Panel is unanimous: Don't tear down Waterside

Cosby brings clout while O'Malley brings cash
Last night opposites certainly attracted different types to two different areas of downtown Baltimore, as Incumbent Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake hosted a high-priced Fundraiser for the City/State elite while Mayoral Candidate Otis Rolley held his multi-faceted event for Baltimore's average constituent. The question remains; whose event meant more to their Electability in September? Obviously with the Mayor being the Incumbent for a little over 18-months before the Primary Elections, she shall ...

The day after the mayoral fundraisers and major State Center news
Yesterday the Mayor held her Fundraiser and her biggest challenger Otis Rolley held his Bill Cosby fundraiser.  Rolley has now been crowned "a top contender" by the Baltimore Sun. The Sun published an article about both fundraisers.  Had the fundraisers not been on the same day it is highly unlikely that Rolley would have received this much attention. In a previous article of mine I wondered why the Rawlings-Blake campaign also picked this date to hold a fundraiser. The competing fundr...

Mayor orders independent review of shooting
Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake says she has ordered both internal and external investigations of a shooting by police outside a Nightclub that left an officer and a civilian dead. Police say all of the 41 shots fired early Sunday morning were fired by officers. The officer who was killed was in plain clothes and may have been mistaken for a suspect. Rawlings-Blake says the city has been in contact with outside agencies about investigating the shooting, but a final decision hasn't been ...

Fed Beige Book Supports Cautious Optimism
Reports from the twelve Federal Reserve Districts suggest that economic activity continued to expand moderately from November through December. Conditions were said to be improving in the Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Richmond Districts. Activity increased modestly to moderately in the Cleveland, Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City, and Dallas Districts. The Economy of the Minneapolis District "continued its moderate recovery," while that of the San Francisco District "...

Ocean acidification: one less thing to worry about
Carbon dioxide has been named as the chief culprit in rampant “ocean acidification” which, according to Environmentalists on the Natural Resources Defense Council, will soon start killing off fish and dissolving Coral Reefs, putting a major dent in the Seafood and eco-tourism industries. According to a 2009 statement by Britain’s Royal Society, co-signed by Dr. James Hansen, of NASA’s Goddard Center, and Dr. Mark Spalding of The Nature Conservancy: “Temperature̴...

Illnesses linked to BP oil disaster
© Erika Blumenfeld Independent scientists have confirmed that Gulf marine life is heavily contaminated by the dispersed Oil and Oil sheen in the water. Doctor attributes widespread sickness to Toxic Chemicals from the Gulf of Mexico catastrophe. Despite BP having capped its well in the Gulf of Mexico in July, the health-related after-effects of the disaster subsist. Gulf Coast residents and BP cleanup workers have linked the source of certain illnesses to chemicals present in BP's Oil ...

Bioengineered Salmon: California State Bill Seeks Clear Label
© Rich Pedroncelli / AP Assemblyman Jared Huffman on his bill: "This is not a new issue." Assemblyman Jared Huffman isn't taking any chances. If the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approves a bid to allow the human consumption of genetically engineered Atlantic salmon, the San Rafael Democrat wants every Californian to know what he or she is getting at the checkout aisle. Consumers have the right to know if their food comes from the wild or was bioengineered , said Huffman, who introd...

EarthTalk: Are Atlantic bluefin tuna really going extinct?
Dear EarthTalk: Are Atlantic bluefin tuna really about to go extinct? What are the contributing factors and what is being done to try to head off this tragedy? - Edward Jeffries, Norwalk, Conn. According to many marine biologists, Atlantic bluefin tuna, one of three closely related bluefin tuna species, are in danger of going extinct within a decade if the governments of the world can't come together to ban catching and/or selling the lucrative species. The non-profit International Union for the...

