NEWARK – The number of English Language Learner (ELL) students in Worcester County public schools has nearly tripled since 2001.“The population continues to grow,” said Diane Stulz, who runs the ELL program for the Worcester County Board of Education. “We went up by 10.4 percent over last year.”Worcester County schools teach 233 ELL students currently,… Read more »

BERLIN – Convicted killer Erika Sifrit, who along with her husband Benjamin, brutally murdered and dismembered a Virginia couple vacationing in Ocean City on Memorial Day weekend in 2002, will get another day in court after the Frederick County Circuit Court where she was tried and convicted agreed this week to schedule hearings on her… Read more »

NEWARK – Unofficial high school assessment scores (HSA) show that the first graduating class to face the HSA requirement to get their diplomas has improved passing scores.“These are unofficial scores. They are still embargoed by the state,” said Stephanie Zanich, in charge of testing and assessments for the Worcester County Board of Education, at the… Read more »

OCEAN CITY – An Ocean City man arrested last month in connection with a rash of vending machine break-ins in the downtown area and was later linked to a series of other thefts and burglaries throughout the resort dating back to early June pleaded guilty this week in District Court to one count of felony… Read more »

OCEAN CITY – Drivers looking to showcase their love of Ocean City to every car on the road now have an official way to do it.Ocean City joined the growing trend of personalized vanity plates this week, as the City Council unanimously approved a vintage OC logo to be made available to all Maryland drivers… Read more »

OCEAN CITY – While everyone involved with the Play it Safe campaign hoped that it would catch on back in 1989, no one ever expected it to “catch fire” and become such a bright shining light two decades later in raising awareness against drug and alcohol use amongst teens.As the Play it Safe Ocean City… Read more »

BERLIN – Another new face has joined the ranks of hopeful politicians in Berlin, with Phil Cropper’s decision to run for the District 1 town council seat left vacant by the election of Gee Williams to the mayor’s slot.“I’m not happy with the way things have been going in the past few years in Berlin,”… Read more »

SNOW HILL – A local woman who provided phony prescription documents to an undercover Ocean City police narcotics agent as part of an elaborate scheme earlier this year pleaded guilty last week in Circuit Court to distributing painkillers and was sentenced to two years in jail.On Feb. 8, an undercover OCPD narcotics agent made arrangements… Read more »

BERLIN – Gee Williams will no longer need to list “interim” before the title of Berlin mayor after achieving election to the top elected post in town Tuesday with 59 percent of the vote.Williams, who took over as mayor temporarily when previous Mayor Tom Cardinale unexpectedly died in May, defeated former Mayor Rex Hailey by… Read more »

BERLIN – Lisa Hall won the District II Berlin Town Council seat Tuesday, beating out nearest rival Thom Gulyas by 33 votes.The District II votes broke down to 167 for Hall, 134 for Gulyas and 93 for Jason Walter.“I never thought about winning until tonight. I just wanted to get out in the community and… Read more »