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
Showing posts with label Bus Econ. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bus Econ. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Andrew Soergel - U.S. News & World Report - Minimum Wage Increase Comes with Cadre of Potential Complications

Minimum Wage Increase Comes with Cadre of Potential Complications

Andrew Soergel - U.S. News & World Report - Tuesday, December 22, 2015


New Year's Day is still more than a week off, but 2016 is already shaping up to be the year of the minimum wage increase.

Alaska, Arkansas, California and Colorado are among about a dozen states due for minimum wage upticks at the turn of the year, with more increases and more potential legislation already in the pipeline for later in 2016 and beyond.

The federal minimum wage currently sits at just $7.25 per hour, though waiters and individuals who receive a bulk of their income through tips can legally earn even less. Vermont Senator and Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is among a host of politicians championing higher wages as a means of revitalizing the middle class.

But the jury is still out on how much minimum wage gains would actually help the U.S. economy and the middle class. Some studies suggest government-mandated wage hikes are actually detrimental to the American workforce.


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Thursday, June 18, 2015

This picture shows the pain of Greece falling apart By Matt O'Brien June 17, 2015



This picture is worth approximately 317 billion words in Greek. That's how many euros its government owes, and how many euros it's going to start defaulting on if it doesn't agree on a new bailout in the next few days.

After all, you don't have to be an expert in game theory, like Greece's finance minister Yanis Varoufakis is, to know it's not good if he's crouching with his head in his hands right before midnight strikes on his country's solvency. But I think we can sympathize with how he feels. We do too. The years change, but the Greek crisis doesn't. It owes more than it can pay, so it needs Europe to give it the money to pay, well, Europe back. The problem, though, is Europe doesn't want to just hand over the money in such circular fashion without getting something else—pension and spending cuts—in return, and Greece doesn't want so many painful strings attached after it's already cut a lot and only seen its economy shrink by 25 percent.


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Saturday, April 11, 2015

Don Surber: Oakland raises unemployment

A big thanks to Don Surber for calling this to our attention...

Don Surber: Oakland raises unemployment

In November the people of Oakland, California, voted to increase minimum wage to just under $25,000 a year for a full-time job ($12.25 an hour). Their vote triggered the loss of jobs, businesses and hours for workers.

A survey by the Employment Policies Institute found that 27% of owners say it is somewhat or very likely the forced pay hike will force them to close.

47% said the hike forced them to raise prices.

30% said the hike forced them to reduce worker hours.

17% said the hike forced them to lay off workers.

The institute told the tale of a few employers: Read more here...


http://donsurber.blogspot.com/2015/04/oakland-raises-unemployment.html
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Thursday, January 15, 2015

BBC News - Pensioner bonds' website struggles as sale starts

BBC News - Pensioner bonds' website struggles as sale starts: "

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-30782590

New pensioner bonds paying an annual interest rate of up to 4% are now on sale but high demand has led to some website problems.

The government-backed lump sum investments are being offered through National Savings and Investments.

Market-leading rates and years of accounts offering low returns have led to expectations of rapid sales of these bonds.

Only those aged 65 and over are eligible to invest in the bonds.

Within an hour of the announcement of the bonds going on sale, there were problems with the NS&I website. Throughout the day, potential customers have been reporting long waits trying to contact NS&I on the phone."

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-30782590

'via Blog this'

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Thursday, March 20, 2014

Bloomberg Business Week: Target Missed Warnings in Epic Hack of Credit Card Data

Bloomberg Business Week: Target Missed Warnings in Epic Hack of Credit Card Data

Target Missed Warnings in Epic Hack of Credit Card Data Reblogged 5 hours ago from newsweek

http://kevindayhoff.tumblr.com/post/80106052145/newsweek-the-biggest-retail-hack-in-u-s
newsweek:

