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Monday, April 2, 2012
Scott Rigell ~ 2nd Congressional District of Virginia
Friends and Neighbors,Last week the Administration announced it was drafting a programmatic environmental impact statement to "inform future decisions about whether, and if so where, energy leasing would be appropriate off of Virginia's coast," according to a press release from the Department of the Interior.
But the announcement was not news – it was a classic Washington head fake. Energy experts say since the President has banned lease sales in the Atlantic for at least the next five years, this study is just another attempt to infer action when there is none. So this ‘news’ was simply the Administration giving the appearance of moving toward an ‘all-of-the-above’ energy strategy without actually doing anything.
The President's ban on coastal energy is a ban on jobs and a ban on the revenue we need so Virginia can have superior schools, healthy children, and better roads. I believe the President truly wants to lower gas prices and create jobs for the good people of Virginia, but his approach is wrong. Now is not the time for more government studies. Now is the time to begin real development of the bountiful wind, natural gas, and oil off the coast of Virginia.
In February I introduced the Mid-Atlantic Energy and Jobs Act of 2012 (HR 3882) to open, in an environmentally-responsible way, the Outer Continental Shelf off the coast of Virginia for energy development. My legislation would help move America away from its dangerous reliance on foreign oil and create an estimated 18,000 direct and indirect local jobs. At the same time, the legislation would generate $1.4 billion in royalty revenue for the Commonwealth, a percentage of which would be required to go toward environmental preservation in Virginia.
We must pursue a true ‘all-of-the-above’ approach to energy policy in this country. We’re Americans. We can – and must – do this so we can pass on the blessings of liberty and freedom to our children and grandchildren.
Mindful that I work for you, I remain
Yours in Freedom, Scott Rigell
Member of Congress
Legislative Updates By Delegate Mike McDermott
Week 12 March 26-30 , 2012
Monday Afternoon Regular Session:Third Reader Bills
These bills had some opposition:HB-443 creates the Health Care Exchange in support of Obamacare. It seems the democrats missed the news on the Supreme Court hearing this case and are happy to rush forward with legislation so we can be “first”. A real waste of effort and tax dollars.HB-1006 gives collective bargaining to all Baltimore City school employees. This was pretty much a party line vote.
Hunting License Increase-Shot Down on the Floor: HB-1419 was a rare victory snatched from the floor. The bill would have doubled Hunting License fees. Strategic questioning of the Floor Leader on the bill led to the opening of many eyes in the House on the democratic side. Following a hearty debate, the bill was defeated on a 62-69 vote. This will keep the cost of a license at $24.50. I must say, it felt pretty good to lead the charge and defeat a bad bill…as rare as it may be.
Cross Filed Senate Bills Heard on Tuesday:
The following bills were heard (listed with their previously heard cross filed House Bill):SB-41 (HB-212), SB-59 (HB-117), SB-131 (HB-115), SB-374 (HB-251), SB-421 (HB-875), SB-439 (HB-379), SB-535 (HB-1029), SB-588 (HB-739).SB-70 has no cross file in the House. This bill seeks to codify the hearing process pertaining to guardianships and would require a hearing with the child who is the subject of the guardianship. SB-141 would repeal certain provisions concerning the reporting of information to the criminal justice system.
Cross Filed Senate Bills Heard on Wednesday:
The following bills were heard)listed with their previously heard cross filed House Bill):SB-18 (HB-252), SB-170 (HB-524), SB-198 (HB-161), SB-514 (HB-396), SB-521 (HB-604), SB-640 (HB-715), SB-650 (HB-631), SB-673 (HB-926), SB-691 (HB-670)SB-245 would allow for the transference of a juvenile in custody to another treatment facility based upon a decision by the Dept. of Juvenile Justice. It provides, by amendment, the opportunity for judicial review and assignment. SB-247 addresses juvenile records and would seek to allow for additional sharing of criminal-detention information with other states which enter into a Memorandum of Understanding.
Maryland currently only has this agreement with Virginia and the District of Columbia.SB-16 is a similar to HB-353 concerning Jury Service and time off allocated by an employer. This is not a business friendly bill.
