Articles

Surf Shop Happy To See Dew Tour Spotlight Action Sports

OCEAN CITY -- With the Dew Tour heading to the beach this week, one local business is hoping the event will show Ocean City how important action sports are to the Eastern Shore. “I think it [the tour] is going to be tremendous,” said Mark Pugh, one of the owners of K-Coast Surf Shop on 35th Street in Ocean City. “I think we’ll see a lot of day trippers come into town.” The Dew Tour is a massive event consisting of skateboard, BMX and surfing competitions, along with...READ MORE

Burger’s Surf’s Up Café Off To Fast Start In OC

OCEAN CITY – A new local hotspot opened last week and is aiming to provide a comfortable beach scene for locals and tourists alike to enjoy drinks, food and entertainment. According to owner Ed Burger, the grand opening of Surf’s Up Café on 54th Street and the bay last Thursday was a great success. “It went well,” Burger said. “A lot of locals and friends that we anticipated on coming came in but we also saw a lot of new faces as well.” Burger is...READ MORE

Wicomico Council Approves New Department Heads

SALISBURY -- The Wicomico County Council this week reluctantly approved the appointments of nine key department head positions after a discussion to table the actions in order to wait for County Executive Richard Pollitt’s much anticipated restructuring plan. Earlier this summer, 44 Wicomico employees took advantage of the county’s early retirement incentive plan and left their respective positions on July 1. In the wake of the mass exodus, which included several department heads,...READ MORE

Decatur Field House Nearly Done

BERLIN -- Stephen Decatur High School (SDHS) will be opening the doors to its new community-funded field house on Aug. 13. “It is 95 percent done,” said SDHS Principal Louis Taylor of the project. The mission to build the facility has been a long one for Taylor, who admits that it’s been a goal of his for the last 15 years. However, he explained that there was never enough money for the expensive undertaking and it had to be put on the backburner. Luckily, earlier this year...READ MORE

OC Motel Worker Busts Vending Bandits

OCEAN CITY -- A vigilant downtown motel employee this week is being credited with nabbing a pair of vending machine burglars wanted by resort police after observing their latest break-in early Monday morning. Throughout much of the summer, the Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) has been pursuing the unidentified suspect or suspects wanted in connection with a string of vending machine break-ins throughout the resort area to no avail. Early Monday morning, a maintenance man at the Eden Roc Motel...READ MORE

No Major Injuries In Nine-Car Crash

OCEAN CITY -- Traffic in and out of the resort was snarled last Friday night after nine cars carrying 16 occupants were involved in a series of three separate accidents on the Route 90 bridge. Around 9:45 p.m., Maryland State Police troopers responded to eastbound Route 90 and the span over the St. Martin’s River for a reported accident involving nine motor vehicles. The investigation revealed a single motor vehicle accident on the bridge had spawned two other accidents. The investigation...READ MORE

Resort Jeep Week Will Feature Beach Parade

OCEAN CITY – An Ocean City Special Edition 2011 Jeep Wrangler is in the works and will be joining the recently approved Ocean City Jeep Week Parade this year. The second annual Ocean City Jeep Week is slated for Aug. 25-28 and is hosted and funded by The Commander Hotel on 14th Street and sponsored by a group of local businesses. Will Lynch, spoke on behalf of The Commander Hotel and Ocean City Jeep Week, during Monday evening’s Mayor and City Council meeting. He explained the event...READ MORE

Alleged Dealer Drags Cop, Uses Canal To Escape

OCEAN CITY -- A Pennsylvania man was arrested on first-degree assault and numerous other charges last weekend after a wild incident that began with an attempted drug sale to undercover officer on the Boardwalk, included the dragging of another officer alongside a vehicle and ended with the suspect jumping into the bay before being caught hours later. Around 1:47 a.m. last Saturday, Ocean City narcotics detectives, assisted by undercover and plainclothes officers, attempted to arrest Michael...READ MORE

County Contracts Med Services For Jail

SNOW HILL -- Conmed Healthcare Management, Inc. has signed a full-service agreement with Worcester County to provide correctional healthcare services for the Worcester County Jail. The contract includes a full suite of services for detainees, including physicians and 24-hour nurses; utilization management and utilization review of out-of-facility services; management of pharmacy services; mobile x-ray; and laboratory services. The average inmate population of the facility is 370, including a...READ MORE

Convicted Killer’s Jail Escape Foiled

SNOW HILL -- Convicted killer Justin Hadel last week attempted to escape from the Worcester County Jail. Hadel, 20, of College Station, Texas, was found guilty of first-degree murder in June for the beating death of Christine Sheddy, a 26-year-old Delaware woman reported missing in November 2007 from a farm in Pocomoke where she had been staying with friends. Last Tuesday, jail officials learned Hadel had removed a 12- to 14-inch steel hinge pin from the door of the Administrative Segration 4...READ MORE

