Archives

NEW FOR THURSDAY: OC’s New Beach Bash Weekend Features 10-Hour Concert Event, Bikini Parade

OCEAN CITY – North Ocean City businesses had their requests answered this week as a couple of major events were approved to take place at Northside Park and the beach in the northern part of the resort. The North Ocean City Business Alliance (NOCBA) formed in the beginning of this year when it was recognized that big events were continually being requested and approved in the downtown area of Ocean City with no consideration for northern Ocean City. Subsequently, a coalition of northern...READ MORE

NEW FOR WEDNESDAY: OC's Independent Election No More?

OCEAN CITY -- In a surprise turn of events, an unlikely majority of the City Council moved this week to have a charter change drafted to merge the municipal election in October with the general election in November. By City Charter, the municipal election was established and conducted by Ocean City’s seven-member election board. The election date is set for the third Tuesday in October in every even numbered year. City Council members’ four-year terms are staggered to not allow a...READ MORE

NEW FOR TUESDAY: Open Container Violation Now A Criminal Matter In OC

OCEAN CITY -- Ocean City officials last night approved an emergency ordinance changing the town’s open container law back from a civil infraction to a criminal violation. At the request of Police Chief Bernadette DiPino, the Ocean City Mayor and Council on Monday approved an ordinance to return the town’s open container law back to a criminal violation. For years, a violation of Ocean City’s open container law for alcoholic beverages in public areas was a criminal violation and...READ MORE

NEW FOR TUESDAY: OC Police Warn Of Counterfeit Dollars

OCEAN CITY -- The Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) today is warning residents, business owners and employees to be on the lookout for counterfeit currency being circulated in the resort. Since the beginning of May, the OCPD has received roughly 12 reports of counterfeit bills being passed to local businesses. Ocean City Police are encouraging citizens to close examine the currency they receive in transactions and be aware of the security features on the bills. The main security features on...READ MORE

NEW FOR MONDAY: Teen Seriously Injured Crossing Coastal Highway

OCEAN CITY -- Yet another pedestrian was struck by a vehicle and seriously injured on Friday, continuing an alarming trend early on in the summer in the resort. Around 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Ocean City Police and paramedics responded to 59th Street and Coastal Highway for a reported pedestrian-vehicle collision. The preliminary investigation revealed an 18-year-old Finksburg, Md. man was part of a group of individuals walking in a marked crosswalk from west to east across Coastal Highway at 59th...READ MORE

NEW FOR MONDAY: Rare Blue Lobster Caught Off OC Coast By Commercial Fishermen

OCEAN CITY -- A commercial fishing vessel out of the commercial harbor in West Ocean City hauled in a rare find last week -- a blue lobster. Captain John Gourley and mate Tim Aulinskis, fishing aboard the “Pot Luck” off the coast of Ocean City, last Wednesday discovered a rare blue lobster in their harvest. The blue lobster will eventually make its way to the National Aquarium in Baltimore. The normal coloration of a live lobster is dark bluish green to greenish brown, with redder...READ MORE

Worcester Schools Satisfied With Finalized Budget

NEWARK -- The Worcester County Board of Education formally adopted last Thursday its fiscal year 2013 budget, receiving approximately $850,000 less than requested from the County Commissioners. At the same special Thursday meeting, the board also finalized a re-negotiation with teacher and support staff unions, who had to settle for a smaller raise than they pursued earlier this year. “The Board of Education requested an additional $1.9 million in new funds to support the negotiated...READ MORE

State Study Supports Expansion To Table Games

OCEAN CITY -- One day after an independent report revealed Maryland could support a sixth casino in Prince George’s County and that a move to table games at all of the state’s facilities including the Casino at Ocean Downs would drive up revenue, Ocean City business leaders and elected officials began to discuss the eventuality. The resort’s Economic Development Committee (EDC) met on Wednesday to discuss a variety of topics including the pending special session on gaming in...READ MORE