On Second Reader was HB-411 which is the O’Malley-Brown Off-Shore Wind Bill. The bill has been amended several times and the dollar demands on consumers have been lowered (but will rise with inflation). In fact, the industry folks say that it is financially improbable that a company would be willing to enter into an agreement with Maryland under these terms. The fact is, without significant government and ratepayer subsidies, Off Shore Big Wind is too costly. If you consider wind produced kilowatts coming in at .24 cents and natural gas generation at .07 cents, this is not rocket science. On the floor, I argued that we should join with Virginia and their announced project to allow Dominion Energy to build one such tower three miles off the coast of Cape Charles and a monitoring station so they can determine if the technology will produce the results needed to make it a viable option. They put a three year moratorium on natural gas drilling that would net billions, yet they rush forward on an unproven technology that would bind our people to higher utility rates in the future. In a word, unbelievable! The Governor wants a “green” shingle to hang on his national resume, and, as ridiculous as it may be, the democrats in the General Assembly will deliver.
Cross Filed Senate Bills Heard on Thursday:SB-175 (HB-8), SB-283 (HB-1022), SB-353 (HB-318), SB-396 (HB-822), SB-453 (HB-707), SB-496 (HB-480), SB-512 (HB-1310), SB-562 (HB-614), SB-565 (HB-942), SB-612 (HB-1074), SB-647 (HB-1146), SB-711 (HB-774), SB-797 (1042), SB-856 (HB-762)
We also had our initial review of HB-15, the Medical Marijuana Bill. This one was assigned to Health and Government Operations as the primary committee, but we are reviewing it as well. The bill seeks to allow folks who provide marijuana to a person who has a medicinal need for the drug to be classified as “Care Providers” and would give them certain protection from prosecution. I think this is a terrible idea and the bill has so many holes in it legally, I do not think it can be repaired. The big problem in the General Assembly is that we have some who want to legalize marijuana or, at least, decriminalize possession, yet they use medical marijuana for cover to try and relax laws. Well, if they want the debate on legalization, let’s have it…but let’s stop trying to come in the back door behind this ruse of medicinal marijuana. I do not want Maryland to look like California when it comes to marijuana. We already look like them when it comes to taxes and environmental laws. We did not vote on the bill, but I doubt it receives a favorable report from Judiciary next week.
Friday Morning Regular Session:Second Reader, Third Reader House and Senate Bills
HB-441 is the Off-Shore Wind Bill. The bill is fraught with cost issues that could and would eventually be passed onto ratepayers and taxpayers. The bill makes provisions for union hiring and would eliminate non-union folks from being able to work on this project. In the end, it is government picking the winners and losers. On one hand, we fight against drilling for natural gas, and on the other we grant rate subsidies and make demands on utility companies to provide alternative energy that costs two to three times what is paid now. This is what happens when government gets involved in energy policies. The final vote was 88-47 in favor of the bill.
Erika Sifrit Cites Mental Issues In New Trial Bid
OCEAN CITY -- With the 10th anniversary of the heinous crime rapidly approaching, convicted killer Erika Sifrit, who, along with her husband Benjamin, brutally murdered and dismembered a Virginia couple vacationing in Ocean City on Memorial Day 2002, this week filed her latest bid for a new trial.
Erika Sifrit, now 34, this week filed a petition seeking an overturn of her prior convictions and sentences and a bid for a new trial, citing her defense counsel at her original trial in 2003 failed to highlight her mental instability and the dominance of her husband at the time of the crimes. In 2003, Erika Sifrit was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of Joshua Ford and second-degree murder in the death of Martha Crutchley and was sentenced to life in prison plus 20 years.
“Due to constitutionally inadequate investigation of Ms. Sifrit’s state of mind and mental health, trial counsel failed to respond to the state’s aiding and abetting case.”
Sunday, April 1, 2012
TIME MACHINE ... Passing Era Of The Old Eastern Shore Doctors.
(Reader-friendly viewing of newspaper archives material)
May, 1903
(The Denton Journal)
Passing of the Old Eastern Shore Doctor.
From The Baltimore Herald.
To the student and observer of the changes wrought by time in the social and institutional life of the Eastern Shore one of the most familiar and striking differences between the new and the old is seen in the Eastern Shore doctor. This important professional personage is now typified by a young, aggressive, business-like physician the antithesis of the sedate, courtly, punctilious practitioner of the old school. To the old Eastern Shore, as well as to the old Virginia doctor, with his lancet, calomel and jalap, his mercury and Peruvian bark and his eighteen months or so of medical education, there has come a successor, with a four years' training, under two score of professors, lecturers and teachers, in a score of allied medical sciences, most of which were unheard of a quarter of a century ago, with `a thousand and one drugs for the rapidly expanding list of the ills of man, and, above all, perhaps, with the manufacturing chemist at his back. And what wonders this patient and hard working scientist has performed. From his laboratories come discovery upon discovery of new drugs, of new combinations of old drugs, and vials upon vials of innocent looking pink and various colored pills, granules, triturates, tablets, etc., in which reside the "active principles" of remedial agents.
