Built in 1886, the Rebecca T. Ruark is the oldest working skipjack on the Chesapeake Bay.
The annual Skipjack race is a tradition held on Deal Island to honor watermen who have for many years dredged for oysters in the bay using the Skipjack.
Family friendly and striving to be a worthy choice for your Internet browsing. Comments and material submissions welcome: tkforppe@yahoo.com . Pocomoke City-- an All American City And The Friendliest Town On The Eastern Shore.
COUNTY SCHOOL TIMES
ACCOMAC -- Accomack County Public Schools has announced bus arrival and instructional day conclusion times for its schools for the 2010-2011 school year, which begins on Tuesday.
For Accawmacke, Kegotank, Metompkin and Pungoteague elementary schools, buses will arrive at school at 8 a.m. and the instructional day ends at 3:20 p.m.
For Chincoteague Elementary School, buses will arrive at school at 8:15 a.m. and the day ends at 3:30 p.m.
For Arcadia and Nandua high schools, buses will arrive at 7:45 a.m. and the instructional day ends at 3:18 p.m.
For Chincoteauge High School, buses will arrive at 7:40 a.m. and the instructional day ends at 3 p.m.
For Arcadia and Nandua middle schools, buses will arrive at 7:55 a.m. and the instructional day ends at 3:07 p.m.
There are compounds in frog skins that could be used to fight MRSA and other antibiotic-resistant diseases.
Dr. Michael Conlon recently told the American Chemical Society that biochemists at United Arab Emirates University have found a way to tweak the molecular structure of the strong natural antibiotics on frog skin that makes them less toxic to humans.
Researchers say they have identified and purified the chemical structure of about 200 substances -- a treasure trove of antibiotics just waiting to be used.
One has already been found to be effective against "Iraqi-bacter," a drug-resistant infection turning up in wounded soldiers returning home from Iraq.
Conlon says it's important to preserve the bio-diversity of frogs. He says scientists are just scratching the surface of the potential antibiotics that could be found in more than 6,000 species of frogs.
"The focus of my administration will be... drug related crime, gang related crime, and child sex crimes"Well that seamed really great to me and the interview was going well until Overholt said something that completely turned me off and he lost my vote with one simple statement which follows, Overholt went on to say;
"Of course if I have to chose one of those areas which is most serious it's gonna be drug related crimes"WHAT! drug related crime is the "most serious" over a child sex crime? I don't think so Mr Overholt. I hope he will clear that statement up right here on this blog.
Their goal is not only to protect Muslims, but also to prevent them from retaliating if provoked. One Sept. 11 protest in New York against the proposed mosque near ground zero is expected to feature Geert Wilders, the aggressively anti-Islam Dutch lawmaker. The same day in Gainesville, Fla., the Dove World Outreach Center plans to burn copies of the Quran.
"We can expect crazy people out there will do things, but we don't want to create a hysteria," among Muslims, said Victor Begg of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Michigan. "Americans, in general, they support pluralism. It's just that there's a lot of misinformation out there that has created confusion."
On Tuesday, the Islamic Society of North America will hold a summit of Christian, Muslim and Jewish leaders in Washington "to address the growing tide of fear and intolerance" in the furor over the planned New York mosque.
Islamic centers in many cities are intensifying surveillance and keeping closer contact with law enforcement. Adding to Muslim concern is a fluke of the lunar calendar: Eid al-Fitr, a joyous holiday marking the end of Ramadan, will fall around Sept. 11 this year. Muslim leaders fear festivities could be misinterpreted as celebrating the 2001 terror strikes.
"We're telling everyone to keep their eyes open and report anything suspicious to authorities and call us," said Ramzy Kilic of the Tampa, Fla., chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations.
Other efforts around 9/11 aim to fight bigotry. Muslims will clean parks, feed the homeless, and give toys to sick children as part of Muslim Serve, a national campaign to demonstrate Islamic commitment to serving humanity.
Separately, groups are distributing ads to combat persistent suspicions about Islam. One spot, called "My Faith, My Voice," features American Muslims saying, "I don't want to take over this country."
Sept. 11 anniversaries have always been challenging for U.S. Muslims, who have been under scrutiny since the attacks. This year, the commemoration follows a stunning summer in which opposition to a planned Islamic community center near the World Trade Center site escalated into a national uproar over Islam, extremism and religious freedom.