West OC Eyes Safety Upgrades

BERLIN -- The West Ocean City Association (WOCA) is looking to partner with state agencies this summer to improve pedestrian safety. While many of their requests have been repeated and rejected for years, State Highway Association (SHA) representatives confirmed that there is a chance one of West Ocean City’s most heavily walked roads will be seeing some safety improvements this year. “State Highway Administration is already ahead of the curve on this,” said Assistant District...READ MORE

Autopsy Confirms Accidental Cause Of Death

OCEAN CITY -- Official autopsy results released this week revealed the death of an upstate New York man, who went missing in Ocean City in late April and was recovered in the bay nearly two weeks later, was accidental. Ocean City Police this week confirmed the autopsy report for Lance Corey Gaines, 22, of Groton, N.Y., who was reported missing on April 21 and whose remains were recovered in the bay on May 1, revealed the manner of death was accidental and the cause of death was drowning,...READ MORE

State Cut $19M From Worcester Since 2009, Church Says

OCEAN CITY -- With the dust finally settling after turbulent budget seasons at the state and local level, resort business leaders and local elected officials this week discussed the fallout with much of the blame planted squarely on the state. The Ocean City Economic Development Committee (EDC) met on Wednesday to discuss, among other things, the fallout from the recently completed state and local budget sessions. The EDC invited Delegate Mike McDermott (R-38B) to provide a glimpse of what the...READ MORE

Salisbury Nixes Staggered Elections

SALISBURY – The City Council cast its final vote to adopt a resolution amending the Salisbury City Charter to eliminate staggered elections as well as change the election districting. By November 2015, all five council members and the mayor will be elected at the same time to serve four-year terms. The next election will allow for the mayor to be elected and run until November 2015. Also, pursuant to the 2010 Census, District 1 will be enlarged to provide for the election of one council...READ MORE

‘New Business’ A Focus For Powell Center Director

OCEAN CITY -- Resort business leaders this week got their first formal introduction to new Roland E. Powell Convention Center Director Larry Niccolino, who is already bullish on the future of the facility. Niccolino was appointed to the position in April following the resignation of former Convention Center Director Rick Hamilton last November. He was chosen after a months-long national recruitment campaign and hit the ground running with a major expansion of the facility already...READ MORE

SonRise Church’s Focus Above All On Helping Community

BERLIN -- On the crest of celebrating its 10-year anniversary this October, SonRise Church in Berlin hopes to expand its congregation as well as its role in the community over the course of its next 10 years. Lead Pastor Daryl McCready, who helped found the then 16-member congregation in 2002, has watched membership boom over the last decade to the current approximately 500 members. During that period, McCready revealed that SonRise made the collective decision to become as positively connected...READ MORE

OC Youth Center Looks To Fill Void For Foreign Workers

OCEAN CITY – A quaint community center has opened up downtown to assist international students working and living in Ocean City. A ribbon cutting was held on Monday afternoon to open the All Friends Community Center for Youth. The ceremony was conducted by Smart Staff, who is dedicated to matching qualified international students with short-term seasonal work experiences in the U.S. Smart Staff has been working with sponsors to connect Romanian and Moldovan exchange students with Ocean...READ MORE

Local Program Offers Response Hotline During Disasters

OCEAN CITY -- Hurricane season is here and after last year’s near-miss with Hurricane Irene, Royal Plus President Matt Odachowski presented local business owners and public officials with tips on how to prepare and respond if a disaster should strike Ocean City. Odachowski drove this point home by highlighting some of the situations that his company’s “Disaster Kleenup” crews have confronted in the past during an event this week at the Ocean City Marlin Club. “We...READ MORE

Northside Park To Host Art’s Alive

OCEAN CITY -- Art’s Alive celebrates its 12th year of presenting fabulous fine arts in the beautiful setting of Ocean City’s Northside Park on Saturday and Sunday, June 16-17. Admission is free. Stroll along the park’s winding pathways and browse the artist tents filled with the beautiful works of more than 100 artists. All artwork is available for purchase. Enjoy lunch at the Artists’ Café while listening to live music. Art’s Alive also presents free art...READ MORE

