WMDT Top News Stories

Suspect Found Through Myspace

Terrence Lee — 2010-03-13T15:43:00.0000000-08:00

SALISBURY, Md. - A Salisbury man allegedly forced his way into a woman's home, pistol whipped her, then stole several items from her home.
Jhamile Bowman is now facing multiple charges including armed robbery and assault.
Authorities say the victim needed 23 stitches on her face.
According to court records, the victim was able to led police to Bowman after finding his picture on Myspace.
He is being held on $200-thousand dollars bond.

Sex Offender Laws

WMDT Staff — 2010-03-13T15:41:00.0000000-08:00

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - In the wake of the Sarah Foxwell tragedy, Maryland lawmakers have passed several bills that will crack down on sex offenders.
The House Judiciary Committee condensed 38 sex offender bills into 5.
The bills cover everything from longer prison sentences to more vigilant tracking.
However, child abuse experts stress that laws can only go so far because most victims do know their attackers.

Sussex County Auction

Andrew Koch — 2010-03-13T14:37:00.0000000-08:00

GEORGETOWN, Del. - Tough times are calling for creative solution from local governments to fill their budget deficits. Sussex County just might've found a way to do just that.
On March 13, the county government auctioned off a dozen of its used cars and trucks, plus 8 emergency generators, to raise money for its general fund. The county said in a press release that all the equipment is surplus and no longer fits its needs. Deputy County Administrator Hal Godwin said that the government was also looking to relieve itself of the maintenance costs. Godwin said maintaining the vehicles cost 43 cents per mile, at 12,000 to 15,000 miles per year.
For many, finding a good used car is difficult, so they took advantage of the chance to buy vehicles from the local government.
"I know the state maintains their vehicles pretty well, so that's always a good deal, when you're looking for something used," said Heather Collins of Milford. Even with all the vehicles having over 100,000 miles on them, many were still in good working condition. The rainy weather did nothing to turn the crowd away either, according to county officials.
"We have registered over 70 bidders for 12 automobiles and 8 generators to be sold today, and with the weather, we're really impressed with the turnout. I believe that there's quite an interest in these vehicles," said Godwin. He was right, as over 100 people crowded into the lobby of the Emergency Operations Center to place their bids on the vehicles, which ranged in model year from 1994 to 2003.
With Sussex County Sheriff Eric Swanson as auctioneer, the 12 cars and trucks were all sold off in just over 20 minutes. Some used-car dealers were among the bidders, as they were looking to increase their inventory. One blamed the lack of used cars and trucks on last year's federal CARS program.
"Used cars are very hard to come by that are saleable," said Richard Addington, a used-car dealer from Milford. "Cash for Clunkers took about 700,000 vehicles off the roads, and we're still hurting from that because a lot of the vehicles were not clunkers."
The auction raised over $39,000 for the county's general fund.

St. Patrick's Day Patrol

The Associated Press — 2010-03-13T14:04:00.0000000-08:00

DOVER, Del. (AP) - Delaware's Office of Highway Safety is planning increased patrols for drunken drivers on St. Patrick's Day.
St. Patrick's Day is Wednesday, but officials will have extra patrols Saturday as well as Wednesday and next weekend. Saturday is the day bars in Wilmington plan an annual St. Patrick's Day party.
Police plan to stop cars coming out of the area to check for drunk driving.
The highway safety office says national statistics show that in
2008 a total of 50 people died in traffic crashes involving a drunk driver on St. Patrick's Day.

MD Slain Tourists

The Associated Press — 2010-03-13T14:03:00.0000000-08:00

OCEAN CITY, Md. (AP) - A man who with his wife murdered a couple in Ocean City in 2002 has filed from divorce from her on the grounds she is a "convicted felon."
Benjamin Sifrit has filed for divorce from Erika Sifrit. Both are in prison after being convicted of murdering Joshua Ford and Martha Crutchley of Fairfax, Va.
Acting as his own attorney, Sifrit cited Maryland code that says a court can grant a divorce on the grounds of a conviction of a felony or misdemeanor where the person has been sentenced to serve three years in prison.
Erika Sifrit is serving life in prison plus 20 years. Benjamin Sifrit, who has said his wife murdered the couple, is currently serving 38 years in prison.

