Articles

O.C. Woman Charged with Killing Her Unborn Child

OCEAN CITY- Ocean City Police Department detectives were contacted by the Department of Social Services yesterday regarding a woman who was hospitalized at Peninsula Regional Medical Center. Christy Freeman, 37, of Ocean City, was admitted to the hospital around 4:25 a.m. Thursday. Upon examination, medical personnel determined she was pregnant, but the child was missing. After interviewing Freeman, officers obtained a search and seizure warrant for her Ocean City residence at 209 Sunset Drive....READ MORE

High School Project Costs Surprise Commissioners

SNOW HILL - Despite what one Worcester County Commissioner called 'shocking numbers,' the commissioners voted Tuesday to send the Pocomoke High School (PHS) renovation and addition out to bid. The $45 million current cost estimate is $13 million more than the original estimate of $32 million. 'These numbers are shocking,' Commissioner Virgil Shockley said. Shockley said he doubts the county will be able to afford the Snow Hill High School renovation and the Showell Elementary School project...READ MORE

Local Lawmakers Score Well On Environmental Report Card

BERLIN - The annual environmental report cards for state legislators were released last week by the Maryland League of Conservation Voters (MLCV), and the improved scores across the board in Maryland were mirrored by local lawmakers for the most part with few exceptions. The MLCV each year issues a scorecard of sorts rating the environmental voting records of state senators and delegates across Maryland from the most recent General Assembly session. The annual publication reviews each...READ MORE

Local Named To Team Heading To Surf In Australia

OCEAN CITY - Vince Boulanger is one of the many Ocean City local surfers who has spent his life surfing the local waters and dreaming of surfing the world's biggest waves. With this summer's trip to Australia with the ESA Allstar team, Boulanger is well on his way to realizing those dreams. Boulanger will travel halfway across the world with the other 24 members of the Allstar team to be coached on surfing and to meet an abundance of influential people in the surf industry. The ESA, or the...READ MORE

News In Brief

OCPD Chief Appointed To State Commission OCEAN CITY - Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley announced recently Ocean City Police Chief Bernadette DiPino was appointed as a regional representative to the Maryland Police Training Commission. The commission, which falls under the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, oversees the hiring and training standards for all law enforcement and corrections personnel throughout Maryland. DiPino will serve a three-year term on the commission....READ MORE

Town Plant Negotiations Continue At Slow Pace

BERLIN - Berlin Mayor Tom Cardinale and developer Troy Purnell had hoped to sign a memorandum on the construction of the new wastewater plant at the Crossroads development this week, but the final draft of the document was not complete by yesterday afternoon. Although the memorandum of understanding was not on the agenda of Monday night's Berlin Town Council meeting, it was one of the first items discussed. 'I would like to emphasize this is not a contract,' said Berlin Utilities Commission...READ MORE

Berlin OKs New Dog Rules

BERLIN - A public hearing on Berlin's new dog regulations attracted a single speaker, and the Town Council passed the ordinance with little fanfare Monday night. 'I agree with the ordinance. I appreciate the ordinance,' Diane Graham said. 'It seems lately in our society dogs are more entitled to rights than people are.' The new ordinance requires all dogs to be leashed when off the owner's property and imposes higher fines on biting dogs. The new law also governs dog-created nuisances, like...READ MORE

Guilty Plea For Trying To Buy Items With Pot

 OCEAN CITY - A Bel Air, Md., man found out this week cash, not marijuana, is the currency of choice in Ocean City after pleading guilty to attempting to purchase items from a resort convenience store with a bag of dope in May, resulting in his arrest on drug and theft charges. Michael Lee Autry, 27, of Bel Air, Md., pleaded guilty to the charges of possession of marijuana in District Court on Monday for an incident in May when he attempted to exchange marijuana for merchandise at the...READ MORE

Sand Source For Replenishment Work Discussed

OCEAN CITY - In an effort to find new sources of material offshore for the ongoing beach replenishment project, a public meeting was held Wednesday night to outline the program, identify the areas under consideration and allow for public comment. According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the identified sources of sand offshore for the beach replenishment project in Ocean City could be exhausted by 2010, well before the project is to be completed in 2044. In 1994, construction for the...READ MORE

Water Restrictions Near In Berlin If Drought Continues

BERLIN - The town of Berlin is considering enacting water conservation measures after this year's drought has significantly reduced water supplies.  'We should talk about water conservation,' Town Council member Ellen Lang said during the council comments portion of the meeting on Monday evening. 'Somerset County is having problems. We're approximately 40 percent off of the rainfall we normally have here.' The Berlin Utilities Commission (BUC) discussed voluntary water conservation last...READ MORE

County Votes 4-3 To Accept Exorbitant Bids

BERLIN - Despite bid prices for the county jail renovation and addition coming in at $3 million over estimate, four Worcester County Commissioners voted to accept the bids, derailing the efforts of other commissioners to re-bid some aspects of the project in search of lower prices. The jail project's budget for materials and work was estimated at $19.3 million before the bids were received, but came in at $22.4 million after the bids were opened and some of the prices were negotiated down. Some...READ MORE