The biggest retail hack in U.S. history wasn’t particularly inventive, nor did it appear destined for success. In the days prior to Thanksgiving 2013, someone installed malware in Target’s (TGT) security and payments system designed to steal every credit card used at the company’s 1,797 U.S. stores.
At the critical moment—when the Christmas gifts had been scanned and bagged and the cashier asked for a swipe—the malware would step in, capture the shopper’s credit card number, and store it on a Target server commandeered by the hackers.
Target Missed Warnings in Epic Hack of Credit Card Data
The biggest retail hack in U.S. history wasn’t particularly inventive, nor did it appear destined for success. In the days prior to Thanksgiving 2013, someone installed malware in Target’s (TGT) security and payments system designed to steal every credit card used at the company’s 1,797 U.S. stores.
At the critical moment—when the Christmas gifts had been scanned and bagged and the cashier asked for a swipe—the malware would step in, capture the shopper’s credit card number, and store it on a Target server commandeered by the hackers.


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Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Washington Post: Affordable Care Act enrollment drops off in February

BY JASON MILLMAN March 11, 2014

About 4.2 million people have signed up for health plans on Obamacare exchanges through the end of February. That makes it unlikely that the Obama administration will hit the estimate of 6 million enrollees by the end of March.

Whatever momentum was building in January appeared to drop off in February. The numbers -- which were released a day before Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius testifies on the Hill -- also show young people aren't enrolling at rates officials had predicted. That group is key because they are generally presumed to be healthier and less costly.

Read more at: 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/03/11/obamacare-bummer-enrollment-drops-off-in-february/ 
*****

Monday, March 10, 2014

Taxing Marylanders until they flee - By Ellen Sauerbrey and Dee Hodges Friday, March 7, 2014

SAUERBREY: Taxing Marylanders until they flee

Squeezing high earners to fill state coffers has opposite effect

By Ellen Sauerbrey and Dee Hodges Friday, March 7, 2014


Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter

Maryland, one of the bluest of blue states, is the poster child demonstrating that taxing the rich fails to balance the state budget.

Yet Democrats, who have complete monopoly control on all branches of state government, continue to think that doing the same thing over and over will lead to a different result.

Because of its proximity to Washington, D.C., Maryland is one of the wealthiest states in America. Still, it is plagued by fiscal woes. In a vain attempt to eliminate Maryland’s structural deficit, the administration of Gov. Martin O'Malley and Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown has raised taxes, tolls and fees more than 80 times since 2007, while increasing overall government spending by $9.6 billion, or 32 percent, over the same period.

This oppressive tax-and-spend climate is hurting Maryland’s families and forcing many of them to leave the state.

Wealthy and middle-class citizens have been fleeing Maryland, thus denying the state the ability to tax any of their income. Small businesses are moving their jobs to friendlier states.

Between 2000 and 2010, 66,000 people left the state, taking $5.5 billion with them. Maryland has also lost at least 6,500 small businesses.


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Monday, February 10, 2014

Senator Joe Getty: New Study Documents Adverse Impacts of Raising Minimum Wage In Maryland

New Study Documents Adverse Impacts of
Raising Minimum Wage In Maryland
Marylanders for Joe GettyFebruary 10, 2014

At a press conference this morning, the results of a new study on minimum wage prepared by economist Stephen S. Fuller, Ph.D., George Mason University, were released by the Maryland Foundation for Research & Economic Education.

Over ten bills have been introduced in the Maryland General Assembly this session and will receive hearings in the House and Senate this week.

In an extensive research report, Fuller concludes that raising the minimum wage in Maryland would:

     1.   increase the price of consumer goods;
     2.   reduce employment and personal income;
     3.   weaken the state's competitive position relative to adjacent states having lower labor costs;
     4.   slow the growth of gross state product; and
     5.   slow population growth and weaken real estate values.

The full report has been posted on the WBAL-TV website (Click Here).
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Friday, December 06, 2013

People at CNBC Are Relieved That Maria Bartiromo Left by JOE WEISENTHAL DEC. 5, 2013

People at CNBC Are Relieved That Maria Bartiromo Left by JOE WEISENTHAL DEC. 5, 2013


The Wall Street Journal recently reported on the dismal ratings at CNBC, Fox Business, and Bloomberg. Bloomberg, meanwhile, is in the midst of some kind reassessment of its TV business, and there's widespread apprehension there about what the next direction is for the network.

