Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist

Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist
Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Md Troopers Assoc #20 & Westminster Md Fire Dept Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist

Monday, October 18, 2010

Investigative Voice: Monday October 18, 2010

Delegate, Council President ask Mayor to disclose race impact fee spending, new developments in slaying of city police officer over parking space


CONTROVERSY OVER SPENDING OF RACE IMPACT FEES HEAT UP
DELEGATE, COUNCIL PRESIDENT ASK MAYOR FOR DETAILS
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POLICE OFFICER SLAIN IN DISPUTE OVER PARKING SPACE
MAN ARRESTED AND CHARGED WITH HITTING OFFICER
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MAN TAKES SHOTS AT SECURITY GUARDS
NO KNOWN MOTIVE FOR WILD SHOOT-OUT
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ANOTHER BRAZEN PHARMACY ROBBERY MARKS PRESCRIPTION
DRUG CRAZE
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NEW DETAILS ON MURDER SUICIDE BETWEEN NEIGHBORS
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PENSION BOARD TRAVELS TO MIAMI TO MEET WITH PHILADELPHIA BASED FIRM
OFFICIALS SAY THREE DAY JUANT WAS 'EDUCATIONAL'
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COUNTY REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE FOR PROSECUTOR
PLEDGES TO CUT SALARY
EAST OLIVER DRUG DEALERS REMAIN
RESIDENTS WANT PARK UPGRADED, COUNCILMAN REMAINS SILENT
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MAN LEFT FOR DEAD IN OKENSHAWE ALLEY
DIED WITHIN BLOCKS OF HOSPITAL
LAWYER FOR TOWSON U DORM ROBBER SAYS CLIENT IS INNOCENT
PLANS TO USE CELLPHONE RECORDS TO PROVE IT
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DEFENSE MAKES IT CASE IN HARRIS TRIAL
NO ALIBI FOR 3 MEN ACCUSED IN KILLING
STARTLING TESTIMONY ABOUT TATTTO IN HARRIS TRIAL
JURY SENDS NOTE TO JUDGE
POLITICAL VET ANNOUNCES HE WILL RUN FOR MAYOR
WHO IS WILLIAM VINCENT BROWN
DETAILS EMERGE ON LIFE OF MAN POLICE BELIEVE WENT ON 2003 KILLING SPREE.
JUDGE TOSSES CASE AGAINST MD. MAN WHO CAPTURED POLICE ON VIDEO
DEBATE GETS HEATED IN RACE FOR COUNTY EXEC
 SNICKERS BAR PLAYS KEY ROLE IN EXCHANGE
TIRE SLASHER TARGETS CARS OF A CERTAIN COLOR
 DOZENS OF VEHICLES DAMAGED IN OVERNIGHT SPREE
SLAIN WITNESS SURFACES IN SLAIN COUNCILMAN'S TRIAL
DID HE ID A NEW SUSPECT IN THE CASE?
 
 
IS EVERYONE IN VIOLATION OF THE CITY'S PLASTIC BAG BAN?
LAPSE IN PROGRAM CAUSES CONFUSION
JUST ANOTHER PHOTO-OP?
OR CAN THE CITY SWEEP AWAY DRUG DEALERS?
HOPKINS SHOOTER DISCUSSED SUICDE BEFORE KILLING
POLICE SAY HE HAS RELATIVES IN JAIL
DOES THE BERNSTEIN VICTORY MEAN THE END OF MACHINE
POLITICS IN BALTIMORES?
HOPKINS SHOOTER HAD PERMIT TO CARRY GUN
WHICH VICTORIOUS CANDIDATE PARTIED WITH A BIG TIME DEVELOPER ON ELECTION NIGHT?
WHAT COLOR WAS THE MASK WORN BY KILLER OF COUNCILMAN?
 WITNESSES TESTIMONY AT ODDS
BERNSTEIN HOLDS ONTO 1400 VOTE LEAD - HEADED TOWARD HISTORIC VICTORY
SEARCHING FOR SUNFLOWERS? GO HERE
 
 
 
 
 
TRAPPED DOGS RESCUED IN GLEN BURNIE
 Anne Arundel Co. officials defend owners
 
 
 
DELEGATE CANDIDATE WANTS STATE TO PAY FOR
PIGTOWN RESIDENTS FUME AS CHARGES ARE DROPPED IN CONTROVERSIAL ASSAULT CASE
VICTIM LEAVES BALTIMORE FOR OREGON
HOPKINS STUDENT SEXUALLY ASSAULTED IN ELEVATOR
MAN FOLLOWED UNDERGRAD INTO OFF-CAMPUS APARTMENT
COMMUNITY TO WALK AWAY DRUG DEALERS
NEW PLAN TO COMBAT VIOLENCE INVOLVES POLICE, CLERGY      AND RESIDENTS
FORMER MAYOR KICKS OFF EARLY VOTING
STATE SENATE CANDIDATE GETS ROUGH TREATMENT
DEPUTY COMMISSIONER "FEELS" THE STREETS
2ND IN COMMAND ON THE SCENE OF WEEKEND HOMICIDE

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CyberAlert for Monday October 18, 2010

MRC CyberAlert
A daily compilation edited by Brent H. Baker, CyberAlert items are drawn from daily BiasAlert posts and distributed by the Media Research Center's News Analysis Division, the leader since 1987 in documenting, exposing and neutralizing liberal media bias.

