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TexasTowelie's JournalHanover man sentenced to 15 months in federal prison for failing to pay $1.69 million in employment
Hanover man sentenced to 15 months in federal prison for failing to pay $1.69 million in employment taxes for physical therapy companyA Hanover man was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison for failing to pay employment taxes to the IRS for his physical and occupational therapy business, the Maryland State’s Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday.
Harshe Shende, 57, owns Progressive Rehab Services, LLC, a company based in Owings Mills that employs therapists who treat nursing home residents. He failed to pay a total of $1,690,000 in federal employment and employer taxes. As part of his prison sentence, Chief U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar ordered Shende to pay the amount back in restitution.
Shende pleaded guilty to filing forms with the IRS showing the amount of income tax he collected from employees, including their benefits, but failed to pay employment taxes to the IRS. He also failed to pay his employers’ portion of taxes, according to the Maryland State’s Attorney’s Office.
Shende opened two separate bank accounts in 2008 and 2012 for an incorporated company Progressive Health Group, Inc. and listed the same address assigned to Progressive Rehab Services, LLC. He billed his Rehab employees work using the name Progressive Health and paid their salaries using the incorporated company’s bank account. That account withheld payroll taxes from its employees’ paychecks, including federal income taxes, Medicare and social security taxes.
Read more: https://www.capitalgazette.com/news/crime/ac-cn-hanover-employment-tax-federal-prison-20210727-pxozwq2l65adtfrx47lgmbc4ji-story.html
(Annapolis Capital Gazette)
Baltimore County Activist Brittany Oliver Eyes Ruppersberger Seat
Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (D) appears to have his toughest Democratic primary challenger in recent memory, with Baltimore County progressive activist Brittany Oliver launching a bid to unseat the 10-term congressman.
Oliver, 33, a seasoned community organizer who kicked off her campaign earlier this summer, told Maryland Matters that the state’s 2nd District needs “new ideas, diversity and leadership.” Oliver supports a wide range of progressive reforms, including Medicare for All and the Green New Deal, and hopes her concrete stances on a wide range of issues will appeal to voters.
“We can no longer depend on … career politicians who do the bare minimum,” she said. “Running, for me, is about uplifting underserved, pushed-out communities and combating inequality.”
Oliver is the founder of Not Without Black Women, a grass-roots advocacy organization dedicated to empowering Black women, and hopes to continue that work in Congress. She wants Maryland’s currently all-male congressional delegation to better reflect the state’s racial and gender diversity. Her candidacy was first reported by The Baltimore Sun.
Read more: https://www.marylandmatters.org/2021/07/28/baltimore-county-activist-brittany-oliver-eyes-ruppersberger-seat/
"Enough is Enough:" Franchot Seeks Crackdown on Late Contracts
For several months, the two Democrats who serve on the Board of Public Works — Comptroller Peter V.R. Franchot and Treasurer Nancy K. Kopp — have complained that state agencies are flouting the state’s emergency procurement law.
Routinely, they allege, the panel is asked to approve seven- and eight-figure contracts long after contractors have begun work, a circumstance that undermines the board’s ability to make sure that the state isn’t overpaying for goods and services.
Although Kopp and Franchot have pressed their concerns with cabinet secretaries and top procurement officials repeatedly, in public and private, Wednesday’s agenda contained 15 more contracts for retroactive approval. Eleven were submitted beyond the 45-day grace period for agencies to submit emergency contracts to the BPW.
Franchot said agencies that won’t follow the law must face consequences.
Speaking at the outset of the panel’s bimonthly meeting, he ordered board staff to prepare a resolution that would “automatically terminate” future contracts that fail to reach the BPW in time.
Read more: https://www.marylandmatters.org/2021/07/28/enough-is-enough-franchot-seeks-crackdown-on-late-contracts/
In First Ad of Campaign, Mizeur Urges End to "Harris Embarrassment"
Democrat Heather Mizeur, the former state Delegate hoping to unseat Rep. Andrew P. Harris (R), on Tuesday released her first video of the campaign, a two-minute ad that accuses the incumbent of boosting Donald Trump’s “big lie” about the 2020 election.
