2007, year of the pig. Lest we forget, in this time of times, these things that may well be forgotten, and in no particular order:
1. America woke up and noticed that its infrastructure was collapsing – in July during a New York City steam explosion and then again in August when a highway bridge in Minneapolis disintegrated into the Mississippi during rush hour, leaving 12 dead. America thought that was too bad, then rolled over and went back to sleep. No word on how the nation’s little things like, say, the power grid, suspension bridges, or tunnels feel on the matter.
2. Can’t forget the Great Boston Aqua Teen Hunger ForceTerror Bombing Campaign in January, where stupid Lite-Brite signs of stupid 10 pixel robots placed around the city as a movie promotion brought the Homeland Security Dept to it’s knees.
In 1999, I was traipsing somewhat aimlessly through my early college years, playing in rock and roll bands, working the register at a music store, and writing heartfelt vignettes about my blissful suburban childhood. And, I was excited about quarters.
The 50 State Quarters Program had just launched – nay, galloped – into the American consciousness with the Paul Revere-esque Delaware edition, which depicted the brave, ailing Caesar Rodney, blazing through the night en route to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia to declare the nation’s independence.
My dad had long since bequeathed to me his collection of bicentennial quarters, which are forever locked in a square, glass-block coin bank. Now, instead of keeping an eye out for the rarely-passed-on 1976 favorite, I would have nine years’ worth of new quarters to collect. At first I carefully dropped the new state quarters into the glass bank, letting the Massachusetts Minuteman ...Continue Reading
A pair of Aberdeen city councilmen believe the path to the city’s fiscal salvation can be paved through a series of new taxes, fees and charges – and they just might be right.
Appearing Dec. 18 on ‘Aberdeen Happenings,’a local radio talk show hosted by Mark Schlottman on WAMD 970 AM, city councilmen Mike Hiob and Ron Kupferman specifically detailed plans for establishing parking fees at Ironbirds games to stave off accumulating city debt on the stadium, acquiring enabling legislation from the Maryland General Assembly to charge a fee on every night’s stay in every hotel and motel room in Aberdeen and installing a special taxing district along part of Beards Hill Road to help pay for an untangling of traffic congestion in the area.
But before launching their three-pronged (tax, fee, charge) approach to righting the city’s finances, the councilmen first spoke about the future of Aberdeen given its new leader ...Continue Reading
Howard Wayne Norman, Jr., a Bel Air attorney and longtime GOP booster, was selected unanimously Saturday afternoon by the Harford County Republican Central Committee – a group in which he is a member – to fill the soon-to-be-vacant District 35A seat in the Maryland House of Delegates.
Norman’s nomination will be forwarded to Gov. Martin O’Malley upon the swearing in of current District 35A representative Del. Barry Glassman to the state senate seat of Bob Hooper. Hooper is expected to resign from his seat on Dec. 31 because of health issues. With Hooper’s resignation, Glassman has been nominated to ascend to his senate seat and now Norman has been picked to fill Glassman’s seat in the northern Harford County District 35A.
The Republican Central Committee convened a special session at 9 a.m. Saturday morning in the Harford County Council chambers in Bel Air during which 9 candidates for the District 35A seat ...Continue Reading
When I recently secured a spot for a screening of Tim Burton’s new film Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, I was elated to have the chance to see a Burton film before the masses.
See, I have been a huge Burton fan ever since I saw The Nightmare Before Christmas. And the trailers for Sweeney Todd looked as dark as ever, which is what I love about Burton’s projects. Then the day of the screening, I heard the film was nominated for four Golden Globes. This moved my excitement to the next level.
The mysterious and previously undisclosed 29th member of Aberdeen Mayor Mike Bennett’s grandiose transition team was revealed last week to be none other than Joseph Bray – the one-time Aberdeen police officer and Municipal Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 128 president, who was recently terminated from both positions.
Despite his recent firing from the Aberdeen Police Department and forfeiture of his FOP presidency, Bray is expected to remain a member of the now 29-person transition team, so said team coordinator Art Helton.
Although there has been great speculation regarding why he was apparently on some sort of extended leave from APD, Bray’s firing came two weeks ago without an official reason for his dismissal.
“I can only confirm that he was terminated effective 12/06/07. I can’t comment on the reason for the termination,” APD Det./Sgt. Kirk Bane said.
So a bar owner, an attorney, a couple of real estate developers, a farmer, a firefighter and the politically-active wife of a prominent elected official all want the same job – it sounds like the beginning of a bad joke, but the real joke is that one of these people will be handed an enormous amount of power and control over the northern end of Harford County.
The Harford County Republican Central Committee released Friday the list of eight candidates who are vying to fill the District 35A seat in the House of Delegates, which is set to be vacated Dec. 31 when Del. Barry Glassman moves into the seat held by the resigning state senator Bob Hooper.
Hooper, who is resigning for health reasons, handpicked Glassman to be his successor and no other candidates submitted names challenging Glassman’s appointment by Gov. Martin O’Malley to become a senator. Unlike Hooper, however, Glassman ...Continue Reading
Though occasionally accused of being too aggressive and militaristic of law enforcement initiatives for such a small city, the Aberdeen Police Department’s surveillance camera system and Rapid Response Team (RRT) have undoubtedly helped proactively combat crime and clean up city streets.
At a ceremony in Glen Burnie on Tuesday, those efforts by Aberdeen Police were officially recognized when the law enforcement agency was the recipient a pair of crime prevention awards handed out by Gov. Martin O’Malley.
Sure, those 5th graders look smart on Fox’s prime time game show “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader.” They look comfortable with that smug look on their little faces as grown adults struggle with questions such as “How many sides does a trapezoid have?” and “What is the largest south American country by area?”
Countless adults have participated, only to be made to look foolish by your superior intellects. You even succeeded in making Kellie Pickler look stupid, but trust me, that is no feat.
The MoBseen: Life’s observations as seen through the eyes of Mark.
We, the voters of the Free State, will have the chance to vote on slots coming to Maryland.
Current polling by Gonzales Research & Marketing Strategies and the Washington Post Polling suggest that Maryland residents are in favor of Maryland slots and those favoring slots continue to outnumber those opposing slots. The question remains of course, where to put the parlors and who will be the beneficiary of the millions generated by this new gambling.
I should point out to those opposed to Maryland slots that we already have gambling in Maryland and on a very broad scale; We have The Lottery, Lotto, The Daily Pick 3, The Daily Pick 4, (twice a day!) Bonus Match 5, Mega Millions, Multi Match, Racetrax, Maryland Hold’em, Keno, Scratch-Offs, and of course horse racing. We also have Off Track ...Continue Reading