Tracking Liberal Media Bias Since 1996
Monday October 18, 2010 @ 09:39 AM EDT
1. Amanpour: Tea Party an 'Extreme' Departure from Reagan's Conservatism; Campaign Spending Bad for Democracy
ABC’s Christiane Amanpour on Sunday discovered “a long and venerable tradition of conservatism in this country” exemplified by Ronald Reagan and William F. Buckley and “all of that sort of intellectual conservatism,” but she only showed respect for that tradition in order to contend “people,” who she failed to name, “are saying that right now, it's really gone to the extreme.” Repeating her “people” generality, she insisted: “People are looking at the Tea Party and saying this is not conservatism as we knew it but it's extreme.” Later, during the October 17 roundtable, Amanpour fretted: “Where is campaign finance reform?” Will called the lack of legislative prospects on that front be “an absolutely wonderful development this year,” to which an appalled Amanpour wondered: “How can that be wonderful for a democracy, I mean not to know where all of this money comes from and who is putting it in?”
2. ABC Chastises 'Nasty' McCain for 'Vicious' Attack on Boxer, Not So Upset by Slap at O'Donnell as 'Nut Job'
“With just 16 days left, it is getting nasty out there,” ABC reporter David Kerley asserted Sunday night, scolding Republican Senator John McCain because on the campaign trail he “dropped senatorial decorum and viciously attacked a Democratic colleague.” On Saturday, in California, McCain said he’s “had the unpleasant experience of having to serve” with Senator Barbara Boxer. Kerley, however, expressed less angst over McCain’s daughter, Meghan, insulting Christine O’Donnell as “a nut job.” Kerley simply noted how “the Senator's daughter also went on the attack, but she slammed a fellow Republican, Christine O'Donnell, a Tea Party favorite running for Senate in Delaware.”
3. NBC's Todd Asserts 'Weaker' Tea Party Nominees Give Democrats 'Fighting Chance' to Hold Senate
NBC's Chuck Todd conceded “the Tea Party has been helpful to the GOP in both re-branding the party away from Bush and giving it a real grassroots component,” but he insisted, “this Tea Party influence in Republican primaries has put a number of Senate seats in play for Democrats that at this point should be out of reach.” “The bottom line,” Todd declared on Friday's NBC Nightly News in a likely preview of the latest iteration of the news media's bi-annual “Republicans candidates were too far to the right” line: "Because of weaker Tea Party nominees, Democrats have a fighting chance in Delaware, Kentucky, Colorado, yes, Nevada, and even Alaska. Without the Tea Party, all five of those races would be in the bank right now and the Senate majority would definitely be in the Republican sights."
4. CBS Finds 'Independent' Voters Who All Bash the Tea Party
On Thursday's CBS Evening News, anchor Katie Couric talked to a group of supposedly independent voters in Pennsylvania, but touted how none of them were undecided about one thing: "...there was unanimous agreement in this group, the Tea Party isn't their cup of tea." Following that declaration by Couric, each voter took their turn denouncing the conservative political movement. Marketing director Scott Barclay dismissed the tea party "as another voice from the fringe." Janis Fonteccio proclaimed: "They make statements that are just absolutely terrorizing."
5. Norah O'Donnell's Faulty Memory: Falsely Asserts Michelle Obama 'Never' Said She Wasn't Proud of U.S.
According to MSNBC's Norah O'Donnell, Michelle Obama "never said that she had not been proud of her country." The cable host on Friday disingenuously spun for the First Lady while reporting on a speech Sarah Palin gave in California. In fact, on February 18, 2008, Mrs. Obama addressed a crowd in Wisconsin and announced, "For the first time in my adult lifetime, I'm really proud of my country, and not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change."
6. Networks Pan Reid Debate Performance, But CBS, NBC Still Skip Democrat's Embarrassing Moments
Viewers who watched the three morning shows on Friday were greeted with a less than enthusiastic review of Harry Reid's debate performance on Thursday. On Good Morning America, Jon Karl announced, "Reid often rambled." On CBS's Early Show, Ben Tracy called the event "a debate that, at times, found Harry Reid exasperated." Today was the least critical, announcing only that Reid had "the most to lose."
7. Viguerie: CNN Needs More Conservatives; Parker-Spitzer Brings on Libs
Conservative Richard Viguerie brought his criticism of CNN's "left-of-center" bent on Thursday's Parker-Spitzer, and recommended that the network bring on more "articulate conservatives." The two CNN hosts, whom Viguerie recently criticized in a recent column, did their best to support his allegation by bringing on four liberals as guests during the program. The conservative wrote an August 17, 2010 column in the Washington Examiner criticizing CNN for claiming that they're "playing it right down the middle," when in reality, they lean towards the liberal side. Parker launched right into addressing her guest's criticism: "So, we're going to go ahead and get the elephant out of the room, and I'm not talking about you. But you did write about me....that I am a 'pleasantly wishy-washy, mostly plain vanilla Republican.' It's hard to see your words applied when the person is actually present, isn't it?"
8. Sappy Ann Curry: I Wish All Weapons Were Inflatable Toys
The frequently-maudlin Ann Curry outdid herself on Wednesday's Today show. Narrating a short video item about Russia unveiling a new set of inflatable weapons designed to fool spy satellites, Curry chirped: "Wish all weapons were like that."

