April 9, 2010

2nd Annual Iron Hawk Youth Triathlon to be Held in OP

On Saturday, April 10, the Lower Shore Jr. Red Cross Clubs will hold their 2nd Annual Iron Hawk Youth Triathlon on at the Ocean Pines Sports Core Pool at 11 a.m. Above, club members Taylor Blazer and Rosa Navarra set up for event. Submitted Photos ...READ MORE

Worcester Prep Short Story and Poetry Contest Winners

Worcester Prep winners in the Young Authors' Short Story and Poetry competitions for the 2009-2010 school year were, front from left, Regan Lingo, Abigail Bright, Ali Schwartz, Megan Rosales, Emmi Shockley, Michelle Stickler, Ty Burton, Lauren Meoli and Jordan Welch; back, Hunter Marshall, Brandon Thaler, Christopher Potvin, Jordan Kilgore, Trent Hartman, Jim Engel, Devin Hammond, Kelley Chandler, Rayne Parker, John Lewis and Hope Evans. Missing from the photo are Emma Richardson and Chase...READ MORE

OC Elementary Students of the Month

Ocean City Elementary School honored the March Students of the Month with a luncheon and a beautiful cake on Tuesday, March 30. Students honored were first graders, first row,  Serap Aksu, Paige Foard, Zitlhaly Lopez Camancho, Leeth Omar and Yasmeen Sbih;  second graders, second row, Max Ewancio, Isabelle Kristick, Cali Peters, Ava VanDornick and Delaney Williams;  third graders, third row,  Grace Beres, Dylan Bossalina, Gabrielle Griffith, Sarah Hancock, Miranda Hearne and...READ MORE

SDHS Students Attend Virginia Convention

Stephen Decatur High School students Katherine Bakke, Natalie Cieri, Taylor Tobak, Rachel Slotter, Rachel Thompson, Maura Smith, Lydia Logan and Elizabeth Davidson pose before attending the Key Club District Convention banquet in Arlington, Va. last month. ...READ MORE

Buckingham Students Dress Up Like Historical Figures

To culminate their unit on biographies, Buckingham Elementary third grade students dressed up as the person that they read about and gave a speech in front of their class. Back row are Daletez Smith, Ian Burak, Kayla Parker, Carl Mione, Blaine Warren and Kelle Grau; and, front, Makeyla Garcia, Rashawn Taylor, Emma Moore, Madison Thumma, Allison Hunter and Mahreen Ishfaq ...READ MORE

10th Annual Art Fest at BIS Deemed a Hit

Berlin Intermediate's 10th Annual Art Fest was a huge success with 245 children attending with approximately 90 parents and 30 students volunteering from Stephen Decatur High School. Above, sixth grader Becky Evans stands in front of the  Chihuly Chandelier that students designed and built out of balloons instead of blown glass  ...READ MORE

Scenes From Showell Elementary 1st Grade Classroom

First grade students from Mrs. Raffo's class at Showell Elementary used holiday jellybeans to sort, count, graph and analyze data.  Above, Luke Davis and Adam Sites are working hard to make their graphs accurate. ...READ MORE

Faces in Places

A spotlight on the local and regional bar and restaurant scene ...READ MORE

Berlin's Purnell Takes DePaul Job

BERLIN- In somewhat of a surprise move this week, Berlin native and former Stephen Decatur High School basketball standout Oliver Purnell decided to leave the head coaching job at Clemson University and the ACC to take the reins at DePaul University in Chicago, a school with a rich basketball tradition that has fallen on tough times in recent years. The announcement came on Tuesday that Purnell had accepted the head coaching job at DePaul and was leaving Clemson and the ACC after a successful...READ MORE

Bank of Ocean City Player of the Week

This week's Bank of Ocean City Player of the Week for the Worcester Prep girls' varsity lacrosse team went to Skylar Seigfried, who had a big game in goal against rival Decatur last Saturday. Pictured above, from left are Coach Yetive Delaney, Seigfried and Bank of Ocean City Assistant Vice President Earl Conley. ...READ MORE