The old doctor's calomel bottle, alone, now holds an armamentarium of the little "active principles" in a form which the future hid from the eyes of his heroic predecessor. And as the old doctor replenished his saddle-bags from the apothecary's shop, the new doctor fills his pocket case and his carriage medicine chest from the manufacturing chemists of Baltimore, or of Philadelphia, and does his own dispensing. The country druggist, however, complains that he is not doing so well as did the apothecary. He claims that the new doctor sends him few prescriptions. The patient today is prone to patronize the physician who deals out his own remedies. He has but one bill to pay for attendance and medicine, and he is shrewd enough to see that this bill is likely to be less than the two of doctor and druggist. The "spirit of commercialism" has entered into the sickroom as well into all other affairs of this age. The doctor's "honorarium" is now the new doctor's fee- a cold now a clear-cut matter of business. The Hippocratic oath is now a relic of antiquity, and the schools no longer go through the formality of administering the jusjurandum.
Few of the old Eastern Shore doctors survive as a connecting link between the conditions which surround the present day practice of medicine and the flower of medical life which bloomed and blossomed and faded in the nineteenth century. Here and there one is found, in this county of that, who is still active and holds a clientele among old families, although the younger generations regard him askance. For the good old man has lost none of his reliance in the methods which dead and gone masters taught him, and the clash of theories and the actual results in practice of the old and the new the lagging veteran finds much in use by his younger brethren that is superfluous in the application of the art to the old familiar diseases common to this climate. He has seen the dreaded ague, once the scourge of the Eastern Shore, practically depart, and the fevers which once raged so extensively and disastrously in his early days have become lessened in volume and virulence. He is still in demand in certain cases, and when the grip seized the community and was heralded as a new and dangerous disease, and gave impetus to the labors of the chemists in producing the much exploited "coal tar products," he kindly got down an old author and identified the influenza and revived the forgotten treatment from three-quarters of a century ago, with gratifying success.
In the case of the Eastern Shore doctor the new regime has swept him and his virtues and his foibles aside. A man is shot through the abdomen in the morning. Long before night he is in a Baltimore hospital with a surgeon, dressed like a French baker, searching his intestines for perforations; or he may be in the hospital at Salisbury or Cambridge, or that soon to be erected at Easton, or the one in Elkton, with a city surgeon speeding to his side; or an alert, brilliant, daring local practitioner operating upon him.
An onset of typhoid fever or pneumonia sends the patient to a hospital, home or foreign, treatment by a specialist, and the "chronies" are ever searching for strange medical advices. The stupendous field of medical science today in which one man can hope to master little more than one branch has fixed the doom of the family doctor, and scientific and material progress, social changes, and the inexorable fiat of time have seen the (old-time) Eastern Shore doctor a memory.
February, 1941
A "Blood Donors Club" was organized by 40 Pocomoke City residents. Members would voluntarily donate blood when lives of those in need of blood were at stake. The club was one of the first of it's kind in the state.
January, 1927
In a list of construction projects to be covered by a proposed state loan program, Maryland Governor Albert C. Ritchie, designated $55,000 for an armory and land in Pocomoke City.
January, 1970
With Pocomoke's 30-member National Guard unit being transferred to Salisbury arrangements had been completed for the city of Pocomoke to take over the Armory building on Second Street. Mayor J. Dawson Clarke said a portion of the building could be new headquarters for the Pocomoke police department. Sgt. Ames Byrd of the Guard said all the state and federal property in the Armory had been relocated to Salisbury.
Do you have a local memory to share with PPE readers.. such as a big snow storm, a favorite school teacher, a local happening, something of interest your parents or grandparents told you about? It can be just a line or two or more if you wish. Your name won't be used unless you ask that it be. Send to tkforppe@yahoo.com and watch for it on a future TIME MACHINE posting!
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Melson Power Show Opening Soon !!
