Perdue

Two months ago, when a tarot card told Ellwood "Bunky" Bartlett that he should slow down and focus on his spirituality, Bartlett let out an exasperated yelp. The only way that was going to happen, he thought at the time, was if he won the lottery. Yesterday, a day after he announced that he was one of four winners of a $330 million Mega Millions prize, Bartlett was back at the White Marsh New Age shop where the tarot cards foretold his future. Frustrated no longer, Bartlett says he now has the time he needs to contemplate life, as well as a few other matters.

Perdue Farms Inc., the giant Salisbury-based chicken processor, has teamed with a small Missouri-based company to build the first Eastern Shore factory that will convert chicken manure into pelletized fertilizer.The $6 million project, which could receive funding from the state, is designed to help rid the Delmarva Peninsula of excess poultry litter in an environmentally friendly manner.In announcing the initiative, James A. Perdue, chairman of the nation's third-largest poultry processor, said that "both poultry and crop producers are faced with increasing environmental mandates on farming; our goal is to help keep farming viable on the Delmarva Peninsula."

SALISBURY -- In the beginning, there were no speaking parts. There was no star on a pulley above the manger, no chariot for the Roman soldiers, no sound system playing Pachelbel's Canon in D when the angels appear.There was, instead, a town in Maryland and its annual Christmas parade. There were marching bands, beauty queens and a Santa Claus, of course, and there was a flat-bed trailer covered with straw and crowded with living things: a Mary, a Joseph, a donkey, a cow, a few shepherds, a few sheep, and a manger.

After making emotional appeals for mercy while acknowledging responsibility for illegally bringing a dozen young people to the United States and forcing them to work at menial jobs, three leaders of a Woodbine church were sentenced to prison terms yesterday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore.The events leading to yesterday's action began in 1992, when organizers of the Word of Faith World Outreach church left Maryland for Estonia, a small country on the Baltic Sea.After delivering Bibles and preaching for several years, church leaders returned with young Estonians under religious and student visas.

Stadium: Arthur W. Perdue Stadium, SalisburyDirections to stadium: Take U.S. Route 50 east through Salisbury past U.S. Route 13 bypass. Stadium is on the right.Class: Single-ALeague: South AtlanticRecord last year: 81-61. Won Northern Division second half. Lost in first round of playoffs to Hagerstown, two games to one.Manager: Butch Davis, first seasonGeneral manager: Jim TerrillAffiliation: OriolesGame times: 7: 05 p.m. except 2: 05 p.m. on Sundays in April and MayTicket prices: Box seats, $11 and $9; general admission, $6.50; children, seniors and military, $3; children 5 and under free.

After making emotional appeals for mercy while acknowledging responsibility for illegally bringing a dozen young people to the United States and forcing them to work at menial jobs, three leaders of a Woodbine church were sentenced to prison terms yesterday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore.The events leading to yesterday's action began in 1992, when organizers of the Word of Faith World Outreach church left Maryland for Estonia, a small country on the Baltic Sea.After delivering Bibles and preaching for several years, church leaders returned with young Estonians under religious and student visas.

A group of current and former employees for Perdue Farms Inc. filed a lawsuit yesterday against the Maryland-based poultry producer, claiming that it did not fully pay them for time worked and cheated them out of retirement benefits.The seven plaintiffs, including an employee at Perdue's Showell plant, requested that the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Delaware be given class action status.If granted, the lawsuit could affect about 14,000 workers at 16 plants, according to Joseph Sellers, an attorney for the workers.

Three leaders of a Woodbine church admitted yesterday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore to illegally smuggling aliens into the United States on student and religious visas and then forcing them to clean apartments and bookstores.The three organizers of the Word of Faith Outreach Organization, located in a large home in western Howard County, pleaded guilty as part of a plea agreement to committing visa and immigration fraud and illegally bringing a dozen Estonians to Maryland.The pastor, Joyce E. Perdue, 55, and Robert C. Hendricks, 37, the assistant pastor, likely face two years in prison.

Two months after three leaders of a Woodbine church pleaded guilty to federal charges of conspiring to smuggle young aliens into the United States and forcing them to labor at menial jobs, their parishioners told a different story yesterday during a sentencing hearing in U.S. District Court.They said church leaders didn't mistreat the Estonian immigrants, who arrived in Maryland on student and religious visas. They testified the Estonians seemed to enjoy living with church organizers."They were a joyful bunch of kids," said Tom Goodling, a parishioner from Elkridge, referring to the Estonians.

Perdue Farms Inc. has received approval to build a $10 million chicken waste-processing plant in the Blades-Laurel area of Sussex County, Del., that will help handle the large amounts of waste produced at Eastern Shore poultry facilities.The project, a joint venture of Salisbury-based Perdue and AgriRecycle Inc. of Springfield, Mo., will convert chicken manure into pelletized fertilizer."We consider our chicken producers to be partners in this industry," said Tita Cherrier, a spokeswoman for Perdue.