And the big momentous event was the recent departure of Maria Bartiromo from CNBC to Fox Business.

Bartiromo is the biggest star in financial TV history, and her leaving the biggest network to go to a much smaller rival is a major moment.

So what's the mood at CNBC following this departure?

One person who was at CNBC headquarters the day after Bartiromo's departure actually described a widespread sense of "relief."

It's not that Bartiromo was disliked.  It's that CNBC, according to multiple sources, is an insanely competitive place internally, Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/departure-of-maria-bartiromo-at-cnbc-frees-up-guests-2013-12?op=1
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Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Daily Grind: Fed's $1 trillion a year subsidy to banks to continue under Yellen's watch

6
Nov. 26, 2013
Fed's $1 trillion a year subsidy to banks to continue under Yellen's watchWith no filibuster, the Senate is set to rubber stamp Janet Yellen as the next Fed head, meanwhile, the American people and their representatives have no idea which banks foreign and domestic are benefitting from the Fed's $1 trillion annual subsidy.
A Life LineHarry Reid seems to have thrown not much of a life line to Democrats.
The 17th Amendment: 100 years laterAny elementary social studies student can tell you that the Senate is the "legislative cooling saucer" and the voice of the smaller, less powerful states. Now compromised on both fronts, it is worth repeating Thomas Jefferson's query: What exactly is the purpose of the Senate?
Crudele: On false job numbers, did the White House know?"Did White House know about fabricated and manipulated job numbers before 2012 election?"


Fed's $1 trillion a year subsidy to banks to continue under Yellen's watch
By Robert Romano
With the filibuster against most presidential nominees now eliminated — well, sort of, Senate Democrats did not actually amend the rules, they just voted to pretend they don't exist — the confirmation of Janet Yellen to be the next chair of the Federal Reserve is all but certain.
Which is too bad.
Of all nominees, blocking cloture on Yellen could have been worthwhile. With the Fed creating $85 billion a month in its quantitative easing programs, the Senate has no business confirming any Fed chair until it and the whole country knows more about the policy.
Specifically, the American people and their representatives have no idea which banks are benefitting from the Fed's $1 trillion annual subsidy.
The only way to know will be if there is a regular audit of the practice, since all that can be seen now is by how much the central bank's balance sheet of securities is expanding — telling us very little about who is receiving the money?
In the last one-time audit of the Fed under Dodd-Frank in 2010, it was ascertained that of the $877.3 billion of mortgage bonds the central bank had purchased that were included in the audit, some $442.7 billion — more than half — were bought from foreign banks.
These included $127.5 billion given to MBS Credit Suisse (Switzerland), $117.8 billion to Deutsche Bank (Germany), $63.1 billion to Barclays Capital (UK), $55.5 billion to UBS Securities (Switzerland), $27 billion to BNP Paribas (France), $24.4 billion to the Royal Bank of Scotland (UK), and $22.2 billion to Nomura Securities (Japan). Another $4.2 billion was given to the Royal Bank of Canada, and $917 million to Mizuho Securities (Japan).
According to the Federal Reserve, the securities were purchased at "Current face value of the securities, which is the remaining principal balance of the underlying mortgages." These were not loans, but outright purchases, a direct bailout of foreign firms that had bet poorly on U.S. housing.
According to the New York Fed's website, the purpose of the program was to "foster improved conditions in financial markets." But whose financial markets were we really propping up? The United States', or foreign countries'?
The $442.7 billion overseas was just a snapshot in time. The last transactions covered in the audit date all the way back to July 2010.
Since then, say, July 8 of that year, the Fed has bought another whopping $1.689 trillion of securities. And we have no idea where the central bank bought the securities from — because the practice is not audited.
If the previous audit was any indication, one presumes about 50.4 percent of the $1.689 trillion of purchases — more than $851 billion — has gone to foreign banks. But then again, who knows?
As for the $1.36 trillion of treasuries the Fed has bought since the financial crisis began in Aug. 2007, we have no idea which banks received that money.
How can Senators make an informed decision about who should serve as Fed chair overseeing a $1 trillion a year bank subsidy when they themselves have no idea where the money is even going?
Were there still a filibuster, this would have been a ripe issue for Senate Republicans to block against any Fed nominee until there is legislation providing for an annual audit of Fed securities purchases.
The fact is, the Fed's $1 trillion a year bank subsidy to banks will be continuing for the foreseeable future under Yellen's stewardship. If we're really going to still be bailing out banks more than five years after the financial crisis, shouldn't the practice at least be transparent?
It is bad enough that Congress ceded its constitutional, legislative powers over monetary policy 100 years ago to the Fed. The American people and their representatives should at least be allowed to analyze the institution's policies which have such a dramatic impact on our economic well being.
Is that really asking too much?
Robert Romano is the senior editor of Americans for Limited Government.


