National Marine Fisheries Service estimates 750,000 people a year fish in the state's saltwaters.

Registration is free at www.mrc.virginia.gov/FIP.

Source;  http://hamptonroads.com/2011/06/va-enforce-fishing-registration-requirements

86TH ANNUAL CHINCOTEAGUE FIREMAN'S CARNIVAL OPENS TONIGHT

This year's Chincoteague Fireman's Carnival has a new look!

Police Step Up Holiday Patrols

RICHMOND – Those traveling Virginia's highways this Fourth of July holiday weekend can expect to see more State Police troopers on the highways. As part of the annual Operation Combined Accident Reduction Effort, known as Operation C.A.R.E., the Virginia State Police will have 75 percent of its uniformed workforce on patrol Friday, July 1, through Monday, July 4, 2011.

"Having extra troopers on our interstates and other highways helps ensure a safer holiday weekend for all motorists," said Colonel W. Steven Flaherty, Virginia State Police Superintendent. "But we also ask for the motoring public's help in preventing traffic crashes and deaths, as it is up to ever driver to comply with posted speed limits, avoid distractions and require everyone in his or her vehicle to be safely buckled up. Working together we can continue Virginia's significant decline in traffic fatalities."

As of Thursday, June 30, 2011, preliminary numbers report 318 traffic deaths on Virginia's highways; compared to 360 this date in 2010. In all of 2010, a total of 740 men, women and children were killed in traffic crashes statewide.

During the 2010 July 4th holiday, Virginia State Police's Operation C.A.R.E. enforcement efforts resulted in the following: 152 DUI arrests; 10,880 speeders and another 2,755 reckless drivers being cited; and 977 individuals being charged for failing to buckle up. There were also 383 child safety violations cited by state troopers.

State police investigated 744 traffic crashes during last year's Independence Day weekend. There were a total of six traffic deaths during the holiday weekend in 2010. In 2009, nine people were killed and 10 people were killed during the July 4th weekend in 2008.

Operation C.A.R.E. is a state-sponsored, national program emphasizing safe driving through the reduction of traffic injuries and fatalities, occupant restraint safety and impaired driving prevention. The 2011 statistical counting period for the holiday weekend begins at 12:01 a.m. Friday, July 1, 2011, and concludes at midnight Monday, July 4, 2011.

With the increased presence of troopers on the interstates, motorists are reminded to comply with Virginia's "Move Over" law. The state law requires drivers to change to another travel lane or, when not able to, to cautiously pass emergency personnel stopped on the side of the road. The law also applies to emergency response vehicles, highway maintenance vehicles and tow trucks equipped with flashing amber lights.

KUNG FU PANDA 2 At The MarVa This Weekend

Po joins forces with a group of new kung-fu masters to take on an old enemy with a deadly new weapon.

DON'T MISS IT !

East Coast Pullers, LLC- At Pocomoke Fairgrounds Last Saturday

Even in 2011 racing is still a male- dominated sport. But there are those ladies out there that just seem to have that need for speed. Professional racing along with  nonprofessional racing sports seem to have more women each year signing up to compete.

Ms. Nancy Weller  is  one of them.  Racing  a powerful vehicle and being the 2009 East Coast Pullers Champion doesn't surprise me.  She competed this past Saturday night at the Pocomoke fairgrounds against some pretty mean motors........and men.

However, it is the other half of the double-life she leads that is quite interesting.

Nancy Weller of Taneytown, Maryland is the 2009 East Coast Pullers Champion and has been pulling for 13 years.

Nancy leads somewhat of a double-life, as she pulls on the weekends and is a Public Defender for Baltimore City during the weekdays.

"When I show up to court in my suit and heels and I tell them what I do on the weekends, it's always a big surprise," says Weller.

Weller drives "Hot Damn" in the Modified Tractors class along with her teammate and father, Earl Howard.


