VoB SELECTS:  INVESTIGATIVE NEWS FROM AROUND THE WEB

Texas Gov. Rick Perry dropped out of the GOP race for President early today in So. Carolina.

Terms him a ‘conservative visionary’

NEWT’S NOT PERFECT, BUT WHO IS?
 
UPDATE (Sat., Jan. 21st @ 8:30 PM): GINGRICH WINS SO. CAROLINA PRIMARY IN MAJOR UPSET; defeats former front- runner Romney by wide margin, 41-26 percent in early returns
 
UPDATE (Fri., Jan. 20th @ 3 AM):  ROMNEY STRIPPED OF IOWA CAUCUS VICTORY

Santorum however pronounced himself the winner.
 
Two days before the pivotal South Carolina primary, Texas Gov. Rick Perry abruptly dropped out of the Republican presidential race, throwing his support to Newt Gingrich and endorsing the former House of Representatives speaker as what he termed a “conservative visionary.”

Perry told a packed news gathering Thursday morning in North Charleston, S.C., “Newt is not perfect, but who among us is?” according to an early report in the New York Times.

“The fact is, there is forgiveness for those who seek God,” Perry declared. “And I believe in the power of redemption, for it is a central tenet of my Christian faith,” an apparent reference to former Speaker Gingrich’s highly publicized marital infidelities.

“Mr. Perry reached the decision on Wednesday night, his aides said,” as the Times reported less than two hours ago, “and informed Mr. Gingrich of his plans to leave the race. He was planning to fly home to Texas shortly after his announcement.

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Has Jack Young returned to the feisty op- position that gained him a reputation as a tough opponent of establishment politics and catapulted him to the City Council presidency two years ago? This week he lashed out at the mayor's top aide, de- scribing him as unable to differentiate ‘his front from his back’ & deeming him incapa- ble of getting a job outside government.

BLAKE’S TOP SPOKESMAN DOESN’T KNOW
‘HIS FRONT FROM HIS BACK,’  SAYS JACK

Also couldn’t get a job outside government
 
By Alan Z. Forman
 
Is the very public spat between Bernard C. “Jack” Young and the top aide to Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake a sign the formerly combative City Council president has returned to form?

That’s the buzz around City Hall since Young staked out several positions this past week that conflict with the Rawlings-Blake Administration.

“Ryan O’Doherty doesn’t know his front from his back,” Young told Fox45-WBFF-TV and the Baltimore Sun, criticizing the mayor’s lead spokesman in separate interviews over the last several days.

The criticism was reminiscent of the common reference often made regarding people who apparently lack the ability to differentiate between their posterior and their elbow.

The mayor’s chief aide “is not elected, the mayor and I are elected,” Young declared.

“If he had to get a job out in the private industry he would have trouble getting a job.”

O’Doherty is Rawlings-Blake’s director of policy and communications and her chief press spokesperson. His brother Damian’s partner was one of Gov. Martin O’Malley’s top aides, and Damian O’Doherty previously served as former Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith’s principal adviser.

Among Young’s attacks on the Blake Administration were his very public criticism of the Baltimore Grand Prix, the money-losing race that appears to be close to unsalvageable, as well as the city’s plan to privatize public rec centers.

Young spoke out against the privatization plan just before Christmas.

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Morris Martick on Park Ave. downtown in Sept. 2010, photographed by Baltimore blogger David R. Crews. The eccentric's memorial at the Charles Theatre Sunday afternoon drew a crowd of more than 300 participants.

MEMORIAL SERVICE DRAWS 300
FOR ECCENTRIC RESTAURATEUR
 
By Anthony C. Hayes
 
As tens of thousands of Ravens football fans cheered the city’s team at chilly M&T Bank Stadium Sunday afternoon, a smaller but no less enthusiastic crowd of about 300 friends, former employees and family members huddled in the warmth of the Charles Theatre to remember a local legend known for his bouillabaisse, country pâté and profiteroles (cream puffs).

