Archives

Fed Judge Allows County Room Tax Suit To Continue

BERLIN - A federal judge this week again rejected a motion to dismiss a civil suit filed in January by the County Commissioners against a host of Internet-based travel booking companies seeking what could be millions of dollars in unpaid hotel room taxes, allowing the case to continue to move forward. In January, attorneys for the county commissioners filed suit in U.S. District Court naming 14 individual defendants, all under the umbrella of four major Internet travel booking companies...READ MORE

High Court Upholds Rape Conviction

BERLIN - A Maryland Court of Special Appeals judge this week upheld the conviction of a Berlin man sentenced in January 2008 to 40-plus years in jail for the first-degree rape and assault of his long-time girlfriend and mother of his child, denying the convicted felon's appeal of the case on two major fronts. In December 2007, a Worcester County jury took just 45 minutes to return guilty verdicts on Preston Lewis Whaley, Jr., 45, on first-degree assault and first-degree rape charges for an...READ MORE

Missing Persons Agencies Plan Rally In Ocean City

OCEAN CITY - For the second straight year, Ocean City will play host to a multi-agency rally of sorts for missing and unidentified persons in Maryland with a public awareness event planned on the south end of the Boardwalk scheduled all day tomorrow, Saturday, July 25. A coalition of Maryland missing persons organizations, advocates, law enforcement agencies and families of the missing will gather on the Boardwalk tomorrow all day from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. in an effort to raise awareness about the...READ MORE

Ocean City News In Brief

OCEAN CITY - In the brief this week, there were some reports of brown water in the mid-town area of Ocean City and a Boardwalk body piercing company questioned the ethics of several others. Brown In The Water? Despite reports from the mid-town area of Ocean City in late June complaining of 'brown spots' in the drinking water, City Manager Dennis Dare says that all is well and the problem has been handled. In sporadic areas of Ocean City, ranging from 50th to 80th streets over the course of...READ MORE

Sammy Golf Tournament Next Week

OCEAN CITY- The 5th Annual Sammy Wilkinson Memorial Golf Tournament is set for next Friday, July 31 at the Newport Bay course of the Ocean City Golf Club in South Point. The Sammy Wilkinson Memorial Foundation was created as part of the National Alliance for Youth Sports (NAYS) worldwide initiative to lend a hand to countries around the world that are unable to provide quality sports programs for children. All funds raised through the Sammy Wilkinson Memorial fund are earmarked for the Game On!...READ MORE

Friday, July 24--County Okay With Berlin Annexing Old Tyson Property

SNOW HILL - With one caveat, Worcester County elected officials signed off on the proposed annexation of part of the old Tyson Chicken Plant into Berlin town limits. During their meeting Tuesday, the County Commissioners made sure to note that the rear boundary of the annexation, which would bring 3.9 acres of a multi-acre property into Berlin, currently bisects the corner of an outbuilding. County staff recommended the line be moved to either include or exclude the building or that the...READ MORE

Friday, July 24--Cowger Irritated County Chose Non-County Business For Cars

SNOW HILL - An order for five police cars stirred some controversy among the County Commissioners Tuesday, with one saying the business ought to be kept within the county. The Worcester County Sheriff's Office requested five new police cars early this month, hoping to get the new vehicles through state of Maryland police car supplier Hertrich Fleet Services. The request was prompted by an offer to sell 2010 Crown Victoria Police Interceptors at the 2009 price. To get that price, the county must...READ MORE

Friday, July 24--OCPD Narcotics Probe Breaks Up Cocaine Operation

OCEAN CITY - A nearly two-year multi-agency investigation into the flow of cocaine from the southwest to Ocean City resulted in the conviction on drug trafficking charges in Texas of a Berlin man, who was sentenced to five years in jail earlier this month. In early July, Erick Hinojosa Zavala, 29, was found guilty by a Jefferson County, Texas jury of drug trafficking and was sentenced to five years in jail. Zavala's arrest and ultimate conviction came after a joint investigation carried out by...READ MORE

County Students Continue To Post Improved Test Scores

NEWARK - Worcester school officials say Maryland State Assessment (MSA) test scores show that Worcester County schools are achieving long-term success. The MSA results released this week during the Tuesday Worcester County Board of Education meeting show that Worcester County's students scored 91.4 percent proficient or advanced in reading. Math scores were similar, with 89.9 percent of county students scoring proficient or advanced. Both scores increased slightly over last year. The Maryland...READ MORE

County, Resort Differ On Bridge's Future

SNOW HILL - The north parallel bridge proposal, also know as Alternative 5A, received unanimous support Tuesday from the Worcester County Commissioners as the Route 50 bridge replacement option that would have the least impact on residences and businesses in the Ocean City area. The commissioners voted on their chosen bridge replacement during a meeting with Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) officials this week. Their decision is not the same as the proposal favored by the Ocean City...READ MORE

Merchants Irked By Council's Bow To ACLU Concerns

OCEAN CITY - Apparently, change is not the type of thing that some Boardwalk merchants believe in, as a summer of tough times and new rules has left some storeowners fit to be tied. A week after the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the town of Ocean City came to a verbal agreement to no longer enforce and eventually amend the town law that prohibited any amplification used by street performers, merchants shot back, claiming that they are being treated unfairly and that all regulations...READ MORE

OC May Seize 65th Street Land

OCEAN CITY - Part of the town's long-term strategy seems to involve the acquisition of the land once home to the 65th Street Slide N' Ride, but the owners of the property have some plans of their own for the site and have told the town they have no intentions of selling. On Monday, the City Council moved forward in a 6-1 vote, with Margaret Pillas in opposition, with an ordinance that would allow the town to try to purchase the property through eminent domain proceedings and pay fair market...READ MORE

OC Scooter Helmet Law Near

OCEAN CITY - Helmets are just one step away from becoming the rule rather than just an option for anyone renting a scooter in Ocean City. The City Council unanimously passed the first reading of a new ordinance on Monday night requiring all occupants of rental scooters on city-owned streets to wear a helmet. Although the town cannot force riders to wear helmets on state-owned roadways, such as Coastal Highway, and portions of Baltimore Avenue (up to 15th Street), the town is allowed by state law...READ MORE

Authorities Seek Area Fugitive

BERLIN - A Berlin man wanted by U.S. Marshals remained at large as of late yesterday after a multi-agency manhunt throughout the area on Wednesday. On Wednesday morning, Worcester County Sheriff's deputies responded to a residence on Logtown Rd. in Berlin for a reported robbery. Sheriff's deputies responded to the scene and identified the suspect as Robert Lee Miller, Jr., 37, of Berlin, whose address is listed as Logtown Rd. and who also has a long history of run-ins with the law in Worcester...READ MORE

Car Wash Burglar Sentenced To 3 Years In Jail

OCEAN CITY - A New Jersey man arrested in June for breaking in to the same car wash business in Ocean City as many as eight times dating back to 2007 was found guilty this week in District Court of felony theft scheme and was sentenced to three years in jail. Joseph Edward Walthour, 40, of Willingboro, N.J., appeared in District Court in Ocean City on Tuesday to face 28 serious charges ranging from theft and burglary to malicious destruction of property. Walthour was found guilty of felony...READ MORE

County Drops High-Speed Partnership

SNOW HILL - A $12,000-a-month shortfall and significant operational issues have prompted Worcester County to sever its management agreement with the Lower Shore Broadband Cooperative (LSBC). The county took over management of LSBC in September 2008 after lightning strikes damaged five wireless towers, sending the cooperative into operational failure. A management team established by the county went to work to restore reliable service and get to a financial stability that would forestall...READ MORE