March 2011 – Page 4

Friday night videos – episode 60

As the old song goes, let the music do the talkin’. Covers first, originals later from a few great Delmarva bands. Yes, once again it’s an all-tunage edition of FNV.

We begin with the sultry vocals of Petting Hendrix. I’m not sure where this was recorded but it’s their take on a familiar Cranberries song.

Live Lixx at Six has given many a local band (and a few national acts as well) some valuable airtime on a worldwide scale, as Ocean 98 streams over the internet with both audio and video. My friends Jim and Michele from Semiblind did an acoustic version of an old Cyndi Lauper tune in this instance from last September.

Going a bit heavier, local cover rockers Vivid Season check in with a version of Alter Bridge’s ‘Rise Today.’

Back in December down Chincoteague way, the band Lime Green held sway and did an original called ‘Pemberton Park.’

This video of Not My Own came as they were trying to earn a spot in last year’s Unicity Festival. Obviously it worked, and I think I’ve featured this song before but not this version. They call it ‘Bleed/Believer.’

A band I haven’t featured before, Deep Sea Research featured a guest musician on this cut recorded last October at Marina’s in Blades, Delaware. Derek White is the guest and this lengthy jam is called ‘Penny.’

I’m going to wrap this up in Philly, where 13:1 rocked the Trocadero with this slickly produced version of ‘I Am Omega.’

So that’s about it for this week. And although I have some reservations about it, I’m going to remove a bunch of the local band links from my site because they’re pointing to Myspace sites which aren’t being kept up. I guess many bands are abandoning Myspace for Facebook or opting to go back to self-hosting. If I get down to just a few I may end up dropping the category entirely.

That’s not to say I won’t support local music, but perhaps there are more productive ways of doing it. And let me know about new videos, local music fans – I don’t get out to as many shows as I used to and I like to have a better quality video than my equipment can provide if possible.

Until next time, that’s a wrap for this edition on FNV.

The lessons of Madison

Over the past few decades, a familiar mantra of those trying to expand government via the avenue of new programs and bureaucracies was the catchphrase, “it’s for the children.” Wisconsin unions may use that claim as well, but many little darlings and their parents were adversely affected by the labor strife in Madison when area school districts closed because teachers called in “sick.” Teachers played the role even to the point of receiving phony doctor’s excuses for stress-induced illnesses onsite.

But before we embark on a discussion of the lessons being taught by these Wisconsin events we need to review our own annals.

(continued at The Patriot Post…)

First Salisbury absentee canvass in, results slightly change

I thought this came tomorrow but the update was today.

This will be presented in order of votes acquired today, since the pattern of these absentees may provide a clue as to how the remaining few votes could fall. It may only turn out to be a few dozen votes, but now the split between moving on and moving out is just one vote.

Terry Cohen +51 (now has 583, moves from second to a tie for first)
Tim Spies +43 (now has 583, falls into a tie for first)
Orville Dryden +34 (now has 338, stays fifth)
Muir Boda +29 (now has 409, stays fourth)
Joel Dixon +24 (now has 299, stays seventh)
Bruce Ford +23 (now has 300, stays sixth)
Laura Mitchell +21 (now has 472, stays third)
Michael Taylor +11 (now has 161, stays eighth)

Interestingly, the absentees hurt Laura Mitchell quite a bit as Muir Boda gained eight votes out of the 236 counted. While it’s only 8% of the total vote, these absentees made enough difference that the battle for sixth will remain uncertain until next week.

So it’s pins and needles for both Bruce Ford and Joel Dixon until the count (and perhaps a recount) finally ends.

WCRC meeting – February 2011

I know, this meeting was so last month. But when you have an election to cover and like to keep people informed on what’s up on the state level this event coverage wasn’t going anywhere.

This meeting was one of transition. After our usual recitation of the Lord’s Prayer and Pledge of Allegiance, longtime Secretary Dave Parker read the minutes one last time and we recieved the Treasurer’s Report from Tom Hughes, who is staying on.

