Published May 25, 2007
OCEAN CITY - Resort officials this week passed the roughly $120 million fiscal year 2008 budget on first reading with, depending on how one looks at it, a modest reduction or a significant increase in the property tax rate, but not before being taken to task by several local residents on the spending plan and the constant yield tax rate.
The Mayor and Council on Monday unanimously passed the fiscal year 2008 budget on first reading with formal adoption scheduled for the first week of June. The...
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Published May 25, 2007
OCEAN CITY - Resort officials this week agreed to send an official letter of support to the appropriate agencies in the state for the beleaguered Trimper's Rides amusement park at the foot of the Boardwalk, which is threatened with extinction due in large part to staggering increases in property taxes for the massive complex.
It came to light earlier this month the historic amusement park is considering shutting down after occupying the site at the foot of the Boardwalk for 120 years because...
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Published May 25, 2007
ASSATEAGUE - Visitors pouring into the Assateague Island State Park for the holiday weekend will likely have to discard any firewood they brought with them as state officials this week took drastic measures to prevent the spread of an invasive species devastating woodlands across Maryland.
Both the Maryland Department of Natural Resources' (DNR) Forest Service and Park Service this week took active measures in the state's effort to stop the spread of the emerald ash borer by introducing a new...
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Published May 25, 2007
OCEAN CITY - An Ocean City taxpayer is organizing a campaign to persuade state legislators to mandate tax offsets for Worcester County's municipalities.
Carol Krimm, who lives in Frederick, Md. and owns property in the resort, is putting together a petition drive to request a state law forcing Worcester County to reduce county taxes on Ocean City residents.
'This is grassroots. We're starting from scratch,' Krimm said.
The petition would request that local lawmakers introduce a bill requiring...
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Published May 25, 2007
OCEAN CITY - A three-decade-old tradition in Ocean City
came to a close this week when representatives of the state's American Legion
told the Mayor and Council they were discontinuing the annual American Legion
Parade held in the resort each July largely due to waning interest.
American Legion-Department of Maryland Events Coordinator
Tom Davis told the council on Monday the parade, which has been the centerpiece
of the Legion's annual convention in the resort for the last 36 years, will...
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Published May 25, 2007
OCEAN CITY - A Bel Air, Md. man found out this week cash,
not marijuana, is the currency of choice in Ocean City when he attempted to
purchase items from a resort convenience store with a bag of dope and was later
arrested on drug and theft charges.
Around 3 a.m. on Monday, Michael Autry, 27, of Bel Air,
walked into the 7-Eleven on 94th Street. Autry, who was reportedly
intoxicated at the time, grabbed a bag of chips and three bottles of Gatorade
and took them to the counter.
When the clerk...
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Published May 25, 2007
OCEAN CITY - Intent on preserving the historic charm of
the downtown area, resort officials this week approved new height restrictions
on new development in the oldest sections of Ocean City, but not before more
concerns were raised about the ordinance's potential impact along the historic
Baltimore Avenue corridor.
The City Council on Monday unanimously approved an
ordinance outlining height limitations in much of the downtown area in an
effort to prevent large-scale projects from proliferating...
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Published May 25, 2007
OCEAN CITY - As the 2007 hurricane season approaches,
Ocean City residents are encouraged to make their preparations now.
The Atlantic hurricane season is from June 1 through Nov.
30. As a barrier island, Ocean City closely monitors all tropical storms and
stays in touch with the National Weather Service during any pending storms.
"We urge all citizens to take precautions now and be
prepared," said Joseph Theobald, Ocean City's Emergency Management
Director. "The town has an...
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Published May 25, 2007
OCEAN CITY - A construction project along the bay near 11th
Street, stalled in large part because of a stagnant real estate market, got a
building permit extension this week when the developer was able to convince
resort officials the end result was going to be worth the wait.
The project is a work in progress on a bayfront lot along
Edgewater Avenue near 11th Street, but has stalled somewhat because
of concerns over the real estate market in the resort area. At the moment, much
of the site...
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Published May 25, 2007
OCEAN CITY - Exasperated with the perceived lack of
attention given to their repeated complaints of construction noise from a
project adjacent to their bayside condominium, a local couple brought their
gripes to the Mayor and Council this week in a brief meeting that ended with
charges of indifference and cronyism.
Kenneth and Carol Anders, owners of a condominium in the
Bay Princess on the north side of 81st Street, this week met with
the council to discuss a recurring construction noise...