"When I started in 1996, there was a ton of pressure on me for being a woman in a male-dominated sport," she says. "It made my push to win even stronger."  (East Coast Pullers LLC)


Any takers from Worcester County  (currently in any type of law) up  for building a racing vehicle and facing her, or anyone, on the race track?

No Recent Developments In Search For Teen

UPDATE (June 28, 1 p.m.)—Nineteen days since 16-year-old Kirsten Ratliff was reported missing, police are continuing their search for the Perry Hall teenager.

For instant updates, follow Perry Hall Patch onFacebook and Twitter.

"There is no indication that she's in any danger," said Det. Cathy Batton, a Baltimore County police spokeswoman. "But we still need to find her."

Ratliff ran away from her Perry Hall home shortly before 8 p.m., on June 9 after a disagreement with her father about "inappropriate text messages," police spokesman Lt. Robert McCullough said.

She was reportedly seen the following weekend at a party in Ocean City, although local police were unable to find her, McCullough said.

When Patch first reported her disappearance June 23, police believed she may be in the Dundalk area, where her mother lives.

"That is no longer the case," Batton said, adding that there have been no recent developments in the search for Ratliff.

The Baltimore chapter of the Guardian Angels has distributed missing person fliers in Perry Hall, Dundalk and Ocean City. A Facebook page, with 183 followers as of Tuesday afternoon, has also been set up to collect tips on her whereabouts.

Anyone with information about Ratliff is encouraged to call Baltimore County police at 410-307-2020.

Source;  http://dundalk.patch.com/articles/missing-perry-hall-teen-has-links-to-dundalk

Pocomoke Mayor and Council Meeting

Written by

Bill Kerbin

POCOMOKE CITY -- A new city-constructed restaurant space between the Delmarva Discovery Center and the Pocomoke River moved one step closer to completion Monday night when the mayor and Council accepted a bid from Gillis Gilkerson.

The final construction bid, after taking out certain items, came to $599,940. This included reducing the size of the restaurant by two of the proposed four sections, leaving 100 seats inside the building. There would also be 20 seats outside along the river.

Councilwoman Tracey Cottman said that she was concerned about the deletions, believing they would reduce the quality of the facility. In response Jack E. Mumford III, representing Becker Morgan, the architects, said that there would be little change in the quality of the building, as most of the reduction is in taking off whole sections.

Mumford said that one section and a patio could be added back into the plans, increasing the cost by $37,000. He added that this would give the restaurant an additional 30 seats. The council also wanted to add a cupola to the front of the building. It had been in the original plans but was deleted. With these additions, the final cost of the building would be just under $650,000.

City Manager Russell W. Blake said that he had talked to the USDA about funding for the kitchen equipment and the furnishings. He is not sure, he said, but he thinks that the town could get funding for a portion of the expenses.

The council voted to pass an $8.5 million budget for the coming fiscal year with little or no change from the figures presented at the previous meeting in June. The new budget calls for a tax rate of 75 cents per $100 on owner-occupied property, the same as last year. The rate on real property that is not owner-occupied will be 80 cents per $100.

Del. Michael A. McDermott attended the meeting to voice his opposition to the planned toll increase for the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. Plans are to increase the tolls from the present $2.50 to $5 in October and to $8 in January 2013.

When he asked for justification for the increases from the Maryland Transit Authority, he said, he was told there had been no study. He then called the increase a "revenue grab." He said that the Bay Bridge made a $10 million profit last year with the present tolls, adding that a large amount of the increase on its tolls will go to fund the Inter-County Connector on the Western Shore. There is no planned increase in the toll for the ICC, which opened in the past five years.

McDermott said a scheduled public hearing on July 14 would be held at Stephen Decatur High School, and he suggested the mayor or a council member attend and testify.

Following the delegate's comments the council voted to support his views, by writing a letter to the state officials. Mayor Bruce Morrison said that he would attend the public hearing.

