Articles

NEW FOR THURSDAY: Ocean City Police Steps Up Drunk Driving Patrols

OCEAN CITY -- The Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) late last month engaged in a concentrated and focused effort to combat impaired driving and underage drinking and is pledging more of the same in the coming weeks. In conjunction with a national program conducted by law enforcement agencies in Maryland around the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, the OCPD in late November participated in Project SOLO, or Saving Our Loved Ones. An extension or expansion of standard enforcement efforts, Project...READ MORE

NEW FOR WEDNESDAY: OCPD Breaks Up Major Heroin Operation; Six Suspects Sought

OCEAN CITY -- The Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) last week rounded up 26 suspects wanted in connection with a major heroin distribution ring after a Worcester County grand jury issued indictments for 23 of the suspects. The OCPD Vice-Narcotics Unit for the last six weeks has been conducting an aggressive and extensive undercover illegal drug investigation involving multiple suspects throughout Ocean City called “Operation Smackdown.” The investigation was initiated by the...READ MORE

NEW FOR TUESDAY: Resort’s Latest Marketing Tool To Hit The Road

OCEAN CITY – After almost three years, the town’s new marketing tool, OC Experience, is ready to hit the road to spread the word on Ocean City and all it has to offer. The final product of OC Experience is a travel show booth that will physically exhibit to attendees the value to be found in a vacation in Ocean City through technology and media. So far the 2013 road trip schedule for OC Experience is the New York Times Travel Show on Jan. 18-20; the Philadelphia Inquirer Travel Show...READ MORE

NEW FOR MONDAY: Blue Angels Scout OC In Advance Of Next Year’s Show

Travis Brown Staff Writer OCEAN CITY -- In preparation for their first-ever official appearance in Ocean City next summer, members of the Navy’s Blue Angel jet demonstration team visited the resort Friday to meet with officials and get a lay of the land. “We haven’t been here before and we’re always looking for new show events to go to,” said Lt. Cmdr. Michael Cheng, Blue Angel 8 and events coordinator for the team. “We get about 300 applications every year...READ MORE

Two-County Power Outage Affected 5,000

BERLIN -- Thousands were without power across a wide swath of northern Worcester County early yesterday morning when a breaker tripped at a substation near Berlin after running low on gas. Around 4:45 a.m. on Thursday, a breaker tripped at a Delmarva Power substation at Route 346 on the outskirts of Berlin leaving around 5,000 customers without power on a frigid fall morning. The outage area was framed by Pittsville on the eastern edge of Wicomico County to the Glen Riddle community near West...READ MORE

Report Finds Counties’ Preservation Grades Vary

BERLIN -- Two lower shore counties were on opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of protecting rural land and preventing sprawl with Worcester heading in a positive direction and Wicomico heading the other way, according to a report released by an independent environmental group. The 1,000 Friends of Maryland environmental group on Tuesday released a report entitled “Maryland’s Rural Lands in Danger: Which Way is Your County Headed,” outlining each Maryland county’s...READ MORE

Proposed Shark Rule Change Worries Local Industry

OCEAN CITY -- A major rule change proposed for one species of shark with a blanket size limit increase for all species could effectively shut down a significant component of Ocean City’s multi-million recreational sportfishing industry. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) last week published a dubious Amendment 5 to the Highly Migratory Species Fishery Management Plan that would, if adopted, create a new 96-inch, or eight-foot, minimum keeper size limit for all sharks caught off...READ MORE

OCPD Issues Residential Check Program Reminder

OCEAN CITY -- With many resort residents planning on traveling during the holidays or taking those winter-shortening vacations early next year, the Ocean City Police Department has a residential security check program available to help ensure private property is protected, but it appears few are taking advantage of it. With the arrival of the holiday season, numerous Ocean City residents will travel to see families over the next few weeks and countless more will take much-needed vacations to...READ MORE

Ocean City Tennis Center’s Season Called A Success

OCEAN CITY – The Recreation and Parks Department’s report to the Mayor and Council this week included a recap of the Ocean City Tennis Center’s successful season and an early overview of this year’s Winterfest of Lights event. Ocean City Recreation and Parks Recreation Superintendent Kate Gaddis started off by presenting a report on the Ocean City Tennis Center’s 2012 summer season. “We had a successful summer at the tennis center,” Gaddis said....READ MORE