Baby Ava Weekend Comes To Ocean City

OEAN CITY -- Baby Ava’s Ocean City Beach Weekend kicks off Friday and continues through the weekend with proceeds benefiting the DelRicco family and on its ongoing expenses with Ava’s recovery. Back in December, then 18-month-old Ava DelRicco and her mother, Ann Marie, were rear-ended on Coastal Highway by a motor vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed. Both were immediately hospitality and Ava DelRicco spent several months recovery from her injuries. Although home now, Ava is...READ MORE

Worcester To Launch ‘Enough Abuse Campaign’

BERLIN -- The state of Massachusetts has become so fed up with child abuse that agents there began the “Enough Abuse Campaign” in 2002. A decade later, officials in Worcester County are bringing the program to the Eastern Shore. Partners from the Berlin Police Department (BPD) and the Children’s Resource Intervention Center, Kids Empowerment Team (CRICKET), presented the program to the Berlin Mayor and Council Monday, receiving unanimous and passionate support from town...READ MORE

Thunderbird Crew Chief Struck Crossing Coastal Highway

OCEAN CITY -- The only black cloud over the impressive Ocean City Air Show last weekend was another pedestrian-vehicle collision early Tuesday involving a crewmember from the signature U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds team. For the third time in about two weeks, a pedestrian was struck by a vehicle while attempting to cross Coastal Highway near 54th Street and once again the victim was not in the crosswalk. The latest incident happened at 2:30 a.m. on Tuesday, and while the injuries sustained by the...READ MORE

Five Arrested In Boardwalk Drug Operation

OCEAN CITY -- Five suspects were arrested, including two carrying replica handguns, during a Boardwalk drug sweep earlier this month. From 10 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. on June 2, the Ocean City Police Narcotics Unit and the Worcester County Criminal Enforcement Team conducted a plainclothes drug enforcement operation on the Boardwalk to target drug dealers and sellers. During the operation, detectives made a total of five arrests for distribution of marijuana. During one of the incidents, detectives met...READ MORE

Police Intervention Breaks Up Potential Melee

OCEAN CITY -- A Baltimore man was arrested on first-degree assault and other charges this week after allegedly pulling a knife on and threatening to kill another man in the middle of melee on a downtown street. Shortly after 2 a.m. on Tuesday, an OCPD officer working in a plain clothes capacity in the area of 9th Street and Baltimore Ave. observed two large groups in the area, with one walking along the east side of Baltimore Ave. and the other walking in the middle of the street. One of the...READ MORE

Employee Group Looks To Submit Petition By July

OCEAN CITY – City employees said last week they are planning on wrapping up petition efforts to gain the right to collective bargaining by the end of this month. In the beginning of the year, rumors began to spread that general employees intended to pursue collective bargaining. In February, city employees packed council chambers to reveal their concerns and their intentions and returned in April to remind the council that they have not backed down in their efforts. Last Thursday, Barbara...READ MORE

City Council Welcomes New City Manager

OCEAN CITY – City Hall was packed with city officials and employees on Tuesday as City Manager David Recor was sworn into his new post. “From Fort Pierce, Fla., today is his first official day here at City Hall taking over the reigns as city manager,” Mayor Rick Meehan said as he introduced Recor. “We look forward to his service to our community. He is very well qualified to assume this position. He was a standout in the selection process, and I think we are all very...READ MORE

OC Open Container Law Changes

OCEAN CITY -- Police Chief Bernadette DiPino’s suggestion to return the city’s open container law to a criminal violation instead of a civil infraction was approved unanimously by the City Council this week with no discussion. In 2008, the Police Commission voted to change the open container law from arrestable, or criminal, violation, to a non-arrestable offense, which is a civil infraction. This week’s change would return the open container violation to fall under the...READ MORE