Abortion Plates

The Associated Press — 2010-03-13T13:56:00.0000000-08:00

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - A bill establishing an abortion-rights license plate is headed to Governor Bob McDonnell, who has said he doesn't support the organization that would receive money from the plates.
The Senate voted 22-15 and the House 64-30 for a bill that would create a "Trust Women/Respect Choice" license plate. After the first 1,000 plates are sold, $15 from each $25 plate would go to Planned Parenthood, which provides medical and reproductive care to more than 30,000 Virginians.
Supporters had threatened to sue if legislators rejected the plate because last year they passed a "Choose Life" plate with proceeds going to anti- abortion pregnancy centers. Federal courts have said states can't favor one viewpoint over another. McDonnell has 30 days to sign, amend or veto the bill.

Reid Family Accident

The Associated Press — 2010-03-13T13:54:00.0000000-08:00

FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's wife has been transferred out of a Virginia hospital's intensive care unit and is improving after she was seriously injured in an accident on an interstate highway near Washington.
Jon Summers, a spokesman for the senator, says Landra Reid's condition was upgraded on Saturday to good, two days after a tractor-trailer rear-ended the minivan she and their daughter were riding in on I-95.
Landra Reid underwent surgery Friday to stabilize her broken neck. Summers says doctors at Inova Fairfax Hospital have indicated that the 69-year-old is on a fast track for recovery.
He says there's no update on when she'll be discharged.
Landra Reid also suffered a broken back and broken nose. Doctors say she is not at risk of paralysis.

McDonnell Diaster Aid

The Associated Press — 2010-03-13T13:50:00.0000000-08:00

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Governor Bob McDonnell has requested federal disaster assistance for the state and several localities hit hard by two winter storms last month.
McDonnell is asking the Federal Emergency Management Agency to pay for damage to public infrastructure, debris removal and related emergency services in 14 localities. He's seeking reimbursement for those items as well as snow removal for 26 additional localities.
McDonnell also is asking FEMA to consider the impact in an additional 43 localities that did not meet the snowfall threshold, but had significant snow removal costs.
Some parts of northern and northwestern Virginia got more than three feet of snow in early February, then an additional five to 15 inches days later. Other areas also got heavy snow.

Salisbury Stimulus Money

Andrew Koch — 2010-03-12T16:02:00.0000000-08:00

SALISBURY, Md. - In a time where people are struggling to find work and the streets are no longer as safe as they used to be, the city of Salisbury has received nearly $7.8 million in stimulus funding from the federal and state governments to fix its most pressing issues.
Salisbury's public works and police departments received 9 of the 14 grants awarded to the city. The projects cover everything from tracking crime trends to a new water tower.
Two grants awarded to the police will provide over $800 thousand to hire, train, pay, and provide equipment and benefits for 4 new police officers over the next 3 years. However, Salisbury Mayor Jim Ireton says that putting more officers on the streets isn't the be-all and end-all solution to the city's growing crime problem.
"It's not a matter of having enough officers, in my opinion. It's a matter of allocating the resources correctly," Ireton said. Another grant the police received was for a geographical information system, which will help them track crimes when and where they happen, to determine how to deploy their resources. However, fighting crime isn't the only area that needs help in town.
"Salisbury's infrastructure is always going to be playing catch-up, there's no doubt about it. Our growth has not paid for growth in this community, and our infrastructure has been sorely neglected over the last, say, 30 years," Ireton said.
One major public works project will increase the city's drinking water supply. A nearly $2.1 million grant will help the city build a second water tower to satisfy state and federal drinking water requirements. Ireton did say that not every project needed a big grant.
"Even something little, like the Fitzwater Street drain repairs, things of that nature, those are things that are keeping people employed, and that is what, that's what the premise of the stimulus package was," Ireton said. When he appeared on CNBC's "Sqauwk On The Street," in January, Ireton said that Salisbury would be slightly delayed in terms of seeing an economic recovery because of its location.
All the details on the projects can be found on the city's website, under the ARRA Stimulus Update link.

