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Ocean City On Lookout For Missing Family

OCEAN CITY - Ocean City Police received word Sunday from the Montgomery County Police Department a 'critically missing' family, including a father and two children, ages eight and 10, could be heading to the resort area after investigators there learned he has made verbal and written statements he intends to kill his children and himself. Montgomery County investigators told OCPD officials yesterday to be on the lookout for Navid Eghterafi Hajaf Abadi, 43, and his two children, Anis Eghterafi,...READ MORE

115th Firemen's Convention Returns This Weekend

OCEAN CITY - The Maryland State Firemen's Association, which represents 392 fire and rescue departments and related associations across the state, will hold its 115th Annual Convention and Conference in Ocean City starting this weekend and ending next Friday, June 22. More than 30,000 volunteer firefighter/rescuers and emergency medical service workers and their families are expected to attend. Current President Bobby Balta, of the Ridge VFC in St. Mary's County, will open the proceedings at...READ MORE

Berlin Citizen Wants Town To Stop Being A 'Dog Kennel'

BERLIN - Berlin needs to get serious about dangerous dogs and loud vehicle noise, according to West St. resident Pete Cosby, who called for heftier fines for offenders. On Memorial Day, a dog bit Cosby's daughter's boyfriend as he rode a bike along West St. The dog, a Labrador retriever, has been involved in a prior attack, Cosby said, and the owner had been cited several times for not keeping his dog on a leash. Cosby, chair of the town's planning commission, said he has lived on the street for...READ MORE

OC's Leash Law Tweaked Due To New Dog Park

OCEAN CITY - The resort's 'four-legged friends' were a topic of discussion once again at Tuesday's work session at City Hall as the leash law was addressed and faced with a potential change. Tom Shuster, Recreation and Parks Director, came before the City Council on Tuesday to discuss a proposed ordinance change regarding both the leash laws in Ocean City and the proposed dog park off 94th Street. Shuster explained that after meeting with Donald Spence and several Animal Control officers and...READ MORE

City Moves Closer To New Policy On Business Licenses

OCEAN CITY - Issues surrounding counterfeit merchandise were brought to the forefront at the City Council's work session Tuesday as a review of the proposed ordinance for suspension and revocation of business licenses took place. A new ordinance spelling out the suspension, revocation, and appeals process for business licenses came before the council Tuesday receiving a lot of support but also a lot of discussion on ways to strengthen the ordinance. 'We have waited a long, long time for this,...READ MORE

Civic Group Unable To Avert $1 Lease Renewal

OCEAN CITY - The $1 lease renewal of the Art League Building was met with heated debate this week as the Little Salisbury Civic Association put a competitive $1,000 bid for the building on the table. The annual motion to renew the lease for the Art League of Ocean City building on 94th Street for $1 was presented at Tuesday's work session but was immediately met with conflict. Councilwoman Nancy Howard made the motion and was quickly faced with contention from Jay Phillips, a local attorney and...READ MORE

Planners OK West OC Pharmacy Plan After Agreeing On Sidewalk

SNOW HILL - The Worcester County Planning Commission made a stab at adding sidewalks to West Ocean City properties along Route 50 when it approved the Rite Aid site plan this week.  The pharmacy site plan was approved on its third time before the Planning Commission after lengthy discussions on landscaping and sidewalks. The plan had changed little other than the addition of more landscaping since the commission last saw it in May. Planning Commission member Costen Gladding would not let...READ MORE

Deer Creates A Stir In Ocean City

OCEAN CITY - A resilient deer went on a rampage of sorts through downtown Ocean City on Wednesday morning that ended with the tranquilized animal crashing through the window of a Boardwalk restaurant before being safely returned to the woods near Berlin. What happened in between sounds more like the exploits of a June Bug rather than a wild deer as the animal dashed from the beach to the Boardwalk to the streets of the resort. The deer was first spotted early Wednesday morning near Dorchester...READ MORE

