Articles

NEW FOR THURSDAY: Split Commission Plans Tax Hike, Employee Raises

SNOW HILL -- Employees of Worcester County will likely be seeing their first raise in three years this budget cycle while the property tax rate is set to increase 7 cents. However, neither event is guaranteed as the county budget still has to pass a final vote June 5. Though the tax hike has been considered by many on the commission and the community a forgone conclusion in a year filled with increasing financial demands from the state, both decisions left the County Commission divided. The...READ MORE

NEW FOR WEDNESDAY: Accident In West OC Involves Overturned Truck

BERLIN -- Traffic was snarled along Route 50 in West Ocean City this afternoon when an eastbound dump truck collided with a passenger car and veered off into a ditch, spilling much of its cargo on the side of the road. Around midday on Wednesday, a dump truck carrying a large cargo of sand and soil was heading east on Route 50 approaching the intersection with Route 611 when it collided with a passenger vehicle driven by a local man, who was reportedly attempting to make a left turn onto Route...READ MORE

NEW FOR WEDNESDAY: Worcester Goes Outside System For New Superintendent

BERLIN -- The Worcester County Board of Education has appointed Dr. Jerry Wilson as Superintendent of Schools, pending certification approval by the Maryland State Department of Education. Wilson will assume the position on July 1, 2012. “I am excited to be given the opportunity to serve as Superintendent in Worcester County, an outstanding school district renowned for high levels of performance,” said Wilson. “My wife Liz and I are looking forward to meeting the educational...READ MORE

NEW FOR TUESDAY: Council Shaves Penny Off Proposed Tax Rate

OCEAN CITY – The Mayor and City Council cast their final vote last night to adopt the Fiscal Year 2013 budget, including a one-cent decrease from the proposed property tax rate, which will save the average taxpayer $20 but cost the town $863,000. A couple of weeks ago, the budget reached first reading with a tax rate set at the constant yield rate of 0.4685 per $100 of assessed valuation of real property. Councilman Joe Hall made a motion to amend the budget and reduce the tax rate by one...READ MORE

NEW FOR TUESDAY: Local Man On Mend After Scooter Accident

OCEAN CITY -- A popular local man is on the mend this week after suffering critical injuries when struck by a vehicle on Coastal Highway while riding a scooter last Friday afternoon. Around 2:45 p.m. last Friday, Ocean City Police responded to the area of 45th Street and Coastal Highway for a reported motor vehicle accident involving a scooter. When officers arrived on the scene, they observed the operator of the scooter, later identified as long-time city employee and local youth lacrosse coach...READ MORE

NEW FOR MONDAY: Students Send Sports Equipment To Guatamala Village

OCEAN CITY -- Underprivileged children in Pasajoc, a small village in Guatamala, have been given the opportunity to enjoy sports that have never been available to them before, thanks in large part of students at several local schools. Under the direction of the National Alliance for Youth Sports (NAYS), the Sammy Wilkinson Memorial Foundation’s Global Gear Drive, an effort to collect new and used sporting goods from in and around the resort area to send to less fortunate children around...READ MORE

Mathias, McDermott Vote Against Income Tax Hike

BERLIN -- State lawmakers this week passed a fiscal year 2013 budget and revenue plan left on the table at the 11th hour of this year’s General Assembly session, but many believe the so-called “doomsday budget” triggered by default at the session’s close would have been better for the people of the Lower Shore. When the 2012 session expired in April, the General Assembly could not reach a consensus on O’Malley’s ambitious income tax increase plan or the Budget...READ MORE

OC Seat Belt Operation Leads To Drugs, Gun

OCEAN CITY -- A “Click It or Ticket” enforcement detail conducted by Ocean City Police last Sunday morning resulted in a significant drug bust including the recovery of a loaded handgun. Around 11 a.m., police were conducting a “Click It or Ticket” seatbelt enforcement detail as part of a national campaign in the area of 33rd Street and Baltimore Ave. During the operation, OCPD officers stopped a vehicle for having four unrestrained adults and a 1-year-old infant. During...READ MORE

Downtown Berlin To Offer Free Wireless Access

BERLIN -- Downtown Berlin will be connecting in a whole new way now that town officials are moving forward with the expansion of free wireless (Wi-Fi) Internet service to most of the commercial district. Originally suggested by Councilwoman Lisa Hall last autumn, Mayor Gee Williams revealed that Berlin has looked into offering free Wi-Fi before but always balked at the price. However, a recent estimate from NGX Grid, a Virginia firm based, has made Wi-Fi coverage a much more palatable...READ MORE