ATLANTA - -The state of Georgia faced continuing headaches and heartache Tuesday from a pernicious series of rainstorms that had claimed the lives of at least seven people and flooded more than 1,000 homes - although weather forecasters said the worst of the deluge likely had passed. On Tuesday morning, Gov. Sonny Perdue formally asked President Barack Obama for an emergency declaration that would make the hardest-hit areas eligible for federal disaster relief funds. A day earlier, Perdue had declared a state of emergency in 17 counties in the Atlanta area and North Georgia.

The group of about 125 elementary school children gathered at Harford Glen Environmental Education Center for a firsthand look at how the earth is formed. They spent the school day outdoors testing the water, measuring contour lines and learning about land forms. "Throughout the day, the children had a chance to see that science is not just in the classroom," said Pamela Lottero-Perdue, an assistant professor of science education at Towson University. "There is a big push for 'No Child Left Inside.

Tyson Foods Inc. has settled a multimillion-dollar lawsuit filed by two competitors, including Maryland's Perdue Farms, alleging that the Arkansas company used deceptive marketing to lie about its antibiotics use in poultry. But now the company faces lawsuits from consumers. Four cases claiming to represent thousands of people have been filed this month in federal courts across the country, including two in Baltimore since Friday. Each seeks class action status, and each alleges that Tyson violated state consumer protection acts.

A federal judge in Baltimore ordered Tyson Foods yesterday to stop using a recent advertising campaign because he says it is misleading consumers into believing that the poultry giant is raising its chickens drug-free. The U.S. District Court ruling comes in response to a lawsuit filed against the company by Salisbury-based Perdue Farms and Sanderson Farms of Mississippi. The competing poultry producers claim that they're losing millions of dollars to Tyson because its advertising falsely claims that the company's birds are not medicated.

Two of the nation's largest chicken producers - including Maryland's Perdue Farms - are challenging Tyson Foods' advertising, claiming in a federal lawsuit that it's misleading consumers into believing that the Arkansas company's birds are healthier to eat than competitors'. At a hearing yesterday in Baltimore's U.S. District Court, Perdue and Mississippi's Sanderson Farms complained that Tyson's ads say the company's poultry products don't contain antibiotics thought to affect drug resistance in people.

SALISBURY -- Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler called yesterday for higher fines for agricultural polluters and a manure-burning plant to transform chicken litter into electricity. "I would like to take 500,000 pounds of chicken manure a year and turn it into power," said Gansler, a Democrat. "That would really help make a huge, herculean and dramatic improvement to the watershed." Gansler spoke to about 200 people at the Eastern Shore Poultry Summit at the Wicomico Civic Center, a meeting of environmentalists and farmers organized by the Waterkeepers Alliance, an environmental group.

Two months ago, when a tarot card told Ellwood "Bunky" Bartlett that he should slow down and focus on his spirituality, Bartlett let out an exasperated yelp. The only way that was going to happen, he thought at the time, was if he won the lottery. Yesterday, a day after he announced that he was one of four winners of a $330 million Mega Millions prize, Bartlett was back at the White Marsh New Age shop where the tarot cards foretold his future. Frustrated no longer, Bartlett says he now has the time he needs to contemplate life, as well as a few other matters.

A tipster who'd just gone to see Sicko sent me an invitation that Concentra Medical Centers mailed out to "Maryland VIPs." The invite notes that the company has helped businesses and municipalities across Maryland slash workers' comp and other health care costs. How'd they do it? Apparently not by skimping on dinner parties. Concentra has held a dinner for "Maryland government, business and civic leaders" at Ocean City's Galaxy Restaurant for years, in conjunction with the annual Maryland Association of Counties conference.

If it takes a tough man to make a tender chicken, who could possibly be up to this task: making a $2,500 jeweled evening bag out of an ostrich egg? The tough guy's chick, that's who. While describing some of Nancy Grasmick's fancy-schmancy knickknacks the other day, I mentioned that Frank Perdue's widow makes "faux Faberge eggs," one of which sits in the state school superintendent's living room. Fowl! cried Mitzi Perdue, all the way from Paris, where she was visiting friends. "No, no, no, my goodness, no!"

On May 5, 2007, PATRICIA L. CLOUD (nee Perdue), of Columbia MD; devoted mother of Marcus Cloud, Jr. and adopted daughter Rhonda Spangler; dear sister of Ody Perdue, Jr., Goldie Hendricks, Barbara J. Ferguson and William D. Perdue; loving grandmother of Kayla Spangler. Friends may call at Calvary Chapel, Building 8465, Fort Meade, MD on Tuesday from 6 to 7 P.M. at which time services will begin. Interment private. Memorial Contributions to the American Diabetes Assn., P.O. Box 2680, Canton, OH 44720 will be appreciated by the family.