Easton EOD Tech

Ryan Hughes — 2010-03-12T13:28:00.0000000-08:00

EASTON, Md. - An Easton man is days away from being deployed to Afghanistan.
He puts his life on the line to help make places safer for others.
A job that is similar to the film that won Best Picture at the Oscars.
The Hurt Locker follows a US Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal team as they disarm bombs in Iraq.
"It gave everybody a small glimpse into the EOD World," said Clint Henker, a real-life EOD tech.
Henker is being deployed to Afghanistan next week.
Clint will be working for the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers demining and removing bombs.
"I feel as a human being that I need to do something to help other human beings in a war torn country to make it safer for them," said Clint.
Clint has been deployed before and doesn't see his job as dangerous.
"We live our lives day in and day out with the aspect everything you do is safety first," said Clint.
And although supportive, his wife of over 11 years says each time it's hard to say goodbye.
"We're just trying to spend as much time as possible together," said Mary Ann Henker. "You never know what's going to happen over there so you really have to prepare that these could be your final days together."
Clint's deployment has been moved up a week and he heads out of Easton on Sunday.
He will be in Afghanistan for six months.

Domestic Assault

WMDT Staff — 2010-03-12T12:49:00.0000000-08:00

MILFORD, Del. - A Milford man is accused of assaulting his girlfriend. Delaware State Police say 41-year-old Richard Boyd was arguing with her when he grabbed a large kitchen knife. The alleged victim says her 19-year-old son heard the fight and tried to wrestle the knife away from Boyd. During the incident, she was reportedly cut by the knife. The woman's daughter called 911 and all three fled. Boyd reportedly chased them, but they were able to run back in the home and lock him out. Police later arrested him. Boyd is now charged with Possession of a Deadly Weapon During the Commission of a Felony (Felony), Assault 2nd (Felony), 3 Counts of Aggravated Menacing (Felony), Possession of a Deadly Weapon by a Person Prohibited (Felony), 2 Counts of Terroristic Threatening (Misdemeanor), and Endangering the Welfare of a Child (Misdemeanor). Boyd was arraigned and committed to James T. Vaughn Correctional Center in lieu of $45,000 secured bail.

DE Zero Tolerance

Andrew Koch — 2010-03-12T12:13:00.0000000-08:00

MILFORD, Del. - Just this week a teenager was arrested for allegedly bringing a gun onto school property. The State has a zero-tolerance policy concerning weapons in and around schools. But Delaware's School Discipline Task Force has been reviewing the policy. The Task Force recommended changes in January that would allow school officials more leeway to determine discipline on a case by case basis. The recommendations were made following the overturned expulsion of a 5th-grade student for bringing a knife to school to cut a cake.

Restaurant Fire

Andrew Koch — 2010-03-12T12:09:00.0000000-08:00

SALISBURY, Md. - Fire crews were called to Flavors Italian Grill Friday morning in Salisbury. A chimney at the East Main Street business caught fire just after 10 AM. Police and firefighters had to block off Main Street as they battled the blaze. Both Main Street and the restaurant are open for business. Ironically, Flavors told the Fire Department they had been planning to clean the chimney on Saturday.

Camry Complaint

WMDT Staff — 2010-03-12T12:08:00.0000000-08:00

CALIFORNIA - Both federal investigators and engineers from Toyota are still trying to figure out what caused a Prius to accelerate out of control. Now officials say they have a similar report from a car that is not even included in Toyota's recall.
Ruth Heit drove the Camry in question. She says, "It just took off and it went over 80, I would say it was going over 90 . . . I was like freaking out . . . And he's yelling like 'What are you doing?' And I'm like going 'nothing!' It just like, it took off."
Heit says it happened when she put her Camry in cruise control. And she says it has happened four times since then. Toyota says they couldn't find anything wrong with the cruise control so they replaced the gas pedal for piece of mind. But that isn't giving the owners any reassurance. They say they are done with Toyota and have filed a complaint to get back the full price they paid for the car.