Decatur Blanks Mardela, Remains Unbeaten

BERLIN- Stephen Decatur's varsity softball team remained unbeaten last week, blanking host Mardela, 8-0, to improve to 3-0 on the season. The Seahawks used the tried and true formula of lights out pitching from starter Maddie Justice and timely hitting to beat Mardela in an early season clash of unbeaten teams in the Bayside Conference. The Warriors did their part, committing six errors in the game that opened the floodgates for the Seahawks' offensive attack. After threatening in the first...READ MORE

Bliss Salon--West OC Fitness SDHS Player of the Week

This week's Bliss Salon-West Ocean City Fitness Stephen Decatur boys' lacrosse Player of the Week went to Curtis Snyder, who enjoyed a great second week of the season with eight goals, three assists and six ground balls. Pictured above, from left: Coach Scott Lathroum, Coach Jason Pylpczuk, Snyder and Head Coach Jason Macrides. At today's home game against North Caroline, the Decatur lacrosse boosters will raffle off a skin board, sweatshirt and hat from K-Coast, a $30 gift card from Home Depot...READ MORE

Decatur Track Teams Sweep Meet

BERLIN- Stephen Decatur's varsity track teams dominated at home last week with both the boys' and girls' teams winning their respective meets in impressive fashion against a bevy of Bayside Conference foes. The Decatur girls far outpaced the competition with 200 total team points to win its meet. The next closest opponent was James M. Bennett with 88 team points, followed by Washington with 78 points. The Decatur boys cruised to victory in their meet, but the point spread was not as pronounced....READ MORE

Seahawks Rout Warriors, 14-0

BERLIN- Stephen Decatur's varsity baseball team pounded Mardela, 14-0, last week with production from up and down the batting order and another quality outing by a starter. Brad Stiles was dominating at times against the Warriors on the road last Thursday, allowing just three hits and striking out eight in a game shortened to five innings. Stiles also helped his own cause at the plate with a home run and three runs driven in. James Rossi collected four hits in the win over Mardela and scored two...READ MORE

Worcester Girls Edge Decatur, 12-11

BERLIN- Worcester Prep's girls' varsity lacrosse team edged Decatur, 12-11, last Saturday during their own invitational tournament, ending a losing streak against their cross-town rivals dating back at least four years. The Mallards won their holiday invitational tournament last Saturday, beating Manchester Valley of Carroll County, 13-9, in the championship game, but the matinee proved to be much more compelling than the main feature. Worcester's win in the tournament final was more or less an...READ MORE

Armed And Dangerous Man Sought

BERLIN - Local law enforcement officials this week are looking for a man wanted in connection with an attempted shooting outside a Berlin service club in late March. Last Friday, Berlin police officers, assisted by the Worcester County Sheriff's Office criminal enforcement team, executed a search-and-seizure warrant at a residence at the Homes of Berlin I apartments. The search focused on a firearm used in an incident outside the American Legion on Showell Street in Berlin back on March...READ MORE

REOs Spark Concerns With Market Recovery

OCEAN CITY •€' Recovery oftentimes takes a long time, but some say that although the real estate market is undeniably showing signs of life again, it may never reach the heights that it did just a few years ago. It didn't seem that long ago that real estate in Worcester County was booming, as were property values and tax revenues. Developers and construction workers were working at an all-time high, people had their pick of jobs, and local businesses profited from the trickledown business...READ MORE

Thoughts From The Publisher's Desk

You can't make this stuff up. As part of an ordinance this week drafted as a result of the controversial dollar taxi medallion sale, the Ocean City Mayor and Council added an amendment requiring a taxi operator issue a public apology regarding the comment he made last week in this newspaper. Classic Taxi's Ray Godman called city officials, 'greedy bastards' in last week's issue. In what seemed akin to how an elementary school teacher would discipline little Joey after he ridiculed Jimmy for...READ MORE

