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A Berlin Landmark's New Focus

OCEAN CITY - In staying true to its old-fashioned roots, restaurateur John Fager has restored Berlin's greatest landmark into something that can be truly deemed as both new and improved. The town of Berlin has been on the cusp of some sort of renaissance for several years, and its re-emergence into the forefront of nostalgic tourism on the Eastern Shore could be kick started once again with the rebirth of the Atlantic Hotel into Fager's new presentation and direction of the historic...READ MORE

Council Okays Boardwalk Display Law

OCEAN CITY - As level of a playing field as ever has been laid out by the City Council in regards to outdoor displays on the Boardwalk this week, but all the merchants might not welcome the change with open arms. Stricter guidelines were set in place by the council in a 4-1-1 vote, Joe Hall in opposition and Margaret Pillas abstaining, stressing enforcement, prohibiting explicit content and limiting the quantity of outdoor displays on each merchant's property. Although the numbers and...READ MORE

Mayor Adamant About Slots Council Appointment Power

OCEAN CITY - Unsatisfied with simply being appointed to the county's local development council on slots, which will ultimately oversee many aspects of the impacts of the gaming machines at Ocean Downs, Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan this week re-asserted his belief the resort's top elected official should remain an appointer and not an appointee. Three weeks ago, Delegates Norm Conway, James Mathias and Page Elmore introduced a bill that would make local alterations to the slots bill approved by...READ MORE

Pa. Family Satisfied With CO Lawsuit Settlement

OCEAN CITY - Although the terms remain strictly confidential and may never be known, a settlement was reached late last week in the $30 million wrongful death lawsuit filed last February by the family of two Pennsylvania tourists who perished from carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning in the Boardwalk motel room in June 2006. The original suit filed in U.S. District Court in February 2008 named as defendants the Bay Shore Development Corporation, owner of the Days Inn on 22nd Street where the tragic...READ MORE

Schools Oppose County Reduction Request

NEWARK - The Worcester County Board of Education voted unanimously Tuesday to oppose a request to the state by the County Commissioners to allocate less funding to the local school system. 'I thought that they might have a change of heart,' said County Commission President Louise Gulyas. 'I thought they might see the economic strain on our county and support us, but that's not going to happen.' Worcester County is facing at least a $12.5 million shortfall in fiscal year 2010. 'Last Friday we...READ MORE

Joe Hall, Pillas Question Special Events

OCEAN CITY - Ocean City Recreation and Parks Director Tom Shuster thought he was coming in front of the City Council on Tuesday for a routine report outlining the town's free events for the summer season, but, in reality, a few officials thought that a couple of those events needed to be placed under the budgetary microscope for further review. At the root of it, the council voted 4-1-1, with Joe Hall in opposition and Margaret Pillas abstaining, to approve the existing and new events on the...READ MORE

New Lending Rules Add Challenges For Prospective Buyers

OCEAN CITY - Ocean City's Economic Development Committee (EDC) met this week to discuss a wide variety of important local issues, from the status of the real estate market and major cuts in the state tourism budget to golf package bookings to summer events. The following is a quick look at some of the highlights from Wednesday's meeting: Real Estate: Coastal Association of Realtors President Gregg Holland of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage told EDC members the area's real estate market...READ MORE

New School Budget Nothing To Celebrate, Board Says

NEWARK - A Maintenance of Effort (MOE) budget for the Worcester County school system would mean no teacher layoffs, no furlough days and restored field trips, if county elected officials are unsuccessful in their bid to get those minimum funding requirements waived by the state. The Worcester County school board approved a MOE level budget Tuesday morning in a special meeting. MOE is a Maryland state regulation mandating that local jurisdictions fund the same amount per student as the previous...READ MORE

OC Beach Patrol Icon Remembered

OCEAN CITY - Ocean City lost a treasured icon this week when Captain Robert S. Craig, who shepherded the Beach Patrol through decades of change and inspired his young charges for half a century passed away at the age of 90. Captain Craig, as he was known for decades not only by the thousands of lifeguards who worked with him and for him but also by the countless millions of local residents and visitors to the resort area, passed away last Saturday at the Coastal Hospice in Salisbury at the age...READ MORE

OC Council News In Brief

OCEAN CITY - In 'the brief' this week, we are talking transportation, stimulus money recently granted to Ocean City to enhance transportation as a whole, some of the particular projects that will help improve said transportation, and even about a committee that will be created to repair an inefficiency in one service offered in the realm of transportation. Committee To Study Transit Ninety-year-old Bob Melvin has been pleading in one way or another for the better part of two years to town...READ MORE

Ocean City OK With 3% Funding Cut

OCEAN CITY - It's been said that you never know how much you will receive unless you ask nicely, and even in dire economic times, Mayor Rick Meehan gave that notion 'a go'. Worries about funding cuts may have prompted Meehan to send a letter to the County Commissioners just weeks before they meet to discuss how much grant money Ocean City will receive this year. The commissioners asked all departments to cut their budgets by 3 percent and it is expected that the annual money granted to the local...READ MORE

Opinions Mixed On County Rezoning

BERLIN - The draft rezoning code and maps released last month by Worcester County are getting mixed reviews from local environmentalists, who say that some changes are just right, but others need to be altered. 'It's 50-50. It has retained a lot of A-1 and has retained the resource protection areas,' said Coastkeeper Kathy Phillips. 'There's isn't any language in there about TDRs (transfer development rights). I don't see language allowing us to meet our TMDLs (total maximum daily loads)....READ MORE