Attorney and Mayor C. Scott Shields Dies

Horrible News.

Media Attorney and Rutledge Mayor C. Scott Shields died today while skydiving in Monroe Township, N.J.

Details on what happened are sketchy but the Gloucester County Times posted this about a couple hours ago.

MONROE TWP. — A man died this afternoon following a skydiving accident at Cross Keys Airport, Monroe Township police Det. Lt. Joe Smart said.

He declined to identify the victim pending notification of family but said the man was skydiving at Freefall Adventures Inc., located at the airport on Dahlia Avenue.

The Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office is investigating the exact cause of what Smart said has been deemed an accident.

“At this point in time, we don’t know the cause,” he said. “It could have been a health issue, it could have been mechanical failure, it could have been human error.”

Smart added that authorities don’t believe the victim was a novice jumper. A first-time skydiver, or “tandem jumper,” would have to jump with an experienced mentor.

“From what we’ve gathered, we think he was an experienced jumper,” he said.

A friend of Scott's called me at home to see if I knew anything about it. Apparently, at least some members of his family have been notified. Messages of grief and goodbyes have been left on his Facebook page.

Scott was an incredibly nice guy who never shied away from taking on an unpopular client if he thought their constitutional rights were being trifled with.

He used to post comments on this blog under the moniker Pro Christ Pro Gun. Always the gentleman, even people who disagreed with his politics couldn't help liking him. He had a huge heart and was a principled man.

This is a terrible loss.

Loser!

I think this Hipster Puppy lost a church basketball league championship game last night and had five beers and two shots of Jameson to celebrate.


I know just how he feels.

Zara asymmetric

I fell in love with the sexiest pair of shoes,these asymmetric pair of zara from the spring collection.Asymmetric cut,pointy toe!If you're thinking they look unconfortable you're right (maybe just for me because i tried to shrink my feet in a smaller size and i had no luck). Too bad they were almost sold out in two stores i've been to.
A version with the lower heel is available in blue or yellow.
Even if i wasn't planning to buy black for spring,these beauties go on my list!
I'll obsessively stalk the online store.

David Yurman Sample SALE!

I LOVE David Yurman and yes they are having their big sample sale with 30-70% off!
Run don't walk ladies, and good luck snagging some beautiful Jewels!

Details:

David Yurman Sample Sale
Thursday, March 24 to Sunday, March 28, 2011
Thurs 3-8pm, Fri & Sat 10a-7pm, Sun 11am-5pm
The Altman Building, 135 West 18th Street, NYC

xo

The Commander in Chief

Meanwhile, Charles Krauthammer weighs in on how NOT to go to war.

President Obama is proud of how he put together the Libyan operation. A model of international cooperation. All the necessary paperwork. Arab League backing. A Security Council resolution. (Everything but a resolution from the Congress of the United States, a minor inconvenience for a citizen of the world.) It's war as designed by an Ivy League professor.

True, it took three weeks to put this together, during which time Moammar Gaddafi went from besieged, delusional (remember those youthful protesters on "hallucinogenic pills") thug losing support by the hour -- to resurgent tyrant who marshaled his forces, marched them to the gates of Benghazi and had the U.S. director of national intelligence predicting that "the regime will prevail."

But what is military initiative and opportunity compared with paper?

Read it all.

He's Anti-Anti Discrimination Law

Haverford's Fred Teal files suit to block the township's new ordinance that outlaws discrimination against gays. Here was my question for Fred: If you owned a restaurant would you serve a gay couple?

My print column is up.

Spring Training Updates: Week 4

Things are wrapping up in Sarasota. With a week to go until Opening Day, decisions will need to be made this week. Let's see where things stand.

Before the season I listed 5 things to watch:

1. Pie versus Reimold - Heading into the final week, Felix Pie is hitting .229/.240/.333 with a homer, two doubles, a walk and two strikeouts. Nolan Reimold is hitting .298/.431/.489 with 2 homers, 3 doubles, 10 walks and 7 strikeouts. It all depends on what the Orioles value at this point...Reimold's superior bat or Pie glove and defensive versatility.

Derrek Lee may not be ready for Opening Day. But he will be soon and the Orioles will have to make a tough choice since Pie has no more options.

2. Chris Tillman versus Jake Arrieta - Arreita has a 5.79 ERA, Tillman has a 3.55 ERA. However, Tillman's peripherals no longer are better (0 HR, 7 K, 5BB) than Arrieta's (3 HR, 14 K, 7 BB). You have to give the nod to Arrieta, ERA's aside. Justin Duchscherer is now slated to return on April 21st at the earliest. Tillman and Arrieta should both start the season in the rotation although Baltimore won't need a 5th starter until April 10th.

3. Brian Roberts Rebound - He's back and he looks good. Keep your fingers crossed that he stays that way.

4. The Battle for the Backup Backstop - Unless Buck Showalter doesn't think Jake Fox can catch well enough, this battle is over. Fox is hitting .328/.339/.836 and leading all of baseball with 8 homers this spring. Predictably, he has cooled a bit lately but should still make the club

There is still talk that the team may keep Fox and Tatum on the roster but I find that unlikely. With Roberts' injury concerns, I would imagine that the Orioles would carry and extra middle infielder rather than a catcher. And if you're going to keep an extraneous player on the roster, I;d rather see Pie and Reimold on the bench than Tatum and Fox.

5. Who's the Backup Middle Infielder? - Cesar Izturis still probably has the job by default at this point giventhe contract the Orioles gave him. I don't think that it will happen but Brendan Harris and Robert Andino have hit well enough lately that they could release Izzy and give one of them the job. Probably not but it is conceivable.

Further developments: Jeremy Guthrie has been named the Opening Day starter...Zach Britton continues to be impressive and he remains in major league camp after the most recent round of cuts...RP Pat Egan has been returned to the Orioles from the Brewers and will be assigned to Norfolk. Egan was selected by the Brewers in the Rule 5 draft. I like Egan and think he will appear out of the Baltimore bullpen sometime this season...Rule 5 pick Adrian Rosario was returned to the Brewers...I like what I'm seeing out of Matt Wieters at the plate. He seems less tentative and has a plan for each at bat. When he's taking, he's taking, when he's swinging he's being aggressive and swinging hard...Looks like the bullpen will consist of Mike Gonzalez, Jim Johnson, Jason Berken, Kevin Gregg, Jeremy Accardo, Mark Hendrickson and Josh Rupe. But that's just my guess...Josh Bell was sent to minor league camp and told the team wants him to play third everyday...RHP Pedro Beato has a 3.72 ERA for the Mets this spring and the word is that he will make the team.