American Airlines Fine

Associated Press — 2010-03-12T12:05:00.0000000-08:00

DALLAS (AP) - American Airlines says it's reviewing the newest
charges from the Federal Aviation Administration concerning alleged
maintenance problems.
The FAA is proposing nearly $800,000 in fines against American
for three incidents.
In the most serious case, the regulators say American operated a
plane without replacing a central air data computer. The FAA says
the plane flew 10 flights with a broken computer.
American has 30 days to respond.
The proposed fine is the latest in a series of penalties
American faces for maintenance violations.
An airline spokesman says American is "very proud" of its
safety record.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

iPad Pre-orders

WMDT Staff — 2010-03-12T12:04:00.0000000-08:00

WMDT 47 NEWS - Apple started taking pre-orders for the new iPad Friday morning. The iPad lets users surf the web, read e-books and watch videos on its nine-point-seven inch screen. It's being promoted as an alternative to smart phones and larger laptops. You can pre-order yours online now or wait until it hits stores April 3.

Twitter Tracker

WMDT Staff — 2010-03-12T12:03:00.0000000-08:00

WMDT 47 NEWS - Avid twitter users can now let their followers know just where they are "tweeting" from. A new feature gives users the options of including a location with their messages. Locations won't be included unless users turn on the tracking tool. The technology can be turned off at any time.
Facebook is expected to join the trend soon.
Don't forget to follow WMDT 47 News on both Twitter and Facebook.

"Mad Men" Barbies

Associated Press — 2010-03-12T12:00:00.0000000-08:00

NEW YORK (AP) - Barbie and her signature hourglass figure are
getting the "Mad Men" treatment.
Mattel, Lionsgate and AMC announced a partnership on Wednesday
to create four dolls in the likeness of characters from the
influential, Emmy-winning show set in a fashionable, 1960s ad
agency.
The Betty Draper doll will wear a floral dress - with pearls and
pumps to match - just like the suburban housewives of the day, and
office bombshell Joan Holloway has a purple skirt suit and a pen
necklace. Don Draper and Roger Sterling both get trim suits, ties
and pocketsquares.
The collectable dolls, made of porcelain-like Silkstone, will be
available in July with a suggested retail price of $74.95. Sketches
will be distributed inside Season 3 DVD sets on sale later this
month.

Allstate Refunds

Associated Press — 2010-03-12T10:34:00.0000000-08:00

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) - Allstate Insurance will pay more than
$428,000 in refunds to Delaware customers who didn't get defensive
driving discounts they were entitled to.
Insurance Commissioner Karen Weldin Stewart announced Thursday
that more than 2,400 Allstate customers who completed the state's
defensive driving courses will get the cash.
State insurance department officials say they asked Allstate to
perform an audit after customers complained that their monthly
premiums hadn't been reduced by the state-mandated 10 percent to 15
percent.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Sentenced To Death

WMDT Staff — 2010-03-12T10:30:00.0000000-08:00

MILLSBORO, Del. - A Millsboro man has been sentenced to death for the 2007 killing of his fiancee. Forty-seven-year-old Emmett Taylor the third was convicted of beating Stephanie Mumford to death, just days before their planned wedding.

"Emmett Taylor's conviction and today's sentence ensures that justice for Stephanie Mumford will be served," Attorney General Biden stated.

Last October, Taylor was convicted of Murder 1st Degree, Possession of a Deadly Weapon During the Commission of a Felony, and Abuse of a Corpse. On November 5, 2009 the jury voted 11 to 1 for the death sentence. Today a Judge agreed Taylor should be put to death by lethal injection.