Monthly ‘Fenwick Flicks’ Start June 26

FENWICK ISLAND -- The Bethany-Fenwick Area Chamber has announced the Anne Powell and Jennifer Hughes Team, ResortQuest Real Estate and Barton’s Grand Rental as the Presenting Sponsors of “Fenwick Flicks”, the free family-friendly movie night in Fenwick Island throughout the summer of 2012. In May, the town council approved this once-a-month event to be held on the beach in Fenwick throughout the summer season. The purpose of the movies, from the Chamber’s perspective, is...READ MORE

Salisbury Gears Up For Chicken Fest

SALISBURY -- Ten of thousands of visitors from across the Delmarva Peninsula will head to Salisbury, Maryland this weekend (June 15-16) for the highly anticipated 63rd Delmarva Chicken Festival. This annual celebration of chicken and the region’s chicken industry will be held at The Centre at Salisbury. The Festival is sponsored by Delmarva Poultry Industry, Inc. (DPI), the non-profit trade association working on behalf of the region’s chicken industry, and hosted this year by the...READ MORE

Staff Writer, Photographer Fly Over Ocean City With Aerobatic Pilots

OCEAN CITY – An aerial view of Ocean City and its beaches surrounded by the sparkling Atlantic Ocean is one thing, but throw a fly-along in with a couple of the world’s most skilled aerobatic pilots, now that’s just over the top. My 5th Annual OC Air Show experience began last Thursday with the opportunity to join world champion aerobatic pilots Mike Goulian and Rob Holland on a fly-along over Ocean City in an A36 Bonanza plane while observing them demonstrate a few moves in...READ MORE

Hollywood Might Be Coming To Ocean City This Fall

OCEAN CITY – It was announced this week that there is a possibility that a movie, Ping Pong Summer, starring actress Susan Sarandon, will be filmed in Ocean City this September. Following Tuesday afternoon’s Mayor and City Council meeting, officials received invitations to a cocktail party on June 28 to introduce the movie. Ruth Waters, director of sales for the Harrison Group Resort Hotels & Restaurants, sent out the invites as she has been working closely with the project and...READ MORE

Fenwick Float-ors Offers More Than Most Realize

OCEAN CITY – Fenwick Float-ors founders Hugh and Tina McBride and their son Jason shared their story this week on how their famous product changed the Eastern Shore’s language when it comes to buoys. The family has been specializing in buoys, or float-ors, since 1989. “In those days when you went out in the bay, all you saw was Clorox bottles and milk bottles marking the crab pots and it looked like the city dump,” Hugh said. “So the idea originally was to clean up...READ MORE

City Weighing Bus Security Options

OCEAN CITY -- The city has embarked on an internal investigation to weigh options for giving bus drivers more support during heavy volume periods. Councilman Joe Hall publicized his concern over crowded and rowdy buses last week, suggesting the town hire an independent company to hire security for the buses to deter inappropriate behavior on the buses. “I brought up the bus system and how we’re handling it when we have critical mass in town and I voiced some concerns about customer...READ MORE

Berlin’s Zenna Wellness Center Celebrates Opening

BERLIN -- The Zenna Wellness Center, Berlin’s first-ever Zumba, yoga and aerial yoga studio, aims to stretch the town’s horizons as well as its limbs. “There was always a vision here,” said co-owner Chrissy Ehrhart-Knight of putting the studio on Main Street. Ehrhart-Knight, Cate Carrick Nellans and Jesse Martin came up with the idea for a Zumba and yoga center long before they actually made any moves to set up in town. “Chrissy and I started talking about the idea...READ MORE

Berlin Starts Ambassador Program

BERLIN -- Visitors to Berlin’s Main St. this summer are in for an unusual sight -- a bright yellow umbrella with town employees underneath waiting to give out directions and information. Dubbed “the Berlin Ambassador Program,” June through August will see volunteer town employees, of which there are currently 34, out on Main St. Monday-Friday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Visitors will be able to approach the employees for directions around town, tips on where to go to find dinning or...READ MORE