Ann Suthowski asked a question about membership and wasn’t pleased with the answer. “We should have at least 200 members,” she asserted, and perhaps she’s correct. Having said that, though, I’d rather have 50 good, active members than 200 who simply send in a dues check and do nothing else. Although most don’t attend the meetings, the core membership has stagnated or dwindled over the years so maybe the change in leadership will make a difference. (Personally I’d like to see more of a TEA Party influence.)

For the second month in a row, our featured speaker was a County Council member – this time it was District 2’s Stevie Prettyman. Outgoing President Marc Kilmer introduced her by reminding us “the county taxpayers have a friend in her.”

Stevie stated the obvious in her opening – “the last several years have been difficult.” In the next few weeks we’ll get the County Executive’s budget plan for FY2012, which begins July 1, 2011. While the numbers for this fiscal year can change at any time thanks to moves by state government, Prettyman briefly went through the process for passing the budget. The County Council can only decrease the budget or move money around (aside from increasing money for educational needs) but if they can’t pass an alternative by June 15 the Executive’s budget stands.

Digging into a bit of history, Stevie noted that FY2009 was the first time in a decade revenues fell short of the budget, and FY2010 brought us a $10.1 million gap between revenues and expenses – revenues that were shorter still this fiscal year and were threatening to be even shorter next year as the state made cuts and shifted expenses to the county level – she then recited a litany of proposed state cuts. “The low-hanging fruit is gone” for FY2012, she said, adding the budget will have to undergo “significant, permanent structural changes.”

“This is the time when leaders make real choices,” Stevie went on to say. “We need your help and support.” She was “very anxious to receive (the) budget.”

When asked about the capital budget, specifically the proposed Bennett Middle School, she noted that construction funds would indeed come out of the capital budget but bond repayment comes out of the operating budget. Previous Councils “would only borrow what they paid off” but larger projects have changed that approach. Still, our indebtedness is well under what the county’s charter allows, added Stevie.

A questioner asked why the existing Bennett Middle School can’t be renovated – it’s slated for demolition so the high school project can be completed in Phase 4 so that option isn’t really on the table as a permanent solution. (The next night, County Council voted to delay the Bennett Middle School project for a year, citing its cost and the county’s debt level.)

Dave Parker gave the Central Committee report, calling the Lincoln Day Dinner a “fantastic time.” While it was good to hear from our new Congressman Andy Harris, second banana Eric Grannon, the MDGOP’s Third Vice-Chair also made “an excellent impression.” Dave awarded the Republican of the Year plaque to Ed Nelson, who missed the Lincoln Day Dinner, and recounted the story of our Republican Youth of the Year, Margaret Gaetano.

Our next Central Committee meeting is Monday at 7 p.m. with a speaker to be announced. It will be a postmortem on the LDD as well – we are looking to make it bigger and better for 2012.

With an Andy Harris report, Mark McIver excitedly spoke about the new office at 212 W. Main Street and the “good media coverage” the opening received. In Washington the talk was about budget cuts, McIver continued, and while Andy wanted the full $100 billion promised we would get around $61 billion, with $4 billion included in a two-week continuing resolution extension.

Woody Willing chimed in that the club should be more active in pushing for an elected school board.

Joel Dixon, who is still in the running for Salisbury City Council pending Friday’s absentee ballot count, claimed “I didn’t come here to politick” but asked for our vote at the meeting.

Cathy Keim gave us an update on the same-sex marriage bill in Maryland, which has passed the Senate but – as it turned out later – ran into a snag in the House of Delegates.

After nominations were closed, the 2011 officers were elected by acclamation (there were no contested races.)

The new officers are:

President: Larry Dodd
1st VP: Dustin Mills
2nd VP: Marc Kilmer
3rd VP: Carl Kurten
4th VP: Deb Okerblom
Secretary: Michael Swartz
Treasurer: Tom Hughes

Yes, I’m now the chief notetaker for both the Central Committee and Republican Club. Makes sense, doesn’t it?

