Articles

Berlin Murder Trial Hinges On Self-Defense Argument

SNOW HILL - Closing arguments in the first-degree murder trial of an Ocean City man charged with the beating death of a Berlin teen in May wrapped up late yesterday, leaving the 12-member jury with the task of deciding if the defendant maliciously struck and killed the victim with a baseball bat, or if he wielded the bat in self defense in the face of an angry mob. The murder trial of accused killer Dominic Richard Canale, 22, of Ocean City, began on Wednesday with passionate opening statements...READ MORE

Murder Trial Provides Lesson In Jury Selection

SNOW HILL - The trial of an Ocean City man charged with first-degree murder in the beating death of a Berlin teen in May began on Wednesday with an hours-long jury selection phase, providing new insight to the lengthy, but critical process for both the state and the defense. It was standing room only in the historic courtroom in Snow Hill on Wednesday as the trial began for Dominic Richard Canale, 22, of Ocean City, who is charged with first-degree murder in the beating death of Michael Harry...READ MORE

Purnell "Carefully" Mulling Berlin Council Run

BERLIN - Rumors pegging developer Troy Purnell as a candidate for the vacant District One Berlin Town Council seat are almost true, with Purnell saying this week that he is thinking about a town council run but has not made up his mind yet. 'I have not decided,' Purnell said. 'I'm considering it carefully. I think I could do a good job or I wouldn't be considering it.' Questions have been raised over potential conflicts of interest between Purnell's extensive development projects inside and...READ MORE

Tight Times Reiterate Need For Value Dining

OCEAN CITY - 'Foodies' might be sitting pretty when they do decide to dine out, as restaurants from Coastal Highway to California are jockeying for position by offering the best deals to potential diners, despite skyrocketing food costs. The National Restaurant Association is projecting that 2009 will be the 'most challenging for the industry since 1980', citing rising food costs, a tanking economy and the dwindling number of 'eat-out' diners whose finances are getting tighter and tighter. All...READ MORE

Worcester, Nation Set New Voter Turnout Record

OCEAN CITY - A record number of voters turned out both locally and nationally in Tuesday's historic Presidential election, making it the biggest percentage voter turnout in a century. With 88 percent of precincts in on Wednesday, over 136 million people cast votes in Tuesday's Presidential election, which saw Senator Barack Obama of Illinois elected as the country's first African-American President.  That equates to 64.1 percent of registered voters who turned up at the polls, beating the...READ MORE

City Financial Report Details Last Fiscal Year

OCEAN CITY - Local residents looking to see where the money is coming from and just how local government is spending it now can view the 131-page annual Ocean City financial report or the eight-paged 'easy-to-read' version. City Finance Administrator Martha Lucey presented the report, which has earned a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for 19 straight years, to the Mayor and City Council on Monday and was praised by Mayor Rick Meehan for 'giving Ocean City such a...READ MORE

Disease Found In Northern County Soybean Field

BISHOPVILLE - Crop disease soybean rust has been found for the first time in the state of Maryland in a sentinel field in northern Worcester County, but experts say the disease should not affect the 2008 soybean crop. 'It happened at the very end of the growing season, and in fact frost had already damaged the uppermost foliage of this extremely late soybean sentinel plot,' said Dr. Arv Grybauskas, a plant pathologist with the University of Maryland extension service. The sentinel field soybean...READ MORE

Humane Society Supplies Stolen

WEST OCEAN CITY - The Worcester County Humane Society in West Ocean City fell victim to a burglary this week when an unknown suspect or suspects broke into a storage facility and a van on the property and wiped out the facility's supply of pet food and other goods. Worcester County Humane Society staffer Kristy Haley said this week most of the stolen goods had just been brought to the facility by a volunteer who travels to Petco headquarters in New Jersey once a month and purchases a vanload of...READ MORE

Md. Wants County To Address Landfill's Methane Gas Buildup

SNOW HILL - Methane gas is building up at the capped Berlin landfill facility, but the concentrations are small and not harmful, county staff said this week. 'It's not heading to the west,' said Public Works Director John Tustin. 'It's not migrating toward the community.' The two exceedences detected have migrated closer to the southwestern property line, toward a woodland area, Tustin said. The Maryland Department of the Environment has written Worcester County a letter requiring the situation...READ MORE

Rezoning Overview Provides Details Of Future Rules

SNOW HILL - An overview of how the draft rezoning implements provisions of the 2006 Worcester County Comprehensive Plan has essentially provided a preview of the provisions of the anxiously awaited rezoning ordinance. The rewritten zoning and subdivision codes, which are necessary to implement the 31-month old plan, have not yet been released to the public. They are due before the end of the year. However, county staff updated the county commissioners this week on various pieces of the changes...READ MORE

Wind Turbines Hearing Set For OC This Month

OCEAN CITY - Private usage of alternate energy sources, namely small wind turbines, could become a reality in Ocean City by next year. Ocean City Planner Jesse Houston brought an ordinance before the Planning and Zoning Commission Wednesday, outlining guidelines and regulations for the permitted usage of small wind turbines as an accessory source of power in Ocean City. The ordinance will be subjected to a public hearing on Nov. 15 and must go through two readings by the Mayor and Council before...READ MORE