Ocean City Plans Another Shot At Tax Differential

OCEAN CITY – In the past, a tax differential request to Worcester County has been no walk in the park for Ocean City, but the city is again taking another shot at reimbursement for services provided. This week City Manager David Recor discussed with the Mayor and City Council a Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 tax differential request to the Worcester County Commissioners. According to Recor, per Section 6-306 of the Tax-Property Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland, the Town is required to...READ MORE

OC Blocks Taxi Medallion Transfer Over Sale Price

OCEAN CITY – The city is beginning to question the validly of the taxi medallion transfers within the industry as the values being brought before the Mayor and Council are not matching up. During this week’s meeting at City Hall, City Clerk Kelly Allmond brought two taxi medallion transfers before the Mayor and City Council for approval. Taxi medallions were established a few years ago to regulate the rapidly growing taxi cab industry in Ocean City. According to Ocean City’s...READ MORE

No Injuries Reported In North OC Fire

OCEAN CITY -- No injuries were reported during a fire at a north-end condominium building Wednesday night, although the building did suffer considerable damage. Around 9:20 p.m. on Wednesday, the Ocean City Fire Department (OCFD) responded to a reported residential fire at the Harbor Woods North condo building on 142nd Street near Laurel Ave. First responders reported heavy fire showing from the roof of the three-story, 12-unit building. The Bethany Beach Volunteer Fire Company was called to...READ MORE

Berlin Looking To Further Promote Dining, Artists

BERLIN -- While Berlin has always strived to portray itself as a shopping destination on the Eastern Shore, town and community officials have been turning their attention in recent weeks to highlighting entertainment, dinning, and the arts in town. “I think we’re just going to start to partner more with the chamber,” said Economic and Community Development Director Michael Day. “We’re going to promote [the arts] more … just as we’re going to start to...READ MORE

Audit Confirms Berlin Cutting Expenses, Growing Revenues

BERLIN -- With revenues up and expenditures down, Berlin received a positive annual audit this week from the independent finance group PKS and Company. While there are some areas that bear watching, including a large slice of town debt, PKS auditors agreed that Berlin is in a better spot than many other American small towns. CPA Mike Kleger of PKS noted to the Mayor and Council that Berlin’s general fund balance has steadily increased over the last three years in spite of a nationwide...READ MORE

Worcester Casino Mulling Addition Of Table Games

SNOW HILL -- In the wake of a successful voter referendum for Maryland’s Question 7, an initiative allowing a significant expansion in state gambling laws, the Worcester County’s Local Development Council (LDC) and Ocean Downs Casino representatives discussed Monday if, when and how the casino will expand. While Ocean Downs General Manager Joe Cavilla was not prepared to set anything in stone, he did tell the board this morning that growth into table games is being considered and he...READ MORE

Redevelopment Projects Eye Downtown OC Properties

OCEAN CITY – A few changes are on the horizon in the downtown area with a new building to house Fat Daddy’s clearing a planning hurdle and a new miniature golf course in the works. Last week Fat Daddy’s owner Ed Braude returned to the Ocean City Planning and Zoning Commission to give an update on a site plan that had been approved over a year ago depending on several conditions. September of 2011 was when the commission first saw the plans for the Fat Daddy’s project...READ MORE

Proposed Beach Music Festival Delayed Till 2014

OCEAN CITY – The much-anticipated High Tide Music Festival has been postponed for the second year in a row and has taken a turn toward boot stomping versus fist pumping. After an update on the scheduled High Tide Music Festival for this summer was postponed twice, Tom Russell of Founders Entertainment was present for this week’s Mayor and City Council meeting asking for the event to be postponed for another year. When the music festival was first proposed in October of 2011, it was...READ MORE

Ocean City Scores $150K In Md. Community Legacy Grants

OCEAN CITY -- Worcester County, Ocean City and the entire lower shore did well this week when the latest round of state Community Legacy program awards were announced with $150,000 dedicated to the resort alone. The state Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) on Wednesday announced an award of over $5.5 million in Community Legacy grants to jurisdictions and municipalities all over Maryland for various projects and programs. Worcester County alone was awarded a combined $270,000...READ MORE