Voices From The Readers

Support For County Tourism Funding Shift Editor: As president of the Berlin Chamber of Commerce, I'd like to express my thanks to Lisa Challenger and the Worcester County Department of Tourism. We are a small organization that works to help our business community succeed and the Tourism Department has been a wonderful tool to help with this goal. Lisa and her staff have helped the Berlin Chamber both financially and promotionally with many of our events and have helped in the overall effort to...READ MORE

A Lame Threat By State Legislators

Legislators wisely decided this week leave intact state funding of the University of Maryland School of Law's environmental clinic. Public funds to the tune of $500,000 or more were in jeopardy after some leading lawmakers criticized law students being used to file a Clean Water Act lawsuit against a local poultry farm and Perdue Farms, the country's third largest poultry company. The legislature, with the House Appropriations Committee, chaired by local Delegate Norm Conway, leading the charge,...READ MORE

Fatherhood Adventures

Easter is one of those days when my boys get to be taken advantage of by their mother. Both my kids are still young enough not to have any say or even care what they wear at any given moment. As a matter of fact, Beckett is clearly at his happiest running around without any clothes on at all. I admit I love watching him frolic around naked because he seems to be at his goofiest. He gets so excited that he just giggles endlessly as he runs around aimlessly. I could fill up this entire column with...READ MORE

Friday, April 9--Berlin Budget To Shrink 10%

By Cara Dahl Staff Writer BERLIN - Berlin will have $1.3 million less to spend in fiscal year 2011, with revenues estimated at $12.4 million. In the current fiscal year, Berlin has $13.7 million in revenues to work with, but that number has dropped 10 percent overall for the next fiscal year. 'We do not see any essential services cut back at all,' said Berlin Mayor Gee Williams, who presented the town's budget during the first of two budget work sessions this week. Overall, town departments...READ MORE

Friday, April 9--Inlet Parking Hike Approved

OCEAN CITY - Ocean City officials this week formally approved an increase in the Inlet parking lot rates during the peak summer season, but not before a brief discussion about relaxing the rules for downtown parking in general during the shoulder months. In what was essentially a mere formality, the Mayor and Council on Monday voted 5-1 to increase the parking rates at the Hugh T. Cropper Inlet Parking Lot for the coming season. The new pay schedule includes a $1.50-per-hour rate from April 15...READ MORE

Friday, April 9--No Swimming During Boat Races

OCEAN CITY - The grand spectacle and sheer energy of offshore powerboat racing returns to the resort in May with the arrival of the first leg of the 2010 Geico Offshore Grand Prix, but fans will once again have to clear out of the ocean during the event. Race officials came before the Mayor and Council on Monday seeking final approval for the event, set for May 28-29 in the resort area. Produced by OPA Offshore Racing and sponsored locally by Sunset Marina, which will serve as race headquarters...READ MORE

Friday, April 9--Rabies Spike Prompts Request For More Clinics

SNOW HILL - Eleven cases of rabies have been confirmed so far this year, showing that the rabies epidemic has not abated despite the winter weather. Rabies continues to increase and threaten humans and animals in Worcester County, Health Officer Debbie Goeller told the County Commissioners Tuesday. Worcester County sees between 10 and 20 cases of rabies in animals every year. 'In 2009, we jumped to 52. This is a dramatic and significant increase for us,' said Goeller. Twenty-six people received...READ MORE

City Manager Ironing Out Difficult Budget's Details

OCEAN CITY •€' Seemingly everyone who follows local politics knows that City Manager Dennis Dare is trying to 'right-size' the local government. The question is: what is the right size for Ocean City's government to operate efficiently and effectively? Dare may not have necessarily coined the phrase 'right-sizing', but he's been literally showing town officials and tax payers what the word means since the fall of 2008, as he's slashed city spending by the millions and established new...READ MORE