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Published May 25, 2007
OCEAN CITY - Town officials this week agreed to waive the
business license requirement for vendors at the weekly flea market on the
Worcester Street parking lot, at least in the short term, while logistical
issues can be worked out and a good barometer of the demand for the sites can
be gauged.
Last week, the Ocean City Mayor and Council approved the
return of the flea market at the Worcester Street lot, reviving an old resort
tradition conducted at the Convention Center parking lot for decades....
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Published May 25, 2007
OCEAN CITY - Just days before a new private transportation
system was to officially be unveiled in the resort, the business owner learned
from the Mayor and Council he would not be allowed to sell advertising space on
the electric shuttles.
Russell Rankin, owner of the new E-Cruzers shuttle service
in Ocean City, appeared before the Mayor and Council on Monday seeking approval
for selling advertising space on the six-passenger Global Electric Motorcars
(GEM). Rankin earlier this year gained...
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Published May 25, 2007
SNOW
HILL - While there will be no new taxes levied in Worcester County this year to
make up for lean revenues, there will in turn be no new initiatives, a measure
taken to ensure a balanced budget.
'No
new programs anywhere in the schools or in the county,' County Commissioner
Louise Gulyas.
The
county did pick up some after-school programs, previously paid for through
grants, which saw their funding dry up.
'They
were really the only new things we did,' said Gulyas said.
The
County...
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Published May 25, 2007
SNOW
HILL - With a substantial grant from the state and some help from Worcester
County, Atlantic General Hospital (AGH) plans to expand the Atlantic Health
Center clinic to provide more services and accommodate more patients.
'Right
now, we're seeing 12,000 people a year through that clinic,' said Michael
Franklin, President and CEO of AGH.
That
number is expected to increase by 50 percent in the next several years,
according to Franklin.
The
renovated and expanded building, roughly 9,700...
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Published May 25, 2007
OCEAN CITY - Last week's Cruisin' event in and around the
resort sparked one of the busiest weekend of the season thus far for the Ocean
City Police Department (OCPD) and its allied agencies in the county, but while
hundreds of calls were handled over the four-day event, few were reported as
serious in nature.
While it certainly wasn't a quiet week for locals or
visitors as well as the OCPD with an estimated 176,000 people in town and more
than 3,000 classic cars registered for the annual...
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Published May 25, 2007
OCEAN CITY - A local man who crashed his truck into a
house on Caroline Street at the foot of the Route 50 bridge in April, causing
it to explode into a burst of flames, before 'panicking' and fleeing the scene
pleaded guilty this week to four traffic-related charges but will not serve any
time behind bars.
Jay Mickell Benedict, 36, of Ocean City, was in District
Court this week facing a slew of traffic charges related to an incident on
April 3 when he sped across the Route 50 Bridge, failed to...
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Published May 25, 2007
OCEAN CITY - A Salisbury man was arrested on attempted
murder charges in Ocean City early Monday morning after holding his long-time
girlfriend against her will for hours and strangling her several times to the
point she lost consciousness.
Howard Caltrider, 45, of Salisbury, was arrested on an
attempted second-degree murder charge on Monday after a domestic incident
during which he threatened to kill his girlfriend of 20 years several times and
actually strangled her to the point of...
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Published May 25, 2007
WEST
OCEAN CITY - State Highway Administration (SHA) officials have planned three
public workshops next week on the five remaining alternatives for the future of
the Route 50 Bridge.
The
workshops will be held on May 31 (6-8 p.m.) and June 1 (9-11 a.m., and 1-3
p.m.) at the Ocean City Convention Center, Room 217.
'We
urge people to come to this meeting, to look at the options and let us know
what they think,' said Charlie Gischlar, an SHA spokesperson.
SHA
Project Manager Sue Rajan added,...
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Published May 25, 2007
OCEAN CITY - A Finksburg, Md. man implicated in a pair of
armed robberies in the resort in April appeared in District Court for a
preliminary hearing on Monday and had his cases forwarded to Circuit Court in
Snow Hill.
Matthew Balaz-Ogle, 16, of Finksburg, Md., was allegedly
the driver in the armed robbery of a 45-year-old female and two teenage girls
on the Boardwalk at 5th Street, and then was one of the armed
robbers in an incident a short time later at a motel parking lot on 30th
Street....
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