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The number of food stamp recipients (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP) fell in Texas in 2013, dropping 4.6 percent from a year earlier to 3.9 million recipients in December 2013. Nationally, SNAP caseload declined by 2.1 percent from December 2012 to December 2013 as the job market gradually warmed up. California’s SNAP caseload bucked the national trend, increasing 4.1 percent to 4.3 million recipients, the second-largest percentage increase in the nation behind Maryland. Eleven states saw an increase in their SNAP rolls, Maryland, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Nebraska and Rhode Island , while...

It appears that Hollywood is in a lot of trouble, not to mention California as a whole. California offers a paltry amount of tax incentives for filming within the state as opposed to most other states or even a number of countries. In fact, California's tax incentive program for the film and television industry currently stands at $100 million annually while New York's program is at $420 million. Some states don't even have a cap. What this means is that Hollywood is fleeing Tinsletown to film out of state, which is costing California billions of dollars and tens of thousands...

<p>ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Maryland lawmakers will receive a 15.7 percent pay raise over the next four years.</p> <p>Sources report that a salary commission recommended the increase, which will take effect automatically. A Republican resolution to stop the pay hikes is going nowhere.</p>

Dr. Marylou Yam, who has 30 years of experience in Catholic higher education, was announced as Notre Dame of Maryland University’s 14th president March 20. “To educate leaders who will transform the world is a powerful mission,” Yam told the Catholic Review. “I’ve always been an advocate for women in leadership roles and for empowering women. I believe in women’s colleges, that they offer exceptional leadership opportunities for women. They engage women.” Yam was a pioneer at St. Peter’s University in Jersey City, N.J., where she was the first woman to serve as dean of its College of Arts and...

ROCKVILLE, MD — Thousands of motorists were brought to a standstill when police conducted a massive roadblock to find three crime suspects. Twelve lanes of traffic were shut down and swarms of armed government agents combed through a giant traffic jam performing warrantless vehicle-to-vehicle searches. The busy Tuesday morning commute was abruptly halted just after 10:00 a.m. on March 11th. One driver told ABC News that traffic stopped and he witnessed 30 police cars pass on the shoulders of I-270 near Rockville. “Then, when I saw a wall of police officers with automatic weapons approaching our cars, it was apparent...

My mother and sister [at separate locations] cannot connect through Earthlink. Modem connects, but cannot access any web site. I work with computers, have cleared their caches, run anti-malware and anti-virus, changed DNS addresses, etc. Nothing seems to work. 2 strange things, though. I can grab updates for the anti-virus software and other programs that have new updates, but this is not through a browser. Also, from my location, I can long distance dial their access numbers, get the modem connected, AND I can get to web pages. Any thoughts?

<p>The monument, also known as the Peace Cross, is lit up at night and located in a median between the busy interchange of Baltimore Avenue (U.S. 1) and Annapolis Road (Maryland 450) in Prince George's County. It was formally dedicated in 1925, and a plaque on the monument lists the names of 49 county residents who died in World War I....</p>

The American Humanist Association filed a lawsuit last week in federal court in Maryland calling for the removal of Bladensburg’s 40-foot Memorial Peace Cross, which honors men from Prince George’s County who died during World War I. The association and three individual plaintiffs contend that the cross, which is on state property, violates the constitutional principle of separation of church and state. The cross was dedicated in 1925. ...One of the individual plaintiffs, Steven Lowe of Washington, contends that the cross "associates a Christian religious symbol with the state and gives the impression that the state supports and approves of...

The Health and Human Services inspector general (IG) will launch an investigation into the failed ObamaCare exchange in Maryland, Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.) announced Monday. “Maryland officials ignored early warning signs and chose to waste and abuse federal taxpayer money by opening up what they knew was a flawed exchange to the public,” he wrote in a statement. “I have confidence that the nonpartisan and independent HHS Inspector General will thoroughly investigate and bring to light how hundreds of millions of dollars were wasted on one of the worst exchange roll outs in the country,” he added. An official with...

March 7, 2014 (LifeSiteNews.com) – As the media debate the reason abortions declined over the last few years, pro-life voices say the record number of new laws restricting abortion played a role. The year 2014 is already shaping up to follow the trend of substantial pro-life legislation. Arizona Abortion facilities will no longer receive advance notice of state inspections, if the governor signs a proposed law. The state House of Representatives passed the measure, allowing unannounced health inspections of abortion facilities, by a vote of 34-22. Florida A woman tricked into ingesting an abortion-inducing drug that killed her child wants...

Carly Fiorina, former California GOP senate challenger to Barbara Boxer, emerged at the Conservative Political Action Conference here as the speaker most willing to engage the Republicans' persistent problems with appealing to women. Well, after she spent the first half of her speech denying climate change. Priorities! Fiorina didn't offer a solution, but she did offer some great slogans: "I am a proud pro-life woman. ... I believe science is proving us right everyday!" (Hey, don't knock junk science until you've tried it, right?) She also echoed a feminist line when she said, "All issues are women's issues." I like...