Some traveled from as far away as Texas and California to remember the eccentric Morris Martick, the Mad Maven of Mulberry St. who died of lung cancer in mid- December at age 88 and who, in four decades of running the unique restaurant at 214 W. Mulberry St. which bore his family name, moved from keeper of the ladle to beloved Baltimore legend.

Angela Devoti worked for Martick as a waitress and bartender in the restaurant’s later years. (It closed in 2008.) She recalled both a warm friendship with the octogenarian as well as a tempestuous tenure in his employ.

“Morris would argue about anything,” she said. “You had to realize that was part of his nature and learn to find a way to hold your ground while arguing back.”

Devoti said she would often transport Martick to other venues around town, bars or restaurants where her artist friends worked. When asked if Martick had a particular favorite, Devoti replied, “He just liked going out and seeing other places and meeting new people.”

It was clear from her words of affection that Martick had his own particular charm. When asked what made him attractive, Devoti replied, “He was ageless and hilarious!”

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Westminster native Matthew R. Seidler was among three USAF servicemen killed this week in Afghanistan. (Photo/ Courtesy, U.S. Air Force)

USAF VEHICLE STRUCK BY INSURGENT BOMB
Attack on NATO forces  occurred in Shir Ghazi
 
A U.S. airman from Westminster was one of three Air Force servicemen killed in action Thursday in Afghanistan when their vehicle struck an improvised explosive device in Helmand Province, the Pentagon announced this weekend.

Airman 1st Class Matthew R. Seidler, 24, had been assigned to the 21st Civil Engineer Squadron, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado.

Also killed in the attack were Senior Airman Bryan R. Bell, 23, of Erie, Pa., who had been assigned to the 2nd Civil Engineer Squadron, Barksdale Air Force Base, La., and Tech. Sgt. Matthew S. Schwartz, 34, of Traverse City, Mich., from the 90th Civil Engineer Squadron, FE Warren Air Force Base, Wyo.

The attack occurred in Shir Ghazi, Helmand Province, Afghanistan. The three were assigned to Operation Enduring Freedom.

Seidler was one of eight of NATO’s U.S.-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) soldiers who have died in a series of recent attacks in southern and eastern Afghanistan, according to military officials.

As reported by iCasualties.org, at least 566 NATO troops were killed in Afghanistan during 2011, including 418 from the United States and 46 from the United Kingdom.

Approximately 140,000 NATO military personnel — more than two-thirds from the United States — are currently fighting in the 10-year-long war opposing the Taliban-led insurgency against the NATO-backed government of President Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan.

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Darrell L. Webb Jr. is wanted for armed robbery, first degree assault, and theft, after allegedly attacking a convenience store clerk early Friday in Sykesville with a baseball bat. He is still at large.

BYSTANDER INTERRUPTS ROBBERY,
TACKLES ASSAILANT BUT FAILS
TO SUBDUE HIM FOR POLICE

2nd BASEBALL BAT ATTACK IN WEEK
 
By Kevin E. Dayhoff
 
A baseball bat was the weapon of choice as a High’s Dairy Store employee in Carroll County was assaulted for the second time this week by a man who robbed the store, taking an undetermined number of Maryland Lottery scratch-off tickets.

The store clerk at High’s Village Road location in Sykesville was struck several times in the head and body early Friday by an assailant who had allegedly threatened him several days before and who then fled the scene after being interrupted by a bystander who observed the incident and attempted to intervene.

State troopers and Sykesville police responded to the store about 6:45 a.m. Friday in answer to a report of an “assault with a baseball bat.”

According to the Maryland State Police, when the officers arrived on the scene, they “located the lone store clerk suffering from multiple injuries from an apparent strike to the head and body with a baseball bat.”

A warrant was subsequently issued for Darrell L. Webb Jr., 21, of the 1800 block of Amanda Lane in Sykesville, charging him with armed robbery, first-degree assault, and theft, with additional charges pending.

“Troopers believe Webb acted alone and at this time is the only suspect in the incident,” the state police reported.

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