TIME MACHINE Preview ... Passing Era Of The Old Eastern Shore Doctors.
These words weren't written recently, they're from a newspaper article published more than a century ago... in 1903!
It's this Sunday on The Pocomoke Public Eye!
Do you have a local memory to share with PPE readers.. such as a big snow storm, a favorite school teacher, a local happening, something of interest your parents or grandparents told you about? It can be just a line or two or more if you wish. Your name won't be used unless you ask that it be. Send to tkforppe@yahoo.com and watch for it on a future TIME MACHINE posting!
SHORE BEEF & BBQ
Virginia Sheriffs' Institute Scholarship Program
Full-time and Part-time students are eligible for this program and all applicants must meet the requirements set forth by the Virginia Sheriffs' Institute in order to qualify as a recipient of the VSI scholarship award.
Applicants must live in the locality where the sheriff is a member of the Virginia Sheriffs' Institute and must be accepted to Virginia Colleges and Universities with a major in the criminal justice field.
All students interested in the Virginia Sheriffs' Institute Scholarship Program for the 2012/2013 school year should contact Karen C. Barrett of the Accomack County Sheriff's Office @ 787-1131, 824-5666, or 891-2489.
Applications may be obtained from the Accomack County Sheriffs Office and must be completed and returned by April 13, 2012.
"Musical Traditions" At The Delmarva Discovery Center On Saturday Afternoon
Mar-Va Theater This Saturday Night
Comedian & Songwriter
$7.50 in advance
Friday, March 30, 2012
Spring Shoppers Fair - On Saturday
Pocomoke City Police Department
From Pocomoke City Police Chief Kelvin Sewell
I received a letter of appreciation from a local business on March 26, 2012 for the exceptional job from the Pocomoke City Police Officers & Worcester County Sheriff’s Deputy while handling a complaint at their business location. The letter goes to say on March 24, 2012 the responder of the business was contacted to respond to the scene in reference to a suspicious person on the property. The Officers made contact with the responder to complete an interior check due to the officers finding a rear window unlocked and rear screen door damaged. While two (2) Officers were conducting the search, the assisting Officer held the possible suspect until the officers were complete to see if anything was missing. The business was very fortunate Officers located this individual when they did as nothing was missing or disturbed. This is a great example of what happens when agencies work together.
It’s Officers like them that continue to make Pocomoke City a safer place for our citizens. Your dedication and commitment are an inspiration to us all.
Sincerely,
Chief Kelvin Sewell
Pocomoke City PoliceMarch 30, 2012
$500 Million~ All-time Lottery Jackpot Record
There will be a lot of daydreaming going on this week around America.
Dreaming about what it would be like to win a half-billion dollars.
Doubtless, there will be a rush of media pundits clamoring to cite the tiny chance each player has of winning.
There will probably be a thousand different analogies designed to explain how small the chances are. Maybe someone will compare it to the odds of getting hit by lightning while at the same time being eaten by a shark.
But no matter how hard they try to convince people to resist the urge to play, the pundits are up against a simple fact: there is enough money at stake to make even the most pessimistic person fork over a buck or two at the lottery ticket counter this week.
To get an idea of how many tickets are being sold, the Mega Millions jackpot estimate was raised a staggering $137 million in just one drawing. It normally takes at least 9 consecutive drawings to raise the jackpot by that amount.
Likewise, the lump-sum cash option of Friday's jackpot is $341.4 million $359.4 million — an increase of $99.6 million from Tuesday. Unimaginable.
Lotteries are typically conservative when estimating jackpots, to ensure that the actual jackpot amount is not less than the estimate. Often the jackpot is much higher than the estimate by the time all ticket sales are accounted for.
In the case of a world-record lottery jackpot, it's anyone's guess how much higher it will go.
Friday's world-record Mega Millions jackpot is the result of an unprecedented 18 consecutive drawings without a top-prize winner. The jackpot started off as a $12 million grand prize on January 27th, and has continued to be drawn without a winner for two months.
MORE STORY
Chincoteague Island Easter Decoy & Art
April 6 & 7, 2012
Friday, April 6 Noon to 6:00 p.m.
Saturday, April 7 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Saturday, April 7 Auction 7:30 p.m.
Chincoteague Combined School
4586 Main St.
Chincoteague Island, VA 23336
Local and national carvers and artists of all kinds exhibit and sell their works. Awards are given in various categories. Wooden Easter Eggs decorated by the exhibitors are offered in a silent auction. A live auction of donated works at 7:30 p.m. Saturday evening caps off the weekend.