Personal Observation: For the second consecutive year, CPAC has held its annual conference at the National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland, about 5-7 miles away from the U.S. Capitol. Oxon Hill is in Prince George's County, Maryland -- which is heavily Democrat and majority black in residents. CPAC attendees, legislators, staff, radio & TV personalities & their staff have been at National Harbor spending their money there for the past few days at restaurants, bars, pharmacies, gift shops, etc. Is the mainstream media going to report on how "mean, racist, bigot & homophobe Republicans and conservatives" are spending money in...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Now, this clash that took place on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform with Issa and Elijah Cummings, exactly what I feared and predicted and mentioned at the time has indeed happened. Here is the Washington Post and their headline, and they're just enraged here. This is the Lois Lerner hearing. Lois Lerner was supposed to show up and answer specific questions about why she had, in e-mails, referred to the Tea Party and Tea Party activities in such disparaging and critical ways. The IRS is not supposed to single out groups for punishment. The...

Darrell Issa seen plowing ahead with IRS probe amid new evidence By JOHN BRESNAHAN and LAUREN FRENCH | 3/7/14 2:00 PM EST Updated: 3/7/14 3:53 PM EST Not even a trove of new evidence will stop Darrell Issa from going after Lois Lerner’s testimony. The House Oversight Committee Chairman is plowing forward with plans to hold the former IRS official in contempt of Congress - possibly as early as next week - despite word from the tax agency that it plans to hand over a broad set of documents spanning Lerner’s entire career at the IRS. Republicans have long sought...

Former Black Panther leader Marshall "Eddie" Conway walked free Tuesday after spending four decades behind bars for killing a Baltimore police officer — making his one of the highest-profile cases affected by a high court decision that has cut short prison sentences for dozens of felons in recent years. ... Sager's son, who was 7 at the time of his father's death, said he was devastated. David Sager said he was warned of the outcome more than a month ago ... "My mother passed away two years ago, and in a way I'm glad that she's not around to see...

VIDEO: 4 minutes - Rep. Marcia Fudge's oral presentation of the privileged resolution on House floor. The chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus is calling House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) to be stripped of his gavel for his behavior at a contentious IRS hearing on Wednesday. Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) told Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Thursday that Issa’s conduct in the hearing — which included cutting off the microphone of Rep. Elijah Cummings (Md.), the ranking Democrat — amounted to “an affront to the expectations of the American people.” Fudge also said Issa should apologize on the House...

After little sleep and a heavy patient load, LeRoy Carhart sent another abortion patient to the hospital yesterday (March 4, 2014) for treatment of apparently life-threatening complications. An ambulance arrived at about 4:00 p.m. in response for a call for emergency assistance. It transported a female patient to a local hospital. Carhart was not seen with his patient during the incident. carhart14Due to a snowstorm, Carhart was unable to see women scheduled for multi-day late-term abortions as usual on Sunday. Carhart was seen by witnesses at the Germantown Reproductive Health Services abortion clinic between 5:00 and 11:00 p.m. on Monday...

GREELEY, Colo. -- If you mention the word "secession" most people think of the South during the Civil War. But today, a new movement is gaining steam because of frustration over a growing, out-of-control federal government. A number of conservative, rural Americans are taking about seceding and creating their own states, meaning a new map of the United States of America could include the following: A 51st state called Jefferson, made up of Northern California and Southern Oregon A new state called Western Maryland A new state called North Colorado These are real movements gaining traction with voters across the...

Russian military servicemen have taken weapons from a radar base and naval training facility in Ukraine's Crimea region and urged personnel to side with the peninsula's "legitimate" leaders, Interfax news agency said on Sunday. It quoted a Ukrainian Defense Ministry source as saying the Russian servicemen had taken pistols, rifles and ammunition cartridges from the radar post near in the town of Sudak and taken them away by car. Another group of Russian military had also removed weapons from a Ukrainian navy training centre in the port city of Sevastopol, where Russia's Black Sea Fleet also has a base.

This afternoon True the Vote founder Catherine Engelbrecht filed an ethics complaint against Rep. Elijah Cummings alleging the Congressmen intimidated her and and her group. Rep. Elijah Cummings on three separate occasions sent letters from the House Oversight and Government Reform, stating that he had concerns and felt it necessary to open an investigation on True the Vote. The Congressman also smeared True the Vote in several cable news interviews in 2012. In the hearing today, Cummings accused True the Vote of racism saying that they were trying to suppress the vote. Catherine Engelbrecht was on with Megyn Kelly tonight:...