Theft Alleged By Shelter Worker

WEST OCEAN CITY -- A former Worcester County Humane Society employee this week was charged with theft after allegedly absconding with under $500 in funds from the agency over a five-month period starting earlier this year. Over the course of the last five months, Worcester County Bureau of Investigation (WCBI) detectives have conducted multiple investigations into the alleged activities of former Humane Society employee Meggin Lynn McKnight, 33, of West Ocean City. In February, for example, the...READ MORE

Route 54 Project On Target To Meet Deadline

FENWICK -- After nearly two years of prolonged delays, it now appears construction along Route 54 will be completed in time for Memorial Day weekend, although there is still much work to complete over the next week. Last month, a petition was circulated among Route 54 residents and business owners calling for a guarantee the road construction project that began nearly two years ago would be complete by Memorial Day weekend. In the weeks since, nearly 3,000 Fenwick area residents and business...READ MORE

Council Surprises Abbott With Tourism Post

OCEAN CITY – The Mayor and City Council unexpectedly announced an in-house promotion on Tuesday to fill the vacant tourism director post. Communications Manager Donna Abbott, who had been serving as acting tourism director since Deb Turk’s resignation earlier this year, was taken by surprise when Mayor Rick Meehan announced that she had been appointed that day as Ocean City’s new tourism director. According to the mayor, the town received 98 applicants for the position and the...READ MORE

OC Holds Meeting To Clarify Street Performer Rules

OCEAN CITY -- Fresh off a victory in a federal lawsuit against the resort last fall, street performers will be back in force along the Boardwalk this season and the city is already taking a “if you can’t beat them, join them” stance. Last Thursday, Ocean City Police Chief Bernadette DiPino and members of her staff, along with City Solicitor Guy Ayres, hosted a meeting with concerned citizens and Boardwalk area business owners in an effort to clarify the regulations governing...READ MORE

County Schools Going High Speed

SNOW HILL -- Learning is about to get a little faster with broadband slated to connect Worcester County schools by September 2013. According to the Board of Education, that’s great news considering the underwhelming performance of the current Internet service at some schools. “We’re really been struggling to provide reliable service,” said Assistant Superintendent for Administration Ed Barber. One Maryland Broadband Network (OMBN) recently received a $115 million federal...READ MORE

Worcester Gets $75K Irene Reimbursement

SNOW HILL -- Nine months after Hurricane Irene cut through Worcester County, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has reimbursed the county $75,694 for storm damages and preventive services. That figure represents 75 percent of the roughly $100,000 cost of Irene to the county. Specific county agencies such as the Board of Education and Health Department received their own separate compensation. “This was not an easy process,” said Emergency Services Director Teresa...READ MORE

Ocean City’s Critical Area Law Tweaked

OCEAN CITY – To comply with state law, the town’s Critical Area ordinance regarding the redevelopment of a property was tweaked this week. City Engineer Terry McGean asked the Mayor and City Council to draft an amendment to the town’s Critical Areas ordinance to reflect a couple of changes, including to codify the current staffs interpretation that allows redevelopment projects disturbing less than 50 percent of the parcel to maintain existing encroachments into the critical...READ MORE

Salisbury Scores Skate Park Grant

SALISBURY -- Salisbury officials announced yesterday the city had secured a $262,000 state grant for the development of a skate park, ending a five-year effort to secure the funds. Salisbury Mayor Jim Ireton, Jr. on Thursday announced the $262,000 grant through the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Community Parks and Playgrounds Program for phase I of the development of a long-awaited skate park, the planning for which began in 2007. The proposed location is on the edge of the City...READ MORE

Regional Digest

School Board Member Resigns SALISBURY -- Wicomico County Board of Education member L. Michelle Wright, a member of the Board since 2006, announced last week she is resigning effective June 30 citing concerns about the financial disclosure requirements. In a letter of resignation sent on May 8, Wright thanked Gov. Martin O’Malley for re-appointing her last year. She said that while she intended to serve her full five-year term through 2016, new financial disclosure requirements in the...READ MORE

Mayor Requests Support For New City Manager

OCEAN CITY -- The Ocean City Council remained divided on a new employment agreement with new City Manager David Recor Tuesday, but the seven members did commit to a symbolic show of support for the resort’s new chief executive. In a closed meeting prior to this week’s work session, the council voted 4-3 -- Brent Ashley, Jim Hall, Joe Hall and Margaret Pillas in support and Doug Cymek, Mary Knight and Lloyd Martin opposed -- to accept an employment agreement with Recor. After the vote...READ MORE

Salisbury Moves Redistricting Process Forward

SALISBURY – Two weeks past the deadline to complete election redistricting, the Salisbury City Council this week sat down to take into consideration revised maps that addressed different parties’ concerns and took a vote to move forward with a final decision. Election redistricting is a result of the recently taken Census. Salisbury’s population has grown to 30,607 in the last 10 years and minorities make up 44 percent of the city’s population. The current election system...READ MORE