Chesapeake Bay Bridge Toll Hike Plan Blasted

BERLIN -- A lively crowd sent a unanimous message to the Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) last Thursday -- steep increases to the Bay Bridge toll would not be popular. “We can no longer remain complacent on the Eastern Shore,” asserted Gail Butkus. Butkus was one of many to speak at a public hearing on toll increases held last Thursday at Stephen Decatur Middle School. The hearing was the last in a series of 10 staged across Maryland by the MDTA and meant to gauge public...READ MORE

Fans Pack Event Upon Opening

OCEAN CITY – Mayor Rick Meehan and Councilmembers Mary Knight and Doug Cymek, along with other Ocean City and Dew Tour representatives, officially kicked off the event yesterday morning with a ribbon cutting ceremony. “This is the official grand opening this morning, and the first time this event has taken place in Ocean City or on the east coast,” Mayor Meehan said. “This has been a great experience, a great partnership, and this is a perfect fit the Dew Tour and Ocean...READ MORE

Wicomico Council Debates Eliminating Impact Fees

SALISBURY -- In the hopes of stimulating a sluggish building industry and creating or restoring jobs, the Wicomico County Council this week entertained the notion of eliminating impact fees on new construction, but it appears the concept has little traction. Councilman Bob Culver on Tuesday broached the subject of eliminating the county’s $5,200 impact fee on new residential construction in the hopes of luring back contractors who have taken their business elsewhere and stimulating the...READ MORE

Fines Issued For Underage Alcohol Sales

SNOW HILL -- Businesses found in violation of alcohol sales to minors were able to escape Wednesday’s Board of License Commissioners meeting (BLC) with minimal fines. However, board President William Esham warned two of the three violators that they were walking on thin ice. “It just can’t continue to happen,” Esham told Robert Jester, owner of Trader Lee’s in West Ocean City. Esham noted 12 checks on the establishment’s record, eight of which had been passed....READ MORE

Tanger Acquires Ocean City Factory Outlets

WEST OCEAN CITY -- A major player in retail in the area made a big splash last week with the announcement of the acquisition of a substantial share of the Ocean City Factory Outlets. Tanger Factory Outlet Centers Inc. last Friday announced it had closed on its admission into three significant outlet centers in the mid-Atlantic region including the Ocean City Factory Outlets in West Ocean City. Tanger’s other acquisitions include two existing phases of The Walk in Atlantic City. Tanger...READ MORE

County Ups Health Fees, Lowers Late Fines

SNOW HILL -- As of next year, several fees for food service and pool permits will by rising in Worcester County, while late fines will be going down. The County Commissioners spent more than an hour Tuesday discussing possible changes to the Worcester County Health Department (WCHD), specifically whether the agency’s late application penalties were too steep. “I don’t think 167 percent [fine] is fair,” said Commission President Bud Church, referring to the fact that a...READ MORE

Ocean City Seeks Dismissal Of Street Performer Suit

OCEAN CITY -- The town of Ocean City this week filed an answer to the civil suit filed late last month by a street vendor claiming an emergency ordinance banning him from setting up shop at North Division Street violated his First Amendment rights to free speech and expression, seeking a dismissal of the case, or in the short term, a stay against a preliminary injunction. In June, the Ocean City Mayor and Council unanimously passed an emergency order banning street performers from practicing or...READ MORE

Berlin Rental Rules Questioned

BERLIN -- The Town of Berlin is planning to revamp its housing standards in order to combat issues with rental properties. “I think there’s more than one problem here,” said Councilwoman Paula Lynch during a council work session Monday. Berlin has a long history with rental properties, the majority of it good, according to the council. “All of these problems are from a handful of properties,” said Mayor Gee Williams. The problems he referred to included rental...READ MORE

Berlin Brewery Granted License

BERLIN -- More than two years in the making, Burley Oak Brewery Company, Worcester County’s first microbrewery, is finally preparing to open its doors next month. “The process isn’t over,” admitted Burley Oak Brewery Company owner Bryan Brushmiller, who has set Aug. 12 as the tentative opening day for the brewery, although the date is subject to change. Brushmiller explained that there are still a few details that need to be hammered out but that things are going smoothly...READ MORE

New Exterior Lighting Code Approved For Resort

OCEAN CITY – The Mayor and City Council took their final vote in approving a new exterior lighting code that will allow the town to eliminate lighting on new construction that’s non-conforming, or “annoying”, as one official described it. One problem property that has been creating issues for its neighbors in the last year or so is the Rivendell on 81st Street. The Mayor and City Council and Planning and Zoning Commission have been working with neighboring property owners...READ MORE

Funding Eyed For New Ocean City Boat Ramp

OCEAN CITY -- Ocean City is requesting state capital funding for a new boat ramp. The total project cost is estimated at $4.15 million including land acquisition. The town is asking for $1 million in assistance. State funds will be used to pay for dredging a navigable channel to the new ramp location and to assist with site improvements including construction of the parking lot and restroom facilities. The new boat ramp will be located on property purchased by Ocean City between 64th and 65th...READ MORE