Shark Tourney Responds To Humane Society Attack

OCEAN CITY - The 27th Annual Ocean City Shark Tournament got underway yesterday despite an effort by a federal conservation group to ban the event and similar tournaments up and down the coast, but tournament organizers said this week the campaign waged by the U.S. Humane Society was unfounded and misdirected. The U.S. Humane Society has waged a campaign over the last few weeks calling for a ban on the Ocean City Shark Tournament and similar events, citing cruelty to sharks and the impact of...READ MORE

Bayside Regs Need More Work, Council Learns

OCEAN CITY - The City Council was faced with further discussion on special bayside development this week, extending an issue that has been a work in progress for three years. Jesse Houston, director of Planning and Development, came before the council at Tuesday's work session to ask that the Planning Commission have further discussion and consideration of a few points in the bayside development regulations. Houston joked that after two public hearings and six work sessions there are still items...READ MORE

Bishopville Project's Early Plan Allowed To Move Ahead

SNOW HILL - Developer Jack Burbage's plans for a small community at Salt Grass Point Farm near Bishopville are a little closer to fruition after the Worcester County Planning Commission approved his preliminary plat. After some discussion centering on open space and the wetlands along the St. Martin River, the commission voted favorably on the plat, giving Burbage the go-ahead to move on with the 12-lot cluster subdivision. The commission also approved a waiver of the open space requirement....READ MORE

County's 'Most Wanted' Sentenced For Shooting Spree

SNOW HILL - A Stockton man, who for a time last year was considered Worcester's 'Most Wanted' after a shooting spree over several months in the south end of the county in 2006, was sentenced this week to 10 years in jail. Riley Lee Collick, 29, of Stockton, was wanted on two counts of attempted first-degree murder, two counts of attempted second-degree murder and two counts each of first- and second-degree assault after being identified as the suspect in two separate shootings in Snow Hill and...READ MORE

Man Gets Two Years In Jail For Robbing Local Cabbie

SNOW HILL - A local man arrested in November for holding up a resort cab driver at knife point in the parking lot of a West Ocean City bar was sentenced last week to eight years in jail with all but two years suspended. Franklin Paul Adams, 48, of no fixed address, was arrested in November in a West Ocean City motel after Maryland State Troopers identified him as the suspect in the robbery of a Classic Taxi cab driver. Adams, who pleaded guilty to armed robbery in April, appeared in Worcester...READ MORE

Ongoing Condo Project On Bay Debated At City Hall

OCEAN CITY - The City Council faced further concerns and complaints regarding the Rivendell condominium project at Tuesday's work session as they fielded questions and comments from residents of a nearby condominium. Bay Princess Condo Association President Shirley Eshleman attended the meeting as a representative of the Bay Princess Condominiums. 'I have some unhappy owners at the Bay Princess,' she said as she came before the council. Eshleman informed the council that Rivendell officials...READ MORE

Route 346 Corridor Plan Moves Ahead

SNOW HILL - A meeting between two local planning bodies last week showed that Worcester County planners are on board with the Berlin Planning Commission's attempt to create a Route 346 corridor plan. Berlin Planning Commission Chair Pete Cosby, Vice Chair Dave Rovansek and town Planning and Zoning Superintendent Stacey Weisner met with the Worcester County Planning Commission and got its support for a formal plan after spending months trying to use the draft plan in discussions with developers,...READ MORE

Suspect Caught After High-Speed Chase In Resort

OCEAN CITY - A bizarre sequence of events in the resort early last Sunday morning included an Ocean City police officer getting assaulted after breaking up a fight and a high-speed chase through much of a mid-town area and ended with the suspect vehicle crashing into a dune on the beach before fleeing into a nearby hotel. Around 2:15 a.m. on Sunday, an Ocean City police officer on routine patrol on a municipal bus observed a fight in progress in the parking lot of a resort nightclub. When the...READ MORE

67 Tons Of Clothes Collected In Seven Months

BERLIN - A textile recycling program intended to add hundreds of dollars to a local drug use prevention initiative has been declared a success after its first seven months in Worcester County. Nearly 67 1/2 tons of old clothing, bedding and accessories have been collected since the bins were placed at recycling centers, transfer stations, and businesses in Worcester County in October. 'It's been a tremendous success. We continue to see growth in this every week,' said Public Works Director John...READ MORE

