I-70 WHAT A MESS BUT THANKS FOR DINNER DOUG

A sudden 1 1/2-inch snowfall turned I-70 westbound deadly Monday, killing two Frederick County residents and injuring more than a dozen people.

Forty cars, seven tractor-trailers and three box trucks collided on I-70 just east of the 36-mile marker west of Myersville, said Lt. Sandy Trumpower of the Mount Aetna fire department.

The pileup was reported at 12:20 p.m., police said. Workers began removing vehicles about 5 p.m., after the Maryland State Police Aviation Division documented the crash scene.

Cpl. James Grinnan of the Maryland State Police said the two people who died were from Frederick County. He could not release their names as their relatives had not been contacted.

By 9:30 p.m., traffic backups continued to extend about 10 miles in both directions of I-70, according to a state press release.

The crash likely was a result of the sudden snowfall, which may have caused a chain reaction, Trumpower said.

By the time emergency officials got to the scene, the westbound highway was blocked off, she said. Tractor-trailers had smashed into each other and three or four cars were under, between and on top of them.

A fourth semi had rolled and buried itself deep into a wooded area, with the cab flipped 180 degrees from the trailer.

Of the dozen people taken to the Waynesboro Hospital in Pennsylvania, nearly half were in serious condition, Trumpower said.

Two of them were in surgery Monday, said Kevin Lewis, director of Washington County Emergency Services. He did not know their conditions.

As investigators with the Maryland State Police Hagerstown barrack and the CRASH Team investigated the crash -- westbound lanes were closed and traffic re-routed to U.S. 40 and U.S. 40A -- another 60 people were bused to the American Red Cross shelter in Hagerstown.

They huddled on cots and in chairs consoling each other and grabbing a snack or two.

Between bites of fried chicken, Evan Betler, 27, of Arlington, Va., said he was heading west on I-70, on his way to go skiing, when he saw that two tractor-trailers ahead of him were at a standstill.

He hit his brakes and his car slid 100 feet, veering left and coming to rest in a stand of trees in the median.

He was all right, he said. But then he saw in the rear view mirror a sport utility vehicle heading toward him. He thought it was going to hit him.

"It went to my left," he said.

Later, he was told one of the men in a car that was in the woods near him had been struck.

The Medical Examiner's transport contractor, Dave Highbarger, said a man was struck in the leg after getting out of his vehicle.

Another group was a church congregation from Northern Virginia.

"Prayer works," Freda Christenson said. "Six cars were in our caravan and no one was hurt."

The congregation's bishop, Craig King, said a semi barricaded a few of the cars in his caravan against harm by landing next to them.

He described the scene as an example of human compassion. The people who weren't injured in the crash helped the injured, he said.

"They were helping people get out of cars on top of cars," he said.

Maryland State Police said the crashes appeared to be concentrated in three areas.

Witnesses described those as being on the right shoulder of the highway and toward the front where the tractor-trailers were.

The third spot was on the left side of the roadway, in the wooded median.

Shre McCain of Pittsburgh ended up there. Her boyfriend veered to the left and landed in the median. "He saw a car coming toward us and said, 'Get out.'" They worked their way through the brush as far as they could to escape the possibility of being struck.

Their pick-up truck was hit from behind, she said.

Her boyfriend, Khalid Goodrich of Pittsburgh, downplayed his reaction.

"My idol is Jack Bauer -- always calm."

Some of the cars at the start of the trail of collisions skidded and drove away. One of the drivers who stopped was Becky Natiello of Bethesda. She said she had to steer through two cars to escape being hit and landed on the right side of the highway near the guard rail.

She called 9-1-1. Behind her, the crash unfolded.

"Cars were just getting hit," she said.

****"The crash likely was a result of the sudden snowfall "

Ah no! The crash was caused by careless driving.. I see it everyday on I70 people even in good weather follow way to close for the speeds they are traveling. NO ONE leaves the proper following distance again even in good weather!

Sorry that people lost lives but when are people going to learn SLOW DOWN in bad weather!

On a side note.... Thank you Doug for dinner... You see knowing that it would take me hours to get home no matter what way I tried to go. I stayed in Frederick for dinner at Outback Steak House There is a story behind this when we heard here at work about the mess on 70 Doug (my boss) reminded me that he owed me a dinner at Outback. So he said "Take the company credit card and go have dinner since you won't be getting home anytime soon." So I did... And you might want to know why he owed me dinner? Well we made a bet early on in 08 that Obama was going to win the democratic nomination for president. Doug said "There is no way he will win." Well we made a bet I said "He IS going to win...." Doug said "I'll buy you dinner at Outback if he does." So last night was the pay off for me... So Thank you for dinner Doug! it was good! And I told you he would win and infact even though I didn't want him too I told you he was going all the way! And here we are today...

Mike Rowe Speaks About Our War On Work

I don't know if any of you watch discovery's Dirty Jobs or not but you really must take some time (about 20 min.) and watch this clip. It is Mike Rowe (The Guy Who does Dirty Jobs) talking about our attitudes towards work.