Famous Dolphin 56 Spotted In Ocean City Waters

OCEAN CITY - A handful of local boaters enjoying a perfect Easter Sunday afternoon on the water this week were treated to a rare encounter with an ocean legend when the so-called Dolphin 56 swam up to their vessel near the mouth of the commercial harbor in West Ocean City and put on a brief show before taking off again. A group of Stephen Decatur High School students were fishing in a boat near Assateague when they decided to head into port. As they approached the commercial harbor, they spotted...READ MORE

Law Clinic's Funding Threat Pulled

SNOW HILL - A legislative threat to withhold funding from a state law school unless the school's legal clinics reported private client information to the General Assembly was reversed this week, removing the funding and the client information issue from the equation. In late March, both the Senate and the House of the General Assembly linked funding, up to $750,000, for the University of Maryland School of Law to the release of client lists and expenditures from the school's law clinics. Law...READ MORE

Mixed Views On Whether $1 Taxi Medallion Sale Was Fraudulent

OCEAN CITY •€' The Mayor and City Council seized a taxi medallion this week and dished out a slap on the wrist for the proverbial egg that almost smattered their faces when two local cab companies tried to beat the system and transfer a taxi medallion for $1. Yet, this week, there was still some murmurings about the exact point the medallion transfer between Classic and Century Taxi became what the Mayor and Council found to be fraudulent. City Solicitor Guy Ayres said last week that there...READ MORE

OC Taxi Operators Apologize To Save Businesses

OCEAN CITY - Satisfied with a public apology, including a retraction of less than flattering statements made about them in the media, the Ocean City Mayor and Council on Monday agreed to forego debarment proceedings for two taxi business owners involved in a perceived fraudulent sale of a taxi medallion. For much of Monday's lengthy hearing on the suspect transaction, it appeared a debarment proceeding for the cab companies involved, Memory Lane Transportation Inc., trading as Classic Taxi, and...READ MORE

Aquaculture Debris After Storm Concerns Residents

SNOW HILL - Public concerns over aquaculture sites in Chincoteague Bay off South Point continue despite a recent public meeting. Two areas in Chincoteague Bay have been selected as pre-approved aquaculture sites, with the rest of the bay licensed through a more involved process. There are several aquaculture operations currently in leased waters along the South Point shoreline. On Tuesday, the Worcester County Commissioners discussed aquaculture issues with staff. The state considered 16...READ MORE

Attempted Murder Reported In Resort

OCEAN CITY - An Ocean City man is being held without bond this week on attempted murder charges after allegedly attacking his live-in girlfriend, choking and nearly breaking the victim's arm before attacking her with a knife. Around 12:30 a.m. on Monday, the Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) was dispatched to a residence on Sunset Drive in the 26th Street area to assist Ocean City EMS personnel with a woman whose arm was allegedly broken. Upon arrival, the OCPD officer met with a man later...READ MORE

County Schools Plan Alternative Energy Projects

BERLIN - Four schools in Worcester County will pursue alternative energy education with the help of Delmarva Power mini-grants. Delmarva Power recently awarded $10,338 total in alternative energy education mini-grants to 24 teachers in Maryland and Delaware schools. Over the last two decades, Delmarva Power has awarded nearly $200,000 total in energy education mini-grants to regional schools, both public and private. Four local schools will benefit from the power company's alternative energy...READ MORE

Jewelry Store Burglar Sentenced To 18 Months

SNOW HILL - An Ocean City man arrested in January after breaking into a Boardwalk jewelry store and stealing thousands of dollars in merchandize before being captured and detained by employees of a downtown bar pleaded guilty yesterday in Circuit Court to one count of felony theft and was sentenced to 10 years in jail. Donald Anthony Collins, 51, appeared in Circuit Court on Thursday to face a dozen total charges from burglary to theft to malicious destruction of property stemming from an...READ MORE