Father Dies Trying To Rescue His Kids

OCEAN CITY - Tragedy struck last weekend when a Fruitland man died in the ocean near the Inlet while attempting to save his two young sons caught in a rip current. Around 5:45 p.m. on Sunday, Renald Charles, 38, of Fruitland, went into the ocean near the Inlet in an attempt to rescue his two sons, ages 10 and 13, who had become distressed in the water. The father and two sons, now caught in a rip current, drifted around the north jetty and headed toward the Inlet. Witnesses on a nearby...READ MORE

Feds Eye Options To Reduce Island's Horse Population

ASSATEAGUE - While Chincoteague held its famous pony swim and auction this week as a means to reduce the size of its native horse population and earn some money for the local volunteer fire company along the way, its neighbors to the north at Assateague continue to explore ways to thin its herd of wild ponies.  An estimated 150 wild horses crossed the channel from the barrier island to the fairgrounds on the other side during the 82nd Annual Chincoteague Wild Pony Swim on Wednesday in what...READ MORE

White Marlin Open Inks Deal To Stay In OC Through 2010

OCEAN CITY - Hundreds of thousands of sport fishing enthusiasts will cram into the resort late next week with the arrival of the annual White Marlin Open, but despite some inherent problems with the tournament's traditional venue, steps have been taken to ensure it remains a uniquely Ocean City event. Rumors have persisted for years the annual White Marlin Open, now in its 34th year, would some day move to a new location likely somewhere in West Ocean City where big venues such as Sunset Marina...READ MORE

Accident Causes OC Power Outage

OCEAN CITY - A local man faces several hit-and-run charges this week for leaving the scene of an accident after colliding with stabilizing wires on an electric utility pole, knocking out power for much of the resort Wednesday afternoon and into the night. Ocean City police responded to a hit-and-run traffic crash Wednesday afternoon around 4:39 p.m.  Witnesses told police a man in a pickup truck collided with several wires stabilizing a Delmarva Power utility pole at 2nd Street and...READ MORE

Berlin Planners Hear Proposed Project's Details

BERLIN - Property owners Tom Ruark and Monogram Builders would like to develop the Davis-Taylor Farms into 816 units of workforce housing and assisted living, but Bob Bunting, owner of the neighboring airstrip, is not happy with that idea. Bunting fears the development's residents would complain about aircraft noise and that eventually he would be sued. The past history of developments near airstrips shows that complaints just increase as more houses are built, according to Bunting. 'By the...READ MORE

Chilly Ocean Rebounds From Recent Cold Spell

OCEAN CITY - Swimmers who have noticed the unusually cold waters over the past two weeks saw a five-degree temperature spike Sunday, resulting in warmer waters for beach-goers. According to Ocean City Beach Patrol Crew Chief Jason Konyar, the ocean temperature increased from 68.7 degrees on Saturday to 73 degrees on Sunday. The temperature increase is good news for swimmers, but many vacationers wondered last week the reason behind the rise and fall of water temperatures. Konyar explained that...READ MORE

Council Seeks Town Hall Flag Thoughts

BERLIN - The two new flagpoles proposed for the roof of Berlin's town hall may not be the best choice, and public input on new flagpoles at Berlin's Town Hall is needed, the Town Council agreed this week. Two weeks ago, Mayor Tom Cardinale suggested replacing the current set-up, which has small flagpoles jutting from the second story Town Hall, over the front door awning, with two new poles extending into the air over the roof. 'Frankly, I'm not smitten with your idea of flags flying on top of...READ MORE

County's First Online Auction Called A Success

SNOW HILL - Worcester County's first online auction of surplus vehicles and equipment was successful and brought in more money than the most recent traditional auction, Worcester County staff reported this week, 'We grossed around $84,500 on the auction with minimal expenses,' said Public Works Director John Tustin. 'In 2005, we had nine more pieces of equipment and the [online] auction actually grossed $15,000 more.' All 59 items offered were sold, from 47 vehicles to 12 pieces of equipment,...READ MORE

Fire Wipes Out Route 589 Structure

BERLIN - A Tuesday evening fire at a plant nursery along Route 589 across from Ocean Downs pumped billowing black smoke into the sky that could be seen from miles around and snarled rush hour traffic along the busy corridor for hours as five area fire companies battled the blaze. The fire started around 5 p.m. on Tuesday at the Planted Pleasures nursery on Route 589 and the smoke could be seen from Berlin to Ocean Pines to Ocean City. The fire was first reported at 5:14 p.m. and firefighters...READ MORE

Foreign Worker Foils Robbery Attempt

OCEAN CITY - In a situation that would be comical if it weren't so serious, an attempted armed robbery at a resort department store was thwarted this week when the clerk, a foreign seasonal worker, allegedly could not decipher the suspect's note demanding money. Resort police this week are searching for man who attempted to rob the Rose's department store in the old Ocean Plaza Mall on Monday night. Police responded to the store after receiving a call around 7:15 p.m. According to police...READ MORE