The video highlights Mizeur’s early years, her professional career, and the issues she championed in the General Assembly — and it shows her working with her wife on their Eastern Shore farm.
The ad also takes on Harris, a conservative closely aligned with Trump, saying he “clings to old hatreds and new conspiracies.”
“Harris supported the big lie that incited the Jan. 6 on our Capitol,” Mizeur says in the video. “He tried to pick a fistfight in Congress and smuggle a gun onto the House floor. He even voted against a bipartisan effort to set up a commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack.”
Read more: https://www.marylandmatters.org/blog/in-first-ad-of-campaign-mizeur-urges-end-to-harris-embarrassment/
Baltimore mortgage lender says his patent was rendered invalid by a Supreme Court decision
Imagine having invested your time and money into developing an innovative software product and then several years later having the rights to your invention rendered virtually worthless due to a U.S. Supreme Court decision.
But that is exactly what happened to a Baltimore-based mortgage lender who invented an application that expedites the mortgage application approval process after the high court ruled in the 2014 Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank decision that certain abstract ideas could not in-and-of themselves be patented and therefore opening the door to third-party duplication.
“When the Alice 101 decision was made it invalidated anything that was considered abstract. But the guidelines for how they determine whether a patent is abstract do not make sense. And that is why it is being appealed,” Larry Porter told MarylandReporter.com. “It makes no sense at all. And it is ruining the industry.”
Porter, who has been in the mortgage lending business for more than 3o years, said his patent was approved in October 2013, after his application had mysteriously been “misplaced” by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for eight years before they discovered the mistake and fixed it.
Read more: https://marylandreporter.com/2021/07/27/baltimore-mortgage-lender-says-his-patent-was-rendered-invalid-by-a-supreme-court-decision/
Carney signs body camera legislation
Alongside members of law enforcement, advocates and members of the General Assembly on Wednesday, July 21, Gov. John Carney signed legislation requiring police officers and certain employees of the Department of Correction and the Department of Services for Children, Youth, & Their Families to wear and use a body camera.
Body cameras will be used to record interactions with members of the public in accordance with the regulations that will be established by the Council on Police Training. Carney supported the proposal in his 2021 State of the State address.
“Here in Delaware, we look out for each other because we care for our neighbors,” said Carney. “We can do great things if we work together, and this legislation shows that we are moving forward productively. Thank you to the members of the General Assembly and the Delaware Black Caucus, Attorney General Jennings, advocates and law enforcement for your leadership on this important piece of legislation.”
The act requires state agencies to implement the statewide body camera program through the procurement of cameras, development of a central data storage program, and provision of necessary personnel. Carney’s 2022-fiscal-year budget includes $3.6 million for the development and deployment of body cameras.
Read more: https://www.coastalpoint.com/news/state/carney-signs-body-camera-legislation/article_a530cc98-ef15-11eb-aaef-d3f2717f4674.html
Nazi SS graffiti found on Route 1 bridge is being removed by workers
Nazi SS graffiti that was spray-painted on a bridge in Bear sometime before Wednesday morning has been removed by Delaware Department of Transportation workers, the agency said.
DelDOT was "made aware" of the graffiti, located on the Route 1 bridge over School Bell Road, Wednesday morning, according to department spokeswoman Pam Lilly.
Delaware State Police said they were informed of the graffiti by a reporter who asked whether troopers were investigating. Police have since opened an investigation, but don't currently have any suspects or leads, agency spokesman Master Cpl. Gary Fournier said.
"In the event the same 'tags' are presented somewhere else in the area, we would take the necessary investigative steps, if notified," he said.
Read more: https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/crime/2021/07/28/deldot-removes-graffiti-bearing-nazi-symbol-route-1-bridge-bear/5400819001/
Delaware Department of Transportation workers are in the process of removing graffiti that was spray-painted on a bridge in Bear, which bears the double lightning bolt logo of Nazi Germany's SS.