Medallion Deadline Expires Today

OCEAN CITY •€' By the end of the day on Friday, the town may have seized more taxi medallions as the extended deadline to get the cars on the road reached an end. Then again, Friday may mark the day when several new cab companies introduce themselves to the Ocean City consumer. When the Mayor and City Council passed the new taxi medallion ordinance, one of the caveats attached to a purchase of a brand new Ocean City taxi medallion was that it must be attached to a car and put on the road...READ MORE

New Route 50 Bridge Option Surfaces

SNOW HILL - A new, lower version of one design for a new Route 50 bridge would be the same height as the current bridge and have the same environmental and neighborhood impacts, the County Commissioners heard Tuesday. The Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) appeared before the commissioners at their regular meeting this week to present the modified design, which the commissioners had requested in the fall. The new design, designated 5C, is the same design as 5A, but instead of a 30-foot...READ MORE

Ocean City News In Brief

OCEAN CITY - Despite weighty issues such as the allegedly fraudulent taxi medallion sale, the Mayor and Council did have a considerable amount of the town's business to conduct this week. The following are some of the highlights from the council meeting as well as Tuesday's Planning and Zoning Commission meeting: Airport Bond Approved The Mayor and Council voted 6-0 to approve an ordinance allowing the town to sell a $725,000 general obligation installment bond to pay for the construction of new...READ MORE

Stimulus Funds To Repave School Road

SNOW HILL - The County Commissioners briefly discussed a road repaving, flush tax grants and the beach replenishment fund at their first April meeting. -- Federal stimulus funding will pay for the repaving of Seahawk Rd., which provides access to Stephen Decatur Middle School and Stephen Decatur High School. Worcester County has been awarded $1.3 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding. That money will allow the county to repave all or portions of four roads in the...READ MORE

Tax Freedom Day Near For Residents

BERLIN - Tax Freedom Day, the point in the year when typical Americans stop working for Uncle Sam and start working for themselves, arrives nationwide today, four days earlier than it did last year, but most Marylanders and Worcester County residents will have to wait until April 19 to hit the milestone. Researched and announced each year by the Tax Foundation, Tax Freedom Day represents the point on the calendar when workers across the country have earned enough to meet their federal, state,...READ MORE

Tow Franchise Eyed For Revenue Boost

OCEAN CITY •€' The town is considering establishing yet another franchise in order to raise revenue and reduce costs, as officials announced this week their desire to allocate the responsibilities for vehicles towed by the police department to the private sector. City Manager Dennis Dare said this week the move could save a substantial amount of money and ease responsibility for a shorthanded city workforce. 'Currently we have a list of companies that the police department rotates through...READ MORE

Who's Playing When and Where Musically Speaking

Buxy's Salty Dog 410-289-0973 28th St. & Coastal Hwy. Friday, April 9: Aaron Howell Band Saturday, April 10: Bond & Bently Carousel Resort Hotel & Condominiums 410-524-1000 On the beach, 118th St. Every Friday: DJ Rupe, 7-9 p.m. Clarion Hotel 410-524-3535 10100 Coastal Hwy.  Ocean Club: Friday, April 9 & Saturday, April 10: First Class Dr.Unks Bar & Grille 410-213-7775 , 9636 Stephen Decatur Hwy., West OC Friday, April 9: Blake Haley, 6 p.m. Fager's...READ MORE

OC Lions Club Recognizes Leo Club Advisors

The Ocean City Lions Club has recognized Ocean City-Berlin Leo Club advisors Nikki Zervakos, left, and Nora Duke, second from left, for their continued interest and hard work in terms of making the Ocean City-Berlin Leo Club a success. Both teach at Stephen Decatur High School. Also shown are Leo Club President Lindsey Bankert and Ocean City Lions Club President Larry Schissler. The Leo Club is a youth-based community group sponsored by the Ocean City Lions and is based at Stephen Decatur High...READ MORE