A Life Line
By A. F. Branco
6


The 17th Amendment: 100 years later
By Tom Toth
Since its original design, the United States Senate has undergone two integrally related transformations in design and purpose.
In 1913, states voted away their federal legislative voice by ratifying the 17th Amendment to the Constitution, changing the appointment of Senators to a direct election.
Under the original bicameral design of the United States legislature, the Senate was the voice of the individual, co-equal states of the union and its members were appointed by state legislatures to represent the interests of the state. The House of Representatives was conversely designed to be the complimentary voice of the people, where members from relatively small districts face election by their neighbors every 24 months.
The existence of the Senate as a second chamber of Congress was the great Constitutional compromise for small states who would have been rendered powerless to the political wills of the larger states in the union. The 17th Amendment ended this compromise.
Direct elections shift the political motivation of the individual Senator from representing the interests of his or her state to representing the same electorate as the House of Representatives, using the same device of election, changing the purpose and makeup of the Senate as a legislative body.
As with any change in the law, Constitutional amendments have consequences. If the 17th Amendment were removed and Senators were representing the states, members of the Senate would be intimately familiar in the civil affairs of their states and  there would conceivably be no unfunded mandates allowed to be imposed upon states from the federal government. Further, local elections would have tangible ramifications over the national political landscape resulting in greater individual civic engagement.
Thomas Jefferson, who was serving as a Minister in France during the Constitutional Convention, inquired of George Washington why the delegates to the convention had created the Senate. Washington responded famously, "Why did you pour that tea into your saucer?" "To cool it," said Jefferson. "Even so," responded Washington, "we pour legislation into the senatorial saucer to cool it."
In 2013, the Senate abandoned its role as the "legislative cooling saucer" when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and the compliant members of his party unilaterally suspended minority power in the Senate by destroying filibuster rule for virtually all presidential nominees. The filibuster is the sole means by which the minority party in the Senate can practice legislative oversight as a governing check and balance by continuing debate until a 60-vote cloture agreement can be made. Once removed, not only do states have no representation, but neither do the nation's minority voices.
There was a common notion among the nation's framers that the deliberative process (often called "gridlock" today) is beneficial for the long-term health of the republic as a preventative protection against radical change. Conversely, "Progressives," by virtue of even their self-assumed title, resist the very notion of gridlock when they are in power. They practice public policy as if the greater good is only achievable when the "progressives'" notion of forward progress is constantly being made, otherwise their work as statesmen is irrelevant. The filibuster, a staple of Senatorial deliberations, is the tool of practical deliberation that, although frustrating for the majority party, ensures a layer of protection against bad policy. It exists to keep simple mob rule from dominating deliberations in the small, powerful legislative body.
Harry Reid stated on the morning he changed the Senate rules that action was necessary for the chamber to "evolve" in order "to remain relevant."  Killing the filibuster, no matter how shortsighted politically, is the only expedient option for the left if "progress" is challenged on any significant scale. Republicans stood in the way of progress, and evolution became a necessity.
If kept, this rule change will mark as significant a fundamental transformation in the Senate as the 17thAmendment.
Contextualizing the Senate in the light of its original design, then, what is the purpose of the Senate's modern existence? The people already have direct legislative representation in the House of Representatives. The states have no federal representation from either chamber. Now, Presidential appointments can be passed by simple majority fiat and any other filibuster rules are one motion from a majority vote away from nonexistence.
Any elementary social studies student can tell you that the Senate is the "legislative cooling saucer" and the voice of the smaller, less powerful states. Now compromised on both fronts, this observer repeats Jefferson's query: What exactly is the purpose of the Senate?
Tom Toth is the Social Media Director for Americans for Limited Government.