Google Photo Team Working OC

OCEAN CITY – The Google Business View Photo Team is in Ocean City expanding its search engine website by creating virtual tours of local participating businesses. The team shoots pictures of businesses creating a virtual tour to be placed on their Google Places page as part of search results within Google Maps. Businesses can also add the tour to their own personal websites. On Monday morning, the team started with a photo shoot of the Clarion Hotel and had plans to move onto Old Pro Golf...READ MORE

Parent, School Embroiled In Bullying Allegations

BERLIN -- Both sides sought to clear the air this week after an ad published in this newspaper made allegations of misconduct against two Stephen Decatur High School (SDHS) coaches and a cover-up by its principal. Last week, a full-page advertisement in The Dispatch claimed that SDHS baseball coaches Rich Ferro and Garrett Magaha have recently “verbally abused … and degraded” some of their players and invited parents to join a newly formed support group, Parents Against...READ MORE

OC Reef Foundation Aims To Bury Fish Hotels, Oyster Castles

OCEAN CITY – The Ocean City Reef Foundation continues to build artificial reefs throughout Ocean City’s surrounding waters to support local fisheries and the eco system. That effort will be seeking a funding injection on Wednesday when the foundation holds a benefit at Hall’s Restaurant. The Ocean City Reef Foundation was established in 1997. It is dedicated to the Sustained Improvement of Recreational Fishing and Diving in Maryland's Coastal Waters through Habitat Management,...READ MORE

Q&A With New City Manager David Recor

Eight months after the City Council voted to dismiss long-time City Manager Dennis Dare, David Recor was officially hired this week as Ocean City’s fourth city manager. Before coming to Ft. Pierce in 2005 as its deputy city manager and becoming city manager in 2008, Recor, a credentialed manager with the International City/County Manager Association, was the deputy director of Planning & Community Development from 2003 to 2005 for Fairfax, Va.; planning and land use director for...READ MORE

Diakonia Dine Out A Success

OCEAN CITY -- Numbers for the 1st Annual Dine Out With Diakonia are in and organizers are calling the event a strong success; good news coming on the heels of several already successful weeks for the non-profit group. “It was really well attended … It worked out for everyone,” said Diakonia Executive Director Claudia Nagle. The newest project dreamed up by Diakonia’s events committee, Dine Out featured 26 local restaurants all contributing a portion of their sales or a...READ MORE

OC To Begin Charging For Phone, Radio Records

OCEAN CITY – With telephone records recently revealing questionable activity among City Council members, a policy was approved this week to charge for the release of records as well as in certain cases be reviewed by the city’s attorney for approval. According to Emergency Services Director Joseph Theobald, during budget hearings he had proposed the town implement a more formal policy for the disclosure of telephone and radio records out of the Ocean City’s Public Safety...READ MORE

City Council Tweaks New Rental Sticker Law

OCEAN CITY – A request to waive the rental license door sticker requirement this week led to other changes made to the recently approved law aimed at regulating certain aspects of the local rental industry. In February, the Mayor and City Council approved the Noise Board’s request to implement a sticker system based on the Property Control Number, which each property in Ocean City is assigned. A database has been created providing a police officer the ability to search by the control...READ MORE

22nd Annual Cruisin Underway In OC Area

OCEAN CITY -- One of the largest hot rod shows on the East Coast, the 22nd Annual Cruisin Ocean City, returned yesterday to Ocean City and will continue through the weekend. The nationally recognized event attracts more than 3,500 customs, hot rods, street machines, classics and more from over 20 states plus Canada. The 22nd Annual Cruisin will have more than 10,000 event participants taking part in various car shows at the Convention Center on 40th Street, the downtown Inlet parking lot and...READ MORE

Local Engineering Students Planning To ‘Break The Mold’

SNOW HILL -- The world of engineering isn’t just a boys club, at least not according to three female seniors who are studying the field at the Worcester County Technical High School (WTHS). “We’re trying to break the mold,” said Dianna Vogel, a Snow Hill High School student who has been involved in WTHS’ pre-engineering program since its inception four years ago. “It was really some kind of mystical thing,” said Vogel of engineering at first...READ MORE

Berlin Looking To Embrace Weddings

BERLIN -- Berlin’s best kept secret won’t be a secret for long if several businesses get to fill their hearts’ desire this June. Berlin’s best kept secret is that it won’t be long before couples who “Say I Do” begin living happily ever after with a one-of-a-kind Berlin wedding. For several weeks, businesses from Berlin and the surrounding area have been collaborating on how to best make Berlin a wedding destination for the mid-Atlantic region. “We...READ MORE