After Marc Kilmer asked the club to “please treat (Larry) gently,” Dodd thanked us for the support and reminded us that the upcoming city elections affected the county as well.

Our next meeting will be March 28.

In Maryland, fourteen becomes two

And everyone thought the Maryland Senate would be the tougher hurdle for gay marriage.

But yesterday, a Maryland House of Delegates committee vote on the matter was stymied by the absence of two Delegates who had originally expressed their support but now had second thoughts; this according to a story by Julie Bykowicz in the Baltimore Sun. Delegate Jill Carter of Baltimore City was holding out for the restoration of $15 million in school funding cuts to Baltimore City schools and a vote on a pet bill of hers presuming joint custody of children for divorcing couples; meanwhile, Delegate Tiffany Alston wanted time to pray over her vote.

Their absences were key because the 22-person committee appears to be split 12-10 in favor of the bill and losing the two ‘yes’ votes would kill the bill on a 10-10 tie. Instead of holding the vote as promised, Judiciary Committee Chair Joseph Vallario, Jr. opted not to send the gay marriage bill on to defeat, choosing to postpone the vote until all 22 members (or at least 11 supporters) were present.

Obviously Delegate Alston could become key – while Carter will likely be mollified by a promise to look at a funding solution more suitable to her needs, Alston may be having second thoughts based on the perception of her Prince George’s County district toward gay marriage. (As an example of this, it was minority votes that doomed California’s gay marriage bill to failure in 2008 via the Proposition 8 ballot issue.) Opponents of same-sex marriage are already plotting to gather signatures to put the bill to referendum next year should it pass the General Assembly, but that won’t be necessary if Alston or another House Judiciary Committee supporter switches sides, leaving 11 for and 11 against.

Yet, while this is a case where the outcome would benefit the conservative side, there should still be some criticism shown to Delegates Alston and Carter for ducking this vote. If they are having second thoughts about the measure, they should just show up and say no. Believe it or not, gay marriage is NOT the most important issue facing Maryland – even Delegate Carter noted, “there’s no need to act quickly on gay marriage because the 90-day session is only about half over and lawmakers are in their first year of a four-year term.” So what is the rush to pass a bill this year? Don’t they have a budget deficit to address?

It is sort of a bitter irony – and a sad commentary on our society today – that social conservatives and pro-life advocates can’t even get the time of day in the General Assembly, but if a small minority in the population wants to be able to call themselves “married” our representatives in Annapolis are supposed to drop everything and hurry to pass what they desire, especially when civil unions achieve many of the same goals.

In the end, though, I think the two Delegates will fold. Carter will be promised what she wants and Alston, who is a freshman legislator, will find out that what the Democratic Party wants in Annapolis, the Democratic Party gets – principles otherwise be damned.

But I’m hoping Alston proves me wrong and changes her mind in order to thwart the militant gay lobby. It may not be the most logical thinking I exhibit because I can’t cite a foolproof explanation for it other than tradition, but I believe marriage is only meant to be between a man and a woman. Maryland doesn’t need to be yet another laboratory for social experimentation, and the law should stay as is on the subject regardless of what Doug Gansler chooses to think.

Unofficial Salisbury City Council results have Dixon, Taylor out

Update: absentee ballots are counted Friday – the only rankings where that could prove a difference are Spies/Cohen and, more importantly, Ford/Dixon.

And then there were two…

If the unofficial results hold up, one of the monoblogue-endorsed candidates will be knocked out in the primary while another finished out of the top three.

According to the Daily Times, here is the unofficial order of finish – I believe this does NOT include absentee ballots since they only had to be postmarked by today.

Tim Spies – 540 (18.4%)
Terry Cohen – 532 (18.1%)
Laura Mitchell – 451 (15.4%)
Muir Boda – 409 (13.9%)
Orville Dryden – 304 (10.3%)
Bruce Ford – 277 (9.4%)
Joel Dixon – 275 (9.4%)
Michael Taylor – 150 (5.1%)

Even with the two-vote margin between sixth and seventh, it’s pretty clear that the real race right now is between two people – Laura Mitchell and Muir Boda. Any of the trio of Orville Dryden, Bruce Ford, or Joel Dixon would have to increase their voter base by half again to have a legitimate shot. On the other side of the coin, it’s clear that Terry Cohen and Tim Spies have worked together to corner a large percentage of the electorate.

