Articles

Juveniles Busted In OC Crime Spree

OCEAN CITY -- Four juveniles were arrested on malicious destruction of property charges last weekend after a Boardwalk crime spree that included nearly two dozen incidents. Around 12:30 a.m. last Saturday, Ocean City Police responded to the Decatur House on the Boardwalk at 12th Street for a reported destruction of property complaint. While OCPD officers were responding to that complaint, they spotted four individuals actively damaging property along the Boardwalk. Officers were able to detain...READ MORE

Boardwalk Noise Crackdown Near

OCEAN CITY – The city warns enforcement will be made as progress is made to pass a redefined ordinance against unreasonable loud noise on the Boardwalk. Following a discussion during last week’s Mayor and City Council work session regarding noise issues on the Boardwalk, more specifically a handful of businesses blaring music, an ordinance was drafted to place volume restrictions on noise emanating from public ways. Acting City Manager/Mayor Rick Meehan said that the ordinance...READ MORE

Wicomico Unwilling To Pledge Bennett Middle Funds

SALISBURY – The Wicomico County Council voted this week to turn down the opportunity to commit funding to the Bennett Middle School project until all information is available. The County Council faced the decision this week of whether to endorse a “Letter of Intent” to the state committing funding to the BMS project. The county is to attend the State of Maryland Board of Public Works meeting Jan. 25 when a discussion is scheduled to address public school construction. The...READ MORE

Man Injured While Thwarting Suicide

OCEAN CITY -- Ocean City Police last week handled a potentially dicey situation when a suicidal man cut another man who had intervened with a knife. Around 1:15 a.m. last Wednesday, police and paramedics responded to a unit at the Jockey Beach Club on 123rd Street in reference to an individual injured with a knife. Emergency personnel responded to the scene and located a female and two males, one of which was bleeding from an injury to his hand. The injured male initially told police the cut on...READ MORE

Ravens Commit To Greater OC Presence

OCEAN CITY -- On the eve of an AFC championship game and a potential trip to the Super Bowl, the Baltimore Ravens are planning to build on their strong presence in Ocean City in the future by expanding its involvement in the annual June celebration. With its close proximity to several metropolitan areas in the mid-Atlantic region, the resort has always been an area of football mutts with pockets of loyalty to the Ravens, the Washington Redskins, the Philadelphia Eagles and the Pittsburgh...READ MORE

Worcester Earns 9th Blue Ribbon

BERLIN -- Worcester County’s highly decorated public school system added another feather to its cap this week when state school officials named Pocomoke Elementary School (PES) a Maryland Blue Ribbon School of Excellence. With the formal announcement on Tuesday, Pocomoke Elementary joins eight other Worcester County public schools that have received the prestigious award. Nine of the 12 public schools eligible for the honor in Worcester have now earned Blue Ribbon status, representing the...READ MORE

Salisbury Council Majority Seeks New City Attorney

SALISBURY -- City Council President Terry Cohen responded this week to accusations that a special meeting called last Friday to discuss the current city attorney and the next fire chief for the city was conducted in secret. During the meeting, which the city administration was not alerted to, the council majority decided to relieve City Attorney Paul Wilber of most of his duties and place his firm in a secondary advisory role. The council majority also sought counsel on whether a replacement for...READ MORE

Embers Redeveloping Landmark Property

OCEAN CITY – The Embers Restaurant is expanding its horizons, embarking on a project to add an outdoor dining and bar space to the property. The Embers Restaurant requested the Planning and Zoning Commission approve a site plan to redevelop the restaurant, including a second-floor addition, which would feature the relocation of walk-in coolers and an outside dining area with service bar. “The objective of this alternation is to create some connection to the water on the lagoon on the...READ MORE

Board Worried Cuts Will Lead To ‘Race To Bottom’

NEWARK -- The Worcester County Board of Education got its first official look at a streamlined fiscal year 2013 budget, and with additional cuts to 148 of the 149 line items, voiced concern the spending plan could signal the beginning of a “race to the bottom.” The public school fiscal year 2013 operating budget includes expenditures of roughly $93 million. In Worcester, about $73 million, or nearly 80 percent, of the school board’s operating budget comes directly from the...READ MORE

FBI Allowed To Test Explosives

SNOW HILL -- While there has been a recent dustup over explosive testing on the Landmaid Road firing range, the Worcester County Commissioners decided to once again allow the FBI to use the site for field demonstrations. “It’s a win for us, it’s a win for them,” said Commissioner Virgil Shockley. For the past 14 years, the Maryland-Delaware Joint Terrorism Task Force has held its annual Basic Anti-Terrorism Training for Law Enforcement (BATTLE) Conference in Ocean City,...READ MORE

Majority Backs Off Eliminating Monday Meetings

OCEAN CITY – A concept to eliminate Monday night legislative meetings was nipped in the bud this week as the reasoning didn’t pan out to all it was thought to be. The majority of the council has been considering a move to eliminate the Monday meetings as a cost savings measure, but Council President Jim Hall shut the idea down on Tuesday. “It was a suggestion that there could be a cost savings by changing the meetings to Tuesdays,” he said. “After we talked to the...READ MORE

