Day One:  The cable goes out in the afternoon during a lightening storm.  I figure it’ll come back on any minute, so I take a nap. When I wake up, there is still no cable.  I call the cable company to report the outage.  I get so bored that I watch old episodes of South Park for hours.  They’re all still funny.  I go to bed secure in the thought that my cable will be back on when I get up.

Day Two:  I wake up, and the cable is still out.  It’s Monday.  I can’t read the news or the blogs.  I decide to go to Ocean City to check out the Christy Freeman story.  While I’m there I notice all of the news vans running for hours, and I start thinking that global warming may have played a part in my cable outage.  I tell a local news anchor guy that my blog angle will be the carbon footprint of the news media while covering stories.  He doesn’t think that’s funny, which makes it even funnier.  The cable is still out so I have to go to the office to write.  When I get home I watch TV fuzz for a little while, then go to bed. 

Day Three:  Still no cable. The boy is sick of playing video games.  I consider this a sign of the apocalypse, but I hold off on making my stockpile list for the grocery store.  I call the cable company and they won’t give me any kind of time line as to when my service will return, even though I explain my apocalypse theory.  We go to the waterpark to kill some time.  I’m starting to forget what Chris Matthews looks like….

UPDATE: My cable is finally back. The repair guys came and got it going around 6:30 p.m., thankfully before anyone resorted to anarchy or cannibalism.

(From left to right:  Chief Bernadette DiPino, Officer Barry Neeb, and Worcester County State’s Attorney Joel Todd at today’s press conference in Ocean City, Maryland )

An Ocean City, Maryland woman, Christy Freeman, 37, was held on 3 charges including “1st degree Murder” for allegedly killing her unborn child this week. Freeman had been admitted to Peninsula Regional Medical Center where staff discovered she had been pregnant.  Police later found a “small infant wrapped in a blanket” in her home.  A search turned up more fetuses.     

You can LISTEN to “Jake the Local” talk about Christy Freeman HERE.

          

The FBI is excavating the grounds around the house where Christy Freeman lived.

Joel Todd, Worcester County State’s Attorney explains his case HERE.

The entire OCPD press conference is available to LISTEN to HERE.

The “viable fetus statute” that Joel Todd hopes to prosecute Freeman under is Maryland’s version of “Laci’s and Connor’s Law” named after Laci Peterson, whose husband, Scott Peterson, was convicted of murdering her and their unborn child, Connor.  Under Maryland law it’s illegal to abort a fetus once it’s viable unless the life of the mother is in danger or if there is an abnormality with the fetus.  Todd will have to prove that Freeman’s baby was intentionally aborted.

There was no word on the age, condition, or paternity of the other fetuses found in the home wrapped in plastic. The State of Maryland and specifically the Ocean City area, do, in fact, have women’s clinics that offer family planning. 

UPDATE:  From WGMD News:

The officers who were searching the home of 37 year old Christy Freeman on Sunset Drive in Ocean City for additional remains are now done excavating as Barry Neeb of the Ocean City Police Department tells WGMD..

WGMD has also learned that they also found the remains of two cats and one dog, and police say the pets belong to Christy Freeman. Freeman is being charged with first and second-degree murder and manslaughter. A preliminary hearing is set for August 27th. Domestic violence experts will examine bruises on Freeman’s body that are accidental, self-inflicted, or caused by someone else.  

On Wednesday the 60-cent-a-pack tax increase on cigarettes will take effect.. According to the State News, this will raise the total per-pack tax to $1.15.

In 2003, Gov Minner raised the cigarette tax $0.31.. Meaning, in 2003, prior to the initial tax-raise.. smokers were paying only an extra $0.24 per pack… Still a great bit lower than the city of New York’s awesome tax-hike

from the Cato Institue in 2003: Mayor Michael Bloomberg hiked the city’s cigarette excise tax from 8 cents to $1.50 per pack. That hike, coupled with a series of recent increases in the state cigarette tax, has pushed the price of legal brand name cigarettes to more than $7.50 per pack.

It’s a paradox really, though… How can the state and it’s imfamous Quit-Line (pictured left) allow people to quit… but still bring in all of those lucrative nicotine stained tax dollars?

Ah, yes.. raise the tax more and more and more… But, what do we do when those fed up with the tax-hike then quit smoking? Which is one of Minner’s goals, right? To decrease childhood smoking? (Tell that to the family in Lone Star Steak House that I witnessed allowing their 14-year-old so enjoy that sweet Carolina smoke even more than he enjoyed that Awesome Blossom).

