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… Read more »

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… Read more »

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… Read more »

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… Read more »

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… Read more »

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… Read more »

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… Read more »

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… Read more »

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… Read more »

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… Read more »