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They ignored us By: Michael Barone

They ignored us

Senior Political Analyst10/14/10 12:05 PM EDT


I think this ad, from Colorado Republican Senate candidate Ken Buck and spotted by National Review’s Jim Geraghty, sums up one reason for the energy and enthusiasm of the tea party and other aroused opponents of the Obama Democrats this year.





More from Michael Barone



Out on the campaign trail, President Obama and his allies may be directing much of their fire at the Chamber of Commerce with baseless allegations of foreign influence, but...
I’ve written before about how my friend George Phillips is running what has seemed like a longshot race against Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y. His race has definitely gotten...
Afraid for their precious taxpayer-funded largesse, public-sector unions are stepping up their campaign spending order to keep their hand in the public trough:: The National...
Brad Woodhouse, a spokesman for the DNC, has been decrying groups like Crossroads GPS for spending undisclosed money in elections. But two years ago, he ran such a group,...


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Sacramento Bee: Endorsements for a pivotal Nov. 2 ballot

TODAY IN OPINION Sacramento Bee: Endorsements for a pivotal Nov. 2 ballot

The Sacramento Bee believes that an informed electorate is the bedrock of a sturdy democracy. Endorsements are one of many sources of information voters can use in making their decisions. That's why The Bee's editorial board offers recommendations in competitive races. Below are our endorsements to date for the Nov. 2 election. - Read More

20101017 sdosm SacBee Nov 2 general election endorsements

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Sunday, October 17, 2010

Barbara Billingsley, definitive '50s TV mom, dead at 94

Z on TV:  

OCTOBER 16, 2010

Barbara Billingsley, definitive '50s TV mom, dead at 94

Barbara Billingsley, whose character of June Cleaver on the 1950's TV sitcom "Leave It to Beaver" helped define motherhood for a generation of baby boomers, died Saturday at the age of 94.
Her death was the result of a long illness and she died at her home in Santa Monica, a family spokeswoman told CNN.
Along with Jane Wyatt as Margaret Anderson on "Father Knows Best" and Donna Reed as Donna Stone on "The Donna Reed Show," Billingsley helped create an idealized depiction of the All-American TV mom living with her nuclear family in a post-World-War II, white-picket-fence fantasy neighborhood. Mayfield was the fictional community in which the Cleavers lived, and it was part Frank Capra's small-town America and part Utopian vision of the suburbs to which the rapidly expanding middle class was already starting to move at the end of the 1950s and early '60s when the series aired... http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/zontv/2010/10/barbara_billingsley_di.html
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The Zombie Network: Beware 'Free Public WiFi' by TRAVIS LARCHUK

The Zombie Network: Beware 'Free Public WiFi'


It's in your airports, your coffee shops and your libraries: "Free Public WiFi."
Despite its enticing name, the network, available in thousands of locations across the United States, does not actually provide access to the Internet. But like a virus, it has spread — and may even be lurking on your computer right now.
Wireless security expert Joshua Wright first noticed it about four years ago at an airport.
"I went to connect to an available wireless network and I saw this option, Free Public WiFi," he remembers. "As I looked more and more, I saw this in more and more locations. And I was aware from my job and analysis in the field that this wasn't a sanctioned, provisioned wireless network, but it was actually something rogue."
Free Public WiFi isn't set up like most wireless networks people use to get to the Internet. Instead, it's an "ad hoc" network — meaning when a user selects it, he or she isn't connecting to a router or hot spot, but rather directly to someone else's computer in the area.
Though it doesn't actually provide Internet access, the network has spread across the country thanks to an old Windows XP bug... http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130451369&sc=nl&cc=es-20101017

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Testimony of David Simon before the Senate Committee “Hearing on the future of Journalism.”