Islamic centers as far away as Tennessee and California faced protests and vandalism. In western New York, police said a group of teenagers recently yelled obscenities, set off a car alarm and fired a shotgun during two nights of drive-by harassment at a small-town mosque near Lake Ontario.Usama Shami, board chairman for the Islamic Community Center of Phoenix, said a new mosque the congregation has been building for years drew little attention until recently, when some resistance emerged in the neighborhood and from some in city government. Recently, vandals broke into the new building, spilled paint on the floor and broke expensive windows.
Shami believes the ground zero dispute is partly to blame for the trouble, along with passions unleashed by Arizona's strict new law that would require police to question people about their immigration status if there is reason to suspect they are in the country illegally.
"All of these issues came at the same time," Shami said. "When things like that happen, I think they bring out the worst in some people."
On Sept. 11 in Chicago, Zeenat Rahman, a 34-year-old native of the city, will visit a local nursing home with Muslim and non-Muslim friends to spend time with residents and help serve a meal.
"This is when people are going to look at our community, and when they do, what are they going to see?" said Rahman, a policy director for the Interfaith Youth Core, which promotes pluralism. "Sometimes, saying 'Islam means peace,' feels a little defensive and apologetic, whereas service is really core to our faith."
Unity Productions Foundation, a Washington-area group that specializes in films about Islam and Muslim Americans, will hold an interfaith talk on Sept. 11 at the Washington Jewish Community Center.
Speakers include Monem Salam, the subject of a Unity Productions film titled, "On a Wing and a Prayer: An American Muslim Learns to Fly." Unity recently launched groundzerodialogue.org, where visitors can view films and use them for community discussion about Islam in the U.S.
Salam, 38, of Bellingham, Wash., usually spends the Eid weekend with his wife and three young children, but said he persuaded his wife he had to participate in the event.
"I have to leave them and go across the country to answer questions about Islam," said Salam, a portfolio manager who was 4 years old when his family left Pakistan for the U.S. "It's unfortunate. It's the time that we live in."
www.wpri.com
Richard and Mayumi Heene and their three boys have moved to Bradenton, Fla., where Richard Heene will continue working in construction, state court officials said.
The Heenes reported in October that their 6-year-old son had floated away in a homemade UFO-shaped helium balloon, touching off a scramble of dozens of emergency responders and two Colorado National Guard helicopters.
The boy wasn't on the balloon and was later found at his home in Fort Collins, about 60 miles north of Denver. Authorities accused the Heenes of staging a hoax to get publicity for reality TV shows they were trying to pitch.
Richard Heene pleaded guilty to a felony count of attempting to influence a public servant and served a 30-day jail term. Mayumi Heene pleaded guilty to filing a false report and served a 20-day jail term.
Jon Sarche, a spokesman for the State Court Administrator's Office, said the Heenes' probation has been transferred to Florida.
Terms of their probation include not selling their story or profiting from the saga until December 2013. They also must make regular monthly payments toward $36,000 in restitution ordered by the court.
The Heenes also were fined $8,000 by the Federal Aviation Administration for launching an aircraft that wandered into the path of planes at Denver International Airport, briefly forcing the closure of a runway.
The Larimer County sheriff's office and other agencies had sought $48,000 for responding to the Oct. 15 incident.
Richard and Mayumi Heene, and their sons, left Colorado Monday and arrived in Florida Thursday, Sarche said.
Television footage of the house they lived in just outside of Fort Collins showed the family left behind belongings including plates, tools, chairs and appliances.
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Also an assortment of stuffed bears
Slightly used young men's shoes including white band shoes for marching and slightly used pair of baseball cleats.
Other items also
Then, after she gained entry to the home of elderly neighbors, Derrick Epps broke through the door and continued to stab her.
“He must have killed her,” the neighbor, 84-year-old Alice Doughty, told a judge during a criminal hearing in Northampton court. “All that blood was on the floor.”
Later, while in custody, Epps made an escape attempt while using the restroom and apparent ran out of the sheriff’s office before being apprehended.
General District Court Judge Gordon Vincent certified the murder charge against Epps, 36, of Exmore, to a grand jury.
