Thoughts From The Publishers Desk

Thoughts From The Publishers Desk
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I would like to know what people think of the new commercial Ocean City has created. It can be found at morefunhere.com. Send me some feedback at [email protected] and I will recap the comments next week. I think the campaign is silly, but that seems to be precisely its intent. The tongue-in-cheek, out-of-the-box campaign has so far elicited mixed reactions. Some people applaud its creativity, while others think it’s a tremendous waste of resources, $1 million specifically. Let me know what you think. I question whether this type of marketing will have any impact on bringing people to the resort who would not normally, but it certainly has received lots of attention in the media. Fox News anchor Sheppard Smith featured it Wednesday night, interviewing Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan and showing parts of the commercial. That’s exposure (free advertising) Ocean City would have never received under normal circumstances. If my memory serves me, it’s worth pointing out the last time Ocean City was featured on cable news was last August when fetuses were discovered in and around a residence. As far as creating a buzz about the town, it’s been successful.

It was only a matter of time before convicted murderer Jermaine Wright broke the law, but we should all take a collective sigh of relief that he did not hurt anyone while he was a free man for a few months. Wright is a monster who killed a Pennsylvania teenager years ago in Ocean City and dumped her body on the side of a rural road. It was not the first or second or third time he forced his will on a woman. It should be hoped his probation violation, the result of him stealing scrap metal from a Somerset County company, puts him behind bars for the rest of his life. It was a travesty of justice that he was ever released from prison, but the criminal justice system now has a second chance to do what it could not do previously. I only hope the mechanism is in place to keep him locked up. It’s clear this career criminal will return to his wayward ways if released again.

During the county’s budget process this year, it was reported it would cost $16,473, on average, to educate each child in a Worcester County public school in fiscal year 2009. That’s astonishing and it will continue to rise significantly each year, and there’s does not appear to be anything taxpayers can do about it.

I like the idea of Ocean City having its own license plates. This concept is in the early stages, but an interesting topic was addressed at this week’s Mayor and Council meeting. There was a question asked about whether the license plate should contain a logo of some sort if it’s pursued. One thought was it should have the blue-and-white ‘OC’ flag. Since it could already have Ocean City, Md. on the plate, I think it should have some type of beach or ocean image or perhaps a white marlin. Whatever the case, it’s a good idea.

A young person dumping out dozens of beers along the side of the road is a popular image in June, and most people (voyeurs) enjoy watching it. One of those incidents took place this week when some young men were forced to dump out 21, 30 packs of Busch beer. According to my calculator, that’s 630 beers, or more than 7,500 ounces. This has been a pet peeve of mine for years. It stands to reason there must be a better use of this booze than to essentially dump it into our storm drains, which empty into our local waterways. I have commented on this in the past, and police say they have no option but to force the kids to empty out the confiscated beer. They say it’s not about shaming the kids or teaching them a lesson through public humiliation. It’s apparently against the law for the cops to donate it to fraternal clubs or to even sell the beer to local watering holes or booze outlets. It’s a shame that’s the case. I would rather see the beer divided up among the local cops or perhaps used at the next Fraternal Order of Police gathering.

About The Author: Steven Green

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The writer has been with The Dispatch in various capacities since 1995, including serving as editor and publisher since 2004. His previous titles were managing editor, staff writer, sports editor, sales account manager and copy editor. Growing up in Salisbury before moving to Berlin, Green graduated from Worcester Preparatory School in 1993 and graduated from Loyola University Baltimore in 1997 with degrees in Communications (journalism concentration) and Political Science.