Complaint Filed..

(wboc.com)

ACLU Says Reporters Barred From Pocomoke Council Meeting

Posted: Jul 31, 2015 2:17 PM EDTUpdated: Jul 31, 2015 2:57 PM EDT

POCOMOKE CITY, Md. (AP/WBOC)- The American Civil

Liberties Union of Maryland says reporters were illegally

barred from a Pocomoke City council meeting during 

which the recent firing of the city's police chief was 

discussed.

  
In a complaint filed Friday with the Maryland Open 

Meetings Compliance Board, the ACLU says city

officials violated both the state's Open Meetings Act and 

the First Amendment in excluding reporters from the

meeting.

"The Pocomoke City Council is undeniably a public body

under the OPA, and the Act defines 'open session' to 

mean open to all meaning both the public and the 

press," the complaint says. "Not only is this true under 

the Open Meetings Act, it is true under the U.S. 

Constitution: The First Amendment guarantees that the 

press and the public enjoy equal access to government 

information and proceedings, including Town Council 

meetings, making it unconstitutional for the government

to bar reporters from meetings open to the public at 

large."

  
Pocomoke City's attorney says he is not aware of any

instructions given to police to bar reporters from 

the crowded July 13 meeting.

  
Former chief Kelvin Sewell, who is black, says he was 

fired for refusing to terminate two other black 

officers who, like Sewell, have filed job discrimination 

complaints.

  
City officials emphatically deny that Sewell was ousted

because he refused to fire the two officers.

WBOC Reports On Rally For Mayor..

(wboc.com)

Rally Held in Support of Embattled Pocomoke City Mayor

Posted: Jul 30, 2015 10:19 PM EDT

By Nicole Edenedo

POCOMOKE CITY, Md. -- A rally held in support of Pocomoke City's mayor and council Thursday night produced about 100 signatures pledging support for the city's leadership after some in the community have called for the mayor's resignation. 

It's been nearly a month since a personnel issue sparked a firestorm in Maryland's "friendliest town."

Mayor Bruce Morrison has been in the eye of that storm fending off allegations of incompetence, corruption and racial discrimination.

In June, former police chief Kelvin Sewell was terminated by the city council with the mayor's approval. Sewell's attorney told WBOC his termination was allegedly racially motivated. Some residents have been calling for the mayor's resignation.

Until now Morrison has not appeared on camera for WBOC. But at Thursday night's rally, the mayor had his chance to finally speak out.

"It's been very very hard for our family," said Morrison. "You know, to be accused of something.

 I'm not...I've always been a friendly person. I've been a good mayor," the mayor said.

And that's how the rally's supporters say they feel as well.

The rally's organizer Robert Cowger says this isn't just about Morrison.

"It's to show that the residents of this town believe in the entire mayor and council," said Cowger. "The mayor doesn't really make the decisions. The council is the one that makes the decisions. He just follows through after the decisions are made from the council."

Morrison has been asked to resign by a group that formed in the wake of the police chief controversy called "Citizens for a Better Pocomoke." But Morrison says he will not resign.

Morrison says he stands firm in his belief that the town's issues can be resolved through open  discussions.

"It's what good for our whole town and that's what I want to see. I want to see this thing fixed and I want to see us to move forward," said Morrison.

Cowger says the media's portrayal of Pocomoke City as a town in the throes of racial tension and discrimination is not true.

"This town's title is the friendliest town and you know we don't have those kinds of issues and  stuff down here," said Cowger. "And to try to turn that into that and make it into national news, it's just nogt right."

Cowger says the letters of support have about 100 signatures.

The letters of support will be presented at the next city council meeting on Monday August 3rd  in Pocomoke City.

TIME MACHINE ... This Sunday's Preview.

1955.. It almost happend- a consolidated High School to serve Pocomoke and Snow Hill; 1948.. Rotary honors one of Pocomoke City's oldest and most active citizens;  1935.. Excavation for Onancock post office unearths surprises; 1985.. Julian "Juke" Tyler becomes Crisfield's first city manager; 1903 .. Ad- Check these summertime clothing prices at I.H. Merrill in Pocomoke City.

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


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Wallops Program Receives "Best" Award..

(excerpts from PRNewswire)

Wallops Aircraft Office Recognized as the Best in the Federal Government

WASHINGTON, July 28, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/

 -- NASA's Wallops Flight  Facility Aircraft Office in

Virginia has been recognized as the best small aviation

program in the Federal government by the General

Services Administration and  the  Interagency

Committee for Aviation Policy.

The Wallops aircraft team provides NASA and

 commercial platforms for worldwide airborne scientific 

research, technology development, cargo airlift, launch

range  surveillance and recovery, and remotely piloted 

aircraft systems and required chase operations.

The award is provided to agencies that have 

demonstrated their flight programs support for the

success of the agency's mission. An independent panel 

of aviation experts judge agencies based on aircraft

administration, operations, maintenance, training and 

safety.

In 2014, Wallops participated in 30 NASA airborne 

science missions, flying more than  2,000 flight hours

Both were records surpassing all previous marks

during the office's 45 years.

These aircraft support NASA missions across the
United States from the east to west coasts, as well as Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Norway, Africa and
Antarctica.

In addition, Wallops recently opened and conducted 

missions from a new Global Hawk Operations Center 

(GHOC-East) control center. The GHOC allows NASA to

conduct Global Hawk operations worldwide, including

missions to study Atlantic tropical storms.

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THE GREAT POCOMOKE FAIR!

        See info at..

        http://www.thegreatpocomokefair.org/




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YOUR VIEW?

Have a comment or opinion? You're welcome to share it here on The Pocomoke Public Eye! 