A Good Point Of View From An Old Friend

FIrst of All this post is very long but please it is well worth reading.......

I had gotten into a bit of a discussion about Obama with an old friend of mine (Ken Jones) on Face Book One of my biggest fears with Obama is "Will he really up hold this county's Christian Values and moral standards?" My fear contrary to what some of you who read my blogs think is not "race" based I question Obama's believe system that is really my only fear of the man. (Well that and there is no way in hell we are going to be able to pay for his health care plan.) But thats another can of worms. Any way my question to Ken was this: "Do you really think that Obama will up hold this country's Christian values?"

For the record Ken is a Seventh-day Adventist so his view is of course from that of an Adventist.

And so a direct quote from Ken's replies on the topic of "Will Obama up hold this country's Christian Values."

Hey, re-read my post, I never said "you" or certainly wasn't attacking you, I was talking about the various fear based "talking points" that have been rolled out by the Republican machine. I certainly respect your opinion and your willingness to keep an open mind, so let me address your core question. How can a Christian, or furthermore an SDA, vote Democratic? I've given this a lot of thought personally, and I have a couple of opinions. 1) Neither party provides a completely compatible platform for SDA's, to me, our beliefs would most accurately line up with that of a conservative democrat or a liberal republican. I personally could be classed as either one.
My problem with the Republicans is that as an SDA we tend to value highly the separation of church and state, (or as some say, church and hate, lol). The GOP right loves to blur this line, by trying to legislate things I don't believe support the example Jesus left at all. The whole mix of the flag, our founding fathers, and Jesus is very uncomfortable if you really look at how our country was founded. Was it really some mandate from God? Built on the backs of slaves and stolen from the Native Americans?? But I digress....lets just say that the way Jesus chose to become a CHANGE agent did not involve legislation or working with the politicians of the day. He showed general disdain for these political structures, actually.
2) SDA's support LIFE. This makes the abortion stance of the Dems incompatible, no doubt. By the same token, the abortion issue is not the only flagrant disregard for the sanctity of life. The way the Repubs tend to be war hawkish, to be ready to send troops into harms way with little regard for diplomacy or their being a just cause is definately troubling for me! The Repubs tend to have this nationalistic flair that smacks of the Ugly American other countries loathe. The unilateral attitude sucks and won't work in this complicated world. We need allies!

....and this means more than just trying to buy or strong arm cooperation. This for us or against us crap! THAT is not diplomacy, but those overtones continue to reverberate through the GOP. Again, I digress...my point is the death tolls from a pointless and unjust war in Iraq I find hard to stomach. And I'm not just talking about American lives. I'm talking about Iraqi children whose daddies are not coming home, needless casualties. If we go to war, it needs to be for cause, for a just cause. Repubs carry that "the poor are usually that way b/c they're lazy" mentality. The Bible is clear about how a just society should treat the poor. I'm a social worker. I know what welfare pays. I talk to people all the time who have to choose between accepting welfare for their children, or fighting through barriers to land a min. wage job which won't even pay for daycare and food, so they make a "business decision," and stay on welfare so that they can spend time with their kids and scrape by. Is the system abused at times? Sure. But while we're talking about abused systems, shall we compare to the system which led to this billion dollar bailout?? At least when people abuse welfare, it doesn't lead to economic collapse!! But the Repubs don't want to make that comparison....Basically, I find the religious right extremely hypocritical, and most of the time I'm embarrassed by the way the misrepresent the Jesus I love. So here's my shocking statement.

I believe Jesus would be a Democrat!!! He was a liberal to the leaders of his day! He was definately not a conservative! He wrecked their traditions, hung out with pimps and hoes, partied with sinners and those who's sexual identity didnt sit well with the religious elite, He plucked grain on the Sabbath, and healed in the temple. These acts were heresy to the religious right of the day! He was a radical. Plain and simple.

And we haven't even talked about his treatment of the poor. It definitely wasn't an attitude of economic Darwinism. So my point is, from a Christian standpoint, I have NEVER understood the so many SDA's completely back a party which one day will be behind the total erosion of separation of church and state. There is a natural tension for SDA's in either party. We are faced with a decision between the lesser of two evils. I can be a pro-life Democrat, which is the position I've chosen because to me pro-life also means how we treat the less fortunate.
As for your Obama's comment about spreading the wealth, which was way taken out of context, I would only ask Christians to consider the early church in the book of Acts, where the people sold all and gave it to the apostles, who redistributed to all so that noone was wanting. Noone wants to talk about that, b/c it sounds like the S word, and we all know that Jesus founded this country on Capitalism, didn't He? Or is capitalism even Biblical??

Ken thank you very much for your point of view and your insight on Obama. You made a very clear point here I don't know that you will sway my vote by this but it was a good point none the less.

Disclaimer: I have not been a practicing Christian of any kind for MANY years to many to count really (although I have been to church more in the last year then I have in the last 15 years.... Thanks to Amy Kreismanis) well and maybe a Godly power :)

with that said though I do believe that it is important for Christians to have a voice in the country and I am just scared that "Christians" are losing the fight. And I really believe that we DO need the Christian point of view.