Wednesday, April 29, 2015

2014 Maryland Governor Candidate, Shawn Quinn Statement on Baltimore

Shawn Quinn (left) and Lorenzo Gaztanaga (right)
of the Maryland Libertarian Party
The following is a post by David Malekar, who regularly contributes content to the WashCo Chronicle. The statement release is by 2014 Maryland Governor Candidate, Shawn Quinn, of the Libertarian Party.

Shawn was asked for comment on the issue that Baltimore is currently facing among civil unrest and the uncertain future of the city.  Thank you to Shawn for providing the following statement:

Statement from 2014 Libertarian candidate for Governor.

I would like to start by saying that my heart goes out to all the innocent citizens in Baltimore who are being affected by this state of unrest. While I am not surprised that things are boiling over, these folks have no justification for the destruction of property that is going on. I pray that the young people involved realize that what they are doing is wrong and return to their homes. I pray that parents get control of their children. I pray that there is no loss of life on top of the property destroyed last night. I commend the police for not pulling their weapons and making this worse. I am sure in the days that follow we will see many arrests.

Many people are going to come out in the weeks that follow to point fingers at the leadership in Baltimore, the Baltimore police and the Governor of our state for their handling of this situation. The two party agenda has never let a tragedy go by unused. I however am refraining from pointing fingers at this point and hope that these folks are getting the message people are sending. This has been building for years. I am not in support of the military being used as a police force, but due to the reactive nature of our government officials, they have little else they can do at this point.

Unemployment, homelessness, high taxes, over regulation, corruption, the drug war and a non responsive leadership have lead to this current situation. The answers are right in front of us. Our police need to live where they work. They must be involved with the community. People need to have a roof over their heads. They need to have jobs in order to take care of their families. They need to keep more of their earnings and not have the government steal for its own wasteful uses. We need to end the drug war. The city needs to become more friendly and attractive by lowering the tax rates, making it easier to start a business, getting control of the schools, and stop subsidizing programs that encourage dependency on the government. People with no hope have nothing to lose and will act accordingly. This is what is happening in Baltimore. Government needs to be proactive on behalf of its citizens, not just reactive.

In closing, I would like to reach out to the rioters and say that by destroying your community you will just make things worse. You can not get justice by treating others unjustly. I know you think you are venting, but you’re venting on people in the same situation as yourselves. You are giving government and police reasons to put their foot on your necks. You are making it easy for government to bring in troops. Listen to your community leaders and do this the right way. The peaceful way.

Shawn Quinn
2014 Libertarian candidate for Governor

Saturday, April 18, 2015

Leitersburg BBQ Festival a New Local Tradition

LEITERSBURG, MD - Today was the First Ever Leitersburg BBQ Festival, and it was a huge success. So much of a success, some vendors completely sold out of food after only a couple hours of opening!

The music was great.  The food was delicious. And best of all, the event provided a family-friendly atmosphere of games, as well as community.

This was more than just a chance to try delicious BBQ and listen to great music. This was a chance to learn about little-known small businesses in our area, as well as promote agriculture in Washington County.

The Washington County Department of Business Development was on site to promote farming in Washington County, and help encourage purchasing food from local farm markets. Educational children's activities were also provided to help them learn about farming. Everyone who stopped by received a bag of goodies, including all natural soybean oil based grill cleaner. I couldn't think of a better freebie for a BBQ festival than that.

The Washington County Fire and Rescue Association was also present to encourage volunteers to sign up. There's no better way to help serve your community than volunteer - even if you don't want to become a firefighter or EMT, there are plenty other volunteer positions available, including administrative, fund raising, and maintenance positions.

CASA of Washington County Maryland was on site to help promote awareness of their services. If you or someone you know is an abusive environment, contact CASA today for help.

And finally, The Downtown Movement was also present, to promote their next pop-up shop event, which will take place during Blues Fest

Of course, in addition to delicious food, there were several arts and crafts vendors available. A full list of all the vendors is available at the Leitersburg BBQ Festival web site. A lot of the food vendors I had never heard of before, and I will be visiting their business locations in the future, especially the CharColes Hot Sauce Store!

My wishlist for the next iteration of this event is very short. I loved this event, and
1) There was plenty of BBQ pork and beef, but not very much BBQ chicken. Perhaps get Smithsburg Market to bring in some of their famous fried chicken for next year?
2) Many vendors could only accept cash. I would strongly encourage vendors in future events to consider a mobile payment processing system such as Square. Unfortunately, many people don't carry cash anymore.
3) Consider reducing the admission fee, or make it a "donation requested" entrance fee. For a family of four on a budget, $28 ($7/person) is a bit high, considering food was not included in the price of admission.

It is my hope that this BBQ Festival becomes an annual tradition of Washington County - and based upon the overwhelming turnout, I suspect we'll be seeing it again next year.

Ken Buckler is the editor of the WashCo Chronicle

Friday, April 17, 2015

Super Hero 5k Seeks to Raise Funds for Discovery Station

Get ready Hagerstown for the most extraordinary day of your life! Superheroes of all shapes, sizes and strengths will be descending upon our wonderful city! You’ll have more capes and masks than your power levels can handle! This is a battle to support Discovery Station and the race to the finish line will be of epic proportions!