We're a family-friendly site so please keep the language and subject matter appropriate.

Some recent comments were:

(Sunday, 7/26)

	I hope that Ernie Leatherbury comes and takes the Chiefs job, he is a man of character and good looking to boot. on Pocomoke Remains In The News..	Anonymous	at 1:06 PM
	In the Pocomoke 2009 election, before the absentee ballots were counted the results were dead even at 58 each. There were 178 absentee ballots. How many elections do you know of where the absentee ballot number exceeds the number of in person votes? Now if the irregularities with the absentee ballots had not existed it still may have turned out the same. I do believe there was voter fraud in that election. on Pocomoke Petitioners..	Anonymous	at 12:13 PM
	See also http://sbynews.blogspot.com/2009/05/wymzie-stephanie-burke-loses-election.html on Pocomoke Petitioners..	SBeyma	at 11:59 AM
	Refer to http://thepocomokepubliceye.blogspot.com/2011/02/changes-made-in-pocomoke-election-laws.html on Pocomoke Petitioners..	SBeyma	at 11:53 AM
	Anon 10 am, Agreed to a certain extent; that is how Stephanie Burke forced the last changes by taking her concerns to the States Attorney at the time. That still does not mean the town administrator did not have to do a better job of assuring the local elections are conducted ethically and properly and that the election board and town had adequate training, which they do not have so far. Why is there no provision for write in votes, for example? on Pocomoke Petitioners..	SBeyma	at 11:49 AM
	I wonder if Lucas informed the DOJ reps of this tidbit at the meeting the other night? If true, the former chief and the citizens group really has a gem as their de facto spokeswoman. All of their credibility is shot if her man was one of the ones recently arrested. The first thing the citizens need to do before they worry about the mayor and council is to clean their own house. on Pocomoke Remains In The News..	Anonymous	at 10:09 AM
	SBeyma, while the election was local, they are overseen by the State of MD. Any election issues then fall to that particular county's States Attorney's Office. onPocomoke Petitioners..	Anonymous	at 10:00 AM
	I can remember seeing Honiss and whatever other seating council member up for reelection walking through neighborhoods, their back pocket full of absentee ballot forms. This was done with the full knowledge of city hall. Had we had the professional city manager the former city manager claimed to be, this would not have been possible. It was his duty to see that elections were conducted ethically and he failed miserably by intention. on Pocomoke Petitioners..	SBeyma	at 9:36 AM
	Oh really 10:13. And who might that fine upstanding citizen be? No wonder she's PO'ed. Taking a bite out of crime must have certainly taken a bite out of her pocketbook. I wonder if she is a user as well? This would explain the babbling nonsense that comes out of that mouth of hers every time she's interviewed by the media. Next time she's interviewed she needs to be asked about this. on Pocomoke Remains In The News..	Anonymous	at 8:15 AM
	9:27-Not so sure that the system was revised. I think it's more along the lines of Honiss died and isn't around to organize a Stuff the Ballot Box drive. I clearly remember the election where there were considerably more absentee ballots then there were more people who showed up to vote on election day. Yep-only those born yesterday thought everything was on the up and up. Those low information people and people who knew it was wrong, but chose to ignore. on Pocomoke Petitioners..

(7/25)

I grew up with Reuben Campbell (Sonny) Morrison and his little brother, Brucie. I've lost track of how many times Sonny has been in jail and I don't think much more of Brucie but at least he has never served time. Somehow he got himself elected Mayor so I've got to respect that but the key is the City Attorney. If he's any kind of lawyer he would have advised and prevented the Mayor and Council from doing anything blatantly illegal. Questionable, maybe but definitely not illegal. Brucie may come out of this with a whole lot of stink on him but I doubt there will be any charges. Your friend, Slim on Pocomoke Petitioners..

TIME MACHINE ... 1969, 1898, 1939, 1829, 1949.

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

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


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


October, 1969..

                                                                                   The Salisbury Times



October, 1898
The Times (Washington, D.C.)

Fire At Crisfield, Md.

Crisfield, Md., Oct. 25.-  The business portion of Crisfield was destroyed by fire last night.  Eight stores, the Eastern Shore Hotel, the postoffice and the Adams Express office are among the buildings burned.  The loss is estimated at $40,000; small insurance.



July, 1939

                                                                        Easton Star Democrat (Easton, Md)

Footnote:

Gunther was a long established Baltimore brewery, with a heritage that pre-dated Prohibition (when it was spelled "Guenther").  The brewery operated until 1959, when it was purchased by Theodore Hamm, a large Minnesota-based brewery. Hamm was attempting to expand its territory into the East and bought Gunther as its first outpost.  Rather than continue to brew Gunther for local customers and introduce it's own brands over time, Hamm's instead eliminated Gunther's brand immediately (negating all the local loyalty).  Hamm's only stayed for three years before selling the brewery and brands to Schaefer, a large Brooklyn-based brewer. Schaefer reintroduced Gunther as one of its budget brands and won back some of the local customer base.  Schaefer itself continued in operation until 1976, when its operations and brands were sold.

(online text and logo courtesy http://heritage575.tripod.com/home.html )



July, 1829
The Hagerstown Mail (Hagerstown, Md.)

Myriads of Locusts, says the Snow Hill Messenger, have made their appearance in Somerset County, on the eastern shore of this state, and fears are entertained that they will do great injury to the fruit trees.



1949.. "More doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette."

See the TV commercial here:

http://www.bestoldcommercials.com/camel-igarettes-doctors-choice-of-smoke/



Do you have a local memory to share with PPE readers or something of interest your parents or grandparents told you about? Please send to tkforppe@yahoo.com .


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