Under other business, the council voted to waive the real property taxes and the water and sewer fees for the Mar-Va Theater; to give the Great Fair Committee a contribution of $10,000 toward horse racing; to abate taxes for properties in town that do not receive services; and to approve the Eastern Shore Gas Company's plans to change 5,000 feet of steel lines to plastic lines.

Source;  http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/20110630/WCT01/106300325/Pocomoke-approves-600K-for-restaurant?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Worcester County Times|s

Harmon Trial Continues.....

Written by:  Jennifer Shutt
SNOW HILL -- Jurors saw autopsy photos and passed among each other a clear plastic bag filled with bullet fragments during the first day of the murder trial of Skylor Dupree Harmon.

Harmon is charged with first- and second-degree murder in the death of Reginald Handy Jr. Harmon's uncle, Alexander Crippen, was originally charged in the May 2010 murder, but charges were dropped before Crippen's trial. Crippen was later convicted of attempting to kill a different man, based on testimony about his actions at the same scene where Handy died.

Harmon, of Pocomoke City, turned 19 this month; he was 17 when Handy was killed. Harmon is also charged with first- and second-degree attempted murder, first- and second-degree assault and reckless endangerment for alleged crimes against Torrance Davis. He has pleaded not guilty.

During the first day of testimony, police told jurors how they located a .223-caliber Bushmaster assault rifle prosecutors believe Harmon used to kill Handy.

"The day after (Handy) was struck, the Pocomoke City Police Department received an anonymous tip," said Deputy State's Attorney Paul Haskell during his opening statement. Police were directed to 500 Young St. where they found the gun, described as a "Ferrari of a weapon" -- not a cheap firearm.

Shell casings from a .45-caliber weapon and a .380-caliber weapon were also found near Handy's body.
"The actual bullet that murdered Mr. Handy was so damaged that no determination can be made" about which gun fired it, Harmon's defense lawyer, Sandra Fried, said during her opening statement.

Fried went on to say that because the bullet hit Handy's spine, then fractured into several pieces, ballistics experts cannot determine if it was fired from the weapon police found on Young Street. Fried also told jurors no DNA evidence or fingerprints linked Harmon to the assault rifle.

Several witnesses who had also testified during the Crippen trial told jurors what they saw and heard the night Handy was killed.

Testimony from Torrance Davis, Handy's cousin, came out of an agreement with the State's Attorney's Office. In exchange for testimony, the state agreed to dismiss a pending assault case against Davis in addition to getting rid of a bench warrant in a separate case.

During his testimony, jurors saw the all-black assault rifle, topped with a scope, that police say killed Handy. Davis testified he received the weapon about two weeks before Handy's death, in exchange for crack cocaine, but later gave the weapon to someone else. Davis was unable to testify how the weapon would have ended up in Harmon's hands, because of an objection sustained by the judge.

Davis said that during the time he had the gun, he was able to fire it and knew what it sounded like. He said he could tell the difference between its sound and other gunshots.

"That gun makes a unique noise," Davis said. "It's like a cannon."

Testimony from Deputy Dale Trotter of the Worcester County Bureau of Investigation clarified for jurors how Harmon could have used the .223-caliber semiautomatic rifle to make a shot from about 65 yards away at 10 p.m.

"It was not an infrared scope but it was a hunting scope," Trotter said. "The ambient light from the street lighting would be enough that you could look through the scope and pick up your target."

Trotter testified that when police found the "military-grade weapon" it had a 10-round magazine. Eight bullets remained in the magazine, with one in the chamber. That indicated, Trotter said, one bullet had been fired from the weapon.

Assistant State Medical Examiner Russell Alexander testified that after the fatal bullet hit Handy's spine, a fragment continued through his body and hit his aorta, the largest artery in the body, causing massive bleeding.

"He died of a gunshot wound to the back," Alexander said.

Source: http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/20110630/NEWS01/106300385/Assault-rifle-shown-during-murder-trial?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|frontpage