Participants are invited to come dressed up as their favorite superheroes and race to "Save the Day" for Discovery Station. There will be three fun-filled "activities" along the race course and also a 1 mi fun walk for children and adults that runs along the museum.

There will be prizes awarded to participants for the following: 

"Best Costume" = 2 tickets to Leitersburg Cinemas for the Avengers 2 movie, 2 gift certificates to RoadID
"Best Selfie" = a free 3d print of the winner courtesy of the 3d Print Factory in the Valley Mall, 2 Gift Certificates to RoadID
"Best Group Theme" = three trip certificates to River Trail Outfitters, & a family pass to Antietam Recreation, 2 Gift Certificates to Road ID.

The "Most Heroic Award" will go to the person who raises the most money on behalf of Discovery Station. The winner will receive a 39" Flat Screen LED HDTV valued at $450, 2 Infield Box Tickets to any 2015 Home Game for the Washington Nationals, a year-long membership to AAA with a $200 goodie bag, valued at $300 in total, 2 Gift Certificates to Road ID.

Participants can set-up their fundraiser online through the registration page:http://bit.ly/1yI3WYF

Cash Prizes go to the top three men and women overall: (1st Place = $100, 2nd Place = $75, 3rd= $50)

Medals will be awarded to top three men and women in each age group!

Registration is currently $25 for runners in the 5k and $15 for walkers in the 1mi fun walk!

There is a discounted rate for groups of 5 or more participants! (10%)

You can register at: http://bit.ly/1FFRsRX

Race Course can be found on the race website:www.discoverystationsuperhero5k.com

All proceeds from the race will go towards the costs associated with operations, exhibit expansion and program development

CANDLELIGHT VIGIL IN HONOR & REMEMBRANCE OF BROOK SIMMERS

The W House is truly saddened to hear about the loss of Brooke Simmers. Our sincerest condolences to her family and friends go beyond words.

We will be holding a Candlelight Vigil to honor Brooke at The W House, 519 N. Locust Street, on Friday evening starting at 7PM. We will also be conducting pre-screens at this time for any females seeking immediate treatment.

Resources for men and those seeking treatment elsewhere will also be available.

The disease of addiction has claimed another life, something that this cunning, baffling and powerful disease aims to do.  She will never be forgotten and will be celebrated at the candlelight vigil.  Any contributions to our facility will be in her honor and to help other women who are struggling with addiction.

More information about The W House can be found on their website: http://www.thewhouse.org/

Home Invasion Suspect Dies, Media Does Hatchet Job on Hagerstown Police

HAGERSTOWN, MD - The following is the official press release from Hagerstown Police Department regarding a home invasion suspect who died while being transported to Meritus Medical Center.

On April 16 at 10:32 PM a call for a disturbance came in to the 911 center from the 400 block of North Prospect where a female could be heard screaming in the background. A second caller reported a male broke into her house. The caller described the suspect as a black male wearing jeans and a shirt and was currently in front of the house stumbling around.The first two responding officers found the male suspect in front of the house in an aggressive stance and appeared to be highly agitated. Two additional officers and a supervisor arrived on the scene shortly afterward. The officers believed the suspect was under the influence of drugs and requested an ambulance to respond to the scene as well.
While waiting on the ambulance, the suspect refused to comply with the officers and remained aggressive. During the arrest, the suspect was tased by the police and placed in handcuffs. The suspect was conscious and remained uncooperative when he was placed in the ambulance for transport to Meritus Medical Center. As some point, the suspect suffered an unknown medical emergency and was later pronounced dead by Meritus medical staff at 12:11 AM on the 17th of April.
The identification of the male has not yet been confirmed.
The department has requested the Washington County Sheriff’s Department conduct the death investigation.

The department will be available for comment at 10:00 a.m. at police headquarters, located at 50 N. Burhans Blvd, Hagerstown, MD 21740 and by calling 301-790-3700.
This press release tells a much different story than the sensationalist headlines used by multiple media outlets to describe the incident.

Screenshot of Google News

Not only do media outlets fail to mention in their headlines that this person is suspected of breaking into someone's house, but they also try to make it sound like the stun gun was the cause of death.

However... "The suspect was conscious and remained uncooperative when he was placed in the ambulance for transport to Meritus Medical Center."  You read that right - after they tased him, he was still alive.

Could it be that he had some other medical emergency, possibly due to the fact that he may have been "under the influence of drugs"? That is after all the reason they called the ambulance in the first place.

Herald Mail, Baltimore Sun, and every other media outlet using this misleading headline and not telling the whole story - shame on you. As members of the press, it's your job to provide news in an unbiased manner. A hatchet job like this against our law enforcement officers, who put their lives on the line every day, is completely unacceptable.

Here's a better headline for those news sites which wish to report fairly.

"Home Invasion Suspect Dies on Way to Hospital"

Ken Buckler is the editor of the WashCo Chronicle