State Rep. Gerald Brady Won't Seek Reelection
Amid public backlash and calls for his resignation, Delaware state Rep. Gerald Brady (D) said that he would not seek reelection after his current term expires, the Associated Press reports.
Brady accidentally copied an advocate of decriminalzing prostitution on an email: “Is the dude basically saying, if we provide free Blowjobs for Uncle Pervie there will be few rapes and few chink broads will be shipped in CONEX containers to the Port of Wilmington??”
Here is Brady’s’ statement announcing his decision, which is the correct one:
“However, my recent actions – using a deeply offensive anti-Asian slur and attempting to make a crass joke about human trafficking – make it more difficult to effectively provide the kind of representation all residents of the 4th District expect and deserve. All residents should have elected officials who serve and treat others with dignity and respect, whether it’s in public forums or in private communications.
“There can be no excuse for my actions, and after careful reflection these past several days, I have decided that I will not seek re-election when my term ends. I cannot in good conscience ask the voters to put their faith in me again after I betrayed theirs. I can only humbly and unequivocally apologize again for my actions, for which I am solely responsible.
“I will complete the prescribed sensitivity training and work to make amends with the Asian American community. I will use this as an opportunity to heal the wounds that my words have created. I will continue to work tirelessly to address the issues impacting my constituents as well as the citizens of Delaware.”
Read more: https://bluedelaware.com/2021/07/26/brady-wont-seek-reelection/
Sale of unreleased Wu-Tang Clan album enough to pay off Martin Shkreli's court debt
An unreleased Wu-Tang Clan album forfeited by Martin Shkreli after his securities fraud conviction was sold Tuesday for an undisclosed sum, though prosecutors say it was enough to fully satisfy the rest of what he owed on a $7.4 million forfeiture order he faced after his 2018 sentencing.
The entrepreneur known as “Pharma Bro” once boasted that he paid $2 million in 2015 at auction for “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin,” the 31-track double album the Wu-Tang Clan spent six years creating.
“With today’s sale of this one-of-a-kind album, his payment of the forfeiture is now complete,” Acting U.S. Attorney Jacquelyn M. Kasulis in Brooklyn said in a release.
Authorities said the sales contract for the album contained a confidentiality provision that protects information relating to the buyer and price.
Read more: https://www.mcall.com/news/nation-world/ct-aud-nw-wu-tang-martin-shkreli-20210727-qq2ttooklvby7apeqyrabotjai-story.html
Restaurant owner's Capitol riot arrest rattles hometown
Before the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, most people in Pauline Bauer’s rural Pennsylvania hometown knew her for the deep-dish pizza and ice cream she sells at her restaurant.KANE, Pa. (AP) — A crank caller ordered an “insurrection pizza” from Pauline Bauer’s restaurant. A profane piece of hate mail addressed her as a domestic terrorist. She even became a punchline for Stephen Colbert’s late-night talk show on CBS.
A swift backlash greeted Capitol riot suspects like Bauer when they returned to their homes across the U.S. after joining the mob that stormed past police barricades, smashed windows and disrupted the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory on Jan. 6. Relatives, friends or co-workers reported scores of them to the FBI. Some lost jobs. Others lost their freedom, jailed awaiting trials.
In Bauer's hometown in rural Pennsylvania, her arrest and that of a longtime friend have rekindled partisan bickering, more often on social media than on street corners, some residents say. As Bauer and William Blauser Jr. fight the charges in court, many in the town of Kane have struggled to comprehend how two of their neighbors could be among the hundreds of Trump loyalists bent on overturning the election that day.
“I think it was totally outrageous, it was illegal and I think it was treasonous,” said Joe Lanich, who operates a letterpress print shop with his wife called The Laughing Owl Press Co. in Kane’s uptown business district. He said the town is populated by proud residents who work hard to improve Kane and “don’t want to see one person paint us in a bad light."
Read more: https://lancasteronline.com/news/politics/restaurant-owners-capitol-riot-arrest-rattles-hometown/article_9e3c3ed1-708b-5d97-869a-8cd1c2674b96.html
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