ALG Editor's Note: In the following featured column from the New York Post, John Crudele asks what the White House knew and when did it know it on the Census Bureau's false unemployment numbers:
On false job numbers, did the White House know?
By John Crudele
Let me be the first to ask: Did the White House know that employment reports were being falsified?
Last week I reported exclusively that someone at the Census Bureau's Philadelphia region had been screwing around with employment data. And that person, after he was caught in 2010, claimed he was told to do so by a supervisor two levels up the chain of command.
On top of that, a reliable source whom I haven't identified said the falsification of employment data by Census was widespread and ongoing, especially around the time of the 2012 election.
There's now a congressional investigation of how Census handles employment data. And we can hope that we'll find out this was just an isolated incident.
But let me tell you why it might not be.
Back in 2009 — right before the 2010 census of the nation was taken — there was an announcement that the Obama administration had decided that the Census Bureau would report to senior White House aides.
The rumor was that Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel was in charge of the nationwide head count.

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Wednesday, August 29, 2012

The Annual Report of Maryland’s Rural Development Council for FY 2000


The FORVM's Year in Review for FY 2000

The Annual Report of Maryland’s Rural Development Council


At the start of this new century, the Maryland economy, like the national economy, is running full throttle. Maryland's agriculture industry has produced a bumper crop of corn and soybeans, and the state's historically downtrodden urban and rural regions are experiencing a positive up-tick in the traditional indicators of success. Unemployment rates are down. Consumer confidence is up.

Still, several counties in Western Maryland and on the Eastern Shore have unemployment rates significantly above the statewide average. Poor access to quality health care, the continuing loss of viable farm and forestland, a crumbling infrastructure, and the low availability of suitable housing and reliable transportation remain serious challenges for Marylanders to solve.

The FORVM for Rural Maryland identifies important issues facing rural communities and brings together diverse groups of people and policy-makers to work toward improving the quality of life in Rural Maryland. At the close of Fiscal Year 2000, thanks to the efforts of many of our partners, the FORVM is better positioned then ever to help rural communities achieve a better tomorrow. Here are some highlights of the year just concluded.

Eastern Shore Economic Development

At the request of The Eastern Shore General Assembly Delegation, Governor Parris Glendening appointed the Eastern Shore Economic Development Task Force late last year. More than 100 people from across the Eastern Shore met over several months to study and craft short- and long-term solutions to many challenging economic problems.

Eight subcommittees of the task force, composed of members from each of the nine Eastern Shore counties, submitted individual and regional issues, concerns, and recommendations which the steering committee outlined by economic area. The task force's final report forms the basis of a comprehensive, long-range regional economic development strategy, both for individual counties and the Eastern Shore as a whole.

To preserve the integrity of the Eastern Shore, the Task Force agreed that the following six recommendations require immediate attention.

1)       Create water and wastewater treatment systems as identified in individual county master plans to handle current and future needs.

2)       Establish funding mechanisms, organize producer cooperatives, and promote production and marketing alternatives to enhance the sustainability of the agriculture and seafood industries. Use the statewide study currently underway to examine the impact of agriculture and poultry on Eastern Shore economy

3)       Implement a high-speed fiber-optic network on the Eastern Shore to meet current and future needs.

4)       Promote the development of an integrated regional public transportation system for the entire Eastern Shore and Delmarva area that includes securing long-term funding (at least five years) from the Maryland Mass Transit Administration and the Federal government.

5)       Support local Workforce Investment Boards efforts to aid in motivating and training residents seeking to participate in the labor force.