Witnesses presented by Commonwealth’s Attorney Bruce Jones told a horrifying story to a courtroom packed with the victim’s friends and family. Many wept quietly as they heard the story of her final moments on July 9.The slaying of Bailey, 57, who had recently been named the 2010 Eastern Shore Citizen of the Year at a gala event, shocked the community.
On the day of her death, Bailey drove home from work in the middle of the day. Epps, her neighbor, saw her pull into her driveway and ran into his kitchen to get a long knife.
“He told her he wanted money,” testified Northampton County Sheriff’s Office investigator Terry Thomas, who said Epps told him the entire story of the slaying when he was arrested. Thomas said Epps told him he stabbed her “a few times.”
He told Thomas that Bailey fell to the ground and then got up and ran across the street. Thomas said Epps told him that Bailey was screaming for help when she got to the neighbor’s front door. He said he was continually stabbing her as she banged on the door.
Epps admitted he went back a few minutes later and broke through the Doughtys’ door, “because a voice told him she was not dead,” Thomas said.
The testimony of the neighbor, Joseph Doughty, 86, told more of the story.
“I heard a hard rap on the door. I jumped up. I opened the door, ” he said.
“She fell on the floor,” he said. “She asked me to call 911. She was trying to fight him off. He had this big, long knife.”
When Bailey fell, the defendant backed away, Doughty said. He testified that he quickly locked the storm door and the wooden door and ran to the telephone to call for help.
As he was talking to 911, Doughty said the defendant burst through the doors breaking the door frame and the wooden door.
“He came in the house and cut her again.”
His wife, Alice Doughty, appeared frail as she was helped to the witness stand by deputies.
Jones asked her if she knew Epps. She pointed to the defendant and said, “He lived next door.”
She recalled the scene with obvious pain, telling the same story as her husband.
“She came running in the door and he was right behind her,” she said, looking at Epps.
“When she fell, I was talking to her. He came into the house, cut her again,” she said.
In addition to the first degree murder charge, Epps is charged with entering a dwelling with a deadly weapon with the intent to commit murder and assault and battery of a police officer.
Northampton Sheriff’s Office Deputy William Smith transported Epps to the sheriff’s office after he was picked up walking on Broadwater Road.
He was being held in the conference room there when he insisted he had an urgent need to use the bathroom. Smith was instructed to take him.
Smith released one of the man’s handcuffs while in the bathroom. At that moment, he said, Epps shoved him into a wall and ran out the door.
Epps ran out the door of the building with Smith fifteen or twenty feet behind him. Smith said he deployed his Taser and Epps went down. He was again taken into custody.
“He made no bones about what he did,” investigator Thomas told the court, referring to Epps’ description of the day’s events. “He said it was not a robbery, that her people owed his people.”
But their school principal does.
This week, Baltic High School, just north of here, became one of the latest across the USA to ban the rubber bracelet, which has a message some say is in poor taste: "I love boobies."
The bracelets have caused controversy in schools in states including California, Colorado, Idaho, Florida and Wisconsin. Some districts allow students to wear them inside-out, and others ban them.
"When we had an assembly the first day of school, I basically told the students we are not insensitive to the cause," Baltic High Principal Jim Aisenbrey says. "I think everybody in the gym, including myself, has had a family member or relative or friend who has dealt with the issue. I do think there are more proper ways to bring this plight to the attention of people, and I don't think this is a proper way."
"I guess I never thought of them as offensive," Aberson says. Her grandmother and five of her grandmother's sisters battled breast cancer.
The bracelets, which sell for about $4 in stores, were created by Keep A Breast Foundation, a Carlsbad, Calif., non-profit group that seeks to increase breast cancer awareness among young people.
Proceeds from sales support the foundation's programs, founder Shaney Jo Darden says. She says the bracelets are meant to spark discussions.
"That's the whole idea, it's getting people to talk about breast cancer, it's getting people to share their feelings about how this disease has impacted their life," she says. "The bracelet is doing what it's meant to do — it's making people talk."
"Schools banning it? That's crazy," says Julie Hubbell of Lewisville, Texas. Hubbell helped organize an auction and barbeque named "Boobie Q" to raise money for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.
In the Fresno area, students in the Clovis Unified School District were told not to wear the bracelets in class — or to turn them inside out so the message is not visible, spokeswoman Kelly Avants says. The school district's dress code outlaws jewelry with sexually suggestive language or images, she says.