Wow, that does look awesome… I want to share with you an e-mail I received today on the smoking tax coming direct from my inbox to your eyes… enjoy:

Having been out of town, I return to be greeted by the States’ latest visit to the Cigarette ATM machine. Cigarette smokers already pay more taxes than other Delaware (indeed, US) citizen.  Democrats in Congress are moving to add .61 cents to a pack of cigarettes.  I don’t believe that there is conclusive evidence of the health drawbacks.  Cigarettes are being taxed again and again because having demonized cigarette smokers, it is a popular tax. Those who don’t foresee that the next ATM tax will be on THEIR particular vice (pleasure), have their heads stuck in sand.  Politicians would happily tax alcohol and beer, however the number of those who like to drink constitutes far too many voters to irritate.  Especially in an election year.  From the information available, politicians view cigarette taxes as their own slush fund.  They should think about killing the golden goose however.  I read recently that the number of cigarette smokers have declined. The article stated - “new smokers wanted”. Recently thieves stole several thousand dollars worth of cigarettes in Magnolia, Delaware. This type of theft will probably greatly increase as it did when the first cigarette taxes arrived. It’s time (past time, really)  to let up on taxing cigarettes and to work at better managing government and state finances.

So, I went to see the new Simpsons movie yesterday, and while in line, I was eye-molested by the guy in from of me’s oh-so-saucy t-shirt.. Let me preface this by saying, I wasn’t offended by the guy’s t-shirt.. not because of high-community standards.. but, offended by the taste of the gentleman… I ask you, my brethren, is this photo captured by my WGMD Local eye-spy camera phone funny?

Now, I’m not telling you, Wichita Lineman, that you don’t like it hot.. maybe you do… to me that means you like to get electrocuted.. but whatever floats your superconductor…

Why do people find it suitable to tell us all in eye-shot how the “like it” or how they “do it”.. I give you another fine example from cafepress.com

Really? That’s very subtle… here’s some more that I didn’t feel appropriate posting the actual images of…

it seems as if they have some of these delightful t-shirts for almost every job…

  
(these are just not true)

The worst of the bunch: TEACHER’S DO IT WITH CLASS… !!!!

 (*sigh*)

And the oddest of the bunch: mediators do it until both parties are satisfied.. I’m sure they’ve sold a load of those…

I’m gonna market this one to all the other lazy bloggers out there…

Dwight Tingle, the Cape Henlopen High School Basketball Coach, speaks to the Board

Cape Henlopen Baketball Coach, Dwight Tingle, addressed the School Board Thursday night about the recent controversy surrounding the eligibility of a player, Shemik Thompson. Cape had to forfeit all of it’s games from the end of 2005 through March of this year after a review by the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association.

You can listen to audio of Coach Tingle speaking about the situation, and responses from Dr. Wray, Sgt. Brittingham and Estelle Parker-Selby HERE.

And appeal of the decision is planned.

Milton Elementary School parent, Laura Brittingham, takes it to the Cape Henlopen School Board.

Laura Brittingham, another parent concerned about possible increases in class size at Milton Elementary School, addressed the Cape Henlopen School Board last night at Mariner Middle School, and what she had to say really hit home.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, like it or not, you’re working for my 5 year old and 9 year old.” - Milton Elementary School parent Laura Brittingham

Apparently Mrs. Brittingham took the time to actually read through the District’s budget, and she translated some of their increases into potential teachers in the classroom. You can LISTEN to Laura Brittingham tell the Cape School Board, “the need is in the schools, not being top heavy,”HERE.

And you can read about the first time this group of concerned parents from Milton Elementary School addressed the school board HERE.

The Cape Henlopen School Board. From left to right: Selby, Brittingham, Stone, Wray, Conlon.

The Cape Henlopen School Board met last night at Mariner Middle School, and the first item brought up by meeting attendees was the idea of a dress code for the District. School Board President Dr. Wray, assured those attending the meeting that any new dress code policy, if instituted, wouldn’t be in effect until the 2008-2009 school year.

You can LISTEN to Dr. Wray discuss the issue HERE.