What I would be most curious about insofar as the voter breakdown is which precincts were well-represented. I suspect the Camden area turned out well as always, which boosted the totals of Cohen and Spies. And just as it was in the last election the aspect of teams or slates may be introduced: in 2007 the sides generally were considered as Terry Cohen, Tim Spies, and Louise Smith against Gary Comegys, John Atkins, and Don Ewalt. In that case the Camden bunch had the upper hand, getting two of three elected against those candidates considered to be in the pocket of the Salisbury Area Property Owners Association, best known as SAPOA. However, we all know how the 3-2 votes tended to turn out in the last term.

Obviously Cohen and Spies are back, and Laura Mitchell may end up being considered as part of a tag-team against Boda, Dryden, and Dixon (if he can snatch sixth place over Bruce Ford.) Based on tonight’s results Camden could get the clean sweep, which would certainly elevate either Debbie Campbell or Terry Cohen to Council president and likely kill any effort for sanity in Council districts since three members – a majority – would live in the Camden neighborhood.

And now a note on my polling. I was almost vindicated on my prediction of Ford and Taylor being out, and absentees could still hold that true. Obviously Laura Mitchell polled much better once I added the Progressive Delmarva crowd and that aspect held true in the actual election, while Tim Spies also outperformed.

On the other hand, Boda and Dixon did worse in reality than my polling would have suggested, but it pegged Orville Dryden pretty well. I figured Terry Cohen would make it easily and I was right on that one.

So the next step is for the remaining six, five of whom are pretty obvious now, to catch their breath and try to claim a portion of the expanded voter universe – many more voters will partake in the April 5th election. But as it stands the next two years may be open season on the rental industry in Salisbury, and while some would consider this a good thing turning your back on a large segment of business activity may hurt the city in the long run.

A couple scenes from the campaign trail

Just after 3:00 I went to remind myself where my polling place was, for I haven’t voted in a city election since 2005. Along the way I decided to stop by both polling locations to see what was going on outside.

This is across from the Wicomico Presbyterian Church on Broad Street. As you can see, candidate Tim Spies (left, in the hat) is among those out campaigning. It was nice to see supporters of Laura Mitchell and Michael Taylor out there – also covering the scene (but outside camera range) was local blogger Joe Albero.

Over on South Avenue in front of Harvest Baptist Church, several other candidates and supporters gathered. Back along the street is Laura Mitchell in front of Muir Boda (and behind the bearded Spies backer.) Another local blogger, Jonathan Taylor, was on the scene – he’s leaning on the car to the right of the picture.

It should get more interesting as the evening wears on, as peak voting time tends to be after work.

Salisbury primary election today

Step two of the three-step election process for Salisbury City Council hopefuls occurs today.

After filing to get on the ballot in December and January, the six-week primary campaign comes to a climax today with results probably known before 9 p.m. The top six of eight candidates move on to the April 5th general election (in other words, a five-week sprint to the finish.)

Obviously there are any number of ways the voting could turn out, with my hunch being that the veteran candidates will occupy the top three spots and three newcomers will lag somewhat behind.

But the results also allow everyone to know just how well their campaigns are running. Since primaries always have had a fraction of the general election turnout, candidates can see where they are performing best and can concentrate their efforts accordingly. There should be about 1,500 people voting today but the number will likely increase about 50% for the general election.

Having said that, though, the chances of the fourth, fifth, and sixth place candidates tonight will likely hinge on just how close they ran to the top three. Making up 100 votes is a lot easier than coming up with 300 or 500 (remember, each voter can have three choices so the actual number of votes cast should be around 4,000 for the primary and 6,000 for the general election.) Nor should the top three rest on their laurels.

Once the results are out, we can see how the remainder of the campaign could shake out.