Berlin Council Alters Policy On Take-Home Vehicles

BERLIN - A minor change in the town's policy on employee take-home cars, allowing the only remaining department head without the privilege into the club, sparked concern from citizens at this week's Berlin Town Council meeting. Until Monday night, only one of Berlin's eight department heads, Stacey Weisner of Planning and Zoning, was not allowed a town provided car. The allotment of cars evolved over the years, said Council Vice President Gee Williams, and does not reflect on Weisner or the...READ MORE

County To Charge 25 Cents Per Copy To Cover Costs

SNOW HILL - Copies of public documents will now cost requestors 25 cents a page, after the County Commissioners voted to establish a fee to cover the cost of copies and time spent. The commissioners asked staff to investigate a 50-cent per page fee in early May. Both Commissioner Louise Gulyas and Judy Boggs felt that 25 cents a page was too low a fee. Ed Tudor, director of Development Review and Permitting, which receives the most document requests, said that local fees range from 6 cents to...READ MORE

Failed Electric Sale Negotiations Cost Town $330K

BERLIN - The cost to the town of Berlin for the fizzled electric utility sale comes out to at least $330,000, according to the town. Legal expenses from Thompson Coburn for the services of utility sale attorney Gary Newell cost Berlin $247,000. Berlin Administrator Linda Bambary reported this spring that legal work by other firms on the attempted electric system sale totaled $42,725. The appraisal of the electric plant and transmission system cost $24,258, while an audit of the utility's...READ MORE

Miss USA, Other Contestants Featured At Charity Tourney

OCEAN CITY - Nine Miss USA pageant contestants including Miss USA 2007 Rachel Smith will be in the resort area next week to host the 'Birdies on the Beach' charitable golf tournament and actually caddy for some lucky teams. The 'Birdies by the Beach' charity golf challenge, benefiting the Best Buddies Maryland program, is coming to the Ocean City Golf Club next week and will feature at least nine Miss USA pageant representatives on hand to serve as caddies during the event, including Smith, who...READ MORE

Probe Originating In Australia Leads To Area Man's Guilty Plea

BERLIN - A Berlin man pleaded guilty on Tuesday in federal court to sexually exploiting a minor to produce child pornography after a complaint filed in Australia back in November about the content of Internet images led to a multi-national effort to track him back to Berlin. According to a plea agreement reached on Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, on Nov. 8, 2006, Australian Federal Police received a complaint from viewers on ANYwebcam.com, an Australian Internet content host,...READ MORE

Salisbury Man Sentenced To 25 Years In Shooting

SNOW HILL - A Salisbury man facing attempted murder charges for a shooting incident at a Berlin apartment complex last December was found guilty last week in Worcester County Circuit Court of first-degree assault and other charges and was sentenced this week to 25 years in jail. David Dewayne Jones, Jr., 28, of Salisbury, was facing attempted murder charges for shooting a Berlin man from a vehicle during an attempted robbery at the Bayside Terrace Apartments on the east side of town. After the...READ MORE

Powerboat Races Return Sunday

OCEAN CITY - The grand spectacle of offshore powerboat racing is set to return to the resort this weekend, June 15-17, with the arrival of the OPA Racing and Super-Cat Pro Series. For years, the annual offshore powerboat races were a staple in the resort each fall before being discontinued for several years. Last fall, however, the fan favorite returned with a new national racing series and the same local sponsor, Bull on the Beach, which has its own boat and racing team. This year, the racing...READ MORE

Major Showell Project on Hold For Now

SNOW HILL - In another twist to the ongoing saga of the ADC Builders development in Showell, the developer has asked the county to put the process on hold. ADC attorney Mark Cropper hand-delivered a letter to Worcester County staff on Tuesday morning, just a few hours before the County Commissioners would have considered ADC's request to set a public hearing to amend the county water and sewer plan. The letter basically asks the county not to take any action for now. The amendment is a necessary...READ MORE