A Cecil County citizen oversight panel on animal control has voted to ease several controversial regulations for dog kennel operators, but the group refused to consider concerns raised by citizens– including the victim of an attack by a ‘foster’ dog placed in her home by A Buddy for Life, the county’s paid contractor for...
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The Cecil County government is seeking court “sanctions” against Del. Michael Smigiel and repayment of nearly $40,000 the county spent to defend itself against a losing lawsuit by Smigiel challenging County Executive Tari Moore’s post-election shift from Republican to “unaffiliated.” A judge ruled several weeks ago that Smigiel’s case had “no support whatsoever” in...
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A Cecil Times Special Report A state veterinary regulatory board will investigate the animal shelter operated by A Buddy for Life, under an animal control contract with Cecil County, amidst questions about lack of proper state licensing and inspection. And an Elkton family is mourning the loss of a pet Chihuahua they say was...
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Steve Arentz, president of the Queen Anne’s County Board of Commissioners, has won the endorsement of Republican party committees in three of the four counties of the 36th District to fill a vacant state Delegate seat. As a result, his appointment is all but assured under the state Constitution, even before Cecil County Republicans...
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Cecil County Executive Tari Moore announced Tuesday night a delay in enforcement of dog kennel licensing rules under a new animal control law until an oversight panel can propose revisions. And the county’s new animal control contractor could not answer the oversight panel’s questions about the number of dogs housed at its rented shelter...
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A Cecil Times Special Report: Second in a Series Cecil County’s animal control contractor—which has a more than $2.2 million contract with the local government—is spending less than it gets from the county to take in and care for animals, according to required financial reports. But the reports also raise questions about where over...
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A CECIL TIMES Special Report—First in a Series A Buddy for Life, a Delaware animal rescue group with a more than $2.2 million Cecil County government contract for animal control, has hired a lawyer to threaten an unpaid volunteer who complained to county officials about conditions for animals housed at the group’s rented shelter....
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A Circuit Court judge has thrown out a lawsuit by Del. Michael Smigiel challenging the appointment of Joyce Bowlsbey to the Cecil County Council, ruling there was “no support whatsoever” in the law for Smigiel’s claims and noting that the delegate hadn’t even bothered to respond to county legal arguments in the case although...
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Cecil County Sheriff Barry Janney has proposed a gradual increase in the salary of the Sheriff to raise the pay scale from one of the lowest in the state to a close-to-par wage for other Sheriff’s on the Upper Shore. Cecil County has a larger population, higher crime rate, and more jail oversight duties...
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“Mapmaker, mapmaker, make me a map…” (With apologies to ‘Fiddler on the Roof’) Caroline County residents thought they had a golden opportunity to have their own “resident” Delegate in the General Assembly, after a nearly 20-year hiatus, with revised district line maps that expand the county’s voting share in the four-county 36th legislative district....
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The Cecil County Council, which has spent much of its ten months of existence arguing over how members should behave, dissolved into yet another verbal slugfest Tuesday over how to enforce standards of “decorum”—and an unusual split among the current panel majority over a plan by Council President Robert Hodge (R-5) to help local...
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Cecil County Councilor Joyce Bowlsbey, who was appointed earlier this year by County Executive Moore to fill the balance of Moore’s term in District 2, announced Thursday night that she will be a candidate for election to the seat in the 2014 election. “I’ve decided that I owe it to this county to continue...
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The Cecil County Council had some good news from the county library, no news from the county’s finance director and some Bad News Bears– growling about how to deal with misbehaving councilors– at a Tuesday worksession in Elkton. First the good news: the Cecil County public library has produced a video highlighting the “beauty”...
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Governor Martin O’Malley announced Wednesday he has appointed Republican Del. Steve Hershey, of Queen Anne’s County, to the state Senate– rejecting Cecil County Del. Michael Smigiel’s bid to fill the seat vacated by his former political ally and mentor E.J. Pipkin. As a result, there will be a new process to fill Hershey’s Delegate...
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After years of attempts to find a cost-effective solution to the shortage of vocational and technical education slots for Cecil County public school students, the County Council Tuesday night voted to approve a plan for a new $18.9 million votech school at the 91-acre Basell property in Elkton. The Council’s 3-2 vote was on...
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