6)       Create two permanent regional planning organizations, charged with planning for and taking the required steps in achieving the desired business, economic, and community outcomes for the regions, including the timely implementation of the recommendations of the Eastern Shore Economic Development Task Force.

The Task Force and the Eastern Shore Delegation has asked the FORVM, in the role of a neutral facilitator, to help implement this last recommendation by working collaboratively with local officials to establish these regional councils. The FORVM will be working diligently toward that end in coming months.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/104250445/The-Annual-Report-of-Maryland%E2%80%99s-Rural-Development-Council-for-FY-2000
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Maryland, agriculture, eastern shore, Delmarva, General Assembly, technology, 
*****

Monday, July 16, 2012

Kevin Dayhoff The Tentacle: National Governors Association New Engines of Growth – Part 2


Kevin Dayhoff The Tentacle: The #art and culture of economic development part 2


Kevin E. Dayhoff July 12, 2012

Last Monday, after studying the report, New Engines of Growth: Five Roles for Arts, Culture, and Design, prepared by the National Governors Association, I found myself lost in thought about the role of the arts as an economic engine.

Later that day I met with a travel writer, Leonard M. Adkins of Richmond, VA, at the cooperative art gallery, Off Track Art, of which I am a founding member.

For three-years, the 10 artists in the cooperative have made a conscious effort to act as an arts and culture incubator for Carroll County as well as to promote the sale of our art.

Mr. Adkins, an outdoor and travel writer, photographer, and “The Habitual Hiker,” is touring Maryland through August 8 to update his book “Explorer’s Guide Maryland.” He visited Carroll County in 2001 when he first wrote the book and has been back several other times for updates.

It was exciting to talk with Mr. Adkins about the role of tourism, arts, and culture in Maryland. He has also written about theAppalachian Trail and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal.

As fate would have it, my wife and I spent last Saturday bicycling from Brunswick to Harpers Ferry and back, where we had dinner at “Beans in the Belfry” on West Potomac Street near the offices of our good friends, Mayor Carroll Jones and City Administrator Richard Weldon at Brunswick City Hall.

Located in a 100-year-old restored historic church, Beans in the Belfry is an excellent example of an artistic approach to adaptive re-use, and arts and culture as an economic driver and jobs creator.

The National Governor Association’s “New Engines of Growth” report is a must-read for anyone involved in the development of public policy that affects the arts and economic development.

The National Governors Association website elaborates: “Globalization and the changing economy have affected individual states differently, but all are searching for ways to support high-growth industries, accelerate innovation, foster entrepreneurial activity, address unemployment, build human capital and revive distressed areas… http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=5223


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See also:

Kevin Dayhoff The Tentacle: National Governors Association New Engines of Growth http://tinyurl.com/825mo9r

Kevin Dayhoff The Tentacle: The #art and culture of economic development part 1 http://tinyurl.com/825mo9r




The National Governors Association recently released a new report on the role that community arts, culture, and design play in job creation and economic growth.

The remarkably creative and thoughtful report, New Engines of Growth: Five Roles for Arts, Culture, and Design, was prepared by the group’s Center for Best Practices, in collaboration with the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies.

The 52-page report itself is an eye-catching and well-designed piece of artwork in its layout and design.

However, even more amazing is that, page-by-page, the report presents a compelling and persuasive case for encouraging community arts and cultural programs, businesses, shops and industry to create economy and jobs – in a manner surprisingly devoid of mind-numbing public policy wonk-speak.

The executive summary of the report states, in part … http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=5218


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See also:



By Kevin Dayhoff

July 11, 2012

One of my passions for July, besides thoroughly enjoying the heat, is the Tour de France. This year, June 30 was one of my greatest days of summer…

That was the day that the 99th Tour de France began with the “prologue” event. What follows, until July 22, is a tour of France’s picturesque agriculturally dominated countryside, in 20 stages that will cover 3,497 kilometres.

By the time a cyclist finishes the Tour de France, he will have burned a total of 118,000 calories or the “equivalent to 26 Mars Bars per day,” according to the BBC.

