Welcome Back to the Future

Greetings, you’ve just stepped into DaggerPress v1.0 beta (The Dagger 2.0). Now if you’d kindly scrape it off the bottom of your shoe, we’d like you to come in and introduce yourself to the new face of journalism - original, unbiased, immediate, interactive and, best of all, free.

Though it may disappoint some to hear, to paraphrase Twain, reports of our demise have been greatly exaggerated. Sure, we may have started and certainly helped perpetuate rumors regarding the death of The Dagger , but that was only because we had to be certain we were killing off any lingering hint of traditional media stagnation.

We have chosen a domain (www.daggerpress.com) and a host that will free us from the shackles of working under someone else’s system. We have moved to a platform over which we have complete control. We have joined in valuable new partnerships with people and entities who share the same vision. We have put time, effort and love into this vision.

We have done all this because we firmly believe the future of journalism is on the Internet and that such a future involves a never-before-seen level of interaction and participation among writer, reporter and reader. We all see what is happening in the world around us - our planet, our country, our backyard. We are all citizen journalists and via The Dagger and its powerful new tools, we are all now empowered to report, relate and discuss those things most important to us.

And to members of the traditional media, you’ve misunderstood our positions. You think that we’re locked in your world, that it’s your game. We feel that is incorrect. We’re not locked in here with you. YOU are locked in here with US.

Long gone are such archaic terms and practices as the news cycle, the deadline day and the morning edition. We are here, we are now, we are The Dagger.

What a Difference a Day Makes

Some final thoughts and field notes on the 2007 Aberdeen Election:

I began the day throwing up in my car on the way to work (how’s that for full disclosure). I’d have taken the bout of sickness as an ill omen if I hadn’t made the same ineffective claim during the last Aberdeen election. In 2005 while campaigning for re-election in Park, Councilman Ron Kupferman was stung at least once by an infuriated yellow jacket. As he swatted at the fleeing insect, I mentioned it probably was something of an ill omen to be stung on Election Day. He agreed and promptly went on to be re-elected in two subsequent elections.

Continue reading What a Difference a Day Makes

Simmons/Yensan Out, Bennett/Young In (Unofficial Aberdeen Election Results)

More than 2,500 Aberdeen voters cast a ballot Tuesday, a greater number than participated in the record-setting pace of the December 2006 special election, flushing Mayor S. Fred Simmons and his right-hand man Councilman Dave Yensan out of office and ushering in a new era for the city with Mike Bennett as mayor and first-time candidate Ruth Ann Young joining incumbents Ruth Elliott, Ron Kupferman and Mike Hiob on the council.

With just 68 absentee ballots left to count Tuesday night and an undisclosed number of provisional votes to be tallied Thursday morning, the results of the 2007 Aberdeen municipal election are unlikely to change.
Elliott, who considered running for mayor herself about a year ago, garnered 150 more votes than Bennett, even though she ran in a field of 10 from which voters could select 4 candidates. Bennett collected about 400 more votes than Simmons and 19-year-old challenger Nicole Burlew didn’t have the impact many hoped she might - bringing in fewer than 200 votes. Continue reading Simmons/Yensan Out, Bennett/Young In (Unofficial Aberdeen Election Results)

Why No One Cares About Bel Air Elections

Here we are with some big choices to be made on the eve of Election Day, or should I say, ‘Elections Day,’ plural, as there is of course a second local municipal contest being held Tuesday.

So why is it that there has scarcely been mention here on The Dagger of the Town of Bel Air election also being held Nov. 6?

We’ve been pondering why the Bel Air town elections always seem quite tepid when compared to the generally heated, dirty and heavily contested municipal races in Aberdeen and Havre de Grace. Continue reading Why No One Cares About Bel Air Elections

Trick or Treat?: A $15 Million Halloween Suit (UPDATED)

The Wetlands annexation group filed a $15 million defamation suit on Halloween Day against Art and Ann Helton, the New Harford Democratic Club and club president John Haggerty.