Admission to the show is $3.00 per day.
(children under 12 are free--no admission to auction)
757-336-6161
Fax: 757-336-1242
Email: mailto:+chincochamber@verizon.net
http://www.chincoteaguechamber.com/
(updated as applications come in)
Michael & karla adcocK
vic & ellen berg
Roy BOHN
bob booth
jimmy bowden
KATHY BOYLE
DALE BUFFINGTON
MATT BURTON
lisa byrd
jay & lilly cherrix
bill cowen
billy crockett
JENNIFER DAISEY
harry danforth
rocky detwiler
shannon dimmig
lou doughty
RUSSELL FISH
robert gray
bill hickson
james johnson
ed kuhn
matt mason sr.
cork mcgee
ron rosciszewski
ronnie stevens
bill veasey
michael veasey
ARNOLD O. WEBER
RAY WHETZEL
Ryan wooster
denise bennett
grover cantwell jr.
SHIRL' EKLUND
pat ellison
sarah grangier
janet hong
mary jager
C. jean ketner-loeffert
JAMES KINNETT
carl "spike" knuth
ellen lawler
tina mccloud
NANCY MITCHELL
jenny somers
rose tayloR
donnie thornton
richard toft
mary LOU
TROUTMAN
ARNOLD O. WEBER
nancy richards wesT
susan wheeler
BASKET WEAVERS,
STAINED GLASS ARTISANS
& OTHERS
DEBBIE AGATE-PHOTOGRAPHY, NOTECARDS, "SANDY THE SEAHORSE SAVES THE DAY" BOOK
PAMELA ALTON-NECKLACES, BRACELETS, EARRINGS, PENDANTS MADE WITH SHELLS/BEADS
MOHAMMED ATTIAH--AFRICAN HANDMADE BASKETS
DENISE BENNETT--NOTE CARDS, UPCYCLED WINE BOTTLES, JEWELRY, ETC.
KATHY BOYLE-BRONZE, SILVER & SEA GLASS JEWELRY, ORNAMENTS & PINS
SCOTT BUSH--NATURE & WILDLIFE PHOTOPRINTS
KEN CONGER--PHOTOGRAPHY
HARRY DANFORTH-NATURE PHOTOS
JOAN DEVANEY--HANDMADE GLASS ORNAMENTS & PENDANTS, MANY WITH NAUTICAL DESIGNS
LOU DOUGHTY-MODEL BOATS
LAURA ELLISON--RESIN JEWELRY
KEVIN FLEMING--WILDLIFE/LANDSCAPE/NATURE PHOTOGRAPHS
DIAMOND FRANDSEN/DEBRA SIMPSON-HANDWOVEN OAK BASKETS, FELT & WOOL ITEMS
IRIS & JOHN GASSER-CLOTHING, YARN, RUGS, PLACEMATS MADE FROM ALPACA & LLAMA WOOL
CAROLINE HERSHEY-CARODAN FARM WOOL SHOP
RON HUGO-DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY, LIMITED EDITION PRINTS & FRAMED PRINTS
JOHN INTO & NANCY PRICE--MODEL BOATS
RUTH ANN LUDLAM-NECKLACES, BRACELETS, EARRINGS USING SEMI-PRECIOUS STONES
TINA MCCLOUD-PHOTOGRAPHY, JEWELRY, SCARVES
MILLY'S ORGANICS-HOMEMADE SALAD DRESSINGS
NANCY MITCHELL-GREETING CARDS, PHOTOS
STEPHEN MOORE-PHOTOGRAPHY
CARSON & BONNIE RILEY-SEA GLASS JEWELRY, CRAFTS & BEACH PHOTOGRAPHY
BARBARA RITTER-CARVING SUPPLIES & BOOKS
MARIE "MINT" SCHLIEF--STERLING & GOLD FILLED WIRE WRAPPED SEMI-PRECIOUS STONE JEWELRY
ROSE TAYLOR-PHOTOGRAPHY
JOHN & CINDA WALLS-CARVING SUPPLIES
JIM WARREN-METAL & STONE JEWELRY
MARIANNE WARREN--HERBAL SOAPS & LOTIONS
DIANNE WEBER--PHOTOGRAPHER