OC Museum Gets Grant

OCEAN CITY -- The Ocean City Museum Society this week announced it was recently awarded a $5,000 grant from the Humphreys Foundation to pay a portion of the expense of printing of “Ocean City, Maryland: A Pictorial History” by George and Suzanne Hurley. The book is now in its fourth reprint and chronicles Ocean City history with many rare photographs.  It is available exclusively in the museum gift shop and online at www.ocmuseum.org at the gift shop tab. Mary Humphreys, a...READ MORE

Teacher Gets A Year For Relationship With Teen

SNOW HILL -- A former Worcester County public school substitute teacher indicted by a grand jury last August for allegedly fostering a relationship with a 13-year-old student was sentenced this week to over five years in jail, all but one of which was then suspended. Last August, a Worcester County grand jury indicted Russell Keith Barbely, Jr., 21, of Newark, on numerous charges including three counts each of third- and fourth-degree sex offense, four counts of sexual solicitation of a minor,...READ MORE

Study Recommends County Add Alcohol To Civic Center

SALISBURY – Wicomico County has some decisions to make as recommendations come forward to enhance the Wicomico Youth Civic Center (WYCC) to keep it up to par in the modern world. Earlier this week, Wicomico County’s Department of Recreation, Parks and Tourism released the market and analysis study of the WYCC prepared by the Maryland Stadium Authority (MSA) and Crossroads Consulting Services. The study was conducted to determine whether the facility should be renovated, expanded or...READ MORE

Parks Gets Funding Pledge

ASSATEAGUE -- Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley last week announced nearly $23 million in the proposed fiscal year 2013 capital budget for projects at state parks, including Assateague, and other public projects that will support roughly 300 jobs while helping to restore the environment, reduce energy usage and improve visitor experiences. The $23 million allocation includes nearly $9 million in “green” projects including $2.1 million for a new bathhouse at Assateague State Park....READ MORE

Property Value Decline Results In $10.3M Loss

SNOW HILL -- Falling property values mean Worcester County will be losing $10,378,202 in revenue in fiscal year 2013. Unfortunately, county officials expect several more hard years before the area sees a positive financial turnaround. Finance Officer Harold Higgins gave a presentation during the County Commissioner’s meeting Tuesday on how revenue has changed in Worcester in the past and where it will likely head in the future. Higgins called the revenue drop since 2009 “the largest...READ MORE

Blood Drive Next Week In Ocean City

OCEAN CITY -- For each of the 50,334 people on Delmarva who took the time to donate lifesaving blood over the past year, there are about 20,000 recipients across the Peninsula who may have been thanking them as they were ringing in 2012.  It is in that spirit of sharing that the Blood Bank of Delmarva, aligned with blood banks all over the nation, celebrates National Blood Donor Month this and every January. “While we sincerely hope that our donors know how much we appreciate them all...READ MORE

Worcester School Board Officers Elected

NEWARK -- One of the first orders of business for the Worcester County Board of Education at its first meeting of 2012 on Tuesday was to elect new officers for the next calendar year. After dispensing with some routine business on Tuesday, the school board unanimously selected Bob Rothermel, who represents District 7, as the new president for 2012. Rothermel replaces Bob Hulburd as president and will preside over the board’s monthly meetings. Also on Tuesday, the school board unanimously...READ MORE

Dew Tour Returning To Resort in August

OCEAN CITY – The Dew Tour has officially announced its return to Ocean City this summer as the Mayor and City Council approved the dates of the event this week. According to Private Events Coordinator Lisa Mitchell, city staff reviewed the application and has no concerns supporting the event. Last year’s cost to the town for supporting the Dew Tour was almost $49,000 plus lost revenue in the Inlet parking lot of about $41,000. The cost to the town this year will run the same since...READ MORE

Local Waterway Input Sought

OCEAN CITY -- The U.S. Coast Guard last week put out a request to hear from mariners, maritime industries, commercial fisherman, recreational boaters and other port and waterway users that operate off the mid-Atlantic Coast. In an effort to ensure everyone affected is represented in the process, the Coast Guard announced in the Federal Register a notice of study and reopening of comments entitled “Port Access Route Study: The Atlantic Coast from Maine to Florida” to evaluate the...READ MORE

PRMC’s Focus Turns To Expanding Operating Rooms

SALISBURY – Peninsula Regional Medical Center (PRMC) began on Monday a three-year journey to transform the shore’s largest hospital into a more safe and efficient facility for the region.On Monday morning, PRMC broke ground for the expansion and renovation of the operating rooms that make up the Surgical Services Department.“It is a great day to begin a process for us at PRMC. As many of you know, we have been waiting for close to 10 years to dig this dirt,” PRMC...READ MORE

AGH Growing Services Throughout Health System

OCEAN CITY – Atlantic General Hospital (AGH) President/CEO Michael Franklin has been making the rounds this month, updating the various governments in Worcester County on hospital’s present and future. Franklin came before the Ocean City Mayor and City Council the first week of January to brief officials on the current state of the hospital and to inform them AGH has continued to grow services in the last year. For example, he said the Intensive Care Unit has been expanded by...READ MORE