The Tour de France has a little something for everyone – history, drama, intrigue, science, a mini geography tutorial of Europe, and all of the fanfare and spectacle of what is arguably, one of the most difficult sporting challenges in the world today...

And besides, so much of the humble – and insane – beginnings of the Tour de France were started by journalists and a newspaper.

The humble beginnings of the bicycle race were as a newspaper publicity event, brainstormed by Henri Desgrange in 1902, to promote the sports newspaper “l'Auto.”

According to the history section of the Le Tour de France website, “The line between insanity and genius is said to be a fine one, and in early 20thcentury France, anyone envisaging a near-2,500-km-long cycle race across the country would have been widely viewed as unhinged.

“But that didn’t stop Géo Lefèvre, a journalist with L’Auto magazine at the time, from proceeding with his inspired plan. His editor, Henri Desgrange, was bold enough to believe in the idea and to throw his backing behind the Tour de France. And so it was that, on 1 July 1903, sixty pioneers set out on their bicycles from Montgeron. After six mammoth stages (Nantes - Paris, 471 km!), only 21 “routiers,” led by Maurice Garin, arrived at the end of this first epic.”

Although the eyes of the world are on the Tour de France every July, did you know that there were several celebrated bicycle races, in the central-Maryland area, a number of years before the first Tour de France in 1903?

According to an American Sentinel newspaper article published on October 20, 1895: “The most remarkable cycling event … was a century run, undertaken by over three hundred riders, from Baltimore, on Sunday last.

“Mishaps reduced the number, by the time the cavalcade started, to two hundred and ninety-nine, among whom were several ladies.  The run was to Frederick and return.

“Two hundred and forty-six of the starters continued in the run to the finish and made the 100 miles… Messrs. George M. Parke and John H. Cunningham, of the Cycling Ramblers of Westminster, were in the run and completed the century.”

At the Corbit’s Charge encampment on Sunday, June 24, I was inspired by several conversations with local historians Tom LeGore and Ron Kuehne, known well for his historic interpretation of Westminster Mayor Michael Baughman; to revisit our local history at Harpers Ferry, Antietam, Washington DC, and Gettysburg.

All are comfortable family-friendly day trips for those of us who live in Carroll County. Well, by car that is…

So, in honor of the Tour de France, on Saturday, July my wife and I spent bicycling through history from Brunswick to Harpers Ferry and back on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal towpath.

We had dinner at “Beans in the Belfry” on West Potomac Street, in Brunswick, near the offices of my good friends, Mayor Carroll Jones and City Administrator Richard Weldon at the Brunswick City Hall.

Located in a 100 year-old restored historic church, Beans in the Belfry is an excellent of an artistic approach to adaptive re-use, and arts and culture as an economic driver and jobs creator.

We loved the ambiance and atmosphere of Beans in the Belfry. Our food was wonderful and the service friendly and welcoming.

Next week - Saturday, July 14, 2012, we’ll try the Northern Central Railroad Trail, in Gunpowder Falls State Park in Baltimore County.


More than 100 years ago, "bicycle riders and racers, were filled with excitement over an event to take place at the Pleasure Park, a newly built horseracing track with grandstand one mile north of Westminster on the road to Littlestown."

That property is now known as Carroll County Regional Airport.

Thanks to research for the Historical Society of Carroll County by historian Mary Ann Ashcraft, we know that on June 25, 1898, the now-defunct American Sentinel wrote that "Thursday, the 30th day of June, will be the greatest day among cyclists in Carroll County that has ever occurred in its history.


One of my passions for July, besides thoroughly enjoying the heat, is the Tour de France. This year, June 30 was one of my greatest days of summer.
That was the day that the 99th Tour de France began with the "prologue" event. What follows, until July 22, is a tour of France's picturesque and agriculturally dominated countryside, in 20 stages that will cover 3,497 kilometers…http://www.baltimoresun.com/explore/carroll/news/community/ph-ce-eagle-archive-0715-20120711,0,1917523.story
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