Council Majority Shoots Down Restaurant’s Outside Bar Request

BERLIN -- Though the controversy over drinking in public at Berlin events had quieted following a string of successful and trouble-free festivals, a majority of the Mayor and Council voted Monday not to allow a local restaurant the privilege of operating an outside bar during New Year’s Eve. “From my perspective, I just have a problem with promoting alcohol in a public street, and it’s not even a town of Berlin street,” said Councilwoman Lisa Hall. “It’s the...READ MORE

Trail Campaign Wins State Award

SNOW HILL -- A local partnership to promote wineries and breweries on the lower shore earned statewide recognition at an awards ceremony earlier this month. Worcester County Tourism, the Ocean City Hotel-Motel-Restaurant Association and D3Corp collaborated to create “Toast Our Coast, Delmarva’s Wine and Ale Trail,” and their efforts earned them the Marketing Partnership Award at the Maryland Tourism and Travel Summit on Nov. 15. “Over the past few years, Delmarva has...READ MORE

Tip Helps OC Police Foil Planned Armed Robbery

OCEAN CITY -- Confidential information obtained by the Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) allowed officers to proactively avert an attempted armed robbery at a downtown business on Monday night and eventually subdue the suspect with the use of a Taser. On Monday afternoon, Ocean City Police detectives received confidential information that a male suspect, later identified as Hector Aaron Torres, 25, of Ocean City, was planning an armed robbery of the O.C. Dollar Store on Philadelphia Ave. near...READ MORE

Salisbury ‘Nuisance’ Demolished

SALISBURY -- One unruly property that has been a black hole for city services and demanded regular police attention was finally demolished Tuesday. The Thrift Travel Inn, located at 603 N. Salisbury Blvd., has been a “thorn in the city’s side for years,” according to Mayor Jim Ireton. “It’s been condemned multiple times and year after year it’s been a huge draw on our city services, constituting 1,500 calls for service to our city departments over its...READ MORE

Retired Water Taxi Ready For Sinking Off Coast

OCEAN CITY -- The newest addition to Ocean City’s rapidly growing artificial system could be heading to the bottom any day now with the planned sinking of a 50-foot water taxi from Baltimore about five miles off the coast. The Ocean City Reef Foundation is planning to sink the former water taxi as soon as a conducive weather window presents itself. The water taxi is the third of its kind donated to the foundation in the last year or so and likely the last for a while, according to Greg...READ MORE

Of Rare Jetty Beach, Army Corps Says, ‘You’ll Probably Never See It Again’

OCEAN CITY -- A rare, if never-before-seen, anomaly appeared at the Ocean City Inlet this week in the form of a wide, flat sandy beach on the south side of the north jetty in an typically under water and pounded by waves. In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, which plowed through the resort area in late October, nearly all of the beaches in the area were altered to some degree and some more than others as sand was eroded from certain areas and deposited in others by the storm. Perhaps the most...READ MORE

Lockhart Piece Added To University’s Shore Collection

SALISBURY -- Dr. Carol Wood, interim dean of the Samuel W. and Marilyn C. Seidel School of Education and Professional Studies at Salisbury University, recently accepted the seventh addition to the Artists of the Eastern Shore Collection established by Dr. Amy Stephens Meekins and family of Cambridge. The collection is displayed in the Teacher Education and Technology Center (TETC) and includes works by W. Robert Tolley, Beebe M. Winterbottom, Paul Lockhart, Myrna C. McGrath, Patrick Henry and...READ MORE

Changes Ahead For Ocean City Surf Beaches?

OCEAN CITY – Following in the footsteps of Ocean City’s body boarding and skateboarding laws being changed to keep up with the times, a Surfing Beach Committee will be formed to take a look at how the resort handles its designated surfing beaches.During a department update this week, Recreation and Parks Director Tom Shuster presented the Mayor and City Council with the proposed 2013 Surfing Beach Schedule for approval.The schedule establishes two rotating surfing beaches,...READ MORE

Berlin Still Weighing Change To Plant Own Tree

BERLIN -- Though the idea of a living Christmas tree that could be planted in Berlin received a good deal of attention last year in the hopes that it could happen in 2012, Berlin decided once again to go with the more traditional practice of a cut tree. However, Community and Economic Development Director Michael Day explained that planting a live tree in Berlin is still on the table in the future as is the possibility of converting to an artificial tree. This year’s tree, a cedar that Day...READ MORE