This winter Marylanders brave icy waters for two good causes…
Yesterday, on Saturday, December 8, 2007, Hundreds of activists from Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. who are concerned about the climate jumped into icy water in Annapolis. The local event was part of a larger affort called the National Polar Bear Challenge where thousands of activists across the country sought to raise awareness about the climate with a goal of Keeping Winter Cold and fighting global warming.
An education research group’s report says Maryland’s worst schools have not made much progress according to ABC 7 news. The report examined schools in Anne Arundel County, Prince George’s County, Baltimore County, and Baltimore City.
The nonprofit Center on Education Policy found significant improvement at only 12 of the 76 schools that have been labeled as failing for at least five years. The report said hiring so-called turnaround specialists usually doesn’t work and replacing the teaching staff hasn’t made a difference, either. Maryland was chosen for the study because it had begun identifying failing schools even before passage of the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
Kumar Barve, a Maryland Delegate from Montgomery County who serves as the Majority Leader of the Maryland House, was arrested this past week and charged with Driving While Impaired (DWI).
Early-season lift ticket pricing will be in effect with an adult lift ticket priced at $32 and $25 for juniors. Willy Wisp and Club Wisp children’s programs will also begin operation on Saturday.
The biggest change at Wisp for the 2007-2008 winter season doesn’t involve or require snow. On August 30, 2007, Wisp opened its new Mountain Coaster, a German-engineered hybrid between an alpine slide and roller coaster. Wisp’s Mountain Coaster is one of only four located in the U.S., and is among the steepest. Although fairly new to the U.S., Mountain Coasters are popular in Europe, where over 80 have been constructed. Wisp will be operating the coaster year-round, and its track is lit for night “coasting.” The coaster can reach speeds up to 25 miles per hour on the stainless steel track, and riders can use a centrifugal braking system along the 3,500 feet of track as the coaster winds and twists down 350 vertical feet. The coaster took four months to install and includes extensive safety features.
Don’t think Maryland’s only ski resort is in the major leagues? Well, check out this video on ski slope development at the Wisp Resort.
Susan Beaman, a self-described “old woman who lives with an old man and two old dogs” in Berlin, Maryland, discusses the new development happenings in the small downtown area of Berlin.
I was browsing Craiglist and found something very interesting in the “Creative Gigs” category under the Washington, DC section of the site.
A local person who was allegedly arrested for check fraud submitted a post on the site seeking a lawyer to represent the person for FREE. A request for a lawyer to do pro bono work is NOT unusual and is reasonable.
What does NOT seem reasonable is to REQUIRE that the attorney be essentially the cream of the crop:
Calling all lawyers in the DC area. I have a great opportunity for you. I’ve just been arrested for check fraud. Currently, I’m out on bail and waiting for trial. I’m looking for a great lawyer who has bar status in state of Virginia to represent me. This is a NON-paying job. But it’s a GREAT GREAT opportunity for you to build your portfolio and get some practice in court. Don’t miss out on this great opportunity.
Requirements:
1. You must have a law degree from the Ivy League.
2. You must have at least 5 years of trial experience.
3. You must be in the top 20 law firm in the DC area.
Trial is next Monday. Email me with your resume and why you think I should choose you for this job. [emphasis added in bold]
The poster says it’s a “great opportunity to get some practice in court,” but requires that the attorney have “5 years of trial experience.”
Maybe I’m seeing this wrong, but why on earth is this such a “GREAT GREAT opportunity”? And what makes this person believe that he/she is entitled to such a great windfall?
The request may have been reasonable if the person actually took the time to explain the circumstances behind the person’s inability to pay.
Driving down Indian Head Highway in Prince George’s County this week, I noticed a snappy, yellow-and-green SUV with a corn-themed graphic.
I zoomed up closer to get a better look at the vehicle, and I noticed that it had “LiveGreenGoYello.com” on the tailgate. While it was obvious the truck was designed to promote alternative fuel, I snapped a quick picture of the SUV with my handy Blackberry Pearl and made a mental note to check the website once I got home.
It turns out the vehicle I saw is part of a fleet of GM trucks that are roaming the country to promote GM’s “FlexFuel” vehicles that run on both E85 Ethanol fuel and regular gasoline.
GM claims that vehicles that use E85 help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, smog and dependence on petroleum while improving performance. GM is producing 12 different models that run on E85.
The only clear downside that I see is burried at the bottom of livegreengoyellow.com’s FAQ section: the fuel economy on these vehicles is poor…
This means that vehicles running on E85 ethanol may have a cruising range that is 25% shorter than the same vehicle operating on regular gasoline.
A man from Frederick Maryland plead guilty to fraud scheme whereby he married nine, that’s NINE, women and filed immigration applications so they could become lawful residents:
James Adjei Kyem, 52, claimed to live at more than 21 addresses in Maryland, New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Virginia, according to the statement of facts. Kyem married nine immigrant women, the first one while he was still married to a woman identified only as TAO, whom he divorced in 1997. Kyem obtained his citizenship through his marriage to TAO, who was a naturalized U.S. citizen.
Some think that Baltimore Maryland has an image problem. Despite the city’s economic development, some development marketers believe the city has a bad reputation as a “rust belt” city.
Baltimore left the Rust Belt behind years ago, but local economic development marketers think the metro area has yet to shed the reputation of a struggling manufacturing hub.
They want to get out-of-town companies and locals to think of the Baltimore region as an equal of affluent Seattle, Denver and San Diego, rather than besieged Cleveland and Detroit, its historical peers.
But Baltimore should focus on the fundamentals such as solving its crime problem. The fact of the matter is that Baltimore has a serious crime problem, and people know it. The dangerousness of a city impacts its attractiveness.
For the second straight year Baltimore ranked as the 12th-most dangerous city in the U.S., according to an analysis released Monday based on FBI crime statistics.
The report, released by Washington, D.C.-based private research firm CQ Press, looked at FBI crime statistics from 378 cities with at least 75,000 people. The annual rankings looked at per-capita rates for homicide, robbery, rape, aggravated assault, auto theft and burglary.
This winter Marylanders brave icy waters for two good causes…
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