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Mutual Support For Bridge Option Cancels Workshop

SNOW HILL - Consensus between Worcester County and Ocean City governments on the future Route 50 Bridge replacement has been reached, state officials said this week, allowing a June workshop on the bridge question to he eliminated.  Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) staff went before the Worcester County Commissioners Tuesday morning to confirm that both bodies of elected officials agreed on the approach to the future replacement of the Route 50 Bridge and to cancel a June event...READ MORE

OC Armed Robbers Sentenced

SNOW HILL - A pair of Pennsylvania men convicted earlier this year of conspiracy to commit armed robbery after Ocean City Police were able to identify them as two of three men who entered a downtown motel lobby brandishing guns last June were both sentenced in separate hearings in the last two weeks to 10 years in prison, six of which were then suspended. Last week, Jose Antonio Vasquez, now 18, of Reading, Pa., appeared in Worcester County Circuit Court for a sentencing hearing after pleading...READ MORE

Ocean City News In Brief

OCEAN CITY •€' In the brief this week, former Ocean City Mayor and current Delegate Jim Mathias stepped back into the council chambers to see his wife, Kathy, officially appointed to the city clerk's position and the infamous Sea Rocket has found a new dock to call its home. Delegate Back At City Hall The always animated and charismatic former mayor of Ocean City returned to the council chambers at City Hall for the first time since his 2006 resignation and thanked the council for their...READ MORE

Residents Hope For More School Funds....Eventually

SNOW HILL - With a maintenance of effort budget in the offing, speakers at the annual Worcester County public budget hearing made sure the County Commissioners were put on notice that a legal minimum schools budget would not be acceptable once the economy improves. 'The continual cuts cannot be made •€¦ it will eventually result in a disastrous decline in our school system,' said teacher Terry Springle, head of the Worcester County Teachers Association. 'We hope that you recognize that...READ MORE

Students Seek Scholarship Money At Auto Skills Contest

NEWARK - Scholarship money will be on the line this weekend when Andy Acosta-Ruiz and Jesse Bowden, two high school seniors from Worcester County, compete in the Maryland Ford/AAA Auto Skills Competition in Catonsville. 'It's a lot of pressure on these guys but it's going to be alright,' said Worcester Technical High School (WTS) automotive teacher Anthony Saullo. Acosta-Ruiz and Bowden scored at the top of an online exam recently, qualifying the two seniors for the state competition. Ten teams...READ MORE

Council Tables Bus, Boardwalk Tram Service Cuts

OCEAN CITY •€' If the full City Council would have been in attendance on Wednesday, both the city bus and the Boardwalk Tram could have seen their duties lightened a bit in the name of cost savings. There have been indications that the City Council will look to trim the scope of services of both the off-season city bus schedule and the Boardwalk Tram, but with a few members short on Wednesday, they shelved the presentation from Public Works Director Hal Adkins and Transportation...READ MORE

Fed Hiring Incentive May Bring Boost For Area Employers

BERLIN - A new federal jobs stimulation initiative providing employers an exemption from paying Social Security contributions on recent hires, and in some cases, allow a significant tax credit on each new employee, could have an immediate impact for seasonal employers in the resort area. At the end of March, President Barack Obama signed into law the new Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act, an incentive package to get businesses to hire the recently unemployed. While the intent of...READ MORE

Harrison, City Square Off Over Inlet Lot Policies

OCEAN CITY •€' A dispute between the city and a business owner with a notable last name has led to a change in traffic patterns for those heading towards the Inlet parking lot this weekend and, presumably, this summer. Last weekend, local businessmen Hale Harrison, owner of Harrison's Harbor Watch and numerous other restaurants and hotels throughout town, took umbrage with the Ocean City Police Department's decision to close off access to the Inlet parking lot at Baltimore Avenue and South...READ MORE

Region Not Ruled Out Of Oil Spill's Reach

OCEAN CITY - While anxiety grows over the potential environmental impact of the catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, coastal communities up and down the east coast including the coastal areas of Maryland are keeping a close eye on a variety of factors that could bring the spill's aftermath to their shores. On April 20, the high-tech Deepwater Horizon oilrig in the gulf exploded, killing 11 crewmembers before eventually collapsing off the coast of Louisiana. Over two weeks later, crude...READ MORE

Resort, Businessman Agree On $5.1M Land Deal

OCEAN CITY •€' A land battle that seemed destined to end up in court took a turn this week as the two sides settled on a price for a highly coveted midtown property without the help of a judge and jury. A verbal agreement between the town of Ocean City and local businessman Rick Laws has allegedly been reached to the tune of $5.1 million for ownership of the site of the old Slide-n-Ride on 64th Street. Laws owns the property and had begun the construction of a 104-room, five-story hotel...READ MORE

Convention Center Events Up 10%

OCEAN CITY - Town business leaders were briefed this week on the ongoing plans for the expansion of the Roland E. Powell Convention Center, including aesthetic changes going on already, a second phase that includes the creation of a massive ballroom and a final phase that will create the resort's first performing arts center. Ocean City Convention Center Director Rick Hamilton addressed the town's Economic Development Committee (EDC) on Wednesday, bringing them up to speed on a variety of real...READ MORE

County Recycling Rate Dips

SNOW HILL - The county recycling rate for 2009 has gone down slightly compared to 2008, but it is still twice the legally required rate. The recycling rate in Worcester County went down 2 percent last year, with the 2008 recycling rate of 32.38 percent rate becoming 30.14 percent in 2009. 'This is still a good rate,' Worcester Public Works Director John Tustin said. By law, Worcester County must recycle 15 percent of its waste. That could be changed to 20 percent in the near future. This rate...READ MORE

High Court Reverses Murder Conviction

BERLIN - A Worcester County man found guilty on a second-degree murder charge and sentenced to 30 years for his role in the beating death of a woman in a rural area near Pocomoke in January 2008 could get a shot at a new trial after the state's Court of Special Appeals last week overturned his conviction because his request for a new attorney prior to trial was not considered. Kendall Irin Northam, now 21, of Pocomoke, was convicted of second-degree murder and first-degree assault in September...READ MORE

Jobless Costs Hurting City

OCEAN CITY •€' Driving the Boardwalk Tram in Ocean City is certainly not the most glamorous of jobs, but it appears it isn't a bad gig either. As the City Council nit-picked over the Transportation Department's budget on Wednesday, the biggest concern seemed to be with the amount of unemployment insurance being paid out on an annual basis to seasonal bus and tram drivers. It was also revealed that the conversation may have been sparked by a local tram driver boasting about his ability to...READ MORE

Mayor Briefs EDC On Current Events

OCEAN CITY - Perhaps in an effort to reassure town business leaders the approved and potential cuts to programs and services in the resort in the face of serious budget issues will not greatly impact the tourist season, Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan this week briefed Economic Development Committee (EDC) members of a wide variety of 'right-sizing' measures being undertaken. Meehan addressed the EDC on Wednesday as part of a larger presentation by town officials on the town's marketing and...READ MORE