BIS Students Paper Hospital Walls with Poetry

The halls and offices of Atlantic General Hospital (AGH) are papered with the artwork and poetry of the fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grade students at Berlin Intermediate School. The works express their appreciation for the medical staff as part of National Doctors' Day and the hospital's own Doctors' Week. The projects were part of the arts immersion program and the school's curriculum. Third and fourth graders from Ocean City Elementary and students in Early Intervention through second grade at...READ MORE

Outreach Provider Thanked By Kiwanis Club

Atlantic General Hospital Outreach Provider, Judy Rafkin, R.N, is pictured being thanked by Kiwanis President Dan Peletier for speaking to the Kiwanis Club of Greater Ocean Pines-Ocean City on March 31 at the Ocean Pines Community Center. ...READ MORE

Six County Students Honored at Women's History Luncheon

Six Worcester County students, nominated by a teacher, pastor or guidance counselor, were honored by the Worcester County Commission for Women at the Women's History Luncheon last month. Receiving the Women of Tomorrow Awards were local students Jessica Trotter, Natalie Cieri, Emily Cieri, Marleigh Eure, Rachel Allman and Leslie Hurley.  ...READ MORE

Winners of Wheelbarrow of Cheer Raffled At OC Home and Garden Show

Ocean City/Berlin Rotary Club Treasurer Tom Bickerstaff, right, is pictured with Chuck and Jo Ann Nimmerichter, winners of the 'Wheelbarrow of Cheer' raffled off at the Ocean City Home, Condo and Garden Show. Proceeds from the raffle go into the club's ongoing scholarship program. ...READ MORE

People in Society

Snapshots of Those Lending a Hand Throughout the Community ...READ MORE

A Week In Business

New Practice Opened SELBYVILLE, Del. - Atlantic General Hospital and Health System announced the opening of a new internal medicine practice in Selbyville, Del., conveniently located within the Strawberry Center on Route 113. AGHS Internal Medicine/Selbyville will be the new office of Dr. Nhu Tran, a board-certified internal medicine physician with twenty years of experience in providing adult healthcare. Tran takes a holistic approach to health and wellness and has a passionate interest in...READ MORE

Mission Statements Work For Families

OCEAN CITY - Everyone in your family knows the values you share •€' right? Not always, and many families are finding a remedy in family mission statements. No longer emblazoned in Latin below a coat of arms, the family mission statement can impart the values, integrity and ethics that help define the family. It's the kind of declaration rarely found in a traditional financial and estate plan. In fact, family mission statements can be as personal as the families they reflect. And they can...READ MORE

We Remember Those We Have Lost

Jessie Lee Everhart FRUITLAND - Jessie Lee Everhart, 55, died Monday, April 5, 2010 at Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury. Born in Salisbury, she was the daughter of the late Charles Edward Layton and Evelyn Mildred Culhane Layton Allen Coyle. She was preceded in death by her husband, Ruba Lee Everhart, in 2003. She was a graduate of Stephen Decatur High School Class of 1972. She had worked with medication delivery for many years. She is survived by her daughter, Jamie Lee Everhart...READ MORE

What's Your Sign?

ARIES (March 21 to April 19): A problem in getting a workplace project up and moving might upset the Lamb, who likes things done on time. But be patient. The delay could turn out to be a blessing in disguise. TAURUS (April 20 to May 20): Your instincts are usually on the mark, so if you feel uneasy about being asked for advice on a certain matter, it's probably a good idea that you opt not to comply with the request. GEMINI (May 21 to June 20): You might have two minds about a proposed change...READ MORE

Things I Like

A little spirit on Easter Random smiles from strangers Cruising in a convertible with the top down Watching my son make himself dizzy Fresh hardwood mulch Sunny, warm mornings A young person reading in a park Men who wear their wedding rings Breaking in a new pair of flip flops Squirrels chasing each other around a tree Chips with guacamole and queso ...READ MORE