Report: British seafood claims misleading
LONDON, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- A British environmental group said several Grocery Stores are misleading consumers by posting confusing claims on products such as canned and farmed fish. A ClientEarth report said claims on Supermarket Seafood -- such as statements that the product is "sustainably sourced," "protects the marine environment" and "responsibly farmed" -- were misleading or unverified on 32 of the 100 products examined, the environmental law organization said. ClientEarth says 22 of the cla...

Joel Reynolds: Sanction Iceland, the World's Whaling Outlaw
A U.S. response, with teeth, is needed to stop Iceland's violations of international treaties. Weighing up to 80 tons and almost twice the length of a School Bus, the massive fin whale -- known as the greyhound of the sea for its swimming speed -- was the Victim of decades of commercial slaughter that killed the whales by the tens of thousands each year. Then, in 1986, with the species on the brink of extinction, the nations of the world agreed to a Moratorium on commercial Whaling, and this ...

Ponce Inlet Restaurants Face New Regulations
On January 20, 2011 , the town council of Ponce Inlet will vote on a new proposed sound ordinance. Should the town approve the ordinance as written, it will deliver another blow to the sustainability of businesses here in Ponce Inlet and most of all Down the Hatch Restaurant.  According to police records, since 2007 the average number of noise related complaints attributed to the restaurants here in Ponce Inlet is 3 per year per restaurant [Jerry's Pizza, Inlet Harbor, Racings Nor...

Melanie Nayer: Luxury Travel: Sights and Sounds of Sanya
*SEE PHOTOS BELOW* Waking up to an orange sunrise over the South China Sea is a sight that's hard to forget. In Sanya, it's a daily occurrence. Known as the "Hawaii of the East," and thanks to the year-round tropical weather, Sanya is fast becoming a getaway for those who require a little exclusivity in their daily see-and-be-seen life. Located only an hour plane ride from Hong Kong and three hours from Beijing, Sanya is one of the world's best beach getaways relatively unknown to travelers o...

Scottish salmon leaps into China
Is GM salmon swimming against the tide? China is to open its kitchens to Scottish salmon it has emerged. In agreement between the Scottish and Chinese governments, exports are to be allowed into the Asian giant's market for the first time. The move, for AQSIQ, a Chinese Food safety agency to approve a range of products, is being seen as a big boost to Scotland's fish farming industry. It already supports 6,000 jobs in Scotland, worth £500m to The Economy, with exports worth nearly...

How to Fish Sustainably
Photo by Fir0002, courtesy Wikimedia Commons. Community-based cooperative management—wherein fishers, fisheries managers, and scientists work together to create sustainable fisheries—yields big catches. Now the authors of a new paper in Nature present their findings on what elements of co-management are most effective. They write: The dominant theme in fisheries management has been that privatization is necessary to avoid Hardin...

Midweek Special: NYC Restaurant Review Roundup
Ciano Ciano, the East 22nd Street Italian Restaurant helmed by chef Shea Gallante (Cru) gets an enthusiastic two star review from Sam Sifton in the Times this week. Sifton says Gallante's food "is ambitious, beautiful and flavor packed, a kind of Italian home cooking made grand and attractive, rich as Berlusconi, not as oily. It is less precious, less purposefully fancy, less aggressively upscale than what he was putting forth at Cru, where he cooked until 2009 and which closed last year... He...

How About A Nice Glass Of Snake Wine?
This is a very special wine.  Snake Wine. From zuzafun.com Snake wine is a Vietnamese alcoholic beverage that includes a whole venomous snake in the bottle. The snakes, preferably venomous ones, are not usually preserved for their meat but to have the snake poison dissolved in the liquor. However, the snake venom is denatured by the Ethanol and therefore inactivated. In many countries in the Far East, snakes are believed to possess medicinal qualities and the wine is often advertised to cure ...

Stranded travelers make the best of it
Stephanie Nelson and Dan Shine sit in the bar at McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurant downtown after making an attempt to drive home to Bucks County, Pa., and then deciding to wait a day. Providence -- Stranded travelers huddled in hotel lobbies Wednesday, sipping wine in warm bars and making plans for a snowbound night in the Capital City. Mostly, they made the best of the almost-blizzard, choosing to revel in a few unplanned hours rather than rail against the weather ...

