SNOW HILL – After listening to emotionally charged testimony from several members of the victim’s family, Worcester County Circuit Court Judge Theodore Eschenberg on Monday sentenced convicted killer Roberto Antonio Murillo to life in prison for the stabbing death of a West Ocean City woman in April.In October, Murillo, 29, of West Ocean City, was… Read more »

BERLIN – The closure of Berlin’s iconic Atlantic Hotel and Solstice, the associated restaurant, should be temporary and should not affect other town businesses too strongly, locals predicted this week in the wake of the announcement.Few were surprised at the closure. Like many small towns, bad news travels fast in the town of Berlin and… Read more »

OCEAN CITY – The smoke may have cleared, but the argument certainly hasn’t.It’s been almost a year since the Clean Indoor Air Act took effect last Feb. 1, banning smoking inside of restaurants and bars, and leaving smokers statewide literally outside looking in.Since then, some local businesses have tried to cater to their smoking clientele… Read more »

SNOW HILL – Donations are down slightly at area houses of worship, and churches are cutting back, but business will go on as usual, local institutions say.“We’ve seen a little decrease. It’s hard to figure for us. Here in Ocean City it’s so seasonal,” Father Richard Smith of St. Luke’s Catholic Church said. “We’re down… Read more »

BERLIN – Nearly 4,800 acres of ecologically important forestland in southern Worcester County will be preserved by the state, the Maryland Board of Public Works decided this week.The 4,769-acre Foster property is the largest set of contiguous forestlands in private hands in the state of Maryland. The Nature Conservancy has been working with the Foster… Read more »

SNOW HILL – Silence from the Worcester County Commissioners greeted a reporter’s question on the $1.1 million Beka lawsuit settlement at Tuesday morning’s County Commissioner meeting, before Commission President Louise Gulyas finally said that she did not think the commissioners could discuss the litigation. The commissioners appeared to not want to discuss the matter. Gerry… Read more »

OCEAN CITY – Chief Chris Larmore knows there’s a fine line between cutting costs and cutting corners on the services provided by the Ocean City Fire Department, and that line was made a bit clearer on Monday night at City Hall.Larmore gave his monthly report to the Mayor and Council and outlined some tactical changes… Read more »

OCEAN CITY –It seems that the town’s security system will be tightened with similar tenacity to that of the town’s proverbial spending belt.  Better yet, the heightened security won’t mean a diminished general fund.The City Council unanimously approved to bid out the cost of a City-wide Security Access Control System, which includes a new technologically… Read more »

OCEAN CITY – The Ocean City Police Department is mourning the loss of a special dog, K-9 Semper, who succumbed to kidney failure on Dec. 17 after retiring from the department in September after nearly seven years of dedicated service.Semper came to the Ocean City Police Department from the Czech Republic in February 2002, at… Read more »

OCEAN CITY – Maryland Natural Resources Police (NRP) this week seized three tons of illegally harvested striped bass from a trawler at the commercial harbor in West Ocean City after watching the 80-foot vessel drag a net about two miles off the Inlet all day last Sunday.According to Maryland Natural Resources Police spokesman Sgt. Ken… Read more »