With the calendar flipping to 2018 next week, I have been thinking ahead to what the next 12 months could hold on the local news front. Here are some of my predictions:•Republican Gov. Larry Hogan will retain his seat in the 2018 gubernatorial election after a narrow victory over Prince George’s County Executive Rushern Baker,… Read more »
It’s that time of year to evaluate the predictions I made the last week of 2016 for the year 2017. As usual, it’s a mixed bag of results. I was right on some and blew it on others. xOn The Money•It turns out I was correct when I said a federal judge would disqualify the… Read more »
Ocean City visitors will notice a major change when they go to park downtown next summer. The Mayor and Council agreed to spend about $600,000 to overhaul the paid parking system on downtown streets and municipal parking lots, including the Inlet.While there will certainly be an education component with it, the new system will be… Read more »
Typically discussions about comprehensive plans are fairly dry but there were a few moments during the Ocean City Planning Commission’s review of a draft update to the town’s document that were interesting.The most compelling involved Planning Commissioner Lauren Taylor’s concern about a line in the draft recommending additional time for bicycling on the Boardwalk during… Read more »
In the Committee on Paid Leave Policy’s final report to Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, Ocean City’s concern about the seasonality of its businesses was directly broached.Readers will remember Hogan vetoed a controversial paid sick leave bill passed by the Maryland General Assembly earlier this year that’s been characterized as disastrous for small businesses, especially those… Read more »
As expected, Delegate Mary Beth Carozza announced she will challenge incumbent Senator Jim Mathias next year. Although they may be contested in next June’s primaries, it’s a certainty it will be Carozza against Mathias next November. That means Mathias, a registered Democrat, will once again have to campaign heavily to retain his seat against a… Read more »
The Ocean City lodging industry is extremely dependent on the motorized vehicle events for revenue in the shoulder months. That fact is why the city will be hard pressed to ever do away with them entirely without a major revolt from the business community.The hope here is that Ocean City will by introducing new special… Read more »
Included in the Ocean City Police Commission’s action plan for the controversial vehicle special events and the list of seven recommendations to eliminate illicit activity associated with them is a separate document that rates the various vehicle-related special events on a variety of factors. The ratings included the behavior of non-event attendees, the behavior of… Read more »
There was supposed to be a lot of beach replenishment taking place in our area this fall and winter. Ocean City’s project began this week and should be completed after about two months, working from north to south. A similar project for southern Delaware was to begin shortly thereafter in early 2018.It was learned this… Read more »
Every year the Hometown Heroes program on the Boardwalk grows and gets better. What made this year’s program so unique was two-fold; one, it doubled to 40 honorees and included World War II and Korean War veterans, and second, eight of the individuals died over the course of the summer as their banners hung in… Read more »