In first, China buys salmon from Scotland
EDINBURGH, Scotland, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- The Chinese Government, for the first time, reached an agreement to import Atlantic salmon from Scotland, the fisheries secretary said from Edinburgh. Chinese demand for salmon and salmon products is more than Scotland produces in a year. China is one of the largest Seafood markets in the world and the Scottish Government said it expected demand for Atlantic salmon to increase. Scotland is the third-largest producer of Atlantic salmon in the world. "The Scot...

Webb: Obama did 'a really terrible job' on health care
Speaking in Norfolk about the importance of Military installations and ports to Virginia, Sen. Jim Webb also managed a swipe at President Obama for his management of the Health Care debate. From The Virginian-Pilot: The Obama Administration "did a really terrible job handling Health Care reform," [Webb] said, because the president relied on Congress to draft a plan. "You can't turn something that complicated loose on the United ...

Norfolk man gets life term for raping sailors
A Norfolk man has been sentenced to six life terms plus 253 years in Prison for robbing and raping two female sailors. A jury on Monday convicted Santiago Powell of 28 felonies, including Rape, abduction, Robbery and weapons violations. The Virginian-Pilot reports that Circuit Judge Mary Jane Hall followed the jury's recommendation in sentencing. Prosecutors said the 24-year-old Powell was affiliated with the Bloods street gang. They said that in two separate attacks, Powell held the women at gu...

Justice Dept settles Va malpractice suit for $2.3M
The Justice Department has agreed to pay $2.3 million to a couple who claimed inadequate care at Portsmouth Naval Medical Center caused their child to be born with neurological damage. The Virginian-Pilot reports that a Federal Judge approved the settlement between the Justice Department and Scott and Michelle Holweger. The Virginia Beach couple filed a $15 million Medical Malpractice Lawsuit against the Federal Government last year. The government admitted no wrongdoing in the settlement and de...

Sharon McDonald needs to go
So says The Virginian-Pilot: McDonald, elected in 2009 to a fourth four-year term, is either defiant or oblivious to the wishes of her constituents to a degree unprecedented in recent memory. Or she just doesn’t care enough to do the right thing. Or she thought nobody would notice. Regardless, the only conclusion that reasonably follows is that McDonald doesn’t want any more time in office. Voters should oblige her at the first opportunity. What prompted this editorial was this sto...

Webb Says Obama Made Mistake on Health Care
Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) told a Town Meeting the Obama Administration "did a really terrible job handling Health Care reform" because the president relied on Congress to draft the plan, the Virginian-Pilot reports. Said Webb: "You can't turn something that complicated loose on the United States Congress. People got scared. People got mad.... We lost an enormous amount of time on health care... Both sides made bad mistakes." A Webb spokesman e-mailed Politico to clarify the senator "was Bipartisan i...

Council mulls precautions for students with head trauma
Student athletes in Chicago who have suffered Concussion-like trauma could not return to play without the permission of a medical professional, under a measure approved by two City Council committees today and aimed at preventing disabling and even fatal injuries. The rule, which could get a full City Council vote as soon as Thursday, would apply to all public and private schools that get free water from the city. Failure to comply would result in the city charging for the water. The Finance and...

Anti-tunnel initiative holds kickoff, gets McGinn's support
A second anti-tunnel initiative will kick-off its petition drive Wednesday evening in Belltown. Initiative 102 seeks to protect Seattle Taxpayers from potential Cost Overruns on the viaduct-replacement project and calls for greater transparency about funding. The initiative is sponsored by the Sierra Club, Real Change newspaper and the United African Public Affairs Committee. Mayor Mike McGinn, outspoken on the overrun issue, said he plans to sign the petition to put the initiative on the ball...