Let’s take a look inside some numbers I came across this week with local relevance as well as elsewhere:
– 71 million: The value in dollars of a four-year advertising contract approved by the Board of Public Works last week for the Maryland Lottery. This struck a chord among tourism officials across Maryland because the deal was okayed the same week the governor sliced $870,000 from the next fiscal year’s advertising budget.
– 75: Cents it now costs to get the Baltimore Sun at a local news stand after it was increased earlier this month from 50 cents. The Sun now costs the same daily as the USA Today and 25 cents more than the venerable Washington Post. The Sun and Post’s Sunday papers each cost $2.
– 200,000: Amount the city forward funded this week for a feasibility study on the expansion of the Roland E. Powell Convention Center.
– 31: Approximate number of dollars reportedly needed for a cab ride from Seacrets on 49th Street to Berlin last weekend.
– One: Number of resort retail establishments who reportedly sold to a minor last month during an alcohol enforcement check by the Ocean City Police Department.
– 34: Number who did not sell to the minor in the same OCPD operation mentioned.
– Six: Endorsement letters from Ocean Pines residents lauding their candidates of choice in the upcoming Board of Directors election. In keeping with policy, this newspaper does not publish those types of letters.
– Five: Cent increase in the Bay Bridge toll proposed by a local resident recently in a letter to the governor. The idea, according to the resident, who wished to remain anonymous, is the toll would increase to $2.55 with the extra nickel being devoted to a special advertising fund marketing the Eastern Shore destinations.
– 69: Dollars advertised as a summer special on the Buckingham Hotel marquee this week in Ocean City.
– 139: Boats registered for the 20th Annual Ocean City Tuna Tournament last weekend.
– 3,500,000: Expected prize money for next month’s White Marlin Open compared to last year’s $3.1 million.
– 38: Teams competing in this week’s annual BJ’s Canoe Race.
– Zero: Runs allowed by the Berlin 9-10-Year-Old All-Star team in the district championship this week.
– 69: Percentage of voters (165 votes cast) at mdcoastdispatch.com that favor Ocean City Police using Taser guns.
– 9,440: Average amount paid per hospital admission in Maryland in fiscal year 2005, according to a report released Wednesday by the Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission.
– 105: Helium balloons an Oregon man used to lift him and his lawn chair to the skies recently. He traveled 193 miles before taking out a BB gun and shooting enough balloons to ensure a safe and soft landing.
– 72: Percentage of voters in a poll at mdcoastdispatch.com who say they stay in Ocean City when they visit the area. There were 275 votes total in the poll, and the other results were West Ocean City, 10 percent; Other, 6 percent; Berlin, 5 percent; Ocean Pines, 4; and Snow Hill, 2 percent.
– 5.3: Millions of dollars worth of flags reportedly imported into the U.S. last year.
– 15,000: Grant money received by The Agape Project for its upcoming Door of Hope Program, which will allow single mothers to meet one-on-one with a professional counselor to tackle emotional and health issues.
– 326: Days a home in Berlin sat on the market before being sold for nearly $98,000 less than the original listing price, confirming what one local Realtor told me recently. “If it’s not priced right, you have no chance.”