The suit stems from a flyer the Heltons and the Club allegedly designed and distributed prior to the December 2006 special election on the Wetlands Golf Course property annexation. The flyer purportedly asked residents to “Save Aberdeen” by voting against the Wetlands annexation and went on to claim annexation of the property would bring 7,800 townhouse units to the site, do away with the golf course, remove all open space and significantly increase crime in the area. Continue reading Trick or Treat?: A $15 Million Halloween Suit (UPDATED)

Artfully Done: How To Win An Election The Wrong Way

Like cigarettes, booze or Russian Roulette, it is almost assured that too much of a bad thing will kill you.

At least that’s the hope of Art Helton - political dinosaur, Democratic kingmaker and frequent target of opponents looking to tank the campaigns of candidates with whom he is associated.

Over the weekend, Helton was again the main character in the latest in a string of negative advertisements and vicious smear campaign tactics targeting the candidates he and the New Harford Democratic Club are supporting in the Nov. 6 Aberdeen municipal election. Continue reading Artfully Done: How To Win An Election The Wrong Way

The Creature From The Abingdon Basement

Just in time for Halloween come pictures of the now infamous Abingdon Alligator discovered almost by accident in the basement of a local home a week or so ago.

The story, as I heard it, goes something like this: the resident of an Abingdon home was missing for a few weeks and was apparently murdered (that’s a hell of a start for any story about alligators) and the Harford County Sheriff’s Office went to the house with Animal Control Officers to wrangle up a few of the deceased homeowner’s dogs.

It wasn’t until the crew was leaving the house that some neighborhood children asked if they knew about the alligator in the basement. Upon closer inspection, there was indeed an about a four-and-a-half foot long alligator in an aquarium set up in the basement. Animal Control Officers subdued the creature, wrapped its muzzle in duct tape and evidently snapped a few pictures before putting it in a cage and removing it from the scene. Continue reading The Creature From The Abingdon Basement

A Long Lost Friend

What with it being Hell Night (the night before Halloween) and the middle of my honeymoon, I’m off to raise some high Hell. In the meantime, please enjoy this wickedly good feature of mine which was published just last week in EERIE PA Magazine Issue 4 (www.eeriepa.net). In the spirit of All Hallow’s Eve, it examines the reality and belief in witchcraft among some in our society. SPOILER ALERT: It involves murder, magic, me and is pretty spooky. Happy Halloween!

Somewhere in south-central Pennsylvania, a family is worried.

A child has fallen ill and shows no signs of improving.

After a fair amount of hand-wringing and soul-searching, a man enters the house to fetch the remedy – not medicine, not a doctor, but a short passage from a small book. Its pages contain neither the telephone number of a trusted physician nor the recipe for a therapeutic elixir, but nonetheless hold a tried and true method of healing.

Quite simply, it’s faith. Continue reading A Long Lost Friend

When The Going Gets Weird…

Politics, n. A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of
principles. The conduct of public affairs for private advantage.
-Ambrose Bierce, The Devil’s Dictionary, 1911

Things started turning weird here at The Dagger this past week, and after kicking it around amongst ourselves for a few days, we’ve decided to open the books and let you all take a look.

First things first. A group of local businessmen, the prospective developers of the Wetlands Golf Course, bought a roughly $250, bumper sticker-size ad in The Record newspaper today to promote The Dagger. Continue reading When The Going Gets Weird…

An Offer They Couldn’t Refuse?

Speaking of benefactors, could The Aegis newspaper, Harford County’s community newspaper of record, have been helping the cause of an Aberdeen annexation opposition group behind the scenes last year?

More disturbing details from the testimony of a member of the annexation opposition, as part of the lawsuit that group filed against the City of Aberdeen, indicate the group, formerly known as Say No Annex or unofficially as ‘the redshirts,’ may have had an anonymous “Godfather” pampering them with services, support and cold hard cash – everything the group needed to take on the Wetlands annexation proposal.

It was long speculated such a “Godfather” existed, especially when the opposition group, which consists of Aberdeen and non-Aberdeen resident volunteers, was suddenly outfitted with matching shirts and signs, began distributing information pamphlets and mailers and purchased expensive advertisements in local newspapers. Continue reading An Offer They Couldn’t Refuse?

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