As reported on WGMD news, a 52 year old Washington, DC man was arrested in Rehoboth Beach on July 20th, at 3:45 in the afternoon, after being caught by police “pleasuring himself” in the public restroom on Delaware Avenue and the boardwalk. This is a picture of that very bathroom:

This is a picture of the bathroom where a 52 year old man from DC was caught by police fondling himself and being creepy and watching people. Look at what’s immediately to the left of the bathroom.

Yep, right next to Funland, and look what’s on the other side of the bathroom:

On the other side of the bathroom is an arcade, and where you see those dolphins on the roof, that’s an awesome miniature golf course up there.

I went out onto the boardwalk, right in front of the bathroom, and asked parents to read the news release. Then I showed them where the bathroom in question was, right next to Funland and the arcade, and their reactions were all the same, shock and outrage.

You can listen to a woman from New Castle County, Delaware, tell you what she thinks about the nasty bathroom event HERE.

A man from Pennsylvania with two young boys had this advice to solve the problem.

After I went to the boardwalk, I went to the Rehoboth Beach Police station where Chief of Police Keith Banks was kind enough to see me without an appointment. I asked Chief Banks how often this kind of stuff was going on and he had THIS to say. Check out the part about people “making rude comments” and “suggestions” to children.

Then I asked the Chief what his Department was doing to stop this kind of thing from happening and THIS was his response.

But the bottom line is that some guy was doing creepy stuff to himself in a public restroom directly next to Funland and an arcade with a miniature golf course on top, and he received a charge of disorderly conduct and was released after paying a $200 fine. So this guy is right back on the streets. Why? According to Chief Banks, it was because the people who called to complain, didn’t hang around to talk to police, so there were no witnesses.

A caller on WGMD this week brought up an interesting point. He said although the U.S. Public Interest Research Group states that Delaware is getting hotter, their report says that the average temperature in Wilmington was 2.1 degrees above average in 2006. Does “2.1 degrees above average” mean Delaware was warmer in 2006 than in previous years? The caller said this is rather deceptive. Here is what Thomas Glazer of the US Public Interest Research Group says concerning global warming:

“According to the National Climatic Data Center, the 2006 summer and 2006 overall were the second warmest on record for the lower 48 states. 2007 is on track to be the second warmest year on record globally.”

Glazer presents the key findings for the state of Delaware (note the number of times it says above normal).

 In 2006, the average temperature was 2.1°F above normal in Wilmington. Nationally, the average 2006 temperature was at least  0.5°F above normal at 87% of the locations studied. 

Wilmington’s above-average temperatures in 2006 are part of a  broader warming trend since 2000. Between 2000 and 2006, the average  temperature was .5°F above the 30-year average in Wilmington.  Nationally, the average temperature during this seven year period was at least 0.5°F above normal at 87% of the locations studied.

Two of Delaware’s hottest years on record have occurred in the last five years. 2002 was the fourth warmest year with an average  temperature 2.6°F above normal. 2006 was the third warmest with an  average 2.7°F above normal

 Here are some questions to consider:

1. Do above normal temps for a few years mean there is a warming trend globally, nationally, and locally?

2. The report does say that two of Delaware’s hottest years on record have occurred in the last five years. How far do records go back? Does this mean there is a warming trend? Does it include all the centuries leading up to this time? In general does this really mean anything? Is 2.1 degrees above average that significant?

3. Having said all of this– could the earth indeed be going through cycles due to the condition of the sun among other factors, thus leading to increased temperatures globally?

4. Should there still be an effort to move ahead with global warming pollution controls?

“I took a trip down to look at the fair.  When I arrived I found nobody there…”  (Renaissance:  A Trip to the Fair © 1975  Repertoire Records)
 

It’s Delaware State Fair time and if you went by the results of a recent WGMD Opinion Line question – most people responding said they didn’t plan to attend the fair at all.
 

I went to the State Fair last night – mainly for the Brad Paisley concert and there were LOTS of people at the fair!   There were lots of excited and gleeful sounds coming from the rides on the midway and even more people wandering through the fairgrounds checking out the attractions and the food - even though the booths with the world’s smallest horse and world’s smallest woman seemed to have no takers – not even at the bargain price of 50 cents!
 

Unless you’re a Future Farmer or 4-Her, looking for the thrill of the midway or some ‘to-die-for’ carny food, or just some great music, then there’s not much for you at the fair.  Even though I really just passed through to the Grandstand – I had a blast watching the people and all of humanity taking in the fair with me. 
 

There are still a few more days left for you to experience the 88^th annual Delaware State Fair but come Sunday – it will all be gone.