Testimony of David Simon before the Senate Committee “Hearing on the future of Journalism.”


I just re-read David Simon’s May 6, 2009 testimony in from of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation – Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet: “Hearing on the Future of Journalism.”

It has some really precious moments and although it is now almost one-and-a-half years old, it is still a relevant read.

We are now into about the tenth-year of the great newspaper flu and it seems the patient remains on life-support and only gets better in fits and starts – one-step forward and two steps back at a time.

[20090506_DavidSimonTestimonyFutureofJournalism]

For more on Mr. Simon’s analysis of the current state of the media, I Googled him - http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=David+Simon+newspapers – and found much more great reading…

Kevin Dayhoff October 17, 2010.

David Simon, Senate, newspapers, media, journalism

Testimony of David Simon before the Senate Committee “Hearing on the future of Journalism.”                                                                                                                              


Media Commentary, Journalists Simon David, Newspapers Baltimore Sun, Media, US Congress Senate, 
*****

AOL’s Patch, a national chain of news websites, comes to the Baltimore ‘burbs

AOL’s Patch, a national chain of news websites, comes to the Baltimore ‘burbs

Will mass-producing community journalism like Big Macs slay it or save it? (A two-part Baltimore Brew special report.)


patch map and logo
AOL is sinking nearly $50 million into Patch, a network of local news websites, including some in Baltimore suburbs.



Baltimore is used to having out-of-town companies gobble up its home-grown news operations. The ranks of the  once- independent-and family-owned that are now media properties include The Baltimore Sun(Chicago-based Tribune Co.) and WJZ-TV (one of 28 stations owned by CBS Corp.)
But the latest deep-pocketed corporate ‘playa to muscle into the Baltimore media market, AOL, is taking a different approach. Rather than acquiring an existing entity, they’re quietly building online news operations from the ground up, in Towson and in two dozen other suburban Maryland communities. What they’re creating they callPatch.com, a national network of “hyperlocal” news sites aiming to fill the prodigious news holes created by shrinking traditional media.
In addition to TowsonPatch, there’s a Lutherville/TimoniumPatch andEllicottCityPatch, among the Maryland sites either scheduled or already publishing. Patches have also sprouted in affluent communities in New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Jersey and a growing list of other states...
[...]
Utopia? Dystopia?
Bryan Sears is the immediate past president of the Maryland Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, and a well-known local political reporter in the Greater Baltimore area.
At points in a discussion about Patch, Sears seemed excited by the idea that a ripple effect from the chain’s rapid expansion could actually benefit journalists in search of jobs.
“There are media companies taking this very seriously. What happens if they [Patch] ramp up and put a lot of reporters in the area, and The [Baltimore] Sun or [Washington] Post decides it needs to respond in kind?” Sears said.  “All of a sudden you’ve got yourself a 21st century newspaper war.”
At other moments, he has a reporter’s skepticism that Patch, or any company, has figured out a cure for what’s afflicting America’s Fourth Estate.
“There are two questions as I see it.  One, it’s AOL, the same company that had Bebo, the social networking site that no one ever heard of.  Have they learned from that?” Sears said.  “Two, do they have some magic ju-ju that makes these Patch sites work that the others didn’t?”
In the end, Sears said, he welcomes the arrival of the Patch sites, even though they technically compete for readers with his paper.
“I’m excited about journalists getting good jobs and enjoying the work they’re doing,” he said, “and I refuse to believe that having more reporters on the beat is anything but good for the public.”
And, he added, “I plan on beating them as often as I can.”
[...]


Media Baltimore Brew, Journalists Sears-Bryan, Media Baltimore, Media, 
*****

Bryan Sears at Baltimore County Politics

Until Bryan Sears takes up shop in his new digs with Patch, follow him here on his website: Baltimore County PoliticsAll Baltimore County politics all the time, or at least for the next several days…  http://baltimorecountypolitics.wordpress.com/


About Me


Bryan P. Sears
Sears

I’m a life-long resident of Baltimore County and have a passion for covering local politics and government. I grew up in Middle River and Perry Hall and now live in Towson.
For the last nine years I covered the Old Courthouse for the Towson Times. Starting on Oct. 25 I’ll do so for Patch.com.
Over the years I’ve won regional and national awards for breaking news coverage, local and state government reporting and investigative reporting.
I’m also a political contributor on the Maryland Morning News program on Thursdays on WBAL 1090 AM as well as a frequent guest on many of the  station’s shows, a co-host on Jay Liner’s “All Politics is Local” show on WCBM 680 AM, and have appeared on State Circle on Maryland Public Television.
When I’m not doing any of that I like to hike with my golden retriever and play video games with my son.
Occasionally,  I sleep.


Bryan Sears at Baltimore County Politics
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