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Arundel Strip Club Owner Enters Council Race

OCEAN CITY - The field of candidates for the Ocean City Council elections next month was rounded out this week with a few incumbents, a couple of former candidates and a handful of relative newcomers including one dark horse, a strip club owner with a colorful past and a passion for cutting frivolous spending and ever-increasing taxes in the resort. The filing deadline came and went on Tuesday afternoon with the list of candidates for October's City Council elections swelling to eight vying for...READ MORE

Boardwalk Gets New Landmark

OCEAN CITY - The first day of fall was the ironic backdrop for the unveiling of a new Boardwalk landmark that will be seen by thousands of summer visitors for years to come. Dozens of onlookers gathered at the foot of the Boardwalk on Monday to officially dedicate a 'skin mount' of the largest white marlin ever to be caught in the state of Maryland. The 135-pound fish was caught in 1980 by angler George Pierson while fishing aboard the 'Five C's' with Captain Charlie Kratz at the helm. The...READ MORE

Erika Sifrit Appeal Filed

FREDERICK COUNTY •€' Convicted murderer Erika Sifrit is hoping for another day in court after her lawyers filed a motion for appeal in the Frederick County Circuit Court. Sifrit, who was tried and convicted in 2003 for killing two Ocean City tourists, hopes to reveal to jurors in a new appeal she was a 'needy' woman who 'lacked the capacity to act as a rational adult' during the murders. Sifrit and her husband, Benjamin, both originally from Hollidaysburg, Pa., were tried in separate...READ MORE

Local Groups Applaud No Child Left Inside Passage

OCEAN CITY - Local environmental groups this week applauded the passage by the House of the No Child Left Inside Act, a bill which, if approved, could funnel federal funding into environmental education with the intent of getting kids out from in front of a television screen or computer monitor and back outside to connect with their natural world. The U.S. House of Representatives last Thursday approved the No Child Left Inside Act (NCLI), legislation aimed at expanding and improving...READ MORE

Resort Settles Police Brutality Suit For $63K

SNOW HILL - The town of Ocean City and six OCPD officers named as defendants in a multi-million dollar police brutality civil suit from an incident in the resort over two years ago this week reached a settlement with the plaintiffs that will pay the latter a small fraction of what they were seeking. Six Ocean City Police Department officers as well as the town of Ocean City in July 2007 were named defendants in a 93-count civil lawsuit seeking nearly $19 million in damages for an incident in...READ MORE

Berlin Intermediate School Honored For Focus On Arts

BERLIN - The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts recognized Berlin Intermediate School (BIS) this week for its arts immersion program. BIS, one of just five schools nationwide to be honored, received the National School of Distinction in Arts Education designation for the 2007-2008 school year. The award honors schools that have made the arts an integral part of the curriculum. Two other schools in Maryland were also honored with the award, Dr. Charles R. Drew Elementary School in...READ MORE

Old Marlin Club Property Sold For $1.04M

WEST OCEAN CITY - The Sunset Marina potentially extended its property line on Tuesday after representatives outbid the competition in a public foreclosure auction for the building that last housed the Miyako Sushi and Seafood Buffet. A bidder representing John Gudelsky, owner of the Sunset Marina and OC Fishing Center, won the building with a bid of $1,040,000 during a half-hour on-site auction handled by national brokers Tranzon Fox. Bidding for the building started at $1.5 million, but quickly...READ MORE

Berlin Utilities Comm. Seeks Member

BERLIN - The Berlin Utilities Commission (BUC) has at least one vacancy after the departure of BUC chair Damian Preziosi, and is looking for someone with experience to fill that spot. Preziosi resigned from the BUC in late August, citing the lack of respect for the BUC by the town government. At their first meeting after Preziosi' s resignation, the three BUC members present elected a new chair and discussed the need for a new member. BUC member Erik Quisgard also said that BUC member Rick...READ MORE

Consultant Unable To Talk Electric Bill Details

BERLIN - Electric consultant Booth and Associates had good news for the town of Berlin Monday night after completing a preliminary survey of the electric generation and distribution system. The burning question, whether Booth can find a way to bring electric bills down, will be answered in detail at the Oct. 7 meeting. 'I think the good news is we can help you work your way out of this situation,' said Richard Booth in the cafetorium of Berlin Intermediate School. The first priority for Booth...READ MORE

Energy Official Tells Berlin To Keep Power Plant

BERLIN - An official from the Maryland Energy Administration (MEA) encouraged Berlin to keep its electric power plant Monday night during a Berlin Town Council meeting devoted to the electric system and use the power plant to help make Maryland more energy self-sufficient. Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley pushed for more local, smaller scale power plants in his keynote address at the Maryland Association of Counties (MACo) convention in Ocean City in August, said Robert Howatt, of MEA's...READ MORE

Joe Hall Among Eight Seeking Four OC Council Seats

OCEAN CITY - For Joe Hall, running for City Council may not totally be a numbers game, but there's one that he's keeping in the back of his mind: the number 74. Back in 2006, he fell just short in his re-election bid, coming in fifth place in the voting, losing by just 74 votes to Mary Knight. Hall is one of eight seeking the four open council seats. He is competing against incumbents Jay Hancock, Jim Hall and Knight as well as residents Brent Ashley, Doug Cymek, Sean Rox and William Steiner....READ MORE

Federal Grant Hike Not A Big Help For Shore

BERLIN - A federal rural development grant to improve substandard housing in the tri-county area is nearly $10,000 more than the 2008 funds, but many homeowners will be left out. 'It's very little we get to address it,' said McKinley Tull, housing development director at Shore-Up! 'It's very hard.' The $35,378 grant will fund Shore-Up's entire housing rehabilitation program for the rural regions of the tri-county area. Last year, the U. S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development grant was...READ MORE

Route 50 Repaving Project Kicks Off

BERLIN - The arrival of fall in the resort area typically coincides with the arrival of a maze of orange cones and barrels in the resort area and this year will be no different with a couple of substantial repaving projects underway along the busy Route 50 corridor. The State Highway Administration (SHA) this week began the first of two repaving projects along Route 50 in Worcester County on the eastbound side of the highway from the Wicomico County line to Route 346 just west of Berlin....READ MORE